tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68513686262645182562012-02-16T11:30:42.485-05:00That's Me... a momcologist. I had a crazy career that I left to stay home with my 3 kiddies. They are 9, 5 and 1 now and they are the lights of my life! These days, I'm getting on-the-job training that no parent should have. My son, Mikey, was diagnosed with unclassifiable brain cancer on 9/17/2008 when he was just 2 1/2 years old. This is our journey... in all it's insanityChrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.comBlogger1041100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-32549720850181747862011-03-22T16:03:00.004-04:002011-03-22T16:05:44.549-04:00

This is somewhere that I can share our journey and bring awareness to people that kids get cancer too. That's what I'm going to do... and that's what I thought one of the TV shows that I've been watching on and off for 20 years was going to do too.. boy, was I wrong!Today, I turned on General Hospital. Michael is in the bath and Timmy is hanging out in his crib. I haven't watched in weeks but I

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-64974407920480016872010-09-15T08:36:00.007-04:002010-09-15T09:51:02.830-04:00

I had known when this whole thing started 2 years ago when Mikey was diagnosed that my 2 best friends would be there no matter what. They they would put whatever feelings they had aside and be there for me. That the topic of 'kids having cancer' would be uncomfortable for them but they would be there because they were my best friends. They would let me cry and not make me talk about it until I

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-31232182066615754712010-09-13T10:20:00.002-04:002010-09-13T10:59:34.485-04:00

No, I'm not competing for a medal and I'm not shopping for jewelry. I'm talking about going gold for the kids. Kids like my Mikey. Kids who know all too much about the medical field at a very young age. Who have mediports, have surgeries, receive chemotherapy and radiation and lose their hair. Kids who have cancer.Everywhere I look I see pink. Pink ribbons everywhere. Signs saying that October is

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-48401926648202192242010-07-29T23:18:00.003-04:002010-07-29T23:35:20.562-04:00

It's round 2, night 2 of chemo. He's 4. We have chemo nights. Chemo nights! How the hell did this happen? When did it become routine to have chemo nights? Anyway... I digress...It's round 2, night 2 of chemo. Round 1 was a disaster. He took it the first 4 nights. Got horribly sick overnight on night 1 but nights 2-4 he was ok. Night 5, he didn't even absorb the chemo before he got sick. We

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-64207711964209706662010-07-10T13:57:00.004-04:002010-07-10T14:26:30.505-04:00

Life is not a competition. It isn't about whose problems are bigger. Or playing games of 'tit for tat'. Or looking past the good parts of your life to find the bad. Or purposely playing the part of a martyr.Life is about learning. And teaching. And believing. And stopping to smell the roses. And being there for those you love. And friendship. And family. Life is about love.Look past the nonsense.

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-72789533354509920172010-06-12T08:10:00.006-04:002010-06-14T08:40:09.816-04:00

I remember the days when all you wanted to do was fit in with a certain group. When you saw 5 or 10 girls standing in a circle talking and laughing and then hugging good-bye you would watch as they all walked away from each other knowing that they all had something in common that you obviously didn't have. You wondered what that something was... and then you hoped that one day you would have it.

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-47152240300356997592010-06-07T10:29:00.003-04:002010-06-07T10:38:56.319-04:00

When I was pregnant with Mikey I joined an online message board group for moms that were pregnant and due the same month as I was, a December 2005 Pregnancy Board. We shared stories, fears, points of view and advice. After the babies were born we stayed on the message board but some of us branched off into groups. We shared the highs and lows of new mommy-hood and stories, fears and advice. We

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-55453991721426355922010-06-02T08:49:00.003-04:002010-06-02T10:14:34.854-04:00

I know it's been a long time since I posted here. I've been posting on Mikey's Caring Bridge site but that's been all about Mikey... I need a place to be about me. And what better day to start that than my birthday?Did you ever notice how birthday wishes change so much as the years go by? When you're really little you wish for a pony. Then you realize you can't have a pony so you wish for that

