And It Continues ...

After doing some good ol' soul-searching this morning, a few things have happened today which just served as the big grateful cherry on top of this sundae o' thankfulness. This time, two events from the medical field ...

Grace had her 4-year well visit this afternoon, and while I wasn't expecting any problems, it's nice to know she's fine. She charmed the lab coats off the nurses and did so well in her testing. One nurse, however, did something a bit unusual -- at least, something we've never experienced before. In our pediatrician's office, there is a little room in the back where the hearing and eye tests are conducted. Aidan has had this done before, and in the past I remained present in the room with him. This was a first for Grace, and the nurse took her by the hand, led her into the room ... and shut the door. I was a little baffled, so I just took Aidan and went into our exam room next door to wait. About 5 minutes later, Grace and the nurse emerged, both smiling. "Her eyesight and hearing are both absolutely perfect," the nurse said. "And she also misses Natalie very, very much."

Double-take ... what? What in the world does Natalie have to do with a hearing test?

"Grace wishes Natalie was here," she said further. "But she's happy that at least she now has Caitlin."

Where in the world did all this come from??!!

So for the next hour or so we sat and waited for the doctor to come. I tried to pry some information out of Grace, who is not nearly as forthcoming as her brother would be in this kind of situatino.

"Grace, why did you tell the nurse that you missed Natalie?"

A shrug.

"Did the nurse ask you any questions while you were in there?"

Another shrug.

After a while, I gave up. But then Grace said, "She asked me if I had any trouble, and I told her I missed Natalie so very much."

Hmmmm ... I have my suspicions what kind of conversation might have gone in that little room, in the privacy of the four walls and Mommy outside. Is this what pediatricians do now in order to discover what might go on at home? I don't know ... but clearly we passed the test. That is, other than the grief of lost friends.

And on the health front, Grace is in great shape. 95th+ percentile for height, 50th for weight. But the poor thing walked away with four shots, piercing screams for each. And by piercing, I mean I'm still trying to regain my hearing in my throbbing right ear.

Two generations later, we received great news today from my mom ... her cancer has not returned! Three months ago, we received a bit of a scare ... though "scare" is too strong of a word. While cancer was not detected in a scan, there was some suspicious "activity" going on in one of her lymph nodes. Last week she went for another PET/CT scan, fervently praying all the way that it was just nothing.

Well ... nothing is often not "nothing" when you're dealing with things like this. While that particular suspicious area didn't show up this time around (whatever "it" was, "it" cleared up on its own), two more suspicious areas did -- this time one in her neck. It's not cancer ... the good news! However, this is strange "glucose" activity, so we're not sure what that means. One thing it does mean is that my mom has to go for yet another PET scan in 3 months to monitor what's going on.

She's frustrated beyond belief that there's always something that pops up ...
I'm thrilled beyond belief that it's not cancer! And, as the doctor said, this cannot lead to cancer. He just isn't sure what it signifies ... but hey -- it's not cancer!

In a half hour I will be putting the kids to bed, and I will be putting my feet up ... relaxed, happy, and so very, very thankful ...