Smile!

So many pictures...so little knowledge. Dang. Chase had his 2+ hour MRI tonight. He didn't get an actual report (Friday night, not critical, need I say more?) He did get a CD full of indecipherable pictures to peruse for the next few days. Actually, he's to hand deliver them to Houston on Tuesday, but I'll peruse them for the next few days! He said he didn't mind. So here are a few for you!

Here we see his head. And a bit of his nose, mouth, and tongue. There's a brain too. Looks fine to me! Oh, I'm sure the doctors know what they're seeing, it's just me who's frustrated.

I just thought this was a pretty view from the top.
Not anywhere near where the tumor was, but it looks neat.

I do wish I could learn what all this stuff means. Without having to go through years of school or anything time consuming or expensive like that...

This is the back of his head - yup, those are his ears off to either side.

Chase and Judith will be spending tomorrow packing for their month or so in Houston. How do you pack for a month??? Pack for a week and plan on laundry, I guess. I don't know if we'll have any news before Tuesday, but if anything interesting happens (like an actual report on this MRI), I'll blog it right here.

Now there are three heading to Houston - Chase, Judith, and me! No frequent flyer miles needed after all - Judith sent me a link to some cheeeeap Air Tran deals.

So Judith's happy, John's sad, and the cats will be whining. A lot. Go with your strengths, kitties. And John.

Mom always said that after a few days, fish and guests both stink. Thankfully, Air Tran's deal allows me to stay just until Thursday. I can be Judith's "brains" and an extra set of ears for Chase's first appointment Tuesday morning, help them get settled in the apartment someone's generously providing (I'll bring the wireless router!), and maybe even find a good Tex-Mex place before heading for home.

Chase's 2 hour MRI is scheduled for Friday - tonight - 8PM! We expect a good report. Pretty please...

Not too much dust on the blog - it hasn't even been a week!

Now on to the next phase - Proton radiation at MD Anderson in Houston. We hope. Maybe I'm the only one still holding my breath about the final okay from the insurance company. Judith's forging ahead, and Chase is...well, I'm not sure he's too concerned either. Mostly he's making the most of his time left in NC before flying down to Houston on Sunday. He's probably also trying to avoid thinking about his next MRI, scheduled for Friday at 8PM. Or maybe I'm just projecting.

Chase's radiation doc sent some pathology slides. Every time I look at stuff like this I think I'll be able to make some sense out of 'em.

Nope, not this time either. Good luck y'all.

I'm trying to figure out if I should also fly to Houston and be Judith's "brains" for Chase's first appointment down there. I'm sure they'll do fine (she's gotten much better at parsing doctorspeak - really!), but I can help her retain stuff and I'm pretty good at google. If I don't go, who would do the blog? But if I leave, my husband will just work even later hours than usual, and then who would the cats whine to for food?

There are no frequent flyer seats back until the following Sunday. Can Judith and I spend a week together without turning into sparring siblings? Will Houston have enough chocolate?

Pictures from his final (full) day yesterday. He got out this morning, but ended up napping most of the day. Not a side effect of chemo, but because the nurses kept him awake all last night playing UNO!

Here's the door art they all signed for him - quite the souvenir:

Chase's self proclaimed "brotha from anotha motha":

Lots of cute nurses:

The artistic(?) shot. The guy in the back...needs to get out more.
Yes he really wanted to pose that way.

All pictures are clickable - click 'em to enlarge.

MRI scheduled for Friday the 12th, at 8PM.

:: thinking positive ::

Time to celebrate!

.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*
bb'bbb*bbbbbbb+bbb#bbbbbbb~bbb*b b
bbb`bbb\bbb%bbbbb\bbb*bbb+bb^bb bb
bbb/bbbbbb}bbb~bbbbb/bb^bbb~bbb#bbb
bbbbb+bbbbb-bbb^b*bb-bb b#bbbbb{bbb
bb~bbbbb^bbbb*bbbb.bbb}bbbb>bbbbbbb
.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*


Thus endeth my lame efforts at ASCII confetti.

Stop laughing!

Today, er, yesterday was Chase's last full day of Chemo, so there was much rejoicing. And picture taking. And more picture taking. And more with this camera, and some with that one... Now if blogger would actually let me post pictures tonight, I'd do so, but that will have to wait until until it's fixed. Meanwhile I'll be working on the red-eye reduction. Really, do they keep y'all totally in the dark there? Wow...

Judith, Mom, and I talked quite a bit with Chase's radiation oncologist tonight (mouths "sorry" to his 6 year old daughter waiting impatiently at home). He feels confident that Chase will do best with the Proton radiation down at MD Anderson, and is following up with the insurance company, still proceeding sslloowwllyy through the approval process.

Chase needs a final 2 hour MRI before the docs can decide just how much radiation treatment he'll need. If they see "complete response" (no sign of the tumor), he'll need just 3 1/2 weeks of daily treatment in Houston. If there's still something hanging around, it'll be more. With his 75% reduction after the first half of chemo, we hope/think/pray he'll have that complete response.

Then we break out the real confetti!

After a bit of back and forth (and a little wangling from Judith), Chase is back in the hospital for his final chemo. Yeah!

His numbers didn't bounce back as quickly as last time, which I guess is understandable, but still... The first doctor who reviewed his labs tried to send him home, but Judith got a copy of the report, noticed it was just slightly out of range, and sweet talked Dr. Gold into letting Chase stay and start chemo. Heck, they'd already started the fluids - hate to waste a needle stick!

Chase is such an old hat at this now he wheeled his IV pole down to admitting and got himself registered while Judith traipsed back and forth to the car a couple times to unload all their stuff. He's back on the 5th floor of the Children's hospital again, so he'll get to bug all his favorite nurses one last time.

I last talked to Judith at 7PM and they still hadn't actually started the chemo, but I trust by now the day's dose is done. He'll be in tomorrow for sure and he may be in a third night, depending. Last time he got out after two, though, so we'll see. I know Chase (along with everyone else) is ready to get this DONE!

Christmas was fun. Now, not so much. First, the fun...


Yeah, this probably looks funny to the three of you who use 800x600 displays, but I wanted to try out using a table. A very, very basic table, but I like it anyway!

