It was a long day of testing today. Jordan came with to help Elijah out while Mark stayed home with the rest of the kids. In an attempt to alleviate some of Elijah's fearful reactions to procedures, the bone marrow team tried to do as much of the testing they needed under anesthesia today. After some versed, Jordan held Elijah through an EKG, an ECHO and an IV placement. He did an amazing job with his little brother. It was so sweet to watch the two of them together. They do have a special bond.
After a CT scan with contrast, a bone marrow biopsy and a hickman placement, they did a bronchoscopy and an bronchial lavage. This is a procedure that cleans out his lungs of any potential underlying infection that could be present. He has a long history of respiratory issues and so they felt this was necessary before starting chemo.
Since he has been home, He has developed a 102 fever. This is very significant for him and is most likely due to the bronchial lavage. We are waiting to see if it increases any more. If it does, we will be going back in to the U of M to get some cultures tonight. If it stays the same or decreases, we will continue with our plans to return to the hospital in the morning for day 3 of work up week. The poor guy has a hurting hip from the biopsy, a sore throat from the bronchoscopy and a sore chest from the line placement. And to top it off, when he was still out from the anesthesia, I worked on getting a sliver out of his foot and pulled two of his baby teeth that were ready to fall out. With kids who deal with autism, it is nice to be able to do whatever we can when they are under anesthesia! Please say a prayer for him...he is a sorry looking little puppy tonight.
