Day 9 at the Hospital

Today completes day 9 here at Primary Childrens Medical Center.

Each day has its ups and downs. I came in this afternoon to relieve Mary Ann to find a fairly moody and lathargic Amanda. The doctors have warned us of the mood swings and effects of the chemotherapy. During this process Amanda's blood counts are constantly monitored for red blood cell counts, white blood cell counts, and plateletts. Her numbers have looked pretty good but the red blood cells were going down to the point that they decided to give her a blood transfusion today. This is appearantly pretty common.

Amanda couldn't help but fall asleep for a couple of hours tonight. However, when she woke up, she wasn't as pale and seemed to be feeling much better. As parents, we still have a lot of studying from the big binder. Imagine years of higher education medical training wrapped up into a 2" 3 ring binder. All the medical terms and symptoms are wrapped up for our educational purpose. Sometimes just looking at the binder itself is overwhelming.

I probably will overstate this, but just looking into Amanda's eyes when she feels OK makes being at the hospital so much easier. I feel for her every time someone comes in to give her a dose of something, draw blood, or add something to the IV. She is taking it very well with the exception of when there is a needle involved, an injection causes a bad taste in her mouth, or has to see blood. Some of these usually spark an "I want to go home." Being here at the hospital hasn't been easy for her. The cartoons, movies, and Xbox have helped to keep her mind off of how much better it is to be at home.

I admire her strength and endurance through all of this. We continue to pray for her strength to be with her throughout this ordeal. Mainly for selfish reasons, though. Her strength gives us strength.