Back to the post-Christmas letdown... Chase's bloodwork yesterday was very bad. His ANC is back down to the dreadful .2 so he wasn't able to start his final chemo today as originally scheduled. His next target date is January 2nd. In the meantime, he's home in Greensboro trying to act like a normal kid on Christmas break, which means heading out to visit friends and such.

"Get back in here and wash your hands!"

No, he didn't catch anything major the last time his ANC crashed, but that doesn't mean he won't this time, something he won't deign to consider. If he thinks back, though, he did have that skin infection that added 2 nights to his last chemo session.

Purell anyone? Make that Purell everyone!

Merry Christmas!
Judith promised, in her copious spare time, that she would take a picture of the family in front of the tree for me to post in the blog. Since that has yet to appear in my inbox, I improvised!

Why yes, I'm very, very bad at photoshopping. It's more like photo chopping.... But the sentiment is there - Merry Christmas! And it will be a good one!

If this doesn't remind her that she needs to drag the camera out and make everyone smile, nothing will.

Chase's last blood tests were, according to the nurse, not too bad yet. Interesting choice of words, but nothing was tagged "CL" this time, which is good. His ANC was a relatively healthy 1.5 (normally greater than 2.0), rather than the .2 that spooked us all last time. His next test is around the 27th, and he should be going in for his final chemo on the 28th, or thereabouts, then on to Houston for radiation.

But enough of that for now - let's enjoy the season!

Note to self: Dr. Pepper has a lot of caffeine! Buzzzzzz.... But at least I got this blog and some more wrapping done!

Not a heck of a lot to report, but yes, we're all still here. Frantically shopping & wrapping (or is that just me). Chase did mention he enjoyed a jam session - he on his guitar and a friend whose name escapes me on a mandolin.
Is this the video, Chase?



I guess not. That guitar player has way too much hair!

Although Chase is losing even more hair, he swears he's feeling back to normal. Bloodwork Wednesday will tell the tale. The good thing is that he's getting it drawn near home in Greensboro instead of having to make the trip to Chapel Hill. The bad news is, who knows when he'll actually get the results.

So far he's still hanging on to those eyebrows and lashes, but we'll always be able to tell this year's Christmas pictures from the rest!

Today must have gone better since I woke Judith an hour ago for an update and she said he was out playing poker. So put away those violins, at least for now.

He still tires quickly, gets a bit queasy sometimes, and grumbles because his brother has absconded with his car, but he's getting better. It's probably for the best if he doesn't drive anyway, because of the whole tired, queasy scenario. I'm just happy he has friends who will keep him busy (or as busy as he can tolerate).

Judith did a blog comment/update over here, and as far as I know, that's about it until something interesting happens (or someone sends me pictures!)

A queasy day...

Sleep, eat a bite or two, sleep, shower, sleep, snack. Repeat until it's time to go to bed.

Is he glad to be home? I don't really know, but if he doesn't feel better tomorrow Judith says she's going to get home health out there to give him IV something until he does. He did make a feeble attempt to go out with Griffin but he came home within 30 minutes to, you guessed it, sleep.

I know this is expected, more or less, and I know everyone at the hospital says he's doing great, considering, but it doesn't make it easier to watch (or, no doubt, endure).

Here's hoping tomorrow's a better day!

Whew! That chemo session's over, and not a moment too soon. Chase wasn't feeling too hot even before they hung the chemo today, so they gave him a good dosing of anti-nausea meds and some stuff to make him vewy sleeeeeepy.

His last request before dozing off was for some of Logan's mouthwatering, made-from-scratch yeast rolls (their words, not his). We drew the line at driving to Greensboro to scratch that particular itch, but we did hand deliver some of O'Charley's fresh baked rolls instead. They smelled so good they almost didn't make it all the way to Chapel Hill...

Surprisingly, they sent him home tonight, apparently with lots of prescriptions for nausea and such. This session was definitely rougher than the first, but he still got through it extraordinarily well. His blood counts, though, will probably bottom out around Christmas, so we may need to keep those masks by the door. We really, really don't want him to get sick!

Chase and Judith are hoping to go to MD Anderson in Houston for Chase's simulation appointment next week sometime, which may include getting one of these funky masks made to keep his head still during radiation sessions.

After Christmas he's scheduled for his final short chemo session at UNC (the milder Vincristine and Cyclophospamide stuff), then back to Houston for several weeks of radiation.

Things will get a little slow around here now, but I'll update as things happen!

Is it almost midnight yet?

Good, 'cause I'll be glad when this day is over! My plans for a weekend NYC trip never got off the ground (sobs), the great state of NC moved an exit ramp I'd used for 15+ years(that was embarassing), and :: gasp :: cute glasses girl has a boyfriend (nobody tells me anything!)

But you're here for Chase. Oops. So...he had a better day than I (or at least less embarrassing). Pretty good morning, nauseating afternoon, and a decent evening. Funny how he got queasy shortly after wolfing down the mac & cheese I brought.

Nice bowl there, Chase. Hope it's clean!

I trust his nausea was less a commentary on my cooking than a correlation with chemo... ONE MORE DOSE and he's done with Cisplatin for life - at least that's our expectation and fervent hope.

Short on wheelchairs today Ashley?

Maybe he just enjoys being pushed around? I don't know if it's a Chase thing, or a Judith thing, but they seem to be taking a lot of pictures of Chase riding his IV stand. I guess you take your amusement when and where you can when you're in the hospital.

One more dose Tuesday, perhaps a final night in the hospital, but if all goes well, he'll be outta there until after Christmas!

Not the best of days...

I don't know that I should say Chase had a bad day, but he was definitely feeling a bit, um, green most of the time. Yeah, I know, Cisplatin ain't supposed to be easy, and at least the anti-nausea drugs did their magic so he kept what little food he consumed where it belonged.

I'm acutely disappointed though. He apparently craved mac & cheese at one point, and I would cheerfully have followed the directions on that blue and yellow box and delivered, but I was not apprised. :: scowls at Judith ::

So I never made it over there today because he had visitors and/or nausea all day. Tomorrow's a weekday, though, so I figure Mom & I will get the green light to visit (unless he's really feeling green, that is). So, should I take M&C? or those cinnamon pecans? or will he just want someone to beat in the game of (oh please, oh please, mexican train, oh please) Spades?

