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.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Thursday, January 6 - Day +85

Collin had another hearing test today to monitor his hearing, since the chemo he received can damage high frequency hearing. The test showed some loss in his right ear, but it's not enough to affect his learning to talk, and he doesn't require a hearing aide at this time. The plan is to continue to monitor his hearing, so he'll have another test in three months. He has his next MRI next Thursday, and then we will meet with both his oncologist and his neurosurgeon in the clinic on Friday.

I have mentioned two other little guys, Caiden and Sean, who we met in the hospital and are being treated with similar courses of chemo as Collin. They are one-and-a-half and two years old respectively. Both boys will be undergoing stem cell transplants within the next few weeks. Please keep them and their families in your prayers!

1 comment:

UnknownJanuary 7, 2011 at 4:01 PM
Oh that Collin!! Look at him with hair...too cute!! The news continues to be so good for him..what a blessing!!

Consider Caiden and Sean prayed for here in Randolph!!!
Hugs to all these brave boys...and too many others all over...
Dawn
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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.