Thursday Labs - not until tomorrow

We love the convenience of the local clinic. We left the house at quarter to 10:00 am. We were done by 10:15 am. We were checked in and sent back to the lab waiting room. The room looks like it used to be a storage room or an observation room, but the door has been removed. It is just across the hall from the one seat lab station. Two nurses work the area.

One of the nurses was there the first night I had brought Riley in way back in February. I was all nervous, telling them this is Riley's first poke since the Picc was installed and now removed. I tell them to be careful as he has Aplastic Anemia and it could be dangerous. The nurse says she knows Riley's case and has been following it. She asked how the blood drive went. I feel better, they know the case and what they are dealing with.

Both nurses sit and help draw the CBC. I can see they are as concerned as I am not to do it wrong. Riley tells them they did a better job than the ER nurses. It only stung a little. The other nurse said she sprayed a topical numbing agent to help. It went smoothly.

I did find out though, the results wont be back until tomorrow. The labs are done off sight. Results are to be sent to The Doctor at Dornbechers ASAP. I had suspected it was an overnight from our previous experience. Next time I will make a Tuesday or Wednesday appointment so we get the results a little earlier.

Its just that we have been invited to a friends for the weekend. I want to know Riley's numbers before we go gallivanting off to do fun things. I want to know his white cell count to see if he can be out and about with the "common people", perhaps crowds. Hopefully we will get results
that allow us a little more freedom.

I call Tom to tell him we have to wait. Tom is as disappointed as I am that we wont know the numbers until tomorrow morning. He tells me Saturday is Locks Day in Oregon city. His mill is giving limited tours. I tell him to make an appointment for after 2:00 pm if schedules are allowed. I am headed downtown in the morning to hear Margaret speak about her art at the gallery. Last week was art walk on First Thursday and the opening of her show. I missed the opening, but I would love to hear her talk about her art. I wanted to know if the boys would be able to attend, if Riley's white cells are still going up. Now that it is spring and people are out doors in the sun, I feel optimistic about taking Riley out in crowds. I just have to check the numbers. If his numbers are still going up, I think Tom would like to have the boys come to the mill. He wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise.

Usually we have nothing going on, then bam... We have overlapping plans.
It is always the case, when I have one cool thing planned, two other cool things come up for the same day. My girlfriend wants us to come to Longview. The Mill is giving tours and Margaret is talking about her art at the gallery. Tom is going to Longview already to go golfing. He needs that so badly, I am glad he is finally going. He has needed to vent some energy on the golf course for a while now.

When we were young and single in Seattle. We had a friend who would get what we called "Fatal sperm build up." When he was between girlfriends he would become aggressive after a while, punch holes in the wall, or get overly mad at friends, end up in fights. Tom gets "fatal golf build up". If he doesn't golf regularly or enough, he gets incredibly cranky and belligerent. He is a different person after golf; thoughtful, easy going, easy to live with, even romantic. It kills me that he doesn't golf more often down here. His stress level would be so much better. So, I encourage golf. I may try to take the boys out again soon. Eventually I hope we can all play together, once the boys know the rules well enough, and can hit the ball.