Cailee...Our Brave Little Soldier

As most of you know, Cailee had her first IV treatment this past Friday. Overall, she did really good. She was most definately a brave soldier to endure what she went through. We (Cailee, Madison, my Mom and I) got to the hospital around 8:30 a.m. and they got her weight and height. We went into the room she was going to be in and got things settled. She started out with smiles on her face (nervous smiles, but a smile none the less).

They took her vitals and started getting her hooked up to all the monitors. She had to have on three monitors for her heart, a monitor on her finger for her oxygen level and the blood pressure cuff on her leg. All which stayed on the whole time.

When she was all hooked up, Cailee wanted to find out what special things Grandma and Grandpa Lynn had done for her to play with while she was at the hospital, so she got to open it then! She loves the puppy purse she got. She named her Ellie and says she's our family dog.

Both girls are excited that Cailee got a new Ariel princess (polly pocket size) so that there are two mermaid fins to play with. Thanks Mom and Dad! Then came the hard part...getting the IV in. I held Cailee while the nurses put in the IV. My Mom stayed close by and was a great comfort to both of us. I never thought it would be so hard to hold down my little girl while she cried...all I wanted to do was tell hem to stop. I think my desire to not let her know I was crying too made it so I didn't say anything.

Once the IV was in and they drew what blood they needed, she was able to settle in a bit better. As you can see in the picture, she wasn't thrilled. Her hand had to be taped to a board so she couldn't move her hand and wrist. It made it hard for her to play too much since she couldn't use both hands. So most of the day was spent watching cartoons or movies.

For the most part, her body seemed to tolerate the medication fine, except when they tried to change the dose to 75 mg. She started coughing and couldn't seem to stop. She told me, "Mom, I think I can't breath." Thank goodness the nurse was in the room when it happened. Cailee's heart rate jumped up too high and she was as white as a sheet. I thought she was going to throw up, but thankfully she didn't.

The nurse immediately got out the meds she needed to take care of the reaction and got them in and within a few minutes, she was doing a lot better. We spent the rest of the day there with Cailee saying, "I just want to go home." I felt so bad for her. I wanted to take her home, but I know that this is for her benefit. Towards the end she wanted to hold Madie and it was so sweet.

Madie grabbed onto Cailee's fingers and they just looked at eachother for a little bit. I think she remembers her from heaven. Just very sweet. Once Cailee got her IV out, she got to eat dinner. She ordered Mac and Cheese and Broccoli. I'm not sure I know to many kids who would order broccoli over all the other things she could have ordered. She didn't end up eating it, but she didn't seem to eat a whole lot of anything.

When she was done we loaded up and headed for home at 5:45 p.m. I know we are in for a long three more Fridays from here on out, but I know that we are doing all we can to help her get better. I will admit there are times I wonder why she has to go through all of this. She's five...all she should have to worry about is who she's going to play with at recess.

We are very proud of you Cailee. We know this is not easy, but know we are always here for you. Now and forever! We love you sooo much. A special thanks to Aunt Donna and Angela for taking care of Abby and Brandon. I know they are in good hands and they had a great time. I really appreciate everything that everyone has done for us. We couldn't have gone through this without all the help!

I just thought this was a cute picture of Madie. My Mom was holding her while I was doing something with Cailee. I couldn't resist taking a picture of such a sweet face!