From the get-go, we’ve known that there were going to be good days and bad days in Brynna’s journey. We knew there would be times she would sail through, and others where there were set-backs, road bumps, or other delays. When we reached the end of our first month of Consolidation, I was thrilled to realize we had been home for 6 weeks without even a scare of having to visit the ER. And as most of you know from our social media posts this week, that all changed Tuesday morning. Monday was the first day of the 2nd month of Consolidation. It was a long day in the clinic, and she received 2 kinds of chemo there, and we gave her an oral chemo at home that evening. This was all exactly how things played out a month ago, on the first day of the first month of Consolidation, so there was nothing even lingering in our minds that her body would have trouble with it. She did fabulous at clinic on Monday…she was charming, happy, and just herself. Monday night seemed like a “normal” night…a couple of wake-ups where Ben went in a snuggled with her, but nothing out of the norm.

Tuesday morning, she woke up around 6ish, and Ben went in to lay with her. After a bit, I heard him tell her that he would come back after his shower, and she was ok with that. A little bit later, I was nursing Cole in his room and heard Brynna again. Ben went in and got her and brought her downstairs. He laid her on the couch, where she proceeded to fall back asleep. When I came downstairs and saw her sleeping, my first thought was, “Yay!!!! She’s finally catching up on some sleep!” Ben noticed she was sweating, but she wasn’t hot to the touch by any means, so we didn’t take her temperature right away. We were just happy she was resting. Ben left for work shortly thereafter (we didn’t have any concerns about her! Crazy how fast things can change…), and I got the boys situated. When I looked back over to Brynna, something about the way she was resting just struck me as weird. Something didn’t seem quite right. She would open her eyes now and then, look around, and then close them again. I asked if she wanted a waffle, and she did tell me yes, so she was responsive at that point, but still, something seemed off.

Because we had just been at clinic the day before I knew her labs were decent (at least her hemoglobin and platelets), so I knew it wasn’t that. I decided to take her temperature, just to reassure myself she didn’t have a fever. It registered at 93.1. I just figured I didn’t have the thermometer under her arm all the way, so I switched armpits and tried again. This time it was in the 92’s. I didn’t realize a body could be that low and be ok, so I took it several more times, thinking our thermometer must be broken, but I got the same thing (or lower) every single time. I took my temp just to make sure, and it came back normal. That’s when it truly hit me how limp and lethargic she was. I had seen it, but it hadn’t fully registered. I called the on-call doctor at 7:25. While waiting for a call back, my dad came over as planned (he comes over around 7:30 every morning), talked with me, looked at her, and we both decided we needed to take her to the ER immediately. (Looking back, we SHOULD have called 911, but I’ll get to that in a bit). I knew I didn’t want to drive her by myself, because she seemed to be getting worse by the minute, and I wanted to sit with her, so he called my mom to come over and watch the boys so he could drive us to the hospital (SO THANKFUL!!). While we waited for my mom to come, I got all of our stuff ready, and we headed out as soon as she got there (around 7:55).

I am so thankful for my dad’s driving! And SO thankful that there was NO traffic. A God thing. It’s a good 45 minute drive to the hospital, and she seemed to be turning gray as we drove, but she was still slightly responsive. I held her chin up (so her head wouldn’t fall to her chest), and kept my finger on her pulse as my dad drove. Every now and then she would move an arm or leg to shift her blanket, and once she even asked for her waffle (which she only held), but all of that was enough to help us keep breathing (knowing she was semi-responsive at least). I called Ben on the way, and he met us at the ER.

The ER staff was fabulous, and got her stabilized quickly. Her blood sugar registered at 28, which is insanely, very scary low. Her temperature wouldn’t even register on their thermometers. The doctor was the same ER doctor that was there the night Brynna was admitted, 10 weeks ago. Crazy. The nurses drew her labs, sent them off, and then pumped her full of what I assume is sugar. A massive syringe of it…and you guys, it was so crazy to watch! Literally within a minute of them giving it to her, her eyes opened, she asked for her peanut butter crackers, asked to watch Baby Bum (her favorite), and asked me to snuggle. She inhaled the package of crackers, and was pretty much herself. They checked her blood sugar level again about 20 minutes later, and it was 151. PRAISE THE LORD!!! They wrapped her in a heated blanket and then a strange warm air filled contraption (that looks a lot like a pool floaty), to help bring her temperature back up to normal. That one took a while longer, but she eventually stabilized in that area as well.

