Round 4

Cameron has completed his 4th round of treatment! I am so glad that one's over!  Cameron had a really rough time this round.

The week before Cameron was admitted, he had a severe ear infection, he was put on antibiotics and the infection cleared up and we were able to begin treatment on time.

The first week of treatment was relatively easy.  No major side effects or incidents, it just ticked by and Cameron and I spent our time playing in the Aflac playroom and watching Blues Clues for the 50 000th time.  He had some minor issues with the dressing on this central line (CVL), but the dressing had been changed twice that week and the skin underneath looked normal. As we approached the end of the first week, it looked as though Cameron's ear infection had flared up and he was started on the antibiotics again, but he was discharged by Friday with instructions for him to see our regular pediatrician the following day, for another dose of the antibiotic.  By the time we got to the pediatrician, I noticed that the skin under his central line was looking red and I could see what looked like a a bit of discharge.  The pediatrician took one look at it and sent us straight to the ER.  A central line goes through the chest, into the main artery - an infection can be very serious and if not caught in time, it can be life threatening.  Cameron was admitted back to hospital, after being home less than 24 hours - so much for our weekend break before the second week of treatment.

Cultures were taken from the line and from the surrounding skin, but thankfully nothing grew on the cultures and the skin settled down after a round of strong antibiotics.  Despite the drama, we were cleared to start his second week of treatment on time.

Cameron began his second week of treatment on Tuesday morning, he was given a large dose of morphine and put on a PCA but by the Tuesday afternoon his pain was already noticeable, and the PCA dose was increased.  At 3am on Wednesday morning, the nurse shook me awake and let me know that Cameron had not urinated in 13 hours and they felt that it was necessary to put in a catheter.  The catheter only got out a tiny amount of urine, so they decided to insert a Foley (like a catheter, but it stays in place and drains the bladder continuously).  The Foley did it's job and Cameron was able to empty his bladder. 

On Wednesday afternoon, the Foley fell out.  No problem, let's put in another one, right?  If only things were that easy!  The nurse tried to replace the Foley, but couldn't get it in, a second nurse tried, this time it went in to a point - but wouldn't come out.  When they finally got it out, we noticed that it was in fact defective and the little balloon at the end that it meant to keep it in place, had not completely deflated before it was removed.  If you are male and/or squeamish - you may want to stop reading now...  7 more attempts were made to insert a Foley, causing so much trauma that Cameron's urethra swelled shut.  Things were starting to get serious.  Cameron's bladder was extremely full, making it even more difficult to insert the Foley.  A nurse from the PICU was called in to try, as well as a nurse from the Rapid response Unit - but neither of them could get the Foley to go in.  As Cameron screamed in pain every time they tried to insert it, I was doing all I could to stop myself from losing it.

Finally, after 27 hours and 9 failed attempts, a urologist managed to insert a stent to open the urethra up enough to insert the Foley.  Once it was in, we guarded it with our lives to prevent a repeat of that ordeal. 

Despite the drama, Cameron continues to amaze us with his strength and tenacity!  He completed the treatment and was, once again, able to get the full dose of antibodies.  He was discharged on Sunday afternoon and is recovering well.

He is absolutely THRILLED to have his grandma here (as we all are) and has not left her side, he even insists on sleeping with her every night.  We can't wait to celebrate the boy's third birthday next week and count our blessings everyday that we get to spend together as a family.