I find myself feeling disappointed and out-of-luck as we get closer and closer to the time that radiation will begin and I can’t find an out. Andy is now 95/5 in favor of radiation. My only hope is that St. Judes will come forth with something that indicates based on the DNA they extract from …
Category Archives: General
Twenty Minute Truce
Jude missed his brothers so much while he was gone, but apparently especially Levi, which was great to hear. Levi missed Jude and Andy so much too. But, Levi sure made them pay for leaving him for 2 days. He wanted nothing to do with them when they returned. When Andy asked for a hug, …
Jude and Andy Return
Levi, Asher and I will pick Jude and Andy up from the airport this afternoon. It will be good to see them. Levi’s been asking, “Jude Jude, Da Da go?” As I expected, it appears that Andy and Jude loved Jill’s House. Since Andy is such a social butterfly, I figured he’d love it. He …
Update from Indiana
Today Jude and Andy met with the radiation doctor in Indiana and I participated via phone. The most interesting things were: Since Jude’s tumors have been in the left side of his head, he would have been better off if he had been left handed (since he’s right handed and left hemisphere dominated). I don’t …
Thoughts
When I returned home last night from meeting my mother-in-law at the park-n-ride, I transferred both sleeping Levi and Asher into the house and spent some time folding laundry. It made me realize how much I missed Jude when I had to see his little clothes without him in them. It reminded me of something …
Tissue Tug of War
We have a little tissue tug of war going on. Mayo wants the 2012 tissue to run the pathology. But, our doctor at Children’s wants to send it to St. Judes to Dr. Ellison, who may be able to do some testing to predict the tumor’s behavior (likelihood to recur, spread, etc.). Since there was …
Mayo Confirms Ependymoma Diagnosis
Big bummer — Mayo’s pathologist confirmed the original diagnosis. They reviewed the 2010 slides/tissue. The pathologist said that while the tumor cells had all the required features of an ependymoma, they did not have the typical features of ependymoma. The features are apparently “striking.” Mayo has asked to see the 2012 slides/tissue. I’m going to …
Jude and Andy Prepare for Indiana
Jude is napping so I took to the time to pack him a carry on bag that Andy says is too big, but that I know will delight him. I wrote Jude a note that he’ll find in the bad: 7/1/12 Hi Jude! It’s Mommy. I wanted to tell you that I packed your favorite …
A Bit of a Nervous Wreck
I’m a bit of a nervous wreck since we decided to pursue radiation treatment. I forgot to feed Jude lunch yesterday and even forgot our own phone number when leaving a call back number for someone yesterday. Andy says he feels “awkward.” I can’t help but think that maybe this isn’t the right decision since …
Decision Made
I don’t feel too comfortable with it, but we’ve decided to go ahead with radiation. Ultimately, I was the only one on the “wait and see” side. Andy felt all along more comfortable following the opinions of the true experts, instead of me (even though I’d like to think of myself as an expert on …