As usual things didn't go quite so smoothly but not too bad considering. Saturday night the chills and fever returned. At 11 p.m. she was at 103 degrees F. After some Tylenol and an intense fluid IV (think bathroom break every two hours all night with Mom wheeling the IV cart behind) the temperature subsided not to return. The bacteria cultures were negative thus just a virus she picked up. Seems the flu got to town before the kids got to the flu shots. (Flu shots were our first stop after leaving the hospital. Yes, the doctor said she should go immediately to the drug store even having been sick. So if she has the ok to go to the corner drug store for a flu shot I'd say its a good idea for most everyone.) She was discharged Sunday morning and just as they were about to remove the IV... she got a bloody nose! Really truth is stranger than fiction. So we spent the next hour managing that and debating about a platelet transfusion before leaving. So they needed to draw blood and check her numbers and our 11 a.m. discharge stretched to after 3 p.m. The counts came back in the gray zone so the hospital didn't want to transfuse. Thus we had to decide to fight the decision or not.
We've had to make so many complicated decisions about pretty weighty issues that we've studied up on decision making. The most important thing we learned is that we all should study up on it. Turns out the cause of a lot of mistakes and hardship is due to not being informed in even rudimentary decision making techniques. Above is a weighted decision matrix we used to decide about last Tuesday's visit to the hospital for a platelet transfusion. I can't emphasize enough how great these things are. So many times I've learned that I was about to make the wrong decision because I was caught up in the emotion of one facet of a decision but when I broke down all the elements and weighted them that a much better choice was obvious. For yesterday's decision we used a pro/con list and, again, it was clear that our emotions were pulling us one way but the facts clearly pointed in another direction. Thus we took her home without the transfusion.
She's been doing great since although we kept her home from school just in case. Today we have our first meeting with our probable BMT team so I'm sure more decision matrices are in our future. Will post once we've sorted through our options.
Well, you never cease to amaze me. You have succeeded in teaching me a new coping strategy to deal with far less emergent matters.
ReplyDeleteAcknowledging that your emotions play a part, but not using Vulcan techniques to block them shows respect for this whole complex chapter of your lives.
I want you to know how grateful I am for everything you've shared with me. I pray for the new team of doctors to be as open and honest with you as you have been with me--and all of us. Lots of love.