Radiation Monday

Fortunately my plan for Julia to sleep in worked and she didn't get up until 10:15 which made our NPO time much more manageable. She woke up happy and eager to get dressed. She brushed her own hair and asked for two pigtails. So far so good. We dropped off Carter at Lily's and applied her emla cream and Glad seal (we've gotten much better). She was happily watching a movie on the way to the hospital. When we arrived however, she did not want to get out of the car. She finally said she would, but we were only going in to 'talk'. She's on to how this whole thing works. I told her that yes, we were talking first and it was time to go.
We read books while I signed the consents with Dr. McMullen's resident. He was very encouraged that her radiation plan looks like it will miss the most sensitive areas. We still need to get absolute confirmation, but it looks good- her height is working to her advantage. Thank you all for your prayers about this issue. We would hate to see her have to deal with breast or ovarian cancer in the future as a result of this treatment. He did talk more about the bone marrow issue. The reason radiation can lower her blood counts is because if it goes through major bone dense areas, the blood cells are altered. In her case it is her lower spine that is in the field. he actually said the bigger risk is scoliosis because the bone would develop out of proportion and curve. For this reason they radiate the entire vertebrae of the ones in the field to try to ensure even growth.

Then we headed up to the 9th floor for port access. The elevators are still one of her favorite parts, which is funny because waiting form themn takes forever! It was music class day in the clinic waiting room, so we were greeted by a lively band of chemo patients. It was very exciting for Julia. Nurse Karen did a great job with her access and Julia didn't even flinch. We will now leave the access in for the entire week for radiation and chemo. Here's the fish and giraffes- her friends outside the chemo treatment rooms. She's named all the fish and loves the way they all dance around when she arrives :) and giraffes just happen to be her favorite animal (there's a family of 3)...
Then we headed back down to radiation oncology and they took her back for treatment. Dr. Sam (from the sedation team) did a great job with her. The nice part is when she tells me she only wants to talk to the doctors I can tell her okay, because they sedate her in my arms from a tube running out her shirt, as we're talking. It's easy and painless and she's off to dreamland. The drug they are using to counteract the anesthesia is a tenth of a dose of clonidine. It works wonders! The treatment didn't take too long and she came out of it fine. She picks up her conversation right where she left off. (That's Dr. Sam at her head in the picture.) Here's what the radiation setup looks like...

I was able to eat and drink something while she was under and met a very nice elderly man in the waiting room who was being treated for stage 4 lung cancer. He'd had a cough that wouldn't go away and doctors kept prescribing allergy medicine. He begged his doctor to do an xray. That's when they found it. He was very peaceful about his condition and was more concerned about Julia than anything else. He has 4 kids of his own. I pray that God continues to put people in my path who I can talk to and point to Him. I don't ever want to be too caught up in our own situation to lose sight of God's plan in all of this.

Julia woke up peacefully and we were free to go. She was still pretty groggy, especially with it being naptime. I gave her some food and water while we drove and she started to perk up. Here's her radiation field for the week and her port access securely covered on her chest. Her steri strips are now all gone and her scar looks great. Check out her new belly button...
This morning and afternoon she has been complaining a lot that her stomach hurts on the left side. It is very difficult to determine the reason. It could be the surgery, the chemo, or the radiation. I gave her tylenol before her nap and am waiting for her to wake up to really assess how she's feeling. She was starting to cry pretty hard before nap, but it was difficult to separate the tiredness from the pain. Please pray that she does not have any major internal issue and that her pain goes away. I hate to see her in pain. She is such a trooper and she has an incredibly high pain threshhold. I want to be sure I'm doing everything I can for her. It melts my heart that she just wants to be held. I am so thankful it is that easy.

She actually woke up from her nap at 7pm throwing up. After a sponge bath and sink hair wash (she can't get in the tub this week), we gave her some zofran. She's now eating goldfish and watching Little Einsteins. Hopefully we can get some good food in her in the next few hours to hold her over until tomorrow afternoon. Thank you for your prayers!

Thank you so much to the cleaning fairies who cleaned our house while we were at the hospital today. It was truly a breath of fresh air when we walked back in. It is so important to everyone's health, but so hard to get done in a day. I appreciate it SO much!! Thank you!