Friday Mom and I took ViviAnne to begin the remainder of her D.I phase. Her counts were up (YAY!) and so we headed over to Kosair's for a 2 hour saline drip then a spinal tap with chemo push (Methotrexate) another IV push (Ara-C) then Cytoxin drip for about 45 minutes then 3 hours over more saline and an oral pill 6TG. All in all we didn't leave the hospital until 9PM at night. A LONG DAY considering we checked in at the clinic at 9:50AM. ViviAnne did okay. There were new faces this day for sedation and a wonderful nurse who she only had once before. ViviAnne does not handle change or new people well. It makes her scared and then she fights back. Which she does not do at all when she knows the people, even though the chemo is coming. SO I had to work extra hard at getting her to do the little things and keeping her calm. After the LP and a lot of the "busy" chemo was over she settled in and was fine. Things just didn't run as smoothly as the have in the past. She has 4-5 little hole marks on her back from the Spinal tap, almost like they couldn't quite get it. The fluid was clear to the eye, which is good, the doctor just commented that it was running very slowly. Apparently that is more of a nuisance than anything but in the end it was fine. I had ViviAnne remain flat for 45 minutes to an hour afterwards just for safe measure. The spinals can cause horrible headaches and if one gets up too quickly the chances of headaches increases.
Friday was also Christmas in the hospital for ViviAnne. Two sets of groups brought her in games and coloring books and toys. She was lovin' it! No wonder she never minds going to the hospital. She has figured out she always leaves with a new toy of some kind! Whatever works to make her not afraid I'm all for!
She is home accessed with her port now, something new for her and took a bit to get her to understand. Like I said any change in the routine or something new sends her spinning. But she is okay with it now and we are keeping she and Cooper seperated as much as possible so the port does not get damaged and ultimately hurt her. Mom (who is a Nurse) is giving her the daily chemo at home because I didn't want ViviAnne to have to get used to a new home nurse and neither did Mom. ViviAnne also started a new oral pill at home 6TG. So if you've kept up with the count that was 4 differnt chemos Friday and then 2 everyday since and then 1 after Monday. Then it is back to Kosairs the day after Christmas to repeat last Friday, minus the Spinal Tap. PHEW!
With all of this she is doing wonderfully. Her spirits are up and she is excited about Christmas! She tells everyone that she wants Santa to bring her a pink guitar. HO HO HO!!! ;)
We are looking forward to the end of the year and moving on to Maintence in 2009! This phase will be the marathon phase of 2 years. We will figure out our new new normal then. But as of today the sun is out and she is happy and I am anxoius (as usual) Cooper is silly and Brent is busy (as usual). So today is a good day. Hopefully tomorrow will be too.
1 comment:
PHEW! is right, my goodness. I don't quite understand all of the medical terms, but it seems like so much for you guys to handle. I know that the good Lord will give you the strength to handle it all. I love you all, and I'm just a phone call away if there is anything I can do. Jessica got ViviAnne a stuffed animal from her Santa's Workshop at school. I'll try to remeber to send it with Kim. LOTS OF LOVE AND PRAYERS TO YOU :o)
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