Good-bye Port

Eila has been counting down to her port removal surgery, and today was the day.  This time her surgery was in Eugene (her surgeon had moved there), so we were able to stay over at Grandma and Grandpa's house the night before (and Emilie stayed home with Annikka).  It was a different experience than the children's hospital, not as many toys and things to occupy her time while waiting.  But thankful we brought along the ipad, with a new Charlie Brown movie.

From Nov/Dec2013

Another difference was that they allowed a parent to accompany her into the OR.  So Eila held Joel's hand as she was wheeled away and he waited with her until she was asleep (which was a surprisingly short time).

From Nov/Dec2013

The surgery took less than an hour and everything went well.  Now Eila has 2 ports for her memory box.  Unfortunately she was very unhappy with the nurses and doctors when she woke up -- we could hear her crying and screaming in the waiting room even (although we didn't know it was her at the time).  So they came to get us early, and she did much better once they weren't in her face/space any more.

From Nov/Dec2013

She has a cute little bandage where she used to have a big lump.  The surgeon told us that many cancer kids wear their port scar well, a sign of all they overcome.

From Nov/Dec2013

Another chapter in this story is now complete for Eila, and hopefully these won't be experiences we'll be repeating again.  She goes in for her next oncology check-up in mid-December.