Clinic Update

Mollie's clinic visit and IV chemo went very well today, but her re-entry after the spinal tap/IT methotrexate was a little rough.

We got a late start which is never good when your child hasn't eaten since dinner the night before. Then, we forgot to put the EMLA cream (that numbs the skin before the needle goes in) on her skin over her port before we left the house this morning. Luckily I had a tube of it in my purse and we remembered on the way to the clinic; otherwise, we would have to put it on in the clinic and wait an additional 30 minutes for it to take effect. I am definitely a cancer mom!

Everything went very well in the outpatient clinic- they whisked us off to an exam room (the one with the chalkboard) so Mollie wouldn't have to watch/smell people eat burgers and fries all day. The port access went very smoothly. Ms. Nikki gave Mollie and Lucy TONS of stickers to play with and the new social worker came by with craft stuff and toys.

By noon, Lucy was getting hungry so Matt came and took her home for lunch and her nap. Mollie did a craft with Ms. Kat and then Mollie got her IV chemo. Her counts are fine (ANC is a bit borderline at 976), so she is going back on 100% chemo (at an increased dose because of her height). Then we headed to the OR at the hospital.

Mollie did fine with the sedation, but she woke up very quickly after the procedure. She usually sleeps for about 30 minutes before waking up, but today she woke up as soon as I arrived in the recovery area. And she was ANGRY when she awoke. She just kept saying yelling that she wanted to go home and asking when we could go home. She really was in a rage. And then, the nurse helped me wheel her down to the lobby in a wheelchair (I had Liam in the stroller) and I had to leave her there, screaming, while I went to pull the car around. This is the first bad "wake-up" she's had so far. I am hoping the next two are better. I attribute this to her being very, very hungry (it was about 2:30 PM and she had not eaten since 7 PM last night) or getting less Versed (the sedative she gets before she goes into the procedure). We had an anesthesiology resident do the dosing and half of her usual dose sedated her just fine so he didn't give her the additional medication. I'm fine with that since the last thing I want to do is overmedicate, but if it makes it easier for her to come off the anesthesia, then I will ask for the higher dose next time.

Anyway, she was fine a few minutes after she got in the car and got a snack. We hit Stevi B's for pizza afterwards. The present she chose from the "present box" was a bag of geodes (thanks Genevieve) that she got to break open with a hammer when we got home. They were full of crystals inside!

My nerves are a little frazzled from listening to all the yelling in the recovery room. It was so unusual for her that the anesthesiologist gave me his cell phone number and told me to call if she didn't calm down within an hour or so. Luckily she did and all is well, but now the steroids start. I'm anticipating a somewhat stressful week... but at least we have Mollie's birthday to look forward to on Saturday!