Day -5

Today marked day 5 of Tessa's chemo. She got one dose of a drug called Etoposide at 9:30 this morning. It was administered through her IV over the course of 4 hours. During that time she had to be hooked up to cardiac monitors because Etoposide can cause a drop in blood pressure; lots and lots of tubes and wires (which made bathroom trips even more fun). This particular drug comes out in your sweat and if left on the skin can cause burns. So Tessa had to have 3 baths today, and will have another 3 tomorrow to try and avoid such a lovely side effect.

Tessa started off the day feeling chipper at 6 this morning (ugh). We played and watched TV until Noni and Papa arrived. It was raining, so instead of going for a walk I went and ran an errand. We were joined by Julie, Haley and Alyssa a little later. Tessa loves her cousins so much and can't wait to see Sam and Elle soon. Everyone hung out and Haley and Alyssa even made the babies talk!

Around noon, however, Tessa started to get a little grumpy and tired so Mama Bear kicked everyone out (raaarrrrr). 

(you can kind of see what's coming next from her expression)

Shortly after everyone left Tessa started to complain of not feeling well. And then the chemo hit. Her first episode of vomiting was fairly violent in that she was so enraged by what was going on that she was screaming, kicking and even tried to bite me when she wasn't throwing up. The nurses gave her some more anti-nausea meds, but she couldn't have any of the real good ones until her Etoposide drip was done as most of them also can cause a drop in blood pressure. They did make her drowsy however. She fell asleep for a while, but jerked awake and began throwing up again. And then the other end started. She lost control of her bowels in bed, and was just a mess. Needless to say she is naked, as that is the easiest way to keep her clean.

...whoops, she woke up. More puke and poo duty. Now she's back asleep and we're hoping she'll be able to stay that way. She is so tired that she's falling asleep on me while I hold her on the toilet. She's pretty empty so...

Prayers for a peaceful night for our poor little girl.