Today, Charlotte had her third chemo appointment in one week. Since it was a 2:00 appointment, and I had a work errand to run in Salt Lake, I took Charly to Primary's for her appointment.
First, Charly demanded we stop at McDonald's for a Big Mac, since she was STARVING! Sean overheard this and protested that he fed her a peanut butter sandwich less than an hour before. Charly glanced over her shoulder to inform him that was just a snack, and NOT her lunch. So on the way up, we got her a Big Mac. When she heard me order a kids meal too, she started shouting and crying from the back seat - NO, Mom! I wanted a Big Mac and they don't come in kids meals! I turn around and see tears streaming from her eyes. After I explained that the kids meal was for me, and that I bought her a Big Mac, she calmed down. Steroids. Thankfully, her last dose for a week was today.
Charlotte happily munched on her Big Mac while I drove up to the See's Candy outlet. Every year, my work gets thank you gifts of chocolates to our key contacts. I love to volunteer to pick up the candy. In year's past, I would always get a certificate at the discounted price and then go to a regular See's chocolate shop so I could bring a custom-packed 1-pound box of chocolate-covered cherries and the cherry nougat chocolates to my dad for Christmas. Even though dad is gone, I like to go up and get a couple treats. We added a 2-lb box of chocolates for the staff at the oncology clinic to our purchase, and Charlotte gave me "the look". I told her she could pick something out for herself. I thought she'd snag one of those candy canes with a penguin puppet on top, but she immediately beelined to a golden bag of chocolate covered coins. We paid for our order, loaded 200 pounds of chocolate into my car, and headed up to Primary Children's.
Charlotte received a cocktail of 2 different chemo drugs today. The same ones she received last Thursday. Her cold seems to be improving, and her doctor says her levels look awesome! They warned me again that they WILL drop significantly later in the month, but for now she is to have no restrictions. They also said this chemo would make her hair fall out. So Charly is going to lose her all the little fuzz she just grew. After this, then she will be done with the meds that cause her hair to fall out. Her next appointment is next Thursday, and I think it's the last one for the month. She'll have nothing until January 3rd, where she starts her next phase. As always, it starts with a lumbar puncture. They will be returning to the Methotrexate, and we will see if she will tolerate it without seizures.
I asked about the family Christmas party on Saturday, and the oncologist said if she feels up to it, she can go. While she was getting her chemo, Charlotte painted a wooden donkey. It happily consumed the 90 minutes we were there. A child life specialist approached me and asked about how many siblings Charlotte had. I told her about Naomi, and she said they received a large donation of pajamas for the patient's siblings, because many siblings feel forgotten and left out. She gave me a pair of Carters cupcake pajamas for Naomi. They were very cute, but I wondered if they would fit. When Naomi received them she decided to wear them to bed that night. They fit on the pants, but her arms are little long. Naomi was still pleased to be thought of.
Charlotte and I were done by 5pm, and heading home. She asked if we could stop by a drive through for dinner, but I didn't want to do two fast food meals in one day. I texted Sean and told him to take Naomi out for dinner tonight, and Charlotte and I invited ourselves to dinner at my mom's house because she said she was baking bread. We enjoyed fresh baked bread and a bowl of soup for dinner and chatted with mom for an hour. When we got home, Sean and Naomi were just returning from a shopping trip to Walmart and dinner at Paradise Cafe. The evening ended with a couple chapters of Pippi Longstocking and a request for a couple slices of bacon before she brushed her teeth. Overall, I would consider it a successful day.
No comments:
Post a Comment