We went for a checkup after round two and they told us they wanted us in Fort Worth the next day to start the stem cell harvest. We flew in my sister in law the next day and Gracie and I drove the 5 hours to Ft. Worth. We stayed in the Ronald McDonald house and checked her counts at the clinic the next morning. The next day they took her in for surgery to place a catheter on the side of her neck for the stem cell harvest and they also placed a feeding tube down her nose while she was under since she was not eating well and down to 25 lbs. The plan was to stay our nights at the ronald mcdonald house and check her counts at the clinic each day but she developed a fever after the surgery and they kept her at the hospital. She had a lot of nausea and actually puked up the feeding tube. it was pretty traumatic for her. They placed another tube the next day and she held so still and did awesome. There were 3 nurses in there and all of them stated that they had never seen anyone do so good with it. I was so proud of her. She started the stem cell harvest a couple days later and it went for 4 hours at a time for 2 days. she did really well with that too. But she puked up the second feeding tube as well. After that they thought of putting in a tube through her tummy straight to her stomach but couldnt do it for a couple days so we decided to come back home and do it here at some point since her appetite had improved greatly. she has been eating non stop for the last week and gained a few pounds back. When the doctor took out the huge catheter he said she did better than he had ever seen. i said "im starting to think you guys must say that to everyone!. haha" but he said no she really was the best and even better than most adults. She is such a strong brave girl.
Monday we took her in for round three here in Tulsa and she was there 4 days. We just got home last night. We are so thankfyul that the last couple rounds have gone so much better than the first. We know it is because of all the thousands of prayers being offered in her behalf, and we feel the blessings of these prayers individually and as a family. We are so blessed despite this awful situation, or "stupid cancer" as Gracie calls it. :)