Thursday, July 29, 2010

Weekend Getaway

First off, I’d like to thank everyone for your strong showing of support during this extremely difficult time.  Words can’t explain the appreciation that I feel for everyone who has supported us over the last almost two years.

After we heard the preliminary results from the MRI where they saw a suspicious spot and would take a few days to examine in more detail, we decided to getaway for the weekend.  We knew that we would go crazy if we just sat around the house and did nothing while waiting.  With the extreme heat blanketing the northeast, we decided we would need some water wherever we went.  We decided to spend a day at Lake Compounce and the next day at Coco Key Indoor Water Resort, both in middle Connecticut. 

Lake Compounce is a theme park that includes a water park area and an amusement park area.  During the hot day, we spent that time swimming in the lake.  Later in the afternoon and evening, we went over to the rides area and the kids had fun on all the rides. 

After we were thoroughly tired out from Lake Compounce, we made the 15 minute drive over to Coco Key and checked into our hotel (luckily getting the last available room!).  Coco Key Water Resort is an indoor water park that includes a giant play area for kids, a lazy river, and several tube slides.  We were glad to hit the parks in the order that we did because it was nice to be indoors after getting all the sun we got at the lake. 

All in all, the kids had a great time as we were able to get away for a couple days on our impromptu vacation.  Check out the picture slideshow below to see some of the highlights.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Just Awful News

There’s really no way to sugarcoat this.  Isabella’s doctors believe that she has recurrent tumor in the thalamus area of the brain.  This area is considered to be inoperable.  Her doctor said that treating this will be very difficult because these are the cancer cells that survived the chemotherapy and radiation the first time around.

The hardest part of this is watching Isabella, who continues to function as a normal six year old girl.  Just from looking at her, you wouldn’t think that there was anything wrong with her.

Although Julianne and I have been hit pretty hard with the news, we’re not ready to throw in the towel yet, no matter how bleak it looks.  Ever since Isabella was first diagnosed, Julianne kept up with all the latest research and studies on brain cancer, knowing the high likelihood of recurrence.  When Isabella was showing clear scans, time was on our side and we were hoping that some research out there would find an ultimate cure.  But now, time is against us as we scramble to find a miracle.

So what are we doing now?  We’ve sent her scans and medical history out for second opinions to some of the country’s leading authorities on pediatric brain cancer.  We are looking at all types of treatment, whether it be surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, spiritual, homeopathy or a combination of all the above.  Since time is against us, we don’t have the luxury of trying one thing and seeing if that works, then trying the next thing.