As Easter was drawing near this year, I realized that it would be on the 17th of the month, exactly 5 months after Eli departed this world for the next. I was checking my Facebook messages this morning and had the thought that I needed to check the messages that Facebook doesn't notify me of …
My obligatory selfie--I take one every time I visit Eli's grave. I walked with my friend to the cemetery today. We brought a hook to hang one of the Valentines that someone had left on Eli's grave. Adam and I had discovered it several days ago when we had driven by. On Valentine's Day, my …
Adam again. The night Eli graduated, we began sending notifications and making phone calls. We started with the medical people, so they could come and complete the formalities and paperwork. Then to our close friends who had already been helping us plan for this event, or had been directly helping us cope in various ways. …
Celebrating Christmas We got to celebrate Christmas early this year. Our dear neighbors decorated their homes with Christmas lights and decor early, just in time for Eli to do a little driving tour. This was likely his last outing. Labor Having given birth to nine children, I am well acquainted with the work it takes …
Here are pictures from our last two weeks in Houston, followed by an impromptu visit with friends in Louisiana. We appreciate everyone who made our time in Houston and Louisiana special. I don't have time to write everything I wanted to about the trip, so I am posting this as is.
Over the last couple weeks, Eli has done two chemotherapy infusions and five high dose radiation treatments. Now he's off pain killers and visible tumors are shrinking. His leg is still swollen more than "normal" (his new normal involves chronic leg and foot edema due to damage from past radiation treatments). This neck tumor was …
I've been trying to figure out the best answer to this common, reflexive question, because the answer for the last week or so has been "Not so good" and "please don't ask". Last week we met with the team to discuss the PET/CT and next steps, like how do we make it to the trial …
With Eli's continued pain and not so mysterious neck lump, came more visits to the doctor than I like. Eli's eagerness to go meet with doctors, get tests done, and take pain meds was evidence of the discomfort being caused by whatever is inside his body. Monday, we met with the radiation oncologist, since he …
When things are going well, it's easy to pretend that it will stay that way indefinitely. Life starts to feel more normal. For example, Eli begged me to get him the parts to build one of his inventions. A few pulleys, paracord, and hooks later, he had converted the swingset into a device designed to …
How do you find "measurable disease" when there isn't any? I had postponed writing this post, not trusting my interpretation of Eli's latest scans. There's pretty much always something on his scans that raise questions about whether something indicates the cancer is being active or not. The long and short of it is: There is …
Eli The Boss 