Ella’s stem cell transplant went great yesterday. No issues. She’s done with this round of chemo treatment, but she has to stay at the hospital until her counts recover.
The kid doesn’t miss a beat. Had a dance party with her nurses. Fun time in the playroom despite a morning of vomiting. Saw the pharmacist in the hall with Tory Burch shoes on and immediately exclaimed, “I love your shoes!” Little superwoman, cape and all!
Two rounds to go. Let’s go Ella!
CRUSHING CANCER: Round 4.
Ella and co. are back at it. When they arrived at the hospital, Sarah and Joe found that Ella’s room was decorated with Frozen decals and Olaf was welcoming them at the front desk. (Awesome job, Children’s Mercy). Sarah and Joe added some Halloween lights to make it festive. (We love our holidays)!
Ella had her nasogastric tube pulled and her dressing removed from her Hickman line, because she can’t have tape on during one of her chemo infusions. The chemo is excreted through the skin and the tape would prevent the chemo from being washed off of her. They need to bathe her and change her dressing every 6 hours to prevent Ella from getting a skin burn similar to a sunburn. Instead of a dressing over her line, they do a sterile cleaning and then wrap her in gauze. It looks similar to a gauze vest. Ella of course hates the dressing changes because she had to hold still and wear a mask. She gets very upset and freaks out during this, Joe says. No fun for anyone.
Sarah will need to wear a chemo gown made to prevent chemo from seeping through because Ella is constantly on her in bed. It’s only day one, and surely Sarah and Joe are feeling stressed and tired.
Ella has already received chemo 1. She’ll get another dose of each tomorrow, then two days of rest, meaning no chemo, and then her stem cell transplant or “rescue” on Wednesday.
Sarah and Joe are planning on a three week stay. Maybe shorter if her counts look good. The doctors may let them go home because they live close by. Time for more prayers and love. Let’s do it, Ella!
Ella is doing well at home. She shouldn’t have any more visits to the hospital until admission for round 4 of chemo on October 24th, not even the regular 1x/week clinic visits. Ella had some rough stomach issues over the last week. She also vomited and had to get her nasogastric tube replaced, but she is feeling much better now and is even eating really well.
All good timing — Ella will get to celebrate her 2nd birthday at home on Sunday. Sarah and Joe are having a party for her in KC, and they’ll be watching Frozen in the movie room. Obviously.
Hard to choose between dancing and cleaning.
What’s up, dad?
Fam photo!
Watching Toy Story
Little artist.
The Wiggles. Gotta have your glasses on for The Wiggles.
Solo jam session.
Sleeping in her big girl bed.
Ella was re-admitted to the hospital last Thursday with a fever. For fevers, Ella and team have to wait until her blood cultures (blood put into small jars that will grow bacteria if bacteria is present in the blood) are negative for 48 hours, and until she is fever-free for 24 hours. Ella’s blood cultures showed bacteria (they were positive), which meant more blood cultures had to be taken and eventually she was given antibiotics. It turned out the bacteria was a common one found in the mouth that likely entered after brushing her teeth. (Her gums bled when brushing her teeth due to her low platelets, which help with the blood clot). The doctor said it’s a good thing they caught it, because it could’ve made her very sick.
The best news, though, is that Ella’s MRI today showed no more tumor in her head (the original tumor source). The brain tumor had spread to her spine and those spots are shrinking or staying the same size. All good signs that the chemo is working and the cancer is shrinking and not spreading!
And even more good news for Ella and co. today: Ella’s lumbar puncture (where they put a needle between the vertebrae of her spine and pull out some spinal fluid) revealed that her spinal fluid shows no signs of cancer.
Amazing day of crushing cancer. It’s obviously a big relief for everyone, especially Sarah and Joe, who will now (hopefully) have some time at home to relax before heading back for chemo treatment #4 at the end of the month.
CRUSH IT ELLA!
Positively Ella 