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-55433470408549867022009-07-06T16:54:00.000-04:002009-07-06T16:55:04.917-04:00

A friend of mine sent this to me and I wanted to share it with you. I know some of the people who come here to check on Mike also have children suffering from this awful disease and I wanted to make sure that they all know how special they are. **Warning... this is a multiple tissue reading... The Chosen MothersMost women become mothers by accident, some by choice and planning, a few by social

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-31644442910043851442009-07-06T07:48:00.002-04:002009-07-06T07:49:22.693-04:00

Good morning everyone! :)I got a text this morning from Aunt Ei congratulating me because I made the comments section of the NY Daily News! It seems that, while they shortened my rant, they printed the complaint that I had about Kelly from Real Housewives New York! Ei is hoping for a response... I am mad that they shortened it!! It was a good rant!! LOLHere is what I sent to them:My 3 year

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-84132297164384359562009-07-05T22:13:00.002-04:002009-07-05T22:36:01.179-04:00

There are so many restrictions placed on and orders given for Mike by various doctors... not too much sun, not too cold, no community water, be careful of the sand on the beach, try not to let him get too many cuts for fear of infection, watch what he eats, make sure he gets enough sleep, watch for bruises... there are so many things that sometimes I feel like I am becoming neurotic!!We have a

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-58867958876745803502009-07-03T21:36:00.006-04:002009-07-05T16:20:20.932-04:00

***Hi... I hope my post doesn't come across nasty, it's just that there is so much going on that there isn't any good way to answer the question, 'how is Mike?'. Words hold a lot of value to me and the people who ask about him are greatly appreciated and I am so thankful to those who ask about him. I just need people to know why the get the same response almost every time they ask about him!

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-19142163375983653032009-05-03T06:46:00.002-04:002009-05-03T06:56:29.682-04:00

Hi everyone...I am so thrilled that so many people have come to visit Mikey's Caring Bridge page. I just want to make sure it's clarified that the reason the page has been moved is because there is a lot going on medically and I want to be able to update everyone knowing that the stories, pictures and information I share are safe and so that I know that who is checking it.I had someone sign into

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-8423175144590289962009-04-23T13:38:00.003-04:002009-04-23T14:17:10.383-04:00

Hi everyone...Well, after a lot of thought I have decided to move Mikey's story to a Caring Bridge site. This will allow me to post more pictures freely because people need to sign in to view the site and you can all still continue to leave comments and read any time you would like. Not to mention the fact that you can sign up for e-mail notifications so you know whenever there is a Mikey journal

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-86073799762375372412009-04-18T18:17:00.028-04:002009-04-20T14:53:30.653-04:00

CancerMain Entry: can·cer Pronunciation: \ˈkan(t)-sər\Function: nounEtymology: Middle English, from Latin (genitive Cancri), literally, crab; akin to Greek karkinos crab, cancerDate: 14th century1capitalized a: a northern zodiacal constellation between Gemini and Leo b (1): the fourth sign of the zodiac in astrology — see zodiac table (2): one born under the sign of Cancer2 [Latin, crab, cancer]

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-71831191141823576342009-04-14T10:47:00.003-04:002009-04-14T11:07:24.750-04:00

Hi everyone...Well, I know I promised to write more before this but it has been an insane week. We ended up staying in the hospital overnight on Wednesday only to be sent home Thursday and go back in on Friday morning because he was still so sick overnight Thursday. I was glad that I stuck to my guns and insisted that we not leave inpatient without leaving a stool sample because on Friday while

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-3023259996922252042009-04-08T04:42:00.002-04:002009-04-08T05:01:56.464-04:00

Hi everyone... It's 4:48 on Wednesday morning and I am up... again... You all know Mike has been a horrible sleeper through all of this but Saturday night around 1 am the roller coaster really started... and it hasn't stopped yet. Katie started with a stomach bug on Saturday afternoon and Mike picked it up Saturday night. I wish they would share the TV clicker and toys as well as they shared this

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-48936873708027846822009-04-01T09:53:00.004-04:002009-04-01T11:25:53.229-04:00

