Friday's update

Today was a little less chaotic than yesterday.  I talked with urology twice -- we are back to just watching her output again, hoping that more will start coming from the catheter and less from the penrose.  It sounds like they'll consider making adjustments if that hasn't happened by the next time she's in the hospital for chemo (mid-September).

Eila's only complaint for today (besides missing Sloan) was that it hurt at her penrose drain.  We had an ostomy nurse come by when I changed the bag and adhesive because she was saying that it itched and hurt when she moved (or it was bumped).  Eila's never really complained about her drain before, so we wanted to get it checked out.  Her skin has also become a little irritated under the adhesive (warning: graphic picture to follow).

From July/Aug2015

In case you were wondering what a 6 week old penrose drain looks like, this is it.  The nurse gave us a few new things to try, and we gave Eila Tylenol for the pain, so hopefully we can end this problem quickly.  We also found out from the urine culture that Eila does have an infection so she's getting additional antiboitics to help clear it up.

Otherwise, today Eila got just 1 chemo drug and I got to learn how to give her a growth factor shot.  She'll need a shot next week to help her white blood cells recover faster.  Originally we were told I would have to give her shots for 8-10 days for her counts to recover, but luckily she'll only need one (approximately 36-48 hours after chemo), and luckily it's covered by insurance (super expensive!).  I'll let you know how that goes...


In happier news for today, Grandma & Grandpa came to visit!  They spent the afternoon with us, doing art projects, reading stories, and just hanging out (giving me a little time to go out for a walk).

From July/Aug2015

From July/Aug2015

Eating today was a little hard.  Although she's getting nausea medicine, I don't think Eila's stomach is quite right.  After attempting a few more new items from the hospital menu without much success (it's hard to find something that tastes the same as it does at home), we got her a Yumm bowl for dinner.

From July/Aug2015

We are lucky that one of her favorite foods on the planet is available fairly close to the hospital (on PSU's campus).  Hopefully all that sour cream she likes stirred in will slowly add up.  Then after dinner, she played nurse with the nurse and with chemo kitty.

From July/Aug2015

From July/Aug2015