Colin Loves Tractors » Effects of Cancer and Treatment

Indestructible

Mom — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 05:03:21 +0000

Before launching into the latest long-overdue update, I want to post information about the 2011 St. Jude Give Thanks. Walk that is taking place across the country this weekend. We are going to New York City on Saturday, November 19, to support the hospital in a walk across the Brooklyn [...]

Summer Kick-Started with a Scan

Mom — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:47:21 +0000

Even on the cusp of summer, Memphis is unforgivingly hot, but the weather is nearly irrelevant when you’re back for check-ups at St. Jude, which we were at the end of June. I packed instead for the climate-controlled stasis of the hospital and the expectation that our days would devolve into a mad dash of [...]

Full Circle

Mom — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 07:20:29 +0000

Colin returned home, nearly a year from the completion of radiation and two months short of his fourth birthday, with a good scan and no trach. Well, we have plenty of trachs, but none actually inserted in him. Anticipation of the possibility that Colin would come home without that annoying, formerly life saving appliance swept [...]

True North

Mom — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 05:24:41 +0000

Colin is in remission, and it now seems easier to utter the words aloud. His scan from January was still “stable,” with Dr. Gajjar now asserting that the sliver of “whatever” that cradles Colin’s brain stem is scar tissue. He further stressed that surgery would not help and would only cause more damage (duh!). All [...]

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 [...]

No, No, No, How are You Doing?

Mom — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:31:22 +0000

Perhaps I was naively unconcerned about Colin’s latest scan. We returned to Memphis after a month at home for a battery of follow-ups, most importantly the MRI of the brain and spine. The legendary furnace of early July in Memphis intimidated us, yet those first days turned out to be [...]

Parallels and Contrasts

Mom — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 03:32:40 +0000

It is all too easy to feed off of birthdays, anniversaries, and other meaningful demarcations of time. How long since, how long until? In the x days since returning home, we have done y activities and Colin has achieved z milestones, giving us something to plot and chart in three dimensions.

In Memphis, I had imagined [...]

Survivor: Target House

Mom — Sun, 23 May 2010 13:10:43 +0000

There is no immunity challenge, and Jeff Probst doesn’t sit us around a campfire to discuss who is next to go, but living here is beginning to feel like a warped version of the Survivor reality show. So many families that were planning to leave after us are by now long gone.

The Simkins, who have [...]

Happy Mother’s Day

Mom — Mon, 10 May 2010 05:51:57 +0000

Mother’s Day is billed as an opportunity for fathers and children to express their gratitude for the other 364 days a year that mothers devote to their families. However, I see it as yet another day to appreciate the two beautiful children that I have had the privilege of taking care of and getting to [...]

Winding Down*

Mom — Tue, 04 May 2010 06:53:06 +0000

Our family’s time at St. Jude is drawing to a close. On Friday, April 16, Colin had his last MRI before he goes home. The suspected tumor, as we hoped/anticipated, remains stable, and the spinal scans are still clear. Furthermore, the blood clot has resolved significantly, with some pieces remaining and very good blood flow [...]