We started the day off still on the 7th floor, waiting for a bed to open up on the 20th floor. Shannon ate breakfast and Dr. Diamond and his residents rounded. Then, around 11am we heard a knock at the door. It was transporation trying to pick up Shannon for IT Chemo (Intrathecal Chemo). We knew she would receive a dose of IT Chemo at some point during this stay but we were’nt notified when that would occur. Shannon’s first question to our nurse was ” Which doctor is in IR today?” Our nurse called down to IR and found out it’s the doctor Shannon had the terrible experience with. They also told the nurse the pharmacy already sent the IT chemo to IR. We told the nurse to please call back and let them know Shannon will wait for another physician in IR. There’s one she really likes named Dr. Fahrtash. She said he explains everything and he never causes her any discomfort. The doctor had even told her the previous day that she can request him. So, we declined to go down to IR today and told them they’ll have to waste the chemo preparation. Our nurse informed the attending and also Dr. Diamond. So, she’ll do IT chemo Friday or Monday.

In the afternoon, one of the oncology nurses came down and helped our 7th floor nurse with some preparation for the chemo. They started checking Shannon’s urine pH every 4 hours. The pH has to be at 7.5 or greater before they can start this particular chemo drug she is taking this cycle. Urine can be a bit acidic so they started giving her Sodium Bicarbonate IV drip to raise the pH and make her urine more alkaline (less acidic). It’s just a requirement for this particular chemotherapy drug in order to protect her kidneys.

Shannon finally got moved to the 20th floor (Oncology) around 5pm or so. Several of the nurses came in to say hi. They all remembered us from last month. We felt like we were “at home” because we spent so much time on 20 Tower last month, the nurses know us, they’re all Oncology nurses, and we trust them and feel safe with them. The nurses on 7th floor were good but they don’t understand the overall plan and the specifics related to Oncology nursing like the 20 Tower nurses do. The charge nurse here on 20 Tower said the nurses fight over us because they all want to take care of Shannon. Shannon got a kick out of that.

Shannon ate dinner and did a long LIVE video on TikTok. She’s getting quite a few views on there and lots of support from random folks. It’s pretty cool and it helps her to know so many people are praying for her. We finally got her urine pH at 7.5 and the nurses started giving her chemo pre-meds. Once the premeds were all in, our nurse called in a 2nd nurse to check the chemo. Cycle 1B officially started around 12:15am and Shannon is sound asleep. She has IT chemo scheduled for 8am Friday morning. Hopefully one of the doctors she likes is down there tomorrow.