Updates from Packard

Emily ended her infusion of Methotrexate around 9:30pm last night. Right after they drew labs from her port. By the way she slept through all of this. Then she was given hydration in her port with a pump to really get a lot of fluid in her. It's a saline, with bicarb and dextrose to be specific. Later in the night her labs came back and looked good. In this therapy they are checking levels of Methotrexate in her blood, and her Creatinine level for her kidney function. Her Methotrexate level was 112, which I was told is a pretty good baseline. She will need to drop to below 1, so she has a way to go. To put some context to that level, if she had a level over 150, they would have given her even more hydration because it's higher than they like. But she started with 112 and our nurse last night, Kacie, said that she would bet that Emily will be released after her labs Saturday night, so hopefully Emily and I will be heading home around 11pm Saturday, but we will see. Her Creatinine level going in was .3 and after all the Methotrexate was .3, so this treatment had little mal effect on her kidneys, which is also very good. Her stomach is a little upset, and she has zero appetite, all she has eaten in the last 30 hours is a very small amount of popcorn and a bite or two here and there of a few snacks. This is to be expected getting high dose chemo. The other big side effect they are looking for are mouth sores, or really sores anywhere in the GI tract, but they typically present in the mouth first. I was told they are a sign of infection, so I hope we don't see that complication, that would probably mean a longer stay. So far she doesn't have any. This afternoon she is going to get a vitamin called Leukovorin which will also help clear the Methotrexate.

I stayed with her last night, and I concur with Tracy, the chair stinks for sleeping. Next time odds are we will have a private room with a bed for the parent, but this time, man I can't stop complaining can I? I didn't sleep at all really. Around 3am I got the bright idea to go on a stroll outside. When I got back I found out they lock the ward at night, so I had to go find security and they had to call the nurse desk and I had to be let back in. A big ordeal for a short walk. Emily and I shared her bed from about 4am - 6am and I dozed. The only nice part was just being close to Emily. She woke up and said, "Daddy, I'm glad we're buddies." That made the sleepless night worth it. She also told me she was bored, so I hope we can get her out of there quick.