Yes, it snowed, and no, Mom didn't make it to Greensboro today, but thankfully, friends of the family lined up to hover over Jacob (and the dog) until Mom can get there tomorrow. I'm sure Jacob is tha-rilled to find out that she's decided to stay over until Monday since Buddy doesn't get in until midnight on Sunday. Better cancel that party, Jacob! She's tough...just ask your Mom!

Judith and Chase made it to New Orleans, and will have a great time with Buddy, Rick, and family. I'm pretty sure they'll watch some sports. I hear there's some sort of big game this weekend?

Judith snapped a picture of this map at the Proton center. It's a little fuzzy, but if you squint just right, you'll see all the pins marking the home cities Proton center patients. There are pins all over the US and scattered around the world, but they're thickest in TX, of course.



One more treatment under his, um, skull, so:
6 down, 14 to go!

Nope, not happy hour here, but I sure got an earful of Judith's "whine"...

Hang on, this gets complicated. Mom's driving to Greensboro tomorrow to take care of Jacob and JD (the dog) so Buddy can fly to New Orleans and Judith and Chase can drive from Houston to see him and his brother's family. But there's a catch. It's supposed to snow/sleet/rain here tomorrow morning. Maybe it'll warm up by noon so Mom can head on over. Maybe it won't. So Judith's whinin...er, concerned that things won't work out. She and Chase really, really need a break and Chase has even agreed to skip Friday's appointment to drive to Houston Thursday night (which means adding a day onto the end, ack!)

So while most in central NC are looking hopefully toward the sky for snow, I suppose I should be on Judith's side and hope for a quick warm up. :: sigh ::

Some convenient circumstance forced Judith to go shopping, but the Target checker apparently put some of her items in someone else's bag. Not good! They're also having very frequent internet connectivity problems. Rough day.

At least Chase's treatment went well!

5 down, 15 to go!

Favor Request from Uncle Mitch.....

"Soli Deo Gloria" is Moving Up The Indie Heaven Radio Charts

Hey y'all

I know that many of you have benn "Giving God The Glory" for Chase's recovery as much as I have.

I'm writing to ask you to vote for "Soli Deo Gloria" (latin for: To God Alone Be the Glory) on Indie Heaven. The song was produced and performed by Micah Tapp.

If you'd like to vote, click on banner below and then..............




Visit Indieheaven Today!


Click on the radio tower
Scroll down to around #76 (or lower hopefully) or so
Find and Click on song title: "Soli Deo Gloria"
Scroll up to my picture at the top (holding Krispy Kreme Donuts)
Click on your choice of stars to rate the song and help it climb (5 stars is great, 1 not so great!)

Judith's favorite song: December Rain is also there at around #45 if you would like to vote for it during the same visit. It is listed under my co-wrtier's name : Eva Wilson

If a song reaches the top 40, it will be listed in the CRW magazine - a Christian Radio magazine that goes out to every Christian radio station in the US. Many radio DJs visit IndieHeaven's site, listen to the music on the IH radio, and contact the artist for a copy to play on their station.

You can vote 1 time/day from a single IP address. (So if you have both work and home computers, you can actually vote twice.) It will be carried on the chart for 90 days.

Thank you for taking the time to listen. :)

Mitch

No news is good news.

Treatment went faster today - just an hour! And every day it seems, they're asked to report earlier. Tomorrow they have to be there by 3:15. Soon they'll have to get up before noon! Heh. Finally, someone in the family who sleeps later than I do!

I guess it's pretty boring in the treatment room, and he reports the radiation smells awful. He doesn't think cologne will help because it comes from within. He can't chew gum because he can't move. Maybe some of these breath strips right before treatment?

It's so boring he's also had plenty of time to count the light beams. There are 21 zaps on one side of his head, then they swap the acrylic forms and brass shields and do 21 on the other side. I guess he can't count the spine stuff unless they prop up a mirror for him.

Hey, if anyone at UNC Hospital is reading this, can you puh-lease get records to send his first MRI? Thankyouverymuch.

And Chase, if I hear that you've groaned and called Judith a loser again for taking pics, this lovely picture of your favorite local restaurant's sign will be replaced by the picture of your messy room.

Or worse. Capisce?



4 down, 16 to go!

Nothing much to report. Go to the proton center, slog through another treatment... At least he's feeling better today and Judith didn't have to drag him kicking and screaming.

Judith sent me a picture of Chase's room, but it looks, of course, like a teenager lives there, so I won't embarrass anyone with that one.

Here's one of him doing schoolwork (or surfing the net, whatever), with the lunch his mom lovingly made for him (which looks just like the lunches Mom used to make for us!)



Here's the waiting area of the Proton Center. The glass area's ground level, and the room's about 2 stories down. Most of the time when Judith's waiting out Chase's treatment, it's just as empty as this picture shows.



