January 31, 2006 - Part 2

Iowa City greetings. We are very unhappy to report that we were admitted today to the hospital. Our initial intent of coming down and getting blood changed midway through the afternoon.

This morning Leah was up bright and early as I wrote earlier and we were in the car by 7:30 AM. Once again they had a hard time getting a blood return from her port. This is so frustrating because Leah hates to be accessed so much and cries until they finally leave her alone. If they cannot get blood back they have to fiddle around with things for a long time. They ordered TPA but did eventually get blood back without using it. While we waited for blood results we decided to try out the Melrose Diner. This is probably the nicest restaurant in the hospital. Leah was happy to get to try the pasta meal, which she had for leftovers later. We took a trip to the 7th floor to see our friends there and ran into Dr. Rahdi, who told us he had brought present for Leah. We were called down to the clinic since our blood results were back and then told that Leah's hemoglobin was 8.2. I was so sure that it was lower than 8-which is when they transfuse, but they also realize it is on its way down, so transfused anyway. However, the big problem is that Leah's magnesium, potassium, and carbon dioxide (and who knows what else) were all extremely low. Leah started different prescriptions last Friday to help with these things, but as of now either the dosage is wrong, or the cisplatine is really taking a toll on her body. These are all things that the kidneys are wasting because of cisplatine. There is enough concern that we were not allowed to go home and Leah is receiving IV supplements of these things. They continue to check her electrolytes with lab draws and she will receive more supplements in the night. Leah is definitely not excited to be here right now. She is wearing electrodes so they are able to monitor her heart and from time to time wears a monitor her finger to monitor her oxygen saturation. She is tired, and today there have been more tears about being here than there are normally.

We were not planning on staying today at all, so my mom and dad brought Chloe down with a bag of things - and a few boxes, too. This is the first time I have not brought a bag with us and this is the only time we have been admitted. My mom is staying with us tonight and my dad, Chloe and Chris' mom (who was down here today with us) went back around 9 tonight.

Dr. Rahdi stopped and saw Leah today and brought her her present- a cute Dora purse with Dora chocolates and some Dora stickers. She still insists they are not friends. They are checking AFP numbers tomorrow-something I no longer look forward to and am coming to dread. Dr. Rahdi and I discussed that it does signify tumor activty and a rising number is not good news. Right now the surgeons are so hesitant to think of surgery that it looks like we will try a fourth round of chemo with a different set of drugs in an effort to shrink her tumor. Dr. Rahdi did not tell us anything we have not already heard, but after seeing Leah go through all of this today and all the tears and then to think that her tumor may not be responding anymore, it is devastating. The other part is that Leah is listening to all of these conversations and I don't think she understands all of them, but it is amazing what she chimes in with. This past weekend I talked with a mother who lost her son to cancer when he was just a little older than Leah. Many of her comments struck home with me-one being the fact that it seems that so many of the best and brightest shining stars are the ones who have cancer as children. While I know there are many shining stars that do not have to deal with cancer, it does seem that so many of the children up here are truly that -and that has been commented on many times by nurses and volunteers as well. Her other comment that seems a very apt description of the events we have had happen to us these past two months is that when your child is diagnosed with cancer it is like waking up in hell and not getting out any time soon. Right now that seems to be very true.

Our prayer list gets longer as we ask that God help Leah's tumor shrink, help her AFP decrease, be with the doctors tomorrow as they discuss how to best proceed with her treatment, help her electrolytes return to normal so that we may go home, and help her continue to fight. We thank everyone for their prayers and thoughtfulness. Just minutes after arriving in our room on 7th floor we had an enormous basket of fruit delivered that included Wheat Thins, cheese, and carrots. We have already eaten several different items, and I am amazed at the different kind gestures that our friends and family continue to think of to help us through this.