In order for the bone scan to work, a tracer or some kind of radioactive solution had to be injected into Tessa's bloodstream. Then we had to wait 3 hours and come back for the imaging. Tessa was brave, but getting the IV into her hand hurt. Even in that painful moment, she was so polite, asking through the tears, "Please take it out, please will you stop doing that?" She was "vewy bwave."
Upon successful completion of the first step, Tess was rewarded with a prize from the treasure chest. She chose a pink, squishy stuffed lizard. She looked up at the nurse who had given her the injection and asked, "Can I have another one to give to Justin?" And the nurse said yes. So, armed with two squishy, stuffed lizards (imaginatively named 'boy' and 'girl'), we headed off to our next appointment of the day.
Across the street, we met with Dr. Frazier and Dr. Gordon at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. They will be overseeing Tessa's care throughout this process. They took more of a back history, and answered some of our questions. But our biggest question, "Just what kind of tumor is this?" could ony be answered with, "That's what we're doing all these tests for. We'll have more answers next week after we have the results in hand." But they were very understanding about the waiting game we are stuck in, and encouraged us to call with any questions we might have.
The one new piece of information we received from them was this: The urine test from the ER visit last week came back negative. Apparently, one type of tumor that she might have can secrete a chemical into the bloodstream as part of the metabolic activity of the tumor cells. This chemical was not present in Tessa's urine. They said that was good news, but still not conclusive. We won't know anything for sure until tumor cells are seen under a microscope.
Returning to Children's, Tessa was amazing for the actual bone scan. The nurses were excellent! Rambunctious and playful, they were racing her to get ready, running through the halls with stickers and balloons, lab coats flapping in the wind. Tessa was able to lay perfectly still for the six scans of the different parts of her body. It was great practice for the MIBG.
It was a long day, but Tessa did really great. We get a day off tomorrow! No tests, no trip into Boston! Tessa gets to go back to preschool like a normal three-year-old, with the exception of a Tweety-bird bandaid on the back of her right hand - which she specifically requested that we leave in place so she could show all her friends during Show'n'Share.
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