Life on the road

Good morning! Well here we are in beautiful Alabama. The Griswold ( I mean Dungan) cross country family vacation has, so far, been great fun - if not without some snafus. First, I wanted to get everyone the official reading from Sydney's bone scan and MRI. Here is what Dr. Eames had to say:
Bone scan shows persistent abnormality/uptake in right proximal radius but it is definitely less and no other bone lesions seen. MRI is significantly improved as well with resolution of edema and the marrow enhancement is gone and soft tissue enhancement is significantly improved/less. Cortical lesion is unchanged.

More information will come when we get back to town and have a chance to see Dr. Eames in clinic. She will be conferring with Heidi Russell and others but I am quite sure that this will not change our direction. I am also anxious to see the scans and compare the prior imaging with my own eyes. Overall, we are happy with the results. The fact that we have some improvement is a good thing and is just one more piece of good news to put on the "Not Neuroblastoma" side of the scale.

So, the trip. The trip has been fun. The car ride was even pretty bearable. I was pleasantly surprised with how well it was tolerated by the gaggle. In fact, it was only Ainsley who was annoying. Oops! Are you supposed to say that about your child? Well, regardless, she was plenty annoying. She found great joy in repeating herself until she got what she wanted. You would be surprised at how much the kids need while riding in the car. "Daddy can you change the movie? Can you fix my Lego rocket that I broke it for the 1804th time this trip? Can you get me a drink Can I have a snack? Can you fix my Lego rocket that I broke it for the 1805th time this trip?" All of which was honestly okay. My kids are needy. I can except that. It was Ainsley's back ground hum of "Daddy can I have my blanky?" over and over and over that was pushing the envelope of insanity. It did not matter if you acknowledged her and told her how busy you were or not. She did not care how busy you were. She did not care if you were fixing Graham's Legos, getting something for Sydney, whether you were in the front seat, or whether you told her you would be glad to get it for her in a minute. She would continue to repeat herself, endlessly, until you got her whatever it was that she needed. Also, I can pretty much guarantee that as fast as you crawled back from the front seat and crawled back she would find something else to repeat herself endlessly about. In the end, it finally became more funny than annoying. She was like clockwork. My annoying little love bug.

The trip has been jam packed with far too much to cover here this morning. We have been to the science museum and the aquarium in Chattanooga. We have hiked through Montesano Mountain and even rode horses and chased pigs at the McCurdy farm. As a bonus Lynley's suburban even broke down while coming home last night. It seems, we may, in fact, have a choice of staying on vacation forever or getting a new car. It is all just another day on the Dungan family vacation.

And, yes, there is purpose to it all. We may just not know what it is yet.