We're now in phase II of
chemotherapy, known as consolidation. Phase II for E involves 3 weeks of
lumbar punctures, followed by a week of rest, followed by one more
lumbar puncture.
We were at SickKids today, back in Cujo's Kids for the procedure. The day got off to a slow start. My wife was up with E at 4:20 AM this morning. I got to sleep in until about 5 AM since I was the driver, but I overslept & my wife had to wake me up. This was our first trip to SickKids in regular rush hour, and it was about what I had expected. Up until today, all trips had been in summer rush hour, which is significantly lighter than what you see from September to June.
Before going into Cujo's Kids, oncology patients get to choose a toy from a treasure box, and this is what E picked out all on his own:
Anyone who knows me, knows that I absolutely adore The Beatles. The Beatles had long been broken up when I was born, but they're a band whose music has always spoken to me. I was quite proud when E chose a Hot Wheels Yellow Submarine! My wife asked me if I wanted to keep it in the packaging as a collector's item. I shook my head, ripped it open, and handed the die-cast sub to E so that he could play. I carried him into the room and held him while the anesthesiologist put E under, then I left him in the good care of the doctors to get his lumbar puncture.
For the second week in a row, the wake-up from the anesthetic was not good. Last week, he cried and screamed. This week, he screamed and cried, and also woke up earlier than he did last week. Patients are supposed to remain lying flat for an hour after the lumbar puncture procedure so that the chemotherapy drug injected into the spinal fluid can disperse properly. He woke up after only 28 minutes, so holding a 16 month old down for 32 minutes while they're bawling and upset is quite the task. Bravo to my wife for climbing onto the stretcher with him to try and calm him down.
We were at SickKids today, back in Cujo's Kids for the procedure. The day got off to a slow start. My wife was up with E at 4:20 AM this morning. I got to sleep in until about 5 AM since I was the driver, but I overslept & my wife had to wake me up. This was our first trip to SickKids in regular rush hour, and it was about what I had expected. Up until today, all trips had been in summer rush hour, which is significantly lighter than what you see from September to June.
Before going into Cujo's Kids, oncology patients get to choose a toy from a treasure box, and this is what E picked out all on his own:
Anyone who knows me, knows that I absolutely adore The Beatles. The Beatles had long been broken up when I was born, but they're a band whose music has always spoken to me. I was quite proud when E chose a Hot Wheels Yellow Submarine! My wife asked me if I wanted to keep it in the packaging as a collector's item. I shook my head, ripped it open, and handed the die-cast sub to E so that he could play. I carried him into the room and held him while the anesthesiologist put E under, then I left him in the good care of the doctors to get his lumbar puncture.
For the second week in a row, the wake-up from the anesthetic was not good. Last week, he cried and screamed. This week, he screamed and cried, and also woke up earlier than he did last week. Patients are supposed to remain lying flat for an hour after the lumbar puncture procedure so that the chemotherapy drug injected into the spinal fluid can disperse properly. He woke up after only 28 minutes, so holding a 16 month old down for 32 minutes while they're bawling and upset is quite the task. Bravo to my wife for climbing onto the stretcher with him to try and calm him down.
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