September 20, 2008 (Saturday)

So today, Gracie and I left in the morning to go to the Children's Hospital. Dr. L had told us to go to the hospital for more antibiotics and blood work, just to be sure that Grace did not still have an infection. Gracie had slept much of yesterday afternoon/evening and been up and down all night, however in the morning she was quite perky. We got to the hospital at 9:30ish and went straight to the oncology unit (as per our instructions). Gracie literally bounced onto the unit. She was trying to jump from one colored tile to another down the hallway. It was a very fun game for both of us. She had been singing earlier (some version of "We are a Happy Family" mixed with "Old MacDonald"), but had now settled down a bit and was simply playing her little game. She told the oncologist (Dr. S) and the nurse that it was "Nice to see them." They said it was nice to see her too but we would have to go and check-in near the front doors. The nurse put some LMX cream on her port-a-cath (to numb the area) as they were planning on accessing the port for blood work and injections. Gracie did not like the cream at all but it did not take long.
Once at the check-in desk we found that the hospital had not entered Gracie in their records, despite her having been there several times. So I had to give all of our information to the kind man at the desk. This took 30 minutes or so and all the while this man had the sniffles and coughed occasionally. He was kind enough to wash his hands and leave quickly to cough but it felt strange to have been sent to him when we were trying to prevent an immuno-compromised Gracie from getting sick. Anyway after that little event we went back up to the oncology unit and directly into a treatment room. Gracie asked Dr. S if she would like to check her heart. Dr. S said that she did. Gracie chatted with Dr. S about checking her eyes and her ears and her mouth. By the time she was done Gracie and practically directed to whole exam. Dr. S chatted with me about what had happened and then said that she saw no point in accessing the port today. We would have blood work on Monday and, since the fever had not reoccurred, it was unlikely that there was an infection. So Gracie got the Dora sticker that she had really wanted and we merrily waved Good-bye to everyone before leaving. It seemed like a lot of work to have nothing done but we were happy Gracie was feeling so well.
The rest of the day was a pretty normal Saturday. Gracie felt fine and we did things like get groceries, pick up mail, try to catch up on some work things that had been undone over the last few days, etc.
Hopefully we do not make a habit of needing to go to the cancer unit between treatments but we are glad to not have to make the three hour trip to Houston. Gracie is taking all of the hospital visits and injections very well. We are so pleased that she is so strong and happy. Thank you all for your love and prayers. She has and does greatly benefit from your continued support and concern.