October 30, 2006 - Chemo Round 1

• Oct 30 - This was a packed day. First Lillian was injected with a radioactive isotope and an iv was placed in her foot. Then she had a hearing test. Then we went to the clinic and waited for the blood draws that were planned every half hour for an hour and a half. The first blood draw was a mess. They couldn't the iv to draw and couldn't find another vein despite numerous pokes. They brought in another person from iv therapy who was also unsuccessful. The discussion was either to scrap it and start again in a few days or keep trying with a new blood-drawing-expert. Since scrapping it also meant delaying the start of her chemotherapy, we opted for vampire #3. Praise God for Patti (aka vampire #3). She easily got all three blood draws. Next Lillian went into surgery and got her double lumen Hickman central venous catheter placed and a lumbar puncture to check that her spinal fluid was clear of any cancer. Following surgery, we were checked into 10 North, the hematology/oncology unit, for the start of chemotherapy.


• Oct 31 - Happy Halloween! Chemotherapy went beautifully with no side effects. The Child Life team coordinated trick-or-treating on the 10th floor so Dr. Lillian joined the parade. Albertsons treated the kids to pizza and handed out even more Halloween goodies. Lillian probably had a better Halloween in the hospital than she would have had at home!


• Nov 2 - The last day of chemotherapy and all seemed to still be going smoothly. Lillian played and ate and went about her day despite the monstrous pole of iv's that followed her. Jeff and I learned to flush the Hickman, change the caps and change the dressing. As we perform a dress rehearsal with our nurses support, I noticed some drainage from the incision and not the good kind. She thought it looked ok.