A Day at St. Jude: A Photo Story

STARRING: PENNYLANE

Penny woke up bright and early in the morning. She was so excited because today she starts her 8 week treatment again at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for Dolls. She will miss her home, her siblings and her pets while she is away, but she know the doctors and nurses at St. Jude will take such good care of her.

Pennylane had packed her suitcase the night before. Her suitcase was filled with clothes, toys, stuffed animals, and cards from her brother and sisters. She was also taking her fuzzy blanket and some decorations to make her room in the hospital feel more like her room at home. In a couple of hours, Penny and her older sister Nellie, who was coming with her, would be hopping on an airplane and be off to St. Jude for 8 weeks, and she couldn't wait!

Later that day, Penny had arrived at St. Jude wearing one of her favorite childhood cancer awareness shirt. This shirt is a crop top so it is easier for the nurses to access her central line, or port, in her chest for chemotherapy. The looked up at the huge hospital building and took a deep breath. She could not wait to be in there with her friends and nurses she loves!

As she got out of the St. Jude Transportation bus, she ran over to the large marble statue of St. Jude Thaddeus and attempted to give it a huge hug. Inscribed of the statue are the words: "ST. JUDE HOSPITAL. DANNY THOMAS, FOUNDER. 1960". She is so thankful for Danny Thomas and his commitment to St. Jude Thaddeus back in 1960, or else many children like herself may not be here today.

Penny couldn't help but smile every time she walked through the doors of St. Jude. The bright murals and welcoming smiles of the doctors and nurses made her feel at home. She did a little twirl in the lobby. She adored the cozy feeling of the hospital that has become a second home to her. Pennylane was counting down the minutes until she could go throughout the colorful hallways, even if it meant toting around a chemo pole.

The first place Penny stopped when she walked into St. Jude was the registration area. Here in the registration area is where she signs in with her hospital ID card and will get her hospital ID bracelet for the day. Each day that Pennylane is here receiving treatment at the hospital, she has to get a new bracelet.

Then, Pennylane will walk around the hospital taking the long way to get to the hospital room that she will be staying at. She wants to go through every hallway, trying to find her friends from previous visits, and her favorite doctors and nurses. In one of the hallways, Penny spots the red wagons! These wagons were donated to St. Jude to make transportation around the hospital easier, instead of wheelchairs, for tired and weak patients. The wagons are just one of the many little things that make their stays more fun for patients like Penny.

On her trek to find her room she will be staying in, she walked down her favorite hallway in the hospital! The hallway that contains the "ABCs of Cancer". The hallway's walls are decorated with posters of words associated with cancer that go along with the ABCs. The posters were made by other patients at St. Jude.

When Penny finally reached her hospital room, it didn't look homey at all. It only contained a dresser, a bedside table, a bed with a plain blue blanket, a TV, and an empty bulletin board. But within a few minutes after unpacking, Penny's room was starting to look more like her own!

She had pinned photos of her family and friends on the bulletin board and put up some posters.

On her bed, Penny had lay out her favorite pink blanket and decorated it with pillows, her teddy bear and her American Girl Doll, Elizabeth. Penny smiled as she sat down on her bed to read her favorite book until her nurse came in, so she could have her blood drawn and vitals taken.

A little while later, Penny and Nellie heard a knock at the door. It was Nurse Chrissa!

"Hi Nurse Chrissa!" Pennylane exclaimed, excited to see her favorite nurse.

"Hi Penny! How are you?" Nurse Chrissa asked as she hugged her.

"Fine! I'm so happy to be back here in Memphis!" Penny replied gleefully.

Nurse Chrissa tied a compression band around Penny's arm and took her blood. Pennylane was so brave, and didn't even cry!

"Nurse Chrissa, I didn't cry! Getting blood drawn doesn't even hurt anymore!" Penny said. She was so proud of herself for being brave, but she was also worried about getting her port accessed, which she knew would be much more painful.

After getting her blood drawn, Penny's stomach growled. She hadn't eat anything since she was on the plane! I guess it was time to go get lunch at the hospital's cafeteria, the Kay Kafe. The Kay Kafe serves the most amazing food, unlike the stereotypical hospital cafeteria! You can get anything- and everything- from chinese food to baked goods here! Penny decided to go with her favorite, alphabet soup, a cup of tea and a cupcake, because this was the last meal she would eat until she lost her appetite from chemo in a few hours! Nellie and Penny took Penny's food back to the hotel room to eat it.

After she was done eating, she colored a picture that she wanted to submit in the Sr. Jude Art Show happening January 4. She drew a picture of a child receiving chemo at the hospital and another child alongside it happy and playing outside. Just then, the nurses brought in the dreaded IV pole- time for chemotherapy! The nurses accessed Pennylane's port, under the skin in her chest using a very large needle. They attached Penny's port to the cannula tubes of the IV pole. Her central line is used to give her treatments, including her chemo. Soon, she had the chemo poison running through her body, killing cancer cells.

During chemo, Penny likes to be comfortably snug in bed, in comfy clothes, surrounded by her stuffed animals, and have something to keep her busy during the seven hours she has to be hooked up to the chemo. Today, Penny had brought along her favorite movie, "An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars"! She also brought her activity book to keep her occupied.

A couple of hours later, Penny decided she would like to go for a walk around the hospital, since she didn't have much nausea at the moment. Nellie grabbed the empty wagon that was outside the hospital room and loaded it with fluffy blankets and pillows. Penny climbed into the wagon with her teddy bear. Nellie pulled Penny and her chemo pole throughout the hallways of St. Jude. In every hallway at least one nurse, doctor, researcher, or patient called "Hi Penny!" as she rolled by.

A little while after they had returned from their expedition around the hospital, Penny got changed into a hospital gown and Nurse Chrissa came back in to unhook Pennylane from the chemo for the day, before the steps would be repeated tomorrow.

Penny also got a package mailed here to St. Jude for her! It was a package from the Make-A-Wish Foundation and she was so excited! She has been waiting for this package for so long to arrive! She filled out the form (with Nellie's help), and guess what her wish was? Pennylane's wish was to be able to meet Gabby Douglas and be able to do gymnastics with her for a day! Her cousin Skylar, who is also battling Neuroblastoma, would be included too, of course! Penny is hoping that this wonderful foundation could make her wish come true!

Since chemo usually causes nausea and loss of appetite, Penny did NOT want to eat any dinner that night. But in order to ensure she gets all of the proper nutrition she needs, and avoid getting to thin and need a feeding tube put in ( such as an NG tube or a G tube... Penny has had an NG tube before and it was NOT fun!). The nurses recommended that penny take a "Sour Gem". Some of the nutrition scientists here at St. Jude developed the Sour Gem, which is a tart gummy treat that is packed with calories, protein and fat, things that Penny may lack from her loss of appetite during chemo. She also had to take her meds for the day.

Then, Penny's first day back here at St. Jude comes to an end. Despite the painful things she endures during treatment for her Neuroblastoma, she always has a smile on her face and looks forward for the next day she will be here at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

~THE END~