Liam's Journey-1 Yr Off Treatment Scans

 Oh man what a year it has been since we were given the great news that this little guy is in remission. The rollercoaster of the entire situation is hard to explain but overall we just feel grateful. Currently we have been doing scans every 3 months and now that things continue to look good we will move to every 4 months. That is a double edged sword. I hate that we have to do scans at all but it totally freaks me out that we are spacing them out more than before. We will continue rotating between CT scans and US/Xray to keep his radiation exposure down. There were several changes this go around with all the changes put in place the beginning of the year. Primary Children's got rid of their nurse practioners that did their sedation in an effort to save the hospital money and so they brought in an outside 3 party anestisia group to take over that. It was not a decision that was made in the best interest of the patients and so maddening as a mom. Liam had to be tested for covid a couple days in advance and of coarse came back negative. I asked to talk to a supervisor when I got there to see what the changes would mean for Liam. The nurses felt as though their hands were tied....they weren't thrilled with thte changes either. They decided they would try some versed and see if it would work but they gave it before they put his iv in. The IV team came in to put his IV in and missed twice at that point I felt like I was going to lose it. Liam was so upset and we had basically gotten nothing done. I asked for a new member of the iv team and they sent someone more experienced this time. She got it in the first time but by this point Liam's versed had worn off and it was a lost cause. They ended up having to give him more meds to get his CT scan done. It was terrible to see him terrified like that. He was so young when he was diagnosed and I don't think he remembers most of it but he is getting to the point that he knows he doesn't like the hospital. No child should have to go thru this. But on the flip side Im so grateful that the results continue to be good. Liam loves that he gets a rootbeer slushee and goldfish when he wakes up and the cuddles after are always the best.

We always meet with Dr. Fluchel after our scans to go over the results. They always order labs the times he gets a CT to make sure everything remains looking good so we get those as well. The waiting for the Dr. is terrible. My anxiety always gets the best of me. At this point I just ask the nurses if he is running behind so I know that something worse isn't going on. Liam loves to get to pick different toys to pass the time. If you have to have a oncologist I really like Dr Fluchel. He explains things very well and is good with Liam. Im so glad that he is doing so great and I really do think  and feel like his fight with cancer is over and he is going to live a long and healthy life. We love our sweet little caboose.