Authors: Meghan Redenbach
Once on the floor the nurses were surprised to see her back again. They seemed to think she needed to be hydrated. She was very tired along with Mike and me. We were up all night. They decided to keep Meghan overnight. I sent Mike home around 1:00 p.m. and I napped for two hours. Bethany came up to keep me company. We went to sleep around 10:00 and slept great.
Wednesday, December 31
We brought Meg home today—she was feeling much better. They are having us hydrate her at home through Sunday. The nurse will meet us at home to show us how this is done.
The nurse came at 3:30 and showed us how to hook Meg up to the IV through her port and give her the shot she doesn’t like because it burns. After the nurse left, some of Meghan’s friends came with their parents as well as Miss Maclam. They had hats, noise-makers and Gatorade for Champagne. They had a countdown for the New Year. Meg loved it. They only stayed about fifteen minutes. Mike and I were in bed around 10:00 p.m. Meg stayed up to welcome in the New Year. At midnight she rang her bell and I thought something was wrong. I went flying in there, and she said “Happy New Year!”
We got up at 4:15 a.m. to unhook her IV bag. She stayed up reading her
Twilight
book until 7:30 a.m. Meg felt really good today.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Meg woke up around 11:00 a.m. and felt really good. We stayed at home today and relaxed. Meg read her book most of the day.
Friday, January 2
Today was another good day. This was Meg’s third day with no nausea medicine. We are going to the Christmas Basketball Tournament today. When we got to the school we went into the gym and the JV team was warming up with pink shirts embroidered with Meghan’s name, number, and a teal cancer ribbon in the corner. When Meg saw this she had some tears along with us. We were all given the same shirts. Modified and varsity also received shirts. We were swamped with people asking questions and offering well wishes. It was a long day. Meg was tired, but wanted her friend Courtney to sleep over.
Saturday, January 3
Today was another good day. Meghan and Courtney went to the Christmas Tournament but didn’t go until 6:00 p.m. Deirdre and Chuck came over with dinner. Mom also came for the night. Meg came home around 9:30 and was dead tired. This was her last night of being hydrated.
Sunday, January 4
This was another good day. We pretty much stayed home and relaxed. Meghan got ready for the nurse to come on Monday, and we had an appointment for the Wig Room at Pecoraro’s Salon. Meg read a lot more of her book.
Monday, January 5
Today was a great day. Meg got up around 8:30 a.m. and waited for the nurse. Erin called while the nurse was here and wanted to know how everything was. I told her things were going well and that we were going to the salon and asked if she wanted to come. She did, so she met us at our house. Pecoraro’s is closed on Mondays, but they opened the salon for us. Jen was the girl that was taking care of us. She was very nice and helpful. She also gave me a red envelope when we walked in, but I didn’t look in it right away. Meg tried on some wigs, looked at books and then decided on what she wanted. When Jen went to get prices on the wig, I opened the envelope. It was a $100.00 gift certificate from Mr. and Mrs. Jennings and the basketball team.
Meghan ended up ordering a brunette wig. It looked awesome on her. After we got her taken care of, she wanted me to try on the wig, so I did. We had a good laugh.
When Meg put the wig on herself and thought it was on secure, she looked in the mirror and one side was shorter than the other. She was laughing her head off. After we left the salon we went to lunch at the Village Eatery. Afterward we went to school so I could talk about a tutor and Meg could see her friends. I left and she took the bus to basketball practice. I called to check on her blood work and it was okay.
Tuesday, January 6
Meghan felt good today and went to school for a little while. We went to the high school for her basketball game, which they won. We didn’t stay to watch all of the JV and varsity games because we had tickets to the Sabres hockey game, which were given to us. Our seats were for the 200 level. It was an awesome game—we won and her favorite doctor was sitting right behind us. He thought Meghan and I were just two girls with Stafford jerseys. Meghan said, “Oh, it’s going to be a good year,” because she saw him. We had a lot of fun.
Wednesday, January 7
Meghan was tired today and stayed home. She read most of the day. We could actually relax tonight with nothing to do.
Thursday, January 8
The nurse came today. Meghan went to school after she left. She was feeling really good. I called for the results of her blood work and it was fine. That means she doesn’t have to get her G-shot until after her next chemo treatment. This was a total lift for her, since this is the part she hates.
