Emily's I.V. chemo went well. 275th post in the blog.

This is the 275th update to Emily's blog. Wow it's been a real journey hasn't it? I went back and re-read the the first two months, and there were some things in there that I almost don't want to remember. Actually I am really happy with the blog, it's given me a chance to express how I feel and to also feel all the support of the people who are following Emily's courageous battle with cancer.

The picture above was taken tonight at Open House at Country Lane School.

Today went well. We had I.V. chemo, labs, and a physical exam. The Exam came first, and Emily checked out on all the things they check her for. A typical exam starts with any question or concerns we have. Then they ask Emily a ton of questions, ranging from how she is feeling to what she is learning in school. Then they get her up on the exam table and they check the sites in the body where we all have a lot of lymph nodes. The neck, stomach area, pelvic area. They listen to her lungs and heart. Then she has to take at least 4 steps on her heals and 4 steps on her toes. The heal and toes exam is to asses neuropathy which the Vinchristine can cause. Early on in treatment you'll remember Emily couldn't walk and needed a wheel chair, neuropathy was the reason for that. It's a side effect of her chemotherapy. Today she checked out fine, like she has for the past several months.

After the exam we get moved into the Day Hospital, which is a part of the ! North Unit. Here is where they take Emily's blood sample and give her I.V. chemo. She has a really good vein on her left hand that we save each month for the I.V. needle. Our nurse did a great job getting her vein on the first try. I think these 1 North nurses are amazing they have to stick kids with needles all day, and they do it so well. The hardest part if accessing the vein and once that is over the blood sample and Chemo go really quick. Today we hung around about 10 minutes after the I.V. because Emily got a visit from a dog that was in the clinic today to help brighten up the kids day. When the pet therapy animals are on site, you can sign up for a visit, which we had done.

Stanford/Packard are really quick with the lab results, the Cancer ward has their own lab which really expedites things. By the time we drove home we had a voice mail with the results. Emily's blood levels were good and they moved her from %50 dosage up to %75 dosage which makes us really happy! let's hope she can stay away from colds, she really needs to stay on higher doses, that even got brought up at her exam today.