Aww you lovely bunch of people.
Thank you for your kind messages and thank you for thinking of us today. We've just got home! Needless to say, we're all a bit frazzled.
We don't have any definitive answers yet but we are a bit further on.
The MRI itself was a bit of a comedy of errors. Even if you don't count us going to the TWO other MRI departments first, running through the rain, getting hopelessly lost and standing in the middle of what seemed to be a shopping centre INSIDE a hospital with absolute incredulity that it could contain such a thing. Anybody who has been to our local hospital will appreciate our surprise. The local hospital is basically a shed with 2 receptionists and a pile of broken toys next to some plastic chairs. Addenbrooke's was bigger than the village I live in and had a population around ten times bigger.
They did a basic MRI first, even though I kept insisting she definitely needed the contrast. They proudly finished the MRI and rang up the clinic to let the consultant know. Who told them they should have been doing the contrast. So we had to schlep to the other end of the hospital (got lost twice that time) and wait for a cannula to be inserted. DD was incredibly interested in the whole process and turned down their offers of creams and sprays as she insists they're just there to distract you and could they please just get on with it. We then retraced our steps back to MRI and they did the whole thing again. DD was thrilled that one, they let me go in with her and two, the bloody nice technician spent ages making sure that she had music she liked in her headphones (she specified NO flipping Ed Sheeran, lots of Five Finger Death Punch and Metallica and I don't mind Pink as long as it's her older stuff).
We then had a dull interlude with lots more wandering round corridors and it transpired that they couldn't fit her in for an appointment with the clinic but they'd put a note on her file saying that she needed to be squeezed in somewhere if possible as we'd come a long way. Thankfully, they did manage to fit her in before her 5yo brother became rabid with hunger. She had the most thorough medical I have ever witnessed and they went through absolutely every part of our family medical history. They also explained exactly what they'd seen on the original ultrasound and MRI. The slight question over diagnosis came from the ultrasound actually. The MRI apparently looked pretty clear and had they looked at that in isolation, they'd have offered a firm diagnosis but they said that there was one image on the ultrasound that they couldn't quite make out what was happening so they needed to do the contrast MRI to get a definitive answer. If that makes sense.
The doctor we saw said that given her examination and her review of everything so far (she had reviewed the images from our hospital and sat in with their radiographers and oncologists who had also reviewed them), she is "pretty sure" she knows what it is and everybody was in agreement.They do need the MRI with contrast results to confirm this and they won't be reviewed until next Wednesday as that's when they do their multidisciplinary review clinic doodah. However, if it is what they suspect, it is NOT what I was fearing and will be treated as benign (either leave it in situ or given that it's sore, put her on the waiting list for routine removal locally).
I can't feel like it's over yet as we don't have today's results and won't have them until probably next Thursday when they will ring me and update. The anxiety gremlin won't let me believe it until it's signed and sealed. But early indications are that they know what it is and looking at her in person and seeing the lump, feeling it and looking at its history, everything matches what they thought from the original scans.
So early indications are tentatively positive I think. Just need that phone call next week. Can't come soon enough.
We didn't manage a nice sunny mooch round Cambridge. We dashed through the rain and had lunch, wandered round some book shops and then sat in rush hour traffic. We're home though. DH is cooking, I'm heading for a bath and the DC are choosing a film for us to watch together.
Oh and dd would LOVE a chalkboard wall. Her bed is painted in chalkboard paint and it provides hours of entertainment so I'm happy for her to have a wall too. And she can have a purple ceiling and floor if it makes her happy. She's a brilliant young woman and has been exceedingly brave and good company today.
Sorry to ramble. And I'm sorry if I've missed anything out.