Friday, January 9
Meghan stayed home today, but felt pretty well. She had all her homework and was working on it. We went to her basketball game at Wilson, and they won. We didn’t stay for all of the JV or varsity.
Meg’s hair is starting to come out. She is taking it very well. She texts her friends with pictures of the hair that comes out. They are freaked but Meg is not. Mike asked, “Is there a squirrel loose in your room?”
Saturday, January 10
Another good day for Meg, but her hair is coming out bad. We went to little Joey’s hockey game. Later we all stayed home and watched hockey and laughed about the squirrel. Hopefully the wig will be in soon.
Sunday, January 11
Meg went with Courtney to her brother’s floor hockey game and then Subdelicious to eat. Meg’s hair has almost all fallen out. We all went to our neighbor Gary and Holly’s house to celebrate our Christmas with them.
Monday, January 12
Meg stayed home from school today, but not because she was sick; her hair was almost all out and she didn’t want to wear her hat to school because everyone would know why.
Today was the first day the tutor came, and she stayed about two hours. She helped Meghan somewhat, but Meg can do most of it herself. Meg stays up way too late reading her
Twilight
series. She is already on the third book.
Tuesday, January 13
Meg was home again today. She did a lot of homework. We went to her basketball game. She was worried about having to remove her hat while they said the pledge. A boy was trying to be funny and attempted to pull off Meg’s hat. It didn’t come off, but she sure let him know to keep his hands off her hat. She went out of the gym and was kind of upset.
Meg was reading again all night.
Wednesday, January 14
Meg stayed home again today, but Pecoraro’s called to tell us her wig was in. We called back and made the appointment for Thursday at 2:30. Meg was so excited. Her tutor came again today. Meg is now into her last
Twilight
book. She truly is OBSESSED.
Thursday, January 15
Today was a very exciting day. We went to pick up Meg’s wig. Meg was a little leery of letting me see her with very little hair, but she did. The hair that she did have left looked like a mad scientist hair-do. She had Jen shave the hair that she had left because it was itchy. It was very tickly getting it shaved. Jen put the wig on Meg and cut some of it. She only cut her bangs and left the length. Meg loved her new hair. Jen showed her how to take care of it. After we left, Meg wanted to go somewhere to show off her new hair. Her basketball team had a scrimmage in Albion, so that’s where we headed. When we got there everyone looked but wasn’t sure it was Meg, and they had to take a double look. They all loved it, even some boys that were there.
We headed home and then back to the Basket Factory Restaurant for Mom’s birthday dinner. We had lots of laughs there. Meg was itching her head as the wig moved back and forth. We also were laughing because she was sitting right on top of the heater and we said, “Watch it so your hair doesn’t go up in flames!” We went home and packed for Meghan’s second treatments at Roswell.
Friday, January 16
We arrived at Roswell at 8:00 a.m. It was very cold out (1° F). We checked in at the desk, but they didn’t have any record of her coming in today. We had to wait about half an hour. Meg had the same room she had last time, and she was glad. We got in the room about 9:00 a.m. They checked her height and weight. She lost four pounds. They brought her in some breakfast, did a little blood work, which all came back good. Meg and I went to the movie cupboard and picked out six movies. We picked out her breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus too. The nurse came in around noon and gave Meg more fluids, as her urine still wasn’t quite right. Meghan received a new nausea medicine. It is usually used with adults. Zofran started at 4:40 p.m. Ifosfamide started at 5:20 p.m. Mesna given before this (bladder protecting medicine). About the last half hour of Meg’s chemo she started to feel terrible. She didn’t feel nauseated this time. She had a headache and felt light-headed. Her blood pressure was low (86/34). They gave her Tylenol and extra fluids. This same sort of thing happened last time. She dozed off for a while.
