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.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Monday, November 1 - Day +19

Overall, today was a good day. Collin's morning dose of Risperdone was held to see how he would be without it; he was more awake, alert, and interactive today. He smiled, laughed, played a little, and watched some of his favorite music videos. And, he didn't have any of the tremors he had last Monday. He had a little juice from a spoon this morning, but the rest of the day didn't seem to have any interest in eating or drinking anything. His dose of Morphine was reduced, and he still seems comfortable. His weight and belly circumference have come down a little more, and most of his labs looked pretty good today. Unfortunately tonight he is running a low grade fever, so the usual blood cultures will be drawn, and he'll most likely be started back on the IV broad-spectrum antibiotics.

3 comments:

RosebudNovember 2, 2010 at 8:58 AM
Oh, good!!! Thanks for taking the time to give us an update, sweetheart!

I'm available when you need me!

Love you!
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AnonymousNovember 2, 2010 at 10:38 AM
I pray for your princey fellow daily . I am so glad things are looking better. I am in awe of the fight you and Collin are putting up against this monster called cancer. I know how difficult it is to blog in the midst of treatment and complications . Thank you for the effort you make to share Collins story . I find it inspiring as I walk this journey with my grand dtr receiving treatment for medulloblastoma at St. Jude . Praying for us all to receive miracles .

hugs to you all,
Susan Guy
susandguy@yahoo.com
caringbridge/breehaga
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AlexxNovember 4, 2010 at 2:36 AM
We continue to pray fervently for him! How about some of those Bar-B-Q chips?! :)

Love to you ALL!
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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.