August 19, 2008 (Tuesday)

Our friend called back and said the CT scan was definitely needed. We arranged for the scan of the brain and orbit without contrast (per instructions from our own pediatric ophthamologist). It was explained to us that we were looking for calcium in the scans. Calcium in the eye would strongly indicate retinoblastoma where the absence of calcium would mean it was likely something else.
Normally CT scans take longer than a few hours to arrange however the CT scan was performed in the afternoon. Gracie was good enough to be still for the scan. The hospital staff had given her medication to sedate her but she complied before the medicine had a chance to work.
Following the scan we waited anxiously on the results. A couple hours later, word from the radiologist was that there was a small bit of calcium in the eye. This was not what we wanted to hear but it seemed promising that only a tiny amount was found.