Short Lived Bliss

Yesterday morning, Hunter woke up in pain again. The blood transfusion from the night before must have worn off. His pain seemed to be all over but most acute in his right arm. He almost refused to lift his arm off of his body. Suddenly he is a lefty.

Lenore also seems to think his neck appears stiff. The doctors agreed and decided to do a preliminary CAT scan of his brain, sinuses, neck and upper arm. They are most concerned that the Leukemia has spread to his spinal fluid and brain.

The scan came back and showed a smallish bleed in his brain. It doesn't appear to be too serious - no tissue damage to anything critical but they gave him more platelets to make sure he doesn't bleed anymore. The scan also showed a possible abnormality in his neck. Asymmetry to to be exact. This is concerning because the Leukemia cells could be grouping together almost like a tumor and causing his neck to become messed up (at least as I currently understand the data). I'll speak to the cancer doctor (oncologist) this morning and he should provide a more detailed explanation.

Anyway, we are headed to the MRI room and full anesthesia for Hunter. That always makes me nervous. I'm also going to request a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to make double damn sure that he doesn't have Leukemia in his spinal cord and brain. I doubt I'll find any resistance to that idea.

One step forward - two steps sideways...