Diagnosis

We arrived at the Hematology Clinic at 9am on Wednesday, August 29th.  They started an IV and drew blood.  I was impressed with the IV team, they were awesome and helped reduce 

Austin's fears. 

 We saw the Fellow and the Attending and they explained the process.  While Kevin and I waited, Austin was distracted by the Ipad.  He kept asking how long he had to keep the IV in and all I could think was "trust me, longer than I want!"  After about an hour of waiting and worrying, the results came back.  We are for sure dealing with Leukemia.  I can't say I was really surprised at that point, but all the same my world came crashing down around me.  A friend said it best: it's as though your life is a snow globe and someone just shook it up and gave it back to you.  The words "Cancer" and my child don't go together.   We were told Austin would be admitted and would need a lumbar puncture to collect spinal fluid, a bone marrow draw from his pelvis, and placement of a long term IV under the skin in his chest for administration of chemotherapy.  We also had to wait a few more hours to find out what kind of leukemia we would be dealing with.  ALL is more common with a higher cure rate while AML is more rare and more difficult to cure.

After having a chest xray,  Austin was  admitted to the Immunocompromised Services Unit or ICS.  IV fluids were started and we became officially 

"inpatient".  The afternoon was a huge parade of Residents, Fellows, Attendings, Social Worker, Nurses, CNA's and family visiting.  Our heads were spinning with all the information.  At 7 pm the results that we were hoping for came back: we are dealing with Pre B Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia or ALL.  Finally some good news!  The course of treatment is longer (about 3 1/2) years but much of it can be done outpatient and it has a high
 cure rate. 

This is Austin's "Mom!  No more pictures!" look

We took a little walk and found Spiderman just hanging out.  Austin spent the day watching all the TV and playing all the video games he wanted.  He feels like he is on vacation.  I didn't have the courage to tell him about the hell that was coming his way all too soon.  I wish I could shield him from it, prevent what I know is coming. Austin, you are MY superhero!!!