6/5/12 - The final countdown begins - Day 1...done!

DAY ONE IS DONE!!!

We have officially completed Day 1 of the last stretch of Haylee's scheduled inpatient chemo treatments!!!!!  We still have to go through pretty much the entire month of June though.  If all goes well like it did last admission, 18-21 days is our goal!  When you say it like that, it doesn't seem so bad...it's actually doing it that makes it long.  There isn't always stuff going on around here and that makes for a long and boring day.  We almost look forward to the nurses popping in for a little excitement (so sad, I know).  Adam and PawPaw have their scheduled visits and we look forward to those.  Nonna comes for the weekends and it's a nice break for the both me and Haylee.  Living in close quarters 24 hours a day can be very irritating.  We love each other, but we're so much alike that we clash sometimes.
Clinic today consisted of counts, labs, a lumbar puncture and spinal injection of Cytarbine. The finger prick today was probably the best so far!  Lindsay took over, was 'in charge' of the countdowns and swayed her some with 'the mystery keys' to 'the magic closet' (Lindsay has a closet full of really good stuff like toys, games, books, etc.).  Haylee showed some tears right after the prick, but otherwise did really well!  Her and Lindsay went to the closet and she came back with a Moxie Girl doll.
The port access....well, that was another story.  I don't know if had just been so long since she had been accessed or what happened but she flipped out and reverted back to the days of when she was just getting used to accesses.  I've seen her act way worse, but it definitely wasn't the best I've seen either.  I've told her it's OK to be scared and it's OK to cry but that it's not OK to argue, scream, yell, and throw a fit over something that has to be done, regardless.  Nonna promised to pay her $20 for each port access she did really good with - today wasn't one of those days (Lindsay and Molly said they would let the nurses finger prick them everyday for $20 a week! Ha ha!).  I'm willing to bend and give in some because I've came to grips with the fact this is something she is going to have trouble with all the time.  I just couldn't find anything to give in to with this one.  I guess Haylee was tired of me trying to reason with her and giving her choices she didn't like because she told me she wanted me to go somewhere else and I almost lost it.  I did what she asked though and walked away (to the door of the procedure room), sucked it up and pushed through.  She was accessed right after that and she was fine afterwards. 
Her counts and labs came back perfect!  Even her triglycerides were perfect at 161 :)  Chemo was signed off, the anethesiologist came in and started the Propofol, and off she went to Loopy Land!  While she was having the LP done, Adam was able to swing by and help me unload the car and get it all up to our room before she was totally awake.  We walked back over to get Haylee to bring her over to the AFLAC wing and he hung out with us for a bit while we got settled before having to go back to work. 
The rest of our day drug on and on and on.....nothing was going on today.  Lindsay came by to show Haylee the prize she can get if she does well on next weeks port access....a Build-A-Bear bunny with a ballerina outfit.  Haylee was sooo excited that she could get the bunny AND $20.  Hopefully, these 2 bribes will work for her....!  They went down to The Voice where Haylee was able to be the DJ for a little bit.  I dozed off for a bit.  The 3 hour Cytarbine chemo was started at 5pm, which means it'll start again at 5am.  That's not too bad since it'll be over early in the morning and after dinner at night.  Oral meds will go to a tolerable 8am and 8pm schedule starting tomorrow (Thank goodness!  These nurses would have a problem on their hands if they had to wake Haylee up for pills!) 

 

The fundraiser is still going on!!  We really would like to reach our goal to ensure that all of our financial obligations are well taken care of.  Please promote through Facebook, Twitter, and through email to get the word out!!!  Thanks! 
http://www.youcaring.com/fundraiser_details?fundraiser_id=1892&url=hopeforhaylee


Please pass this along to any and everyone who can help!