Next time I volunteer to host a Christmas party, would someone please smack me? At least the house is clean(er) and I have a jar of cinnamon pecans to take to Chase tomorrow! If I ever wake up, that is. Which would require me to actually go to bed. Funny that.

I can hear Judith's eyes rolling from here...
All that's missing is the "Y", the "A", and a couple more "L"s!
Next year?

Chase's favorite nurse suited up to give him chemo.

Judith liked this one, so I added it. What's that saying?
I keep giving, you keep taking, and all is right with the world?

I did get multiple reports that Chase had some of his favorite visitors so perhaps all is right in his world too.

'Night all!

:: Sigh :: I misplaced the camera with today's pictures on it. Sorry...hopefully it'll return from its personal black hole soon!

Mom and I headed to Chapel Hill this afternoon, braving the traffic, 'cause Chase was starving and needed a Quizno's sub (please and thank you). When we got there we noticed he was in a surprisingly good mood. What happened? Well, I'm not one to notice much, but I think it might have had something to do with his visitor with the cute glasses. Maybe she'll show up again so I can snoo...um, collect more data. Or maybe he was just looking forward to eating that sub. At any rate, it was nice to see him so cheerful especially considering he'd perfected the sullen teenager act the last couple of days.

One day of chemo down; four more to go. He tried to convince the nurse to push it so he could get out faster. I think her description of how it affected one girl's digestive system properly deterred him. I won't ruin your breakfast (lunch, dinner) by recounting, but think really bad stomach flu...

I got coerced into playing Spades instead of my beloved Mexican Train. I lost.

Chemo's delayed one more day, dangit, and my keyboard's acting up, so this will be short (stop cheering!)

Delaying chemo didn't make Chase happy, but hitching a ride on the IV pole got a smile.

Those of you who live and drive around Greensboro, watch out! Jacob's on the loose!

Yup, he's now legal, which means more work for Judith's hair colorist...and mine.

As for Chase, tonight they start pumping in the fluids and the Cisplatin starts in the morning. I hope this round goes as smoothly as the first!

Woo-hooooooo!

Half way through Chase's chemo, and the tumor's down by 75%! And they couldn't find any nasty bits left on his spine! And his blood work is great! WOW!

Backing up a bit...he was scheduled for a head only MRI the morning of 12/7 when he was originally scheduled to be readmitted for his next round of chemo (#3 of 4). Since he had that small infection he went in on 12/5 and they found a slot this morning for the full 2 hour scan. So YEAH!

Chase asked Dr. Gold if that meant he still had to do radiation in January, and he said "Unfortunately, yes". Well, that first word actually was only four letters long, but this is a family blog...

I know, I know, it's heading into exam time, but if you need a break, come on up and visit Chase. He's still on the 5th floor of the Children's hospital. The pool table, air hockey, and basketball thingamajig are still there. Besides, I'm bringing cookies!

-----------

For those of you who were confused by my last blog entry (like apparently my entire family less Chase), just think of what you hear when no one's talking:

:: crickets ::

Aww, if you have to explain...

Anyway - Woo-Hooooooooo!

I'm baaaack!

So y'all want to hear about my exciting weekend? And who I met on the plane?

:: crickets ::

Would you be more interested if I showed you this picture?



Well, y'all are no fun...

Yikes. Just as I was about to post this, I got a call from Judith stating that Chase is headed to the hospital tonight. Seems he has an infected spot on his face which, with his weakened immune system, means an overnight hospital stay with IV antibiotics. Phooey.

I should have more info later tonight, but this is a bit of a setback and may interfere with Thursday's scheduled start for his next round of chemo.

And that's no fun either.

Nope, no news, and there won't be any blogs this weekend unless Mitch gets industrious or Judith hacks the password. I'm trying to make an end run around this midwest storm and fly to Chicago a day early. Gotta go see some good friends and my favorite singer in the whole world sing Christmas songs to me!

I did finally manage to talk to Judith. Chase told her had a great time at the basketball game last night, and then, in an offhand manner, mentioned that Karena's roommate (I've been corrected - suitemate) has mono. And now Jacob has some sort of viral mouth problem. I think Chase needs to go stay at Camp Grandma's, at least she's healthy!

Snow, snow, go away...never thought I'd say that!

I got some help from Chase yesterday after his uneventful Vincristine shot. He, Judith, and Mom helped me move a 140lb monster of TV from my living room over to Mom's house. Piece of cake, he said. Riiiiight. Actually, he and I hauled the beast; Judith held doors and Mom just laughed at us. I wish she'd had a camera 'cause we had to try angling it about 16 different ways before we could clear the door jamb without removing any fingers. Chase perfected "deadpan" when I asked him to move around to the side of the TV. "I can't, it's on my toes". Mitch and Karen get to move that thing back out of Mom's house, and this time I'll hold the door (and the camera - hee!)

Chase's lab work wasn't so great (almost all the mysterious acronyms were highlighted "L"), but from Dr. Gold's attitude, not unexpected at this point. He did say don't hang around a stable (oops! How'd he know about last weekend?) Anyway, his ANC (infection fighting cells) was tagged "CL", which I suspect means critically low... I'm surprised the good doc said it was okay for him to go to the Carolina game on Wednesday. If you see him, feel free to remind him to wash his hands! And whatever you do, don't sneeze on him!

He has about a week to get those numbers up before his next chemo session, tentatively scheduled for 12/7. He's also scheduled to have an MRI early that morning to check how the chemo's working on the tumor.

I don't know whether to get excited or just break out into a cold sweat.

Having recovered from my food induced coma...I have some more pics to offer. No news, but isn't that supposed to be good news?

Here's the whole crowd for Thanksgiving, minus Buddy, who was behind the camera. I was going to identify everyone here, but I figure if you don't know who they are, you probably don't care!



Hey, I could do it like this - from left to right, Chase's Uncle, Chase's Grandmother, Chase's Cousin, Chase's Uncle, Chase's Aunt, Chase's Aunt, Chase's Grandmother, and Chase! And smack in the middle of things (nothing new there) is Chase's Mom. Well, and Chase's Mom's Dog, but you figured that out all by yourself, didn't you.

Did Jacob not know we were all coming for Thanksgiving dinner?
Sorry sweetie, you missed out! But I'm sure you had fun with Joey.

