Friday

On Friday, Ava had an MRI, which took most of the morning.  Then we met with our social worker (and found out we have access to counseling services - yay!) and then met with our surgery team and anesthesia.

The MRI didn't reveal any more problem areas, so the plan is to remove and biopsy a small piece of Beatrice (mass) to make sure we have a specific name for the type of cells we are dealing with.  You'll notice I have a hard time saying the C-Word.  I do, and I will say it more often in the future, I just am having a slow process.  Anyways, on Monday they will extract a piece of the mass, install a port for all future IVs, and take a look at Ava's bladder via scystocopy (where Beatrice started growing).  They will be attempting to figure out if the mass is growing out of her bladder, is attached, or is just pushing against it.  Additionally, Ava has enlarged lymph nodes and our understanding is that we need to identify a specific name for what type Beatrice is before we figure out what's going on with lymph nodes. We will find out the results of the biopsy on Wednesday, we hope.  If not, we will have to wait until Monday, because St. Jude is closed on Thursday and Friday for the 4th. 

So, those three things will happen on Monday.

We are dreading Monday, but are grateful for having 2 full days off from medical stuff so that we can spoil Ava and enjoy some Memphis things.