Tuesday, June 4th was the big day. Abigail and I got up early and got to the hospital at 6am. Today would be her surgery to place her port, followed by her first dose of chemo that afternoon. If all went well, we'd go home the next day.
We've totally got this, right?
The IV part was, of course, no fun. Man, I do not miss those! Now that she has a port, it's all easy breezy!
Passing time waiting for the surgery - we first did our chemo consultation with Dr. Kaylani, her oncologist.
This was the day we met Becky, the child life specialist, who showed Abigail on this doll what her port would look like. Yay for no more pokes!
Gabe, the chemo duck!
It's still a little scary, though....
The surgery went great and took about an hour from what I remember. And it's crazy how quickly she was back up and at 'em. Guess I'm just used to brain surgery....?
It's hard to tell, but the power port was inserted under the skin on the right side of her chest.
Gabe went to surgery with her :)
Cookies never tasted so good!
That afternoon, Daddy brought everyone for a visit!
Daddy always makes us feel silly!
French toast and chocolate milk for breakfast on Wednesday morning!
Abigail has become a great helper at administering her own meds through her port - and it all started with practice on the doll.
And just like that, port placement and week 1 of chemo were in the books! And Abigail got a wagon ride out to the hospital exit!
Week 2
Tuesday is Abigail's official chemo day, so week 2 was on June 11th. This was a first "normal" week. We start at the clinic where Brenda hooks up Abigail's port. They gave us prescription numbing cream, which I apply at home about 30 minutes before the appointment and cover with press and seal plastic wrap.
Playing on the old motorcycle in the waiting room. Sadly, that toy is no longer with us. It was retired not too long after this picture.
With the "magic cream" (as we call it) in place, hooking up the port doesn't hurt at all! This first week, Abigail freaked out a bit because, hey, it's scary to have someone come at your chest with a huge needle, so Lorenzo had to hold her down, but she instantly realized there was no pain and calmed down. Each week has gotten progressively better and within a month, she didn't even flinch as it was hooked up. Brenda's also exceptionally good at it, which doesn't hurt.
They draw a blood sample through her port at the clinic, then we visit with Dr. Kaylani about how she's doing before heading across the street to the hospital for the administration of the chemo. Before we leave, Abigail gets to pick a prize for doing a good job with her port!
And waiting at the hospital are more toys, courtesy of the Ronald McDonald House.
We have to wait for the results of her labs before starting chemo to make sure she passed her white blood cells counts. Once we have those results, she gets 30 minutes or so of fluids through her port, then her first chemo agent - carboplatin - which takes an hour. Then another flush of fluids for about 30 minutes, then the second chemo agent - vincristine - which takes 5 - 10 minutes. Another 30 minutes of fluids and we're ready to take out the port! All told, it's about 6 hours.
Abigail got to go to the play room for the first time during week 2!
And we always take the long way out of the building so we can stop and see the fish!
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