Much too tired right now to tell you the whole St. Baldrick’s story but I will give you just enough — in the form of lovely photos — to satisfy your curiosity. This morning, before heading off to school: Immediately following the group shearing: Look, Mommy’s there too. I don’t get a shirt because I […]
In a day and a half, I will be surrounded by baldies (yet again). I know both Mark and Braedan look spectacularly handsome without their hair — Braedan in particular becomes all eyes and eyelashes (and man, does that kid have eyelashes!). Here they are, following Braedan’s first at-home head shaving last Christmas: But my […]
Thank you for the many thoughtful comments. A few responses: I have certainly talked this over with his preschool teacher, but that has still left me hovering between my two choices. She thinks that he is ready both academically and socially for kindergarten. Her concern is the much less predictable “What about when he’s 10 […]
May seems an awful long ways away right now, as I look out at this winter wonderland, layer upon layer of snow and ice covering every visible surface. But May is the next time we’re scheduled to go to the hospital. Three months away! Everything yesterday was fine. His chest CT was clear and the […]
Well, it’s been two months since Austin’s had labwork and nearly three since he’s had an ultrasound or CT scan, and that’s about as long a break as we can hope to get around here. We are due at the hospital tomorrow, following Austin’s morning at school (assuming he has a morning at school — […]
A rousing goodbye from the Gallagher family to 2010. It has had its high points, that much is true. But, boy, has it had its lows. Last New Year’s Eve, Austin was in the hospital for chemo and radiation. It was, remarkably, our very first holiday to spend in-patient (but not our last). Braedan went […]
This was the day last year when … oh no, don’t worry, I’m not going to replay every miserable moment of last winter. I actually have a somewhat lighter story to tell, still replete with drama and suspense. Braedan had an appointment with the psychologist this afternoon and Austin was scheduled to have labs drawn. […]
What a difference a year makes. I find myself struck day after day after day by the power of the memories of last year. Right before Thanksgiving (last Thanksgiving), Austin had an ultrasound that revealed a new spot. New, as in not the same spot we’d been watching and worrying about all fall. So we […]
I was ordering photos from Snapfish tonight and finally uploaded some off of Mark’s phone that he took last December. I was quietly scrolling through picture after picture of Austin in the hospital — sad pathetic faces as he was recovering from surgery in the PICU, goofy silly smiles as he played with Braedan on […]
I just got an email from our oncologist (complete with smiley face) with an updated report from the radiologist reviewing Austin’s scans. She was able to go back and find some older chest CTs that had been done without sedation and she determined that these two tiny nodules have been there as far back as […]