Chemo Cycle 1 Summary

Sending love to family before we left for the hospital...

We arrived at LGH 1:00pm on Tuesday April 8th. We spent a good amount of time with the child life worker (Kevynne is great! Thank you!). She played with Ania and brought her a doll that had a port so she could show Ania what it was like. We had a bit of a wait- did not go in until 4:00pm. Ania did not complain once about being hungry or thirsty ( she had not eaten since 9:00pm the night before!)

Learning about her port

Ania and her cancer kid doll friend....

She went in and we had our wait time. I worked on my attempt at learning to knit- it's turning out to be a long..."colorful something". It's nearly the length of my thigh. If anything, it's a record of the time spent waiting for my daughter.....

They did the surgery to place her port in her body first. The port is so they have an easy access point for chemotherapy and blood draws. After, they did an MRI of her brain to be sure it is clear of any tumors (she has not had one since last October).

They brought her to recovery and then admitted her straight to the pediatric floor for our stay. Her chemo infusion did not take place until 11:00pm. 

Post surgery, before chemo half smile & snuggles with daddy.

The next couple hours were very nerve wrecking for me. I couldn't believe she was going to be having 3 chemo drugs infused into her little body. I had to stay strong but I just felt like crumbling. At 11:00pm, Ania was getting sleepy and the nurse dimmed the lights and hooked the meds up to the machine. I sat in the chair next to Ania's bed and cried quietly. I'm sure seeing it happen will get easier over time, but this first time, was just hard. Rather then stay up and watch as 2 other drugs were added to the mix, I decided to put my emotional mind to rest and get some sleep. Ania was already sleep anyways.

We slept soundly until about 4:30am. That's when the nausea kicked in for her. From about 4:30am until 11:00am, she threw up every half hour or so. Her smile was non-existent during that time. 

My mom and I lost track of how many times we changed her sheets due to the sickness. She went through so many sets of hospital pjs that they ran out for a period of time. The zofran was not working for her so they gave her some benedryl to try to help stop the sickness. At 11:00, she finally started to appear better. 

Around 12:00 we busted out of her room and went to the playroom. She enjoyed playing instruments and riding a little toy car around the hallway. 

In the afternoon, she had some special visitors!

Cinderella, Aurora, & Ariel came to lift her spirits!

Her next and final round of this first cycle was scheduled for 8:00pm so we had to stay another night. My anxiety was a little less thanks to a break from the hospital and a quick trip home for a run and a shower. My mom stayed with her for a few hours- she rode that little pink car around the halls practically the whole time! I returned right at 8:00pm. 

The chemo bag made me think "green ecto juice" (from ghostbusters) was being pumped into her veins. Shortly after the infusion began, she fell asleep.

I followed suit not too much later. Once my head hit the pillow, I barely moved until my mind woke up at 5:00am. I looked over at Ania and she was still peaceful- no sickness this time around! 

She awoke feeling well and we were able to leave around 2:00pm. 

Oh that smile!!!

She rode that little pink car to the exit door- Freedom!!

So we are home. Home feels wonderful and it is a beautiful day to step out and enjoy some emerging flowers! 

And play with little brother

And of course have lots of mama & baby snuggles!

 

God Bless,

Erica