No Tape

January 26, 20004

I interrupt your reading to announce that the MIBG Scan from last week shows, and I quote: "normal exam without evidence of tumor activity", according to Erin's nurse practitioner, Kimberly East. Now, I will return you to your regular programming:<)

I think there will be a little celebratory bike riding this afternoon!

January 24, 2004

The MIBG scan went quite well yesterday, and Erin laid very, very still for almost two hours. She alternated between listening to me read Island Stallion out loud and watching Tom and Jerry on the Cartoon Network (whenever her head was far enough out of the machine to see anything). We'll have the results next week, I hope.

The first time Erin had this particular scan was when the Texas Children's Hospital doctors were doing initial diagnosis and staging. To say it was a complete disaster is no exaggeration. The technician taped her firmly to the table: head, chest, arms, legs, and feet, and began the test without explaining to her what was going to happen. It got worse from there. I was completely useless. I didn't realize that I could exert control over the situation and make demands on Erin's behalf. I learned fast, and now it goes Erin's way EXACTLY, EVERY TIME. Getting over the hurdle of this test was particularly important, because it is the one scans that is particular to neuroblastoma, and she will have to do it regularly until she is an adult. Now she has actually made friends with everyone in Nuclear Medicine (where the test takes place), and has one special friend named Sonny who she adores. In fact, both she and her best bear Rosie dressed entirely in turquoise yesterday so they could match Sonny's work scrubs. It was priceless. Sonny had brought his digital camera, so maybe he will send the pictures and I will post them.

After the test we stopped by the purple pod (Erin's clinic area), and got the report about the bone marrow aspiration and biopsy--ALL CLEAR. That's what we wanted to hear.

What's next? Unless the MIBG scan turns up something unexpected, we are in the clear until early May when we will do all the scans and tests over again! In the meanwhile, the next week at the Buengers is packed full. Davis has school soccer games tonight, next Tuesday, and next Friday, a chess tournament in Houston tomorrow, practice for his Fed Reserve team on Sunday, and a track meet next Thursday. . .oh, and he has to go to school and church. Erin has a birthday party on Saturday, and we have tickets to CATS on Wednesday night. Vickie has a coaching clinic for soccer on Saturday and the routines of teaching (luckily, no grading yet). Walter's department is in the middle of recruiting and will have two job candidates in next week. Oops! I think the person keeping track of the master calendar messed up.

Thanks for checking in on our family!