A Very Bad Day

Yep, it has been a bad day - one of the worst so far. It all started when Noah was worried about the l'asparaginase injection he had today. He couldn't sleep last night until after 11, and we had to be at the hospital at 8:15, so he was tired and kinda grumpy. I felt bad enough for him at that point!
AND THEN:
1. They put a numbing cream on both of his legs, about mid-thigh, because (and we were never told this until this morning) they needed to inject the drug into both legs because there was too much for only one syringe. But he was telling himself it was going to be ok; there would be two nurses both doing it at the same time. So at this point he was pretty nervous, but trying not to let it show. When it came time, he started kinda shaking and a little tear fell down his cheek. : ( He has never really trusted the numbing cream; he is always nervous before they poke him and very relieved when it doesn't hurt. It is pretty cute, actually, how he almost slumps in relief, and says, Phew!
2. The nurse took the bandage off of the site where they had put the cream, and wiped it off. I stood by Noah's head, held his hand and leaned over him, kissing his cheek while they did the injections. He cried out because it hurt and then cried for a while (apparently the stuff burns after they inject it....) when I was helping him get his pants on, I noticed a very clear marking where she had taken off the bandage with a blob shape in the centre where the numbing cream had been. And about an inch and a half above that, the bandaid covering the injection site.
SHE MISSED THE CREAM! So now, not only does he not trust the cream, now he won't trust the nurses either. Sigh... I will have to find a way of marking his leg where the cream is before Wednesday, his next injection.
3. He threw up just before 2:00. Now this morning as soon as he woke up, he went and threw up. This sometimes happens and he wasn't too upset about it, and asked me for Ondansetron, the anti- nausea med that lasts 8 hrs. I gave it to him at 7:20 this morning, so it should have lasted until 3:20. Right? Well, at 2 when he threw up, I imeddiately thought his Ondansetron had worn off, so I gave him more. It is a dissolve under your tongue kind of med, so it should have started working quickly. It didn't work AT ALL! He kept throwing up. I gave him Gravol at about 3 but he immediately threw that up, too. After he vomited 8 times in 2 hours, I called the hospital and asked them what to do and they told us to come in. While we were waiting for the cab, he threw up one more time.
4.We got to emerg and it was standing room only. I found a place down a little hallway where he could sit all alone and away from all the sick and possibly contagious kids in emerg. I was told that behind the door he was sitting beside was a very aggressive psych patient, but not to worry - the door was barred from the other side.... yikes! He threw up once more and then they fast-tracked him through to a room where a very nice nurse had to access him (put the needle in his VAD) without the numbing cream I usually put on. He was worried but when it actually happened he was ok, but not impressed.
5. One of the oncology doctors came and saw him in emerg and decided to admit him over night. So that is where we are. He did stop vomiting at around 6:30 when they gave him a huge syringe full of gravol into his IV and he fell asleep by 7:30. That hour was spent doing this:

In all, he threw up 12 times and so they put him on more Ondansetron, gravol and a lot of fluids, in hopes that if they interrupt the nausea, it will go away. Hopefully he isn't sick from that chemo today. He will already be worried about the poke - I don't want him to be worried about the vomiting, too! Anyway, we'll be here until tomorrow sometime and then on Wednesday he'll need two more pokes and then Friday and then MWF next week too. Please pray it goes well for him.
Well, I am feeling a bit like I have taken gravol, too, so I must bid you goodnight, lest i fall asleep typing.....