in and out

You know you're a cancer mom when you watch the home health nurse administer chemo into your son's newly "installed" port, and think "I could do that." It's funny how quickly the new normal becomes kind of normal. A month ago I was very nervous when his nurses were teaching me how to flush his PICC line with heparin (a medicine that helps his line to stay clear and blood-clot free) before we were discharged. Today, watching the home health nurse give Ethan chemo, I felt confident I could do it on my own.

That's pretty much how this quick hospital stay felt too. We knew what to expect when we went to the hospital yesterday and what worked best to keep Ethan distracted from eating and drinking before his surgery. We knew what to expect with the sedation process, the waiting room, the recovery, and being admitted. It feels night and day from the first weekend we were admitted back in January, when we were thrust so quickly into the unknown world of pediatric cancer. There is a growing comfort level with this cancer and all that it entails, and for that I'm very thankful.

Before we went to the hospital yesterday we took a quick stop at Target so that Ethan could pick out a special suitcase for the hospital.

His surgery yesterday went great and his port was implanted and intrathecal chemo was given into his spine. He also had 3 other new chemos that he hasn't had before that are a part of this next phase of Consolidation. This morning he was discharged fairly early and now we are back at home and happy to once again, be sleeping in our own beds!

 Once discharged, it didn't take long for us to get outta there! :)