Here it is, the end of May already.  How can that be?  Summer will be gone before we know it and Christmas advertising will start.  It is the daily minutia that keep me grounded and off the clock.  Waiting for the phone to ring, for news of the latest test results, cause the clock to tick slower and slower.

Yesterday, Janeen finally returned to Emory University for a needle aspiration of the ‘tumor’ in her neck, this time under CAT scan.  They arrived at eleven and didn’t take her into CAT scan until two.  Knowing my son, it took an act of God to keep him from doing cartwheels during that wait.  He wanted to be there for her this time, so I was given a reprieve of another plane trip to Atlanta until mid June.

For two and a half hours, they dug around in her neck, each time coming up with only blood cells.  The first aspiration that was performed while I was there resulted in the same thing.  The pathologist at that time asked Janeen if anyone had ever mentioned ‘vascular’ to her before.  I cringed at that, but said nothing to her.  No, it had never been mentioned.  So now all they know is that she probably doesn’t have cancer!  Yeah!  Thank you for your prayers!!!

However, what she does have is some kind of malformation of her carotid artery.  It could be an aneurysm, which could have deadly consequences, or it could ‘just’ be a hemangioma, which can be sealed off with some kind of glue that is inserted via her femoral artery in her groin.  Ugh.  My daughter asked around at Jefferson and was told that Janeen needs a neuro doc because the carotid feeds the brain.  She gave my son a list of questions to ask and also instructed him with the following; no tempter tantrums, raising of voice, puffed up chest or other acts of frustration.  He said he would comply.  He felt that the ‘right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing’ there.  Jeni found out that Emory has an excellent neuro service, so that made all of us relieved.

In all aspects of this, I am so glad I am just here for support and nothing more.  I don’t have to make any decisions, guide anyone, choose a doctor or give advice.  Less is more.  At one point, there was discussion about having them come up here to go to Jefferson.  I was more worried about how I was going to clean my spare bedroom of all of the yarn and wool that is stored in there than anything else.  Bad mother!

A few weeks ago, a very religious friend of mine who has great faith in miracles prayed that Janeen’s tumor would disappear.  I was thinking how totally unreasonable that was to ask of God; the thing is right there on all of the MRI’s and CAT scans.  But guess what?  There is no tumor.  My son kept saying in Arnold Swartzenegger voice, ‘It’s not a tuma.’  And he was right.  Its not a tumor.  They are letting her rest until Tuesday when they will do an MRA, just an MRI with contrast dye.  That should help them come up with a diagnosis, at last.  I, for one, will be laying on the beach in Fenwick Island with my husband, just a phone call away.