MRI is clear!
Posted 14 hours ago
Praise God! Julian's most recent MRI looked great! Thank you for your prayers. He did well through the procedure and we are grateful to have received word today that the results were great. Every day is a gift in my book!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Dear Friends - A Message from Andrea July 7, 2010
Dear Friends,
I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to live a ‘normal’ life again. There are moments when my mind goes back to the months not long ago when Julian was in the throes of chemotherapy and I remember how it would be for him at night, sleeping attached to a feeding tube and an IV, full of meds and often waking up during the night nauseated, and I look at him now, sleeping peacefully all night long. It is hard to comprehend that his life and quality of life were so radically different then. I think he has forgotten much of it, which is a great blessing to us all, and is now focused on just being a kid and doing what kids do: play.
He recently had his first haircut since his hair grew back and he looks very handsome. His hair has come back a slightly more wiry texture, and a little darker, but he usually wears a cap to keep the sun off or it would probably be blonder. While he doesn’t have all his energy or appetite back, he is enjoying many routine things: playing for hours with Legos (of course!), being silly with his brother, chasing birds, coloring, etc.
We just returned from something that wasn’t routine: our Make-a-Wish trip to Disneyland! Julian hadn’t been there since he was 9 months old so it was all new to him. They put us up for 5 nights at the Paradise Pier Hotel and we were so well-treated! Our trip included a special visit with Julian’s favorite characters Buzz and Woody, and the boys got to go behind the scenes to decorate cakes with the Disney pastry chef and staff. In addition to three days at Disneyland Resort, we went to Knott’s and Medieval Times. Equally as fun as the amusement parks were the late afternoons when we would come back to the hotel and jump in the pool! This was Julian’s first time in a pool in two years! He especially enjoyed the “shakoozi” and Nolan loved the water slide. Thank you to all the special people at Make-a-Wish and Disneyland Resort for creating an experience for us that we’ll never forget! We are still on Cloud 9 from it.
While we try and move on, there are unavoidable reminders of the past, like his next brain/spine MRI which is this Friday. Once again, he will have to be fully sedated because it would be too difficult for him to lay perfectly still for 90 minutes in a loud, hot tube. When he gets older, he may be able to do so, but he is still too young at this point. We would ask your prayers for that whole sedation process to go smoothly and that there would be no changes from the last MRI.
We also request prayers that he be independent enough for first grade. He still has a few skills to re-learn but is a little reluctant to do so. We also pray that he can handle a full, 6.25-hour day at school. Rich and I go back and forth on whether we think he is up to the task. But, we've enrolled him in a 1-week summer school class and a weeklong Vacation Bible School program so we'll see how he does in either of those.
Well, that is our quick update. If there is such a thing as “normal,” we are humbled and thankful to be able to report that things are still that way!
Blessings,
Andrea Dunn
I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to live a ‘normal’ life again. There are moments when my mind goes back to the months not long ago when Julian was in the throes of chemotherapy and I remember how it would be for him at night, sleeping attached to a feeding tube and an IV, full of meds and often waking up during the night nauseated, and I look at him now, sleeping peacefully all night long. It is hard to comprehend that his life and quality of life were so radically different then. I think he has forgotten much of it, which is a great blessing to us all, and is now focused on just being a kid and doing what kids do: play.
He recently had his first haircut since his hair grew back and he looks very handsome. His hair has come back a slightly more wiry texture, and a little darker, but he usually wears a cap to keep the sun off or it would probably be blonder. While he doesn’t have all his energy or appetite back, he is enjoying many routine things: playing for hours with Legos (of course!), being silly with his brother, chasing birds, coloring, etc.
We just returned from something that wasn’t routine: our Make-a-Wish trip to Disneyland! Julian hadn’t been there since he was 9 months old so it was all new to him. They put us up for 5 nights at the Paradise Pier Hotel and we were so well-treated! Our trip included a special visit with Julian’s favorite characters Buzz and Woody, and the boys got to go behind the scenes to decorate cakes with the Disney pastry chef and staff. In addition to three days at Disneyland Resort, we went to Knott’s and Medieval Times. Equally as fun as the amusement parks were the late afternoons when we would come back to the hotel and jump in the pool! This was Julian’s first time in a pool in two years! He especially enjoyed the “shakoozi” and Nolan loved the water slide. Thank you to all the special people at Make-a-Wish and Disneyland Resort for creating an experience for us that we’ll never forget! We are still on Cloud 9 from it.
While we try and move on, there are unavoidable reminders of the past, like his next brain/spine MRI which is this Friday. Once again, he will have to be fully sedated because it would be too difficult for him to lay perfectly still for 90 minutes in a loud, hot tube. When he gets older, he may be able to do so, but he is still too young at this point. We would ask your prayers for that whole sedation process to go smoothly and that there would be no changes from the last MRI.
We also request prayers that he be independent enough for first grade. He still has a few skills to re-learn but is a little reluctant to do so. We also pray that he can handle a full, 6.25-hour day at school. Rich and I go back and forth on whether we think he is up to the task. But, we've enrolled him in a 1-week summer school class and a weeklong Vacation Bible School program so we'll see how he does in either of those.
Well, that is our quick update. If there is such a thing as “normal,” we are humbled and thankful to be able to report that things are still that way!
Blessings,
Andrea Dunn
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