Friday, September 4, 2009

Finishing Up the Day

So after Isabella completed her treatment and rang the bell, we served the cakes to the people in the waiting room, as well as the doctors and nurses.  Afterwards, we went up to the Healing Garden on the 8th floor of the hospital.  We then walked a little bit around Cambridge St. to get some lunch, then headed back to the apartment.  After dinner, we walked along the Charles River and finally just got back a little while ago.  You can see some pictures from the remainder of the day below.

We will spend the rest of the weekend here in Boston, then head home on Monday so that Isabella can get ready for her first day of school on Tuesday.

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This is our nurse Rachel who spent every morning with Isabella during her treatments.

P1000456 Roneil sits with the children in the Healing Garden.P1000466 Julianne, Isabella, and Annalise look out over the Charles River from the Healing Garden.P1000468

Isabella and Nathaniel sit by the reflection pool in the Healing Garden.

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We found these flowers that matched Isabella’s dress perfectly.

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A nice sunset walk along the Charles River was a perfect way to end the day.

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Isabella's Last Day of Radiation Treatment

So today is Isabella's last day of radiation treatment. She has been up here in Boston for the last six weeks receiving daily radiation Monday through Friday. Today is almost like a typical treatment day as Isabella woke up smiling and there's the rest of the hustle and bustle as we try to get everyone ready to go over to the hospital. The difference with today is that we will be bringing over a couple cakes (yes, that's right, a couple) to help celebrate this being her last day of treatment. We are due at radiation in 10 minutes so I have to go and finish getting ready. I will keep this post updated with our progress and some pictures and video as we go along the day.

Here is a picture of Isabella getting ready for treatment.

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Update 8:40am
Our nurse Rachel just took Isabella into the treatment room and the anesthesiologist just walked in as well. So we should be done in an hour. We were so excited to get here that we forgot the cakes. Fortunately, our place is just across the street so we'll walk back while she is getting treated to grab the cakes.

This is the famous bell that we will be ringing soon!

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Friday is also a special day here at the radiation treatment in that all the kids getting treated and their siblings get to pick from a room full of toys.  Annalise and Nathaniel have already picked their gifts, while Isabella will pick hers once she gets out.

P1000444 Here, Annalise can’t decide between a toy gun or a set of finger nails extensions!  Quite a choice, eh?

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Update 10:15am

They just called out and said Isabella has woken up from her anesthesia.  Julianne will go back and sit with her.  We will wait until she’s more awake to ring the bell.

Update 10:36am

Isabella just came out of the recovery room and we are now just waiting to meet with the radiation oncologist before we ring the bell.  Here is everyone walking out of the recovery room with all smiles.

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Update 10:53am

Her treatments are officially complete!  Here is Isabella ringing the bell.  More updates in a bit (including a video!)

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Thursday, September 3, 2009

Last Treatment Day Tomorrow!

The whole family is now up in Boston for Isabella's last treatment day tomorrow! I plan on blogging early and often tomorrow. We are scheduled to be at the radiation floor at 8:30am for a 9:00am treatment start. She should be out of treatment and waking up from the anesthesia about an hour to an hour and a half later, then we will record Isabella ringing the bell to signal the end of her treatment. This will then be followed by a small celebration and some cake.

In one of my earliest posts, I likened this journey to a marathon as opposed to a sprint, but although tomorrow may symbolize the finish line, we must continue to run even past that finish line. Even after this last treatment, we will continue to have MRIs and follow ups for years, and we'll watch every move and twitch that Isabella has. It does feel like we are at the end of a very long tunnel and we certainly appreciate the many of you who have followed us from the very beginning and those who joined us along the way.

We're almost there!!!