Our Dells vacation got a little messy. Sunday while Jen, Eric and Papa and I were hacking it around Trappers Turn Golf Club, Shannon got sick back at Kalahari. More vomiting and we cut short our golf to take her to the ER in Baraboo. Grandma's texts and voice mails alerted us as we found a cell signal at the turn. The cell coverage in the Dells is not strong.
Dr. Rodriguez from Mayo Neurology was on call and advised us to head in to the nearest ER so Shannon could get checked out. She wanted to rule out an anaphylactic shock to the Bactrim she began taking Saturday.
The Bactrim is prescribed to help Shannon's immune system for the next round of chemo - set to start here in the next week or two. Shannon was to take two doses on Saturday and two on Sunday. She made it through the Saturday dosage but she puked up Sunday's pill shortly after taking it.
Logic would tell you the introduction of Bactrim coupled with some overexertion from a couple exciting days at Kalahari should explain the reaction. But the panic on Shannon's face told us she was worried it was tumor related. She asked us as we rushed out to the car to head for Baraboo; "is there a chance I will die today?" Oh Sweetie.
After examining Shannon and listening to the 12-year old explain her journey as an oncology patient at Mayo Clinic, the ER doc in Baraboo called Dr. Rodriguez in Rochester to consult. He told us Dr. Rodriguez was the expert on tumors but he knew his anaphylactic shock and he said definitively this was not it. And we were discharged.
Shannon is well aware that Friday she will undergo an MRI that will determine her immediate future. There's no doubt she's processing. There's no doubt she's scared. We are all scared. So separating daily 12-year old ailments like water in the ear or some nausea relating to sea sickness or overexertion is impossible to discount as the stand alone symptoms of a summer packed with activity.
We feel so badly for Gwen and Chuck, Eric and Jen, and Jack and Laurynn who did not sign up for this either. And for sister Erin who quietly goes about her business of being a happy and fun loving 10-year old. Just like our journey across Lake Michigan, 95% of the trip to the Dells was really great - but that 5% is the ass kicker.
Bruce Springsteen's Long Walk Home comes up just at the moment I am trying to find the words for this blog entry. "Hey pretty darling...it's going to be a long walk home..."