Saturday, January 17
Meg had a really good night. No throwing up. She has been sleeping all morning. She asked for a little Benadryl for some nausea. I received her numbers from the tumor marker tests. They went down considerably. The nurse said they are in the normal range. Everyone has cancer cells; therefore it is never zero. We were glad to hear this. The doctors came in to check on her. They said she can go home on Monday after her hearing test. She needs this test because her visit next time will include a different medicine that can affect hearing, so they need a baseline. Meg had a great day—nausea was at a minimum. Visited with Grandma and Bonnie Kaiser. Mrs. and Mr. Jennings came in to visit. Started Meg’s chemo at 4:40 p.m. again. She did okay again. Mike and Nick came up around 6:00. They gave Meghan Zofran, then her Doxorubicin, Ativan, and then Ifosfamide. It worked well with putting the Ativan in between medicines. She still needed Benadryl at the end.
Sunday, January 18
Meg has been sleeping most of the morning. She feels a little nauseated. No breakfast today. The doctors came in and checked her, also her little scar that has a piece of suture sticking out. She needs to walk around a little today. Bethany (Miss Maclam) came to visit and brought her a cinnamon roll, Bugles, magnetic letters and Gatorade. Lots of visitors today. Aunt Debbie, Uncle Dan, Lindsay, Chuck, Dee, Erin, Jordan, Cathy, Courtney and Isaiah. Meg felt good all day but went right to sleep when they all left.
Her chemo was started at 6:15 p.m. Meg slept until about 8:30 p.m. and woke up and wanted her sub sandwich. We thought it might not be a good idea, but she seemed to think it would be. She had it down in about ten minutes and it came back up. She wasn’t feeling very well. We gave her Benadryl and she was back to sleep by 10:00 p.m.
Monday, January 19
Meg was up a lot during the night for the bathroom and nausea medicine. That sandwich really killed her. She has been sleeping all morning. The doctor came in and said she needs to walk around a little so she doesn’t feel so queasy and dizzy like last time. We will be able to go home after her hearing test today.
We finally got home around 3:00 p.m. Meg was feeling pretty good. She had popcorn and macaroni and cheese. We have to give her fluids for three days.
Tuesday, January 20
Meg woke up feeling pretty good, but didn’t feel well around one in the afternoon. She started to get a headache around 4:00. Her new medicine and machine didn’t arrive until around 6:00 p.m. As soon as it arrived we hooked Meghan up to her hydration. She threw up about three times. About an hour into the infusion her pump malfunctioned. We had to call the nurse and reprogram her old pump. It set us back about an hour. We unhooked her from fluids around 4:00 a.m. She seemed to be fine.
Wednesday, January 21
Meg woke up around 10:00 a.m. and felt pretty good. She had orange juice and a Toaster Strudel. It all came back up within a half hour, and then a half hour after that. She figured out orange juice doesn’t work. Still sick most of the day.
Thursday, January 22
Meg still didn’t feel that great. The nurse came and did blood work and removed her needle. She was still unable to drink and eat. I called the clinic for blood results and told the nurse how Meghan was feeling. She had the nurse come back and access her (insert IVs) so we could give her fluids again. The nurse hooked her up at 6:30 p.m. Mike had to work a double and got home around 11:30 p.m. We had to get up at 2:30 a.m. to unhook her. While going downstairs to get supplies we found the dog had thrown up everywhere. Had to clean up and wash the carpet. What a night. Grandma stayed overnight.
Friday, January 23
Meghan woke up feeling great. Grandma stayed with her all day. She ate and drank. We went to her basketball game at the high school. We didn’t have to hydrate her tonight. We got a great night sleep.
Saturday, January 24
Today Meg had another good day. She slept in a little, and Courtney and Isaiah came over to watch movies in the afternoon. Maron, Bridget, Mrs. Brauer, and Mrs. Shanahan all came over to deliver some more gifts and visit. Meg loves when they come and visit, anyone for that matter. Mike and I went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with Darren and Erin. Meg was up pretty late. She has a volleyball tournament on Sunday.
Sunday, January 25
We had to get up at 6:00 a.m. to be at Meg’s tournament by 7:45. Meg was feeling pretty well again but complained of a little backache. We were at volleyball for twelve hours, but the girls won their bracket in the tournament. We were glad to get home.
Monday, January 26
The nurse came this morning. Meg felt great today and did lots of homework. The tutor came over and spent over an hour. When she left we went to the Boulevard Mall. Meg needed smaller jeans to wear. What a mess it turned out to be at the store; it was so hard to find things to fit her.
Jordan came to sleep over with Meghan tonight. It was Nick’s birthday too!!