Colin Loves Tractors » Dr. Tobias

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 [...]

Our GiantKid

Mom — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 05:21:00 +0000

Today, among other things, the family went off to a Ronald McDonald House outing for GiantKids (children with cancer). The event took place at Camp Kiwi, which also happens to be close to home and provided an opportunity for Dad and Aidan to crash at home for the night.

Much of the focus of these types [...]

Still Planning

Mom — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:58:44 +0000

Tuesday morning, we had scheduled a meeting with the two neurosurgeons and oncologist, but due to logistical snafus, it never took place. We saw Dr. Mohan for the first time in a week and chatted for a bit about Colin’s progress, and Dr. Tobias gave us a copy of an article on surgery for a [...]

New Digs

Mom — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:52:00 +0000

The weekend was a blur, with several visitors and the excitement of a pending move “upstairs” to the regular pediatric area. Saturday morning represented Colin’s 48-hour challenge for the drain, which he passed with flying colors. His intracranial pressure remained good during that period and he received a conditional thumbs up to leave the PICU, [...]

Homeward Bound-ish

Mom — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:12:48 +0000

On Thursday morning, the neurosurgery team decided to clamp Colin’s drain to see how the intracranial pressure fares. If all continues to go well, we can consider removing the drain and moving Colin upstairs to the regular pediatric unit for continued observation.

As for the question of returning home to the next surgery, Dr. Tobias said it [...]

Changes and new experiences

Mom — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:50:18 +0000

Monday was a whirlwind. The hospital environment is very strange, where it seems that nothing is happening but different practitioners constantly drop by and the next thing you know, the day is over.

We received many visits from Colin’s neurosurgery/oncology team. The first was from Dr. Mohan, who is leaving town for a week but wanted [...]

Happy Father’s Day!

Mom — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:09:55 +0000

This has turned out to be the best Father’s Day for Ian. Colin steadily became more alert and interactive throughout the day. Finally, he has become annoyed with all of the leads, IVs, and his head dressing!

Eating was an all-day event, including everything from apple sauce and pudding to fried rice, meatloaf, chicken, broccoli, corn, [...]

Visiting Day

Mom — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:56:46 +0000

Saturday was a big visiting day for Colin. His overall condition was good and improving a little bit every day, though he continues to suffer from bouts of vomiting. He receives anti-emetics to control it, but this is a side effect to be expected from the area where brain surgery took place.

The doctors also adjusted [...]