A Very Long Day

Yesterday was the big day. It was our 8 week follow up from the last MRI and the longest he has ever gone without chemo since this whole ordeal began. We started the day bright and early with breakfast at the hospital (for mommy, daddy and grandma only). Keegan was NPO after midnight but had a bolus of pear juice given around 7 am as it was a clear liquid and okay to give.

We had an ultrasound of his abdomen at 9:30 and the MRI shortly to follow at 10. We progressed from one to the other with no problems. The anthesilogists were right on time and actually a little ahead of schedule and took him back around 10:45 he was gone for about 2 hours and 15 minutes. He was sedated with propofal and had a hard time waking up this past time. But after about an hour of crying with his eyes closed, an 8 oz bottle and some daddy time, he woke up ready to go.

We then headed up to clinic. I was getting more and more nervous. Sally Dr. Shih's nurse came in and so did another Oncology nurse who asked if he could be a part of an iron study-which is pretty irrelevant now but Sally drew 8 vials of blood and then we were left to wait for Dr. Shih. We waited, and we waited and we waited some more. On top of that we waited and waited and waited, about 30-45 minutes after Sally had been in Dr. Shih came in. I was holding my breath and basically about to pass out.

Dr. Shih said its good news. I immediately asked if I could hug him and when he said it was okay I embraced him in a HUGE hug! I was oh so happy and then he went on to explain what they saw. The tumor bed lit up a little brighter than normal but after looking at the profusion scan (blood to the brain) and some other vantage points they figured out, and are 99.9% positive the brightness was just the timing of the MRI and the contrast that was injected. He went on to tell us that the area in his spine and the sugar coating at the base of his spine are smaller and significantly more dull than the previous MRI's.

We discussed what was next. Someone from surgery should be calling us within a couple of days to discuss the surgery to remove his central line (YEA!!!!), this is what keeps us from giving him a "normal" bath. We discussed the next MRI in May, I am already dreading it, and we also talked about medicines.

Dr. Shih took Kee off his Fluconozole (which he has been on since May '10), Acyclovir, and Pepcid. We are on 1 med during the week twice a day (Keppra) and add Septra on the weekends till we see how his 100 day post transplant blood looks! I have already gotten to clean out his med cabinet a little!!

So all in all the day was a success! We had many many many great friends, family and strangers supporting us in both prayer and wearing green: The following pics are just some of the ones from Keegan's facebook page I have gathered to show you just how many people love this kid!!!

We felt the love!

We felt the love!

We felt the love!!

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and time to wear green and take pictures! We love you all each and everyone! Keegan sure is a special kiddo with lots and lots of people on his side! I can't wait until he gets older and I can show him how much people care!

Until next time, I will leave you with a quote from our wonderful nurse Sally "Our greatest love does not give fear"