Ready! Set! Wait.

Our drive down to the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis this morning took us past scenery that is now becoming familiar--the blah scenery of US 31, the golden foliage along Meridian Street in Indianapolis, the construction work on IUPUI's campus, and, of course, the infamous light pole. We arrived at the outpatient center this morning uncertain about whether Myla would be rushed into surgery and chemo treatments today or if she would be admitted on Thursday, as originally scheduled.

It all depended on the results of the Complete Blood Count (CBC) test she was scheduled to have.

But first, Myla had to have an echocardiogram at the pediatric cardiology MSA (Medical Service Area) at Riley. Some of the chemo treatments have the potential to give her heart problems, so this baseline measurement of her heart was needed. After waiting in the lounge area for a few minutes, we were escorted down yet another sanitary hallway lined with dark rooms--each of which seemed to be filled with shadowy strangers watching us walk by in silence.

Once we got to our room, a fellow in pediatric cardiology hooked Myla up to an Acuson ultrasound machine and proceeded to take pictures of Myla's heart. This 35-minute procedure ended up taking 75 minutes because the doctor wasn't able to get the shots he needed when Myla was crying. Thankfully, he produced a spinning light toy that I used to entertain Myla for the better part of the test. The good news is that her heart looks great.

Knowing that there was a chance Myla would have the surgery to install a central line in her chest today, Melissa commented as we walked back toward the lobby that this might be one of the last times she gets to hold Myla over her shoulder. So, I took this picture.

After this test, we headed back up to the hematology/cardiology MSA where Myla was measured by Larissa for height, weight, and blood pressure before we headed to room 4 for her CBC test.

Not so fast.

Enter Laura, the stem cell transplant clinical coordinator at Riley. Laura came in and talked to us about the likelihood of Myla having a bone marrow transplant, which is the same thing as a stem cell transplant, or SCT. This sounded good in theory, but there was the practical matter of drawing blood from all members of the immediate family, including our 8-year old son who was playing out in the waiting area with his grandparents. Oblivious would be a good description. I fished him out of the waiting room and took him back to room 4 where Laura extolled the virtues of stem cell transplantation from close family members. Somehow, he bought in, and when all was said and done, he was rewarded with a board game for his bravery. Oh, and Myla got her blood drawn as well--that's her getting worked on in the background of the previously linked picture. We'll hear back in a few days to see if any of use would make a full-match donor. (Here's another picture of Myla as we were waiting around for the tests.)

After the blood work was done, Dr. Kumar stopped by to share some information with us, beginning with the update that Myla would be admitted on Thursday instead of today--good news. Myla's CBC test showed that her white blood cell count had gone down to 22,000 from 25,000 the previous week, but that her blasts were up to 15%. She then explained in more detail the nature of the chemo treatments that Myla would receive, including the trial drug that is part of the study by the Children's Oncology Group (COG). I could write pages here, but I'll save the details for later.

After lunch at the McDonalds on the first floor, we read through and signed the informed consent form expressing our willingness to be part of the COG study. The form was whisked somewhere in the back, and our case was entered into the computer to determine if we would be a part of the study. It's a random selection, so nothing was guaranteed.

In the meantime, Larissa, one of the RNs in the HEMOC (hematology/oncology) unit gave us a tour of where we'll be spending the next several weeks. We headed to the Riley Children's Cancer Center. Here's a typical hallway in the center, and as hospital-like as it looks, this will be our new home for a while. We may not get a room to ourselves at first, but when we do, it will look like this one. Raul Matthew was quick to scope out the play area located in the unit.

Following the tour, Larissa used "Chesty" to explain the central line that Myla will have installed on Thursday morning. I'm not sure I want to say much more about this tonight. It's just hard to imagine something this contraption being placed into a child of Myla's size.

We also learned that we will be part of the study, which means that Myla will get the new drug.

After a long day at Riley, we made our way through downtown Indy and back to Kokomo for one more night at home. Thankfully, our social worker has reserved a hotel room for us near the hospital for tomorrow night just in case we aren't able to get a room at the Ronald McDonald House. This is going to be a big help as Myla's surgery is scheduled for 7:30 AM on Thursday.

That's all for now. Thanks again for your prayers.