January 10, 2012

What a day!!!!!!! We are all truly exhausted!!!

This morning I woke up early to get Kassidy's morning dose ready.  When I went to flush her line with saline the line made a LOUD horrifying pop and she woke with a loud "Ouch that hurt".  I immediately called the doctor and I was transferred to the infusion nurses to talk me through it.  They asked me to see if there was a blood return on the line and there was, but when I went to flush again, I only got 2 cc of saline when Kassidy winced in pain again and a weird gurgling sound from the line.  UGH!  We were told we would need to go the the ER to check catheter placement & to make sure the catheter was still intact, that I would have to take her off treatment.

So to the ER we went.  Thank goodness Summerlin Hospital PEDS was not busy, they took us right in.  Nurses & doctors were wonderful.  I didn't have to explain why we chose the treatment we did instead of regular chemo or radiation.  It kinda gets old everytime we go to the ER and try to explain what & why is Kassidy on a treatment that doctors don't really know about.  They immediately took Kass for an iodine test, where they injected iodine into her port and took a scan of chest.  It didn't take long for the radiologist to tell me that the port was not to used and she would need surgery to replace it.  NO!!!!!

Ryan came to meet us and by 11:30 we were in an OR meeting our surgeon.  He explained that by looking at Kassidy's scan he was worried that the line was in such poor shape and would snap in two when he tried to remove it, that the part that goes straight to her heart would recoil inside the vein and that he would not feel comfortable going after it.  Oh my gosh!  So he would have to have the radiologist help fish it out.  So we put trust in him and God and send our girl to surgery.

Kass before being wheeled out to the OR

While sitting in the waiting room, Kyle came over to bring us some lunch since he had been doing his workout earlier. But when he came in he came in with a limp.  Oh wow!  He proceeded to tell us that ever since he had kinda twisted his ankle on Friday he had been running different and that now the front of his foot hurt.  Well, since his podiatrist happens to have her office at Summerlin Hospital I told him he should go see if she would look at it while we waited.  She did!  Love Dr. Pollitz.  He had an x-ray and sure enough, a break.  A stress fracture in his fourth right toe.  REALLY GOD!!!  What do we need to learn again????  What have we missed????  So my poor boy leaves tomorrow with a broken foot in a boot and completely disappointed he cannot participate in his first indoor track meet on Saturday.  The positive, is that his white blood count came up to normal, but his iron is still through the roof about his new lab tests.  Doctor suggested the he should have it checked again while he's in Boise to see where it's at then.  Hopefully, he can stay away from the hematologist.  Cause we are not sure we could take much more bad news.

Kyle's new boot :(

The surgeon came out about an hour and half to two hours to let us know that Kassidy's surgery had gone well.  He didn't have any problem removing the old line.  Thank you God!  He did have to make an incision above the collar bone to be able to make sure no debris was left behind and better access.  He made another insertion site for the new catheter and inserted a new broviach port catheter which is suppose to be a little thicker and a little more durable than the Hickman she had before.

When we went to the recovery she was dazed, but smiling.  I love that about her.  She can be in the worst place, but still smiles.  We waited for her double vision, nausea, and stoned look to wear out and we brought our babies home.

The incision, the new port site, and the old port site to the right of the new one.  OUCH!!

Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts, I truly believe they helped us today through this most crazy day of all and to keep it together. We still trust that God has guided us through this path for something that someday we will learn it's true purpose.  But tonight I just hold my babies close and hope that Kassidy and Kyle heal fast so they get on with what they suppose to do in life.