Thursday, July 21, 2011

Day Seven, the routine settles in.

The routine is settling in.  Hannah will have her second round of chemo this evening,  so today is a rest day, which is very important.  Her blood work is coming back from every test and it is doing EXACTLY what it is supposed to do!!  The Dr's are beating the crud out of her immune system, so as that becomes weaker (which is what we want) she will require more rest, and we must take more precautions.  Within the next few days, her immune system will be bottomed out, and we will ask for fewer visits, again please run all visits through Sharon by texting her. 

When you do visit, please stop by the kitchenette a few doors down from her room and wash your hands.  As you enter the room please use the hand sanitizer right by the door.  At some point we will being asking you to wear a mask.

Her attitude is good and the rest of us are hanging in there.  More than anything else right now is that she would like to be with her friends performing at "Anything Goes."  As the day wore on, her appetite came back!  One thing only had tasted good, watermelon.  Go figure.  The teenage junk food diet was on today.  Lay's potato chips, chocolate covered pretzels, gummy worms, and tv dinners.  Only a teenager could handle that!

A few funny stories from today:

Dr W, a member of her care team came in this morning all smiles...He was telling us about the blood work.  He then asked about our dog Emma, because obviously animals can compromise Hannah's health.  We assured him that Emma was quite old and very rarely leaves her pillow, so at the most she might look in Hannah's room from the door.  He was comfortable with that so he left.  He returned right away, and said, "I understand you have chickens."  (I guess he found out about the Cobley farm).  Sharon assured him that the chickens are not in the house, and in fact they are in the farthest location away from Hannah's room possible, and while Hannah may have named them,  she does not even go close to them.  He then asked if there was anything else he needed to know (he must think we live on Green Acres), and we told him that the was no other livestock that he needed to worry about.

Number 2 happened when our good friend Janis came by with some loose fitting t shirts and under garments for Hannah.  The tube for her meds come out of her chest, and can be uncomfortable when clothing is too tight.  The shirts are great!  Janis was pulling the garments out of the bag, and she, Sharon and Hannah we looking at them and holding them and talking about them the same way a guy would look at a baseball card, so I was obviously way out of the loop.  The comments from Hannah were classic, ok, ok, this one is a granny bra, etc.  The best was saved for last when she pulled one out of the bag and informed Janis that the bra was no good at all by saying, "this is a maternity bra."  I of course looked up and asked if there was anything that I should know.  A good laugh was had by all.

The final one came when Hannah and I were left alone while Sharon got out of the hospital for a bit.  Me being the dutiful dad that I was getting the TV ready with a movie, but the remote had fallen behind the TV.  Now, Hannah has always had a very good sniffer, however over the last 5 days it has become HYPER sensitive, she can smell anything and everything.  Well as I bent over the back of the bed to get the remote, Hannah said. "No offense dad, but you stink.  Get me the barf bucket!"

The balance of the day I was concerned with my hygiene and upon arriving at home showered with boraxo soap.

Just got word, had chemo treatment number two was completed about 2 hours ago and she is doing great!  God is good, thanks for the support.


2 comments:

  1. So glad things are going according to plan!! Can't wait to dig in on the room make over. Talked to Allie she's ready to be home with her Hannah...Kisses to all of you guys so glad Sarah will be here for her B day!

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