Daniel wanted to come to the pediatrician with Eve yesterday. He was amazed by how well she handled her finger stick. Jeez, I prick my finger eight times a day and no one gets excited around here!
Eve's ANC is on the rise- it's up to 462 from 200 on Friday. Her hemoglobin was holding steady at 8.2, so no transfusion today. We do need to arrive at the clinic an hour earlier on Christmas Eve to allow some time in case she needs to be transfused before chemo. Unlikely, says the nurse, but you just never know. So basically, expect the unexpected. But if I'm expecting it, doesn't that make it expected? Be damned, Murphy and your law! I'm going to expect a speedy clinic day on Thursday.
One thing not to expect is that anyone else is going to look after your child as well as you will. It's at times a frightening realization to know that you are IT. Seriously, where did all these kids come from? I'm too young for this responsibility! I didn't go to medical school! I was a liberal arts major!!
Take, for example, the medicines your pediatrician prescribes to your young one to fight off an infection. I've never questioned it before. I just shake up that big pink bottle of amoxicillin and dispense to open mouths as written. But the next time the pharmacist asks, "Do you have any questions?", I will start with this one:
ARE YOU SURE THIS IS RIGHT?!? [This has been edited many times and it's as nice as I can word it right now.]
Eve is supposed to get 3.75 ml of Septra twice a day, every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, to prevent a type of pneumonia that children undergoing chemo tend to develop. Running low on this concoction, the doctor faxes a script to Medco (the mail-away pharmacy). What arrived seemed a bit different. The label reads, "Take 0.75 ml twice a day, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday." Interesting. This little bottle is a three-month supply, huh? I guess it's super-concentrated and the doctors want it spread out over the week now?
No.
Human errors happen. But it's times like these that I'd like robots as Eve's pharmacists. Robots who have been programmed by other robots. Domo Arigato, Medco Roboto!
Speaking of machines, do you know there are programs out there on the internets that will predict how tall your child will be at age 18? You simply enter in your child's sex, height, weight, age, and the height of both mother and father.
According to the calculator I used at BabyCenter.com, Natalie will be 6'0", Daniel will be 6'3", and Eve will be...
drumroll please...
5 feet, 3 inches. We knew she was our Maggie Simpson! (Maybe Daniel won't be an entire foot taller than her on account of that Nasonex, though.)
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gheez, glad you caught the script mistake. i have a friend who deemed herself over the top when it came to her kids, but her crazy made me realize it was my job to take care of "things" when it came to my kids. no, i did not adopt her diaper sorting technique. and by technique, i mean sorting the entire pack of pampers by character before stacking them. um-kaaay ya big kook. point being, you are spot on with your parenting and that could have been missed by another. and yes, you are right again about nobody taking care of your babies like mama can.
ReplyDeletei looked back at gwyn's anc, she got down to 700's in the beginning and they told us to expect transfusion or being told to go home w/out chemo and come back 3 days later for more blood work. never happened. luck of the zilla. we experienced a fever of 99.5 and went to the emerg room for tests, fluids, strong antib's and tylenol. after 6 hours, we went home to observe her. all was well the following day. i met many parents that told me they had many overnight stays and 911 visits; told me to expect it, comes with the chemo.
i will be thinking of you all over christmas and waiting for the update on eve's "eve".
oh, and one more thing..you are a good mom. i know you are. don't doubt your instincts for a minute((you'll know)).
g