Chemo Round 4

Ashlynn's Chemo treatment went very well this week!  This was her fourth treatment, and also one of the difficult treatments.  We had an 8am appointment, so we had to leave the house at 6am.  Ashlynn was still tired so she slept the first half of the ride, and then she enjoyed some new kiddie music the rest of the trip.  Once we got to the clinic her port access was done quickly and then her IV fluids were started right away.  Ashlynn played with her animal app on my iPhone while she was waiting.  She has already figured out that if she touches the screen it makes the animal noise.  (Maybe Daddy will have to get her and Mommy and iPad to share for a christmas gift!)  She spent a short time in the playroom in the clinic, and then we got sent up to CHaD.  There was only 1 room open and Dr. Chaffee wanted to make sure we were able to spend the night.  

Once we were upstairs Ashlynn took a nap.  After her nap she had some lunch, and then the chemo was started.  The chemo lasts about a hour, and then she has to stay hooked up with fluid until the next morning.  Ashlynn did such an amazing job handling her treatment.  She gets a little annoyed having to be attached to the pole, but she makes the best of it.  Once she was just getting the fluid we went for a walk around the hospital in the wagon.  We stopped at the gift shop to look around.  We tried to find a  cute hat for Ashlynn that wasn't a sun hat.  The didn't have any for kids, but Ashlynn tried and adult one on (she's getting a little light up top, but still as cute as ever!).  Ashlynn and Nana also played with some of the hand puppets.  She also enjoyed watching her Sesame Street dvd she got for her birthday from her cousins Maddi & Ethan.  She loves dancing to all of the songs in the dvd.  Her favorite one is about a hard working dog.   This trip we brought Ashlynn's new rocking chair just in case the swing wasn't working again.  She likes to sit in it and relax.  I was hoping she would use it to nap in if the swing wasn't there.  We were lucky enough that we didn't have to test that theory.  She did have a good time 'reading' in her chair.

We were able to leave the hospital by 10am and were home by noon- this is a new record for us.  Ashlynn is a little more tired than normal, but other than that she is doing great!  We will keep an eye on her mouth to see if she will get mouth sores with this treatment (we have the medication to start right away if it does happen)  Fingers crossed she won't need any blood transfusions this week!

We are very happy to be half way done with the most difficult treatments!!!  We are also very thankful to have so much support and help from our family and friends.

We don't pack too light when we have to stay overnight....But we have a system that seems to work.