D pod

This is our first time staying in D Pod on the 4th floor at the hospital and this the place to be! There is a parent shower and bathroom right next to us (seriously, right outside of Elizabeth's room) and parent room with laundry and kitchenette for family use right across the hall. I never knew this room existed until this admission! I love that it's so convenient for our room location, but, more than that, I love that the parent room has been a place to meet other parents of kids going through cancer and chemo. I met a mom just now whose 9 yr old boy was diagnosed on Saturday. I wanted to hug her! (With covid this is totally out of the question.) :(  I told her I know exactly how she's feeling...the shock and devastation...and it was so nice to talk and support each other. I met another mom and little boy that are getting 5 day inpatient chemo, just like us. He's 7 and he loves to walk the hall pushing his IV pole and chatting with everyone.  Even though he's got a feeding tube and has had multiple brain surgeries, he and his mom are usually out walking around D pod smiling. I've loved talking to her as well. He was diagnosed in August and they've got a lot of inpatient chemo, just like us. I haven't yet met a teenager or parent of a teenager here in the hospital...I keep thinking that could be a good connection for Elizabeth and me. They're not encouraging connections with covid though:(  Oh well, I'm glad for the people that I have been able to meet. I'm also glad that this 5 day chemo has been 1000x better than the last. We finally found a good nausea regimen. She sleeps more with the meds we're using, which is really good, except for the challenge of keeping her awake enough to eat. She's already losing weight faster than the Dr's like to see and so now that's our next big focus...eating!! Elizabeth's really wanting to avoid a feeding tube, so we're stocking up on all the high calorie foods she will consider trying. She had chemo at 6am this morning and tomorrow she'll get her last chemo at 3am. She has to stay for follow up meds until 2pm, but if she feels good at 2:30pm tomorrow, then we can go home. Yay!