Chemo days

The days that Anya has chemo are wildly unpredictable. The act of getting the drugs and the time at the hospital is fairly consistent: she resists taking her anti-nausea medicine, makes a big production out of getting her port accessed, then happily plays and creates art while the drugs pour into her body. It is after we leave the hospital that we never quite know what is going to happen. This time around, she has done extremely well, although still has plenty of ups and downs. After day one of chemo, she wanted to see her cousins. Luckily she napped in the car, but was still tired. She did great for a couple of hours of cousin time, and then the nausea hit. Will flew out the door to go to our house to get her anti-nausea meds, but minutes later she decided she wanted to go home. Papa Bill took us home in his car. It is a good example of how we adults around her are constantly on edge to see how she is doing and quick to jump for anything she needs. I was very relieved, however, to find out that she was willing to tell us she needed to go home. After getting home, she took her medicine and was exhausted and ready for bed around 6:00. We read books and turned off the light, and then she came to life again. It was clear she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, so I asked if she wanted to eat. She got up and proceeded to eat half an avocado, cheese, and salami. She was in such a good mood that she even created the salami beard pictured above. Again, a good example of the extreme ups and downs of chemo days.
Day two had similar moments of energy and then exhaustion for Anya and anxiety for Will and I. Today, though, she has been almost back to normal. I can't say enough times how amazed I am at her resilience.