Colin Loves Tractors » NYU Medical Center

The Sky is Falling!

Mom — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:03:24 +0000

Oh, wait. That’s just snow. Target House Elephants: Normally, this is a fountain, and through the holidays the pachyderms were adorned with white lights.

Memphis has collapsed into pandemonium over the thinnest blanket of white that lasted long enough only for extremely fleet shovelers to find anything worth clearing from sidewalks. The snow is nestled in stalks of [...]

Beginning, Middle, End

Mom — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 05:03:08 +0000

MIDDLE We are in the middle. The diagnosis and first steps to treat Colin seem far behind us, but the future remains foggy. From this perspective, we still have a strong connection to both sides of this process though, with any luck, we will never reach the terminus.

We marvel with great wonder at how we arrived [...]

Music Therapy Videos

Dad — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:27:10 +0000

Here are video links to music therapy from NYU and a special moment between Colin and Amy Grant.

NYU Martha :

Video 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGCXJGHjz_c

Video 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGy4vRASnM0

Amy Grant – Singing the Colin Blues Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LObHCl63boU

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Our Colin of the Contradictions

Mom — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:22:56 +0000

On Sunday night, Colin spiked a fever and the team immediately started him on antibiotics that they were poised to deliver. His morning bloodwork showed that his Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) had dropped to zero, an abrupt change from several days before, when it had been at 3,400.

Also, Colin’s hemoglobin level (7.6) showed that he [...]

The Eaglet Has Landed

Mom — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:31:56 +0000

Colin is settled in Memphis! We arrived at 1:30 am local time (Central). The flight was presumed uneventful as both passengers slept the whole way. The medical flight staff, who picked Colin up at NYU and stayed with him until he was deposited at St. Jude, marveled at how unresponsive New Yorkers are to ambulance [...]

Memphis-Bound

Mom — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:37:34 +0000

We are headed to Memphis, presumably tomorrow afternoon. The official opinion from St. Jude was that Colin would benefit from chemo, preceding a possible second-look surgery. If the surgery isn’t necessary, we can go straight to radiation (proton therapy).

Managing all of the back-and-forth communication and discussion between doctors and so forth is actually impossible. Forget [...]

A What Transplant?!

Mom — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 03:09:16 +0000

Today, we continued to put Colin through the paces. He sat up in bed a few times, sat in Mom’s lap, sat much more upright when he was in bed, and (drum roll, please) started on the tilt table with physical therapy today. It’s a fairly self-explanatory device that makes him look like he’s about [...]

Decisions, Decisions

Mom — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:32:11 +0000

We have finally figured out an enormously important piece of Colin’s complicated oncological puzzle. Now that the doctors here believe that his tumor has not metastasized, we can look at specific treatment plans. Here, they are recommending that we go straight to radiation as soon as possibly, ideally proton therapy.

Mass General received Colin’s pathology slides [...]

Revamping

Mom — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:05:30 +0000

Well, the official read of Thursday’s MRI is in: no metastasis! The oncologists here are recommending that we go to Boston for proton therapy within the next two weeks.

The scans are on their way to Boston and Memphis and we will get our second opinions. Obviously, the plan to go to Memphis is on hold. [...]

I’m Considering, I’m Considering…

Mom — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:42:56 +0000

Colorblind James Experience is much more obscure than Paul Simon, but fortunately they have a MySpace page, so anyone unfamiliar with the band can find their tune “Considering a Move to Memphis” online. Not surprisingly, the refrain chants:

I’m considering I’m considering A move to Memphis A move to Memphis

Perhaps the one lesson that we have learned from this [...]