On the way down in the car, Isla realized what was happening and what was going to happen this week. She immediately started begging to go back home. "Mommy, I hate this. We go home please?" I kept trying to comfort her as much as I could from the front seat. She would get distracted and forget for a minute. Then it would start up again. I tried to sound as comforting as I could while trying to hide the tears that were streaming down my face.
Eventually, she stopped begging.
Monday - January 26, 2026
Salt Lake Primary Children's today. The appointment was at 12pm and everyone knows how I feel about later appointments. Isla's nap is at 1pm, so that wasn't going to happen.
Our doctor wasn't even there so I'm not sure why we had to go to Salt Lake. We usually do the first appointment in Salt Lake so we can meet with Isla's oncologist. We didn't find out that she wasn't there until we were in the infusion room. I had questions for her, so I was a little bugged. It's not easy getting to Salt Lake. But the nurses were great and so sweet. The round went surprisingly fast, so that was a little tender mercy.
She slept in the car on the way to my parent's house. She did throw up once or twice later that night. She felt so much better after throwing up. I was grateful for that. She slept good too.
Tuesday - January 27, 2026
No throw up today! Yay! She was in better spirits today... Kind of. Isla refused to talk to anyone when we first got to her appointment. It wasn't until the music therapist came in that she cheered up. She played the drums as the music therapist played "Frozen" songs the guitar. It was definitely the bright moment of the day. We will be asking for the music therapist every time we come.
We had to pick up nausea medication from the pharmacy in Primary Children's. It took almost a whole hour to get it even though the order was put in the day before. Both Jordan and I were not in the best mood when we finally got to the car with Isla.
It really did change her entire mood for the rest of the day. She was a lot happier and active. It was a relief.
Wednesday - January 28, 2026
Isla woke up and I could tell it was going to be a rough day. She was very sad. Every morning, I have to take off the bandaid from the day before and put numbing cream on and all around her port. She hates when I take the bandaid off. Her skin is starting to look seared around her port. She has such sensitive skin. My dad made us breakfast and Isla ate a lot of eggs so that was good!
When we got to Primary Children's for her appointment, the nurses tried so hard to make her smile. She wouldn't. She wouldn't talk or say hi. Her favorite nurse came in and Isla whispered responses to her. At least she was talking to her. She told me she just wanted to watch "Princess and the Frog". So I turned it on for her.
While she's accessed, we request they use the IV3000 dressing. It's for sensitive skin. If we don't, her skin is so wrecked by the end of the week that her skin sticks to her shirt. It's a nightmare.
She ate a little bit of a z-bar. She cried almost the whole infusion today. She was so tired. Nap time couldn't come fast enough.
As they were putting the Heparin into her port, she could taste it and it caused her to throw up. It was really sad, because she had been eating so well that morning. She did throw up a couple times the rest of the day.
Thursday - January 29, 2026
Isla stayed up until very late last night. She just laid in bed. It was the happiest I had seen her though. I laid down next to her bed. She kept asking for my hand and cuddling it. She had her baby doll in bed with her and kept giving the baby doll forehead kisses.
I had to wake her up this morning to go to the hospital for her infusion. It's always a fight getting the numbing cream on her port. Today was time for her Aloxi dose. It's basically a three day zofran. It took a long time to get the Clofarabine going.
You could tell she just wanted to be done. We asked for the music therapist to come in. She sang some of Isla's favorite songs, but Isla was just staring at her. She wouldn't respond when she asked her questions. We tried to get Isla to participate, but she wouldn't. Isla was tired, so the music therapist left.
There was a lot of throwing up. We are pros at catching throw-up now. There are very specific things she does when she's nauseous. It seems like it doesn't matter how much medication we give her, throwing up is a normal part of chemo. She ended up falling asleep in her chair. We tried to keep her as comfortable as we could.
When it was time to leave, she was happy. I got her to smile for a picture. Maybe you can tell, but her coloring changes during chemo. I was just happy to see her smile! We love our Isla.
Friday - January 30, 2026
Not a lot to say about today. Sooo much throw up, but Isla was ecstatic to have it over with. Her skin on her chest was pretty raw from the Band-Aids. It always is at the end of treatment week. I don't know how much I've talked about that on here, but the bandages that they put on her port when it's accessed are one of the worst parts. She has very sensitive skin.
Isla had a long drive home, and she threw up almost the entire way. Not a great way to end the week, but it didn't take long for her to get back to her usual self!
Thank you for all the prayers and support!
Love, Megan
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