Friday Night Blood

Around noon as we sat down for lunch, there was a loud, consistent horn blare from the driveway. Conner was the first to run and see and Brian wasn't much behind. Brian was very surprised to see three work buddies from Deere get out of the car. They had driven 4 1/2 hours to watch the Iowa game with him. They spent a little time with us at the house and then captured Brian to take him to a sports bar for a game. It was so nice of them to make that effort and for Brian to get out of the house. 

On the home front just like last Friday, we were called back to the hospital after they received Alexis's blood counts for the day. Her red blood was low as well as her white.They can't transfuse white, but can help with the red. So, we headed to the hospital to admit her for blood. Becoming a Frifay night tradition that we hope doesn't continue to repeat itself. 

New Years

We kicked off 2015 by tearing down the Christmas decorations and cleaning up from the night before. The kids did a great job helping. Conner even got creative in how to reach things he couldn't on his own.

Then, we went to give Alexis her chemo. I hooked up the first syringe, and the saline started squirting everywhere out the end of the tube. Pretty soon, I could see blood returning. I quickly clamped. I decided to try and change the clave, as I assumed that was defective, but got the same results. I put in a call to home nursing. They suggested I take off the clave and push it in directly. That didn't work either, so the nurse said she would pick up a couple needles and come over. I got to thinking to the other day to how the nurse couldn't get the right size needle for Alexis and shoved cotton to hold it in place. I assumed that didn't really work and the needle got put in the wrong place. So, I called and talked to the oncologist on call and got approval for the home nurse to go to the oncology floor and get the right needle. She was successful in that and getting a good port access with the right needle. We will try to remember to problem solve to minimize these issues to the best of our ability. 

The rest if the day was spent getting over the stress of the whole ordeal.

New Years celebration

We had two friends and their kids over for New Years. We had set this up a while ago, so we weren't sure if it would actually happen. Do you really have seven healthy kids? We managed it, though, so got to get together. The kids celebrated New Years around 8:00 with silly string and sparkling apple cider. They had a blast spraying each other . That was defjnitely Conner's highlight if the night. Alexis's highlight was definitely having her first non -cousin sleepover. That girl would do a sleepover every night if she could! Perfect way for her to start 2015.

Xmas round 792

The day started with a visit from the home nurse to access Alexis (put her tubies in her port). Unfortunately, she put in the first needle and although it got good blood return, if was sitting half inch above her skin. So, that needle got yanked. The next one the nurse couldn't get return on so pulled it out as well. Ended up that needle was crooked (I'm pretty sure it wasn't crooked before it went in!). At this point , we were out of needles. So, she had to run get new supplies. 

Upon her return, she reported they didn't have the right needle size for Alexis. So, we put back in the bigger needle and she shoved 2x2 in to keep it elevated. At this point, we didn't care as we just didn't want her stuck a fourth time. Chemo was administered and we politely said we would go ahead and give the chemo the next two days. Not surprisingly, Alexis was a trooper throughout. 

The day turned around when the Ahlstrand cousins came into town for a Christmas celebration. Our kids' favorite activity is cousin time (or maybe slumber parties for Alexis). They had a great time playing with them and then we opened gifts and celebrated Christmas with them. Cousin time and more gifts meant they were in heaven! Gavin got hulk gear, so the kids took turns dressing up in that. Beckett (and really uncle Dave) helped Conner play Lego batman on the wii. Dave made me feel better about my ability by saying how difficult the game was, but made me angry at the recommendation that toys r us gave me as an easy game. Great time with cousins!