12 Mar Update
Where to start? Well, the good news is we have an answer as to what Keegan is fighting – rotavirus. It’s a nasty stomach bug for normal, healthy children. I suppose you can imagine how bad it is for Keegan. He is stable but struggling. (Where he might have picked this up is the strange question, as he is still on strict lock-down. Neither Keegan nor Audrey were allowed to have the rota vaccine, as it is a live vaccine and too dangerous to Keegan. If the vaccine, which is a miniscule amount of the live virus, is dangerous, that says a lot about what the full-blown thing can do to him.)
Keegan had a really rough night. Lots of pain, high fever, lots of tummy problems. We tried pedialyte through his g-tube, and he couldn’t tolerate it at all. As soon as his morning labs were drawn, the attending at the Legacy campus came into the room and told us Keegan needed to be transferred to the main Children’s campus downtown. At that time, none of the cultures were growing back anything. They didn’t know what was affecting him, and they were highly concerned about his kidney function.
We finally got the details of the transfer ironed out and a transport team to take him by ambulance downtown around 2pm. Lo and behold, the rotavirus culture came back positive in the 30 minutes it took to drive him down here. His bone marrow and blood counts have tanked under the stress of the infection, rather than mount a response. His poor kidney has suffered the shock of dehydration, followed by fluid overload. He is extremely pale and very puffy. He is still in quite a bit of pain and lethargic. He frankly looks terrible. His fever is not responding to tylenol, and we may have to put him on a cooling blanket soon to try to break it. The team has started him on two broad-spectrum antibiotics because his immune-system has sunken so low; it puts him at a much higher risk of developing secondary infections.
The worst part of all this is that Keegan’s GI system was in a really bad place before this hit. We are not anticipating that this will be an easy recovery for him. He will go back on TPN (IV nutrition) tomorrow, and he is on complete gut rest (absolutely nothing in his tummy) for the foreseeable future. We have no idea how long it will be before he can come home.
For now, we would just humbly ask that you continue to pray for Keegan as you always have. He just can’t seem to catch a break, but he is so very strong. He has not let this break him, and we are trying to let him be our guide and inspiration. We are so weary on so many levels; I can only imagine how he must feel. Thank you so very much for your support and prayers through every trial. You give us strength for the day and endurance for the journey. The Lord alone knows the mysteries of Keegan’s body, and we place our trust in Him daily to provide relief, comfort, strength, and hope for our little boy. We would also love it if you would keep Audrey in your prayers. She is okay so far, but this could be dangerous to her as well at her age. More tomorrow.
