Chemo Day 1

 

#CharlotteStrong

Yesterday we spent a lot of the day sitting and waiting for chemo to start. Charlotte had a lot of tests she had to pass in order to start chemo.  Charlotte however, was in wonderful spirits.  She was able to play a little and crawl around on an activity mat.  She enjoyed a wagon ride around the floor.  Charlotte brought some cookies to all the nurses to say thank you for Nurse's Week and she was really sad when the nurses took the cookies and didn't give her one.  We started our first round of chemo last night.  

It was a very rough night.  Charlotte slept well until about 2 am when she got a diaper change. Afterwards, Charlotte became agitated and acted distressed.  The only way we found to comfort her was holding her, so Christopher and I took turns throughout the night holding her.   Once she was being held, she received the comfort she needed and was able to sleep.  She also gave us a little bit of a scare when she began running a fever at around 3 am.  They were able to give her some Tylenol and an antibiotic. By about 9 am, her fever had broken and she was acting a little bit better.  Today she has had good and bad moments.  She has still at times seemed really uncomfortable and upset and has napped more than normal.  She is still finding more of her calm and seemingly comfortable moments when she is being help.  She has been able to nurse, which has been wonderful because it means the anti-nausea medicine is working. Charlotte has some smiles for Ralph the therapy dog when he came to visit her.   She has played a little on her activity mat and seemed to enjoy that time. She has also enjoyed some dancing with her mommy.   Charlotte has also gone on a short wagon ride again and enjoyed the time out of her room. We will begin our second day of chemo sometime soon and hope for a much better night since she will only be receiving one of the chemo medicines.

 She continues to amaze me how tough she is and resilient her spirit is.  I never thought this would be the path we would be going down but this is what we have to deal with now.  I find comfort in know that God’s grace has been given to Charlotte.  She is also one of the fiercely strong little ladies I know.  She has been independent and strong willed to doing thing her way since day one and we know that is how she will attack chemo.  No matter what we are going to through this stronger than we ever were before because of Charlotte.  She is truly teaching me what it means to be strong.  To use a Yoda quote, “Do or do not, there is no try”, and Charlotte is doing with all she has. 

Thank to all the amazing friends who continue to reach out to us and come by for visits.  You have given us more than we ever deserve in support, prayers and love!

#CharlotteStrong