The First Five Days

Donald was diagnosed with leukemia in the late afternoon and around 10pm that evening, we were admitted to the oncology department of  Children's Medical Center in Dallas.   Before this time, I was the only one who had ever spent the night in the hospital, and that was just to deliver my three children.   Other than a few prescriptions for antibiotics here and there, no one in our family had ever needed any "real" medications.   Suddenly, that all changed.

Poor Donald was confused about what was going on, but he was not feeling well, so he did not put up much resistance to the sudden, new changes.   The Oncology fellow and the nurses who met us at the entrance of the oncology floor were very kind and gentle and Donald took to them very quickly.   We had an initial diagnosis from our pediatrician, but Children's did their own series of tests to confirm the diagnosis and determine exactly what type of leukemia Donald had. Once it decided that Donald has pre-B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, then it was also decided that we would spend the first 5 days of treatment inpatient. 

 Even though it's 1.5 hrs away from home, I'm thankful to live close as we do to a specialty hospital for children.   Since diagnosis, we've made a few trips to our local ER because of fevers, and although it's a nice hospital (and my husband's employer), they are not as well equipped to meet the needs of children. 

 During the first few days at Children's, we were able to have the child life specialists meet with Donald to teach him about the port that was installed in his chest, and to work with big brother and sister to help them also understand what was happening.  Not only did the specialists deliver toys and movies to the room,  there was a "clean" playroom on our floor for Donald to visit once he started feeling better.   I was so thankful to have my husband there, he got Donald out of the bed and over to the playroom, to make crafts and play games.

The rooms are outfitted with a sofa bed so parents can stay with their children, but siblings under the age of 18 cannot spend the night.   I have a relative that lives about 30 minutes from the hospital and she arrived right away to very kindly deliver a key to her house.    There is also a Ronald McDonald house a few blocks from the hospital with a shuttle bus to take you back and forth.  The social worker assigned to us got us put onto the RMcD house list, so we can now use their facilities as needed.  My mom came with us and stayed with Angelina and Andrew in Dallas so that they could be as close to their brother as possible.

We have been blessed.  We have only had 5 days of inpatient care so far.  Some families have to spend the first 30 days of treatment inpatient.  Fortunately, all of our ER runs have resulted in us being sent home.   We were nearly admitted just last week, but God answered my prayers.  I was not feeling well myself and dreaded a sleepless night in a hospital room.   Life is tough, but God is Faithful.