Infusion Day

Cayman's stem cells are circulating her body! YAY!!! Dr. Kurtzberg put the IV in herself. She didn't get it in the first try because Cayman's arms and legs are so tiny. It took two tries and the IV went in on Cayman's right arm. If Dr. Kurtzberg couldn't get the IV in she asked if she could try on Cayman's head since her scalp veins are bigger. The only objection we had to this was she would have to shave a small portion of her hair. Her head shape already brings enough odd attention to her that we didn't want to add to that...plus bald babies run in our families so we are extra proud of Cayman's full head of hair. So we were very happy Dr. Kurtzberg was able to get the IV in Cayman's arm. She first tried in her left arm...it went in but as soon as she let go of it to tape the IV in place it slipped out of her tiny vein. So once the IV went in on her right arm Dr. Kurtzberg was too afraid to let go of it for fear it would slip out again. So she held the IV in place until all Cayman's medicine and stem cells were administered....which took around 15-20 minutes. Dr. Kurtzberg joked about how such a tiny baby needed so many people to get her infusion done: There was Dr. Kurtzberg who held the IV, June who held Cayman's arm still, and two nurses, one that held her stem cell "IV" bag to drain into her and another nurse who assisted everyone while their hands were tied up in their "job". Cayman cried some. She seemed to hate the rubber band tied around her arm to make her veins pop more than the actual prick from the needle. Her pacifier seemed to soothe her during this time. The medicine that she was given before her stem cell infusion was: Tyenol (this was grape flavored liquid form that Cayman seemed to really enjoying "eating"), Benadryl and Hydrocortisone (to prevent any reactions that aren't likely but are still possible during the infusion). After her infusion she received IV fluids for 4 hours and all her vitals were monitered. So that is the part we are at right now. As things go as anticipated it will be just another hour or two and she'll be discharged and we'll head back to our hotel...probably for a good nap. Then tomorrow morning we just have to phone in and let them know how Cayman is doing. If she's still doing great we can head home. We're hoping to leave early and drive as much of it as we can, stop at a hotel somewhere, and on Thursday drive straight to Ann Arbor for her Neurosurgeon appointment...Cayman's a busy little girl! Her soft spot has raised up more, so hopefully the Neurosurgeon will be pleased about this and we can get further away from the scare of another surgery soon.
Here's Cayman this morning on the way to the hospital for her Stem Cell Infusion.