Avarie first day of out paitient.

Hello there this is Craig,( sorry in advance for the length) Avaries dad here. I wanted to give everyone an update on Avarie and how everything went today and is currently going. Well I think we all were a little nervous about today even if we didn't talk much about it before hand. I know between trying to break Sawyer into his crib, Avarie waking up and knowing we were all waking up early to embark on a trying day would lead to little sleep. Jenell was up around 6:00am I got up around 6:30 and one by one got all the kids ready for there destinations. Addisen and Carter went across the street to the Boes' house (Thanks a bunch) and Sawyers grandpa Giles met us at the hospital to take Sawyer to his grandma's house. I would be lying to you if I said there was no stress involved in this event as there was some. Jenell and I learned a great lesson we each need lifting and support from one another. This will be one of the most important things we can do for each other. Avarie was quiet the whole way to the hospital and you could really sense the anxiety from her little body. We tried our best to assure her that everything was going to be alright and we would be there for her but the fact was she knew she didn't like what happened when she was at the hospital before so our assurances were of little help. We walked into the hospital I was carrying Avarie just like you would imagine carrying a wounded person from a scene of a traumatic nature. Arm at back under shoulders, other arm under knees. It makes me feel as though she is so helpless even though I know she is doing better and moving better it still is hard and makes me very grateful for the use I have of my joints and limbs. As we approached the elevators I could feel her getting more anxious and when we finally went through the day treatment unit door she was starting to let us know she was not very happy. I went into a family type waiting room while Jenell went to register. The room had a couch a nice soft chair and lots of books and toys. Avarie wanted nothing to do with any of it. I tried to offer movies and all kinds of fun things to help her relax but she just wanted mom to hurry up. Then they wanted to get her height and weight. Well she absolutely was not going to stand up and made that perfectly clear so the nurse weighed us together and when Jenell came back she weighed me to get avaries weight. The happy reunion with mom was short lived because right after mom came back into the family waiting room they took us into another little room here they were going to access Avaries buddy (port) for the medications she would receive during her surgical procedures. Avarie was SCREAMING as they removed her clear tape and suture tape from the port site. There was a music therapy lady who was in the room to try and sooth Avarie with her harp playing. She may have been the back ground music to the screaming but the harp held no magic in its strings. They finally put the line in the buddy and we could back into the waiting room where we would wait for the results of the blood draws to see where she was at. They gave a mini DVD player with a Barbie movie but Avarie cared very little for it and fell a sleep shortly after it started. The nurse came in about 45 minutes later and told us thing looked ok to proceed and the doctor followed with some info about wanting us to come on Mondays to so they can keep a close eye on her and make sure her blood looks good and if not be prepared for a blood transfusion. She did say if results from the bone biopsy came back on the positive side we wouldn't have to do another one for a while. The same thing went for the lumbar puncture if there was still no cancer there she wouldn't need another one for awhile. Well it was time to into the procedure room and initially we had decided not to go in but after we sat in there for awhile I decided I wanted to so Jenell said she would stay up until the spinal. The anesthesiologist had a new ipod and was going to be using them pre procedure to try and help kids relax and take their mind off of what is going on around them. This he believes will result in less sleepy time medicine for the patient. Avarie really didn't want anything to do with it until they gave her the pain medication shot she was in a great deal of pain and discomfort as she had not had any since 8:00pm the night before. She then watched a little bit of Dora on the ipod then the doctor gave her the sleepy medicine. She started to fade a little and asked if we could pause the Dora until after we were done. The nurse and Jenell laid Avarie down and more or less she went under. The bone biopsy was first and was hard to watch the doctor push the tube needle into the bone not once but twice because the first sample was to small. I wasn't to happy about that. Then the spinal Jenell left and it was a good thing. The doctor couldnt get the needle that allows the chemo treatment to go in and the fluid samples out into the right spot. Avarie started to move and mumble and the anesthesiologist had to administer more and more medication. He even made the comment that this is an awful lot of medication and I could see had used it all. He was looking over at the doctor to see why she was taking so long. It finally was over they started to wake her and mom came in. When she woke up she was ready to go right then and she wanted her chicken and french fries that she had been promised but she had to lie flat for a 1/2 hour to avoid a bad headache. Mom would say 2 more minutes and Avarie would say no more 2 minutes I'm hungry now she was not happy. They needed to give her some oral pain meds before we left and she got to use the wheel chair and that made her a little happier. On our way to pick up Sawyer we got a McDonald's 6 piece big kids meal so we would have some left over for sawyer. She ate 5 and could have kept going. When we got to grandmas she was really tired and just was there on the couch. That has been what she has been doing here at home since we arrived. She is uncomfortable, tired and hurting but she is glad to be home. I just want to say thank you so very much to every single person who has blessed us with their kindness, their prayers, their desire to do anything they can to help. I know I have personally been lifted by all the prayers and thoughts. I also know my family has and especially little Avarie. A whole lot of people want to know how they can help I can say that Jenell has had elves across the street clean the house and everything under the sun while she was at the hospital and it was beautiful. I do think even though it would be hard to allow people to see your messy house this could be an area of service. We have every offer under the sun for help so forgive me if I have forgotten that there is no need to state this. People have also asked if they can donate financially to Avarie for her care and the costs that surround it. Jenell started the process today of setting up a donation account at the well Fargo here in town and it should be up and running by tomorrow or Friday. I cant say enough thank yous to family and Friends there are so many. I love all of you.
God Bless you All

Avaries Daddy