Briley had a very good day yesterday. She went throughout the day with NO pain meds!!! She also is able to get off the couch by herself and walk! It's been a blessing that she was able to recover so fast. Plus, the steroids are working their way out of her system and her appetite is becoming less, along with the roid' attitude! She's feeling really good! All is going well with recovery! We gave her a sponge bath last night on the kitchen bar. We'll take the bandages off Saturday, so that will help even more with her mobility.
I mentioned in a earlier post about her doctor wanted her out of school because of the flu and pneumonia going around. One thing that you got to understand is that Alicia and I are the exact opposite when it comes to being cautious about things. Alicia is overcautious and me, not so much. I did not like the idea about keeping her out of school just for the reason that she may or may not catch the flu. She's had her flu shot, so if she did get it, it won't be that bad. Plus, she loves going to school and if it looked like sickness was going around the school, we could always pull her out then. I finally realized yesterday that I was wrong with my thinking.
Yesterday, a young cancer patient at Cooks earned his angel wings from complications of pneumonia. Many many more cancer kids are hospitalized because of the flu. Flu shot or not, these kids are still getting the flu and having to spend weeks in the hospital. Thanks to the wonderful world of Facebook, we read daily of one kid or another getting sick, some of which is in Briley's class. Briley's immune system is still suppressed. It will stay suppressed until she's completely done with chemo. She still takes chemo every night and still takes a large dose once/week. A sickness like pneumonia or the flu could be life threatening. I now know that we are making the right decision. Just look at the problems a sinus infection caused. 2 trips to the ER, multiple needle sticks, very low platelet counts and lower hemoglobin counts. She was almost to the point that she needed a platelet transfusion and the rod removal surgery would have been delayed. So can you imagine what a sickness like the flu or pneumonia would do? Not good. Maybe we should have waited to start Briley in school until next year, but this was something that we didn't think about at the time. I know things will work out. God will provide the way and I pray that we are making the right decisions.
Anyway, we are very pleased with Briley's progress. We appreciate your prayers during this time.
Here is a picture of Briley from last night standing and feeling great!
I think you both made a good decision. I am finding most of the flu cases have had the flu shot. Decisions day by day, God is with your family.
ReplyDeleteSincerely, Mona Bender