Colin Loves Tractors » Second Opinions

A What Transplant?!

Mom — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 03:09:16 +0000

Today, we continued to put Colin through the paces. He sat up in bed a few times, sat in Mom’s lap, sat much more upright when he was in bed, and (drum roll, please) started on the tilt table with physical therapy today. It’s a fairly self-explanatory device that makes him look like he’s about [...]

Five Millimeters

Mom — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:09:42 +0000

Colin had a great day today. He sat up several times and is getting more opportunity to hold his head erect (more or less). We had speech therapy and physical therapy visit today, and we have asked that the swallow specialist return because Colin is definitely clearing his secretions better from his throat, suggesting that [...]

Decisions, Decisions

Mom — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:32:11 +0000

We have finally figured out an enormously important piece of Colin’s complicated oncological puzzle. Now that the doctors here believe that his tumor has not metastasized, we can look at specific treatment plans. Here, they are recommending that we go straight to radiation as soon as possibly, ideally proton therapy.

Mass General received Colin’s pathology slides [...]

Revamping

Mom — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:05:30 +0000

Well, the official read of Thursday’s MRI is in: no metastasis! The oncologists here are recommending that we go to Boston for proton therapy within the next two weeks.

The scans are on their way to Boston and Memphis and we will get our second opinions. Obviously, the plan to go to Memphis is on hold. [...]

I’m Considering, I’m Considering…

Mom — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:42:56 +0000

Colorblind James Experience is much more obscure than Paul Simon, but fortunately they have a MySpace page, so anyone unfamiliar with the band can find their tune “Considering a Move to Memphis” online. Not surprisingly, the refrain chants:

I’m considering I’m considering A move to Memphis A move to Memphis

Perhaps the one lesson that we have learned from this [...]

Graceland

Mom — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 04:54:13 +0000

Colin has been at the center of a whirlwind of activity. He has continued to improve following the installation of the shunt. However, on Thursday morning, we noticed that his heartrate was unusually low (in the 50s). More alarmingly, it wouldn’t budge even with stimulation, such as moving, PT, suctioning, etc.

Even though there was a [...]

New Belly Button

Mom — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:11:11 +0000

On Monday, Colin had surgery to install a G-tube (a second bionic belly button next to the organic original) and perform a fundoplication, which serves to prevent reflux. Over the weekend, Colin appeared to suffer from symptoms of a run of the mill virus and had a few bouts of vomiting.

Though we suspected that the [...]

Bound for the Big Apple

Mom — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 04:31:10 +0000

Today, we made a big decision regarding Colin’s treatment: we will be taking him to New York City for surgery on Wednesday by Dr. Jeffrey Wisoff of NYU. This may be an abrupt change in plans for many who have been following Colin’s care.

We had anticipated receiving a second opinion from Dana Farber/Boston Children’s Hospital’s [...]

ER Visit

Mom — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:32:29 +0000

Last night, Colin woke up in pain. He complained of head pain and let us know that he wanted to go to the hospital. We tried giving him Tylenol to see if he would settle down but that didn’t last long, so we ended up taking him to the ER in the wee hours.

A CT [...]

Bitter + Sweet

Mom — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:59:06 +0000

Bitter: Today, Colin had a follow-up MRI of his head and cervical spine which had to be performed under anesthesia. The prospect of the procedure was extremely stressful because of the steroids that have exploded his appetite. Mom had to sleep on the couch to reduce the stress of having milk/comfort tantalizingly close yet inaccessible.

He was [...]