Well, I suppose I’m exaggerating… it wasn’t all that bad. At least we didn’t have John Candy with us. Anyway, it happened like this: We were on guard all weekend because the snow storm that hit DC coincided almost perfectly with the onslaught of Ethan’s neutropenia. Bert shoveled snow all day Sunday so that we could get Ethan to the Doctor’s office Monday morning for a blood transfusion. We woke up Monday morning and all of his effort seemed wasted… As soon as Bert raised the blinds, he said “Go back to bed, You’re not going ANYWHERE.” About that time, Ethan woke up and stumbled into our room – burning up! His arms were hot to the touch and I was afraid to read the thermometer when it beeped. I held my breath and peeked… It read 103.6 (under his arm, no less) and was on its way up. I’ll skip the play-by-play, but lets just say I freaked out.
I made a slew of phone calls to his doctor and to everyone I could think of with access to a 4-wheel drive truck. Sadly, all of the 4-wheel drives in our lives were buried in snow and we quickly ran out of options. I gave into my panic and called Ethan’s buddies from Fairfax County Fire and Rescue #36 and they arrived almost immediately. Of course, they couldn’t get into our neighborhood either, so I ended up carrying Ethan out of the neighborhood to the main road in snow that seemed to come up to my knees. The paramedics tried to transport him into Fairfax Hospital, but the roads were too treacherous and they took us to Reston instead.
The staff at Reston took good care of Ethan, but I think he put them a little bit outside of their comfort range. When a transport into Fairfax became available, we jumped on it and arrived at Fairfax around 2:30 that afternoon. Ethan remained hospitalized through this afternoon at 4:00. None of his cultures have grown – which is good news, although he is still neutropenic so will remain on antibiotics as a precaution until his counts come back up next week. It was yet another harrowing ride for us.
As relieved as we are to have Ethan home, we received some very sad news today that overshadowed our enthusiasm. One of Ethan’s dear Radiation nurses, Linda, lost her long battle with breast cancer. She was an amazing woman who never left my side during Ethan’s first simulation that scared me so much. She compassionately answered all of my questions, held my hand and helped me stay strong. I didn’t know for two more months that she too was fighting cancer - she was just such a strong lady. Ethan and I were able to spend a morning with Linda a few weeks ago when we first learned that her prognosis had worsened. It turned out to be one of her last good days, so I'm deeply grateful for the time that we had. I feel a little silly when I think about how long I actually had the privilege of knowing her, but I'm deeply affected by her loss. I feel very passionate about childhood brain tumors and am beginning to feel as strongly about breast cancer as well. I know that a lot of you hold Ethan in your thoughts and prayers. It would mean a lot to me if you would also pray for everyone who loved Linda – her friends and her family. The world was definitely a more beautiful place with her in it.
Kim.