A typical clinic visit

It starts with Lidocaine cream on her port site.  Cover it up with press and seal, and we're good to go!  Sadie has a back pack with everything we need for her visits.  Snacks, paper, pencils, water, binkies, mask, our "family handbook", etc.  When we arrive, we're supposed to valet park, so we pull up to the front and head on in.  The hospital is under construction right now because their expanding, so Sadie is supposed to wear a mask while outside and near the doors.  Sometimes she does great, and other times I just can't keep it on her.  It's really annoying and I need to reconfigure the mask so it will fit better.

Then on to the clinic.  We check in and she's given her ankle bracelets and allergy band.  Then we wait.  Sometimes we wait for around an hour, other times we're in in 20 minutes.  Labs are first.  We're taken into the lab draw area where they access her port.  This is the worst part for Sadie, but we're told it will get better.  I don't think it hurts her much, but it really makes her nervous.  She's so tough though and she gets a lollipop at the end that magically makes it all better.  They draw what they need, then heplock her and we're back into the waiting room for the doctors' visit.

While we wait, there's usually a movie playing (but it doesn't interest Sadie), and books (she's not really interested), there's some computer games (that are usually occupied), and sometimes she'll sit and color.  But most of the waiting involves Sadie wandering around the room and climbing on the chairs. Today she fell backwards off the chair she was sitting in and hit her head.  Oh boy!  The room completely came alive!  Sadie was screaming.  One receptionist rushed over.  The other receptionist grabbed the phone and asked if I wanted a nurse.  Then two nurses rushed into the room to look her over.  They asked what her platelets were, but I didn't know.  They asked questions and in the end, it was much ado about nothing.  But I learned what they watch for and what's important.  Because she had cried right away, she didn't lose consciousness, and her platelets were fine (they checked for me), there was so concern.  She was fine, but I was kind of embarrassed about all the attention.  Another mother in the room told me the same thing happened to her once. 

Next we're taken into the clinic where someone will weigh her, measure her, take her temperature and blood pressure.  Then we're given a room to wait in for the doctor.  The oncologist will look her over, listen to her heart and lungs, look in her mouth and ask questions.  We discuss her lab results and the plan for the upcoming week.  And they answer my questions.  Today I felt so grateful for the specific doctors Sadie's been assigned to.  They're a perfect fit for me, and Sadie adores them.  Today I was given a much needed pep talk about how to keep Sadie safe, but still have a life.  They made me feel better and it gave me more courage to get out and go places.  It was just what I needed to hear. Lately I've been struggling with whether I'm making the right decisions and really wanting to get out, go places, and see people.  They explained in more detail why a fever is so scarey and why we would be sent to the ER.  They explained that it's not the viruses that are scarey, but the bacteria.  But viruses can cause fevers and will land us in the ER as a safeguard.  I am really thankful for two wonderful doctors that I can lean on and who can give us support and advice.  (I say "doctors" because there's the attending oncologist and then there's the fellow.  The fellow has been with us since our very first visit to the ER after Sadie was diagnosed.  She's great!)

Next we schedule our upcoming visits and we're on our way home!  We usually stop and see the trains on the way out and Sadie usually falls asleep in the car on the way home.  Today she slept four hours after we got home!  I think clinic visits wear her out.

Here's a photo that has nothing to do with the post:

Sadie and Andrew play so well together despite their age difference.  I don't know what we're going to do when Andrew starts Kindergarten this fall!