8th Round of Chemo and Happy Birthday Brynlee!

Yowzer! I feel like the last few days have been more like a few weeks. I have just had some long days, and then you can throw in some sleepless nights and I am beat!

So Brynlee made counts (barely) and was able to start her last round of chemotherapy. At least we hope it is her last round for.ev.er. I think this was the closest we came to not making blood counts, and it is a small miracle in that none of her chemo was delayed due to low counts or illness. Even though I am always looking for the big blessings and a big miracle, it is really the everyday, small blessings that we are so grateful to have. Without those small blessings everyday, we wouldn't be able to possibly have a big blessing or miracle. To me, Brynlee making counts and staying on track for her chemo and not getting fevers have been many, many small blessings and miracles.

This round of chemo was for one day, and she received two different drugs. We got to the hospital at 10 a.m. and her urine output and everything was good by 1 p.m., but then we had to wait until about 3:30 for the chemo to get ready. I honestly don't understand how it all works, but I think that the chemo people must not get the inpatient chemo ready in any sort of a hurry. I usually get pretty irritated when I think the chemo should be ready and it's not. So I just sit there and watch reruns of shows on TBS and hope that Brynlee will take a nap and eat. It's a ton of fun as you would imagine.

So Brynlee and I were bored and we took some pictures of ourselves. Try not to look at the tired mama who needs her hair cut and colored and try to focus on the cute expressions from Brynlee.

I decided I needed to take a picture of the "smurf" gown that the nurses wear when they hook up the chemo. This was our nurse for the day, fantastic as usual.

Here is her first chemo, Cytoxan. The two that she got this day were both in syringes, but we usually have another one that comes in a bag. 

Here is the other chemo, Doxirubicin. This is the one that is orangish red. It looks like poison, because you know that chemo is poison, right? Nice, huh? 

Here is our angel, Dayna. Dayna is the nurse practitioner that has overseen most of Brynlee's chemo. She has been so great at getting things done and addressing concerns. I get tears in my eyes thinking about her and what a special place she will hold in my heart. 

We convinced Dayna to let us go home that same night and not stay overnight in the hospital. Brynlee was also in need of a blood transfusion and we had the option of doing that overnight, but I told them that I had to drive down in the morning anyway to get Brynlee so that Blair could go to work, so we worked it out to be able to do it outpatient the next day. We were finally able to leave the hospital around 9 p.m., so it was about another 11-hour hospital admission. So hopefully chemo is done! I wonder how long it takes hair to start growing back???

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention. So the rehab doctor they wanted us to see only sees brain injuries, so we can't see her. The rehab people didn't think it would be beneficial to see Brynlee inpatient as they wouldn't be able to get a good assessment in her hospital room, so we have an appointment scheduled at the end of February to meet with them. Why they didn't decide that last time, I do not know. However, everyone on the Hem/Onc side is so encouraged and optimistic about her recovery. Sweet Dr. Yaish that I can't really understand because English is not his native language, told me that almost always these neuroblastoma babies recover their physical abilities. At least I think that's what he said. I saw our social worker on Thursday, and she told me that she has seen miracles happen, so don't give up hope. Babies are resiliant, so we are going to do everything we can to prove those neurologists wrong.

Brynlee's birthday was on Thursday, and what a way to celebrate by getting a refill on some blood. So many pictures of Brynlee now are of her chattering and trying to talk, so when Brynlee looks like this...

....she's talking. We had to be at the clinic at 8 a.m. because that is when they said the blood would be ready. It was actually ready closer to 9 a.m., but who's keeping track?

Anyway, here is a picture of our little assigned area for the transfusion. We get two chairs and an IV pole. I couldn't take a bigger picture of the area because there was another kid back there. It's a lot of fun. 

We celebrated Brynlee's birthday by getting Olive Garden takeout. This is a picture of Brynlee eating her first bites of fettucine alfredo. We've been slowly introducing new foods to Brynlee because she has had issues with gagging. We don't know how much of it is caused by the taste of the food. She seems to do okay with pretty bland-tasting food. However, she liked her fettucine alfredo. 

Another bite. Yum!

Here she is with her presents chattering away as usual. 

We got a red velvet cake for me, I mean Brynlee, for her birthday. 

She liked the cake part, but the cream cheese frosting part was a little bit too strong for her. 

Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet Brynlee!