The good and bad of Benadryl

Talitha had a hard day especially in the morning.

She needed both platelet and red blood cell transfusions which wouldn't have been such a struggle except that Talitha fought going to sleep.

Let me explain. Because of common side effects of transfusions--some of which can be dangerous--they give Talitha medicine like Benadryl in advance of the transfusion(s) to ward off allergic reactions. Benadryl always makes Talitha tired. Most the time, she just falls asleep after receiving the medicine and things proceed smoothly. But once in a while, she fights the drowsiness. Then the feeling of being half in control / half out of control just makes her antsy and upset.

There's definitely an angel side to Talitha and a...well, um...how shall we say...not so angelic side that tends to show up when she's over-tired or is fighting the effects of Benadryl.

So, it was a bit of an everything-is-stepping-on-my-nerves kind of day. Guess that's what we get for thinking Talitha is almost done with treatment. It's been going on for "ages" but now suddenly can't get here fast enough.

I think everyone is done with hospital living and just wants to be home.

The highlight of the day for Talitha was her bath this afternoon. Make lots of bubbles and just have fun.

(I think she likes bath time so much now because it's her only ticket out of her quarantine room. The bathtub room is just a few doors down and across the hall. But hey, with an imagination like Tali's, it might as well be on a different planet.)

Last Wednesday in the hospital (?!)

Yay!