First Trip to the ER

After staying up way too late doing little tasks, I went to check Sarah's temperature before going to bed. I had inched up to the critical point where we are supposed to call the hospital. The doctor on call called us right back and after assessing the situation, she asked us to come right away to Children's Hospital downtown since Sarah is so early on in treatment. They aren't equipped for some ICU and other serious situations at Children's in Plano yet. I was just about to make a hospital bag because a new friend and fellow mom who has a daughter with Luekemia had just emailed me a list of what to include in your hospital bag. So, I threw together the items I remembered that were on her email and I went to get Sarah some warm clothes on. Thank goodness Jay's parents are here and could stay with the other two children. Jay went out to warm the car up and then came back in to help us into the car. Sarah was not happy at all about this and cried that Hannah and others couldn't come with us. She thought it was early in the morning and she wanted to find breakfast somewhere. It was actually just after midnight when we pulled into the ER. They put Sarah in an isolation room and started giving her IV antibiotics before her bloodwork even came back. The nurses and doctors were so amazing. They said if Sarah was 'neutropenic' (her neutrophil count, good white blood cells, was below 500) we would have to be admitted. The doctor came back with the counts sometime afte 2am and said that we could go home! And that her hemaglobin was even up from yesterday so she might not need the transfusion they were planning for Tuesday. We were pleased but Sarah's face didn't look quite as excited. After being called princess and doll all night and being given a drink and a popsicle, she had already been planning on getting her own room and bathroom and ordering from the hospital menu! She had told the medical staff how things were in her other hospital in Hong Kong and when they told her what it was like here, she was ready to try it out. But then she realized that going home was much better than even ordering whatever you want from the hospital menu. So we arrived home sometime after 3am and all crawled into bed.
We awoke before lunch and had a fun day of enjoying the nice weather and being a family all together again. But this evening, Sarah has a fever again and Rebekah's fever is being kept at bay with Tylenol here and there. Sarah's isn't to the critical mark yet, but higher than usual. So we will be waiting it out again tonight. Thank you all for your constant prayer over our family - it is a minute by minute situation at our house right now it seems.