Friday, February 12, 2010 12:19pm

Good afternoon dear friends,

Aidan has finished his 2nd round of chemo yesterday morning. He tolerated it quite well...much better than anticipated.

His fevers have significantly decreased over the past 2 days. We were able to change some of his antibiotic coverage as we were concerned that was where the fevers may have been coming from. So far that change has proven beneficial.

Aidan is beginning to be more efficient with eating/swallowing. He even ate a cookie the other day...exciting for everyone!
He continues to make great progress in physical therapy. He is sitting with some support and is beginning to put a little weight through his legs. I would love to see him actually walk out of here when the time comes.

Moving forward...
We are anticipating that in the next couple of weeks (after Aidan's blood cells rebound from the chemo) he will have surgery to internalize the drain that is currently in his ventricle (shunt surgery). We are hopeful that some reconstruction of his skull can take place at that time.
Another MRI will be performed in the next few weeks to see the progress of his chemo treatments. Then he will begin his 3rd cycle.
If all of the above go well...we will probably be able to leave Children's in late March. Depending on his strength at that time, we may be spending some time at Marionjoy (a rehab facility). One step closer to home.

Please continue to keep our sweet Aidan in your prayers. I will continue to keep you updated as I am able.
Thank you for all of the Valentines Wheaton Montessori School!
Enjoy your weekend.

Monday, February 1, 2010 6:00pm

Good evening dear friends...

It is a good evening! I have attached a picture of my Aidan. Take a good look...it is a picture of a boy that is slowly beating cancer...
We have learned the MRI results. The cerebellum has shown a moderate decrease in tumor burden. As far as the spinal cord...there was increase in signal intensity around the initial tumor site extending into the cord. Aidan's neurosurgeon said it is not uncommon to see this type of image postoperatively. Or, it is possible that it may be an infection as it is in the location where the 2 previous drains were. Or it is possible that it continues to be evidence of tumor spread. Aidan's oncologist was obviously pleased with the evidence of tumor regression and stated that the next round of chemo will be telling as to the status of the spinal involvement.
Therefore, he will begin round 2 of chemo tomorrow. I would have never guessed that I would be so happy to hear that my son could have chemo.

More good news...we have a new "address". Since I have last updated, we have been moved from ICU back to the neuro unit.

Physically, we are continuing to see good improvement in Aidan.
He is sitting up with assisstance and eating some small meals of pureed baby food. He continues to be mainly fed via NG tube for his nourishment. Communication is still lacking. However, he is starting to be more expressive with little groans and some more emotional crying (which is a very good thing). Today we have even seen a smile and a little giggle!

We thank each of you for your well wishes and ask you to continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as Aidan has a long tough road ahead. We are just so very thankful that he can continue down that road...one step at a time.

As always, I will keep you updated as I am able.