Torturing the dog - do dogs really need coats? In NC?
It was shorts weather today!

Buddy and Chase watching football on the big screen.
I swear they're looking more alike every day...

So now can I start with the Christmas decorating? Please? I have a bunch of new Christmas music to listen to!

Tomorrow's Thanksgiving, and boy do we have a lot to be thankful for! Chase is doing very well, and tomorrow we'll all be snoozing in front of football on the big screen TV at the Jones' house after eating too much good food, I'm sure. Well, most of us will, but Chase will escape shortly after dinner to spend the rest of the weekend with his friend Griffin. Oh, and Jacob's already left for a weekend with a friend too. Hmmmm.... could be a very quiet weekend then. YES! :: fist pump ::

Ahem.

Of course we'd rather they were here with us, but we make the neccesary sacrifices so the kids will be happy.

Speaking of happy - Chase finally got someone to shave the fuzzies off his head. Looks good!

So far he's hanging on to his eyebrows and lashes, which is nice. Hope it lasts!

Here are a couple of old pics Judith just sent me, both taken as he was being released from the NICU back in early October. Can you tell we'd just gotten the good news that this was a beatable tumor?

His two favorite NICU nurses.

Judith's favorite picture.

Monday he gets a Vincristine shot, and then he'll have some bloodwork around the 5th of December to see when he can start on his next 5 day inpatient chemo session.

Until then, Happy Thanksgiving, Y'all!

:: drags self back to the kitchen to peel more potatoes ::

Heh. I finally turned the tables on Judith and woke her up with a phone call! I have to gloat 'cause that just never happens!

One anecdote to add from yesterday. Unbeknownst to Chase, a very nice nurse passed two tickets for the basketball game on to Judith and Buddy. They slipped into their seats, caught sight of Chase closer to the floor, and called his cell phone.

"Look up and to your right, Chase".

"No Way!"

:: waves ::

Poor kid can't ever get away from his parents...

I'm still waiting for the promised phone call from Judith, so all I know about today is that he flew through chemo, got released Sunday morning, watched Carolina blow by some insignificant basketball team*, and then got stuck in that awful I-40 construction traffic on their way to Raleigh for dinner with Buddy's family. Well, that and they reclaimed their dog from Mom and headed for Greensboro for a couple days.

I'm sure Mom misses JD's company, but not the paw prints on the bed!

Chase gets another shot of Vincristine either late this week or early next, depending on the hospital's holiday schedule, then he's not due back until December 5th at the earliest.

Is this whole chemo thing slow or what?

*Apologies to any Garner-Webb fans, but 103 to 50???

Late blog tonight, but I learned something today - if you want to get treated quickly at the ER, show up in an ambulance! That still doesn't mean you'll get out quickly, but thankfully Chase's uncle John is fine (and I have a few more gray hairs). Any more hospital tours and we'll be forced to start writing reviews to keep them all straight!

Although I didn't win one stinkin' game of Mexican Train today, Chase had a decent, if boring, day. This round of chemo is much quicker and less nausea inducing than the last one, so he should be out by the time Carolina plays basketball tomorrow at 1PM. Speaking of basketball:



That's Eric Montross towering over Chase! And Chase is, what, about 5'9"? So that makes Eric...really, really tall. He played for UNC in the 90's, went on to play in the NBA and is now UNC's basketball commentator. He has a Father's Day basketball camp that has donated thousands to the North Carolina's Children's hospital, so he was there on the radiothon day to help out. Thanks, Eric!

And with that, I'm off to bed. May tomorrow be completely uneventful. And may Carolina win.

Finally! He got a room!

So this round is "just" three days (instead of the previous cycle's five), and the drugs he's getting this time (Vincristine and Cyclophospamide) are supposed to be a little easier on him than the last. We'll see.

It was a late start and both Chase and Judith are tired, so not much to report besides a few zzzzzs.

Goodnight Chase!
Goodnight Judith!

Meet you in the Teen Center tomorrow afternoon!

Chase got to meet Kellie Pickler this morning! I missed out 'cause I need my beauty sleep. Apparently she doesn't. Chase says she's even prettier in person.

Today was the NC Children's Hospital radiothon, and there was MUCH activity in the Hospital lobby. Fourteen radio stations were set up to do live broadcasts, the local cable TV news channel was there all day, and they had a lot of country music folks there to entertain, including, of course, Kellie Pickler. Chase and Judith got front row seats for her mini concert, and Chase got to chat with her. Unfortunately, busy girl that she is, she couldn't stay for dinner with Chase. Bold kid there...he asked!

Many of the radio stations wanted to spice up their live broadcasts by talking to current and former patients, so Chase got interviewed by several in the morning. I hear he was quite articulate, but again, I was working on that beauty sleep so I missed hearing him. I almost got to record his final interview this evening, but I couldn't tune in the station! :: glares at the radio ::

At least Judith got some pictures:

Okay, that was fun, but he's really ready to start that darn chemo. His numbers were up enough (yeah!), but even thought they hung out all day, no beds became available (boo!) A "few" kids are due to be discharged tomorrow, so they'll hit the road again in the morning and hope he can be admitted to get that stuff going!

In other news, things are looking good for proton radiation at MD Anderson in Houston! It's not Jacksonville, but at least it's not Boston!

Waiting is no fun!

Chase is due at UNC tomorrow at 8AM (yes, 8AM in the morning!) for another blood draw. If his numbers are good enough, he will be admitted for chemo, if not, there will be another day of ennui, peevishness, and stridency* - and that's from the adults!

Tomorrow's also the UNC Children's Hospital Radiothon, so it could be interesting. Dr. Gold's trying to arrange for Chase to meet Kellie Pickler ('cause she's a hottie), but Judith really wants to meet Darryl Worley (note to Buddy - not because she thinks he's cute or anything).

Maybe we'll get pictures!

--------------------------
* The dictionary links are not intended for Judith's use. I'm sure she would have no need whatsoever to look these words up in the dictionary. **

** She made me add that.

Now entering a "no spin" zone.



Today...was not a good day. Chase went to Chapel Hill this morning with every expectation of being admitted for his second round of chemo. Unfortunately, no. His blood tests were too low. Although I think white is what they're most concerned about, both his white and red counts were low.

So that means waiting. Oh goodie. He'll get more blood tests on Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed. I suspect this will throw off his whole chemo schedule, but we really don't know. It's all new to us.

