Kicking back

We came back to the Children's Blood and Cancer Clinic today for a blood transfusion. We haven't been here for over a year, but there were a lot of familiar faces as some of the nurses and support staff from the 4th Floor HEM/ONC ward were now at the clinic. Two and three years ago we would be put into a private room since we had to keep Alan in a Pack'n'Play or corralled on a couch. Alan's a big boy now and he sat on one of the little recliners we had noticed the first time we came in for a transfusion.

Alan covered himself with Sponge Bob Squarepants stickers while the nurse pushed his pre-meds - Tylenol, Benedryl, a steroid, Lasiks, and Zofran. There was a little delay because the bag of blood sent in was so large. The nurse was not sure if Doc P wanted Alan to have the entire volume and if so, we would need to stay longer otherwise the rate would be too much. We ended up starting around 12:40 while the movie Cars played and Alan munched on goldfish crackers.

He had drifted off to sleep while kicking back in the kiddie recliner when Doc P called back - the volume of the blood in bag varies from unit to unit and apparently the one they gave Alan was a rather large one. So we finished the transfusion at 2:00 and headed home, with Alan still asleep.


Carefully placing the Sponge Bob stickers


Sleepy time!