Finally - An Answer

Note: This is a long story - if you want to just read the answer - go down to paragraph two. If you want to bore yourself with a long, drawn out story - keep reading.
Well, yesterday was quite an eventful day. Let me just begin - at the beginning. Chris got Kady up at 4:30 AM so she could eat a little something, drink some milk, and take her anti-biotic before the dreaded 5 AM mark. That was the point at which no "solid foods or liquids" could be consumed. Then, after a early morning treat - Kady went back to bed. Maybe not to sleep, but to bed. We left later that morning and made it to St. Louis in record time. We were about 4 blocks from the hospital when the bumper to bumper, moving at the rate of an ant traffic hit. We were just trying to remember what lane we needed to be in to get to the parking garage, when from the back we hear, "Mom, my tummy doesn't feel so good." OK, first thought is - she is hungry. It is now nine AM and she is just getting those wonderful hunger pains. But, no she told me. She feels like she might get sick. So, I find a Walmart sack and tell her to use that if she does feel sick. She whines a few more times, we inch a few more inches forward and then we hear that dreaded noise coming from the back seat. Poor thing. And now we are thinking, great, what if she has the stomach flu! But, she did feel a little better after that episode. We FINALLY got to the parking garage and a little girl starts crying in the back seat. She did NOT want to go inside. She wanted to stay in the car. Poor thing, she was SCARED. She had NO idea what to expect today. We gave her some encouraging words, promised her that we would be with her all day, cleaned her up (the bag had a hole in it - of course), brushed her hair, swished out her mouth, and carried her quite by force into the building. We were good until we started towards the elevators inside. Then, she looks at me and says she feels sick again. GREAT!!! So, we find a bathroom (good thing we have been there many times before and know just where the bathrooms are) and she stands there for quite a while. After a few rounds of sitting, standing, kneeling and crying, I finally convince her that she may not actually need to throw up but may just have a "nervous stomach". She looks at me with this look that would kill any mother and says "Mommy, I don't want to go upstairs". I explain to her that we are JUST going up to see the doctor at this point. No one will be giving her any shots, putting her to sleep or anything (yet) but that the doctor just wants to see her. We decided to put on our "strong woman" faces and head upstairs. And unfortunately, or fortunately, we waited, and waited, and waited for the doctor. We arrived at the hospital at 9:40 AM and we saw the doctor for a few milliseconds at 11:30 AM. But, the wait was good for Kady. She got to read a few books and calm down and get a little courage back in her body before we headed downstairs to the procedure center. Once there, they quickly put her at ease. She got to watch some TV while they did all their work. They let her know that mom and dad would be there when she went to sleep and before she woke up, so this was a great encouragement to her. She was SUCH a trooper and we were so proud of her. There were no tears, not even a flinch when they put in the IV. She was out like a light (literally) and they soon got her breathing regulated and whisked her off for her MRI. The MRI took a little longer than anticipated - but when it was time to wake up I had expected the "nightmare" we had a few years ago when she came out from sedation. But - no not this time - she came out like a trooper. Woke up, rolled over, watched a little TV, got something to drink and eat, and then we headed back up to the doctor for the MRI results. She even got to ride in an "ant wagon" around the hospital and she thought that was GREAT. We got back up to the Doctor's office and waited some more (Do you see a common word here - waited!!!) They reviewed the MRI report and according to that report - wait for it:

There is no tumor in the bone, marrow, or soft tissue. This is NOT a tumor. It does however look to be a mass of soft tissue that is infected. Now, this is still up for grabs whether this is a definite diagnosis - but at least we know at this point this is NOT a tumor. So - we are happy with this answer and ready to turn to page two to do what needs to be done at this point. So - thanks for all the prayers that were said yesterday. We know the day went easier because of them.