It was a long day in London on Tuesday. I often feel as if I’m “hung-over” for a couple of days after a London day…
Cailyn’s first scheduled appointment was an echocardiogram. The echo was scheduled for her as a result of her port surgery. The surgeon was unable to remove the “tubing” part of her port-a-cath and the echocardiogram is necessary to understand where the loose end(s) of the tubing lies. The technician had difficulty finding it and actually sought help from another technician. At the end of the ultra-sound, I asked if she had gotten everything she needed… we’ll have to wait to see what the radiologist is able to decipher from the pictures!
Our next trip was to the Paediatric Medical Day Unit for an IV start and a follow-up appointment with Cailyn’s oncologist. The IV facilitates getting the required follow-up blood-work AND giving her the contrast she needs for her MRI. This was only the third IV access she’s had for blood-work since having her port removed and not enough time has passed since the first, less-than-stellar access after her surgery. Just like the expression, “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch”, the memory of one bad access over-rides every great one… which leads, unfortunately, to a significant amount of distress for Cailyn. Thankfully, it was only a two-poke adventure this week and Cailyn learned something from the process that she can use for future experiences.
Our visit with Cailyn’s oncologist was good, definitely more social than serious this time, which we enjoyed! She will be in touch when she has the results for both the echo-cardiogram and the MRI. I am definitely anxious to hear that everything is fine. Appreciating that the hormones involved with puberty can facilitate tumour growth, and knowing that Cailyn hasn’t been receiving chemo for 3 months while being in puberty, is something that overwhelms me at times. I wish it were comforting to observe that she doesn’t have any new or worsening symptoms but she was also asymptomatic when her tumour grew the last two times.
Last but not least was the MRI. We arrived in the MRI suite by 3:30pm for a scheduled scan at 4:00pm. Early on in this journey, Cailyn’s MRIs were always late… inevitably we’d be waiting for anywhere between 45 minutes and two hours. Over the last several years, though, the timeliness of our appointments has been exceptional. So, we certainly didn’t expect to be waiting until 5:30 to get a scan. I went out to the main waiting room twice to re-assure my Mom that it hadn’t started yet so she wouldn’t worry about why we were taking so long.
Now we have the worst part of the waiting. Waiting for good news that her scan is stable. Waiting to learn that everything is fine with the tubing. Waiting.
Here’s to great news on all fronts!!