Monday, February 15, 2010

Chemo Day 1

December 23, 2009
I specifically remember the numbness felt entering the hospital doors once again, only this time to bring my baby for chemotherapy to be pumped into him. Talk about a difficult decision to make on behalf of your child. I surely never read a chapter about this in all those many baby books I've perused for 3 1/2 years.

Chemo was on an out-patient basis so we were able to go home after each long day of treatment at the HEMOG clinic.

Each day of chemo consisted of a huge amount of bloodwork run to check William's levels, a weight check, vitals and all that jazz with the RN's, a physical exam by the oncologist, waiting for the results of the labs (to make sure he was "healthy enough" for chemo), then a wait for the thousands of dollars of chemo to be mixed up by the pharmacy.

Day 1 took so much time in the clinic, we ended up being transferred back to our old stomping grounds of 11G - coincidentilly to the room next door to William's previous room. We were greeted like rock-stars by all the nurses, aides and some of the families we befriended during our stay. Everyone was interested to hear the news of our Sloan trip...and to get a warm William smile, of course.

Even William seemed to wonder what all the fuss was about during the initial hook-up of his IV.

~ so nice to see a smile through tough times ~

To our surprise, chemotherapy is not some nuclear-colored, glowing, fizzing compound similar to what middle-schoolers make in science lab. This little bag of carboplatin cost around $8,000...each day of chemo (and this was just one of the 5 drugs he received).

Between pre- and post-hydration, we ended up being there until late into the night.

William sure gets lots of special attention during these long days at appointments. He just loves to be held!

My bub-bub was a super trooper throughout this big day for him. It sure is one we'll never forget...among many.

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