Eli’s complaint for the day is that he wants to be outside playing in the spring-like weather instead of cooped up in an MRI machine for the next three hours.

We arrived at the hospital earlier than planned, but the staff was ready to get started. I had already accessed Eli and had his vitals written down from Tuesday, when labs were drawn also, so they joked that they weren’t even needed for today’s procedure (I haven’t learned to operate imaging equipment yet, so the staff are needed, after all). Today’s port access went smoothly since I remembered all the paraphernalia needed before putting on the sterile gloves. I left Eli in the imaging room, called Adam to invite him to the hospital cafeteria for lunch. He works about five minutes from this particular hospital, so I figured it would be convenient for him to meet me.

Now, I wait.

Update:

We got the MRI reports (yes, plural–they scan three areas: pelvis, lower extremity, and foot, so one report for each area). There was nothing they considered to point to recurrent disease. That means no cancer. Yay!

As with the PET/CT, the MRI shows some irregularities with some of his bones, which are likely due to the radiation. Radiation, sadly, causes long term bone damage. We expect to continue to see radiation related bone issues going forward. His left leg and foot bones will become more brittle and susceptible to injury, as well as growth issues.

We have an appointment with Eli’s surgeon coming up that is part of the ongoing monitoring of Eli’s leg growth. He will continue to see the surgeon from time to time and we’ll decide on treatment as issues arise.

Overall, the scans show no evidence of cancer having returned, which is what we were hoping for. Thank you all for your prayers.