September 29, 2021

Yesterday Aurelia went in for her bone marrow sample. They put her under general anesthesia and take a sample in her back or hip area. Aurelia is not a huge fan of general anesthesia and told me the doctors should just use a numbing cream and then “she could take the pain.” I told her she was welcome to chat with her doctors, but in the end she agreed that being asleep might be for the best. The whole process only takes 20-30 minutes so she was done quickly and in recovery. One parent is allowed in the room with her until she falls asleep and then we have to wait in recovery for her. Here she is coming out of the OR and into recovery:


She felt absolutely fine, so we were allowed to leave after an hour or so. Aurelia was thrilled to go to Federal and sit in the private area and have some lunch:

She felt well enough to do a bit of schoolwork (she even had a video lesson with her class at the hospital) and rested at home for the afternoon.



The results of the bone marrow have come back and they are negative for cancer cells, which is really comforting. Her treatments are working and her body is fighting off the cancer and we are so thankful. 

Next week we move to our next phase which is 3 nights of inpatient with chemo and then 10 days at home. We’ve been told this phase can be more difficult, but we have no idea what to expect.

The only big side effect we have noticed is “chemo brain.” I had read about it a bit, but it’s definitely real. Later in treatment she will get some testing, but her brain is not able to process things like it once did. I notice it with schoolwork. She has always been a whiz at math and now struggles with her basic facts and her brain is just…a bit foggy. It frustrates her, so I usually give her a break and read aloud and let her rest before we try again. Everyone says she will return to “normal” after treatment, so I hope that’s the case.

Rory returned yesterday so it is nice to have a bit of help with everything at home and hospital. He has two more trips this month but we have a lot of help from friends and for that I am so grateful.

Comments

  1. A teacher friend from Colorado!September 29, 2021 at 11:53 AM

    What a champion! We are wishing and praying that her treatments continue to be successful. Her hair really grew back fast!

    ReplyDelete

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