Eyes, Ears and Spine

Frankie, Joey, and Steven (friends from the school Sean attended during Steven's chemo)

Today started with a dilated eye exam, so first thing was drops in the eyes, then we went to the cafeteria where we ate breakfast and got to meet another St. Jude family for the first time that I've corresponded with since Steven's diagnosis. They live in Seattle and their visit just happened to collide with ours.

Checking his ears

Then the ears. Steven was born with no hearing in the right ear, and chemo took the high-frequency hearing in his good ear, but the good news is that it hasn't gotten any worse since our last test.

Preparing for the spinal MRI

Then, a look at his spine. The type of cancer Steven has can recur anywhere in the brain, spine, or bones.

They told me the MRI would be done in 40 minutes but instead it took an hour and 45 minutes. It drives me nuts when that happens, since its not like anyone ever comes in and tells me what's up.

I can see the radiologist behind the tinted glass peering at the images on the computer screen and consulting with the technician, but nobody ever says anything except that they need more images, leaving the reason for more images up to the parents' imagination.

We'll find out tomorrow morning when we see the oncologist.

- Kathleen