Cranes for Dane

On Sunday, May 15, Daner woke in the morning and felt pretty well.  He ate breakfast, I read to him from the Ensign, we watched a Disney movie, his primary teacher brought him the sacrament and we worked on a new lego set.  When the doctors visited they reminded us that it is hard to be in the hospital when you are feeling good, but AML patients go down hill fast and they tend to get fevers that spike quickly and by the time they get back to the hospital they are in a bad situation, so we were content to sit in our "safe bubble" and stay away from the germs and bacteria. 
Later in the evening Dad brought Dane's brother Ty and sisters Mikayla and Talia to visit Dane.  We met on the 2nd floor, which is the surgical floor, super clean, and the kids were so excited to see him! Tali gave him lots of loves and questioned if he still had an "owie" and pointed to where it was.  She was so sweet to him.  After about 10 minutes Dane's demeanor changed and his stomach got upset and he started to feel feverish.  Dad took him back to his room and the nurse came in and took his temperature.  Dad got him comfortable on his bed and I took the kids home. Within the hour his fever rose above 105 and they quickly reconnected his fluids, gave him antibiotics and benedryl for the upset stomach.  He got sick a few times and was really uncomfortable.  A family friend came and gave Daner a blessing with his dad and soothed Ty who was going to stay the night, but got an upset stomach from all the goings on in Daner's room.  Ty was returned home and when I got back to the hospital, the benedryll had taken effect and Daner was out.  His fever had come down and all was well again.  Dane's dad and I took a deep breath and commented on how previously that day the Dr's told us how fragile these little AML kids are and it all had new meaning to us now.
Dane did really well on Monday.  He was a little disappointed he was still connected to his lines, but grateful for medicine that can get on top of infections, nausea, and fevers!  He ate pretty good and his hardest trial for the day was some heartburn.  Our friend Stephanie visited and made cranes with Dane for hours.  (1000 bring good luck and after counting they have a little over 200)  He now has some fun cranes hanging above his bed.  Our friend Whitney brought Dane some dinner Monday night and he was really excited about the cookie bars she brought, but anxious for his heartburn to be gone so he could eat.   After an hour or so he was able to enjoy some dinner and treats.  The night was relaxing and we finished his Star Wars Droid Tri-Fighter plane. At midnight he started to get a slight nose bleed, which made us nervous because his last nose bleed lasted for over 4 hours!  I put a rag under his nose and told him to wake me if it picked up any.
Early Monday morning the nose bleed had gotten worse and Daner felt a little panicky.  We called in the nurse who looked at his blood work and saw he need a platelet transfusion.  She also did a nasal spray and after 10 or so soaked wash cloths of blood the nurse made him a nose plug of gauze.  An hour later it finally had stopped and Dane was relaxed once again.  He felt only up to a light breakfast, but the Dr's reminded him to keep food on his stomach to prevent further infections from the bile in his stomach as well as preventing the heartburn.  The doctors told us that he had gotten an infection in one of the port lines and two infections in the other line, but apparently they are very common and the antibiotics were effective and working for him.  This was the cause of the rapid and high fever on Sunday, and the Dr's reiterated the fact of the importance of being here in the hospital so they can act on it FAST!   Daner has had one of Halee's sweet school friends here with him today, Jenna, who is having a procedure done downstairs later.  It got postponed for a few hours and she has been right by his side keeping him company- so very sweet!  Also, our friend, Sara, visited and brought some food, which Dane dove into right away.  This afternoon Dane was able to do some school work with his teacher here on his hospital floor as well as do some art therapy with an art student.  He enjoyed doing art the most and worked on a Christmas picture.  Nana is on her way to spend the afternoon with Daner so Mom and Dad can spend some time with the kids at home and get the house ready for my brother Rick and his family to come tomorrow.  Hopefully, it will be a peaceful afternoon and evening.