So poor Aly has been feeling under the weather for sometime now. She has had a cough that has held on for a month or so ... she doesn't cough too often, but when she does it sounds horrible. I think it's beginning to get a bit better. Last week we went to clinic and Aly was definitely not herself. That morning she was unable to eat or drink anything as she had to have a spinal tap/lumbar puncture as part of her regular treatment - -and she was not happy! She woke up really early, which was a bad start to the day - all she did was wine for a drink or food or even some water. I had to say no. She ended up falling asleep on the couch as she watched TV. She woke for a bit as I got her dressed and loaded her in the car to head down to clinic. I noticed that she fell asleep on the way down, and when we got to the hospital she didn't even wake up. I carried her in from the parking lot and we signed in at the Cancer Centre and walked over to the kids waiting area. She was still asleep. I sat down and she lay in my arms - out cold. I was a little concerned, as this was not like Aly at all. Even the nurses and other families in the waiting room knew it was out of character for her ... but at least as I was at the right place. I was interested in seeing what her blood counts were and if the Dr would find anything during her exam. I think we waited for about half an hour before I had to take her to get weighed and her height measured. I was able to wake her, but I am not sure if I asked her now if she would recall any of it. While I was up I took her into the treatment room where they put freezing cream on her arm ( for the IV) as well as on her lower back for the lumbar puncture. She slept through it all. I think we waited another 30 minutes before they put us in a treatment room and let Aly lay down. The resident came in to examine her, and was able to complete the full exam with Aly asleep. She woke briefly to roll over so a full examination could be completed. When the resident returned with the Oncologist, she made up wake Aly up and she spoke with her for a bit. I think she wanted to make sure she was coherent etc. One of the nurses was concerned that maybe her blood sugar might be a bit low. After the Dr's left the nurse came in and put in the IV....and yes, she slept through that. Well most of it. I think she woke briefly - looked at the needle going in and said "oh ya, that's what I wanted". Then she drifted off again.
The nurse took some extra viles of blood to check her cultures as well as her blood sugar. She also left behind a cup for a urine sample. Aly continued to sleep until we needed to change room in preparation for her procedure. She continued to sleep in that room until I eventually woke her as I knew the anesthesiologist would need to examine her. Brian and I waited in the room until she was sedated then we waited outside until we were able to return to the room. The procedure was short and the Dr told me it went "beautifully". Recently Aly has woken up from sedation a bit "wild" - she is whiny, sassy and really moody. Once the procedure is over she gets IV chemo and needs to keep her head down for about an hour in order to ensure the spinal treatment is effective. I was concerned she was going to wake and be feisty as usual - but not this time. She ended up sleeping for the entire hour, until I eventually woke her. When I woke her she was a bit groggy but fine. I fed her a snack and some juice and eventually went back to the playroom for a bit while we waited for her to have to pee so we could fill her cup and be on our way. After about 15 minutes - we were off! Aly spent the rest of the day at her Granny and Papa's and seemed to be ok. Her blood work showed that her body was fighting something, but the good news is she had the immune system in order to be able to fight it. That is all I really cared about.
No comments:
Post a Comment