Flip-flopper

Back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth. This is a terrible position for parents to be placed in. This is a terrible decision to have to make on behalf of our child. What’s the right answer? What will cause the least damage, to mind and to body and to spirit? What will […]

With reverence

My mom has my Caring Today article sitting out on her counter to proudly show to anyone who walks through her door (we moms are all the same, aren’t we?). She must have read it yet again the other day because she commented on how she too interacts with Austin “with a great deal more […]

Living with uncertainty

The mystery of Austin’s kidney continues with no easy resolution in sight. Yesterday’s ultrasound revealed that this shadow, this mass, actually appears to be filled with fluid. Now at first glance that seems like good news because Wilms’ tumors are solid tumors. But of course, there are things to worry about that we had never heard of […]

Human side

I think it’s sort of funny how much you all appreciated seeing my “human side” in that last post!  I certainly have never meant to paint a picture of us as gliding right through this crisis (or these crises) without rearing our own sometimes ugly heads. We have handled it all very well, I’ll give […]

The Small Stuff

Last Wednesday, before went to the hospital, Austin had a crying fit over something inconsequential, like what color spoon I gave him for his yogurt or whether his pants legs appropriately covered his boots. A few hours later, he sat in my arms as two nurses inserted an IV line into his hand and barely […]

Carry on

Thank you, yet again yet again, for the outpouring of support and well wishes coming our way. You can not possibly know how much strength we draw from all of you. Yesterday ended with better news. Not the good news we’d been expecting on Thursday, but definitely better news. Dr. Auletta spent a good chunk […]

We wait, we worry, we wish

And then we wait and we worry and we wish some more. But we don’t exhale with relief when the good news is delivered. Because it’s not good news that’s delivered. There’s another shadow. Another fucking shadow. God, this is the never-ending story. This shadow is actually inside the left kidney, which is really lousy. […]

Packing our Stars

It’s that time of year again. We head into the hospital tonight after dinner to hydrate Austin for a CT scan tomorrow. His last was in the end of June and if this one comes back clear, we’ll be able to wait six months until the next (a welcome break to be sure). We’re going […]

Once a teacher …

… always a teacher. Last Tuesday (the morning after our lovely evening in the ER), I had the opportunity to speak to a class of first year med students at Case. The professor is a friend of mine and was a regular reader of Austin’s Carepage. She teaches what she’s dubbed the “touchy-feely” coursework at […]

Better safe than sorry . . .

Perhaps you think I’ve been neglecting my blog because I’ve been lounging around watching the Grey’s Anatomy premiere on DVR? No, haven’t managed to see that yet (but I must before Thursday). Or maybe you think we were whisked away on some relaxing mini-vacation? Nope, not that either. In fact, we’ve been busily finalizing our kitchen […]