Round 12

Enjoying the view at home.

Every week we're admitted is a week closer to the finish line. This is what I tried to remind myself as we loaded the bags into the car and made the trip back to SCH yesterday. It's so hard to go from our own beds and the comforts of home to the beeping & bright lights of the hospital, but obviously it's a necessity.

Our marathon Monday went well... as well as seven appointments with a 10 year old can go at least. We covered all areas of the hospital starting at 7:45am - labs, MRI, PT, CT, x-ray, echo, and a visit with Dr. Brittany. With no concrete results from the scans, our visit with Dr. B was relatively short, which was just fine by us! Charlotte, while tired, did so much better than I was expecting her to. You'd think by this point in her journey I'd start giving her more credit! (We did get confirmation on Tuesday morning that the CT and echo both looked good - stable compared to previous scans. We'll most likely go over x-ray and MRI on Tuesday with Dr. Jesse.)

How we break between appointments. Connor is thrilled.

Charlotte was in a great mood when we checked in yesterday, mostly because Hannah, the CNA she was hoping for, was assigned to us. Hannah was the very first CNA we had after Charlotte's port placement, so she holds a special spot in our hearts. We kicked things off with a 30-second dance party, a trip to the classroom, and some Halloween themed coloring sheets. The hyperhydration period ended after a couple of hours and methotrexate started a little before 3pm.

Despite our scheduled anti-nausea medication, the methotrexate hit hard & fast, and Charlotte got sick later on in the evening. You know where I'm going with this. The NG tube was out. This damn tube! The love/hate relationship is very real! Charlotte was on board with getting it replaced as quickly as possible, so about an hour & a half later, that is what our nurse did. It was the smoothest a replacement had gone and the IV Benadryl promptly knocked Charlotte out for the night. (Wish Connor and I could snag a hit of that...)

Charlotte is definitely fatigued today, but found the energy for a couple of morning laps & a trip to the classroom. After school, we saw our buddy was admitted two rooms away! She, and her parents, always brighten our stays. First order of business? Note writing. Second order of business? Discussing Make-a-Wish ideas.

The 24-hour lab draw just took place. Keeping our fingers crossed for similar numbers to last week so we can get out of here as early as possible on Friday.