On Edge

Shaun:

Charlie started complaining of pain in his right side (ribs) yesterday evening after quite a bit of coughing.  Around 1:00 a.m. this morning, he woke up in extreme pain in the same area.  This led to chest and stomach x-rays, which were negative.

At the same time, Charlie’s sodium started dropping again.  Charlie’s pain continued into the morning and throughout the day.  He then developed a fever around mid-day. 

Contrast solution being dripped into Charlie in preparation for the CT scans.  It took about 4 hours.

 Charlie was glad to see Chris and Kristen today, but the pain medications had him so sleepy he didn’t say much.  He found that if he didn’t move or breathe deep or cough the pain wasn’t quite so bad, so he spent his time awake focusing on holding still and breathing shallow.  A real bummer for him as he was so so excited when he heard they were coming.    

 Hillary (Charlie's child life expert) came to visit, but he wasn't up for much visiting.

 A CT scan was performed this evening –no results yet.   The doctors are trying to determine why his sodium levels are dropping (from 129 to 124) again (without chemo this time), why he has a fever even though he is on antibiotics (virus?), and whether there is any relationship between the pain he is having and these other issues.  So far nobody has any answers.  Hopefully by morning they’ll start to figure things out.

 We are so grateful for the doctors and nurses and technicians here.  They are so patient and kind with Charlie.  It must be really difficult for them when there are so many variables and things don’t go as planned.  I see the doctors trying to figure this one out and know they are also frustrated by what is happening.