Day +17: Day in the life of BMT – bathtime

A 6 year old on the ward made Nadia a sign for her door. This little girl is so sweet! And so mature. The nurses say that it seems common for young patients on the ward, facing the daily grind of fighting cancer – getting chemo, blood products, feeding tubes, doctors and nurses probing at all hours, etc – to act older than they are. These kids are so brave, so tough, so beautiful; we can learn a lot about life by spending time with them.

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Every day Nadia has to have a bath. We try our best to coordinate everything so that Nadia can have a bath without IVy coming along. Depending on how her drugs, and sometimes blood products (Thank You Donors!), are scheduled, the nurses do the best they can to accommodate us. Right now we have a gap between drugs from 11:00 – 13:00. During this time a nurse will disconnect IVy, sanitize everything, and give Nadia some freedom. Nadia’s CVC line is still tender and kept under a dressing that is changed weekly. We have to keep this dressing dry or the adhesive will come off, or water can seep under it. If water sits under the dressing for a long period of time it can do damage to the skin. When someone does not have an immune system it is important to prevent skin irritations, to help prevent infection which can be very dangerous to bone marrow transplant patients.

In the video at the end of this post is Nadia having a bath. Her dressing is covered up with Glad Press’n Seal (seriously), which is taped down with orange/pink (mommy and daddy are arguing over the actual colour) tape. Nadia can’t have too much water in the bath, because even with this protection we have to keep the tape dry. It does not take much moisture to loosen the tape off. Also, since Nadia’s torso is so small compared to the CVC line (and dressing, and Glad Press’n Seal, and pink (orange) tape, with each layer covering more surface area), small movements have big impact on loosening the tape. So it is a run against the clock. We do Nadia’s hair first and then soap and wash as much of her body as we can before the tape starts coming off. Occasionally we get her rinsed off and Nadia can spend some time playing before we have to take her out.

Nadia is not allowed any toys in the tub that can hide water inside them. The fear is that the water inside the toy can sit for 24 hours and some air-borne bacteria will find its way in and start growing. Again, without an immune system some bacterias are very dangerous. We are still searching for a rubber ducky without a hole in it!

So Nadia’s baths are not as fun as they used to be. It is a flurry of activity for mommy and daddy, and often Nadia does get to have a little fun. The video below shows her playing in the tub. You can see about half of the covering on her chest. Also, notice the vampire-like marks on her neck. These are from when the doctor put in her CVC line. It is at this point in her neck where the line goes from just being under her skin, to entering her jugular vein on its way to her heart.

Or Vampires. The mark could be from vampires.

Anyone want to weigh in on the colour of that tape? 😉

Nadia crashing hard for an afternoon nap, smothering Scoopy Doo and Jelly.