I know our current situation would not work for everyone. In fact, I’m sure the very thought of trying to sell one house, renovating another and awaiting a potential cancer recurrence probably seems like a total nightmare to many of you. But I have to say, this is just what we need right now. This […]
Well, we have successfully moved the ultrasound up to Monday, December 7th from the 15th. I had been feeling like it was all so far away, which both made me nervous because of how close it was to Christmas but also gave me comfort because, well, because it felt so far away. And now suddenly […]
You know I’m a planner. Especially at this time of year with holiday parties and family gatherings and Braedan’s December 24th birthday, which needs to be celebrated both at school and at a party all while keeping it separate from Christmas. Add to that the fact that our house might be ready to move into […]
We had Braedan’s first official school conference yesterday and, among other glowing compliments, his teacher said he is one of the happiest children she has ever known. “Always happy and always positive,” were her words. Through my years as a classroom teacher, I have glimpsed the inner lives of many different types of children, each […]
People keep asking me and Mark how we feel and the honest answer is that we just don’t know yet. This is all so uncertain, things seem to change so drastically so quickly and until we have something more definitive than we have right now, we just aren’t committing to any particular reaction or emotion. […]
You know, you would think, after all we’ve been through, that we would learn not to get too comfortable. That we would somehow always be ready, forever on our toes, prepared for whatever comes. And yet instead, we learn to adapt so quickly that it feels almost seamless. We move fluidly from good to bad […]
I find it sort of funny, or at least ironic, that all of us (you out there as well as me and Mark) are feeling such joy and relief after Monday’s meeting. It’s almost as if we think, “Oh thank God, that’s over with,” when in reality, whatever was inside Austin’s body last week is still there today. […]
We have reached consensus and we feel good. We will adopt the “watch-and-wait” approach as advocated by our UH team over the “find-out-at-all-costs” approach as advocated by St Jude’s. Here’s the low-down: First, and perhaps most importantly, this shadow has been on Austin’s kidney for the past two years. I know many of you are […]
We have our meeting scheduled with the team of four doctors for this coming Monday afternoon. We hope to get some real answers about how to get some real answers about what lurks inside our little Austin’s body. We feel we simply need more diagnostic information before we can make a decision about how to proceed. […]
From the mouth of my outrageously smart, not-yet six-year-old when I told him about our latest predicament with Austin: “But Mom, the real question is, How are we going to know what’s inside of him?” Exactly, Braedan honey, exactly. I know a lot of you have questions too, so I will do my best here […]