First Infusion

On Tuesday Bella went for her first infusion at Hershey Children's Hospital. We weren't sure what to expect so we were a little nervous. But the staff at Hershey is awesome. They explained everything to Bella step by step and made her so comfortable. Bella gets her own private room with a flat screen TV and access to the internet. There are movies, games, and television for her to watch. They also have a lady go around offering crafts, games, and activities to keep the kids busy. Bella also got a new blanket and pillow case made by awesome volunteers. The infusions took about 3 hours but the medicine that they give before the infusion made her super tired. So about halfway through she fell asleep and when we were home she slept the day away. We brought school work along for her to do but obviously she can't work and sleep at the same time. So we have spent the week trying to catch her back up to speed. This year Bella started middle school and along with the new freedoms and class changes comes more responsibility. It has been quite a juggling act for Bella. Missing days from school for appointments and now infusions make it tough to keep up some days. But I do have to say she is trying to find her footing in middle school and working out a few quirks. Overall she is still getting awesome grades with a couple of snags along the way. She is learning that she has to work a little harder when she misses school and allow herself time to study a little more. I know she will work it all out, it will just take some time to get use to the new responsibilities of being in middle school. Bella is hard on herself and sets her bar high, but some days I think she makes herself nuts putting her expectations so high. I know one day it will make her a great doctor(if you didn't know that is what Bella is determined to be)and she will achieve so many great things in her life with this type of determination. But some days I wish she would just be a kid and accept that perfection isn't necessary all the time. She is still doing cheerleading and each game her goal is to cheer half of the game and the one game she cheered the whole entire time!! She was hurting a little bit the next day, but was quite proud of herself. I hope there are many more of these proud moments as we embark on the new treatment plan. We have had zero side effects to the new medicine, so that is awesome news! Keep you fingers crossed that we found the medicine that puts Bella into remission. Her goal is to be playing basketball this year, so cross everything you have to cross!!!!! Her next infusion is in a week and a half and we hope to be a little more prepared this time since it will be our second round. Have a great weekend and thanks for checking in on Bella!