Tucson: 2 of 2

Tucson: Emergency Happenings

It makes me terribly sad that our very fun trip included two trips to the Emergency Room. The first came Saturday morning when Joshua woke up in a very crummy mood with continous chills. It was not his normal demeanor so I called to doctor to just ask a few questions and the response was find an ER in Tucson. We were sent home hours later with fluids and good blood counts.

Our fun resumed the next day, but at midnight on Sunday, the fever hit. Michael drove him back to the ER, where we learned that Joshua's ANC had dropped from 2400 to 800 (500 is an automatic admission to the hospital) Michael called to tell me the doctors in Tucson and Nashville were giving us the choice to be admitted there or come home to be admitted. As much as we love the warm weather in Tucson, we wanted Joshua to be treated by the doctors that know him best.

So, we drove to Pheonix to catch the most direct flight. Joshua did a great job wearing a mask throughout the airport for his protection. (He gets to choose a new toy as soon as we go to Target next!--A good time for bribery, I'd say) He slept the entire 3 1/2 hour flight. He woke up saying, "We forgot to watch a movie." We quickly went home, to repack for the ER here in Nashville. Within about an hour of being off the plane and waiting for a room at Vanderbilt, Joshua's fever had climbed to 103.

We are now back on the 6th floor again waiting for Joshua's counts to start on the upswing. (ANC is about 400 today) Every nurse of doctor that has come in wants to hear a little of our big adventure to Arizona. Joshua just tells them that the prickly pear cactus hurts, but that he told it to leave him alone.