Wednesday, September 29

Yesterday, Collin had another MRI to check his progress, and another lumbar puncture to make sure his CSF is still free of any cancer cells. A foley catheter was also placed while he was sedated so that his urine could be collected for 24 hours; the results of a creatinine clearance test will help the oncologist dose his upcoming chemo properly.

Today, Collin had another hearing test to monitor the effects of chemo on his hearing, and then we went to the clinic to have the catheter removed, return the consent forms for the upcoming hospital admission, and get the MRI results. The hearing test went very well, better than I expected; it showed Collin's hearing to be within normal limits in BOTH ears! Following the tumor resection, and up until today's test, his right ear has always shown some slight low frequency hearing loss, so I was very surprised to have different results today! The LP showed no signs of cancer cells in the CSF, which is what we expected. Then, the MRI showed "normal post-operative changes" and no evidence of disease! So, Collin is cleared for the next step in his treatment, the high dose chemo and the stem cell rescue. Our oncologist didn't expect anything less on the MRI, but if for some reason results would have been different, she said they couldn't go ahead with the next step, and we'd be having a different discussion. So we got the best results we could have hoped for all around today! It has certainly boosted my spirits!

This evening I had so much fun just watching Neya and Collin play together. They always have so much fun together, and it's always such a nice thing to see! The next few days will be busy with therapy appointments, and cleaning and packing the things we will take to the hospital. I'm making peace with the fact that I will get done what I can, and others will help with what I can't. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people surrounding us! I have always said I never realized how many wonderful people my kids would bring into my life, and it still holds true!