bubbs update

last wednesday, i packed a ginormous bag of snacks and things to do for my little man because i had no idea of what to expect when we went back to the hospital to have more tests done. on the day that i heard the scary word "cyst," i also heard other scary words like "cat-scan" and "biopsy." i was mentally prepared for my son (and me) to have an awful day.

**word of advice, if you ever have to go through anything like this for yourself or your child (oh, and i pray you never, never do), have a friend go with you. it doesn't even have to be a best friend. just to have  an objective ear in the room to listen to all the information because i assure you your brain will be in an advanced stage of explosion and you won't hear most of it. and if that friend happens to be on her way to nursing school and knows how to ask medical questions with fancy words on your behalf, all the better.

after filling out a pile of paperwork that rivaled our mortgage we were ushered in to have another x-ray. i have to brag on my son here because during his first x-ray he was screaming and crying and scared and in too much pain too move. this time around he hopped onto the table, laid down, held his arm and shoulder like a statue just like the nurse asked him to, and couldn't stop talking the rest of the day about how "i didn't cry!"

we were ushered into another little waiting room for a surprisingly short wait. then we got to talk to 2 separate doctors, one of whom was the cream of the crop in the land of orthopedics according to his resume. (i didn't know if this was a bad sign to have such a doctor or not.) i was waiting for him to tell us what we needed to do to prepare for the next test, whatever that may be, but it turns out they could see everything they needed to see just from the x-ray.

it's a classic, textbook bone cyst, which by definition is benign. 

me: so you're sure it's benign?

doctor smarty-pants: yes, we're confident it's a classic bone cyst. we don't know what causes these cysts, but they're always benign. sometimes people never even know they have them.

me: so i don't have to worry about that any more?

doctor smarty-pants: if i were worried, i'd tell you. i'm not worried.

he also said that the cyst hasn't crossed his growth plate, which would've been a problem for his bone development in the future. (this was a question my smarty-pants-almost-nursing-student friend knew to ask. i wouldn't have had a clue.)

he ALSO said that after a break sometimes the bone can heal itself. but if that doesn't happen, they'll inject something into the bone to fill in the hollow area so it won't be so prone to breaking in the future.

and we were outta there before lunch.

so good news, good news, and more good news. i had actually considered packing pjs for all of us because i had images of being admitted and my tiny son in a hospital bed getting his first radiation treatment... no, my brain doesn't automatically go to the worst scenario. why do you ask?

so what now? we have another x-ray scheduled next week to check on the healing process. lucas is actually spending most of his time out of the sling now and is using his arm a lot more. he tells me it feels a lot better and he likes to show me how much he can move it. my little man has come through a lot of pain and he's a real trooper.

(and on a totally different subject, i think my little guy is really enjoying having his mommy all to himself while his big sister's in school. yesterday i asked him to start the dishwasher for me [which is a favorite chore around here and something my kids will actually fight about. i'll have to remind them of this in a few years, i'm sure.]. he sauntered across the kitchen, sighed a contented little sigh, and said, "it's just you and me!")

(note the sandwich shape preferences: lucas likes rectangle. rachel prefers the triangle variety. these are the details mommies get to know about their babies.)