while we were on the east coast, we got to spend some precious time with my sister and brother-in-law and my amazing nephew! they were so gracious to allow us to crash their weekend on such short notice.
last weekend we were able to spend time camping with friends. i absolutely love getting away, having some time to relax in the fresh air, and have nothing to think about. it brings some normalcy back into our lives. the kids love it too.
in case you haven't heard, the people in our lives are top notch! the love and support from family, friends, co-workers, and people we don't even know is indescribable. we had a group of people set up a fundraising event by selling egg rolls by the dozen. to say this was a huge success would be a definite understatement! those who worked to pull this off (you know who you are :), we thank you again and again. there were over 4,500 egg rolls that were made to fill orders. WOW!
treatment for cody has finally started. he had his first radiation treatment wednesday afternoon and took his first dose of chemo just before bed wednesday night. his radiation oncologist has cody set up for 18 treatments. they are scheduled every day monday through friday. chemo will be taken every day of the week through the entire radiation cycle. when radiation is finished, his chemo dose will increase and the schedule will change.
a special mask is used that fits snugly over his entire face and then screws to the table to keep his head perfectly still. the machine they use is the TomoTherapy system and this was not available the first time cody had radiation. the benefit of this machine is that he can have ct placement scan before every treatment and radiation can be delivered from 360 degrees around the head. this allows a greater ability to save normal/healthy brain tissue. the whole process only takes about 15 minutes, but the actual radiation is done in about 7 minutes.
we joke that chemo can just be delivered right to your door step :) he was prescribed a couple anti-nausea drugs as well as an antibiotic to help prevent infections.
cody remains in good spirits. we are curious and anxious when we will start noticing side effects, but we are praying they are minimal. cody continues to have seizures, which are actually getting worse. the symptoms are remaining the same, but he is having them more frequently. he typically has a seizure every day to two days. we have a call in to the neurologist to see what we can do about it.
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