Third Stay: Day One

Joel here.

Today we drove up to OHSU to begin Eila's third round of in-patient chemotherapy.  Our mood is much more upbeat than it was for visit two.  Three weeks ago at this time Eila was lugging around two bags -- one on her stomach (the penrose drain) and one on her leg (her catheter) -- and everyone was beginning to wonder whether Eila's kidney would actually heal.  Since then, however, her penrose has stopped draining, and her catheter has been removed.  Eila still has her penrose drain, but because nothing is coming out, she simply has a piece of gauze over it - she doesn't need to wear a bag anymore.  Freed from her shackles, Eila was able to participate in her school's fun run this past Tuesday, and today she literally ran in the halls from the elevator to oncology.

We had a pretty good day overall.

We got a call last night telling us that we might have to postpone our four day stay until next week because the hospital was full. (!)  Fortunately, they called this morning to tell us that a room had opened.  I'm glad we didn't have to completely rearrange our schedule for next week.

When we finally got up here and did her blood work, we learned that Eila's kidney function has improved since her procedure at the end of visit two.  According to Dr. Tilford it is now well within the normal range for a child her size.  Amazing to think about when you consider she has only one-half (or less? or more?) of one kidney.  (Strangely, this means that she is now "eligible" to receive an increased dose of one her chemo drugs ... the one that harms kidney function.)

Today was also the first time in forever that we were able to visit with Dr. Thomas.  He's finally back from his two month vacation, and he stopped by Eila's room early in the night.  It was good to see his face and to get his take on everything that's been going on with Eila over the past two months.  He too was positive.

Eila ate a good dinner of salmon, rice, and broccoli (a dinner she specifically requested), and she went to bed in a good mood.  I am hopeful that we'll have another good day tomorrow.  Grandpa will be visiting, so the odds of that happening are good.