hospital continued. . . .

• Didn’t last – got a little sick once we got upstairs.  And to boot, after 24 hours on IV drip, Annie weighed almost 44 pounds this morning – weighed almost 41 yesterday afternoon.  Every time she throws up she pees her pants. She gets upset about it – almost 5 years old, so I think she’s a little embarrassed.  We just whisk her off bed and get her changed up – keep running out of clothes, but there’s always the hospital gowns.
• Some more visitors today, but she hasn’t been in the mood.  Coming off the anesthesia is no fun.  Doesn’t help that a member of hospital staff steps in literally every five minutes and 90% need to do something involving her.  She’s pretty mean to everyone.  A little torn between giving her some slack and keeping her from getting spoiled.  She’s a tough little bugger, so we’re trying to keep her civilized.
• Still no eating.  And chemo about to start.  We don’t expect much of an appetite after that, so she’ll just have to live on her dextrose drip, and, in the infamous words of the late great Fred Benjamin, her layers of fat.
• Chemo begins – it’s actually several meds.  No need to list them, but they all stink.  Tons of crappy side effects that add to our worries.  Saving grace is they’re all oral or IV (that go into her chest catheter). 
• Nausea and mood much worse.  It’s better when she’s sleeping, but doesn’t stop the pants peeing.  Lots of bed and clothes changes thru the night.  Between the vomiting and the developing cough, she has a very sore throat and is not real happy with that.  Her silver lining is she’s permitted to have ginger ale.  Quickly becomes a small obsession – ginger ale junkie.
• She also spiked a 103 fever in the night.  Chemo destroys most of the white blood cells in the body leaving the body vulnerable to bacteria, so fevers are treated very seriously.  She started on Tylenol and a course of antibiotics in the middle of the night (there is a pharmacy 10 steps from Annie’s roomJ).
• Late-late night, fever breaks and sleeping beauty is wide awake.  Fern asleep, so I soaked up a few fun minutes with the “old Annie” of 48 hours before.  Seems like a lot longer than that.
• Meanwhile, all so thankful for the throngs of flowers, toys, well-wishes, offers of assistance, etc. that keep flowing in. 

Saturday, June 25, 2016

• Morning starts with new plan for nausea.  And additional drug introduced, that is partly a sedative.  Once it hits, sleeping beauty is quiet and peaceful – hopefully no more throwing up. 
• Officially convert to the miniature hospital gowns, because all Annie’s clothes are gross now. 
  
• Puppy comes again and Annie’s sleepingL
• New blood work reveals white blood cells eviscerated.  That’s a good thing!!  Annie has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. . . .

www.Cancer.org ……

What is acute lymphocytic leukemia?

Cancer starts when cells in the body begin to grow out of control. Cells in nearly any part of the body can become cancer, and can spread to other areas of the body. To learn more about how cancers start and spread, see What Is Cancer?

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), also called acute lymphoblastic leukemia, is a cancer that starts from the early version of white blood cells called lymphocytes in the bone marrow (the soft inner part of the bones, where new blood cells are made).

Leukemia cells usually invade the blood fairly quickly. They can then spread to other parts of the body, including the lymph nodes, liver, spleen, central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), and testicles (in males). Other types of cancer also can start in these organs and then spread to the bone marrow, but these cancers are not leukemia.

The term “acute” means that the leukemia can progress quickly, and if not treated, would probably be fatal within a few months. Lymphocytic means it develops from early (immature) forms of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. This is different from acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which develops in other blood cell types found in the bone marrow. For more information on AML, see Leukemia--Acute Myeloid.

• So, for now, we love dead white blood cells.  Later, we’ll want them to regenerate with no leukemia cells present.  At any rate, Dr. Halpern says the result is better than what he expected.  He also was unmoved by our torturous evening and said she’s tolerating everything as well as can be expected.  It seems like the doctor started with bad news, but has delivered good ever since.
• Annie started bleeding at the site of her catheter.  Dressing changed to no avail.  Nurses worried, but surgical team sends up a doctor who takes a look and puts us at ease.  Second dressing change and all appears well.
• Dr. Halpern orders a second platelet transfusion (first one came on Thursday), even though count pretty good, because better to be safe than sorry about the bleeding.
• Hair wash from nurse and Aunt Lori to get all the throw-up out.  Annie doesn’t like the process, but happy w/ finished product.
• Giant Tinker Bell cake arrives, donated to Goyreb by Sweet Passion bakery.  The nurses decided that Annie should get the cakeJ  It’s huge and quite elaborate.  We’re gonna give some of it away to the rest of the floor.
  
   
   
• More new toys get opened, and afternoon goes relatively peacefully.  Still no eating, but no one seems concerned.  Hardly seems like a sick kid right now.
• Smiles continue and some red jello is first food she’s eaten since she came her on Thursday morning.  Once she’s eating regular, she may be able to go off IV for a while.  Making it to the potty has become a snap again – thank God.