Orange to the thigh. Blue to the sky.

This whole process is fraught with unknowns and surprises…. but this one we really didn’t see coming.

Tuesday night after enjoying a handful of peanuts as an apres dinner snack, Scott felt his lips start to swell, and his throat begin to itch. Within minutes he was looking like Kylie and finding it hard to swallow, and was promptly given Benadryl via IV to halt the suspected allergic reaction. When the symptoms intensified, a steroid was administered followed by another dose of Benadryl a few hours later. For fear of failing to breathe while sleeping, Scott slept (sort of) sitting upright, and worried about needing to have an emergency intubation. It was pretty terrifying for him. At home I actually had no idea it was this scary – figured he would sleep off some Benadryl and be fine. I am shocked to have not been on the receiving end of a frantic telephone call in the middle of the night (because I for sure would have been waking him up, demanding he listen to my breathing whilst I sleep, had the roles been reversed).

So yesterday during his daily check in with his NP, we were told that Scott now has an anaphylactic allergy to PEANUTS. Ummm…pardon? We sort of laughed it off, till Denise informed us that it’s actually a big deal (that needed to be taken seriously), before handing me a prescription for 3 epipens (!!!) with the direction to cleanse our home of all things nutty. Ginger and Mallory-Jane will take this news the hardest….

So crazy.

At least it provided some excitement in C4 Room 9, as it has been pretty uneventful around here for the last bit. Scott’s immune system is starting to rebound after the completion of his Re-Induction Chemo, and we are waiting (im)patiently for his Neutrophils to reach 0.5, which is the minimum level necessary to be released from the hospital. He has needed platelet and blood transfusions pretty regularly, but over the last couple of days both have been rising without assistance. This is a move in the right direction.

Along with boredom, time alone offers ample opportunity to get inside ones head. This has been a struggle for our guy lately, and will continue to be for a long time, quite understandably. Though I will speak to that at a later time, for now we’re just staying aware that Scott needs to be surrounded with positivity, and as he regains energy needs to get more activity into his day. Once he gets home the kids will give him more than enough of a distraction!

Oh also, some good news: Scott is now out of isolation! The antibiotics for his C-Diff have completed, so the threat of infection is reduced. Visitors, nursing and hospital staff are happy to no longer need to gown up every time they enter the room. Scott can also now leave his room without wearing gloves.

He will likely wait another week or so for his next biopsy, which will tell us how his marrow has responded to the chemo. For now, we just need to find the perfect fanny pack for Scott to carry around his new EpiPen in, and research where to get peanut free Thai takeout!