Houston is off

We were set to leave town with the U-haul all packed up on Friday, and we got a phone call from Zoe's oncologist (Dr. Shardy). The proton beam center in Houston is not willing to do Zoe's radiation because she is not a good candidate. They don't believe that they will be able to work around the hardware that is in Zoe's neck from the spinal fusion. The hardware can cause the radiation to splay out and damage surrounding healthy tissue. This was a big shock to find out. We have known from the very beginning that proton beam radiation was Zoe's best chance, and now it's no longer an option for her. Houston has recommended that Zoe receive another kind of radiation called Tomo therapy. Dr. Shardy is currently looking into this for us. We know there are a couple of centers in Oregon, but so far we don't know if they are right for Zoe yet. I'm just trying to trust that everything Zoe needs she will have, and that if proton beam therapy is not right for her, then it's for the best. So, it's another lesson in just going with the flow, because if there is one thing we have been able to count on during this whole journey, it's that plans always change. Just when you think something is set in stone, it changes.

We are here in Eugene now staying with Henry's dad at his cute little townhouse. He has a big field for a backyard that Zoe has been loving. She has been dragging us out to play hide and seek, and to pick blackberries. She is still doing great, and we are getting closer to having the halo removed, and to stopping the iv antibiotics. I'm actually waiting for a phone call today with an appointment date for us to go up to Portland for the halo removal. It will be quite exciting, I haven't seen Zoe's forehead, or been able to give her a real hug since May. Not to mention I won't have to worry about her pin screws poking my eye out anymore. More than anything I look forward to her having more of the freedom to do the things she wants that she hasn't been able to do for months. It's been getting more and more frustrating for her to not run, jump, and do the crazy things a 5 year old loves to do...especially since she has been feeling so much better.

Meanwhile, little miss I'm sucking up life at warp speed has been learning how to read. We have some hooked on phonics workbooks that I bought for her forever ago, and she has been barreling through them! Henry also hooked her up with some computer learning games (reading rabbit) that she completed within a couple of days...she can't get enough! No worries about learning deficiencies or cognitive effects from the surgeries that's for sure.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Colleen