It wasn’t until a little while later, when she was sleeping, and I was just laying next to her, snuggling her, that the enormity of what just happened, hit me, and I felt the tears coming. Over the course of the day, as we talked to various nurses and doctors, I realized that I probably should have called 911, but it’s just so weird to call 911. I always thought of 911 as a heart attack call, or something life and death like that…but with Brynna’s condition, many things COULD be life threatening. I know it’s in my head, and it’s a weird stigma (if that’s even the right word), but as many people have reassured me, even if the paramedics won’t necessarily get her to the hospital any faster than we could, they would have her…they would be able to help her along the way…they would treat her immediately…and then they can always put on their lights and sirens if traffic does pop up. It’s scary thinking about having to call 911, but this event definitely opened my eyes to the value and importance of that, especially in regards to Brynna and her situation.

So, now the question of what caused all of this!? That’s what they have spent the past few days trying to figure out. So much of it goes over my head, and honestly, they don’t know that they can figure out the exact reason it happened like it did. (Also, I am writing this post Thursday night, so by Friday morning when it posts, we may have a bit more info…). They did draw cultures to check for bacteria and infection, and those have been negative, which we are SO thankful for! In a nutshell (from what I can understand), it’s a variety of things. Part of her initial chemo treatment during her very first 2 weeks involved a high dose of steroids. This kind of high dosage, can cause the adrenal glands to suffer and “forget” exactly what they are supposed to do (and these are the things in our body that create hormones and balance blood sugar, etc). Even though we’re a good 2 months removed from these steroids, a stressful event can trigger the adrenal glands, and they become insufficient. Brynna tested positive for a virus on Tuesday (just a common cold virus, but a virus nonetheless), and viruses can also trigger the adrenal glands. And lastly, the oral chemo we gave her Monday night has a rare side effect of possibly lowering blood sugar levels. So, all that to say, take into account the long day at clinic on Monday with 2 strong doses of chemo, the oral chemo right before bed (given to her as instructed), the virus that we didn’t know she had, and the fact that she basically just ate rice allllll day on Monday (her food of choice lately), and it all just kind of created a perfect storm of sorts. — I think I summed that up right. Ha, I could be off on some things, but from my understanding, that’s at least the gist of it! —

So, as of right now (Thursday night), it looks like the plan is for her to come home Friday (hooray!!). She received her normal 2 chemo doses Thursday (one of which was the oral drug), and she’s not supposed to eat after midnight. They will check her blood sugar at 8am, and depending on what it looks like, the plan will go from there. Most likely, we will be sent home with small doses of steroids, and give these to her as they work on re-weaning her body off of them. We will also have to check her blood sugar levels at home (which I am glad to do, just to prevent this from happening again!). We will go back into clinic on Monday (which was already the plan anyways) to check labs, and go from there.

Tuesday was scary, but, just like with her initial diagnosis, we see God’s hand through it all. We met several people who were either involved behind the scenes the night Brynna was first admitted, or who were part of the team and we didn’t know. We have realized how many people know Brynna’s story, recognize her around the hospital, and are cheering for her and praying for her. It’s INCREDIBLE. We know that God is using Brynna in a mighty, mighty way…and in ways we can’t even imagine. Here is this little 2 year old girl, who is already impacting the Kingdom of God. Truly y’all, it’s incredible. She has her bobkat moments, as we call them, but she is the bravest, strongest, most courageous little girl we know. We are SO proud of her! I was afraid of how going back to the hospital may set her back, or upset her, or scare her (PTSD?)…but she just took it all in stride. She remembers things (like her wagon rides), but she also wants to walk around, play in the playroom, do all the things, and she wanted none of that last time! None of the nurses had ever seen her walk before, and let me just tell ya, on Thursday, when she decided to push her baby doll (baby Jenna) around the hospital floor in Jenna’s little pink stroller, she brought a TON of joy and smiles to the 7th floor. It is a joy being her momma. It can be heart-wrenching, but oh is it incredible. She brings so much life and joy and laughter to our lives!