As the days went by in the hospital, it got easier as the news of it all began to sink in. Isabella had cancer, it is called Neuroblastoma and she will begin chemo to fight it. Believe me, when we first heard the word Neuroblastoma from our doctor, we were like Neuro....What?!?! We had no idea what to expect in the coming weeks, but we had to face it with hopes that everything would turn out okay.
One thing that really blew us away with gratitude was my co-worker La Trisha and my boss Brad coming to visit us in the hospital one day with a basket full of stuffed animals and cash donations from people at my work. This brought me to tears because I had just started working there in August of 2004 and Isabella was diagnosed as you all know now, at the beginning of November. So I wasn't even working there for 3 months and I hardly knew anyone there. For them to think of us at this difficult time in our life, we didn't know how to show them our gratitude. I also remember a bunch of my co-workers wanted to donate there time off to me since I didn't have any and wasn't eligible for FMLA yet. Unfortunately due to corporate policy, they were unable to because I hadn't been there for a year yet. But I appreciated their thoughts.
Its funny writing about this experience again, I don't remember a lot things off the top of my head. But the moment I start writing, other things start coming back to me. It sure was a difficult week, but we also made some really good friends in the process and got to know some smart and loving doctors who care a great deal about their patients.
Okay, now about our last day in the hospital. They were finally sending us home that Friday, November 12, 2006. As I stated about her surgery day, a broviac was now placed in her chest and we were going home with this. David and I both were extremely nervous about taking care of this new part of Isabella. They showed us how to flush the lines with saline, and we had to do that every day to make sure blood did not clot in the lines. The nurses also showed us how to remove the dressing that was covering the entry point in her chest, this dressing had to be changed once a week and the environment had to be completely sterile. David and I were okay with flushing the lines out every day, but it was torture having to take off the dressing because we knew how much it hurt Isabella. So we decided to have a home nurse come once a week to take care of that one. Also so Isabella wouldn't hate us for causing her pain every time we had to change it. =) I know she wouldn't really hate us.
Well, that's the end of our first week and our lives have changed completely. Cancer is now a part of our daily lives and even though it sucks at times, we always try to make the best of it. For Isabella's sake.
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