A three ring circus…literally

(Sick eyes)

What a day we had…Lucy continues to be febrile, with a persistent average temp of about 38 degrees Celsius, the cut off for our fever threshold.  We arrived at the ED this morning and started with the usual protocol for fevers in kids with a central line; two different IV antibiotics, one to cover gram negative bacteria and another to cover gram positive bacteria.  Dr. R came down and saw us, put in some orders, and then told us to be patient, he was not going to speculate about anything.  He knows and harasses me about my need to have a plan, often joking that he is married to planner so he gets me.  He is much more patient when it comes to the medical unknown than I, deep down I really do appreciate that about him, but on days like today I sometimes wish he would give me something.  He did tell me who was on for the weekend, which is his way of saying you are going to be here for at least that long. 

This is a bad time of year to be in the hospital, all of the sickies are here, which means that we had to wait a while for a bed to open up on “our” floor, the floor that we always get admitted on.  We lucked out, or I guess another way to say it is that we are on isolation, and scored ourselves a private room with a view.  In fact we are next door to the room that Lucy affectionately calls hers, the room that we spent a lot of time in last fall.  Although we do not wish to be here, we are happy to be on this floor where we know and love most of the nurses.

(The kids brought Lucy back a clown wig from the circus since she was unable to go with us…she is not quite sure what to make of it.)

I did not write about it but I did say to several people just yesterday, we had one glorious week last week  in which we did not have a clinic appointment or an urgent medical need to come to the hospital.  It was so nice, but the weather today and tomorrow is even nicer and now we are stuck here on isolation until we know more what is going on with our little one.  I also spoke too soon last night when I told the kids that we had a special surprise for them after school today, tickets to see the circus.  Imagine their disappointment this morning when they learned that Lucy was getting admitted.  After a lot of discussions and encouragement from my husband and Dr. R I decided to continue on with our plans to see the circus.  Drew stayed with Lucy while the kids and I ventured to Phily for the show.  FYI, a three ring circus is not exactly the best way to end a very stressful and exhausting day, oh the irony.

   (The crack in the line is on Lucy’s right side, just underneath the clear Tagaderm)

When I came back to the hospital tonight, I learned that Lucy’s central line is cracked.  In the morning we will need to discuss with Dr. R what his thoughts are about this.  As for tonight, the line was redressed, and taped together.  Please say a prayer that it holds as I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if we loose access tonight.  It is always better to plan a line placement than to have to do something on an urgent basis.

(Apparently Lucy’s dolly Lucy lost her line tonight as well, Lucy is going to tell Dr. R in the morning about this.)

Thanks as always for all of the love and support, thoughts and prayers.  No matter how routine all of this seems, it is oh so difficult to live life as a family this way.  Please say an extra prayer for our kiddos that they have the strength and understanding to get through another admit.