Day 342

       It has been a really long 3 weeks!  We had our appointment today, and thankfully, all the test results were back...
     Katie never had Chicken Pox!  Katie does not have Hand, Foot & Mouth!  According to the test results, Katie does not have any (known) virus!  It is now believed Katie has a bacterial infection and she needs to be on an antibiotic. 
     We definitely believe there has been Divine Intervention in the past couple of days, for us to get where we now are.  Thank you to our family for fasting and praying.  Thank you to our friends for your prayers.  And thank you to Cece and Velika for your comments - which yesterday lead me down the path of researching strep (peeling hands and feet) and Impetigo.  I called the nurse at the clinic yesterday afternoon and told her I did not believe we were dealing with a virus, rather a strep related bacteria and that Katie needed antibiotics instead of antiviral medication (she has been on antiviral meds for the past two weeks).  A huge thank you goes to the Layton's who stopped by last night and who after listening to my story, packed Katie and I in their car, and drove me to Dr. Michaud's house (He is a Dermatologist and he is Sister Layton's brother).  Dr. Michaud very graciously let us into his home - he listened to my story, looked at the pictures I had taken of Katie's sores on September 29th, and he looked at Katie herself.  Dr. Michaud's diagnosis was this is not Chicken Pox, not Hand, Foot & Mouth, but instead this was a bacterial infection and he would have prescribed an oral and topical antibiotic.  (I did not mention to him that was also my conclusion, until after He said that).  Dr. Michaud asked why they hadn't brought in a Pediatric Dermatologist?  Great question! 
     Because Katie has Leukemia we can only go to the doctors at the clinic and PCH for her health care.  I didn't even know they had a Dermatologist at the hospital until yesterday (when they told us they would have a Dermatologist at our appointment today).  By the way, there was no Dermatologist at our appointment today and there was no Infectious Disease Doctor, as promised.  However, we did have the test results!  And the test results supported my conclusions (after three weeks of research), and the test results supported Dr. Michaud's diagnosis. 
     Today, when the doctor told us all the viral tests came back negative, we told him what Dr. Michaud said yesterday... I believe we are now on an antibiotic because of Dr. Michaud's diagnosis!  Otherwise, I believe the doctor we met with today would have just excused what is going on with Katie as an unknown/untreatable virus, and left it at that.  He was telling us to put Neosporin on her sores.  When we told him about Dr. Michaud, then it was if the light came on, and Katie is now on an antibiotic.
     Moving on... Katie's blood work today came back okay (not great, but okay).  Okay enough for her to start back on her treatments.  The only thing we are still holding off on is the spinal tap.  Katie needs to be fully healed before we can do that.  So...Katie is on antibiotics, chemo (intravenous and pills) and steroids.  We pray there will not be any further complications!
     We did not exactly get an apology today...but we were told the doctors and staff did not handle this well... there was too much break down in communication between the staff... too many assumptions that became so called "confirmations" and those "confirmations" went from one doctor to another - without anyone further questioning the original "confirmation" (which in the end turned out to be incorrect)!..  Katie was given the wrong medication, the right tests were not given, and things did not work the way they should work... The clinic/hospital has policies that need to be changed.  We were told this will be reviewed and discussed with all the doctors and staff, and changes will be implemented, so something like this never happens again.
     Today I was able to calmly detail the past 3 weeks for the doctor we met with today (the Head of the Oncology Department).  I expressed our frustrations, anger, fears, and concerns.  Scott asked me afterward how I felt.  My reply, "Frustrated...still frustrated."  We will meet with our Doctor (Dr. Dana) in two weeks for a follow up.
     Thank you again for your prayers!!! We needed answers and we needed to move forward.  Today we got answers and we were able to move forward.  My thought for the day is simply this: We are not alone - prayers are heard and prayers are answered.  Today we are glad for Divine Intervention and for the Layton's who acted on inspiration and for Dr. Michaud's insight.  We are grateful the test results came back so quickly.  We have been blessed!  Hopefully Katie's sores will heal, her levels will remain high, and this will all be behind us!