I thought Chase would like to contribute a blog entry (stop laughing!) I did get one quote, however. "Cancer sucks". He's probably doing a better job than I would at not spiraling down into depression, but he ain't having a good time. Playing Hand and Foot with your Mom, Aunt, and Grandma can only entertain for so long. He humors me by playing Mexican Train, which stretches it out a little more. Of course what he really wants to do is go back to school, or at least visit his school friends, who are all busy with classes and whatnot. Then there's that whole infection worry too.

Sigh.

So his hair's falling out and his head itches. He wants to go do stuff, but he's tired. He's hungry and yet has no appetite. It's quite the change from 6 weeks ago when he was "free" at school. Now has to listen to Mom tell him what he can't do (and Grandma too).

We'll get through it, but yeah, cancer sucks.

CHASE'S SONG is being worked on with a good friend and co-writer of mine named Donna Galbraith. We will let you know when it is all wrapped up and ready. If you would like to check out some other songs we have written. You can visit my MySpace Music Page
"Uncle" Mitch Townley
Knoxville, TN

Awwww...Judith posted this in a blog comment, and I figured someone might actually want to read it! (Please disregard my blushing...)

Blog comments don't allow for formatting, so if it's chopped up too much, that's my mistake. You really can't have too many paragraphs, can you?

Well, I thought it was about time that I made a comment. I can't say enough about the blog and what my sister does. She sure can write and say things in such a humorous way, even if it isn't so funny. But I have to say that I could not have made it through this past month without her. Thanks Beth for all your wisdom, warmth, words and humor during this time of, well, stress and worry.

To my sister Karen in Tenn., I know that you are doing all that you can from there and wish you could be here more often. Don't worry, your prayers are felt and I know you are here in spirit. That song of Mitch's is awesome and we are looking forward to that being put to music!

To Mom, you are always my steadfast strength. Thanks for hanging in there with me for no one knows the pain like this more than you do and so you and I can really appreciate each other's company now. I love you Mom.

Also, to all the other prayer warriors out there. Thanks to you too. Keep those prayers coming. Those are felt and have kept me sane through this time.

To those who have provided meals, my family thanks you tremendously and so do I. It is a great relief to not have to worry about what is for dinner, not to mention that we are enjoying the variety of foods as we are not picky about what we eat. Chase seems to be eating everything. His appetite has certainly not been hurt and for that I am glad. The only thing we have found he cannot tolerate well is Mexican food which is too bad because he really loves it. :-(

I need to thank many people too, who donated leave time to me so that I may stay home with Chase. This time with him has become very precious to me. There have not been many days yet in which he has been very sick, those may come. But the stays in the hospital and days to come in January and February away from home will be hard and would not be possible if it were not for the many giving people in the schools and other people who work for the State. Thanks SO MUCH for donating leave time for me! Thank you for allowing me to put this on the blog.

Please know that we appreciate all of you who pray, call, come by or just think about us from time to time. We will get through this major bump in the road!

Thanks to all of you.
Judith

When bad stuff happens, you sure find out how many friends you have, and boy, do y'all have friends!

I just got the call - the most anticipated side effect of chemo has started... He's losing his hair. He was briefly fascinated with pulling out hanks of hair on his legs and arms. The stuff on his head is still too short to grip, but it looks like soon he'll be bald from his toes to his dome.

So that's the bad news, but the good news is we know he actually got the "good stuff" and not just a bunch of saline or something. He'd had so few side effects I was beginning to worry (hey, it's something I do well, so I stick with it!)

Mom and I went to Greensboro to see how the family was doing, check out that HDTV (wow...), fix a porch light, get our toenails painted, pick out all the chocolate in the Halloween leftovers, and just in general annoy Chase and Jacob like it was our job. All in all a fun day (at least for me - heh).

Chase takes after his father with that competitive edge. He certainly didn't get it from our side of the family! We played a round of Scrabble in the afternoon. I specialized in 2 and 3 letter words, while Mom existed solely to block any and all of Chase's big plans. I don't know who won that game, but I doubt it was me.

We girls went to get our toenails painted, and Mom got her fingernails buffed and polished while Judith and I browsed Costco. Then we tried to convince the guys at Brewster's that it was raining and we should get that free second scoop of ice cream. Didn't work :-(. But it was good stuff anyway, and Judith got 4 punches on her card because we made a "new best friend" of another customer. Mom can talk to anyone, and Judith ain't half bad either.

Back at the house, I knew carting tools around for Dad years ago would come in handy! I managed to fix their front porch light so all the wonderful folks bringing dinners would not trip up the stairs and splatter the meatloaf on the storm door. I don't know if y'all realize how much the family appreciates those dinners, but they do! And it's yummy stuff too! (needs more chocolate though)

I have a new favorite game to play - Mexican Train! Their next door neighbor (and stress reliever extraordinaire) Lori brought over Courtney, Katie and a double 12 dominos set to teach us all the game of Mexican Train. Chase (first time player) challenged Courtney (experienced player), and only those two kept score. Things didn't go well for Chase this time, but since that game's now on my Christmas list, we'll get more experience and you can beat her next time, right Chase?

Just a few more days and back in to UNC hospital he goes. I think I'd better stock up on DVDs...

Halloween pictures!

I think they took a long time because somebody decided to crop herself out. Humpf!

But how did she manage to crop the bike out too?

Chase seems to be holding up well, although he tainted his Carolina blue soul by going the State game this weekend (they lost, of course).

As for chemo side effects, the only complaints I've heard are a bit of tinnitus and, oddly enough, sensitive teeth. I hope that stuff's doing its job on the tumor! We have to wait until week 10 or so (around the end of the year) for a 2 hour long MRI to assess his progress. Can't wait! (I think).

Still no word from Karena on those Halloween pics! What's up with that?

Mom insisted I add this video. But really, is there anyone left who hasn't seen the Evolution of Dance?



Best 6 minutes on YouTube...

Before it starts to echo in here, I thought I'd give the tiniest of updates, and hope that in doing so I can flush out Karena's Halloween pictures that Chase swears she took. Karena, where are you?

Judith dragged Chase shopping for winter clothes today. I'm sure that was fun. But he has something warm to wear to this weekend's NC State game here in Raleigh. And he went for a run. Really, if he needs exercise, my lawn needs mowing...and I have cookies!

