She was pretty worn down from this weekend's round in Salt Lake, but she told Nicki she still wanted to get dressed and ready - even makeup - to go to my mom's house. It's second Sunday and Averys within roughly 40 miles of ABO HQ meet for sustenance intake.
When they got to HQ, her cousins had these ready for her:
And, yes, even when it is raining outside in Las Vegas, like it is right now, my allergies can still affect me...
Anyway, I think it really helped her to have that time and the support from her extended family.
The hospital was better prepared this time with all the drugs to counteract side effects of the chemo. They kept her pretty well full of other things to keep her a little more comfortable than last time. And, it seems that they succeeded. She was released after just one night this time.
They sent Nicki a bunch of things to help for the next couple of nights, one of which was an IV to help flush out some of the narcotics and others because, for all the relief of nausea and pain, there was an increase in...how shall I put this? It was a good weekend for her to listen to the Beatles...or Led Zeppelin. Or Pink Floyd.
It's an interesting trade-off. Which would you prefer? Matti still goes back and forth. But she was definitely ready to be more lucid.
Sunday night was a little more difficult as some of the pain set in again. Thankfully, there were still sufficient meds available to help her relax and make it through the night, but without the psychotic episodes.
This was also a difficult weekend, as a teenage girl, because it was the Prom weekend at her school. So all her friends (and her sister) were going out and having fun and dressing in Prom dresses and all that dreamy make-believe stuff, while she had to deal with real-world fight between life and death.
On Saturday, though, an uncle and a cousin (not one of the two above) went to visit her and brought a rose for her, since she wouldn't be wearing a corsage that night. It was a very sweet thing to do, that's for sure. Who you ask? Her uncle whose name rhymes with the blue printer cartridge and his son.
Today, she met with the radiation oncologist. That's a meeting we've really been looking forward to. You know that's sarcasm, right?
Earlier in the week, Dr. Wright called us and told us there were some really positive discussions with the team on the type, dose, and duration of the radiation Matti would receive. She said they had discussed Matti's case quite a bit.
Do you know how comforting it is to hear that there is a team of doctors discussing your child's care, even when you aren't around? It may sound silly, but I have wondered if that actually happened in other cases I have heard of.
But, with the meeting today, while there are still a couple of points that he would like to clarify with Matti's doctors here who found the cancer and did subsequent exams and biopsies, he believes there is a very good chance that rather than 6 weeks of radiation, it could be a less-than-two-week course or treatment. The dose and delivery method would allow for this shorter course.
If this holds, there is just one more blessing we can count in this trial. I know I haven't really spelled out all the things that have happened, but we have been very blessed with divine inspiration and introductions to people at the right time and in the right place. Too much for any sane person to claim it's all coincidence.
I will save the rest of my discourse on the Divine for another time. And for whatever reason, we have been very blessed so far on this journey.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.