It's 10:30 pm on Tuesday 18th of January and we are both tired and drained. We have another full day at the hospital tomorrow. Jonathan did not get any tests done today so we left the doctors' office with no new information. We were a bit disappointed because we were hoping to start getting some news - on way or the other.
The plan tomorrow is for Jonathan to meet with the surgeons tomorrow at 12:30 pm and to have his CT scan at 3:30 pm. In order to get a biopsy the surgeons usually meet with their patients first and then a date is set for performing the 'surgery' to do the biopsy. Unfortunately the surgeons only meet or have clinic on Wednesday but we were lucky that tomorrow is Wednesday so Jonathan was squeezed in to have that meeting with the surgeons or else he may have had to wait until next week. What this means is that his biopsy - if necessary - can be scheduled at any time after Wednesday.
The CT scan is going to be an interesting experience. Jonathan has to drink a special liquid, called a 'contrast', which allows the imaging of his internal organs to be more distinguished (for all the readers with a medical background - my apologies for mucking up this explanation). We have been warned that this liquid tastes like crap, but it's going to be diluted in 8 ounces of juice - in our case we are going to use cranberry juice. He has to start taking the liquid from 11 am and must finished it by 12:30 pm. In case he cannot or does not want to drink it - the other option is to insert a tube down his throat to his stomach and 'force it down' - but this is not a preferred option since the experience will be most unpleasant and will be done with him fully aware of what is going on.
We do have a strategy though. We're planning to go to Chuck E Cheeses tomorrow at 10:55 am and 'make a deal' with Jonathan that if he drinks out this 'special juice' then he'll get to have 30 minutes of fun playing games. I'm hoping it works because I really don't want to have to resort to the second option. The thinking is that if he refuses to drink anything by 11:15 am - it will give us enough time to get to Stanford by 11:45 am so they can insert the tube.
Of course, all I've mentioned so far is the easy part. We have to check in at admitting at 1:30 pm in which Jonathan will get an IV inserted and given something to help him 'relax' and another type of 'contrast' to further help with the imaging. I'm hoping that Jonathan is relaxed enough so that he will be able to stay still during the CT scan. If he is still panicking, then he'll have to go completely under because the CT scan will last about 20 minutes and he really needs to be very still. Of course I would prefer that he doesn't have to go completely but only time would tell.
Our expectation is that by Thursday morning we would finally start to get more information on the way forward. The CT scan will help with confirming where is the mass, how large it is, and start with identifying what type of mass it is. For all we know the mass could be a lump of crap - but we'll see. I also know that the IV that will be inserted into Jonathan will be a semi-permanent IV so that when he comes in for his bone scan - they wouldn't have to insert another IV. We're kind of worried about that because we can see Jonathan panicking and wanting to pull it out. If that does happen I don't want to imagine what that will mean - blood squirting all over the place, etc... Again ... only time will tell.
On a lighter note - I am feeling much better ever since we arrived at home. For the entire day Jonathan was downcast, not eating and generally not being himself. His mood rubbed off on me ... and of course coming from seeing the Oncologist it surely didn't help my mood. As soon as we reached home - Jonathan returned to his old self. He became very active, talking a lot, even drank two glasses of orange juice! He was so much his old self ... we were teasing each other as well ... and having some laughs.
Tonight we stayed by some friends of ours. It's a great way to get some help with babysitting Arielle and not having to worry about cooking. It's also good because it gives Gabby a chance to chat and hang out with other people - other than me (smile). I think today was not a good day for Gabby. She very tired, very stressed and very worried. I know she was crying after coming from the doctor's office and her resolve might be breaking down a bit. It's good that we are by friends as I'm hoping that we all get a good nights rest and would be refreshed and ready for the long day ahead tomorrow.
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