Day 1 - Cycle 1

Wednesday, September 11th

We reported to Clinic 8 this morning to get out first cycle of treatment started. We had a full morning of activities before finally being admitted. We started with getting Avery's vitals which she cooperated with 100%(thank goodness). Next was her hearing test. One of the chemotherapy drugs is known to cause damage to the hearing impacting the ability to hear high pitch frequencies, so they will perform a hearing test before and after every cycle. This should have been an easy task, but it was something new. Avery had some anxiety over it. After holding out for quite some time, she finally complied and completed the test with no issues.

Next was accessing her port for the first time. Our Child Life Specialist came by and gave a full step by step demo of the process with Avery's help using her Clifford dog. When it was time for Avery to actually be the patient(instead of assisting) she was not too happy. She screamed and cried the entire time, but most importantly, she sat still as she was told(which made the process much easier and faster). They used the port to draw a long list of labs and started pushing fluids prepping her for the rest of the day. We played games, colored, met various new people, and played to pass the time. Finally around 3:30, we got the all clear from her labs and were moved to our room on the Oncology/Hematology floor.

After getting settled in to our room, Avery was weighed again and then given Zofran to combat any nausea caused by the chemotherapy. She received the 1st drug, Vincristine ,which only takes about 5 minutes to administer. Then she began the 2nd drug, Cisplatin, which takes about 6 hours to administer. She spent the rest of the afternoon napping, finally waking up to eat dinner around 7:30. After a few more crafts and a movie, she was finally worn out enough to turn in for the night.

The Cisplatin finally finished about 11:15 pm. She will continue to receive high volume fluids for the next 6 hours to help eliminate the drugs from her system. Tomorrow, she will start two new chemo drugs as a part of the regimen.

We are thankful to have made it this far in the journey, but still start each day with fear and trepidation of what is to come. Please pray for minimal side effects, no allergic reactions, and quality rest for our sweet girl as we start Day 2!