March 7, 2005: Today we finally
heard from the hospital. Leela’s surgery to put the Broviac catheter in is
scheduled for the 15th. She will also have a lumbar puncture
and bone marrow test to verify that the cancer has not spread to her
central nervous system. They say that’s not likely, and we must stick with
that for now.
I guess we should be
relieved that it isn’t so urgent since the date is next week, but we’re
actually just worried. If she has cancer that needs chemo, we’d rather
they just give it to her now. The Broviac will eliminate multiple pokes
from needles for chemo meds, blood draws etc. We will have to be very
careful with keeping it sterile. We’re getting the kids to wash hands
hourly and sing Happy Birthday while they’re at it. Have stocked up on
Clorox anti-bacterial wipes, many bottles of Purell. Perhaps we should buy
some surgical masks?
Leela had a hair cut this
weekend just in case her hair does fall out. She knows that strong
medicine will zap the sick cells and some of her healthy cells too. She is
counting on not getting poked by many needles. She’s ready to be a glamorous,
bald girl if need be.
In the meantime Leela is busy being a happy three and a half
year old. On Saturday she went to her ballet class after missing a
few lessons. Last Wednesday we went skating at the National Gallery
Rink on the Mall. She asks when her "new eye" will
take the place of the translucent pink eyeball she currently sports.
Her friends seem to hardly notice it.
From what little we know of the schedule, Leela will have
the surgery on Tuesday, March 15, and stay that night in the
hospital. The next day she will start her first course of chemo, go home
that night, and return on Thursday to finish up the first course. Then
every 28 days or so she will repeat the two days of chemo until she has
had a total of six courses.