BSO-un-eventful

At 10AM Christi got a boulus of BSO and began her 72 hours of continous infusion of that agent. The BSO is the left jab that sets up the big right hook of the Melphalan. She ask me at the end of the day "Dad was I supposed to feel sick today?" "How did you feel today?" I asked. "Fine like I wasn't getting anything, I thought chemo was supposed to make you feel sick?" Isn't she great? With her BRING IT ON attitude...

Dr. Maris had Christi sign her own consent to treat document. It says basically that we understand the inherent risks of the treatment and that we are financially responsible. He has increasingly tried to get Christi involved in her own medical care, by informing her of possible side effects of different treatment options as well as where the cancer has spread etc. Really, I think she is content to have us carry this burden.

Dr. Maris returned to the room after he had already done his morning rounds yesterday. Of course this gave me a rush of adrenalin because he was not expected. There had to be something wrong......but there wasn't. He wanted us to enroll in a hematological study where the dose of platelets was blindly randomized. We are all about advancing medical science so I enrolled her. If she needs a platelet transfusion she will either get the standard dose level, half the standard, or twice the standard. They are trying to determine the optimal amount to be given in a transfusion.

Secondly, Dr. Maris wanted to invite Christi to be a spokesperson for the Lemonade Stand here at CHOP. While this is very exciting because of what a huge event that it is....the timing is bad because of ballet recitals. We are just going to have to get this girl an agent!

Tony and I walked to the Ronald McDonald house which is an enjoyable stroll through the campus of Penn (with a Starbucks stop on the way). We both commented on how enjoyable it is to have the cultural diversity of a campus community. CHOP also has its own diversity. When I returned to the hospital and was riding the elevator back to the 3rd floor some interesting characters joined me. A heavy set women with her sister and her daughter were joking around. The sister says to her niece "Honey your mamma is so big that she is on both sides of the family" "She's so fat that someone said 'dis chilly outside' and she went and got a bowl" and on and on the monlogue went.

I was still laughing when I got to the play room where Christi hung out for the entire day with Corrine. They painted and played games. Corrine is crafty so she got along just fine in that arena. For me the upside is to just sit and visit with a cousin. Who takes the time to sit and reminisce with family? Let alone for several days. It is one of the small gifts that cancer offers-taking time to be connect with family. We spent a lot of time talking about grandma "Bertha" Thomas. She was a very interesting charactor in our childhood. The term frugal was defined by grandma.

Thanks for tuning in and continuing to lift Christi up in your thoughts.

Shayne