Scanxiety & Such

A little more "normal" life...

Some of that famous Mac and Cheese eaten right outside the sukkah! (Sam said it tastes best when eaten outside, with the sukkah in the vicinity. Oy. Things I can't replicate in the hospital.)

A number of friends participated in the Blood Sweat and Tears Ride for the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society on Sunday. Sam and Uncle Josh went to cheer them on (while the rest of us went to Sunday School).

There's a term that Cancer Parents use - scanxiety. It refers to that pit in your stomach each time they do a test on your kid. Will this test be normal? Will it show something scary? Will there be inconclusive results? (That's everyone's favorite, right? Inconclusive. Whatever. That's why it's called "practicing" medicine.)

Sam had a bone marrow biopsy and lumbar puncture on Monday. The primary scanxiety in this case was how Sam would come out of the LP. If you'll recall, he had to be hospitalized last time because of the severity of the headache that followed the procedure. This time there were many safeguards in place. Even one that was added at the last minute by the anesthesiologist. I didn't love that I had to repeat myself and my story eleventy-billion times to make sure that they got it all right. But if saying "25 gauge needle" over and over again is what did the trick....fine. So be it. I will say it over and over and over. We were first in the day, so that he could spend the whole day in clinic recovering.

How this whole thing makes me feel. (You know I've stooped low when I'm posting pictures of myself looking like this!)

 Sam was incredibly grumpy and cranky and irritated with the whole thing. I think a week of no medical stuff made him resent the whole process even more. It took a little longer than usual for the procedure, I guess the 25 gauge needle is so tiny that it takes longer to drip in and out. They gave him a ton of fluids and also ran IV caffeine during the procedure, as well as a painkiller even before they woke him up.

There were some tense moments when he cried and told me that his head hurt already.
Then he threw up and I thought it was all downhill.

But whew. He rallied. By about 3pm, he was hungry. And he ate a LOT. More than I'd seen him eat in a whole day sometimes!

Just for kicks, I kept track. There were some cheerios too.

Finally, he practiced sitting up.

And then we went back to my parents' house, where he continued to rest and recline. (And eat.)
The next day, we rested and headed for home, sans headache. He went to the movies (Hotel Transylvania - review: "great!") and enjoyed being back home. Today he is back in school.

I still haven't quite let out that breath.
But....so far....so good.

Now comes the other part of the scanxiety. Waiting for results.
Stay tuned.