Another Update

I hope to get more pictures and posts added sometime this weekend. However, Ryan and I both seem to have some sort of cold/flu bug. So, for now I'll just give you a quick update on our week.

I received the blood work results from the oncologist and the rheumatologist. Both look good. There were a few things that were off, but nothing alarming. I haven't talked to either doctor about them; however, I suspect that I will not have to have the muscle biopsy or the conductive nerve exam. Yeah!

My back side is still a little sore from the bone marrow biopsy, but no where near as sore as it was Monday and Tuesday. I think I'll be able to start working out again as soon as this cold/flu bug has passed.

On Wednesday I took Ryan in for his well-child care check up. He looks good. His pediatrician was pleased with the progress Ryan has made in holding his head up and in increasing his core muscle strength. Ryan weighed in at 18 pounds 10 ounces, which means he has gained 6 ounces in the past 3 months. He is still not on the growth charts, but his curve is shadowing the bottom of the curve. We are back to talking about the possibility of tubing Ryan. He has cut his intake down to less than 20 ounces of formula each day and still isn't doing "solids." Therefore, we're concerned that he's simply not getting the energy required to sustain growth. I've done a lot of research on g-tubes and although I'm not thrilled about the idea of needing one, I am not opposed to it if it will help Ryan to grow and develop better.

Later on Wednesday I went to see my old Gynecologist. I had changed when I was pregnant with Ryan. You probably remember that I just felt that I needed to deliver closer to home. Well, my old Gynecologist has now moved her practice to this side of town and I'm so glad. It was great to see her again. Dr. Murdock is a technically good doctor and she has a good "bed side manner." She is just so busy that she rushes in and out of the appointment. I always felt like she had more important things to do. With Dr. Shows I always feel like I am her most important patient, an especially comforting feeling when trying to solve health problems.

We had a good conversation and she did my annual exam. I should get the results back in about 2 weeks I think. She also ordered a mammogram, which I did yesterday. That was an interesting experience ... but no where near as bad as some women describe it. I have a follow up appointment in about 10 days.

Also on Wednesday, I went to see an Internal Medicine doctor at the request of my Rheumatologist. He felt that we had done enough tests for now and just needed to get all the results back. After we have all the results back in then he may want to order some new tests but for now we're just going to watch and wait. I'm relieved. I've had enough tests for a while.

So, we are still waiting for:
* Dr. Seals to follow up on Ryan's MRI. He is trying to get together with the Radiologist who read them and then he will call me back.
* The NIH pathologists report for the immunotyping and characterization of the Lymphoma, the CT scan report, and the bone marrow biopsy report.

I'll keep you posted.