September 30

It's been awhile since posting last and thankfully it is because Evelyn has been feeling well and we have been squeezing in lots of fun stuff in the last couple weeks of summer. We were able to go camping up to Sauble with family, to Safari Niagara, Ripley's Aquarium, Port Dalhousie and African Lion Safari as well as lots of parks, ice cream and splash pads. Here are a few pictures from all of that :).

 

 

 

This day Evelyn was knee deep in steroids but we were itching to get out of the house and make the best of a long weekend - we went to the nearby beach and eventually ended up at the splash pad since the steroids in Evelyn couldn't handle the sand.

 

 

 

Up until this point Evelyn despised any form of water - baths and rain were torture so it came to a complete shock to us when she LOVED it - running around and getting completely soaked! It was a ray of sunshine on a stormy steroid week :)

 

 

 

 

 

One of the many organizations that donate tickets to us is Help a Child Smile - a few weeks ago we received tickets to African Lion Safari and even though it was rainy and cold we still had a lot of fun. We started the day with breakfast out - we don't often go out so that was exciting in itself for the girls :).

 

 

 As mentioned in a previous post Evelyn had a cavity that needed to be taken care of - we had tried doing it at our family dentist but with no avail. Back in August we had an consultation appointment with a sedation dentist to check it out and go over what all needed to be done. After receiving her chemo in the morning we headed down the street to the dental office.

 

The dentist got a good look and it was determined Evelyn would have a mini root canal, two cavities filled and a cleaning. We left with a pre-op appointment for the end of August and the big appointment in September at MacMaster. Even though it hadn't been bothering Evelyn too much it needed to be addressed quickly because it is a source of infection.

Thankfully a lot of the extra appointments that Evelyn has had get worked around her chemo appointments so although it makes for a long day at Mac it's nice not to have to drive into Hamilton multiple times. Her pre-op appointment was scheduled for a Thursday after her regular clinic visit.

            Killing time in the Ronald Macdonald Family Room at Mac between chemo and pre-op

Lots of waiting that day

The big dentist appointment was scheduled for Friday September 19th. Originally it was planned that Evelyn receive her chemo and begin steroids on Thursday then go back Friday for the dental work. With that plan Evelyn's port (needle) had to be accessed twice or left in overnight - we weren't 100% comfortable with that since she would be on steroids. She tends to get quite angry and uncomfortable and there was a possibility Evelyn would pull out the needle or not sleep well for the big day. Between the nurses and us we came up with a new plan - Thursday morning would we go in just for a finger poke, blood counts and a checkup and Friday would be chemo and dental work. This worked in our favour when it came to steroids - she was going to start her steroids after the dental work instead of the day before. We breathed a big sigh of relief - Evelyn is hungry all the time when on steroids and since she had to fast until her procedure we were dreading the long morning of trying to distract an unreasonable steroid baby away from food :). Thankfully Evelyn's counts were good and everything was good to go for Friday.

                                It`s a good day when Daddy is able to come to clinic with us.

 

We had to be in clinic for 9:00am so Evelyn could receive her chemo before being downstairs in pre op registration. Evelyn's IV was hooked up and we hung out in clinic until 10:30am. She also received sugar water through her IV to ensure her sugars stayed up throughout the day. Her sugars have been stable lately and we haven't had to worry too much about them but because she had been fasting all morning and probably wouldn't eat anything until 2:30-3 it was just a precaution to make sure those sugars stayed up.

We headed downstairs to pre op registration, checked in then was brought to the waiting room. We were then moved to a bed to wait until 12:00pm came.

 When it was our turn we headed into the OR waiting room to wait some more. Unfortunately they were running behind and Evelyn didn't get in until 1:00pm. She did great considering she hadn't eaten/drank anything at this point - there were lots of toys, stickers and people around to keep her distracted.

They were finally ready so I got suited up in the paper jumpsuit, shoe covers and cap and we heading into the operating room. Evelyn was a little nervous since this was all new to her but the nurses were great - giving her a handful of stickers and pointing out the fish (stickers) on the wall. She was given her sleep medicine and I snuck out of the room.
Steve and I grabbed coffee and something to eat and by the time we got back to the recovery waiting room they were calling our name. Only one of us was allowed in recovery with her so I went in. She was already awake and pretty angry, fighting with the nurse and trying to sit up. I could tell she was uncomfortable - she had had a breathing tube down her nose and throat so her throat was sore and her mouth swollen from the dental work. It took a bit but I was able to climb in the bed, cuddle and calm her down - she went back asleep for about another 1/2hr.

 The nurse gave her morphine so the next time she woke up she would be more comfortable. She was still a little disoriented the second time she woke but wasn't too upset. All her vitals looked good so the nurse arranged for Evelyn's port to be de-accessed in recovery instead of moving to post-op. That way we could head home right after it was done and save us more waiting. Since it was nearing the end of the day and recovery was clearing out they allowed Steve to come back to help me with Evelyn and all of our things. Evelyn couldn't wait to go home and by 4:00 we were on our way there.

All swollen

 

Thankfully, as typical to Evelyn's spirit, she bounced back quickly and by bedtime she was running around with Charlotte, eating and drinking as normal. Though Steve and I had a lot of nervous energy and were exhausted by the end of the day Evelyn kept our spirits up by being such a good girl - situations like this we realize how great a hospital MacMaster is - there were so many distractions whether it be a nurse, volunteers, toys or stickers to keep her busy. To some, getting cavities is a simple fix but with a cancer child it's much more complicated and risky. We thank our Heavenly Father for guiding the doctors hands in this, that despite the long day everything could have gone as planned and Evelyn recovered quickly. God held our hand that day - we were able to cast our anxieties on Him and be comforted that Evelyn was in His care. As we look back on these pictures we continually thank God for being with Evelyn, allowing her to enjoy outings like these and always reminding us as parents to slow down and take in every moment - we are so blessed.

Evelyn also received a personalized superhero cape from Kapes for Kids :)

 

I`ll end my post with some craziness and sister love :)

 

 

  Lindsey and Stephen

Colossians 3:15 "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful."