Cancer is not one long race...

I know, I know… this blog, like many other times before, is long overdue!
The children and I made our way to Dallas and back – safe and sound and I even still sane – sort of!

As many (or all) of you know, Jackson had a scan on Wednesday afternoon, and as usual he did wonderfully. He never ceases to amaze me – his strength, his courage, his ability to just about perform his own MRI at this point, including putting himself to sleep – talk about nervous… watching your child push his own diprovan until his eyes roll back in his head – I should probably have taken something for nausea – whheeew!

Thursday found us at the oncologist’s office – she is nothing less than stellar! It was brought to our attention that Jackson may have some vision issues (unrelated to the brain tumor) probably as a result of his genes, after all, Jackson’s Dad, Jeremy, wears glasses – well, he had a prescription for some once but he hasn’t been able to find them for years – he has no plans to find them or purchase more! After all the small talk – the tumor talk started. While we were hoping to hear that Jackson’s tumor had remained quiet – it was just not meant to be. The radiology report read that the cystic portion of the tumor had significantly increased in size when compared with the previous MRI from May – well ughhh! I really could have done without the word “significantly” – just sayin’!

So for now we do – nothing! This part of the tumor has grown before, although we were on chemotherapy at the time – this particular aspect does not respond to chemotherapy and can only be treated with surgery or radiation. At this point, the benefits of no treatment at all definitely outweigh either option we have available – we are treating a patient NOT a tumor! It is not always uncommon for the cystic portion of an astrocytoma to increase in size and then spontaneously decrease over a period of time. Jackson remains free from symptoms – and for that I am beyond grateful. While this news has been somewhat discouraging – overall, everything remains the same… well, one exception – Jackson’s port is GONE! Friday he had it removed – it was awesome. I hope that he never has to have another – one of those in a lifetime is one too many! God is good and we are grateful – Jackson will have another scan in 8-10 weeks – hopefully that is where the tumor proves that it can shrink just as quickly as it has stretched.

We are staying busy – and that is an understatement – I have worked every night since returning from Dallas and look forward to a few days off soon - the kids are back at school and homework is neverending!

Thanks to each and every one who prayed and continues to pray for my angel – and thanks for following him on his journey and remember:

Cancer will never be one long race; it is many short races one after another.


Any Questions?