The Waiting Game and the Maze.

So first thing the next morning(Thurs), we had an appointment with the Pediatric Surgeon. Phil and I had both spent the night doing research on the internet. We had to periodically stop, because when you are looking at a one in a million tumor- the prognosis is not generally good. But Lily has everything going for her. She's young, she's healthy( if you discount the baseball sized tumor on her adrenal gland that is producing hormones), and although the tumor is big- we caught it before it started making her sick- which is something. As we sat in the waiting room, I did my standard waiting room drill-assigning illnesses to respective patients. A grandmother with her daughter and twin grandchildren kept looking at us, I guessed she was playing the same game so I smiled. She did not smile back, maybe not. They called us back for vitals, and since you usually have to go back to the waiting room, Phil waited with the bags. We have learned that any trip to Tripler required rations, entertainment and sometimes a change of clothes. After they check her out, we are directed to an exam room- so Lil and I head out to the waiting room to get Phil. As I walked through the door, the Grandma gave me THE look. The look that I frequently get from Kiera when she puts on her Fair and Equitable Police act. 'But they just GOT here.' Since I have the capacity to appreciate that everyone deals with stress different- I did not snap around to inform her if she had a baseball sized tumor, she'd get seen sooner too, because I'm sure whatever minor surgical procedure brought them there was producing a great deal of stress.

Doctor E comes in and immediately says "I am sorry to see you again, but I am glad you asked me about Lily". Me too. We go over the specifics of surgery and procedures and where we need to go from here. She would like a CAT scan and we would need a bone scan at some point to check for metastises. Both require contrast, so Lil would have to be sedated. And while we are sitting there it occurs to me- we need to call Sandy, Phil's step-mom. She works in the OR there at Tripler and it would really suck if Lil's name popped up on the schedule before we had the chance to talk to her. Dr. E offers to call her down , so we wait while she makes the call. It really pays to know one of the head OR nurses. After the news was delivered and a few tears wiped away, she immediately starts assembling the dream team for Dr. E. I have no idea of who is involved, but I am confident she will make it happen. Then we get a personal tour of the new Pediatric ICU, where Lil will get sedated for the scans and spend a couple days after surgery. We also have to go to Radiology, oceanside to get the contrast- which is actually just an order for contrast and we have to take it back to the pharmacy mountainside. Most hospitals are mazes, Tripler is like a personal exercise in navigational aptitude. This Pink Palace was built on the side of a mountain. There are 2 entrances- Oceanside and Mountainside- which only connect through designated walkways on the 2nd and 4th floors. And on top of it there are various wings that have been added as the need arose , also connected by lengthy walkways. There is no way I could explain how confusing it is- so you're gonna have to trust me on that. So we part ways with our personal tour guide and we are off to get Lily some ice cream with candy in it.

We get home and Phil is fervently searching for something online. I get called in to decode one of those letter jumbles when you order something online...what's he ordering? Football tickets. Lily needs to go to a football game he tells me. We all have our happy place- Phil's is football and I don't know whether to scream or laugh. Seriously- a three year old at a football game? Really? That sounds fun. But first we have to get through the CAT scan tomorrow.