Goo

Lily had her Audiology appointment followed by her Echo yesterday. I had some prescriptions to pick up, so Phil was going to meet us on his lunch hour to help out. Traffic was light, we arrived early AND there was a parking spot. Dare I hope for a good day? As we walked by the pharmacy, there were only 2 people waiting and 5 windows open...WOW! This could be the day that rejuvenates my faith in the pharmacy. I pull a ticket, and there is only 1 person ahead of me. My computer assigned estimated wait time: 2 minutes. You always multiply that by 5- so 10 minutes- that would put me right down to the wire for making Lily's appointment- but Phil is on his way. 2 windows close- no need to panic, I'm next up. Until.... 2 active duty guys take tickets- that bumps me to #3 and with 3 windows open- it's time to take a seat- my plan just blew up in my face. Lily is dancing and being silly and drops her bucket of toys. As she bends down to pick them up- she , well how do I put this- passes a bit o wind. She giggles "that was me! I farted!" The now busy waiting area is smattered with giggles. The giggling subsides as the stench wafts to them. Taco bell and chemo meds do not mix my friends. But this week's food of choice is tacos. Last week was baked beans, the week before spaghetti. Flatulence has been rampant. I am hoping and hoping that Phil parks on this side of the hospital- I look at my watch- it's been 20 minutes- we are officially 8 minutes late for the appointment- is it time to just go and start over later......but then I see Phil hurrying past- he grabs Lily and they go to her appointment. I forgot to call in one refill- "we don't DO same day refills, you'll have to pick it up tomorrow" AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH. 15 minutes later I finally get the meds and go to meet Phil and Lily.

Her hearing is Ok, no decrease this time, a little improvement in one range. Amy says this can be due to her focus, last time she wasn't concentrating so we'll just have to see, we won't probably see improvement after treatment and it can get worse- but maybe her loss wasn't as bad last week- she just lost focus. Either way loss can continue for up to a year. After the test Lily has to have ear molds made for her hearing aids. I figured that was what the ENT appointment was for- "oh no" she tells me- "all they do is look at her ears and officially say she can have hearing aids." But can't you do that? "you would think, but this is how tricare wants it". red tape anyone? SO we had to wait a month for an appointment we will have next week so a guy can look in her ears and say- yep- those are ears, they are a good place to put hearing aids- and then we come back and order the aids? pretty much. Allrightythen.

So she gets this pink silicone goo and squirts it into Lily's ear. I figure Lily will freak out, but she doesn't...until Amy does the second ear. It itches, she can't hear, she doesn't like it...Amy laughs at how of all the things she has to go through- she is so dramatic about the little things. True. She ultra dramatic about the big ones, but she's allowed, for now. Phil finally distracts Lily while the silicone dries and Amy writes up the report. Although we don't want her hearing to decrease- we wouldn't be bummed if we had to decrease the dose of nasty chemicals. She looks at herself in the mirror and laughs hysterically. She gets to roll around a piece of the silicone goo to make a bouncy ball when it's dry. All of a sudden she looks at me and yells "MOM! how can I put my nee nee in there?" and points to the pink goo sticking out of her ear- you can't. At this point she's done. She starts yelling because not only is she hard of hearing- her ears are now plugged- "Where did SHE go??" I tell her Amy will be right back. " I want this OUT! Where is SHE?" One of the assistants is kind enough to introduce herself and extricate the now hardened goo from Lily's ears. They probably deal with this all the time. Amy explains to Phil kinda how the hearing aids will work and that she should have fairly normal hearing recovery with the aids. I chase Lily around and we finally read a book about an elephant who needs hearing aids. I look at the clock- oh we are sooooo late for her echo...time to go.

We go down to clinic and Lily marches right in like she owns the joint. It's fairly quiet on Friday afternoon, so Lily yells for the people she wants. She finds Dr. P and climbs up on his lap and tells him all about the goo in her ears. Dr. S comes to get her for her echo and she is in goofy form, all giggly and tickly. Her heart looks good. Great news. Miss Flo calls in yet another favor for us to the onc pharmacy- we plead with her for more than a week's supply... I am soooo over the pharmacy.. she milks a month's worth for us. Have I mentioned how much we LOVE Florence?? So that concludes another session of Lily's protocol. ON to cycle 8!!