Recovery | Day 1...

We had a rough start to the morning as Blu woke up to a new reality.  One that included an exceptionally annoying tube in her nose complete with tape securing it to the side of her face.  Also, she was less than thrilled with the fact that receiving her port did not eliminate the IV in her left arm as promised by Daddy Max (my bad!).  "Discomfort" may be a generous word but she wasn't in overt pain.  She was certainly stressed about the potential for more pain so any attempt to touch or move her was greeted with intense panic however a visit from the "Pain Team" brought much needed sedation to calm the nerves.

It took a few hours for Blu to adjust to this new normal but we knew things were heading in the right direction when she whispered, "I want to watch Gumball.  It's on channel 57-23."  A combination of pain meds and Cartoon Network has allowed her to remain relatively calm for most of the day.  Her most recent breakthrough came when mom went to put coconut oil on her chapped little lips and Blu insisted that she be the one to apply it.  This new mobility has now progressed to exploring and scratching the annoying tape on her nose (pictured above), subconsciously outlining her incision, and now she's feeding herself ice chips.  I call that a bonafide success!

Carlie and I have started thinking about the road ahead and what seems to be the inevitable side effects of chemo therapy; hair loss.  We're being told it's a near certainty that she'll lose her gorgeous blond locks and in particular, those bangs she's been working so hard to grow out.  (Some of you will remember that her relationship with her bangs has been "tumultuous" at times LOL)  So we've been wondering... what can we do with this reality to make it more fun(?) or acceptable?  We've thought about looking for fun wigs.... I'll definitely be shaving my head in solidarity (be kind when I look like a drowned rat)... but we're wondering if anyone has any ideas?  We'd love to hear about them!

Finally, we continue to receive so much love and support.  Today several cards and gifts came into the hospital including an amazing bouquet of flowers from our good friends, Brian and Kristen.  Unfortunately, we just found out that we aren't allowed to have flowers in the room :-/  Just a heads up that if anyone was thinking of sending her flowers :)

Continued thanks and love for all of your thoughts, prayers, and cards!