About halfway through our 5-day “Summa With Ya Mutha” Jersey shore getaway with Mom, the Silvermans, Abramsons, and Lala, Mom started to have a low fever.
The fever stayed low and it altogether ceased for a half-day. When we called the cancer center to check-in they were adamant that we bring Mom to a local ER for support with what was likely a neutropenic fever.
We brought Mom to the local ER last night at about 7pm (Hackensack Meridian Health Ocean Medical Center, 15 minutes from our beach house, part of the same medical system as Mom’s cancer center up north).
They found her hemoglobin levels were super low (6.9) and indeed her white blood cell and neutrophils were at zero. She had a low fever and a dry cough.
Her chest x-ray showed healthy lungs, urine tests were healthy, they ran some multi-day blood tests to learn more about the infection mom was facing.
She received an IV antibiotic and was kept overnight in her own private room.
Early this morning she received a blood transfusion and she’ll likely get a second transfusion today.
She’s feeling well, but is understandably very disappointed that she’s dealing with hospitalization instead of vacation.
Mom’s 2nd cycle of chemo was completed Friday, April 23. This Monday (two days before our trip), her blood numbers were dropping (an expected result of the chemo) so they gave her a blood transfusion that day.
Overall, we’ve had a wonderful time together down the shore.
The two full-days that we had with Mom were our sunniest days ☀️ and we had a really beautiful and professional photoshoot at the beach yesterday.
Today (our last full day of the trip) the sky is a mix of clouds and rain, Mom’s 15 minutes away in the hospital, and life-logistics are creeping back into our conversations.
The photos are amazing! I’m sorry the trip did not go as planned, but so happy you were able to get the photo shoot completed. love you all.