Chemo Session 3 Round 1 & Testing

This week Ashlynn started her 3rd cycle of Chemo.  This cycle is the same as her others.  11 weeks of treatments, starting and ending with a tough treatment, as well as a tough treatment every 3 weeks.  We also needed to get her evaluation from the end of cycle 2 done.  We were planning on doing this all on one day.  Last Friday Ashlynn was admitted to the hospital for a fever, and give 24 hours of antibiotics.  We thought that this illness might delay chemo, but since the doctors didn't find any infections, and her ANC rose her rose very nicely she was allowed to get chemo on Tuesday (from 195 all the way to 2007 in 5 days- the cut off for Chemo is 700).  I was glad she was able to do her Chemo on Tuesday, because 3 trip to Lebanon in 1 week is just too much driving for me.

The plan for the day had to be laid out very carefully because there was so much that needed to be done.  We slept at home, instead of David's House, because Ashlynn has not slept well there our last 2 visits.  This meant we had to leave the house by 5:30 am.  The plan was to put cotton balls in Ashlynn's diaper before we left, and also get her as hydrated as possible so we could start her Chemo earlier in the day.  This was crucial, because if we started Chemo too late she would have to wait until after her CT Scan and MRI were over to start, and then we would have had to spend the night.  It's not the chemo that takes so long on these days, it's the medication she needs to take 4 and 8 hours after Chemo.  This medicine makes the chemo less toxic when it's leaving Ashlynn's body.  With out the medicine the chemo would irritate her bladder and anything it touched on the way out if you get my drift!  The morning got off to a good start.  Around 10:15 we started Chemo, and a little after that Danica and Evi showed up to keep us company.  Around 12 Ashlynn went to Pain Free to get ready for her testing.  Kissing her goodbye after she goes to sleep is always my least favorite part.  While Ash was getting testing we grabbed lunch and Evi took a snooze.  A few hours later Ashlynn was waking up and we rushed back to Pain Free.  She didn't wake up very happy.  It took her awhile to get into a better mood- it wasn't until she was given a Clifford Dog that she really perked up.  She was feeling pretty well, and even ate some lunch.  She played with Evi for awhile too.  Danica and Evi left around 3:30, and then things went down hill from there.  I will spare you the details, but it involved several changes of clothes, the last on the side of Route 89.  We also had one little sickness the next day too.

Good News is- All of Ashlynn's tests are still showing no Cancer!  This good news certainly out weighs all of the bad stuff that happened that day.  She has actually had no cancer in her body since her tumor was removed in July.  Her doctors told us to think of the year of Chemo as an insurance policy.  

Watching Elmo- Melmo as Ashy calls it.

Tickles for Evi!