A few tidbits from their brochure:

Construction spanned 3 years - 1 to build, and 2 to install and test the equipment.

Two-thirds of the facility was constructed below ground level (yeah, see above picture). In some areas, eight foot concrete walls were constructed for radiation protection.

Before excavation, 85 million gallons of water were removed from the ground (no info on how, dangit)

A 20-story building could be built with the amount of concrete poured for this building. (missing info - how big a footprint for this building?)

When equipment weighing more than 1,600 tons arrived from Hitachi City, Japan at the Port of Houston, it took a 31 truck caravan to bring it to the construction site.

3 down, 17 to go!

Zofran is your friend. Or at least it's Chase's friend. I thought this Proton stuff wasn't supposed to cause nausea, but he was feeling it yesterday. Chemo went smoother than this?!? I tried to tell Judith it was that hot dog she gave him, but she swears it wasn't, so he's back on the meds. Nothing new for poor Chase...

At least they both had a good day today. Social creatures that they are, they very much enjoyed visiting Debbie at her home in Sugarland (and Chase really enjoyed the XBox Live her two sons had set up). Judith met Carol, one more link in the "friend of a friend of a sister-in-law of a friend" connection (did I get that right?) that led Judith and Chase to Debbie. It would be cool to someday get a picture of the whole chain in one place, but I'd probably have to burn a lot of frequent flyer miles to make that work. Or get very proficient with Photoshop.

Chase also seems to have made a local connection at Rice University. So far they're just facebook chatters, but they're trying to go see a movie or something sort of college like. It would be nice if he had some local college games to go to, and some friends to hang out with, so go Chase! But don't forget your Mom!

W00T! for reaching 10,000 visitors! Sitemeter's been running up to 2 days behind lately, so I didn't think I'd actually be able to see who hit the magic number, but if I'm reading it right, I think our lucky winner was Memaw!

Now off to think up a prize...

Judith and I had some "creative differences" over blog content, so I'm pouting.
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There. I'm done.

Yesterday's radiation session didn't go too smoothly. The machine quit part way through! That doesn't give me warm fuzzies... The technicians sent him out to the lobby to brood while they poked and prodded, rebooted and whatnot. If he couldn't finish the day's treatment, he'd have to add another one on at the end - oh NO! Finally it came back online and he got to finish. Whew! So off they went to celebrate at Chuy's (one of my favorite Tex-Mex restaurants from our year in TX).

Today there's no treatment, so he gets to do homework instead of seeing this guy (Dr. Woo):



Tomorrow they'll visit Angel Debbie's church and have lunch with her. Then back to the grind on Monday.

2 down, 18 to go!

They got mail!

Wow - y'all are fast! The mailman knocked around noon today and brought some mail and a care package from a couple of Chase's friends. At least they were up ;-). What's the first thing Chase grabbed? Not the candy or the toys, but the stress ball:



Okay, being back with Mom isn't the worst thing in the world...just think, Grandma and I could be there too. But dwelling on today's radiation session is making him all gloomy so they're heading out for a walk in the surprisingly nice weather.

It'll get better. Eyes on the prize. (insert additional platitudes here).

One treatment down - 19 to go.

If you've seen Chase's AIM "away" message, you'll know that "Radiation is the worst experience ever!" He's...not looking forward to the next 4 weeks. Actually, if he had his druthers, he'd head for home and take his chances that the tumor comes back. Thankfully he has neither keys nor credit card.

Today was uncomfortable (understatement). The first thing they did was radiate his brain. The face mask still had rough edges and the face cushion was positioned so he couldn't breathe well. When that part was done, he spoke up and they did tape the rough edges and reposition the cushion for the rest of the session. His spine is long enough that they have to radiate it in 3 sections, which requires precise adjustments - don't want to do one thin "slice" 2 times and miss another. It just sounds like a lot of fussy, time consuming work. Bleah. Hopefully tomorrow will be better (and faster!)

Here's his brass brain shield:

And here's the 3D acrylic brain form:

Pretty neat stuff, but I'm not the one getting nuked.

Last day before radiation begins!

I took down a "marble madness" kit last week. There were lots of parts; cables, gears, and a chain drive motor to bring marbles up to roll down slides to the bottom to begin again. I figured it would be interesting to put together as well as a good time waster.



Well, it certainly perfected the time waster part, since the chain was just the wrong length to actually, you know, work. So I think he used it for batting practice instead.



I need some better ideas.

But he has school work, his guitar, DVDs, and the gym to keep him occupied. Hopefully the weather will change soon or Houston will take over Seattle as the rainy city.

Speaking of rain, how 'bout these parasols?



