Round 2 Chemo - Ollie vs. the PICC line

 Round 2 Begins! I feel like we should get the makers of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em to sponsor us knocking lymphoma out!

Ollie wearing the awesome hoodie friends Tash, Alan and Oliver sent him as he starts round 2 of chemo today.

The morning dawned, dark and  slippery. Naturally we'd be starting round 2 at 7:30 at CHEO during a freezing rain storm. I guess it kind of fit Ollie' s mood of yesterday. All weekend long he had been lovely having great visits with the Navas (he had a blast cutting Stephen's hair off) and the Foxes. Visits with them made the holidays feel more festive and made us all feel more like our old social selves.

But by yesterday again we had fighting from him about going back for round 2. At his refusal we had to give him the tough love and explain that if he gets the chemo he'll get well and live a long and happy life, whereas if we don't take the chemo it is certain death. Pretty tough stuff to lay on your 7-year old, but we've promised not to lie to him through this journey. It was upsetting for all of us (Mario, Abby and I) to have to explain to him why we need him to live. Conversations you never thought you'd be having with your 7- and 11- year old children...

After tears and anger we talked about how to make CHEO less boring. We agreed to take more of his own toys with us this time including Beyblades of course, the Nintendo Switch, and favourite mini board games. With one more bag added for toys Mario swears that it looks like we're going for a month, but Ollie and I like to be prepared for anything. If it sparks joy, right?! 😉

So we got to Medical Day Unit safely and on time today and began the waiting. Mostly waiting for a bed on 4 North since by 9:30 we had blood tests done and the doctor had confirmed that his levels were great (Neutrophils up to 1.8!). By 11 am Mario was complaining and shortly thereafter, Ollie was, too. I reminded them both that Ollie and I had waited 5 his in an Emerg isolation room the week before while we waited for a bed, so it can take time to make room for new patients. Naturally Ollie got progressively grumpier. 

Of course by this time his PICC line was distantly getting kinked each time he bent his elbow and this would set the alarm off on his pump and stop the flow of the ton of fluid they were trying to get into him before chemo. Finally the VAT team showed up to change the dreaded PICC dressing again (see Friday's post for more of that torture) in hopes of fixing it.

We did get a bed after that (about 4.5 hours after arriving), but the PICC continued to cause issues all afternoon. Finally the next shift of the VAT team came on and the expert veteran who fixed the issue with wine ingenious engineering with stern strips the first night of round 1 fixed it again. No further issues, thank God! So chemo stated very late and finished after almost 4 hours just a few minutes ago! 

In the meantime we had an ordering mess up with Gabriel's Pizza (which Abby and Daddy profited from since the order got sent home instead of to CHEO!), reordered and finally ate. 

Maria and Micheline (affectionately named Aunt Squish by the kids on a Tremblant trip we all took together last summer) Cinquino were so sweet to come by despite the rotten weather and bolstered our spirits after a hard day. Ollie even taught Maria how to Beyblade! 

All in all a tiring but successful day. He remarked tonight that we only had 4 more days of chemo this week and maybe one day after that before we get to go home on Saturday, so the positivity we are shooting for is coming along, even if I'm dragging him into it kicking and screaming at times.

Thanks for all of your well wishes for round 2. After this we'll be 1/3 done treatments! Until tomorrow...