Day One

This was the worst day of my life. I have never felt so helpless, so overwhelmed, or so much heartache all at once. It was a horrible, ugly day. I'll try to keep it short.

To recap, at approx. 3am Dec 31st we received info that Bash's white blood cell count was 520k, and he may have cancer - most likely Leukemia. We were admitted to the PICU right away. (Blood counts are: white = 520k, hemoglobin = 42, platelets =16 for those wondering). Lab had difficulty completing tests as his blood was so thick (molasses, or sludge were terms used).

At approx. 5am peripheral IV lines are put into both Bash's arms (3 attempts to put in his feet failed). A catheter was inserted (it took them 4 horrifying attempts!!). They did an X-Ray of his chest to check his lungs, which came back clear. We spoke with the air transport team about air lifting us to the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary, but the PICU doctors said he was not stable enough for travel. He was given a dose of 'Respiritan' to stop his body from breaking down white blood cells (this would have produced potassium and uric acid causing possible cardiac arrest). At 8am Sebastian was sedated and femoral central lines put in each side of his groin. He was fighting the sedation and having a hard time breathing so he was intubated. We called our families to break the news about the diagnosis. Everyone was devastated. At 10am Bash was given two units of blood and started on a dialysis machine to help protect his kidneys from damage, and to help clear his blood of toxins. At 11am we met with an oncologist and the PICU doctor. We were told that it may be 2-4 weeks before Bash is stable enough for transport to Calgary. The oncologist said early testing showed lymphoblasts in the blood and they were waiting on confirmation of the type of Leukemia. Goals were getting his white count down to safe levels. (Need to be closer to 50k before chemotherapy can begin safely). We confirm getting to Calgary is a priority for us. At 12pm Nathan's parents go home to pack us bags, and we setup living space in the PICU family room and try to sleep on couches. At 5pm we met again with the oncologist with an update on results. He confirms Bash has B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He will need bone marrow and spinal fluid samples taken for more testing and the samples needed to be sent to Calgary as they don't have the equipment to test in Saskatoon. Due to the holiday a courier was not able to transport samples until Jan 2nd or 3rd… and they will need to keep Sebastian sedated until these tests are completed. We ask again about moving to Calgary, and are told he's not stable enough to safely do this. White blood cell count is at 440k now thanks to the dialysis and steroid meds they started. Bash is given 2 more units of blood to get his platelets and hemoglobin to normal levels.  At 10pm the dialysis machine started having trouble moving the thick blood through it. More fluids were given to try to thin out his blood. I worried about him getting fluid overloaded from everything they were giving. We were more than exhausted at this point and tried to sleep on the family room couches.