Never a Dull Moment

It's a strange feeling when blogging from the sleepchair in the hospital and listening to the commotion in the halls and other rooms seems a bit normal. Times at home have been few and far between in the last 3+ weeks. That's no exception today, as Will was readmitted to the hospital after less than 48 hours at home since being discharged on Saturday afternoon.

William said it was hard to breathe when he came downstairs this morning and his cough had gotten worse. At the clinic visit this morning he had a low oxygen saturation, elevated heart rate, and was taking quick, short breaths. Apparently this is not common, especially since his white cell count was back up. The doctors seemed pretty concerned so he was quickly admitted to the ICU and given an echocardiogram and a chest x-ray. The echo came back normal, alleviating concern that he may have fluid around his heart. The chest x-ray showed possible signs of very early stage pneumonia, but it was too hard to tell. Blood cultures were ordered to check for bacterial and viral infections, and other tests were done (wow, I didn't realize you could stick a swab that far up someone's nose) to culture several potential viruses. Since the scary problems were ruled out, now we wait 48-72 hrs for culture results.

Another reason they think he has an infection of some sort is that his white cell counts are much higher than normal, indicating his body is trying to fight something. Apparently when the white cells come out in such force, the extra cells hang out in the lungs and can cause transient pneumonia. Chemo seems to wreak havoc on just about everything, so it better be working on the tumor as well! The new food request today was Doritos. Hair is coming out in greater abundance today, but no completely bald spots yet. All things considered, Will is in decent spirits.
He had a visit from his golden lab friend Millie, and was told that he could be in a PBS show that is being filmed about Millie this week if he is still in the hospital. Stay tuned on that one - it was the first time I have heard Will say he hopes he will still be in the hospital a few more days. I hope not - can't he just come visit and be a sick kid actor when Millie gets her big break?