Journey

It was an early start at the hospital this morning.  Rory was nil by mouth and we were up the hill to Starship Radiology for an 8am CT scan.  Rory’s head, neck and chest have been imaged to check for any evidence of cancer and to see how everything has settled post-surgery.  After breakfast at Auckland Hospital café we were in clinic on Ward 27A by 9am.  Nurse Tracey and I worked hard to get things started more efficiently today.  Rory’s height and weight were measured and his hyper hydration started at 9.15am.  His port was accessed yesterday afternoon for the CT scan.  A special power-port was put in as contrast can be run through it for the scan (flows at a faster rate).  Blood was taken yesterday afternoon to check if chemotherapy could proceed.  Rory’s platelets and haemoglobin are below normal range but good enough for him to receive the methotrexate today.  We are currently sitting in the day stay room which contains beds on 27A.  Half of level 7 at Starship is dedicated to Oncology kids (Cancer Kids).  This is composed of the ward (27A) and day stays (27B).  The ward is where kids stay overnight for chemotherapy, if their immune systems are low or if they are being treated for an infection.  Day stay is where the kids come for appointments, monitoring, transfusions and any chemotherapy which can be given as an outpatient.  This morning we have seen Dr Stephen, Nurse Tracey and Dr Kath.  At some point a doctor will complete the admission paperwork and Rory will move across to 27B (room 4).  Rory needs six hours of hyper-hydration, and for his urine output to be high enough, to get the methotrexate.  This should start around 3.30pm and run for four hours.  We expect it will take until Wednesday night for Rory to expel the methotrexate.  We are going to use a sleeping tablet at night and a device called a uridome (which catches pee) to make the nights easier for Rory and reduce sleep deprivation. 

We have spent the last couple of days trying to catch up on sleep at night and getting outside during the day.  We drove up to Helensville and walked the track beside the Kaipara River where we heard a Spotless Crake.  We lunched at the famous Pie shop in Kumeu.  We walked down to the bottom of Queen Street to pick up Caitlyn who was in Auckland CBD on a course.  She stopped with us for dinner at RM Grafton Mews before flying home.  Sam had held down the fort at home on how own for a couple of days!  Yesterday morning RM House arranged for us to visit Butterfly Creek and we had a short walk around Auckland Botanical Gardens.  Colt found a barber on K Road for a haircut.  He wanted short on the sides and long on the top like his buddy Neo.  He has gone to school at RM House this morning.