Anniversary Trip!

Isn't a trip to Vanderbilt what everyone would choose to make on their 41st anniversary?! Not exactly our choice of trips...but one that had to be made no matter what the day! We left here around 10:30am and checked in at Vandy at 12:15pm. Things got underway right away...we saw the research nurse, signed papers, and then went to wait for the lab to call Woody. Well, things bogged a bit when he was in the lab...they needed lots of blood as they were taking blood for the screening for the new drug study AND also for the ending of the last study (thought that they had already done that!). Anyway, it took four sticks to get enough blood from him! Before he got out of the lab, they were calling him back to see the doctor. It was decided that he could see another doctor instead of Dr. Sosman...so we did that. After seeing the doctor, the research nurse came into the room and took a picture of the melanoma places that are raised enough under the skin to make a bump...four pictures in all. Then he went to get an EKG...that didn't take any time at all. Then he went on to get the CT Scan and the MRI of his brain. They tried to get him to drink the contrast for the CT...but we had been told that he wasn't to take contrast this time...so we stopped that and they checked...and we were right. The CT scan was done first...again took only a short time. Then he was called back for the MRI...he had to have an IV for the dyes that they use for that. The MRI took about an hour. Then we headed off for his PET scan. He was given radioactive dye for that (they did leave the line in from the MRI so he didn't have to be stuck again!) and then he had to sit in a room for an hour. The actual PET scan took a little over thirty minutes. He came out from the PET scan at 6:15...so we did very well on time at Vandy today...a total of 6 hours there. We headed home at that point. We stopped along the way for our anniversary dinner (McDonald's!) and then got on the road again. Woody was anxious to get home. We got home a little after 8pm...so a total of almost 10 hours either on the road or at Vanderbilt today. Glad to be home. I didn't blog immediately as I "had" to watch the rest of "Dancing With the Stars!" And, then I couldn't get a picture to load tonight...I tried for about 20 min. to get a picture on the blog. Woody has gone to bed. His main complaint about today was that he had a headache...probably caused by having to fast for so long and then all the dyes, etc. I have a headache too...no reasons for mine! Erin and Alex spent most of the day over at Nathan and Kathy's. Now the wait is on to see if Woody qualifies for this new drug study...the nurse said that we would hear about the scans, etc. in the next day or so, but that it would be around 15 days before we would hear if the drug company accepts him.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh...I rebooted and the picture finally loaded at 10:05...an hour after I first started trying to load it...COMPUTERS!!!! By the way, we started out our trip in sleet/snow...but spring must be on the way...note the green grass in the picture...we saw lots of green grass, daffodils, and weeping willows...definitely signs of SPRING...but rather chilly.