I know you have been on pins and needles waiting for me to let you know what happened after the MRI broke. After the staff person told me that the MRI machine wouldn’t come back up, the first thing I told her was that maintenance, routine or otherwise, should always be done at the end of the day or at a time when no appointments are scheduled. That, of course didn’t solve the problem, but at least I got it off my chest.

She then explained that the machine itself could still be used, but the cooler wasn’t coming back up. The maintenance person said it should work long enough for one MRI until she told him that it was a three hour MRI. We had the option to reschedule or to do as much as they could before the machine turned off. I said to do it now. So that’s what they did.

Meanwhile, I sent out pleas for people to pray for the MRI to work long enough to do all the scheduled areas. As one hour passed, then two, I became optimistic that they’d get the whole thing done. By the time we were approaching the third hour, I waa fairly confident that my prayers were answered. They were. It was a huge relief. The staff person brought Eli out, telling me how great he was. I guess I shouldn’t take it for granted, but it seems like any of the various medical personnel who spend any amount of time with him think he’s wonderful (because he is). Eli is so quirky and awesome, that it’s hard not to like him. Today, he gave me a peanut M&M. So I ate it. About the time I started to ask where he got it, I realized that it was a jalapeño M&M. He got a mischievous smile on his face when I identified it.

Because we were north of SLC after 4pm when we left the hospital, I knew that the drive home would be long. Rush hour going south on I-15 is not pleasant. The drive there took less than an hour. The drive home was more than two hours. I know because the doctor called before we got home with the MRI results. Almost every sentence ended with, “… so that’s normal”. That’s a good thing. Ultimately, nothing suspicious showed up, just stuff related to radiation treatment and the foot tumor resection. Next week is the PET/CT, then, assuming that is normal, maintenance chemo will begin September 9th.

Eli and I ended the day with a team effort port deaccess because, of course, no nurses were available at the hospital to do it. Go figure. So, another first for mom (Eli has been helping with his deaccess for awhile now).