Thursday What a Blur......

Yesterday was so busy for Connor (but good). He played board games while sitting and kneeling, hit balloons, threw beanbags, went to "Hospital School", and was fitted for a walker. BUT THE BEST PART was that he got to ride a trike outside in the garden. I so wish I could have been down there to see that (instead of talking to the radiologist), he came back soo excited to share, so proud of himself. Since he hasn't had much "control" over his own mobility, I'm sure it was exhilarating.

Meeting with the radiologist was pretty intense. He is one of the bearers of bad news. He came to tell me about all the not so great side effects of Radiation: Hair Loss, Pituitary gland damage, Brain Damage, being Sterile, Smaller Skull, and Stunted growth, eventual hearing loss.

The standard treatment is to radiate the site where the tumor was removed, then radiate the rest of the brain to kill any cancerous cells that may not have grown yet, and then radiate the spine to eliminate any cancerous cells that may be there.

Then if that isn't enough for you, as a parent you get to choose: The standard treatment above or you can participate in a "trial" that's intended to "reduce the side effects of radiation". With the trial: the same amount of radiation is applied to the site, but LESS to the rest of the brain and spine. But the kicker is: if it wasn't enough you CANNOT repeat radiation treatment to that area again.

A positive that came from this meeting with "Dr. Doom" was that Connor's physical strength was good, he told me he was a 4 out of 5 (5 being full strength).

Connor had Art Therapy which really excited him. Imagine an Art Room with anything you wanted to do! Clay, painting, Collage, Coloring , ANYTHING!. His therapist was so awesome. She told him that he could talk to her about "anything", didn't even have to be art, he was so comfortable with her. He decided to paint a mask. She told him he could paint things on the inside that maybe he didn't want anyone to see, and paint what he wanted to share on the outside. He used lots of colors, and lots of different types of brushes. He loved using gold and told her he wanted to call his mask "Gold Man". She asked Connor if "Gold Man" had any special powers, he said yeah "He can eliminate bad guys and fly".

Greg and My friend Nikki came to visit (it was nice being to chat with someone not wearing scrubs or a lab coat), she came with us to the Group T-shirt painting activity and lent her artistic talent to Connor's shirt, and we had a "delicious" meal downstairs.

Greg gets to stay the night tonight (yay!!!!! it's hard being away from him) and then we get to go home for a short visit after Connor's last session on Saturday.

It doesn't surprise me that: The batteries in Connor's hulk gloves have already died because of too much use.

It was funny when: The Art Therapist told Connor if he could listen to music in there, and he asked if she had "Quiet Riot".

Here's to another day of flying and fighting evil.