Unfortunately we are starting the week at St Mary's. Yesterday after a morning nap Drew woke up with a fever. We took him in to the Austin Emergency Room where they took blood cultures (to look for bacteria signaling an infection), got a preemptive antibiotic and also a bag of fluids. Because his white cell count is still in the healthy range, we were sent home. We had another appointment in Rochester first thing the next morning, so we'd be re-evaluated here. We had a great rest of the day--got things done around the house, had tacos for supper (a family favorite that Drew even ate some of!) and put kids to bed smoothly. Almost as soon as it was quiet we got the call that the cultures had grown bacteria. Drew has an infection. So we grabbed our pre-packed bags, woke him and and I (Heidi) took him to Rochester where we were admitted. They took their own set of blood cultures, and based on Austin's findings started a different antibiotic. This morning now the doctors have come in with more information. The specific bug we have is Klebsiella Pneumonial, which apparently is fairly common. What is very uncommon is the resistance pattern this bacteria showed on a test ran in Austin. I understand it would be extremely rare to have this particular resistant strain show up in Minnesota, in a child like Drew. This would make treating the infection much more complicated. The Infectious Disease doctor is now on our case. The cultures they took last night however, still have not grown any bacteria for them to first confirm the resistance pattern (they are questioning the positive finding), and then 2nd, if it is resistant to antibiotics they'd typically treat with, work with the sample to find an antibiotic that would treat it. So right now he's on 3 different antibiotics, and we are waiting to see what the most recent cultures will grow and what they will show us. All my faithful pray-ers please ask that we just got a false positive, and the bacteria can be treated by traditional means. Or better yet that the cultures never grow here and the infection is already being taken care of with the antibiotics we are currently on! If it is confirmed to be resistant to typical antibiotics, pray that they find one that will work and we can get the infection under control. I am told to expect a 7-10 day stay for this issue based on the antibiotic treatment schedule. The effect of this infection on our treatment plan are yet to be seen. I am told once this infection is under control, they could still do the stem cell harvest this cycle. Starting round 4 of Chemo (scheduled for March 31st), will most likely be delayed.
It was a nice 6 days at home, long enough to get settled back in. Which I think made this turn of events last night so disappointing. Coming back here for what looks to be another weeks-long stay is pretty sad. To know we will be in the hospital for a major holiday, as well as most likely two birthdays (Drew's and mine the first week in April) is gong to test my ability to chose joy and look for the things we have to be thankful for. I know with God's help I can, but today I'm feeling pretty down. Josh now has to play single parent at home on his first full week on his new job on his own. Pray he can focus at work and things go smoothly with Molly at home. We had a couple Easter activities planned this week with friends that Molly was looking forward too. I have amazing friends that are still going to welcome Molly over to do these fun things, but Molly too woke up pretty disappointed to find Drew and I gone. All of the Becker's could use some prayer!
Please lift us up in prayer today, we appreciate it!
~Heidi
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