Tubie girl! Plus endocrinology and Kaitlynn

For once,  I have great news!

We just finished some fantastic Chinese takeout and an episode of Sherlock (we're very behind). Maisie passed out around 8:00 and is sound asleep. Obviously Maisie did not eat Chinese. She ate NINE OUNCES of high-calorie, high-fat, high-protein formula as well as a dose of anti-nausea meds and seizure meds. She did not puke a single drop back up, and yes, she took it all through her brand-new, perfect little g-tube!

The surgery went smoothly. Maisie couldn't eat for eight hours before the surgery and so by the time we arrived at the hospital at 11:00 (I know, I had the wrong time the other day) she was starving. She cried and cried when the nurse, a lovely girl named Lucy, got her ready for the procedure, and she cried and cried when Lucy took her away from me. When she came out of recovery she was loopy and confused and kept complaining that her belly was itchy and scratching at the g-tube like a fiend, so then the "new Lucy" (which is how post-anesthesia Maisie called the new nurse, Shriya) had to wrap her arms in these funky restraints (they look like those on the left and they are absolutely no fun) to keep her from scratching. A little hydrocortisone cream made Maisie feel better and let her be calm while we met with the endocrinologist.

A week or so ago the endo prescribed a medication that will hopefully stabilize the function of her thyroid. Looking back I guess I haven't really talked about this, but she is working on a theory that Maisie struggles with some kind of mutated version of Graves' Disease. She doesn't show any Graves symptoms except muscle weakness and weight loss, and apparently mild exophthalmos (bulging eyes -- we just thought she had big eyes!), but it's still a possibility. A blood sample has been sent off to test for low levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone and in the meantime Maisie will be taking a beta blocker. If she responds well to the medication, we'll stop there.

Finally, Kaitlynn's still in town. She is doing fantastic, and all of her tests have been coming back normal. She looks great! Her hair is thick and gorgeously platinum blonde -- basically the only good side affect of chemo. She used to have mousy brown locks and now look at them! She's rosy-cheeked, smiling, robust. She's still skinny but not disturbingly so.

So, here's hoping for more improvement, more good news, more weight gain, and no more puking!