Monday - August 11, 2025
I took Isla to Primary Children's at 9am. It was just her and I. On the way to the hospital to the first appointment, I usually have a few songs that I play in the car to get us happy and dancing. One of them is "There She Goes" by Cyril, Moonlight and The La's. (Go listen to now if you haven't already - It's a remix of the original by The La's) Isla loves dancing and this particular song gets me mentally prepared for her treatment week. There she goes. There she goes again. To chemo treatment.
She was in such a good mood. We love the atmosphere at the Lehi Primary Children's. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm so glad we switched back to Lehi. She was being so cute in the waiting area. She wanted her own chair while we waited.
They took us back and as we walked in, I heard, "Isla!" Her favorite nurse was working again and Isla was happy to see her. It was a really great appointment. They took her blood with no issues, she didn't cry. She just watched the needle go in and then smiled at the nurse trying to distract her. She literally amazes me.
Her favorite nurse came to play with her for a minute. Isla walked right up to her and started pointing at all her jewelry. She does this every time. She is such a girly girl. She got to play with bubbles and figured out how to do it by herself, so she was enjoying that for awhile.
The dietician came in to talk to us and she said that Isla didn't gain any weight. She was the same weight as the last time she came in and that made me panic a little. Especially because she always loses weight during treatment week. She suggested some things that we could do to help her.
After the dietician, the nurse came in and said that Isla was good to get her shot. They brought in a couple of nurses to distract her while she got the shot. Isla didn't even flinch. She actually laughed a little. For something that is so hard to go through, I'm glad that the little things haven't been traumatic.
The doctor in that day came in and talked to us. I really like this specific doctor. One of the times that I've seen him, he brought up that Isla had low iron. He said there's this gene that causes you to have chronically low iron, but it's only seen in people from the Mediterranean. I said, "Funny you say that, I recently found out that my ancestry IS from the Mediterranean." For those of you that don't know, I did AncestryDNA a couple of years ago and found out a lot of crazy things that kind of blew up. Anyway, he thought it was the craziest story and now every time he sees Isla he brings it up.
He said that everything looked good and we were good to go! Primary Children's does this awesome thing for the kids in oncology. After every appointment, you can go to their library and get a free book. I was able to get a really cute board book for Isla. It's a nice little pick me up after what can sometimes be a stressful appointment.
I went to my parent's house after and fed Isla lunch before we made the trek home. She surprisingly ate a lot. About 20 minutes after, she really wanted me to hold her. She was whining a little and looked like she was in pain. She started doing a certain movement and sound and I knew exactly what was coming. I yelled for a bowl and she threw up all the food she had just ate. It's always so sad when she throws up. She threw up probably five times, but seemed okay after.
She slept almost the whole way home.
Tuesday - Friday
We had a new home health nurse come this week. The kids loved him and he was very sweet with Isla. He said that it's very rare for them to see chemo patients this young where we live. Isla did get a fever Tuesday morning, but I just stayed on top of giving her Tylenol until she woke up Wednesday morning not warm at all. I had so many different timers on my phone for all her different medications.
Her brother's birthday was this week and we tried to celebrate as much as we could. I don't talk about it a lot on here, but it is hard juggling everything that Isla is going through while also having two other kids with their own needs and wants. I try my hardest to give one-on-one time, especially during treatment weeks because those are the hardest.
Overall, one of the better weeks for sure. Physically, she is doing great. Running around, super active, happy and able to just be a kid. I couldn't ask for more. We have a half-way PET scan scheduled for September 3. I will be sure to update the blog after our appointment.
30 shots down, 30 to go!
Love, Megan
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