Once again, in the darkness of early morning, my parents arrived in our driveway to pick up Millie and me for the drive to San Francisco- Kaiser Hospital. I scooped the sleeping, warm, collapsed girl out of bed and held her tightly as I walked down the hallway, out the front door, and to the car. My parents followed silently with the bags I'd set out the night before, and we were off.
The anesthesiologist knows us. He was the chief of anesthesiologist for years at this hospital, but now just comes in for the pediatric procedures. This was our sixth time waiting in the tiny kids area of pre-op (there is a playhouse, art table, TV, and pictures all over the walls of past Kaiser SF pediatric oncology patients from the time when there was such a department in SF, before it moved to Oakland). Millie played and watched cartoons until it was time to go to radiology.
I thought I was handling it well, but the process of going under was different this time. Without her broviac to inject anesthesia into, Millie had to be put under with the mask. She resisted and clung to me as the doctor held it fast to her head. Her eyes were wide and red, crying loudly while locking her gaze into mine. Oh, poor thing..so dramatic, so awful. I kept kissing the top of her head over the mask and the doctor's arm saying it would be all right. Her eyes started finally to roll, and she was down. Once again, I was queasy and shaken by the experience.
The MRI took 2 hours. They looked at both legs from hip to ankle- taking first the base images and then injecting her with a contrast fluid to take a secondary scan. This second scan looks for increased blood activity in any areas that could indicate tumors.
When she was finally finished, she was wheeled out on the gurney, past the waiting room where my parents and I had been sitting. We joined the commute down to the second floor recovery area where she was handed over to the best post-op nurse ever: nurse Keith from New Orleans. He was waiting for us, and had a little video player ready with a choice of 3 movies, as well as snacks and juices. He was so kind and attentive to her, and also to us. He even had 3 chairs ready for us to comfortably wait for Millie to waken.
She did well, woke fine, and soon enough we were on our way home (with a quick stop at Toys R Us for a little present of an art set).
That evening, our nurse case worker called to let us know that the MRI showed no signs of tumor activity. The stress areas of the bones seemed smaller, but were still present. Our oncologist is going to call today to explain these areas to me so that i can better understand them.
We completed the day with a Mardi Gras dinner celebrating my birthday and Brian's dad's birthday. Brian's mom brought a bread pudding, I made jambalaya, and Brian made New Orlean's style BBQ shrimp over grits. Millie dressed herself in her Mardi Gras finest.
Note- our next visit with the oncologist isn't until May 10- she only wants to see us every 3 months for blood work and general check-in. Three more months without any medical intervention! The next scans will be in late May (CT Scan) and early June (MRI).
