Monthly Archives: March 2012

Dear Friends, UPDATE: Michael had chemo from last Thursday through today. He has had a very difficult time and has been nauseated and throwing up since Thursday night. His doctor said he should be feeling better by Wednesday. However, this morning he woke up at 6am and was thrilled to be able to go back to school for a couple of hours before chemo. He still felt pretty sick, but was so excited that he pushed through the discomfort for a bit and was able to enjoy his morning. Michael had about five days at home before chemo began, and it was filled with wonderful friends, play dates and some much needed family time. The Malones wanted me to give special thanks to Greg Nieberding for Michael's welcome home sign, and for getting up early in the cold weather and putting it up! As you can see, they used it again for his welcome back to school! The MIBG initial consult in Michigan is March 26th-27th, and the treatment will be April 15th-24th, including travel. Alison is taking both children, and Mike will join them towards the end of the trip. The family meal calendar has been extended until May…

Dear Friends and Family, After 29 days in the hospital, it looks like Michael is finally going home tomorrow. His blood counts were slow to rise, but jumped up on Wednesday morning. So we were able to retrieve stem cells Wednesday and today. This is in preparation for MIBG therapy, which we will probably start in early to mid April in Michigan (earliest date is probably April 9th). Michael's surgeries were successful. His doctors are estimating that we got about 95% of the spinal tumor and about 90% of the left eye orbit tumor. If they had removed 100% of both, he would have almost certainly come out of this with some amount of paralysis and vision loss. So they saved the spinal cord and optic nerve, knowing that Michael is about to undergo aggressive non-surgical treatment. While we wait to begin MIBG, Michael is scheduled for chemotherapy March 15-19. Michael is recovering well, and is in good spirits now that he is going home. He has truly enjoyed every note, email, video and gift he has received over the past month. And Mike and I thank you for all of the meals. Our family has not been under the…