Interesting Day in the ER

Note to self: always buy "all-day" parking.

Ok, so we had to get some extra blood work done on Piper, as the hematologist suggested, and it had to be done at BCCH, so away we went on Monday morning. It was meant to be an "in and out" thing, so Matt worked, and my sister came with, as she has school off due to the Olympics.

Traffic: lovely

Weather: lovely

Parking: lovely

Mood: lovely.

Looking like a pretty lovely day, so far!

I paid for two hours of parking...

We arrived at the hospital at 10:30am, and went to check in at the hematology clinic (again, also the oncology clinic, and this time there was actually people in there! Unfortunately they were little cancer kids with head bandana's and thin hair, though smiling away and playing just as kids should. Oh Lord. You know what you're doing). She sent us away to the the [ridiculous]

blood collection lab with a sheet with about six labels on it for various blood tests. Oh joy.

I thought to stop by the heart center, as we walked right by it, and see if someone could maybe tell me more about Piper having a fever or what to do etc. So our lovely cardiology nurse came out and I explained that Piper had been running a fever off and on for a few days and was wondering what to do etc.

She said, promptly and assuredly, "just go to the ER". Her reasons were that they might want to do some bloodwork, too, and they might as well do it all in one poke, then have to re-do it over again. She was also worried because Piper has no neutrophils that she can't really fight anything at the moment, so a fever isn't a great sign.

Off we went to the ER!

Checking in: lovely

Getting a room: lovely

Olympics we on the TV: lovely.

Piper getting ready for a long day... (the juice box and granola bar were our snacks)

My sister went back and bought a full day of parking (1 hour: $3.50, 2 hour: $7.00, full day $14.00... just cover your butt first thing, and don't mess around)

We got to our room really fast, no wait whatsoever (another note to self: if need be, go to the ER as early in the day as possible). Now it was just waiting. I knew, having spent a good part of the day before in the ER, is to just get cozy and settle in an wait. Don't stress or watch the clock. Just wait.

Munching away. You can see her Sats are always good: 97% +

A resident came in, a nurse came in, a doctor came in, people from the blood lab came in... every came in and out at some point, collecting something: pee, blood, information. No body seemed too terribly concerned, though they did put a sign on the door that said everyone coming in needed to wear a mask. As scary as that sounds, it actually made me feel good: they were taking extra precaution for Piper, who can't really fight off bad bugs.

It turns out Piper has itsy-bitsy veins and getting a good blood sample from her is not so easy. They tried her right hand, then both feet and finally got one in her foot, but still, it wasn't great, and it was slow going. They decided to hook up an IV, just incase they had to give her antibiotics, then it wasn't another poke, it would already be hooked up and ready to go. So, it did take a little longer to get it right, but it was mostly worth it in the end.

Yes, that is a little foot, you can see her big toe on there. The IV is right under the sticker

Piper was a bit of a case for that part. She was so tired, and out of her element, and then these strange ladies with yellow coats and masks on are clamping her one leg down and poking her numerous times... it was not her finest moment. She cried pretty hard, and got really sweaty and there wasn't a whole lot I could do except just stay close and talk to her, which didn't seem to do anything, but maybe she felt a bit better having me close.

Those nurses were really great and they did finally get it in, and they taped it all on there and then Piper had this big foot all covered in tubes for the rest of the day.

It was a long day, with a good amount of waiting in between some visits. Piper took so many little naps on me, it was crazy. She seemed to get up, maybe fuss a bit, wiggle around on my lap, maybe have some sort of snack, then nurse and then conk out to sleep again (not always in that order). She slept a LOT yesterday. Near the end of the day, she took a nice long nap on the bed, and we could turn the lights down and my sister could go get us some food (not eating since... hmmm... breakfast?) by about 4pm.

Sooooo sleepy...

With all of that, they found nothing of concern in her urine (does anyone know how they collect baby urine? It's a treat, that's all I'm gonna say), and her blood still showed no neutrophils, so nothing new there. The doctor wasn't sure if Piper just had a viral infection, which isn't too big a deal, as her WBC's couldn't do much for that anyways, or a bacterial infection, which is a bigger deal. She did say that if she did have a bacterial infection, it would be rare and she would have had a much worse fever and we would have brought her in much sooner. Still, to be cautious, they did give her some antibiotics through her IV. They do require two rounds of the antibiotics, so we have to go back today for another dose, and then to get the IV out of her foot (yes, we brought her home with a foot all covered in tubing).

We left at 5:30pm, ER full of cranky patients, and the parking lot empty. Explain that?

Happy for a bit, playing with a straw

So far, she seems to be doing ok, though still not herself. She took a nap on the way home, and then could hardly stay awake until 8pm, but surprisingly, slept really normally all night. She is still up a lot, but I think she is uncomfortable and fevery. Not fun.

I plan to head to BCCH as early as I can in the afternoon (they suggest 24 hours between antibiotics), so as not to wait too long. I can hopefully get to see the hematologist, too, as he will have gotten her blood from yesterday. Maybe he has more of a verdict today. Not sure yet if he's talked to the surgeon and cardiologist. Would love that verdict, too.

Today might be an odd day. Piper is just cranky and sleeps a lot... not entirely normal. We'll just take it a step at a time.

To be home and safe: lovely