THE LADYBUG GANG: Chemotherapy- Course 2

03 June 2014

Chemotherapy- Course 2

Course 2 of Rylie's chemotherapy protocol is in the books!

Wednesday was a busy day- after meeting with Dr. Viskochil (the geneticist) in the mornin we had time for a quick hospital lunch and the we were headed upstairs to meet with Dr. Bruggers (the oncologist). Rylie's treatments now move to once a month which is nice, the only crappy part is these appointments will last 4-6 hours depending on how much IV fluids Rylie needs before and after chemo.

These appointments have become pretty routine for Rylie... She knows just what to do when we walk in the door...

Weight and Height check...

Blood Pressure and Temperature Check...

And then we are off to our room to get started on that months chemotherapy treatment. Getting accessed seems to be the toughest part of this entire ordeal for Rylie. She has such anxiety about it. They tell us the pain is minimal because she is numb but nonetheless she still HATES it! Rachelle, our child life specialist does an amazing job at playing with her and helping her to get comfortable each time and she is getting lots better but it's still so hard to see her cry and so anxious at what's about to happen.

Playin with all the fun stuff Child

Life brings in for her!

Once our review of the week is done we move on to getting treatment. This month we started with 30 minutes of fluids, headed back to the treatment area for 2 hours of chemotherapy (both Vincristine and Carboplatine will be given now), and then 1 more hour of IV fluids. These last few weeks our appointments have only been about 90 minutes so to jump to monthly and 4 hour appointments made us a bit nervous. It's not easy keeping a two year old entertained for 4 hours let alone keeping her entertained for 4 house in a small confining space while also hooked up to IV's. Brett and I were slightly worried but she once again was amazing. She had a few snacks, watched done movies, and of course played with the kitchen.