It has been a big week at the Bennett house! Tuesday Audrey had her scans completed. She got both a PET and CT scan and had to be put under anesthesia as they performed them. We went into the day pretty confident as she had done such a great job 3 months ago drinking her contrast. Well let me tell you, she is 3 months older and more opinionated! She was NOT having the contrast. We could only give it to her with water so after 2 sips she was over it. We even had the child-life specialist come by with some distractions to help get her to drink some but she was not fooled! Finally our last resort was to mix with (cringe) sugar free crystal light. This got her to take a little more but not much. We were able to be there as she drifted to la-la land. It is a little difficult to watch as she goes under but we would much rather be there than have her with unfamiliar people as she dozes off. She woke up in a pretty good mood and we went about our day.

Wednesday we got to meet with Dr. Park, the neuroblastoma specialist. She told us how fabulous Audrey's scans looked. Once again, nothing shows on the PET scan as the cancer is not active or growing. The CT scan didn't show a ton of change from the last scan but what is left is quite small, about 1 cm X 4 cm. Dr. Park explained to us that this is essentially leftover calcification and like a scar- will probably always be there. She was so great at answering our questions before we even got a chance to ask them! She is very knowledgable and passionate which really puts us at ease. There are a handful of more serious side effects that can be seen from the treatment Audrey received, as I believe we have mentioned before. Hearing loss, heart damage and another form of cancer, leukemia, are all possible but mostly unlikely. After we met with Dr. Park, Audrey had her bone marrow aspirate. Even though there was nothing in her marrow before, they like to double check at the end of treatment. She had to again go under anesthesia as they removed samples from her right and left side of her lower back. This time coming out of anesthesia she was a bit crabby and it took us a little longer until we were good to go. She didn't seem to be in any pain from the procedure and was much better once she got another nap in.

Thursday daddy and gramma took Audrey to her cardiology and audiology appointments. She was able to see Dr. Albers who is her main cardiologist. The doctor decided to do a quick echo as Audrey's last one had slight variations. She felt good about the results and sent us out with instructions to follow up in 3 months. Fortunately the heart medication that Audrey takes has some protective benefits which will help guard against effects of the chemo. Since Audrey's heart function has maintained, we are essentially back to our original treatment plan for her cardiomyopathy. Audrey was a total rockstar at her audiology appointment. They were able to complete tests at high frequencies that they normally can't get with children her age. Her results looked great and we won't check again for a couple of years.

Today Audrey was scheduled for her line removal. We had to get up really early to be at the hospital by 7am. Fortunately there wasn't much waiting around and we met with the anesthesia team as well as Dr. Hawkins, who completed the procedure. I was there again as Audrey went under and they were so impressed with how well she tolerated it. Clearly they don't understand how much of the hospital this kid has seen! The doctor told us not to go far as the whole thing is very quick. He had explained to us beforehand the risks and also that the line would leave behind a little "cuff" that would stay in Audrey's upper chest. Well a few short minutes after we walked to the waiting room we were paged that they were done. Dr. Hawkins said it was flawless and the little cuff even came out with the line. One less thing to worry about! We were brought back to wait for her and as they walked me back to the recovery room I could hear Audrey screaming. She was not a happy camper. They had her on a blood pressure cuff, pulse ox on her toe and an IV in her foot. She wanted it all off and I can't say seeing mommy comforted her much right away. Luckily there weren't many other kiddos in the recovery room because Audrey would have brought them right out of their little sleepies. We got her settled down and slowly everything came off. Her IV came out right before we left and the line is gone! We feel so free not that it is out. No more flushes with heparin and saline every night. No weekly dressing changes. We have to keep the site covered for about a week as it heals but then it is big bubble bath time!

Galen returns to work next week and gramma will take over watching Audrey. We are so excited to get out and about and really do all the things people normally do with a toddler! We are definitely ready for the weather to warm a bit so we can spend some time outside as well. Truly, the last 6 months have went quickly. Audrey has shown us how determined she is and has given us such perspective on our life. We cannot imagine how it would have went if both of us had to work throughout her treatment so once again we want to thank all of those who supported us and made it possible for one of us to be with  her the whole time. Thank you for the thoughts, the prayers, the messages, the dinners! We are so blessed by all of you. We are confident that Audrey has some pretty important things to accomplish in her life as God has given us a tenacious little fighter!

Thanks again,
Shannon & Galen Bennett

Last bath with the Hickman line!

Being super silly with my new tickle book!

I love my puppy dog jammies