Today, I brought Charlotte to Primary Children's for her monthly chemo appointment and her quarterly LP (lumbar puncture/spinal tap). As we drove to the 8am appointment, Charlotte grumpily asks from the backseat, "Why do they make me miss the most important meal of the day? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! I'd rather miss lunch!"
When Charlotte has an LP, she goes under anesthesia. She is required not to eat after midnight, and no drinking for 3 hours before her appointment. I always schedule her as early in the morning as I can, so she doesn't have to go hungry so long. Her question made me laugh. If we scheduled a later appointment, I explained, she would miss breakfast AND lunch.
We get to the oncology clinic, Charly is checked in, weighted, measured, and her blood pressure taken. Charlotte has gained a some weight and grew a few inches. Her home chemo meds were adjusted slightly, to accommodate for the extra growth.
The oncologist told me they had the flu shot available, and asked if we were planning on doing Charlotte's shot in the clinic. I agreed, and asked if they'd give her the vaccine while she was under anesthesia for her lumbar puncture. Last year, Sean told me she went into hysterics when they gave her the flu shot. It was bad enough that both the oncologists recalled the incident. I figured we'd skip any drama if we just did it while she was under sedation. The docs agreed. The nurse administered her chemo through her port in her chest, and then we went across the hall for Charly's lumbar puncture.
The nurse apparently didn't have Charlotte curled tight enough and her spine wasn't quite straight, and the doctor put the needle in a little crooked and it sounded like he said to the nurse that he hit some bone. Also, the spinal fluid came out much slower than usual, she was starting to come out of sedation while they were still collecting their fluid sample. They finished administering chemo into her spinal fluid, and gave her the flu shot in her arm while she smiled drunkenly.
Charlotte is quite lovey when she's doped up. "Mom, I love YOU!" she declared frequently. The nurses giggled. At one point, she declared she needed to practice whispering. Then, she wriggled her finger for me to come closer. "MOM" she whisper-yelled in my ear, "lumbar punctures make me CRAZY!" and then she started to try and dance as she laid on the hospital gurney.
Charlotte's 2nd grade class was having their Johnny Appleseed party today. She really wanted to go. In the past, I have been warned to keep her quiet on her LP days. They recommend that she rest, to avoid getting a spinal tap headache. I told Mr. Trout that I would probably keep her home, and he promised to save her some treats. Charly asked the docs if she could still go to her party. They looked at her, shrugged, and said since she has never had problems with it before, and they didn't think there would be a problem if she went back to school. Charlotte was thrilled! We stopped to grab lunch at Arby's. Since it was near Naomi's lunch break, I texted her and took a delivery order from Naomi. I brought her and 2 friends delivery $.99 ham melts and value-size chocolate shakes. I think it made her day. Then I brought Charly to school.
Charlotte danced into school and attended for the final three hours of the day. When I picked her up, it appeared she was trying to keep her backpack from hitting against her back where she had the lumbar puncture. She still said she felt good enough to go to dance class today. It was the end of the month, and the dance teacher invites parents to come observe the last 20 minutes of class. I wandered in and watch Charlotte dance with the other kids. Charly is the tallest kid in the class. The dance instructor ended the class with inviting all the girls to do a "trick" to show off. Some girls twirled, some skipped, Charlotte took a running start and did a giant, energetic leap for her trick.
She just amazes me. She's superwoman.
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