False Start

We loaded up the car and left early on this cold morning to head back down to the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. Today was supposed to be the start of Myla's second round of chemotherapy, but it turns out that her system hasn't yet sufficiently recovered from the first round of chemo. The bottom line is that we were sent back home until Wednesday, December 26.

The good news is that we will be able to spend Christmas at home. The bad news is that...well, that part's a bit fuzzy. Myla's ANC count today was only 700, which was up only 115 from last Thursday. Generally, the ANC is supposed to multiply quickly. Her slow recovery isn't a good sign, but it's not necessarily a bad sign either. Some people just take longer to recover from the rounds of chemo.

With a score of 700, Myla's doctor would have admitted us today for the start of the second round. What sent us back home was that Myla's bone marrow wasn't rich enough. That's in layman's terms, and it just means that there weren't enough cells in the bone marrow yet. Proceeding with chemo before her bone marrow had recovered would have been dangerous as her system might not have been able to handle the second round of chemo ripping through the cells in the bone marrow before she was strong enough. So, waiting was the best option.

But, it was somewhat of a shock to find that we were headed back home for another 10 days. Ideally, they would try to admit us later this week, but they have to do another bone marrow test with richer marrow to assess the effectiveness of the first round of chemo. Because Myla's bone marrow was depleted today, it will take at least another week before she's ready for another bone marrow test, and that puts us into Monday of next week, which is Christmas Eve, which means that the outpatient wing of the hospital is closed until 12/26. That, ultimately, is why we are having to wait so long before we can return.

Here are some pictures from today:

1. The Volvo warms up for Melissa and Myla's first ride in it!
2. Melissa keeps the mask over Myla's face in the waiting room of the Riley Outpatient Center.
3. Myla always gets the following measurements when we are first called back: blood pressure, height, and weight.
4. Myla looks alert after putting up with all the measuring nonsense.
5. We headed back to room 7 where Myla got her blood drawn the easy way and patient identification attached to her ankle.
6. After a brief rest in the action, the nurse applied numbing cream to the points on Myla's back in preparation for both the bone marrow aspiration and the second dose of spinal chemo she would recieve today.
7. After all that fun, Myla pretended to wait patiently for Dr. Kumar to arrive with the results of the blood test.
8. After a brief inspection by Dr. Kumar, we headed to a waiting area on the second floor for another echo cardiogram. Although Myla looks calm in the pictures I've shown so far, she was very upset most of the time as she hadn't eaten in over four hours by this point. The medical staff did a great job on both the exam and on trying to entertain Myla using all means possible--including blowing bubbles. My magic trick of using the spinning light toy had only a limited effect this time around. After the exam, we walked back out using the same hallway we had been down on November 8, when Myla was first admitted. I wanted to take this picture because it was at this very spot that Melissa had voiced her concern over not being able to hold Myla over her shoulder for a long time. Thankfully, that worked itself out and Melissa could hold Myla over her shoulder within only a few days after the surgery. (I know, Myla isn't being held over the shoulder in the shot I took today, but that was because Melissa had to keep Myla's mask on her face.)
9. After the echo cardiogram, we waiting again in the lobby of the Hematology/Oncology area. Dr. Kumar explained the results of Myla's blood test and shared that even though her ANC count was relatively low at 700, she still planned to admit Myla as long as the bone marrow test had a good outcome.
10. Melissa took Myla to have the bone marrow aspiration and dose of spinal chemo, while I wisely left in pursuit of doing something else...anything else. This turned out to be a quick lunch at the Ronald McDonald House and snapping a picture of the Christmas tree in their courtyard.
11. Here are some shots of Myla after the procedure: A, B, C, & D.
12. After spending about an hour in the recovery area, we headed to another room where the nurse changed Myla's dressing.
13. We observed some swelling in Myla's face, so we ran this by the nurses and they gave Myla the okay to leave.

So, we did.