Hi everyone... So anyone on Facebook knows that Mike had PT and OT yesterday. It was a big day for him. The physical therapist put him in the stander. There had been talk of a stander before and they have expressed the idea of having Mike use one before but I had never heard of one before all this. And I certainly didn't think Mike was ready for one so when they came out and told me he was in it

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-70326021136642295562009-03-27T08:07:00.003-04:002009-03-27T08:18:15.361-04:00

Well everyone, we had the GI appointment yesterday. I was a wreck going in because MSKCC jumped the gun and said to be prepared for feeding tube talk. I was so relieved when a feeding tube didn't even come up yet. The Drs and nutritionist at NY Presbyterian were wonderful! They were so easy to talk to actually listened. They offered advice and gave me tips on how to get Mike to eat better and

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-55274475631147469802009-03-26T10:54:00.004-04:002009-03-26T11:06:31.484-04:00

Ok, everyone... I'm using the power of the internet to raise money for an amazing cause!!St. Baldrick's Foundation raises money for pediatric cancer research and they do it in an amazing way. There are events all over the country where people come and shave their heads in support of kids suffering from cancer. This year, Mikey-Mike is the honored child at the event here in Rockaway Beach, NY at

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-90915623432266410322009-03-25T19:41:00.007-04:002009-03-25T20:23:50.613-04:00

Hi everyone...So, after our eventful weekend we had another appointment on Tuesday in the PDH, PT & OT appointments AND the Ophthalmology visit.As soon as we got to MSKCC we had Mike's blood drawn. Getting it done first thing in the AM means no waiting in the IV/Blood drawing rooms and the pedi lab doesn't get backed up so the results come back rather quickly. The poor kid HATES it. We have a

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-81640444547253680222009-03-22T11:11:00.010-04:002009-03-25T19:40:44.458-04:00

Good Morning everyone,I know, I know... I've been slacking again. I am sorry. Thank you all for sticking with me and checking in to see what is going on with Mikey... and all of us. I hope that you are all enjoying your weekend. It's been an interesting week and a half for us here. As you all know we got wonderful news on March 9. It seems that the Temodar has been keeping the tumors from growing

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-86120126125778260482009-03-09T14:51:00.001-04:002009-03-09T14:51:33.287-04:00

Mike's counts were wonderful again today. The doctors are so pleased with how he is doing! Mike's MRI went well. They were able to get him the anesthesia and he fell asleep with no issue. He is such a champ! He woke up on his own and as soon as he did he was asking for Cheerios and water! LOLSo, we were able to wait at MSKCC while Dr. D went to look at the MRI and we got great news when he did!

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-74005608437692201482009-03-06T09:55:00.011-05:002009-03-06T10:19:49.137-05:00

Hi everyone... ~~~~Just a warning... I am hyperlink happy in this post! :) The title of this blog is a link to Mike's tem page and anytime St. Baldrick's or Mikey's Miracles is written just click on either and you will be taken to the Irish Circle event or Mikey's team page! :) When I was approached about this a couple of months ago by a girl that I used to babysit (yes everyone, that made me

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-16244519412340832462009-03-05T13:57:00.006-05:002009-03-06T09:55:12.740-05:00

Hi everyone... I am sorry it's been so long! Things here have been nutty! Matt got the job transfer and is now working in Manhattan, I was feeling a little under the weather and the kids have been keeping me hopping! Katie has been doing great. She's marching in our neighborhood's St. Patrick's Day Parade with the cheerleaders this Saturday. She's loving school and doing so well! She does still

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-7495897030208677212009-02-18T14:05:00.005-05:002009-02-18T14:55:13.299-05:00

Hi Everyone!! :) Well, Mike had his first full on conversation with the oncologist, Dr. D today!! It was hysterical... Mike was telling him all about his DVD player and the guys on Sesame Street. It was so nice that he was talking to him and not screaming at him but at the same time I felt that pang of, my son is actually comfortable talking to an oncologist and being at a cancer hospital. When

