Scan Day

Today was "scan day" for Julia.  It felt strange to be going back after so long.  Last April we went to the hospital almost every day and this year only twice in April.  Julia was excited to go back to the hospital to see all her doctors and nurses.  We've really missed seeing them all.  We arrived at the clinic at 9am and went back to the lab to get started.  She was not thrilled about getting her finger pricked.  Definitely not a fan.  They are pretty used to that, though.  Nobody likes that part.  We just kept the process going anyway, talking around her as we went.  She was fascinated by the tubes in the wall they use to send them down to the lab (like the bank drive thru).  She calls it the "blood elevator".  She was soon captivated by her band aid and quickly smiling again.  Purple frogs can fix a lot of problems.

Then it was time to pee in the cup.  There are days this takes all day.  It's such a process to take off the diaper, sterilize, get everything ready, and usually we're doing it all while moving from appointment to appointment.  I was thrilled when she went right away.  Yay.  Seriously, there is not much more gross that squatting on a hospital bathroom floor with your arm in the toilet trying to catch pee, all the while practicing good sterile procedures.

The clinic was starting to fill up fast.  They were down several nurses and backing up quick.  They decided to triage the kids in the hall to speed things up.  It was so great to see Nurse Nancy again.  We just love her tender, sweet spirit! Her peace is tangible.  After vitals, we headed to the 7th floor to radiology.  Julia is such a pro at this stuff.  She walks right in with the tech and gets down to business.  It surprises me how she always remembers just what to do. 

I love this part because as I stand behind the glass wall watching her sitting there, with the shining cross on her chest, it reminds me how she is marked by God.  She is His and everything that happens is in His hands.  He has a plan for her life from before she was born and He has work created just for her to accomplish in this world.

Then we were taken back for her ultrasound.  It was nice to see Kalista's smiling face again.  She does a great job with Julia and loves how she lays so still.  This is Julia's favorite part of the day because she gets to watch TV during the scan. 

Then we headed back to the clinic to wait for her physical and to hear the results of the scans.  It was a full house.  There were kids everywhere.  It always hits me fresh to see so many new faces.  This time it included four babies, so sad.  Cancer does not discriminate.  We did see many old friends, too.  Those are hugs you can never explain... the bonds run deep and say a thousand words.  Julia was excited to see Ms. Betsy again.  The art table was definitely a hit with her today.  

Then we headed to the waiting room to finally eat a snack.  Poor Julia had been NPO all day, but didn't really seem to notice.  She soon decided she'd rather play in the playroom.  We made some new friends and had fun reminiscing about all the kids' birthday parties past and present.  Julia is so excited about her upcoming birthday in May and tells everyone who will listen.

Nurse Karen came out to take us back.  So good to see her smiling face :) Dr. Wofford did her physical today.  When she walked in the room she told us, HER SCANS ARE CLEAR!!  Praise God, we are so excited and thankful.  They had one concern, her liver is larger than last time.  They aren't going to do anything about it right now, just watch it.  Her white blood count is still low, 3.4.  Normal is from 6-17.  They had mentioned before this may be a permanent side effect.  This appears to be the case with her.  The good news is her body appears to have compensated.  She has been fighting off illnesses well- faster than the rest of us actually.  So we will continue to watch these and pray about them.

By the afternoon we were free and Julia was ready to find food.  We headed down to leave, and she said, "Mommy, aren't we going to eat?" She loves the cafeteria :)

Then it was off to get Carter and give him the good news.  Time to celebrate! For Carter that meant ice cream, for Julia some Dora soup. I love the ways these two squeeze into the same chair all the time.  They are so great to each other (most of the time).  I am eager to watch their relationship grow.  I know it will have rocky points, but their bonds run deep.