Day 1 Radiation Done

So, thanks for reading meredith's blog. I will catch you up on what has been happening because I have not been good about keeping this updated.

We are currently in New York and staying with Steve's parents. Meredith will have chemotherapy for 43 weeks and 28 days of radiation. This radiation is spread through 6 weeks because they only do it on week days. We are in NY to go to a radiation oncologist that specializes in head tumors in kids. We really had a hard time deciding if we should come here but once we made the decision we knew we made the right decision. She will continue to get her chemo while we are here.

Today is the first official day of radiation. Only 27 more sessions to go. We might try to do it without anesthesia. Last week they created a mask for her so the radiation is very directed. I just asked her about it but she is freaked out about the mask, so she like likely sleep through the radiation. Usually, it will only be 5 minutes or so. If she can do it awake, she can eat, it will take a lot less time because there won't be any recovery time and she will likely be less cranky. The propophyl tends to make her a little cranky. I would be too if I were her.

They test her blood two times a week during radiation. Today her hemoglobin was too low so she is getting her first blood transfusion. She is snuggled into a bed and watching PBS.

We are all adjusting well to NY. The first couple of days were hard for zack and the next couple were hard for Meredith but overall, I think they are doing really well. There are a ton of silver linings and we are focussing on those. Zack and I remind ourselves by saying we are making lemonade (out of lemons). Our best lemonade has been hanging out with our awesome cousins Ben and Jordana and awesome grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousin Adam. We are so very lucky to be here with them.

We miss steve a ton. We are going to Skype tonight, so that should be a lot of fun.

Thank you for all the support. There a no words to describe how much easier it is to know we have people praying, wishing, thinking about her. more soon.

6.21.11

No big news today. Meri slept fine last night and had a pretty normal day today. A little more tired, maybe, but nothing significant.

She had to go back to Childrens to get a shot - I am not sure what the medicine is but it is something to keep her immune system high, I believe. (I'll update when I get more info). She will get one of those shots after every 8-hour chemo session.

FAQ

Just some quick info about this blog:

Who is writing this blog?

Mostly Lori, Allison's sister. But Allison or others may be contributing in the future too.

Why are you writing this blog?

So many caring people want to be informed about how Meri is doing. It's easier to spread a blog around than tell to share the info in any other way.

What can we do to help?

Thank you for wanting to help - You are awesome and wonderful! We are working on putting together a website for help. We actually already have it set up but we need to populate it with opportunities. If there is something you already know you want to do, and you need info to finish the job (address, suggestions as to times to drop things off, etc.) just email me: loriwelty AT gmail DOT com.

Feel free to use that email address for any other questions about Meri, etc. I will do my best to get you answers to your questions!

6.20.11

Day One of Chemo is done! Despite last Thursday's traumatic port experience, this time went smoother. The day was generally non-eventful and even pleasant despite the fact that they were confined to the hospital with Meri hooked up to an IV for EIGHT hours. She got to roam around much of the day, playing in the playroom, zooming around on hot-wheels and coloring in a coloring book.

They gave her anti-nausea medicines during the day and sent them home with them as well. By the end of the day, Meri was exhausted and starting to complain about her tummy hurting. :( When I last spoke to Allison, Meri was asleep, and we are keeping fingers crossed that she has a restful night.

The doctors told Alli that the peak sickness for this particular chemo (the 8 hour sessions) is 10-14 days after infusion. I am hoping that means just a lot of sleepiness for Meri and not a lot of nausea.

6.17.11

Last night was a tough one. Meri had been feeling icky off and on during the day - headachey, mostly. Early evening, she was in a lot of pain, complaining of sore legs and a stomache ache, and she was running a fever. Off to the Children's hospital ER for the night... They got to put her new "port" into use, drawing blood for bloodwork. Meri did not like it AT ALL, but hopefully it was more scary than painful. The bloodwork all came back clear (phew!) but it leaves her pain a mystery still. She's been through a lot this week with all of the testing, so the working theory is that it took a lot out of her and her body is reacting to that.

She felt better today, though still not 100%. Hopefully this weekend she'll be feeling better and better so she can enjoy some beautiful weather and Father's day. :)

Monday chemo starts - and based on how much she disliked the port being used, we are concerned about how that will go. Hopefully (there's a lot of "hopefully" right now) it will be less scary this time, and she'll get used to it quickly so at least that part of the process isn't traumatic.

6.16.11

Today we got the details of Meri's chemotherapy treatment plan. She will begin on Monday. She will have the V-A-C chemo treatment which is a combination of 3 different chemo drugs. She will have chemo every Monday (mostly - there are little changes here and there). Every 3rd week, chemo will be LONG - 8 hours! - because the chemo drug needs to be introduced and followed with saline solution. The other weeks, it will be 1 hour of chemo. So this week is an 8 hour session, then the next week is 1 hour, 1 hour, then 8 hours, etc.

The doctor said she will start feeling nauseous about 4 hours or so after treatment and may feel sick for a day or 2. They are giving her 2 anti-nausea medications so hopefully that will help. The doctor said some kids don't feel sick, so we'll have to wait and see, and keep fingers crossed.

Every 15 weeks Meri will have scans to see how things are going, and make sure everything is progressing as planned.

6.15.11

Tomorrow it's a trip to CHD to learn more about the chemotherapy regimen Meri will be starting on Monday. Right now there are a lot of unknowns - how the chemo sessions will go, how she will feel afterwards, etc. Tomorrow we'll have some answers but I am sure some will be a "wait and see" to see how it goes.