Colin Loves Tractors » Memorial Sloan Kettering

Iron Man, not Iron Lungs

Mom — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:15:05 +0000

Colin has finished the methotrexate infusion that kicked off the second round of chemo. Despite a very rough time the day before the chemo started, he has continued to improve neurologically. Arguably, he has made more progress in these days than we have seen so far.

Colin is getting more playful and aggressive with his brother, [...]

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 [...]

A Room With a Poo

Mom — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:18:55 +0000

Colin finally found a way to get private digs at the hospital, but the unfortunate price is the contraction of a highly contagious infection. He must remain in isolation for eight days now. On Friday morning, he woke up and developed a fever with diarrhea. His nurse quickly suspected C. Difficile, which people typically get [...]

Busy, Busy Boy

Mom — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:59:21 +0000

Today, Colin was even more alert and had a busy social calendar. Aside from the requisite physician and proto-physician visits (more on this to come), he had two visits with the two music therapists, physical therapy, and his customary strolls.

Physically, his body is showing the effects of his long hospitalization, medication and period of inactivity. [...]

Two Steps Forward…

Mom — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:40:56 +0000

Today, Colin was definitely less sleepy although still quite congested and having a hard time keeping his oxygen saturation high enough. He received an oxygen blow-by all day and wore a mask when venturing out on the stroller. This required the hardware of an oxygen tank on wheels (absent the tank these tend to look [...]

New Belly Button

Mom — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:11:11 +0000

On Monday, Colin had surgery to install a G-tube (a second bionic belly button next to the organic original) and perform a fundoplication, which serves to prevent reflux. Over the weekend, Colin appeared to suffer from symptoms of a run of the mill virus and had a few bouts of vomiting.

Though we suspected that the [...]

Awaiting the G-Tube

Mom — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 04:23:24 +0000

On Wednesday, Colin was scheduled to repeat the swallow study, though it was widely thought that he would likely fail. Melissa, who did the first swallow study, sensed this and asked to visit him clinically before conducting a study. She suggested that he needed at least a week before retesting.

However, we realized that the question [...]