Wednesday, October 15, 2008





I know it's been awhile since I've updated Katlyn's blog. Usually it's because there isn't really much to report. This time however, we have been very busy. Katlyn had a terrible accident involving her feet. She is okay and they look really great now, but it's been a long process. You see, a couple of weeks ago I was getting Katlyn ready for her bath. This involves me first disinfecting her bathtub and then waiting 10 minutes. After that it's all clean and I usually give her a bath. On this day, events took a different spin. After disinfecting Katlyn tub, she was pretty upset because she didn't want to wait. It's not really unusual for her to be upset because she loves the bath so much. So anyway I had 10 minutes until her bath, so I tackled a ripped bag of garbage. I was taking it into the hall and cleaning up the mess. I could hear Katlyn crying, but I just thought she was having a temper tantrum. Then her screams worsened. I realized that usually by this time she would have either stopped crying or come to me. So I went to investigate. I couldn't hear much because our HEPA machines are always going and are quite noisy. As I rounded the corner to the bathroom I realized the water was running. I soon as I got to Katlyn she grabbed on to me and pulled herself out of the tub. Her feet were very red, but I didn't really know how bad they were. I quickly grabbed a towel and wet it in cool water and wrapped Katlyn's feet in it. I proceeded to the tub and stuck my hand in and it was dangerously hot. I looked at Katlyn's feet and the skin was beginning to loosen, automatic blisters.
I had no idea what to do. She was screaming so loudly and I could tell she was in so much pain. John was at work and I'm not very familiar with burns. So I called 911. They came a short time later and brought Katlyn to the hospital. Once there they gave her pain medication and wrapped her feet. She has first degree burns to the bottoms of her feet and second degree to the tops. She was then airlifted to the IWK. She stayed there about a week and we are home now. A nurse comes in everyday to change Katlyn's dressings and they are looking very good again. She will need changes for a bit longer but everyday is progress. She has started to walk again but she still has a limp.
As far as Katlyn's cancer goes. I think it's looking like she will have her tumors surgically removed. I can't say for sure, but it seems like we are leaning in that direction. She will have an appointment at the end of the month is Saint John with the surgeon to see if he can do it and how he will go about doing it.
She is also set to have her IVIG treatment in Fredericton this month as well as a hearing test. Also at the end of next month she will be going back to the US for a checkup. Hopefully soon we will know what form of treatment Katlyn will get, and soon it will be underway.
Her immune system seems about the same. Her neautrophils are around 2000 and it's hard to say where her lymphocytes are. Her doctors think some monocytes are mistakably being counted, when they are actually lymphocytes. The number we get is around 150-200, plus possibly more.
She has been doing very well. She's been talking so well. Actually I don't even know where she learns the things she does. New stuff everyday. We have been baking a lot. I actually find it to be a huge stress reliever, and everyone seems to love the yummy freshly baked goods I make.
We are looking forward to Halloween this year. We will be taking Katlyn trick-or-treating to some of our families houses. Katlyn has never experienced any of that before so it is a new exciting experience.