Hard to believe it has been over a year since Trace's surgery to remove the cancerous tumor from his cheek. It is still incomprehensible to me somedays that my almost 13 yr old was diagnosed with an extremely rare salivary gland cancer..
But here we are, heading back to MD Anderson in Houston for his 1 yr post op checkup. It's the same as all the other checkups we have been doing every 3 months
Wednesday is labs, chest x-ray and CT scan with and without contrast
Thursday is afternoon dr appt with surgeon to go over results, discuss any symptoms or effects from surgery and make plan for next few months.
However, Wednesday morning I awoke with a terrible headache and very nauseated. I stayed in bed as long as possible before dragging myself and my pillow to the truck for the 4 hr drive from Louisiana to Houston. I got Trace settled in the backseat with his pillow and quilt, books and Legos and then closed my eyes as we pulled out about 9:30.
We pulled into the hospital about 1pm and headed in to the hospital for some lunch before going up for labs. CT was scheduled for 4-5 and he can't eat for 3 hrs before so we knew we had to eat first or it could be late and he would NOT be happy. I was still very nauseated and the smell from the cafeteria was horrible for my sick stomach. I was soon feeling worse and went to sit in the lobby while Trace and dad went upstairs to do the labs and chest x-ray. They were done pretty quickly, so we decided to go back to the hotel so I could rest before the CT.
I get us checked in and head up to the room while they were getting the stuff from the truck. My body let me get to the room before I got really sick...then I climbed into bed. They got me settled with some Sprite and crackers before heading back to the hospital. Luckily he got in fast and they were back at the hotel with dinner within a few hours.
He had to get stuck 3 times for his IV this time...a first! They usually get it on the first try and usually use the same vein that was used for his blood draw. But, this time that didn't work. He's a trooper though! Dad said CT was fast and that yes, he does have a brain. :)
I was feeling better that evening so we all settled into bed and watched a pretty interesting show on PBS about a man who spent a year raising a litter?? herd?? gaggle?? of turkeys. haha No human contact, just turkeys and other wildlife for over a year. To each his own I guess. In the end, the last turkey who would visit him attacked him and spurred him...made for an interesting end to his research.
On Thursdays his dr. appt is not until the afternoon, so we always just lay around until noon, then check out and head to the hospital. We grabbed some lunch and headed up to the 10th floor to await the results of his tests. We get called back fairly quickly and
continued CANCER FREE!! YES!!
We discuss his other symptoms of excessive salivation at times, a few pains, continued numbness of ear lobe...all of which are normal and expected. Dr. decides we can wait for next visit for 4 months instead of 3...YAY! stretching out the visits. :)
Next visit---March 2012.
We are out of there and headed home to Louisiana around 2pm. We stop in Lake Charles and pick up Kelsi from college to come home for Thanksgiving break, meet my parents for dinner and get home around 8pm.
Long day of stress, celebration and family. :)
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