Monday and Tuesday October 21st and 22nd, Getting Ready For The One Year Post Treatment MRI And Port Surgery Day!!

The crazy thing about scans is that you never know when the scanziety is going to hit; Craig and I had a few "moments" over the past month and especially during the couple days right before appointment day. The weirdest thing is that the kids have them too because they're on the same ride as we are, but we huddled and prayed in Madison's bed together when we realized the tension was just way too high Monday night in the house. Not only does a really good cry let out the emotional overflow, but so does praying together; I'm so thankful that we have a Heavenly Father that begs for us to come to him and lay our burdens down. 

Our Tuesday morning started out very early at the Dismuke house, but I'm happy to report that I think everyone had a good night's sleep despite knowing how big of a day today was going to be!  We left for St. Jude around 7am and Ingram drank his apple juice and watched Lady and the Tramp 2: Scamp's Adventure on the way.  Once we got to SJ, we checked in and headed to the lab to get accessed for the first time in 3 months!  Ingram was a little anxious about it and was worried it would hurt, but he was the bravest little dude around and got his LAST poke with a 1,2,3,4,5, Ninja Turtle (he was wearing his birthday Ninja Turtle pajamas) and didn't even cry.  He also bumped up in weight class since our last SJ visit and weighed in at a whopping 45 pounds and he'd had also grown a few inches over the course of our time at SJ!  We couldn't leave the lab without Ingram collecting his own blood and picking out his toy from the treasure chest...a red Frisbee flyer.



About To Get Poked And Still Goofing Off!

Last Port Access Complete With A Custom "Ingram 5" Sticker!

Next up Ingram got to throw toys around in the Audiology department; really, he was throwing blocks left and right..at the sound of the beep!  With every MRI, he also gets a hearing test to make sure that there is no hearing loss from the drugs he was on during chemotherapy.  He's passed each one (5 tests so far since finishing chemo) which means that sometimes he chooses to not listen and gets in trouble on occasion.  And yes, despite everything, just ask the girls; they do not like it at all!  After cleaning up the blocks, we went to E clinic to get the "Pre-MRI" okay and build a few train tracks while we waited.  Ingram "scared" Nurse Katie with his mask, but was very quick to come out and say "It's just me!" when she screamed.  Before we left the clinic,  Daddy made it in and Ingram took off running to see to Doggy Daze before we checked in for his MRI.  Ingram hadn't played with the dogs in forever and there were 5 dogs today:  Bailey, Spooky, Neyland, Jake, and Boss!  He pet each one and talked to them like they knew exactly what he was saying; he does the same with Beau at home and for the most part, we pretty much think Beau understands Ingram. 

 

Permission To Throw Blocks...Only At St. Jude!

Gotta Love Nurses And Doctors That Can Hang With This Character!

Getting Some Love From Neyland!

Once we were back in the MRI holding area, it was time for Ingram to change into hospital clothes and go through the metal detector which he loves.  Daddy and I had to do it also, but someone (she shall remain nameless) kept beeping because of clothing; lets just say Daddy was cracking up while this was going on and Mommy was getting a little irritated!  Ingram also got to pick out a toy from the treasure closet and picked out the best toy possible...a Whoopie Cushion!!  Typically a Whoopie Cushion last a few days at our house until it bursts, but Ingram was blowing this one up so many times that it only made it less than an hour.  We all survived the chaos and hung out in the Sedation room until it was Ingram's turn in the machine.

 

The First Whoopie Cushion Of The Day!



Running A Little Behind So We Watched A Hot Wheels Movie!

It's Go Time...Still Smiling!

Once he was asleep (despite him telling the Anesthesiologist that he didn't like to be put to sleep), we gave him our kisses and left to wander around the hospital while he was scanning.  We wound up in the cafeteria since it was already noon and we hadn't eaten yet then just sat eating and not talking because the nervousness had set it.  There's something about knowing that they are looking for cancer right at that very moment that is very unsettling, but I'm so thankful that we were there together.  Once we got the call that he was starting to wake up (about 3 hours later), we couldn't get to his side fast enough!  Ingram is always funny when he's coming to from the anesthesia and today was no different.  He was a little more subdued because he also had his port removed (HUGE DEAL!!!), but he was still making everyone laugh especially when he decided that he needed to go to the bathroom and wanted to do it by himself! 

 

So Sleepy, But Oh So Thirsty!

Trying To Smile For His First Picture In 18 Months Without A Port

The OR Port Picture
You Can See The Port (Left Side Of X-Ray) On Top Of His Chest
And The Line Running Into The Superior Vena Cava.
It Has Been The Direct Access For All Things Blood, Chemo, Sedation, Etc.



Ingram's Port!

Once he was dressed and somewhat normal (aside from being able to say a complete sentence or walk a straight line), we rolled him to the cafeteria to get his lunch.  He ate a grilled cheese and tator tots while he FaceTimed with Madison since she was out of school already.  He was still acting goofy, but she was soooo excited to see his face and he was excited to show her his bandage from his port surgery.  After a quick visit to the Clinic and picking up all his necessary medicines and giving him his first dose of pain medicine, we left SJ not knowing anything official about his scans other than they were finished and his port was out.  We weren't able to keep his port, but they took a picture of it and Ingram can't wait until "P" day at school to take his port picture for Show and Tell!

FaceTiming With His Madsion!

Wide Awake And Ready To Eat Some Potatoes!

By the time we were getting into our neck of the woods, Ingram's pain medicine was definitely kicking in but the girls really wanted to see him.  We pulled into the soccer fields two cars behind them and they ran to the car as soon as we stopped to see Ingram and give him a great big hug and kiss!  Ingram had also gotten them some Dum Dums at SJ and was letting them pick their colors before they had to run to their fields to warm up for their games.  I headed home with him and he pretty much laid around the house for the rest of the evening while Daddy and the girls tried to stay warm at the fields.  I walked into a tornado in the whole downstairs of the house (remember we weren't home for a couple hours) and couldn't believe how much of a mess it was!  It made me wonder about how things were while we were in active treatment and since I couldn't remember the messy part of treatment but Craig refreshed my memory...it was the same disaster every day we were at the hospital and he picked it up nightly while I took care of Ingram.  I laughed because it took me over an hour to pick up and put away everything the girls had gotten out just in one hour after school from snacks to homework to changing clothes to leave the house.  That's a "practical" reason I'm so glad we're done with treatment!

Ingram never got sleepy from his pain medicine and he was wide awake and a little on the hyper side when Daddy and the girls got home from soccer.  Actually, he was trying to do headstands on the couch, standing on our bar stools, but most of all he was to eating!  He had two huge pieces of chicken, a bowl of oranges, pretzels, chocolate donuts, and more apple juice.  I'm pretty sure he also got into the candy bowl too, but I never found the wrappers; I'm hoping Beau didn't help him out with the miniature Hershey bars.  The girls finished their fabulous Wendy's dinner and then they were talking non stop about their day and their games;  Ingram decided that he needed to talk at the same time too so it was a very loud kitchen which I love!  After a very long day at SJ with Ingram and a crazy evening at home, we finally got everyone to bed at a decent hour and then began the real wait to hear the results from our doctor.  Thank you all for your prayers, text messages, phone calls, and emails of encouragement; we have truly felt them and thank you for them.