Colin Loves Tractors » hydrocephalus

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 [...]

Rising Storm

Mom — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:24:53 +0000

On Sunday afternoon, I left Le Bonheur to pick up a few things at the grocery store, walking out of the sterile air into the openness of a springlike day. The sun was bright and the air a pleasantly neutral temperature, but the sky betrayed another mood in the dark gray distance.

By the time I [...]

Twelve Hours

Mom — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:11:45 +0000

Colin has set a new record for readmission, though fortunately not because of a sudden deterioration of his condition. On Wednesday afternoon, I drove Dad and Aidan to the airport for a quick trip home to see family and friends. After returning to the hospital, I packed up Colin and brought him back to Target [...]

Colin’s MRI Results… and so Much More

Mom — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:22:49 +0000

Colin enjoyed three nights on the prowl (i.e. outpatient) before a planned admission on Friday for chemo to start on Saturday. He enjoyed his time out on the town, and it was great once again to have the family in one place. This was also our trial run of the new home health agency, which [...]

Graceland in the Rain

Mom — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:42:47 +0000

Tennessee has been inundated with rain, and Sunday was no exception. Aidan was on a mission from his school back in Connecticut to take his class pet/take-home assignment on an adventure and then report back on it. We had no choice but to take “Elvis” the frog (stuffed animal, not live or, worse, soaked in [...]

First Chemo, Then Home

Mom — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 06:31:04 +0000

Colin has an official discharge date: Wednesday. However, in order to come home, he has to go through two days of hard chemotherapy (a shot of vincristine followed by a cisplatin IV on Saturday; a cyclophosphamide IV on Sunday). While the immediate effects will come and go before he leaves, it likely will take a [...]

Up and Away

Mom — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:14:26 +0000

Colin has done well through the methotrexate. They have been monitoring his blood levels and he has been clearing the chemical effectively, no doubt facilitated by the tremendous amount of urine output. It’s a good thing his kidneys are working well!

This morning, Colin started receiving leucovorin, the rescue drug for methotrexate. This is administered to protect [...]

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Mom — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 03:19:18 +0000

Today, Colin did very well and was called the “star patient” of the ICU, meaning that he is a good candidate to move back to the regular floor downstairs. Today, Dr. DeWire, the fellow who is working with Dr. Gajjar, presented us with the protocol’s FYI. Tomorrow, we will sign the consent forms for various [...]

You Should See the Other Guy

Mom — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:33:18 +0000

Colin’s surgery on Monday went swimmingly, a marvel of coordination between the general surgery and neurosurgery teams. The doctors assembled in the play room and worked out which side of his body each would use; both involved tunneling procedures that necessitated that their lines did not cross.

In the end, the mediport went in on his [...]

Kiss Your Baby Now

Mom — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 04:10:22 +0000

Life in the hospital always has an underlying tension, as the situation can change dramatically over the course of days or moments. We watched Colin’s condition deteriorate gradually over several days, with a mounting sense of urgency from the floor pediatricians. We later realized that he was seen by the “pediatric response team,” which is [...]