Family Fun

We have thoroughly enjoyed the last week with Josh here! The girls have really missed their daddy! Annabelle and I were able to spend almost a whole week with him before having to come back for chemo. Layla is the lucky one who gets to be with him until he leaves next week! While we were all together we made sure to have some fun. We played outside, went shopping, worked on projects, had a pizza party, watched a movie, played Wii, had a picnic and went to the aquarium. Being from small town Montana, we don't get a chance to go to such fun places very often. The girls LOVED it! Annabelle had been looking forward to it for weeks and it seemed to have met all her expectations.

Layla is so cheesy with pictures lately.

Annabelle wanted a picture with the orange fish. It was her favorite. It is the smaller one above the white and yellow one between the girls.Josh and I touched the manta rays in the pool behind us. Annabelle wouldn't get near them and Layla was a little too freaked out also.Annabelle opted out of the girls photo and Layla decided to show off her figure. Classic.Both of the girls passed out on the way home. Success!And now for a little update on Annabelle. Last time I posted we had just found out she had C-diff. Right after that she started throwing up every time she got any feed so we ended up in the hospital an extra day. They gave her Reglan, a pro-motility med, to help her stomach push the food down into her intestines. Then that gave her cramps so we had to treat that as well. But within a day she was feeling great and ready to get out! We got home Friday afternoon and Josh arrived that evening. Annabelle felt SO good all week long and we had a great time together.

Yesterday (Friday) Annabelle and I got up early to head down to PCMC. She had surgery in the morning to pull her old central line and put a new one in. There was some question as to whether or not the non-functioning lumen could be responsible for the frequent fevers so the docs and I decided to replace it. This time she got just a single lumen and so far so good. She really started getting worried when we were taking the south elevators and only went to the 2nd floor. She kept saying she just wanted to go to number 4! Fourth floor is familiar territory and she feels comfortable here. She knew she was getting a new line but actually seeing where we were headed freaked her right out! When she woke up in recovery she started asking again, "Why are we still in this room? I want to go to number 4!"

Right before I took this picture she said she is "So happy she has a new line because that old blue one didn't work and she doesn't want any more fevers!" I guess the relief of having a new one outweighed the drama of going to the surgery. (That, and Versed works wonders at taking away the memory of that moment of being taken from your mama by some anesthesiologist with some weird hat thing on their head!)

Isn't she beautiful!?! The surgeon did have a few things to say after the procedure. He said it was difficult to remove her old line. Normally once you get past the cuff they should slide right out. With Annabelle's he had to lean and really pull to get it out and that's not normal. He thought it might have been pinched between her clavicle and 1st rib and that would explain why it never worked. Then I corrected him and said that it had worked for several weeks after placement and he said that that wouldn't make sense then. So why it wasn't working is still a mystery, but they did culture it and we are waiting for those results. The other thing Dr Downey (the surgeon) had to say was that he tried to put the new line in her neck but he hit an artery. You want the line in a vein, not an artery. He claims he was certain he was clear of her carotid artery so he doesn't know what he hit. In his words, "I think she may have some abnormal anatomy in her neck and should have an ultrasound to check things out." The attending oncologist didn't seem too concerned about it and said we would just wait and if any problems arise then we will look into it. However, the NP said if the surgeon suggested it then we should have it done. After the holiday weekend craze is over I will talk with our regular Dr and see what she thinks about it.

For now we are enjoying some quiet time at the hospital. When she is feeling so good is when it is hard for her to be here. She would rather be out playing with Layla, but she does enjoy the hospital and her friends here. Today we took our lunch and ate outside and did a puzzle. There's a whole other world of stuff you can do at the hospital when your counts are good and you feel like leaving your room! I think it will be a fun stay for this 5 days of chemo.