Done in record time.

They scheduled the surgery for 5 hours. Surgeon said realistically it would be more like 2 hours. They were done in 1.5 hours. Lisa was in today for surgery to biopsy the mass in her supraclavicular region and have her port/line put back in for easy access during chemo.

She took everything in stride even when her blood draw went haywire. After waiting a half-hour for our turn, lab sent us to clinic to see if they could draw blood from her IV line so we wouldn’t have to stick her. Unfortunately, while they could flush the line, they could not draw the blood out. They then attempted to take the blood out of her other arm; they thought they were going to be successful because the needle went right in they, but just couldn’t get the blood to come out. They adjusted the needle with wiggles and more little sticks believing they were going to get the blood, but no go, they ended up “blowing” the vein. They bandaged her up and sent us back to the lab where they discovered all we really needed was a finger prick and enough blood to get her counts and type. Lisa was a little nervous about this, but did fine. The blood was still a little slow coming out, even with the tech was milking Lisa’s finger. Lisa gave the command for the blood to “come out” and it started dripping. A few more commands and they had what they needed.

We headed off for pre-op. There was some confusion as to what exactly was being done today and once again I was reminded how important it is to pay attention, know what’s supposed to be happening and stick to your guns. Three or four calls went back and fourth between surgeons and docs before they confirmed what I told them, that bone marrow biopsy was NOT being done today, but would be done in January when we redo scans.

Yes, we will be redoing scans in January. Mike and I have decided it is in everyone’s best interest to push chemo to January. While the doctor had some good arguments for doing it right now, the additional stress and the possibility of Lisa being ill for Christmas was not something Mike and I wanted to endure or put the other kids thru this holiday season. Because of the way the studies and cancer protocols are run, scans expire after a month. This means that for Lisa to be eligible for the chemo trial in Jan, she will need to have her scans redone in Jan. A little screwy, I know, but that’s the way it works.

As for Maranda, second opinion supported doing spinal fusion. We will plan to do this once school lets out, although that’s not going to make for the best summer vacation. Vote is still out on whether we will go with Motts or Children’s….lots of good pros/cons for both….leaning towards Motts doctor only because we are more familiar with system and after care procedures.

So that is it for now…..hope everyone is doing well and that you are enjoying the holiday season and countdown to Christmas!