Thursday, June 11, 2015

Landry's 1st IVIg

For starters, I was a bit nervous about the whole prospect of Landry potentially hooked up to an IV for any length of time, especially with wrangling Ryli as well. Fortunately, Nicole doesn't start her summer job until next week, so she and Ryli had a sleep-over Tuesday night That proved very fortunate, as our ride showed up fifteen minutes early, and Landry did not want to wake up.

So, we loaded up the car seat and the bags. I erred on the side of caution and packed his dinosaurs and some things to keep me occupied, as well as snacks and drinks. Landry was nervous, and held my hand until he fell asleep en route.



We got signed in and headed to intake. Height and weight and blood pressure were a breeze, as always; he likes those. Buzzy made the actual blood drive a bit better, and then it was off to a room to wait for the doctor. That meant seeing one of his favorite nurses, Ashley, who he gushed all his knowledge of dinosaurs to. 

Results came back at 27. Between what I had been noticing in the past few days and his history of nosediving numbers, in conjunction with me not having a car and his upcoming birthday this weekend, they decided that the best course was to go ahead and proceed with the IVIg. So, off we went with Nurse Ashley to meet Nurse Coco and Nurse Shelly.

First things first a we got into our room... the dreaded IV. This prospect of another needle was made infinitely better by the promise that once it was placed, Landry got to go pick out a prize from the prize closet. He almost got it on the first go, but it ended up being a bad placement. So, with the news that another stick would mean a second prize, Landry sat perfectly still, and it was placed in no time.

While we waited for the bag of immunoglobulin to arrive, we were shown to the prize closet. Landry found his toy snake in no time flat, then spent the next five minutes scouring the closets for something, ANYTHING dinosaur. Finally, on the bottom shelf, slid way into a corner, he found his holy grail. A 2" by 3" Melissa & Doug dinosaur puzzle. 





We put the puzzle on the table as Landry climbed back into his treatment chair to get his Benadryl and Tylenol to stave off the potential side effects. Nurse Shelly wielded them, so of course Landry took them like a little champ. Then, the bag of immunoglobulin arrived and the drip was started. It wasn't long before the Benadryl carried Landry off to dreamland, and I sat and played with my phone and texted back and forth with Ryli and Nicole. 



Landry also got a steroid shot into his IV. When he woke up, the pig out began. Chicken strips, french fries and macaroni and cheese with a chocolate milk chaser. Before too long, he was hungry again and ate a cup of chocolate ice cream, a pizza, and 75% of a bag of popcorn. All of that between one and four. He also made his first foray with his IV stand to the activity area, where he played with cars and watched part of Toy Story 3.



At around three, Nurse Shelly came in to see if we wanted to go back to the activity area, as some of the other kids undergoing various treatments and their siblings were there doing crafts, playing, and watching movies. Landry couldn't get back down there fast enough and nearly forgot he was attached to an IV stand. He played along side his fellow patients and their siblings, and painted a set of pencil bags, one for him and one for Ryli.

By 4:30, the IVIg was done and the lines were flushed, and we posted up at the entrance for our return trip home. He is still extremely active but much happier now that his treatment is working its way through his body. If there is a next time, Ryli will go. There is plenty for the two of them to do.

All in all, I'd say it was a success. I made a mountain out of a molehill in my mind.So, next time, if it's needed, I'll be ready. Landry already wants to go back to see the nurses.

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