Snow fun, my cute valentine, and Impending Scans

Thank you Auto-Awesome!

Lots of updates in here. Obviously, I think they're worth reading, but if you just want the medical updates, scroll down:

I hope everyone on the East Coast had a great snow vacation. We in Georgia are about done with this white winter stuff that keeps wrecking our weeks. For any who weren't tuned in for the second wave of snow and ice, here were my favorite nicknames and hasthags:

1. #Snowpocalypse2
2. #Snowmageddon2
3. (and my personal favorite) #Atlantarctica

Basically everywhere was shut down for us Tues-Thurs. It wasn't too severe on Tuesday, so we went to God's Gift to Parents of Tinies, better known to the public as Catch Air, and the kids had a BLAST.

mandatory "wrecking ball" caption

I can't tell you how full my heart was watching Imogen run with her little bro and her cousins without a care in the world. Her movement is strong, her legs are working, and her smile is coming straight from a full heart. We are so blessed that she is doing so well, and it sometimes takes those moments to remind me of that.

After that, the snow and ice really hit, so we were stuck at home. Imm was with her cousins, having the time of her life and Gram and Papa's house. But we still got some good playtime in:

For Valentine's Day, Tam and I had already celebrated ours the week before with a trip to the beach, so I had a date with another little beauty at my house. This was waiting for me when I got home from work:

Overall, a pretty special night was had. She was a doll, and loved her macaroni dinner.  I had to slightly shame our waiter a little bit, as this is how the evening started:

Him: Just you two gentlemen this evening?

Me: Nope.

Him: Oh, I am so sorry.

me: Yeahhh, it's ok. *death stare*

~pause~

Him: So, just the two of you, no one else?

Me: No. It's just us.

~Another awkward moment as he realizes not to ask a dad at Valentine's dinner with his daughter whether or not we're missing obvious elements of a complete family. I almost made up a story about losing my wife just to see if he would crumble, but I refrained.~

But, we wouldn't let that ruin our evening, would we? 

Nope. We had a blast.

Medical Stuff:

It's time for our scans. Hard to believe it's already been more than three months since our last round of chemotherapy.  Gosh, I hate that stuff. But to catch you up to speed:

Catecholamines and pee: once a month, Immy has to pee in a cup, so we can monitor her catecholamines. Basically, her urine is sent off for special testing at the Mayo clinic, and her levels are compared. The higher the number, the more likely there is an active/immature tumor in the body. 

There are two key counts we look at, HVA and VMA. A normal person's numbers would look like this:

HVA: less than 13.5

VMA: <13 p="">
Imogen's counts in August:
HVA: >60
VMA: ? not measured

January:
HVA 28.5
VMA 11.7

February:
HVA 24.9
VMA 11.8

So, her counts are clearly still high, but they look to be dropping, which we think is pretty good news! Honestly, I'm not sure of the ranges or of the margin of error, but I'm happy to see it continue trending downward.

Schedule:

Tomorrow, 2/17 – PET Scan at Egleston

Next Friday, 2/21 –MRI at Scottish Rite

Monday 2/24 – Echocardiogram, Audiogram to determine short and long term damage from chemo; Scottish Rite. And meeting with oncologists.

So, we're back in it for tomorrow. Imogen has gotten used to being at home, not getting poked and prodded by nurses and doctors. I'm very thankful for that, but it will mean that tomorrow may be difficult. Currently, we know that she will have to get an IV (ticks me off), and she'll have to drink her contrast for the PET. They promise it tastes ok, like fruit punch or something. Right.

The PET scan is a long process. Again, Imogen can't eat or drink anything once she wakes, and there is a period of about 45 minutes where she basically has to stay still. [PET scans measure sugars, and sugar rushes over to muscles and limbs when you use them; so, being active can mess up the results]

So, we're so thankful to have our adopted auntie Sarah coming to the house to watch Aaron while Tam and I go. Again, I also want to give a shoutout to work: you guys have been so understanding and accommodating, every step of the way. Love you all.

As far as results go, they will let us know if they see something alarming. For the most part, though, we won't hear any results this week, as the radiologists and oncologists will use both the PET and Friday's MRI to come to conclusions about where we stand and where we go.

If anyone actually read this whole thing, kudos to you. And thank you. Pray for us tomorrow. Pray for me; pray for healing.