Home Stretch

I started writing this update from the hospital waiting room yesterday. It was another long day there. Laila had bloodwork, ultrasound, x-rays and chemo. I started writing while we waited between "appointments". But, these days, Laila is all over the place and does not wait to sit still and I had to put away my phone to corral her.

So, yesterday she had two images taken - an ultrasound and x-ray. This imaging was important because, assuming they did not see anything alarming, those images will become the baseline for her post-cancer life.

Update - they called last night to tell us that her ultrasound and x-ray were CLEAR! Exhale.

It’s also hard (but amazing) to believe that after yesterday’s chemo treatment she only has ONE MORE! Again, barring any nightmares, we can finally see the light at the end of this tunnel.

In the meantime, our little badass continues to get stronger everyday. She isn’t walking yet but, she is determined to try. We can hardly stop her from climbing all the stairs and climbing up on everything. And, she is up six pounds in weight from where she was post-surgery in June.

Laila is also starting to say some words - her favorites being “baby,” “happy,” and, of course....”Moana (wana).”

Now, the home stretch of her roadmap looks like this. She will have her LAST chemo treatment on the 11th of November, followed by her final CT scan on the 30th, which will (knock on all the wood) officially “clear” her.

Her final CT scan will be a doozy of a day, but nothing we can't handle at this point. Since she only has one kidney, she will need to be on an IV drip for two hours prior to the scan, put to sleep for the scan, and then back on an IV drop for SIX hours post. This also means we will likely watch "wana" 42 times that day.

Assuming her final CT scan is as clear as her ultrasound was, we will go back in, two days later, on December 2 for her “end of therapy” visit - when she gets to RING THE BELL. I cannot wait to hear that bell ring.

After that, she will have surgery to get her port out…and (minus the every-three-month imaging visits), we can move on from this nightmare.

Almost there....