How cool is that? A Houston artist took black and white MRI brain scans from a medical book, colorized them, printed them on fabric, and made parasols with the fabric. They've been arranged on this historic house in downtown Houston near Minute Maid park. Judith took the picture above, but there are more here, and there's a full description of the installation here. It's definitly on my "to do" list when I go back to Houston. I'd love to see it all lit up at night, too.

Good luck tomorrow, Chase!

Judith and Chase seem to be spending the day at MD Anderson today. I wouldn't expect it to take this long to get a Vincristine shot, but they had to get an X-ray to find his port location, and an IV team to stick him. Chase asked the nurse if she couldn't just feel the port and stick it herself (like they did at UNC), but she said "I need to keep my license - I have two fat cats at home that need to be fed". Heh.

So he's been finding games on his phone and trying the 2 minute free trial, then borrowing Judith's phone for that 2 minute trial, then finding another game... Unfortunately, there are no magazines in the gift shop that he wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen with and he's in the pediatric part of the hospital so there's nothing exciting there. Judith offered him the Highlights magazine but got "the look".

They're having trouble with their internet connection at the apartment lately, and I'm not there to troubleshoot if it's the cable or the router (since neither computer can connect, I can't blame that). Of course the cable company says it looks fine on their end. It worked just okay when I was there (kind of like my car - whenever Dad was around it wouldn't make that funny noise). They need to find the Memorial City Mall right off I-10 for the nearest Panera Bread Hotspot

For those who have asked, Judith and Chase's address in Houston is:
2400 Westheimer Rd.
Apartment 222E
Houston, TX 77098

Somebody send them a map...

I really did plan to blog last night, but I started a game of Bejeweled 2 and next thing I knew I was at level 21 with 303,025 points, 4 spinning balls...and it was 3AM. Oops. But that's another time waster for Judith when Chase is napping in the coming weeks. I know it's quite an adjustment for her to go from busy mom and teacher with basically 2 full time jobs, to sitting in a strange city without her usual mile long "to do" list, her friends, her husband and other son, or her dog! Thankfully she's pretty good at exploring (and getting lost...er, misplaced) in Houston, and she has my phone number to be her own personal mapquest when that happens ;-).

And she has Angel Debbie who has lent them not only the car to misplace themselves in, but offered tickets to a (checking my notes) Houston Rockets vs. Denver Nuggets game:



Too bad Houston lost in overtime, but Judith said it was a very exciting game and they had great seats. Debbie also got them 4 tickets to see the Globetrotters in early February, so there's some scrambling to see who can fly down from NC to hang out that weekend!

They bumped up Chase's first treatment to this Thursday, the 25th (instead of the following Monday) which should allow him to bang the "I'm finished" gong on 2/22, if all goes according to plan. He wants to leave that night for Chapel Hill, but someone has to pack up and haul all their stuff home. Hey Mom, wanna go to Houston in late February?

Judith and Chase have an angel looking out for them in Houston. Here's a picture of Chase, Debbie, and Judith in the apartment she arranged for them, just a few miles from the Proton treatment center.



After just 2 nights sharing a room and a bath, they were both quite happy to move in to the 2 bedroom, 2 bath fully furnished apartment. I just didn't realize how much "stuff" it takes to furnish an apartment, but besides the beds and sheets, the sofa and coffee table, the dining room table and chairs, there were trash cans, pots and pans, boxes of tissue, pictures on the walls, plants on the tables, :: deep breath :: shower curtains, hand soap, dishwashing detergent, kitchen towels and a sponge, knives, forks, spoons, spatulas, a can opener, a corkscrew, a vacuum cleaner... (okay, there were no scissors, but everything else was there!)

So now they've got a bit of room to spread out instead of just getting on each other's nerves (oh come on, you know it happens). Judith got high speed internet installed and I brought our "travel" wireless router so they don't have to try to steal a connection off "smoooth operator" (really, that was the name of the only unsecured wireless network in range). It's supposed to be for Chase's studies, but it's really so Judith can surf YouTube:

My last night there the weather cleared enough so we could meet some friends of mine, Lynette and Joey, who picked us up and took us to Taste of Texas for some absolutely fantastic steaks and good conversation. And leftovers... How was that cheesecake the next day, Chase?



Before I forget, Judith sent me links to info on Dr. Woo, Chase's radiation oncologist, and Dr. Ater who will be watching over his blood counts and finishing up his chemo (that one remaining Vincristine shot).

They joined a gym today, so that should help Chase get rid of some energy. Hey, at least he still has some!

Like I said, we got a nickel tour of the Proton center, guided by Dr. Woo (really!) We got to see one of the actual treatment areas (below). The table Chase will have to lie on, face down, is where the blue things are sitting. They have individualized props/braces for everyone, but he says it's none too comfortable, and he'll have to stay very still.

