Tuesday, July 24, 2012

I'm sorry I haven't updated before now! The week leading up to our trip to Houston was incredibly busy, and now that we're here, I've finally had a few days to relax, which hasn't happened in quite a while. I've been taking full advantage of it! Since arriving on Friday, we've pretty much just been "home" at my parents' house, just enjoying some down time and enjoying time together as a family. Even though I'm forty years old, there is just something nice about being at my parents' house, and feeling...taken care of, safe. It's...luxurious!

A few days after Collin's MRI, Collin's oncologist at Hershey let us know that the doctors at MD Anderson agreed with her suggestion of doing another round of chemo during this time before the radiation begins, so that the tumors don't have a chance to grow. Collin is on ten days of oral chemo (Temodar & Etoposide), which started the night we arrived in Houston, and then he will be admitted to MD Anderson on July 30 for three days for IV chemo (Cytoxan). She also let us know that the cytology from the lumbar puncture on the 13th was negative, which is what we expected, but it's always a relief to hear. She was unable to take a CSF sample from the ommaya reservoir on the 13th, so we went to clinic on Tuesday the 17th for that to be done. Collin handled it like a champ as always. He was not bothered at all by the fact that a needle was being stuck in his head; he actually started to fall asleep during the procedure. What made him angry was that he had to lay flat for about 15 minutes afterwards!

The rest of the week was spent running last minute errands, finishing laundry, cleaning up the house, packing, etc. I am not a fan of traveling, and I like to leave the house clean and in order so I don't come home to a mess to clean up, so I add to my own anxiety trying to get everything done. But it always works out, and I got everything done that I wanted to or had to before we left. One of the hardest things was saying goodbye to our dog for two months. He's getting on in years, and has had some health issues over the last few months, so leaving him was extra hard. Neya and I cried as we said goodbye, and we miss him a lot. We are blessed to be able to leave him with great friends who will take excellent care of him. We are also blessed to have great friends taking care of our house for us. I managed to get our suitcases packed AND keep them under the airline weight limit! We left our house Friday morning with plenty of time to get to the airport without having to worry about getting caught in traffic and getting through security. I was a bit nervous about getting through security with liquid medication that had to be kept cold, but everything went very smoothly. The flight went well, and overall both Neya and Collin did well on the plane. Collin was asleep before we even took off, and slept for about half the flight. He was definitely ready to get off the plane by the time we landed though!

Houston has been warm and humid, and since I am always warm, I'm definitely feeling the heat! We have encountered many kind and welcoming people, from my parents' friends and neighbors to a mom on our flight who invited us to a playdate, and a lady at the grocery store who asked if she could buy Collin a hot chocolate because she just wanted to do something nice for him. We took Collin and Neya to a house not far from where my parents live that has some goats, horses, and a longhorn steer on the property, and we stood by the fence and watched them for a few minutes. Collin was amused by the goats, and made the pretty accurate observation that they sound like sheep. He also enjoyed seeing the horses when they came over to the fence, although he was a bit intimidated by their size. We picked up our rental car yesterday, found our way to the Proton Center, and toured Ronald McDonald House. This evening Bill and I are going out to dinner by ourselves, for the second time in the last two years! Our consult at the Proton Center is Thursday morning, so I will update as soon as I can after that. As always, thank you for the prayers, positive thoughts, emails, etc. over the last few weeks!! They mean a lot to us!!