Back to Bloggin'

Our blog took a little vacation with us.... as this month flew bye! We were fortunate to spend a week in Aruba vacation with my parents, brother, and his girlfriend, Melissa. This fun week just so happened (ok, it was well planned) to fall during the week of my 30th birthday. Owen had a great time despite his cold. He did very well on the plane - much better than I anticipated. During the five hour flight he slept and played... and we walked up and down the aisle of the airplane. In Aruba Owen enjoyed the pool and the beach... and the continuous music. It was a nice week to spend with the family. Below are some photos from our warm and sunny vacation!

Owen enjoying his time in the pool!Memere & Pepere with Owen (he's showing his new smile).

Dressed for a night on the town and ready to dance!

The view from our room... beautiful.

Celebrating the big 3-0!

Aunt Melissa and Uncle Jarred hanging out with Owen.

Pepere holding the bird ... Owen loves this!

Enjoying Aruba.

The Prayers Continue

It's amazing just how much Owen has grown in the seven months since his surgery. At his 15 month check-up last week he weighed in at a healthy 24 pounds 9 ounces (50th percentile) and 33 and 3/4 inches (97th percentile). He's on track with his motor and verbal skills - adding lots of new words each day. We're so excited that he's starting to say two syllable words!

I was looking back at my post from seven months ago on Jan. 30th and we had just finished traveling to Boston. We were hopeful then and continue to remain hopeful. The continued prayers keep us strong and faithful. It's truly heart-warming to hear from the people who continue to pray for Owen. Last Saturday when Eric and I were on the train from NYC to home, Eric ran into a friend who quickly asked how Owen was doing. Although his high school friend works in another country he follows Owen's blog. Last week my mother-in-law forwarded me an email from one of her colleagues who noted that her cousin still prays for Owen every night. About one month ago during a dinner that Eric and I hosted, Eric's colleague's wife told me that she and her mom prayed for Owen. And a few months ago when I was at Stephanie's house (in NY) her father-in-laws' sister said that she prayed for Owen and has him on a pray list that goes to Italy. Also, when I'm at my parent's church, I always hear Owen's name on the list of people to pray for... these are just a FEW of the many people that I know are thinking about and praying for Owen.

These past seven months have taught us more than we ever wanted to know about medical jargon, brain tumors, insurance, etc. but more importantly during the past seven months, we've lived and learned from the power of prayer. Thank you for continuing to pray just as we do each day.

Great News Again!

We received great news that Owen's tumor has not grown!! We continue to be blessed. The next MRI will be in three months. Thank you again for your prayers!! We praise God for his goodness!

Waiting for MRI results

Owen's MRI went well this morning, although he didn't wake up too happy.... and little did we know that he wouldn't be able to walk after. He has his legs back now though and he's walking around just fine. We're headed to VT for the weekend - should be a nice weekend.

Home instead

So we don't have to go to the hospital... the oncologist didn't have all the facts. He didn't know that Owen had fever, rash, swollen lymph nodes, etc.... all viral symptoms. He thought it made perfect sense that his loss of balance was associate with his viral infection. As you can imagine we are so relieved!!! Owen's MRI is still scheduled for Friday. We hope to have good news by Friday afternoon.

Headed to the Hospital

Since Owen's balance is still off we were hoping for an MRI today but it appears that Yale could not coordinate one (as a team of anaesthesiologist needs to be available too). The beautiful thing about Yale is that the only do pediatric MRI's on Mondays and Fridays so if we don't get one today we would need to wait for our scheduled appointment this Friday. Instead of waiting, we're going to our oncologist today at 1pm and he's going to admit Owen to the hospital with the hope that he'll receive an MRI soon. We'll keep you posted.

Prayers for Owen

Owen begin with fever on Wednesday night and has had a fever until tonight. On Thursday the doctor said that Owen's ears were red (not quite an ear infection) and put him on antibiotic. Then on Friday Owen kept losing his balance and by the early evening he couldn't seem to stand without falling. Both the pediatrician and oncologist advised us to take Owen to the Yale emergency room, where we stayed until returning home at 3am. Due to concerns with his hydrocephalus and tumor, a CT Scan was taken. We were fortunate the the CT Scan showed the hydrocephalus was the same; meaning his ventricles were enlarged but not more so than usual.

The question that remained though is why is Owen losing his balance. The neurosurgeon said that there were two possibilities - either he has a virus or his tumor has grown. We strongly believe that his symptoms - fever and chills, loss of appetite, and, as of today, a rash - are due to a viral infection. Owen regained his appetite this evening and is walking better. Although his MRI is scheduled for Friday, it may be moved up to tomorrow. We are hopeful that the MRI will show that the tumor has remainded the same size. We ask that you continue to pray for Owen - thank you!