Colin Loves Tractors » G-tube

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 [...]

Ode to Lady Liberty

Mom — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:31:34 +0000

“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled [brain tissue] yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my [high-energy photon] lamp beside the golden door!”

On Wednesday, February 24, Colin had his first radiation treatment. We had originally expected therapy to begin a week sooner, but the complexity of [...]

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 [...]

The Little Engine

Mom — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:15:55 +0000

Colin has made some big leaps ahead, and we can now really see the strength of his determination. He vehemently resists activities and treatments that he does not like and resents being subjected to uncomfortable procedures.

Unfortunately, we had to put him through two of those today. The first was the upper GI study, essentially a [...]

Colin, the Blue(s) Man of Memphis

Mom — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:23:48 +0000

Now for a long and eventful update. Briefly, Colin enjoyed his first trip “home,” which happened during the Target House 10th Anniversary. Because he wasn’t really stabilized on several fronts, he went back to St. Jude. This happened while Mom was away for work, and not long after she returned, Colin was discharged again with [...]

Home Sweet Home

Mom — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:40:33 +0000

Our first big news: Aidan completed the Grand Array at school on Wednesday. Anticipating this, we rushed over to see it in the afternoon, but he evidently dismantled it immediately upon completing it, so the teachers couldn’t even take a picture. Well, at least he’s tidy.

Our second big news: On Wednesday evening (late!), Colin came [...]

Diarrhea Woes

Mom — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:07:36 +0000

This morning, Colin woke up with diarrhea and had several bouts before noon. Whenever he would reach toward Mom, it turns out that he just wanted to get changed. A thorough inspection with the otoscope (this is the greatest tool in the room since it allows a very well lit view of the area of operation) [...]

Third Eye Patch

Mom — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:41:30 +0000

Today, it seemed that the eye patch gods had finally smiled upon us: the arrival of a nice bundle of pediatric eye gauzes. Also, incongruously (so it seemed), a bag for capturing urine. Well, all of it related to the same thing: urinalysis before and during the methotrexate infusion that started on Saturday at around [...]

Breathing Easy

Mom — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:54:33 +0000

Colin is in the ICU recovering from the installation of a trach tube. He also has a new MRI done this morning and we will discuss the results of that when Dr. Gajjar is back in town next week.

After the trach hole has healed, Colin is slated to start chemo. The first drug is methotrexate, [...]