What a week...

WHAT A MONTH! AFTER A PRETTY TOUGH ROUND OF CHEMO WE WERE A LITTLE ANXIOUS ABOUT LOCK DOWN THIS GO ROUND. WELL, LAST WEEK LOCK DOWN CAME AND WENT. NO MAJOR PROBLEMS, NO ILLNESSES, AND NO TUMMY TROUBLES. WE THOUGHT WE WERE IN THE CLEAR… SMOOTH SAILING FOR THE REST OF THE MONTH….. YEP, ASSUMING NEVER PAYS OFF FOR US! 

THINGS TOOK A NICE LITTLE TURN THIS WEEKEND PROVING THAT EVEN WHEN YOU THINK YOU HAVE THIS WHOLE "CHEMO" THING UNDER CONTROL EVERYTHING CAN CHANGE IN AN INSTANT! WE’VE BEEN WORKING WITH LADYBUG ON POTTY TRAINING A LITTLE BIT- NOTHING SET IN STONE JUST GETTING HER USE TO THE IDEA. SATURDAY SHE SEEMED TO REALLY GET EXCITED ABOUT THINGS, WE HAD A COUPLE ACCIDENTS BUT SHE WAS DOING GREAT! SUNDAY HOWEVER, SEEMED TO BE AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT STORY. FROM THE MOMENT SHE WOKE UP SHE WAS MISERABLE. SHE WOULDN’T GO TO THE BATHROOM. NOT ON HER POTTY, NOT IN THE TOILET, AND NOT IN HER DIAPER. WE WENT ALL DAY… HER HOLDING IT UNTIL SHE LITERALLY COULDN’T ANYMORE AND THEN AS YOU GUESSED IT WE WOULD HAVE A MASSIVE MESS TO CLEAN UP. SHE JUST KEPT CRYING, TELLING US SHE HAD TO GO POTTY BUT SHE COULDN’T. WE WERE A LITTLER PERPLEXED BUT CHALKED IT UP TO HER NOT BEING READY TO BE POTTY TRAINED. WE THOUGHT WE’D GIVE IT ANOTHER GO MONDAY AND SEE WHERE THE DAY TOOK US… WELL THE DAY TOOK US RIGHT INTO PRIMARY CHILDREN’S. WE AGAIN WENT THROUGH THE SAME SONG AND DANCE… SHE WOULDN’T GO POTTY. INSTEAD SHE SPENT THE DAY CRYING AND WHIMPERING IN PAIN. WHEN WE GOT HOME THAT NIGHT WE ATTEMPTED SOME MORE FLUIDS AND A LAXATIVE TO SEE IF THAT WOULD HELP… NOTHING! BY 8PM SHE WAS IN SO MUCH PAIN SHE JUST CRIED AND CRIED. OUR MAIN CONCERN BECAME THE POSSIBILITY THAT SHE HAD A UTI. SO, WE GAVE ONCOLOGY A CALL AND ASKED FOR SOME HELP. THEY WERE CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAME THING, OR PREVENTING A UTI IF THAT’S WHERE WE WERE HEADED, SO THEY ASKED US TO COME IN. SO, AT 8PM WE LOADED UP AND HEADED UP TO THE HOSPITAL… ER VISIT #4 FOR LADYBUG.

IT WAS POSSIBLY THE LONGEST NIGHT…. EVER! SHE WAS MISERABLE AND WE WERE ALL EXHAUSTED! AFTER 7 HOURS… A BLADDER SCAN ,BLOOD DRAWS, PORT ACCESS, FLUIDS, AND A CATHETER THE DIAGNOSIS WAS IN… SEVERE CONSTIPATION. WHAT?!? YEA, EXACTLY WHAT WE THOUGHT! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?  MOST KIDS ON THIS TYPE OF CHEMO PROTOCOL EXPERIENCE SOME CONSTIPATION BUT LADYBUG IN THE PAST HAS BEEN THE EXACT OPPOSITE. WE WERE A LITTLE STUNNED TO SAY THE LEAST...

HERE’S THE PROBLEM WITH CHEMO AND CONSTIPATION…. YOU CAN’T REALLY USE TRADITIONAL METHODS OF RELIEVING THAT PAIN FOR A BABY OR TODDLER. NO ENEMA’S, NO SUPPOSITORIES… CHEMO MAKES THE SIMPLEST OF PROBLEMS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED. BECAUSE HER COUNTS ARE STILL PRETTY LOW FROM THE LAST ROUND OF CHEMO THERE WAS NOT MUCH WE COULD DO TO HELP HER. ONCOLOGY DID NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE MOVING FORWARD WITH ANY SORT OF ENEMA, THE RISK OF INFECTION JUST DIDN'T OUTWEIGH THE REWARD. SO,THEY PRESCRIBED US 3 DIFFERENT LAXATIVES TO GIVE HER 4 TIMES PER DAY IN HOPES WE COULD GET THINGS REGULATED AND BACK ON TRACK.THE HOPE WAS IF WE ELEIVATED THE CONSTIPATION SHE WOULD START URINATING.

IT’S STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS, SHE’S HAD A REALLY ROUGH LAST COUPLE OF DAYS, BUT SHE’S FINALLY GOING TO THE BATHROOM AGAIN! HER TUMMY HURTS AND WE’RE ALL EXHAUSTED BUT WE’RE GETTING THERE… ONE MORE ROUND OF CHEMO. ONE MORE ROUND!!!