Hospital: Day #12

Yesterday was tough emotionally because, although we are very thankful for this hospital, we can't wait to leave. Mollie BORED. It's like being in jail- she can't leave the room and her friends can't come visit. Trying to keep her spirits up is the hardest thing right now. It bites that we missed Halloween. We haven't been together as a family in almost two weeks. Lucy doesn't know what is going on and really misses Mollie.

To add insult to injury, her hair is starting to fall out in big clumps- probably from her last treatment with vincristine. It is not unusual for kids to have some hair loss in LTM, particularly after a year in treatment. Most of the time it is just a general thinning, but occasionally they go totally bald. With the amount of hair that Mollie is losing, I'm worried it's the latter, but I know we can deal with it.

The important thing is that she's still kickin' butt! Her WBC is 6300 today (ANC not in, but probably around 3000) and her lungs are starting to sound better. No fevers in 2 days. She's very weak from all the medications and just being in here so long, and her appetite is totally gone (although she's been munching on some Halloween candy). But, we just found out she is no longer on isolation! She still can't have children under 18 as visitors (hospital-wide policy), but she can finally leave the room!

9 PM Update: Mollie had a good day today- she had a visit from her teacher, Mrs. S, and then went out to the lobby for a visit with Lucy! It was very sweet to see them together after so long apart. They were blowing bubbles and Mollie even attempted to pull Lucy in the wagon while still attached to her IV. Tonight, Mollie wound up with abdominal pain and GI issues. When I left the hospital, she was sleeping but still complaining of pain. Given all the medications and the lack of exercise and poor diet, I'm not surprised she's having digestive tract problems. I think they will back off of some of the medications tomorrow. A good night's sleep would really do her (and all of us) some good, but with breathing treatments every four hours round the clock and continuous IV fluids (and trips to the bathroom), it won't happen. I'm hoping that tonight is relatively restful for Matt and Mollie.