He has just under 2 weeks to recover from chemo before he gets stuck back in the hospital for the next round on November 14th. This second round might even be a bit easier since the first round was 5 days of Cisplatin (which is supposed to be the worst) along with Etoposide, and the next will be only 3 days of Vincristine and Cyclophospamide. Two more cycles, one of each, ending around the first of the year, then 3-6 weeks of radiation. Somewhere.

Updates will be sparse until the 14th, so shoo! Browse around the blogsphere; play some Bejeweled (or for the more erudite, Bookworm). Mow my lawn (remember - cookies!) Check out the Waiter Rant blog (PG 13, but it's really good, and not all about being a waiter). Watch these guys make a Mother's Day card. Hee! I always think of Chase and Jacob when I see this (and I mean that in the nicest way ;-). Laugh at celebrity clothing choices on Go Fug Yourself (again, PG13 and not for everyone). See if you can catch the geyser on the Old Faithful WebCam (I've yet to time it right myself). If you're really bored, you can dust off my old blog about bathroom remodeling and other expensive hobbies (scroll all the way down to start at the beginning). I was learning how to blog along with a bunch of more creative Clay Aiken fans, so there are a "few" Clay mentions mixed in with the renovations, garden stuff, travel stuff, and just stuff.

Or start your own blog and see if you can post when there ain't no news!

Pardon any chocolate smears on the blog tonight, but it is Halloween. Chase, as far as we know, is currently wandering around on Franklin Street. I don't see him, do you?

Wait, here's a closer picture:

Oh yeah, that helps...

I hope Chase doesn't mind that he travels with an entourage consisting of his mom and his aunt. Think like a Rock Star, Chase! This afternoon he and his peeps went to see the Radiation Oncologist, another good doctor (there seem to be a lot of them here!) By good, I mean he talks so we can understand him, makes sense, and answers all our questions, even if it does take more than an hour and lands us all in rush hour traffic.

The Proton radiation still seems like the best overall choice. I don't think it necessarily works any better on the tumor, but it should keep side effects to a minimum (and we're looking at the 50 year plan here). The two possible stumbling blocks are finding him a slot, and getting the insurance company to pay for it (which shouldn't be a problem, but we don't have a definitive answer yet). We'd drag him and his surgical masks to Boston during flu season if that's the only place with room.

When we shook hands to leave, I slipped the doc a $20 and mouthed "Jacksonville". Think it'll work?

Nothing much to report tonight. He's home and, while not exactly feeling normal, he's hanging in there. If chemo's so tough on the digestive system, why's he craving Mexican food? Maybe he's looking forward to a trip to Texas, but I'd rather he be craving some fish, caught fresh off the coast of Florida, if you know what I mean.

Sadly, unless Mom offers up a more persuasive argument than I've managed, it seems we'll be missing out on the Disney magic this January. No Kennedy Space Center, no beach, just a lot of gas (not from Mexican food) driving to Houston. What fun!

I guess I've flogged that dead horse about enough now....

Bald head, complete with surgery scars, USPS jersey and bike shorts, surgical mask, IV pole & bag - what's this? Chase is going as Lance Armstrong to tomorrow's big Halloween shindig on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. Dry Press release here; scary news item here. His doctor said it was okay to go and I hope he'll have fun.

Actually I hope it gets cold and rainy and he doesn't want to go.

Stay safe! And bring back pictures!

Home!

Nobody sent me a picture of him kissing the front walk, but I'm sure he did, right? Anyway, he was released this morning with lots of instructions, prescriptions, and a box of surgical masks. Last I heard they were watching his tail lights disappear as he left to visit friends. I guess he's not too sick yet! Really, he did extraordinarily well on his first run through, but he does get tired a bit earlier than the average teenager.

The kicker today was a visit from the radiation oncologist. No matter how well the chemo shrinks the tumor, he's going to have to endure radiation treatment too. Traditional photon radiation helps destroy the tumor, but it can damage adjacent tissue as well, so it's worrisome. We want to keep that fine brain working well for our future president...

There's a relatively new form of radiation therapy called Proton Therapy. It does its job a bit more precisely, so it causes less collateral damage. That's the good news. The bad news is that it's only available in a few places here in the US: the Loma Linda, CA and Boston, MA centers are old hands, then there's Bloomington, IN, Houston, TX, and the newest in Jacksonville, FL, which just treated its first patient in August. Have they worked out the bugs yet?

The doctor mentioned Boston as the place they generally refer. Boston? In January? :: shivers :: MD Anderson in Houston is relatively new, but Judith and Buddy have contacts there who might help smooth the way. Jacksonville's an easy drive from NC, close to the beach for restorative weekends, close to Disney World for exhausting weekends, close to the Kennedy Space Center for infomative weekends, and Mom might even be able to get a time share there, which beats the heck out of hotels for the minimum 3 week treatment span.

And did I mention it's an easy drive from NC? I wonder how many of Chase's friends would drive down for a weekend...especially if some nice aunt slipped them some gas money.

Not that I'm leaning in any particular direction, mind you.

The promised pictures:

Is he really asleep? Is that the hint of a smile I see? Did you think we'd really get away with it?

(No, yes, no)

Your dinner is served.

If you really want it, go right ahead...

The UNC game just let out and since they choked...er, lost, there are too many grumpy drivers on the road for us to leave right now. Spades, it is!

Buddy, being Buddy, is determined to WIN! Judith, being Judith, is trying not to smack him for being hyper competitive (or hyper AND competitive, according to Grandma). Is the traffic clear yet???

Chase's last day of this cycle of chemo was a bit rough. The barf bucket stayed close, but clean. Fingers crossed. He had some visitors this afternoon and when I get home, I'll put up a picture of a local sportscaster trying to steal a bite of Chase's dinner. And Grandma and her Sharpie!

And tomorrow, it's bye, bye UNC - well, for 2 weeks anyway.

A yellow flag has just been thrown on Buddy for showboating. We're googling the penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior in Spades.

Still traffic out there...

I've messed with the formatting to keep pics off the main page, so those folks with dial up won't have to deal with waiting for everything to load. Just click on the link at the bottom of the one you want to see and it'll load just that one blog entry. Hope this isn't too confusing!

