a little unsure....

May 6th, 2013

Ollie playing with the puzzle book he got from the Sunday night Life Group at A2 C of C.  

He LOVED it!  Thank you!

Oliver had his first outpatient infusion beginning at 11am.  But first, he had an abdominal ultrasound to rule out causes for his extremely distended tummy.  Unfortunately, that test came along with a nothing by mouth order from 6-10am when they would perform the exam.  It was an answer to prayer that Ollie was fairly easy to distract that morning.  He woke up just before 6, so we gave him a few bites, some milk and his meds.  Then we played with toys upstairs, downstairs, and finally took him outside.  I walked all around the yard with him.  Thankfully, we passed enough time to be able to leave for the hospital.  Oliver wasn't thrilled about getting in the car...every trip he'd been on lately ended up at a hospital or doctor's office.  He used to say "GO BLUE!" when we passed the stadium, but he won't anymore.  We could see if from the hospital- at the time, it was fun to say "GO BLUE" and feel normal, but by now, it was not a fun memory.  I was a little unsure how he would react when we pulled up to Mott.  Thankfully he did really well and stayed calm.

We checked in at the radiology desk to await the ultrasound tech.  There was a really cool piece of (?) artwork that was a perpetual machine moving marbles around.  I can't explain it, but it was neat and easy for Oliver to enjoy.  He was definitely not a fan of the ultrasound...especially the part where he had to lay still.  He cried hard...and he does not do that often.  I knew it wasn't hurting him, but it was  hard to watch.  The tech said he really did better than most kids- he hadn't started crying until about 20 minutes in.  He got to pick out a new pillow case for being a good boy (a volunteer had apparently made hundreds of cases...it comes in handy since he is sweating so much at night:).  The tech said she thought everything looked normal, but we still had to wait for the final word from the doc (which came by mail a few days later with an all clear).

We left radiology on the 3rd floor and went up to the 7th floor to visit the infusion clinic for the first time.  We didn't wait very long before they called us back, but Oliver managed to eat some sodium free chips, a slice of swiss cheese, and several pouches in that short time.  They had to get his current weight and height to determine the proper dosage for the Rituxan- he was quickly gaining weight.  I distinctly remember that we had to hold Ollie in our arms on the scale because he still couldn't stand up on his own.  After that, we sat in our little cubby and met with our nurse, Shannon, to view the protocol.  She put EMLA creme on Oliver's port site so it could start numbing while we discussed the process.  Shannon was able to access Oliver's port without so much as a whimper from him.  She said he didn't even flinch! (I couldn't see since he was on my lap).  He got oral tylenol, they drew blood for labs from his port site, then hooked him up to the IV for Benadryl (Rituxan can cause an allergic reaction in some cases). and dexamethasone.  Around 11am, the infusion began.  Oliver did really well, no reaction and vitals remained steady.  We even ventured into the "Dugout"- the Child Life Services play room for the chemo/infusion kids.  Taylor and I had been warned about Oliver's suppressed immune system, so we were a little hesitant to let him play there.  Other kids and germs could be lurking.  As it turns out, (duh) every kid is immuno-suppresed, so the staff sanitizes every toy that is touched (they go into a trash can- or toy bin- when the child is done so they can be cleaned).  We felt more comfortable with the toys and remained vigilant for kids who might be showing signs of illness.  (most kids are on chemo so they can't actually receive their treatments if they are sick resulting in a much smaller chance of exposure to an ill child).  Oliver touched nearly every toy he could get his hands on and played hard for over an hour.  (I think he sees the empty toy bins as a challenge:)

 Ollie in the Dugout.

Thanks Inge family for the generous gift of play!

After play time, we took Oliver back to our little sitting area and he took a nap. Ollie's diaper leaked (thank you, IV fluids) and the little guy was so sweaty I was soaked everywhere else, too.  But it was good snuggle time and thankfully I had brought a cloth diaper from his newborn days for him to sleep on.

We are beyond ecstatic that Ollie tolerated the treatment so well and praise God that he never had a neuroblastoma to deal with.  8 1/2 hours later we left the hospital to head home.  Ollie had his meds, dinner and went to bed, exhausted.

 Yum, bomb pops!