(no subject)

[mrockwell]

Writing

*SALE!, Dreams & Nightmares, 3/19 (RT: 3 months)
*Submission, Doomology antho, 3/16

Also, a special thanks to John Helfers for all his help and advice over the past couple of weeks!

Everything Else

Sorry, I just realized I never updated folks about Max's surgery. It went well -- the surgery itself only took about 1/2 hour, recovery was quick, and we were home hours sooner than expected. Max pretty much slept all day, but by Saturday he was up cruising and crawling all over the place as if nothing had ever happened. And the big news is his weight -- he was up a full kilo from his last weight check, and it was confirmed at yesterday's clinic visit -- 10.58 kg! Thank God for quinoa!

We're busy now gearing up for his first birthday. Looks like we'll have upwards of 60 guests, so that should be fun. I just need to figure out what we're going to be able to do for a cake for him, considering he's allergic to pretty much every grain except for quinoa, along with a host of other foods. Time for some serious recipe google-fu, heh.

ETA:
Max's port, for the curious:

Comments

[jlasala.livejournal.com]

This is wonderful, Marcy. Where would you say things are right now: more or less out of the woods, not quite out of the woods, somewhere in the tree line...?

[mrockwell.livejournal.com]

Well, you know, he still has cancer. His tumor is only 9% the size it was at diagnosis, and much of that is calcified, but it IS still active. But he's stable, and hopefully the tumor will continue to shrink/calcify until there's nothing left of it, or at least nothing active left.

He has monthly blood and urine tests, and then scans every three months, at least for this first year. If things continue to go well, that schedule will get less and less frequent.

Unfortunately, there are long-term effects from both the cancer and the chemotherapy that we will be dealing with for the rest of his life. For instance, he hasn't had any vaccinations since he was 4 months old, and will not be able to have any (aside from the flu shot) until next fall. The vaccines made from live viruses, he may never be able to have, so he will always be at risk of contracting things like measles.

Secondary cancer is always a concern. A lot of kids who initially beat neuroblastoma eventually wind up dying from leukemia.

And neuroblastoma has a very high relapse rate, and he has genetic markers that make him more susceptible to relapse than other Intermediate Risk kids.

In short, he's NEVER going to be completely out of the woods, but it's our hope he can camp comfortably right on the edge and enjoy life as fully as possible.

And, you know, it's kind of nice here under the trees when nothing's trying to eat you... ;)

[hewet-ka-ptah.livejournal.com]

We are very bouncy about getting to meet Max next weekend. Yay for us!

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear the surgery went well!
Hugs for the Birthday Boy! Have some more Victory Cake!

[mysanal.livejournal.com]

I'm glad the surgery went well & quickly! *HUGS*