Red Blood Count, and Never Trust a 14 Year old on Dilantin Pain Killer

BLUF: Rainey might have to have a small blood transfusion due to a very low red blood cell count that is probably causing a lot of her dizziness, nausea, and exhaustion.

LONGER STORY: Rainey had to get an x-ray down on the first floor today. She is having quite a bit of nausea, dizziness, and weakness. For one of the x-rays, the poor thing had to lift her arms, couldn’t lean against her mom, etc. Well, that was about it for her. She asked, “Can I please lie on the floor? Please?” in the most heart wrenching voice imaginable – she has gone of the floor a few times because of the cold factor. I said, “Buddy, it will hurt worse to get you up, and instead of being back in your bed in a couple of minutes, it will take 20.” I thought I had gotten through – you know, really reached her. But just so you know, you can’t reason with a 14 year old who’s doped up, hot, and in pain. About ten seconds passed. Luckily, I was kneeling by Rainey when she DOVE –yes, dove – to the floor. Had in not being for seeing antics like this from my two year old, I’m not so sure that I would have caught her, but I did. No harm, no foul. But I still feel betrayed and bamboozled by my best buddy.

The same doctor who diagnosed Rainey’s heart problem just came in around 11:15. He thinks one of the reasons that Rainey might be feeling so terribly is because of her low red blood count (determined by a hematocrit test; the number is supposed to be in the 30s, hers is 24), so recommended a blood transfusion. I spoke to my brother, who’s the chief medical resident at Swedish, and given her symptoms, he thinks it is a good idea. For instance, Rainey has a normal resting heart rate in the 40s. Since her surgery, it has been in the 90s or 100s. So for her, that means she’s working twice as hard even when she’s resting – like being on a treadmill since she got out of surgery. No wonder she looks at us with the “are you kidding me?” look when we tell her she needs to walk four times today.

She just got an IV put in, and they’re doing the hematocrit test see where the red blood count is (I would be amazed if it was in the 30s, or above 24, but better be safe than sorry and make sure this is what is causing her to feel like doo doo before we give her a blood transfusion). We’ll update when we know more.

We’re going to give Rainey a target to shoot for, and there is a cool “Teen Room” on another floor. It has games, a movie theater, etc. No one can go in there unless they are with a patient, so I joked that the second she got out of the ICU, we would keep poking her: “Are you well yet? Are you well yet? Can we go to the game room? Can we go to the game room?” Not sure if we’ll get there today, but we’re going to try.

One thing I forgot to write about was “Snow Pile.” About 20,000 Harley Riders bring by presents to the Children’s Hospital for Christmas. Each kid gets to send one representative down to a room full of toys sorted by ages, genders, etc. Dawn would have gone, but understandably didn’t want to leave Rainey, so I got to go. You get to pick a “shopping buddy,” so instead of all the older folks, I picked the 16 year old totally decked out in Christmas gear, Sky, who was very helpful. Rainey got a whole bag full of stuff, including make-up, nail polish, a blanket, a huge gorilla, and a purse (yes, Aunt Tammy actually picked out a cool purse to the amazement of everyone, including herself).

More later,
Aunt Tammy