1st U.S. Transfusion

Can I just say that my daughter ROCKS?  This girl is the bravest, strongest girl I have ever met in my entire life.  Two days, hours and hours of doctors appointments, unlimited strange faces, SEVEN needle sticks, and a bag of blood later and this girl is smiling and laughing like nothing hit her.

We saw the team at CHB on Monday and were told that E (and I!) needed a transfusion.  Oddly enough, the evil 104 temp knocked me on my butt so much that my heartrate was the same as E's, and my hgb was significantly lower than E's (8.2 vs 6.8)!  Her hematologist (who, oddly enough, is my hematologist) noted that E looked much better than I did!  Which, as far as I'm concerned, is awesome news!

So, we headed in on Tuesday for her first transfusion.  We almost went for a mother/daughter transfusion (think: mother/daughter mani-pedi, just a little less glamorous), but I decided to hold out so I could focus on E.  Saying that she was a trooper is the biggest understatement ever.  She had 3 needlesticks the previous day, and had 4 to get her IV started for the transfusion.  AND SHE DIDN'T CRY.  The poor thing has teeny tiny "stringy" veins that have been used and scarred a lot in her little life.  She was so much braver than she even needed to be, considering what she went through.  She deserved a good cry!

The transfusion itself was uneventful.  E was deemed the new favorite at the CAT/CR.  More than one nurse threatened to take her home because she laughed and giggled and was so sweet and cooperative.  Children's Boston is such a great place...they think of every little thing to make it easier on the kids.  Child life was there all day with toys and bubbles and an ipad and all kinds of other distractions for her.  The singing clowns came by and sang a song to E.  It makes something that is difficult much easier.  On mom and dad, too.

Here's what you really want...

Kissing one of the 7 boo boos E got.
Yes, that's E's bow in my hair.

This is literally how excited E got when the blood pressure cuff inflated.
That explains why the nurses all wanted to be covering our room.

Again, excitement over having one's temperature taken.
The nurses couldn't get enough of this girl.  Neither can we!

Just hanging out, getting my blood at the CAT/CR.

Squeaky shoes were a hit at Children's.

 E is my hero!!  And thanks to the awesome staff at CHB for making our day that much easier.