Getting Settled In + Other Promised Info

The weather was about 84 degrees today and humid! Not extremely humid, but enough that my hair started to frizz a bit. We ran the A/C in the apartment and got outside a lot today to play. 

Later, we got a chance to run out and get a few items to make our home away from home a little homier. We got to go to Costco and the Dollar General Store. They aren't conveniently located just 2 minutes from home anymore. Costco was about 20 minutes from here. Not too bad... Shopping is going to have to be so much better planned after this. We will be making most things from scratch and reading every single label carefully.

When we got home, we looked out the back window to see what action was going on out back. To our pleasant surprise, it was game night! A bunch of students from Boston University drove up to play with the kids! How sweet is that? I wish I had been able to have my better camera out there. The iPhone is great if you are close up, but there isn't much of a zoom feature... yet. Maybe in the iPhone 5. ;) Anyway, I was able to snap a few pictures. It was gorgeous out tonight.

You can see Kayla... she is in the purple striped dress. They had fun with balls on the parachute.

Playing Hot Potato

Tonight, Kayla chose El Torro Loco for one of her last meals of choice. When we walked in, the Grizzly/Lakers game was on. One of the players, Pau Gasol was being interviewed. We immediately noticed the background of where he was. St Jude! We couldn't really hear what was being said because the restaurant was busy. We did see some familiar friendly faces though. Kayla recognized Ryan and Angel right away! So cool to see these sweet kids on a big screen TV.

Angel is in the pink striped shirt (her favorite color) and Ryan is to Pau's right in the maroon shirt. Ryan has the same diagnosis as Kayla and is the same age. He just finished his 3rd round of Chemo. One more to go! I see the boy in the blue a lot, but don't know his name.  Such a great picture... taken last night! :)

We sat down and Kayla ordered Nacho's. We were proud of her for trying to eat as much as she could. She knows that the meals to come will not be ones she would necessarily choose and so she is really trying to enjoy some favorites now while she can. Once she is admitted and starts Chemo, we will have to really limit her diet.

Earlier at the hospital, Kayla had some tests ran including one that measured her hand strength. It involves a pinch and grip test. The average patient who has undergone radiation is typically 6lbs less then before starting treatment. (they measure the strength in lbs.) Kayla was 6 lbs STRONGER!!! See? She, is a fighter!  Her grip and pinch both improved and her reaction speed was faster. We are so proud of her! Just goes to show how much she accomplished during our break home.

Tomorrow night at 8pm, Kayla will be admitted inpatient for our first round. Ok, so I know I promised a list of our upcoming tasks... if you want to call them that. Here is a summarized list of what must be done while Kayla is inpatient.


Daily:

-Mouth Care 3 x per day (rinsing with a special mouth wash to try and prevent mouth sores)
-Sitz Bath 2 x per day for 15 mins each
-Bath 1x per day
-Vitals every 4 hours
-Laps: 1 lap around chemo floor 5 x per day
-Teeth: 2 x per day
-Dressing Change: As needed
-Intake/Output record. Everything that comes out of kayla must be weighed and charted to make          sure she is getting enough fluids. Whoever is cleaning up and handling this must be protected w/ gloves and or eye goggles to protect themselves from the poison's that will be eliminated. (this is where I cried....)
-Weight 2 x per day (8am & 8pm)
-Physical Therapy will come to her to keep her active-ish
-PEP (positive expiratory pressure therapy) To keep her lungs exercised and healthy 4x daily.
-Clean PEP nightly 


Kayla's chemo schedule will be as follows:
Day -5  Admitted
Day -4  Cisplatin, amifostine, and vincristine***
Day -3 Cyclophosphamide, and mesna*
Day -2 Cyclophosphamide, and mesna*
Day -1 No chemo therapy, day of rest
Day  0 Stem Cell Transplantation
Day +1 G-CSF** starts
Day +6 G-CSF** continues until counts return to normal, vincincristine

* mesna is a drug given w/ cyclophosphamide to help reduce damage to her bladder. On these days, it will be mandatory that Kayla urinate every 2 hours (all while we are geared up to protect ourselves)
** G-CSF Is given to help her white blood cells return to normal levels. These are extremely important to the recovery process.
***amifostine is given to prevent the effects of hearing loss from the cisplatin.

Kayla says she is going to knock this out of the park! Her spirits are high and she is ready to kick cancer booty!


Cancer... you are NO LONGER WELCOME HERE!!!!