Day 52: OR Yesterday, School Today

Wednesday, October 31, 2007 - Yesterday Madeline went to the OR to get her port and remove her picc line. Although she only had a sniffle, we decided to keep her out of school on Monday to make sure she was healthy enough to have surgery. Dr. Doody performed the surgery, first on the docket for the pediatric surgeries. He worked with an intern whom we had met before on his earlier rotation through Ellison 18, 2 nurses and 2 anaesthesiologists, one who regaled her with stories of beaches in South Africa where one can swim with penguins. They drugged her in front of me, I kissed her and left the surgery suite.

Following their surgery for the port, Dr. Friedmann gave her a LP (lumbar puncture) to administer methotextrate to her brain. They plied her with Zophran for nausea, and gave her some Tylenol, and she slept off the effects of the drugs for an hour before ordering me on a quest for lunch. After that, I wheeled her over to the Yawkey clinic for her first out-patient treatment there. We saw many Hem-Oc faces that we had met on Ellison 18 and a few new faces including Dr. Friedmann's assistant Mary Jo Gonzoles and Madeline's nurse, Suzanne Rose, who were both very kind.

Madeline spent the afternoon reading a book in a small room while being given all of her medications, with a dictum to drink at least 1 quart before bedtime (she almost made it) and we arrived home at 6 pm. I went to CVS for all of her prescriptions ( I am now starting to keep a chart so I don't forget anything). If the surgery or her recovery had taken too long, she was slated for a stay in Ellison 18 for the night, no great shakes, but something we wanted to avoid anyway. We know there will be times when that will be required.

Unless she needs some RBC's (red blood cells), Madeline doesn't have to return to the Yawkey Clinic until next Tuesday as this week she will receive her chemo drugs at home from the critical care nurse.

Today she went off to school. She is balding now and still does not want to wear a scarf or wig or hat. We are letting her decide if she feels well enough to go to school, and after some diversions, she decided she could make it on time today if she hurried. Trey dropped her off just about 8am.

I receive many questions asking about the danger of infections while she is at school, and also about the puppy. People wonder about the protocol around keeping Madeline infection free. I have to admit, I wonder if we are making the right choices too. Our doctor assures us that school and the puppy are fine. She says that Madeline must use a hand sanitizer before she eats and that will be enough to protect her. Madeline also gets off 'dog duty' for the duration of her therapy. She says that Madeline is fine to go to school, when she feels well enough to do so. There may be times when her counts are too low to allow her to go as well. Love, ca