The numbers game

I did not realize it's been almost a week since I last posted. Time sure flies when things are going good. And vice-versa.

Shivam had a blood test today in the morning. We decided not to use his port for this and instead use his arm for a poke. Before leaving, we also applied the "magic" cream (for numbing) so that the pain from the poke would be considerably lesser. Just before reaching the hospital, less than 1/2 mile from the gates, Shivam had a vomiting bout and soiled all his clothes. We reached the Hemonc clinic and they gave him a fresh change of clothes. His "diaper" bag was not prepared for such emergencies. Now it will be.

We told the nurse at the front desk that we are here for a blood test and would like the regular arm draw instead of the port access. She directed us to the regular clinic for that. There was a long wait and we got a pager. Shivam kept on bugging me on how the pager works and why his pager is not beeping and others are. 3 year olds can get tough with Why, Where, How questions.

Finally our pager buzzed and Shivam jumped of the couch and ran towards the door saying his number has finally come. Even though he knew we are here for a poke, the excitement of the pager was more and that propelled him towards the room where a very friendly and smiling technician was waiting for him. When she asked him where his magic cream was applied, he proudly showed his arms. But then he did a strange thing. He told the tech to poke him on his finger and not his arms. Why??? Because he sees me do my diabeties blood test and sees that I do not show any pain.

The tech complied and gave him a finger warmer. He cried a little bit when she removed the magic cream (cried for no reason). The poke was almost painless and the draw was very fast. We were done and we both raced to the car.

On the way back, we stopped at my office to say to my friends and Shivam's well wishers. Deanna gave him a a toy car and he is holding it like there is no other car in his world. Thanks Deanna.

We then stopped at Urmila's office and he played with her for a few moments. He started crying like a 1 year when we left saying he wants his mommy. It took me and Bapu a good 5 minutes and some strong threats to calm him down. I didn't know he loved his mommy's office so much. In the meantime, Urmila got a call from the hospital with the lab results and Shivam again passed with flying colors. YAY!!!

Back home. We reached around 12:30 PM and I took Shivam for his afternoon nap. We played with his new car for some time and finally we both slept.

He got up around 6 PM and we shut off his tubie for his chemo meds. Meera and Shivam had a small dance session where they both danced to some fast music CD given by his Kapil chachu. Meera got hungry and they all left down to eat their dinner. And I am here.

Thanks for all the support.