Besides, I wasn't sure Chase really wanted this pic on the web, but here it is!


Adam's changing the dressing on his port. The yellow "butterfly" is the needle that goes into the port directly below the skin. The dressing's there to protect the stitches which will be out soon enough.

Since Grandma's back from Vegas and Buddy took the day off to see Chase through the rest of chemo, I ended up staying home today, messing with the blog and catching up on laundry, shopping, and vacuuming (ewww). I don't miss wandering around in the parking deck looking for my car, but oddly enough, I miss Chase!

Just a quickie - I just realized that comments can't be accessed at the hospital (it's blocked!), so I've created an email address and added it to his profile. No guarantees he'll respond to emails (c'mon, he's a teenager), but I'll make sure someone in the family reads the emails to him.

That's it for this entry, no matter what it says below...

You're in luck! Tonight's blog was going to be a treatise on the use of mannitol to disrupt the blood brain barrier and increase the efficacy of chemotheraputic agents in the treatment of brain tumors, but...that sentence pretty much exhausted my knowledge and PubMed isn't coughing up anything useful tonight either. All I know is that it seems to work.

Chemo in the morning, nap, then pool or air hockey in the teen center in the afternoon/evening. Y'all come by - there's room for more! He's getting a bit of cabin fever and visitors really help him feel less cut off from school and such. A friend (sorry, I forgot his name) loaned him a portable DVD player to hook up to the TV in his room and he's borrowed some movies to watch too. So thus far chemo's mainly been boring, with a dash of nausea on the side, although I think this afternoon it was really just hunger. Once he ate, he was performing calisthenics on the bed! He had to call the nurse in to unkink his IV line...

Dr. Gold said he's doing better than 99.9% of his patients on these drugs, and they're pushing the anti-nausea meds to try to keep it that way. Chase had hoped to be released on Saturday after his last infusion, but they're encouraging him to stay one more night, keep the fluids flowing, and keep his perfect record of never losing a meal. Sorry, Chase!

Chase, his (everpresent) pole, and some friends in the teen center.

He figures the hair's coming out anyway, so he had Nikki buzz it off. Here he's checking out the movies and games he can buy on iTunes with the gift certificate a 4th grade class kindly sent him. No buying until you send that thank you note, Chase!

Shhh! While he sleeps through chemo, we're going to add to his measly two moles and Sharpie some constellations on his head. Think he'll notice?

Same stuff, different day

They had a bit of a hold up on Chase's daily pre-chemo kidney test (okay, the "pee test"), so he entertained us a bit by playing his guitar.

I tried to take some video to put up on YouTube for y'all, but he didn't cooperate. If you ever need a time waster, that's the place to go...maybe we can add something later when Chase feels more willing. As if.

About noon, he finally passed the test and got chemo started. Since he hadn't slept well the night before, they gave him a little something extra and he got a nice nap in. Unfortunately, it seems he's gotten his first side effect, loss of appetite. I wish I could trade with him, he needs to eat way more than I do.

While he took his nap, Judith and I went to A Southern Season for a bit of shopping and a yummy lunch. We both agree that their chicken salad is very good, and their chocolate department is droolworthy. Christmas will be here soon - just sayin'.

I promised Mom I wouldn't blog about her unrepentant lunch time phone call from Vegas, so I'll just let her fill you in on her favorite slot machine "Cops and Doughnuts" later. She was excused to fly out there since the trip was planned quite a while ago. Her friends were coming all the way from Australia to meet her - can't miss that!

On our way back from lunch I was boring Judith with a discussion of sugar and how it's hygroscopic and that's why I thought the crispy Boston Baked Beans were actually quite fresh and not stale like she thought, and she said "you always cease to amaze me". I just had to laugh. She'e either very cleverly insulting me, or...she's Judith.

Came back to find Chase watching TV so we kicked him out of bed (the old "you've got two feet, use 'em!") to go take a walk. Maybe that will help his appetite!

Pictionary in the Teen Center with Karena.

Some friends dropped by - with a DVD player and some DVDs! Hey, next time bring something other than baseball videos, okay? What about me?
Why's that guy have a rubber glove on? He scares me.

Anyone up for pictures?

Sorry to all of you on dial up... Buddy and Jacob came this afternoon, so I bailed early and came home to post some pics from today.

Chase's first infusion. He had a dose of an anti-nausea drug first that made him a little glassy eyed, but at least he didn't get sick!

A couple hours later some friends came by for a visit to the teen center. It's pretty well equiped and not crowded at all, but it's only open a couple hours in the afternoon and a couple more in the evening.
Er, yes, Chase lost. Next time he'll win, though, for sure.

(I'll get that check in the mail tomorrow, Griffin)

Judith's so proud of her Mr. Potato Head. She's just a wee bit nutty...too many fries at Wendy's!

Blog from the play center!

Oops, I mean the "Teen Center". Currently, Griffin is beating him soundly at Stratego. Not nice taking advantage of a kid on chemo... Then again, Chase has had his moments too. This morning when his nurse was flushing his port, just about to start the chemo, he startled and "fainted". We laughed, but I made Judith smack him. The nurse bided her time then "oops" squirted some chemo drugs (only saline) on him.

So the pediatric floor is cool ("and the nurses are all so young", Chase pipes up). Wendy's still has the best food here. Chemo's over for the day and Chase is still fine, waiting for his hair to fall out so he can join the merrymakers on Franklin street for Halloween.

Judith's playing with Mr. Potato Head. I think she's been here too long!

In by 11, out by...

His surgery was scheduled for 12:30, but it was 3ish before he was put out briefly for the portacath. The surgery went great, and he didn't get sick afterward either. He was HUNGRY! Next time he knows to whine when they say "no food after midnight" when something's scheduled so late.

He's in a room on the Pediatric floor, and all the nurses are fawning over him, of course. There were 4 hanging out earlier today when Dr. Gold came by to shoot the sh...breeze. He's rather...colorful for a pediatric oncologist. Anyway, after Chase got settled in his room we walked down to Wendy's for dinner, then the cafeteria for dessert, then Karena came and had to buy him a little snack, then he asked Judith to go out to the car for more food! Did I mention he was HUNGRY? Judith tried to put him off till morning, but when he said "It's okay, Mom, I only have a brain tumor", she and I took our guilt trip out to the car to get him his special cereal. Laying it on a little thick apparently works.

