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July 29, 2006
By Laurel | July 29, 2006
After working out all of the insurance issues we finally have an appointment for a surgical consult with Dr. Bowman on Tuesday at 3pm. We’ve had the bone marrow biopsy sent up to Dr. Seeger’s lab in LA so he can see if they find anything from the bone marrow biopsy last week. It was clear in the normal tests. If Dr. Seeger’s lab results are positive we will forgo surgery and start treatment. If they are negative we will go ahead with the surgery for a tissue sample. We also have the amazing Dr. Marris of CHOP on the case. Neil Fed-Exed him our scans on Thursday for his opinion. I still haven’t told Sammy about the appointment but will talk to him about it on Tuesday morning. I don’t want him to worry about it yet. He is so happy and healthy and watching his happy smiling face as he does a backflip into the pool, I just can’t believe it. It’s the happy face that haunts me at 2am because I know he’s not going to want to hear about a night in the hospital and stitches that will prevent him from going swimming. He does want to do baseball camp and aside from having to pick him up early on Tuesday, I figure he might as well.
We go from being completely despondent and crying to tentatively optimistic and hopeful. I took acting lessons in college and my early twenties but what an actress I’ve become – the happy expectant mother whose only problem is the heat – to the moms I don’t know at soccer camp. The fun happy mom, playing with the boys in the pool and trying to make every second fun no matter what happens. The friendly neighbor who answers “How are you?” with a “Fine, fine, how are you?” The competent professional who negotiates contracts and dates and is getting ready for maternity leave. Of course I break character and cry on the way to and from picking up the kids and then I put on my sunglasses and my smile and face the world. I break character while talking to my mother, who is trying to be helpful I know, and says to me, “Is he drinking a lot of milk, Margot? You know milk is very good for the bones.” – and that last nerve snaps and I bite my poor mother’s head off.
Neil and I have talked about the fact that no matter which way this goes, we are going to concentrate on making every day as fun and positive as we can for Sam. We know that if the worst happens we are going to want to look back and know that we gave him everything we could in terms of fun and laughter and great experiences instead obsessing over his condition constantly. We want to make him laugh as much as possible.
We will update with a surgery date on Tuesday. We’re in a bit of a race with the baby coming and I see my OBGYN on Tuesday (same day as Sammy’s appointment again just to make things interesting. She may be able to give me an induction date Tuesday as well. I finally got the bassinet out and we washed all of the clothes for little Charlie. Tuesday will be our big news days I guess. Grandma Joan, Uncle Tom and little cousin Abby are here now and have been a great help and wonderful distraction. Sammy is in awe of Uncle Tommy’s skateboarding abilities – he used to win contests years ago and the fact that he used to ride motorbikes like the Power Rangers. Andy is having fun with little Abby – though the whole sharing thing is a bit tough for him. He woke up with a fever last night and a streppy sounding voice this morning. He tested negative for strep at the clinic today though and is feeling pretty perky although mad he can’t play with the neighbors. Hopefully he’ll be back in full swing by tomorrow.
Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers.
Margot
Topics: Progress Reports | Comments Off on July 29, 2006
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