Back to Square Two

The doctors have reneged on their diagnosis, which I think is totally unfair; I had already called "no take backs!" They explained that there was a miscommunication between the doctor and the pathologist. Apparently, those hairy cells he was looking at are missing one of the protein markers that makes a definite diagnosis of hairy cell leukemia possible. From what I understand as a non-doctor-type person, this means we're back to figuring out exactly what type of leukemia Husband has. It could be hairy cell, it could be something else entirely. They promised to phone us with our fate within the next 24 to 48 hours.

Husband had to scramble when he found that out. Obviously, they won't start chemotherapy until they know exactly which type he needs, so the start date was put off until Thursday. Husband had already arranged for a substitute for his classroom, so he called the principal of his school and told him to hold off on the sub until Thursday, as he needed to go in to work and draw up some plans for the sub anyway. The doctor gave him permission to work for two days, provided he didn't take any heavy blows to the abdomen.

After we got home, I answered a call from Husband's parents, who gave me a very thorough and detailed chastisement for Husband even thinking about taking the 40 minute drive into work, not to mention the dangers of being in a room full of rambunctious and germy fifth graders. I was on their side, of course, but I felt it wasn't prudent to point out that he got his stubbornness from somewhere. Husband pointed out that he had been going to work for nearly two weeks already with an enlarged spleen before he was diagnosed. That was after I hung up the phone and he was chuckling that he was glad he hadn't answered.

He completely underestimated how tired he would be, though. He's not used to being anemic, and I think he thought a good nights' sleep would set him right by morning. I insisted on driving him in to work, and we put a double padding of foam between him and the seatbelt, just in case. Nothing happened during the drive, fortunately, but he's decided to get his sub plans together and have the sub start tomorrow instead of Thursday. It's a compromise.

Still, I'm not answering the phone for a while.