I am extremely extremely proud of Jesse and how she handled not being able to eat yesterday. She would tell me that she was hungry, I would explain that we had to wait for the doctor to give us the all clear, and she’s say okay. Funny little kid.
She and I headed for CHKD around 11am. I love the HOV lane on 64 past the HRBT when it is open the way I am going. 🙂
On arrival I had to give my license at the desk so they could create a sticker for me. Then we went up to the 3rd floor to Day Surgery. This isn’t probably the nicest way to explain how it felt in the waiting room but it made me think of the DMV. There was a lady sitting behind a glass window with a slot. She was the only person I saw walking in. The lighting was very low (might be a psychological reason for that). On a shelf there were several clipboards. The lady in front of me took a clipboard, and I did the same.
Suddenly another lady appeared barking that we needed to sign in. Yeah not real clear when you have a ton of clipboards in the same place, people who haven’t eaten because their children can’t eat, and just feel confused.
The lady immediately got Jesse’s information. I told her I was very displeased at how confusing this entire process had been. She was very nice to say she was sorry we had that experience (but it one of those apologies that are said, but you know it won’t get passed along and nothing will happen to make the process a little less confusing). I asked her for a schedule, and she was able to find the right person who had it. Now I know that Jesse will have 20 radiation treatments every day starting May 17th and ending June 14th minus holidays and weekends.
Then they took us to a room in the back to keep her isolated because of the stem cell transplant. And we waited. Jesse was required to be there 2 hours prior so they could prepare for her. When the nurse was ready she came in, and we met the anesthesiologist in the hall as they were weighing Jesse. Funny thing was he was the anesthesiologist when she had her biopsy performed.
He and the nurse wondered why she had been scheduled so late in the day.
As we were waiting for our time to go to Norfolk General, the 3rd floor child life specialist popped in to say hello. We asked her to tell our other child life friends hello. Even better, they came to see us 🙂
One was extremely nice in walking with us over to Norfolk. The winding trip over takes about 15 minutes even though if you were to walk outside and around, you’d be there in 5 minutes. And the trip gives a new meaning to turn at this painting ( which one is a tree…).
We went to a room with a CT Scan machine. I played the hand through the tunnel game with Jesse, and the child life specialist played peek-a-boo with Jesse through it. Jesse thought this was great, and was very happy to get up on the table to take a “ride through the tunnel.” The anesthesiologist began giving her the medicine (Verset, Ketamine, and Profol) and within seconds she was glossy eyed.
I left the room while they conducted the CT scan and placed X’s on her body for where the radiation would enter. The X’s are covered with tape so they won’t wipe off.
Within minutes they came out and said they were done. Even the anesthesiologist was surprised. He thought it might take an hour for the simulation. We waited for a nurse from PACU, but after a few minutes, he figured she might have gotten lost ( I would have been lost too). And we headed back to the PACU.
At PACU, they let me go in with her, but asked that I step out to wait for her while they did their assessment. As I was waiting, another of our child life friends stopped by. In no time, our anesthesiologist told us we could come back. The child life specialist hung around with Jesse and I until Jesse woke up and wasn’t as spacy. I can’t express how much I greatly appreciate them taking the time to come visit us. They have so many responsibilities, and it is fantastic they took the time to come see us. 🙂
Around 5pm, Jesse was allowed to head out. Even with the midtown tunnel being like it is, we were home by 6:30pm.