Hi, Dear Readers --
It is good to be back after my hiatus dealing with spamming and reprobate relatives. How did those problems work out? Well, amazingly enough, the universe conspired to remind me what matters, and what does not.
If you're smiling, it's likely that you rank quite high on my "He/She Matters List." It's akin to a gratitude journal in shorthand.
Relatives that I don't really know who are acting like hoodlums are hoodlums and, insofar as they do not cause my Mother-Unit stress or steal her worldly goods and happy outlook, they may merrily launch themselves off their local choice of cliffs.
Pornographic spam was generated due to my vocal refusal to allow truly suffering people to be taken advantage of by CALMARE / CTTC and the shady practitioners who are having a last ditch moment of money-grubbing as the whole affair circles the drain. I think flooding my blog with porn spam is a bit ridiculous but these are not ethical people.
So let's concentrate on someone who matters.
Brayden Martin comes to mind. He's had another rough spell, and, finally, his mom Maranda and his primary oncologist decided an early MRI to assess the efficacy of this new chemo protocol was warranted.
That happened yesterday and today Maranda and Brayden found out that, unfortunately, his tumors have doubled -- which was, I think, what Maranda already sensed.
She (and he, of course) is a tough cookie. But no one is tough or ever prepared for this journey, be it the journey of a child or an aged beloved grandparent. There is no preparation.
Brayden is charting new territory for relapsed pediatric medulloblastoma. There are NO protocols to which they can refer for guidance. And so Maranda and her guiding physicians, and her faith, are groping in the dark.
This is what she wrote today and it details the next treatment to be tried:
To just be blunt, the chemotherapy did not work at all. Instead of having two spots lighting up he now has 4. We have one option left and it was a road we were trying to avoid. Photon Radiation. It is dangerous with many side effects. Even the chance we could lose Braydens personality. I believe with prayer with everyone praying, we can keep those negative things from happening. With prayer we will keep those good cells from being damaged. With prayers we will hopefully get all of this cancer dealt with. I am going to pray that this treatment works and that he will come out the other side, the ornery, funny, little rockstar, we all know and love. Right now he is on a triple dose of steroid, that is always a ton of fun :o). Three weeks after the radiation is done he will start in patient chemotherapy. We were hoping this chemo would work, but I never had a great feeling about the treatment he was on, and this one I feel has a better chance of destroying this cancer. We have to stay positive. We are stronger than cancer will ever be. We love each other all the way to the moon and stars. We are going home this afternoon, there is no point and staying and doing in patient rehab, we need to start radiation as soon as possible. We will get back to doing therapy as well. Brayden went all over the hospital today in a little car, using his legs like a pro. He is tough as nails. I asked him if there was anything he wanted me to tell you all. He said that he likes to play a lot, with cars, and he likes to play guitar, and be a rockstar, and play on the Wii. We cannot wait to get home, this is an even more difficult place to be when you are sad. Every time he has progression it gets harder. I will continue to try and stay positive. We need some prayers to get through this meeting we will have this afternoon with Dr Aguilera. My Mom is here with me, and we are trying to find someone to come and sit with the boys while I go to this meeting at 3 o clock. We love you all. I will update once we are home and after my meeting with Dr Aguilera.
Love Always, Maranda, Brayden, and Mason
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| We love you, Brayden! |
© 2013 L. Ryan
