Lauran's Reality

The week leading up to Lauran's transfusion I really thought about her reality in regards to her blood disorder. I think because it seems as though we have gotten a firmer pattern on how often her transfusions will be needed and I can see more clearly how that will effect her life! I do not want to over dramatize it...I know there are SO many children with illnesses or disorders that are so much more debilitating than Lauran's. Hers takes a lot of maintenance and monitoring but is not life threatening. There are medical issues that need to be closely monitored...such as her iron overload, which at some point can threaten her health. However, to stay in good health she is completely dependant on getting blood every 4 weeks. Although she can't process the scope of that, I have begun to learn how close to the front of her mind the process of getting a transfusion truly is for her. She plays the process out almost every day...something I saw even more this weekend( more on that in a minute)! She will always deal with days of not feeling great due to being anemic. She will visit many doctors and have many tests through out her life that most children never will. Anyways, my point is just that Lauran's reality is different than other kids and I guess my mind sort of fixated on that for a few days. I am so thankful God chose us to walk this journey with her!



So I thought I would try and take pictures of Lauran's day at the hospital on Thursday....if she allowed me to do so. It is a part of her life so I wanted to get some pictures of it. Last month she really was unhappy most of the time. She refused to eat and really wanted nothing to do with her toys or the TV. She just wanted me to hold her so I scrapped the picture idea. This month she did so well. They had to try 3 times for a vein..and she only fussed a little bit!! I couldn't believe it! They still rewarded her with a new Barbie ..which thrilled Lauran :) She also played (she loved bringing her new backpack and Polly pockets)and ate and SMILED! Her first smile during a transfusion! She still had her moments..but who wouldn't! It was a 6 hour day at the hospital...and almost 4 hours of being hooked up to the IV.



OK...so back to her having her transfusions on her mind. On the 4th of July we went to a local park for fireworks. Lauran loved them...but about 8-10 minutes into them she starts to get a little bored ....you know, shes seen one fireworks, shes seen them all, attitude! She starts being a little silly and playing with her glow stick we bought for each child. Nathan is laying by her on his back on the blanket watching the beautiful and loud fireworks. I look over and Lauran has turned away from the fireworks, towards Nathan, and starts going through the entire process of getting poked with a needle on his ankle.....including tapping his leg hard to find the vein. Then pretends to screw on the glow stick(I am assuming that was supposed to be the tubing they use for the transfusion). This is something she does with all the kids at home all the time....minus the glow stick. I guess I was just shocked and saddened a little that she was thinking about it when we are in the middle of a fun activity. Maybe it just seemed odd that is what she picked to do during the fireworks when she was bored. Not get up and run around or fling the glow stick in the air or maybe goof around with Nathan...but she decides to give him a transfusion. Most kids saw the glow stick as a necklace, bracelet or a Frisbee......Lauran saw it as medical tubing. THAT, is her reality!! Maybe she just thinks it is fun to re-enact it.....I really have no clue. From my vantage point, it just seems like she thinks about it an awful lot!!

Ok ...so here are the pictures from Lauran's day at the hospital...in slide form again! It is so much easier to do a lot of pictures that way!