July with Friends

Once we got Emma home from the hospital,we had some friends come play. We were supposed to camp; but with Emma's ANC so low and her antibiotics needing a fridge and her nurse, Dylan, coming three times a week to check counts and change her port dressing, we stayed home.

Cefapime is a tough antibiotic. The doctor has a term for broad-spectrum drug that will kill everything inside you; but I can't remember it. Home health delivered a bag of little balloons about the size of a tennis ball that are individual pumps with a dose in each. I got to be pretty slick at getting it hooked up or unhooked so I didn't even wake her at night or disturb her from whatever she was playing. I never did manage to do it WHILE she was jumping on the trampoline; but I still feel fairly accomplished.

Her purple cast came off July 9th, and after a few days she was walking normally again. YAY! No more broken bones for Emma!

With slowly recovering counts, Emma had good days and bad days. Repopulating blood is hard, tiring work.

August 21 her ANC reached 500. We quit the Cefapime. All this time, of course, she had no chemotherapy, since the purpose is to depress and control counts.

At her appointment on the 25th, her counts had reached 700. This isn't high enough to continue certain chemotherapy; but we did get instructions to take her dexamethasone. Steroids are hard. By day 5 of the Dex pulse, Emma resembled a dramatic teen with PMS. It has a tendency to completely erode all her personal confidence and bring on serious anxiety.

A week later, Dylan checked counts and her ANC had reached 800. We resumed chemo at the full dose August 1. Emma had very little chemo in July, though plenty of drugs.

And the last photo for July - the Potter Run this year benefited HopeKids, which organizes events for kids with life-threatening medical conditions. Emma's battle with cancer qualifies our family for HopeKids, and we might be Harry Potter nerds. Two great reasons to run a 5K at 6:00 pm on the 31st of July. Two Aunts and and Uncle joined our family and we ran as the Chudley Cannons, Ron Weasley's favorite quidditch team. It was a sell-out event.

Family Camping Trip

Every Summer we go camping with Emma's Techmeyer cousins. Most years, Emma's great Aunt and Mom's cousins come, too. This year gathered 3 of the grandparent generation, 17 of the parent generation, and 24 of Emma's generation. We met the week of July 4th about an hour from Jackson, Wyoming.

The Grey boat of Aunties and Uncles and Zach. Daddy, Lizzy, and Momma took this picture from the Red Party Boat. Emma and the boys were at camp.

We rafted on the Snake River and we hiked around Jenny Lake. It was so fun for us to be normal for a bit. Sure Emma had a broken leg, but what is more normal than 1 kid in 24 wearing a cast? The kids used magnifying glasses to burn designs into wood. They made necklaces from beads and neckaces of cereal. We cooked around the campfire and we stayed up late laughing and playing games.

Our little family surrounded by The Family eating our lunch at the falls that feed Jenny Lake

The morning of Independance Day, though, Emma crawled out of her sleeping bag and onto our cot, toasty warm. The thermometer said 101.2 degrees, which is a one-way ticket to the emergency room.

Those who were awake at 6:30 pitched in, rolled sleeping bags, folded the tent, collapsed the cots, hitched the trailer to the van, and loaded it up. They packed us a breakfast of muffins and juice and fruit and we hit the road. The Primary Children's oncologist wanted blood draws much sooner than a drive to Salt Lake, so we drove to Idaho Falls and reached the Emergency Room at about 8:00.

Idaho Falls Emergency Room with a bear, crayons, a coloring book, and a personal TV.

I was really nervous to go anyplace that isn't Primary Children's. Some would just see coincidence; but I think there are logistics angels who watch out for us and influence things like the holiday schedule of the emergency department. Our ER nurse volunteers at a cancer camp in Idaho, and our ER doctor had a child with cancer while he was in medical school. While he isn't an oncologist, he is a cancer dad and so he gets it. He took Emma seriously, as his own daughter went septic three times and nearly died once. They were so great with Emma. They were so great with me. They did everything that I could hope for Emma.

Emma's ANC measured at 150. We needed to be admitted. After consulting with the team at Primary Children's, they agreed that Emma needed to be with her own oncology team. For a minute it looked like they might want to handle transporting her; but they agreed to let her ride there with her family.
The ER nurse got us 6 boxed lunches and we drove straight to Salt Lake City without stopping.

(While Emma and I were in the ER, Clinton and the other kids got gas and went to a park.)

Grandpa Tec and Gramma Linda met us at Primary Children's. Once I got Emma settled, they sat with her while I took my campfire odor back to the van. Clinton and I went home, showered, settled the kids, and then traded nights for the next 48 hours.

Emma colored her placemat to send a thank you to the nutrition team

Emma probably had a virus; though all her tests came back negative for this stay. Her red blood and platelets were on the border for transfusion, and the doctors decided to watch and see if her ANC would rise on its own.

Until they know she isn't infectious, everybody that comes in the room covers up to prevent the spread of germs. This fabulous nurse scoured the place to find Emma a Barbie.

She went home on seriously heavy IV antibiotics. They would continue until her ANC reached above 500 nearly 3 weeks later. It took all that time; but her counts did ultimately recover without a transfusion.