MD Anderson testing day #2

Alan had a very restless night, probably due to congestion. There's no fever or cough and when the anesthesiologist checked his lungs they were clear so it's probably just allergies. I bundled him off in his PJs across the skybridge to the hospital, leaving Kevin with our friend Aimee who had come last night to help out since Harold had to head back to work last night. Alan was not happy to make that familiar trip into MD Anderson, especially since he wasn't allowed to have anything to eat or drink.

After checking in with Diagnostic Imaging we went to Infusion Therapy to have his port accessed. Then it was back to Diagnostic Imaging where we changed Alan into a hospital gown when a bed in the pre-op ward opened up for us.

The Interventional Radiologist, one of the doctors who would be doing Alan's needle biopsy, came by to see Alan and answer questions. The procedure itself would take about 20 minutes, though they would have him for about an hour since they had to prepare him for anesthesia (that would take longer than the biopsy itself). They would use a series of CAT scans to guide the needle for the biopsy, and the doctor said he would just have a little pain at the site the needle was inserted, with no more recovery than if he got a shot.

The anesthesiologist came by to introduced herself. I asked if Alan's congestion would be a problem, but with his lungs clear that wasn't an issue. Now it was just time to wait. Alan had been happy to play with the wooden puzzle game on the Touch Pad, his calculator and his AquaDoodle for a while, but he started to get bored. We started to play "Alan's Turn, Mommy's Turn" with the penguin mask, with Alan charming the nurses, another patient across the room, and the ladies from Child Life who came by to see how he was doing. They came back with some new toys to hold him until they wheeled him off.

Alan was curled up under warm blankets when he came out. We were put into our usual room at the end of the PACU. He snoozed away happily for a while, but was quite cranky when he woke up. He acted like he was in pain so we gave him a little more fentanyl. He refused juice or milk, but he perked up when we offered him ice cream. They had some popsicles sent down from the pediatric floor and he was content to lie down and lick away at his popsicle, and then a second. He asked for a third but since he was obviously feeling better there was no point in taking up a bed. It took a while to clean up the sticky mess and get him dressed, but then it was time to head over the skybridge to back to the hotel and then meet up with Kevin, Aimee and her kids Gavin and Gwendolyn. We braved the crowds at Hermann Park for a trip to the zoo, where Alan had a great time climbing through an aquatic tunnel. Hopefully all the fresh air means he will fall asleep quickly tonight!


Mmm, it's nice to wake up to a popsicle!


How fun to crawl through a fish tank!