Room Service

This post is #126 in a year-long series ... Through this series of posts I plan to share our family's experiences during our 17-year-old daughter's year-long battle with brain cancer, which began in February of 2008. My desire is to process through the events of that year from the perspective that a decade of time has brought ... for myself, really. But if you'd like to follow along, you're welcome to join me.

November 4, 2008

While we were still somewhat surprised to be hospitalized, we adjusted quickly to our new surroundings.  This was Hannah's first hospitalization since her brain surgery in February ... which is pretty amazing in and of itself, considering all the treatments she'd been through.  Arkansas Children's Hospital does an amazing job of making their patients as comfortable as possible.  Hannah particularly enjoyed the room service menu ... She could order anything from the menu at pretty much any time of day and they would bring it right to her.  She was especially fond of the chicken fingers and the macaroni and cheese.  Even with her very sore throat from all the radiation, we were thankful she felt well enough to enjoy the room service!  :)

My email from ten years ago today ...

Hannah had a good night's sleep last night and has had a much better (fever-free) day today. She received both blood and platelets today, and the shot of red blood cells has really improved her energy level. Her throat is still sore, but not quite as bad, and she's eaten three good meals today. Yesterday, when we arrived, some blood cultures were taken, and we were told today that one of them is showing positive for some type of bacteria. Apparently, the source of the infection is in her bloodstream, although we don't yet know what the specific type of infection is. We were hoping to get those results this afternoon, but it looks like we will not know until morning. Depending on the type of infection, we may have to stay in the hospital for a few more days to continue the IV antibiotics. We do not know yet when the MRI will be done...there's still a possibility that it will be tomorrow.

We are very thankful that we are here where she is getting excellent care, and that we were able to catch this infection early! Thank you so much for your prayers ... we will keep you posted on our progress!

God is good, all the time!