In the Hospital for Chemo

Ok, so I'm running on fumes with about four hours of sleep two nights in a row thanks to allergies and other factors so I will keep this brief but as informative as possible. And then go crash.

Charlotte and Grandpa journeyed to the clinic this morning while Roger and I journeyed to Romp n' Roll activities. I made it to the clinic by about 1 PM and in true form, they were STILL in the clinic (not admitted yet). We got admitted about 3 PM which is actually a record on timing, I think. Not only that, but we arrived at our room on 7East to find everything "prepared". We are in one of the "nicer" single rooms with a good view, a REAL pull out bed for the parent (a rarity outside of the PICU) and Charlotte's bed already prepared with a new Elmo & Zoe pillowcase and Heather's Care Bears waiting to say hi. (Charlotte "borrows" these Care Bear Figurines from Heather every time she comes to the hospital. It has become their little ritual.

I guess being a "frequent flyer" gets you a (hopefully good) reputation that starts to pay off. We got folks watching out for us.

Our nurse (Caroline) has worked with Charlotte a lot before as well so that helped the process too. We got her situated and got everything moving and she officially started chemo (after fluids, pre-chemo meds, etc.) at 9 PM tonight. Again, another record (usually we "start" at about midnight or later on the day we are admitted).

Charlotte spent the afternoon in a very artistic mood. She painted with watercolors, drew pictures, and made sticker collages. Lots of concentration and creativity.

This was also good because she didn't seem too in need of 1:1 attention from mom. Mom didn't have the energy...

Dad came to relieve me at about 9:30 and now I am home.
And signing off....

OH!!! But wait! Before I forget:

Many of you know about the burrito eating contest at Qdoba on Sunday. I know that many of you have expressed an interest in coming out to support us (mainly by eating dinner there). IF you are in any way interested in participating in the burrito eating contest, PLEASE sign up soon. All registration fees (100%) go to Charlotte. You will eat as many burritos as you can in 10 minutes but they're not the typical Qdoba burritos. They take a few ounces out of each of them. The top prize package carries over a $1500 value and there are great runner-up prizes as well. It looks like the competition pool is kind of slight right now so your chances could be really good! Plus, it's for a GREAT cause. Anyway, the store would really like to have an idea of how may competitors to expect. I know some of you have given me "Maybes" so turn those thoughts to YESes and go by the store at Willow Lawn to register by Friday!!!

Thanks for your time...
Rachel