Today has been nonstop. We got up at 7:00 a.m. NYC time, got ready, and headed over to Sloan Kettering. Ronan was not happy and is still not happy about being here. He keeps asking for Sharon, our nurse back home, and said he doesn’t want to make any new friends here. He was so upset about having blood drawn from his tubes (which is something he’s had done 100 times) that he kicked and screamed the entire time.
We have met a lot of new nurses and doctors, all of whom have been beyond nice. I was a little overwhelmed walking in. It felt a bit like we were starting all over again—like we had just been told Ronan had cancer. I quickly snapped out of it after seeing how much the doctors truly care here. Dr. Modak, who is part of the Neuroblastoma team, has an entire wall in his office covered with pictures of Neuroblastoma survivors. Woody and I both got teary-eyed. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen—a wall full of kids, young and old, who have survived this horrific disease. It meant the world to us as parents. Everything here feels very positive and inspiring, and everyone wears a smile. We miss our close friends at PCH, but I think we will be okay here. It’s not quite as scary as I thought it would be 🙂
After Ronan’s blood work came back super high, they decided on the spot to harvest his stem cells. This is great news! It means everything will move a little more quickly. The doctor even got his surgery date bumped up to January 3rd instead of the 7th. We are so happy about that. The sooner we get the job done, the better. Everything here is really fast-paced and precise. I like that. Cancer feels like a job to me now. I know what we are here to do, and we are going to do the best job possible getting it done.
Ronan is mad that he has been at the hospital all day. He is finally asleep while they are collecting his stem cells. We asked Dr. M about any restrictions regarding taking Ronan out in the city. He gave us the green light to take him wherever since his ANC is so high. I love a green light 🙂 We are going to make the best of our time in the most fabulous city in the world. Ronan is going to take it by storm, and I know this is something we will look back on in a very positive way.
That was yesterday. I finally got the Wi-Fi set up, so now I can hopefully keep you all updated. The stem cell harvest went great yesterday, but they did not collect the full amount they needed, so we will have to go back on Monday to harvest again. Not a big deal. We are going to enjoy today and Sunday out of the hospital and have some fun in the city.
Hope you all have a beautiful weekend!!
xoxo
Related Articles
- Stem Cell Harvest day (rockstarronan.com)
- Neuroblastoma – All Information (umm.edu)
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