Well, I didn’t really want to post on the blog, but I’ve had too many inquiries about how Brent’s  doing. Not that I don’t appreciate your love and concern, I just don’t want to text everyone back. ☺️


We want you to know that we are so thankful for your love and concern and we do feel the power that is in prayer. Seeing everyone’s concern really does strengthen us. I don’t post on insta or Facebook to get sympathy, I post because so many people love Brent and always want to know when he is struggling and in the hospital. We are beyond grateful for our families and friends and your willingness to always continue to pray for us. That is what keeps us going through crazy times.

I’ve got a lot of really raw emotions right now and I will try to spare you those. They’re not fun at all. I’ll save that for another time maybe.

Brent started running a fever yesterday at about noon. Fevers are normal for most people, not normal for Brent. It is sometimes the only indicator that something is brewing. He has gone septic so many times in various degrees of danger. We immediately head to the ER. We were a little hesitant this time because he had just had his iron infusion at Huntsman on Friday. Sometimes it can cause weird side effects, but not usually a fever. The level of our perceived danger dictates which hospital we are going to. This time we felt comfortable driving up to Murray. If you’re new to the blog, we absolutely avoid going to Utah Valley if we can. We prefer IMED because his whole medical team is here.

Unfortunately, in this wonderful world of COVID-19, fever=COVID. No exceptions. I was not permitted to be with Brent in the ER. (This is where the raw emotions fit in in the story but I will skip ahead a bit to spare you.) Brent was tested for COVID, and the rapid test was negative. Once they got him stable enough to move out of the ER he was moved to the 8th floor. Initially I was told that he would be going to the COVID floor and once again I would not be permitted to be with him. Luckily that did not happen. And yes, I’m leaving out a huge part of the story.

So far, the blood pressure has stabilized and his temp is normal. He was on two IV antibiotics and now is just on one. The blood cultures from his central IV line are showing growth, which is what we suspected. The cultures from his peripheral tests are not growing anything so far, which is good. That means so far there is no indication that the bacteria is in his bloodstream. We won’t know what specific bacteria he has until probably tomorrow. If it’s a certain kind they will pull the line again. Some types can be treated without pulling the line.

My guess right now is that he will go home in a day or two with IV antibiotics that we do at home. We’re used to that. Fortunately and unfortunately. Fortunately because we can do it at home and not have to sit at the hospital, and unfortunately because it’s unfortunate that we are so used to it and comfortable doing them ourselves at home.

I think we caught this one pretty quick which is very advantageous. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being no big deal, to 10 being last July’s ‘call-the-family-in-to-say-their-goodbyes’ episode, I would give this one a 5-6.

Truly, thank you for your love and concern. So many offers of help. We don’t usually need anything except your constant love and prayers which we feel we always have. When the kids were all at home we used to say that we went into ‘hospital mode’ when things would happen. Everyone knew what to do to make our lives function as best we could. I feel you all share in that ‘hospital mode’ with us. We are automatically added back into your thoughts and prayers. Thank you once again for letting us invade your lives.