Colin has had a wonderful summer and really relished being at home. Most significantly, he has enjoyed a renaissance of himself: he is engaged, motivated, curious and vibrant. If Colin finds an adult to buttonhole in a conversation, his engine will start and keep going. On our return from Memphis, he consumed the entire flight from Philadelphia to Ithaca regaling a new friend on a variety of subjects. The real resurgence started shortly after leaving Memphis and has only continued since then.
Going into surgery, we knew that we would learn valuable information that would drive treatment decisions. The surgery itself promised to be rather ho-hum, endoscopically performed through either one or two holes, and resulting in a very modest recovery time. The anxiety wasn’t about the procedure itself but the findings. Continue reading Declaration and Decisions
The day before neurosurgery is a frustrating combination of interminable waiting punctuated by the frantic urgency to act, all conducted without benefit of even the vaguest structure. It stands in sharp contrast to the dense scheduling of one of our typical days at St. Jude, spent shuttling from one meticulously scheduled slot to another (minus E Clinic, the clinic for brain tumor patients, which is beholden to no clock born of human devising), and it is endemic of the inpatient environment we have encountered at any hospital. Already in the system, it is a simple matter to add another test or procedure through hidden incantations conducted in the obscurity of the famed work room. However, this comes with a price; upon admission, the patient becomes the sworn legal property of the hospital and therefore liege to its whims of timing. Continue reading Memphis Sunrise
As Colin’s trajectory moves unevenly but steadily upward, we have also been taking him out into the world to finally do what he could not a year ago. Continue reading Put Me in, Coach
Colin’s final radiation treatments found us at Methodist Central, an adult hospital not far from St. Jude in midtown Memphis. Continue reading Operation Radiation
Since finding out about Colin’s blood clot, we have settled into a normal non-medically intense lifestyle punctuated by the possibility of crisis. Continue reading Predator vs. Alien
Colin is always full of surprises and has continued to not disappoint us. Continue reading Sword of Damocles
Life doesn’t offer real do-overs, but there are times when an experience follows the parallel track of something that has come before. Continue reading Home Sweet St. Jude
Well, it’s official: Colin’s I.V. chemo is done. He received a dose of vincristine Thursday afternoon at 3:22 pm. Continue reading No Mo’ Chemo!
Every year, Thanksgiving is an opportunity for many things, the most honorable of which is the recognition of what we as individuals are thankful for and humility for having so much when there are people who have so little. Continue reading Expressing Thanks