A while back, Real Simple magazine launched a contest where they asked people to write about the most important day of their lives. Not the best day. But the most significant. I broke the rules a little (or a lot) because there are just too many. July 30, 2007: This must be the most important […]
I baby Austin. I’m sure that doesn’t come as some huge surprise, a shocking admission of illicit behavior or anything. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? There is a preciousness about him, a sacredness that makes me want to hold him and cuddle him and coddle him. And he is the consumate mama’s boy, absolutely choosing […]
Who knew the hospital could be such a good time? All afternoon yesterday Austin was asking when it would be time for us to go, and then throughout dinner, he was pestering me and Mark, “When go hop-a-bul? Awtin reeeeeaaaaddddy.” He was fabulous all through last night, complaining only briefly when the IV line was […]
It’s been almost three months since Austin’s last surgery so we head into the hospital tonight for a CT scan tomorrow. Mark and I expect that this scan will be clear, mostly because the surgeons were just in there and removed everthing they could see. If some cancer cells were left behind or some new tumor is […]
Perhaps you may be wondering how my little guy is … you know, the reason you all started reading in the first place. Well, at this moment, he’s trying out a variety of brooms and mops and swiffers on the kitchen floor (not as helpful as it sounds) while naked. So, all in all, he’s great. […]
Austin had his follow-up appointment with the surgeon today, a quick ten-minute look at his belly after a two hour wait. Lovely, yes? But the doctor had been in surgery so I can’t exactly complain about him taking his time there and not with us. He thought Austin looked fabulous and was healing beautifully. He […]
A few hours after I posted that cute story about Austin declaring himself “all done” with treatment, I got the dreaded call from Jeff saying that the doctors at St Judes did indeed recommend radiation. He still wasn’t sold on the idea, but thought we should set up a meeting with the pediatric radiation oncologist […]
Alrighty, so now that I’ve gotten really technical and given you all so much information, there seem to be a lot of questions. This is what happens when I share the story in real-time — I can’t just make sweeping generalizations about it after the fact, but instead drag you all through each seemingly contradictory medical moment. So I’m taking […]
If you were a fly on the wall in our house three weeks ago and then again today, you’d have trouble noticing anything different. Two little boys playing, tussling over toys, begging for jelly beans (well, there are definitely more jelly beans than there were three weeks ago!), two parents watching over them, trying hard […]