I spent most of today dealing with medical bills that have accumulated in the last month and a half. I had been too busy doing fun things with Eli and the kids and researching treatment options to bother with such mundane concerns. The biggest frustration was trying to get some billing mixups fixed, so I …
Author: Elaine
I am a mom.
Then I discovered one of my children has cancer and my whole world changed.
“What I Want to Do”
Eli's bucket list Progress has been made on the list of things Eli wants to do as well as on his workshop, courtesy of Make-A-Wish. While they are providing the structure and many of the accoutrements Eli wants on the inside, they do have a budget, so not everything he wants will be included. Ground …
Wishes and things to do
While waiting for test results to guide our treatment decision making, we have been making progress on Eli's list of things he wants to do. Basically it's his bucket list, which, as it so happens, I had the foresight to start work on many months ago, since, it appears, foresight as to where this journey …
Annoying Head VI
Coming out of anesthesia Even though there is no intent to cure, there are still treatment options that may help keep the cancer at bay or slow progression. In order to determine what options may help, Eli's arm tumor is being sent for genetic testing. It will probably have the same genetic makeup as his …
Sand Forts
Years ago, when Eli was four years old, I had a sewing client who needed a dress altered for her niece. Her niece had recently died from brain cancer and the white dress they wished to bury her in was too big. I remember feeling so sad for the family who had to bury their …
Relapse
A conversation with Eli's doctor over the weekend verified that they had come to the same conclusion we had: Eli's cancer is back and metastasized. The MRI was sufficiently definitive. We are now doing the PET/CT, which will tell us to what extent it has metastasized. We know it's in his arm, thigh, and foot, …
Mysteries and Masses (M&Ms), part 3
The look of someone who really didn't want their picture taken. Today is MRI day. MRI day always reminds me how amazing Eli is. It is common to think of any kid with cancer as a fighter and to be in awe at what s/he has to go through so early in life. These kids …
Mysterious masses, part 2
Leaving the clinic The basic conclusion at this point is we don't know what it is. There are benign possibilities, so we are hoping for one of those. But we have a plan to figure it out. The Plan: First, move up the scans that were supposed to be the beginning of June. PET/CT is …
Mysterious masses
I have grown to dislike with a passion bumps and lumps that don't belong on/in the body. It is getting really old. Whether it's the swollen lymph node that started Eli's journey, or his brother Noah's dermoid cyst, I have had my fill. Now there is a new mass in Eli's right bicep. It was …
Make-A-Wish
In January, we didn't realize that Eli's decision to change his wish would turn out to be serendipitously foresightful. He wanted experience the gravity of the moon by taking a parabolic flight (aka: vomit comit). He decided he wanted an inventor's shed/ maker's space instead. Recently, while waiting for the new wish, we had the …
Eli The Boss 