The nozzle for the proton beam (shown on the left), can rotate fully around the patient with millimeter accuracy. The technicians can see and communicate with the patient via closed circuit TV.

We also got to see the machine shop, but I didn't get any pictures there. That's where they create the masks (to hold the patient's head steady) and, hmmmm.... templates? for the Proton treatment. It's a pretty time consuming project, which is why Chase won't be starting treatment for another week.

The doctor marks the necessary treatment area on each MRI picture, the computers do their magic, and a computer guided machine creates a couple forms. One is about an inch thick piece of brass cut through with an outline of the tumor (or in Chase's case, the outline of his spine and the outline of his brain). This keeps the radiation from spilling over onto healthy tissue. The second piece is a thick piece of acrylic, machined to the shape of the tumor. Dr. Woo explained that the proton beam travels a specific distance before expending its energy, but once it goes through the acrylic, it can't go as far. The more acrylic in the way, the shallower the proton beam goes. Confusing, yes, but the forms look cool, and Chase will get to bring his home when he's finished treatment (oh no, take another suitcase, Buddy!)

At any rate, below's a picture of a mask (used for someone lying face up), and some of the acrylic forms for a spine (top) and brain (which you really can't see, below). The thinner brass plates are underneath each matching acrylic forms.
The above photo's clickable, if you think that will help! There's also a video on the MD Anderson Proton Therapy center page (look for streaming video toward the bottom of this page).

More later...

Instead of waking Judith up with a 2AM phone call to tell her I finally got home, I'll toss up a picture or two and promise more tomorrow when I'm actually coherent and awake. With all the bad weather between Raleigh and Houston, it took marginally less time to fly than drive. Not that I would have preferred driving! I sat back, read my book, and munched on M&Ms for dinner. Judith made me take them!

This pic was taken of their "cancer free" celebration, before Chase and Judith packed and left for Houston.

Here's a birds eye view of the Proton center. It's clickable. We did get a fascinating nickel tour of the facility and I'll put up photos with explanations (as I remember them) tomorrow. Well, today. Later. Much.

Did we end up in Boston after all?

It's COLD here in Houston! And much like the expectation of an inch of snow will paralyze us in NC, the dire predictions of freezing rain shut down parts of Houston (including some schools and roads), yet nothing fell. At all. I heard parts north of Houston did get some ice, though, and we're still predicted to get a blast tonight. We'll see.

Right now Judith and I are hanging around the Proton center here at MD Anderson while Chase is having his simulation CT scan. That's quick! Tonight he'll get a 3-D MRI of his brain, and a week from Monday he's expected to start treatment. Until then he has appointments for bloodwork and his final Vincristine shot, and an opportunity to bug Judith daily (more likely hourly) to allow him to fly home until the 29th.

We got the grand tour of the center, and I'll have some pictures later (this place is well equiped but still, this computer can't read my camera card). It's very nice and bright, and all the folks we've met have been very friendly and knowledgable too. Bored as he'll be, I think this is the right place for him.

He'll have his whole brain and spine treated, with a "boost" to the tumor bed for the best chance to avoid a recurrence. Twenty treatments in all, so that's expected to take 4 weeks. Counting on my fingers, he should be home by the end of February. Don't hold me to that - things always seem to change...

Will it fly?
After the suitcase contents juggling Judith and Chase went through at the airport today, John's making sure my suitcase isn't over 50lbs. Whew! That's not clothes (I'm only staying 3 nights), but it's Mom's fancy spare bed, sheets, and comforter. A good night's sleep is important!

I just talked to Judith (when I could hear her through the yawns). Their flights were fine, and her new Houston friends Debbie and John met them at the airport and got them safely to the hotel. After dinner (and ice cream), she's ready to snuggle up to Buddy's parting gift - a "Buddy Bear" - and get some sleep. Awwwwww...

It's going to be a long month for everyone, I'm sure, with the family split up, but Debbie seems to be determined that they'll have as good a time as possible while in Houston. Don't let them have too much fun, Debbie, we want them back when they're done!

ALL CLEAR!

Dr. Gold just called with Chase's MRI report. "Everything appears clear and normal"! Fantastic!

Yes, Chase, you still have to go to Houston. Well, we knew that anyway, but Dr. Gold said now's not the time to let our guard down (but still - fantastic!) He also gave Judith the name of the head of pediatric brain tumors at MD Anderson, who's a good friend of his, and who will follow Chase while he's down there. Blood tests, his final Vincristine shot, and whatnot.

Besides being good news (did I mention the fantastic news?), this means he'll probably get the shortest of the radiation treatment options, at about 3 1/2 weeks.

I've been scrolling through the pics some more, and I find this fascinating. Or creepy. But it's all good!

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.