Eighteen months off-treatment. It feels like she was just diagnosed yesterday and ten years ago all at the same time. Or maybe I feel this way because I generally have no sense of time and this is why I'm late to everything. BUT! I was not late for her appointment. No Duke Truant Officers on my back.
First off, ultrasound. (Ultra-sound? Ultra sound? Sonogram.) The tech does not rush out and come back in to take more pictures. Always a good sign. Eve receives three stickers.
Off to x-ray. Uneventful (another great adjective). Eve receives four stickers.
Upstairs to clinic. After vitals (eight stickers), Eve finds the exam table makes an ample slide. Horseplay is perfectly acceptable in a hospital. Pools, no. Hospitals, yes. There are tons of bandages inside the exam table and a copy of our insurance card is on file.
While waiting for the doctors, Eve kills time like she usually does, by checking my brains. She says they are still there, although I'm pretty sure a small percentage of them gets sucked away every time I log into Facebook.
The doctors come in. Preliminary reports look great. I try to listen as Eve does nothing but look for boogers and blood up my nose. The docs don't let on that any of this is happening. We agree to meet again in three months and I make a mental note to plant something interesting up my nose like a pearl or a piece of dried pasta next time.
Eve asks for her beads. "I get three: a green one for pictures, a blue one for the doctors, and a black one for pokes." Light radiation, deep breathing for the stethoscope, and a quick prick of the needle. These visits are vastly different from the ones just two years ago. Two years ago, she didn't know what the beads meant; this year, she tells the phlebotomist (six stickers) they can poke her again so she can score an extra one for her necklace.
Look hard. There's a couple of scars there.
Time may not heal everything, but it certainly helps somethings fade.
Thanks to Jo's PhotoMojo for these great shots of delightful uneventfulness. Become a fan of Jo's PhotoMojo on Facebook or no stickers for you.
So glad Eve is NED. She is my fave Beads of Courage Poster Child--seriously!! Does Eve have a bead bag yet? Our poster child NEEDS a bag for her loot!!
ReplyDeleteYay! Congratulations on an uneventful trip! Those are wonderful, albeit odd after the last few years, experiences. I wonder if Josiah wouldn't mind pokes if he got to collect beads for each one.... probably not. ;-)
ReplyDeleteAwesome early Christmas gift - YAY!!! Ellie goes for ultrasound and xray this round, too - our first "scans" without and actual "ct scan". I'm excited for Ellie since it seems to be a little easier process, not having to drink all that crap, but I'm still a little leary about having just an ultrasound and just an xray. crazy, right??? Enjoy the NED and enjoy your Christmas season!!! xoxo
ReplyDeleteHurray, the photos are awesome. Beautiful girl. I hope to met her next year (hint hint)I never took pictures in clinic. I kinda regret it now but at the time I sooooo did not want to memorialize that awefulness. Hey, you need to add Ms. Aurora to your constituents of Wilms town. She doesn't have a page or anything although she does have a face book page her other dad started.
ReplyDelete"We love Ms. Aurora"
Happy Thanksgiving. We have so much to be THANKFUL for this year. Lets keep this trend going!!
Tina and Aurora