Maggie's Doctor's Appt.

Today Maggie had her 6 month checkup with the hemonc. clinic. She also had a follow-up ultrasound. She did so good during the ultrasound! She just laid there (once she remembered it didn't hurt). She even ended up putting her hands behind her head for a little bit and looked so relaxed. I wish I had my camera for that!!

After the ultrasound, we headed up to the hemonc. clinic. She weighed in at 22 pounds and is 32 inches tall. Dr. Lewing did her physical exam and thought everything looked great. She went over the ultrasound results with us, too. One of the larger lesions on Maggie's liver that they've been watching continues to be stable. However, they did find a lesion they've never seen before. Dr. Lewing told us she doubts it is a new hemangioma since it is highly unlikely for Maggie to grow anymore at this point (they usually stop going through their growth period by 6 months old). She also said since it's on the back of the liver, they could have just missed it before through ultrasound. Dr. Lewing gave us 2 options: do a follow-up ultrasound in 3 months (instead of 6 months) or do another MRI. Dr. Lewing said she felt completely comfortable with either choice. Rob and I chose to go ahead with another MRI because it will give us more definitive results. We want to make absolutely sure of what we are dealing with here. Plus, Dr. Lewing said the last MRI Maggie had done was 2 years ago so it would probably be good for us to compare results anyway. The downside of doing an MRI is that Maggie would have to be put under again, which is so agonizing.

Also, Dr. Lewing decided to go ahead and draw labs to double check Maggie's liver functioning, etc. We do not have the results of these yet, but Maggie did so good for this, too. She did cry, but I had prepped her for what was going to happen before we even went to the hospital this morning. I told her she would get a shot, that it would hurt a little, and when it was done she would get a Bugs Bunny band-aid, which she loves. As long as we reminded her of this, she was fine. In fact, she kept repeating what the nurses were saying (ie. "almost done", "just a little more", "no more ouchies").

Rob, as usual, had to paint the big picture for me today and reassure me that everything will be okay. Honestly, my head keeps telling me that it can't be a new one, and that they just missed it before. This proves once again that we still have a long road ahead of us.

Maggie's MRI is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 5th at 9am. Please continue to keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. They have already sustained us through so much.