Our Little Princey Fellow - Collin Cureageous

When Collin was born, his sister called him her "princey fellow." Collin was diagnosed with High Risk Metastatic Medulloblastoma (a brain tumor that had spread to his spine) on 4/22/10 at 16 months of age. He has had brain surgery, high dose chemo, an autologous stem-cell rescue, maintenance chemo, a phase II trial, more chemo, and radiation to his brain and spine. He has relapsed twice, but is fighting with such strength and courage, we have more recently dubbed him Collin Cureageous.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Saturday, June 5

Today was a quiet day. Collin slept well last night and woke up calmly this morning. He still seemed somewhat drowsy most of the day. My Mom and I took him for a nice long walk around the inside of the hospital. We took him out into a courtyard for a few minutes, but he didn't seem to like being outside. He started to fuss and was rubbing the top of his head. It was cloudy and shaded where we were, so there wasn't warm sun beating down on him. There was a slight breeze, and we wondered if the breeze just felt different since he has no hair. Maybe the light was too bright for him compared to the inside lighting. It's hard to know since he can't tell us. At lunch, Collin ate a half jar of babyfood applesauce and half of a snack cup of pudding. At dinner, he finished the applesauce. He had no problems with swallowing. Our pediatrician stopped in to see how Collin was doing, and couldn't get over how much he's improved since his visit a few weeks ago. He watched Collin throw a ball, try to talk, give high fives, and eat babyfood. In the evening, Collin seemed uncomfortable; he still hadn't pooped, and his stomach seemed to hurt. He was given another dose of laxative and Morphine. He was then able to go to sleep.

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I am the proud mom of 2 wonderful kids, Neya (born in 2004) and Collin (born in 2008). When Collin was born, Neya loved princesses, and called her baby brother her "princey fellow." As a mom, my greatest fear in life is something happening to one of my children. My fear was realized when my sweet 16 month old son was diagnosed with cancer in April of 2010. I have watched him go through things no child should ever experience, and I am in awe of his strength. He is my hero.

I have learned that cancer is the #1 cause of disease-related death in children under the age of 20, killing more than asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined. 46 children are diagnosed with cancer every single day. 7 children die from cancer every single day. 1 out of every 5 children diagnosed with cancer will die. There are 5 children diagnosed with cancer for every one diagnosed with pediatric AIDS, yet only $20,000 is invested in cancer research for every $595,000 invested in pediatric AIDS research. Of the National Cancer Institute's budget of $4.6 billion, breast cancer received 12%, prostate cancer received 7%, and all 12 major groups of pediatric cancer combined received less than 3%.

I started this blog as a way of keeping loved ones and friends updated on Collin. Now I also hope that his story will help raise awareness about Medulloblastoma and all childhood cancers. Awareness about childhood cancer needs to be increased so that it may some day receive the funding it deserves so that a cure can be found. Children deserve the chance to grow up and live their dreams; they shouldn't have to fight for the chance to live.

For more information on Medulloblastoma, view this document from the American Brain Tumor Association web site.