He's been doing a pretty good job in the food department lately, putting about 15 pounds (now 17?) back on after a couple weeks of nausea and headaches, followed by surgery and a week or so in the hospital. The Lexington BBQ festival probably had something to do with a pound or two of that, ya think?

Tonight, rest, tomorrow about 10AM they'll start hanging the Chemo.

Barring anything unexpected, this will be the last update until Chase goes in on Monday.

I really missed out not going to Chapel Hill today - I heard Chase's GFR was "awesome". They injected him with a radioactive marker, then he was in some half a million dollar machine that showed his insides while his kidneys gathered up the radioactive stuff and got rid of it. A "glowing" report (and no, not with the naked eye so don't ask to see anything).

Although he seems to have missed out on the cold the rest of the family passed around last week, we really want to make sure he's healthy going in to the hospital next week. Is it overkill to put of box of these by the front door? Maybe we'll just make him wear one. That'll go over real well.

I'm in charge of DVD entertainment for next week, but since he'll be home the following week, I have a special request for Buddy. Five bucks a month - try it, you'll like it! If not, you just turn it back in! (Does Buddy even read this blog?)

Tests done, Chase is home for the weekend. I asked him if he had any plans (Lexington BBQ Festival) for the weekend, but he said no, not really. (events) I'm sure anything his friends want to do (travel info) would be just fine with him!

Why am I craving pork all of a sudden?

So if Chase is the one facing Chemo, why am I queasy?

Maybe I've been reading a bit too much about the drugs on the list they gave him. Trust me, you really don't want to click on the links.

• Cisplatin - anti cancer drug; side effects can include nausea, hearing loss, kidney damage
• Etoposide - anti cancer drug; side effects can include nausea, temporary hair loss, temporary reduction of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, loss of appetite, taste change
• Vincristine - anti cancer drug; side effects can include abdominal cramps and numbness or tingling in the hands and feet
• Cyclophospamide - anti cancer drug; side effects can include nausea (I'm sensing a theme here), temporary reduction of all those useful blood cells, temporary hair loss, bladder irritation
• Mesna - given to counteract the above's side effect of bladder irritation
• some indecipherable antibiotic
• and finally! an anti nausea drug!

So today he signed the usual "medicine is an art, not a science, but we think we know what we're doing" form and last I heard they were trying to pry his dorm key out of his hand. That's gotta hurt. I hope he can take a course or two while he's in treatment. Look, Chase, they offer Spanish! and a bunch of other possibilities too.

Deep breath day.

Appointments yesterday, appointments tomorrow, but today, nothing major except a 7:45AM wake up call from Chase's oncologist to set up the rest of the week.

So tomorrow Chase will have his baseline hearing test and whatever else his oncologist dreams up, then Thursday he'll have a GFR as a baseline kidney test followed by a meeting with his academic advisor at UNC. I trust they can find a way to keep him busy - he's too smart to spend months with nothing but TV and some video games to occupy his mind!

Didn't I call it? He gets his way for the weekend - he won't be admitted until Monday when they'll put in that port and start chemo as soon after as they can. I expect all his friends will come by this weekend until he's ready to spend a week in the relative quiet of the hospital. Besides, y'all need to clean out those snack baskets before I get there next. Except any Hershey bars! They're still mine, right?

eta: Eeeeee! A visitor from New Zealand! :: waves ::

Stay Strong
(A song for Chase and all of us who care about him)
by Uncle Mitch

(v1)
When I heard the news it blind-sided me
Could it really be cancer?
You're just eighteen
And seemed all right last week
I got mad at God for a while
Prayed Lord, protect your precious child
And till I get there, give him this message from me
Chase, please.....

(chorus)
Stay strong inside
Face ev'ry turn one step at a time
Dig deep...believe
Carolina blue skies hold your dreams
It's two outs, two on...
Game's tied... it's Game on!!
Stay strong!

(v2)
Your mama told me that they'd started up a blog
So that people like me
Could keep up with
Everything that 's going on
Two thousand hits in just six days
All the comments read about the same
Seems in their own words ev'ryone just wants to say
Hey, Chase.....

(chorus)
Stay strong inside
Face ev'ry turn one step at a time
Dig deep...believe
Carolina blue skies hold your dreams
It's two outs, two on...
Game's tied... it's Game on!!
Stay strong!

(bridge)
On days when the race just seems too long
Know that we're here cheering you on

(chorus)
Stay strong inside
Face ev'ry turn one step at a time
Dig deep...believe
Carolina blue skies hold your dreams
So, race..press on
Yeah, Chase..
Chase, stay strong
Stay strong...

Ev'ryone, ev'ryone.. ev'ryone
Stay strong
Stay strong........

For those of you who are lost in the blogsphere, the archives of this blog are over there on the right. Might as well start the saga from the beginning, if you're interested, and blogger only displays a set number of posts before stuffing them into monthly archives. Apparently, I'm prolific. And verbose. (Judith, you can look those two words up here ;-).

Today was taken up with visiting his favorite ICU nurses Jessica and Ellyn, getting his stitches out (more permanent imprints in Judith's hand - ouch), making appointments for baseline hearing tests, kidney tests and other medical stuff I'm not sure you want to hear about. Since chemo wreaks havoc on many of the body's useful systems, they need to know how things are working now so they can tweak what they do to limit damage while still killing off all the cancer cells they can. At least that's my take on it.

The docs want him in on Thursday to start chemo, but he wants to be home this weekend since it's the intersection of State and Carolina's fall breaks, and everyone will be around. I'm such a freakin' adult sometimes...my every instinct is screaming "get it started NOW!" However, four days probably won't make a bit of difference in his treatment, and it'll mean a lot to him to have a fun weekend. Therefore, I'm betting this will be Chase 1, Doctors 0. Ya think?

Moving ahead - and quickly.

Chase had a meeting with his Oncologist today, and he'll be starting chemo as soon as Thursday - yikes! There are a few things that have to be taken care of, but then he'll start four approximately month long cycles consisting of 5 days of inpatient chemo followed by 3 weeks off. After that, he'll start in on radiation treatment.

Well, at least for 5 days a month he'll be in his beloved Chapel Hill...