Tomorrow

We've been living in a sort of limbo recently. Henry is feeling great, really great. He's playing actively by himself and with his sisters. His energy seems boundless. He's sleeping pretty well at night now too.

Our familial bliss was broken, as we knew to expect, by the oncologist calling to announce the MRI date. It's scheduled for tomorrow, Friday. Tara will be off work and we'll go down to Hopkins together with Henry. It will be a long day for Henry as he will not be allowed to eat anything after midnight except for clear fluids. He will have to be sedated for the duration of the MRI to keep him still. They will do a full brain and spinal scan to determine how effective the treatment has been to date.

Next week he'll have to have a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) in order that the doctors can assess the spinal fluid for tumor dissemination as well.

These two procedures will determine the future course of treatments for Henry. While we worry about the possibility of the chemotherapy to date not having worked, we suspect the answer will not be black or white, but rather a shade of grey, that is to say, we may find it's working a little better or not as well as expected. The doctors have also indicated that our odds will change depending on these outcomes.

Fortunately tomorrow we'll not have to wait long for the results of the MRI. Our oncologist will call us after reading it to give the results.