December 9, 2005

We have been home for a day and our house looks it. There are still many things for us to sort through, and as soon as I have one thing put away I discover Chloe has made three new messes.

Leah was up only once during the night last night. She has continued to express that she is soooo tired. While this concerns me, her blood counts were fine yesterday when we left Iowa City, and she was tired there, too. She did vomit this morning two different times. Jane did stress this to Chris and me during her teaching, but for some reason I was so impressed that she had not thrown up initially while receiving the chemotherapy, I did not think she would later. Luckily she was done with this by mid-morning, and slept a great deal during this span of time. She is very droopy, but this morning after I found Chloe standing on top of her dresser, and then found her playing in the toilet, Leah did tell me, "Mom, she is so fustratin'." Those kind of comments are the things we usually get out of her.

I did talk to a nurse in Iowa City about her vomiting since at that point she had just had her medicine and I was not sure if I should administer it again, or give a third anti-nausea drug. He agreed that chemotherapy can totally wipe people out for a while, and that she should feel better within a few more days.

Later this afternoon Leah insisted that we visit Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Daryl. I had my doubts because she was lethargic at best, but she enjoyed being there for a while, and finally ate something-pepperoni pizza-while she was there.

I am not enjoying administering medicine to her at all and Leah is not enjoying taking it. This morning she did take her anti-nausea medicines after she threw up, and then we did swab her mouth with Nystatin three times. We have also been watching when she goes to the bathroom. Urine output is important because these drugs have the potential to damage the kidneys, so it is critical that she be quite hydrated. Vincristine also causes constipation, so to counteract that we have been administering Miralax. This is luckily enough a tasteless powder that we mix in her juice. While in the hospital she went two days without having a bowel movement, so we were encouraged to increase the Miralax dosage to once in the morning and once at night. After today and her four trips to the bathroom, we have to adjust our Miralax dosage to make sure she is not going too often.

While we are happy to be home, I am finding it much harder to be here than at the hospital. The hospital is a very busy place with many people to visit with and ways to keep the mind occupied. I have a little too much thinking time here at home. The other perk of the hospital was the feeling that by being there we were doing something. While her recovery time is quite important, the lack of daily contact with doctors and nurses makes it more difficult to feel as though we are making progress.

Please continue to pray that Leah can continue to remain healthy so we do not have to return to Iowa City before we are scheduled to, that her spirits and energy return, and that the chemotherapy works effectively for her.