Friday, November 15th
Avery had another tough night. She tossed and turned and cried out most of the night. She spiked a fever of 101. They took blood cultures and decided to start the antibiotic Vancomycin in addition to the Cefepime she is already receiving. She woke up at 3 am and 4:15 am vomiting, and we gave her Ativan to help. Once the meds set in, she finally slept and continued to sleep the majority of the day.
Her hemaglobin levels were good, but she needed an infusion of platelets today. Her electrolytes are still low, and they are continuing to switch some things up to see what works. She seems to be holding on to some of what she is being given, but most of it is depleting quickly. Her ANC is 0. She continued to battle vomiting, fevers reaching 100.9 and chills throughout the day.
Her mucositis is worsening and causing her a lot of pain. Right now it is just in her mouth and throat, and we pray that it doesn't continue its way down the GI track. We finally gave her a small dose of morphine this evening to take the edge off. After this, she finally sat up and felt well enough to play the iPad for a little bit. This was the only playful time she had all day. She started telling me she was ready for bed around 4:45 this afternoon.
When she was receiving her second dose of Vancomycin , I started noticed her coloring was off, and she started scratching at her head. After getting a nurse, they said she had developed Red Man Syndrome which is a common anaphlylactoid reaction to the Vancomycin infusion. They gave her a small dose of Benadryl which helped alleviate the symptoms. Going forward, her regularly scheduled Benadryl and Vancomycin infusions will be timed close together, and they will slow the infusion to 2hrs instead of 1hr. This should help avoid future reactions.
It was a tough day for both Shon and I as we watched Avery feel like absolute crap. Unfortunately we haven't quite hit the low of this cycle, but we are looking forward to better days soon. Every minute with her is a blessing no matter the circumstances or trials of the day.
Please continue to pray for:
- Quick count recovery
- No more vomiting or fever
- Relief from mucositis
- Rest
This has to be the most difficult time ever for Avery! I know it is heartbreaking for you and Shon to witness, but God knew you were able to handle the job and he faith in Him was strong enough for this journey! Hang in there and I know it doesn’t help a lot—to say this repeatedly— but thousands of prayers go up every day, and He hears every one 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏♥️♥️♥️♥️
Lori Beth, the Vandagriff’s pray daily over sweet Avery- complete healing in Jesus’ name!!!!
Prayers for day 11
You and Shon are two of the strongest people I know. 💕Hang in there. I continue to pray for all of you. 🙏💫
Breaks my heart for her to go through this. Praying for feeling better real soon ❣️♥️😘