Stamford ER

Last night I lay in bed listening to strange gurgling and realized it was Sammy throwing up.  He has been so congested lately, and it has led to a couple of throw-ups and many night s of coughing.  But last night a fever decided to join in the fun too!  Sooooo....we did the fever dance and called CHAM.  Luckily, Dr. Gill was on call and he said, as Sam was not likely to be neutropenic, we could take him to Stamford ER and have them call him.  We were so glad not to have to hike down to the Bronx.

I took Sam and we were ushered into triage fairly quickly.  It was quiet...so different from the bustling CHAM ER, and then led into the room.  It was THE room!  The room where it all began, back on September 13th!!!  The room where I learned my lovely Sam had cancer and that our lives would be a series of crazy rides like the one we were having that night.  I shuddered, and then got on with it...what else could I do? 

The doctors and nurses were attentive and very friendly.  We everything was done in a very timely manner and even the admitting lady brought me coffee!  Sam was the superstar, however, when it came time to access him.  There were no pediatric needles so he was going to have to have the one inch needle pushed into his chest (into the port really), and I was very concerned it would cause him to loose it.  I could not have been more wrong.  Sam was as cool as a cucumber, told the nurse just to do it and get it over with, and didn't even flinch as I saw her push down hard to break the skin.  WOW!  He was AMAZING :)  I have to say, Sam really showed the staff at Stamford how far he had come...I also think their calmness helped.  CHAM can be very frenetic and he already knows how much it can hurt there.  The nurse also had a great trick for getting the blood; Sam often clots and won't relinquish his precious blood without hours of trying.  A good cough throughout the drawing was all it needed. 

We had a long night, just by the nature of what was needed, yet it was by far the easiest ER visit.  We had X-rays done to check for chest fluid..all clear.  We had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics so Benadryl was needed, and we had another gagging on the phlegm episode, so the doctor put Sam on a nebulyzer with sterile water to unclog him a bit.  We were well looked after. 

Now Sam is asleep on the couch and I am trying to get the energy up to pack some more boxes for our move.  It is strange how accustom we become to things, and also how being in THAT room in the ER was not as bad as I thought it would be.  yes, we were back in the ER for yet another fever; and yes, we still have a long way to go; but sometimes the bumps are not as big as they used to be and that is good! 

Thursday Sam starts day one of his next cycle...always rough....but it is also the beginning of Maintenance....I wonder if it will really get easier, or will we just be more able to cope like last night?