For Isla's second round, Jordan took her. I stayed home with the boys. We had arranged for someone to come stay with the boys for the original days (Oct 20-24), but then her blood levels were too low and her treatment had to be postponed a week. It messed up all our plans and we couldn't find someone to watch the boys. I was so sad not to be there with her, but Jordan was very good at staying on top of her medicine.
Here are the updates from him for the blog about her treatment week. I will be doing his updates in orange.
Monday - October 27, 2025
We left at 7:30am and got to primary children's just before 9am. We thought we were early because we were told to check in at 9:15am the day before, but found out our appointment was for 9am, so we were right on time. Her oncologist came in to answer questions and tell us her next PET scan will hopefully be the 18th of November. She also said that they're pushing her next round a week so we won't be here for Thanksgiving. She did mention that she was surprised Isla hadn't lost her hair. Fingers crossed that means she gets to keep it!
We spent 4 hours in clinic and she tolerated everything well. I was able to keep up on all of her nausea medicine (I let the nurses know I would take care of it) and that seemed to help a lot. No puking!! It does seem like the chemo is affecting her taste. She spit out fruit snacks, apples, and a sucker because she said they tasted yucky. All she wanted was a pile of salt on a plate for dinner.
Overall, she seemed like her upbeat self. She didn't take that great of a nap, but she slept well that night. I woke up twice to make sure she got her Zofran and she didn't even wake up. She would just open her mouth and I'd give her the medicine all without opening her eyes.
Tuesday - October 28, 2025
We were right on time for her 9:30am appointment. They got us right in. I put on her numbing cream before leaving, so we were able to get her accessed pretty much immediately. Everything went quickly, giving her the steroid (to help with the rash she got all over her scalp last time) seemed to take forever yesterday. Like they gave it to her over an hour. Today was only 15 minutes. She mostly played with lipstick and her purse while watching Daniel tiger.
Isla is so chill and cute. When the nurse taking the needle out, she asked if Isla's always so chill. She couldn't believe it.
Wednesday - October 29, 2025
Today went really well and quick. The week has really just been pretty easy. Keeping on top of the nausea medicine is the name of the game.
She was asking the nurse for a "poop" emoji bandaid, but when they brought in the princess bandaid, she was shaking she was so excited to get it.
Thursday - October 30, 2025
Fairly fast getting us in. She's a bit more picky and sad today. She said she was happy even though she was making whiny, sad noises. I wonder if she's just tired today. Otherwise, not much to mention.
She had been asking for a bandaid the whole time. She got a Tangled bandaid yesterday and was soo sad when I took it off her last night. Any time a nurse would come in to check something, she would ask for a bandaid. She got the princess bandaid! She cried pretty hard when they book the bandages off.
I mostly just feel bad for her. I have to wake her up to leave in the morning. We're gone for 4-5 hours and get home in time for lunch and a nap. Once she wakes up its almost time for dinner so she just gets to play for a little bit until its bedtime. I'm sure she's ready for the week to be over so she can just be a kid. Tomorrow, she is dressing up to do trick or treating at the hospital, which will be a nice change and make her happy.
Friday - October 31, 2025
She wore her princess costume to the hospital and all of the oncology nurses were excited to see her. She is so beautiful and they all let her know it. The nurses all wore costumes and Isla was their first patient who had come in dressed up. We were told on Monday that they do reverse trick or treating, they bring the candy to each room, but we waited around and hadn't seen anything. We asked the nurses when they were going to do that and they said they don't, so we were a little bummed.
Isla is a champ and handled the treatment well. She gets a little stir crazy (I think we were gone around 4 hours every day) so by the end she can't sit still and is ready to leave. It's so funny, every day they de-accessed her port, she would cheer and then immediately tell the nurse bye with a wave.
She was so excited to leave that she would make sure to tell everyone she saw "See you!". We got in the car and started our drive home to make it for trick or treating with her brothers.
Megan: She did really well the rest of the day. The boys and I were elated to see her. She was so happy to be home and to be playing with her toys. She was acting totally fine, so we decided to take her Trick-or-Treating. She was excited to be wearing her new Tangled princess dress and to be wearing her long, blonde wig. The whole night she kept saying, "So pretty" & "Pretty Isla" while petting her wig.
We are so incredibly grateful for a smooth treatment week. Jordan did an incredible job. We love her so much! Thank you again for all the love and support.
Love, Megan
0 comments