Colin Loves Tractors » Understanding Hospitals

Put Me in, Coach

Mom — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 15:10:10 +0000

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. At the same time, we are still at the phase where we turn back the mental clock by a year, reminding ourselves of what Colin’s life was [...]

Operation Radiation

Mom — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 04:45:57 +0000

Colin’s final radiation treatments found us at Methodist Central, an adult hospital not far from St. Jude in midtown Memphis. The final dose of radiation was delivered on Saturday morning, when a normal child of his age is watching cartoons. We are in the home stretch of our time here in Memphis and the more [...]

Predator vs. Alien

Mom — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 06:08:38 +0000

Since finding out about Colin’s blood clot, we have settled into a normal non-medically intense lifestyle punctuated by the possibility of crisis. On Superbowl Sunday, Colin became inexplicably agitated and then very spaced out, eyes unfocused and suddenly falling asleep sitting up. The pseudomeningocele on the back of his head had become an even larger, [...]

Sword of Damocles

Mom — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:55:14 +0000

Colin is always full of surprises and has continued to not disappoint us. It would be funny if it weren’t so worrisome, with Friday bringing the need for another burst of medical education.

Friday, Colin had his two week post-op MRI to determine the disposition of residual tumor. As we all had suspected, there is a [...]

Home Sweet St. Jude

Mom — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:44:36 +0000

Life doesn’t offer real do-overs, but there are times when an experience follows the parallel track of something that has come before. Returning to St. Jude after less than a week at Le Bonheur, I had the feeling that I was given the opportunity to completely repeat the past but improved in every way.

Rewind

When we [...]

No Mo’ Chemo!

Mom — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:46:17 +0000

The last chemo precaution sign. This indicates the time of the administration and how long we need to properly dispose of diapers and so forth (48 hours after the drug has finished being administered).

Well, it’s official: Colin’s I.V. chemo is done. He received a dose of vincristine Thursday afternoon at 3:22 pm. Chemotherapy will continue [...]

Expressing Thanks

Mom — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:40:06 +0000

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.

This is even more true this year than it ever has been.

Obviously, we are extremely thankful [...]

This Tuna’s Not Going to Japan

Mom — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:10:29 +0000

Many years ago (well in excess of a decade), there was a magazine article about tuna fishing and the process of selecting the premium fish caught here in the North Atlantic that would fly to Japan. It is possibly “Those Wild Tuna Guys” by Anthony Tillett in Harper’s Magazine, published in 1987. However, I am [...]

Boomerang Boy

Mom — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:08:48 +0000

After days of struggling with the aftermath of chemo, Colin started to perk up a bit, so he emerged from the hospital after 25 days. Of course, he has very happily been out of the hospital during that time, yet not technically an outpatient.

The whole process was a little confusing, as Dr. DeWire told us she [...]

Pushing Through

Mom — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:44:46 +0000

Colin is back on track with chemo, eliciting a big sigh of relief for us. As dreadful as chemo can be, it is also our purpose for being here and it is the current modality for treating his cancer. The recent sidetrack chasing down his fungal infection has been disruptive at best and potentially lethal [...]