Clinic a.k.a. Our home away from home

Elena gets all her chemotherapy treatments at the Hematology/Oncology (Hem/Onc) Clinic - or just "Clinic" as all the nurses, doctors, patients and their families call it - at Primary's. Since we spend so much time there and it's such a big part of our lives now, we thought you might enjoy a look into what it's like.

Primary's

While we wait to get called back, we sit in the waiting area. There are almost always crafts out for the kids to do while they wait- one of the many wonderful things about having a children's hospital so close. I seriously love all the little things Primary's does to make the hospital more inviting to children- the "Nemo" display at the bottom of the elevators, the crafts, the murals on the walls, the child-life specialists, the awesome menu that the kids can order off of at practically anytime, the animals that come around to "visit" the kids, the fun statues all around, and especially the extra-special patience and understanding of the nurses, doctors, and staff. It is a great place!

Here is part of Elena's fan club. :) Elena loves her nurses. And boy, do they love her! (Pictured: Mindy, Lindsay, and Tiffany)

She's telling them about her birthday. :)

After we get called back, the first step at each visit is to get an ID wristband, and get weighed, measured, and to check some vitals (temperature and blood pressure).

Then we get sent to our room and wait for the nurse to come access her and for the doctor to come check her out.

Elena does not like having her port accessed. (Who would like getting a needle in the chest??) Lately, she covers it with her hands to try and protect it.

Last night, Eric had to access her to get counts (he accesses her at home, rather than our home health nurse) and while we were sitting at dinner, he told her that in a little bit he would need to give her a poke. She immediately covered her port and kept one hand there for the next twenty minutes while she finished her meal and ate with the other hand. :) Poor girl.

Cleaning prior to "the poke"

If you look closely, you can see where her port is accessed, all covered up with a sticker to keep it dry and in place. Here the nurse is giving her one of her chemos.

Awesome.

This is why we pray for her doctors and nurses - they hold her life in their hands. A reminder to everyone to go to work and give it 100% every day.

When the nurses give her chemo, they have to gown up in a special blue chemo gown and chemo gloves just to make extra sure that none of the chemo gets on them.

Waiting for the push to finish.

Having a snack back in the "Infusion Suite" a.k.a. the "squishy chairs". This is the normal place where she gets her chemo and blood transfusions. They have a couple of fridges and cupboards stocked with snacks and drinks for the kids while they're in clinic. Elena is good at working it. She gets the nurses wrapped around her little finger and always walks out with an armload of treats.

Talking with another one of her nurse friends.

This is Ben, the clinic manager (I guess that's what you'd call him.) He oversees things and makes sure we're happy with the care we receive in clinic. He is a die-hard University of Utah fan (BYU's rival) and Eric is obviously a die-hard BYU fan. They give each other a hard time every time they see each other. Ben always has his Utah lanyard and Eric always wears his BYU hat to clinic.

And this is Stan. Whenever Elena sees him she yells at the top of her lungs, "STANNN!!!" She loves Stan. :) He helps with research and is always there when we do special blood draws with her Oncaspar.

This particular visit was a "short" visit - only about two and a half hours. That is record time for us! The shortest it has ever been for us is four hours and it's usually more like five or six, plus two hours driving. The longest has been eleven hours - those are usually blood transfusion days or if there is a problem with the chemo they ordered. Thankfully those don't happen very often! :) We feel very blessed, though, that we live relatively close to the hospital. We have talked to people who come every week from St. George (5 hours away) and Idaho and Montana!

This visit was so short because she had easy chemo (read: short pushes and no observation time needed after) and no lumbar punture (LP) where she gets sedated (well those things and the doctor came in quick and the chemo was all ordered on time! :)). This visit was the last of her first month of Delayed Intensification. She is going back tomorrow for a check-up because she's had high blood pressure, a low grade fever for about a week, and we're still seeing heavy side-effects even though she hasn't had any chemo for over two weeks and any steroids for over a week. Her counts aren't high enough to start the next month of Delayed Intensification. Hopefully next week. I'll try and document a little more then - you can see a little of the LP procedure and hopefully meet "Doctor Eesh" (Dr. Yaish, her doctor) and Robert (the P.A. -her favorite).