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-90038450138168950242009-02-16T09:01:00.021-05:002009-02-16T09:43:41.236-05:00

Good morning! I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend. I had told myself that since both kids are home today I was going to not get on the blog and write anything. Nothing that I might have wanted to write couldn't wait until Wednesday after Mike's plethora of appointments. But it's 9 AM and I have already cooked 4 eggs, changed 6 DVDs, drawn 10 Sesame Street and Blues Clues characters on a

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-66119460744177507772009-02-12T20:02:00.006-05:002009-02-14T14:19:25.132-05:00

Hi everyone,I have to tell you, I am finding out that more and more people are reading my blog and can't believe that there are over 300 people that have joined Mikey's Facebook group! I am so touched by the tremendous amount of support that we have received from everyone. Thank you all so much and for those that haven't joined yet, please go to the group and send a request to join! Once you are

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-54652554792563866412009-02-11T15:14:00.004-05:002009-02-11T15:21:09.461-05:00

Hi Everyone!! I signed on today and saw that I had many comments to moderate! Thank you to all of you new readers! One of the comments was from Ron. (Thanks to Jennifer I learned how to hyperlink so just click on his name to go to his blog!! :)) Ron is very talented and sketched a picture of Mike that I wanted to share!! :) I absolutely love it!! :) Thank you so much Ron!! :) We go into MSKCC

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-36437471096154221042009-02-09T12:35:00.002-05:002009-02-09T12:50:20.158-05:00

Hi everyone,Yep, Mike had a good day at Sloan today! :) His counts came back great! WBC: 7.2, HGB: 12.8, Platelets: 330 and ANC: 3.0!! Yep... that's all but the HGB in the normal range and the HGB level only misses the normal range by 0.2!! YAY!! He has been feeling good and has been acting good for the most part too so it makes me feel better to see him doing better. Don't get me wrong, he has

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-12200974595508723612009-02-08T12:37:00.001-05:002009-02-08T12:44:22.204-05:00

Hi everyone!So as I posted the other day, Saturday was a celebration of Tuesday's life. I took the kids for a walk this weekend and I thought of Tuesday and how happy she must be up in heaven looking down on all the kids. I can't imagine Jessica and the Whitt family's grief. There have been so many people touched by Tuesday's story and life that people all over the country were taking 'waggie'

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-38270124505484878542009-02-05T08:13:00.004-05:002009-02-08T16:23:41.238-05:00

**update: Thanks to Jennifer, I am going to try to hyperlink Mike's Facebook page!! :) Mike's Facebook GroupThere's a Facebook group for everything... why not one for Mikey-Mike??!! :) Here is the link... (I have no idea how to hide a link and make it an underlined word or phrase so please, if anyone here in Blogger-land knows, send me a comment on how I can do that!! LOL) http://www.facebook.com

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-71386557801324741422009-02-05T08:05:00.004-05:002009-02-05T08:12:55.891-05:00

Hi everyoneI got this from Debi, a friend of Jessica's. She was so sweet in contacting me after reading my blog and I wanted you all to know that this is happening. I know I asked you to hug your kiddies a little tighter but now I'm going to ask you to do something else... Tuesday Whitt loved wagon rides. She called them "waggie rides". Saturday Feb. 7th Tuesday's family is having a celebration

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-24788779398136364312009-02-04T07:17:00.020-05:002009-02-04T08:06:36.841-05:00

Ok, well we all know that chemo makes the hair fall out. I hadn't known exactly why it does this until Mike started chemo and Katie asked why it happens. I don't know why I didn't know or why I never asked, but it was just one of those things that is there. It just happens. So, when Katie asked, I got her the answer. It turns out that the chemotherapy drugs' main job is to kill fast growing cells

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-9794769946814841272009-02-03T20:59:00.005-05:002009-02-03T21:32:53.184-05:00

So there's this blog I follow. Well, there are a lot of blogs I follow but this one I really follow. See, when you are a cancer mom you have things in common with people that you wouldn't even think about if your child didn't have cancer. You rejoice when the scale stays the same and doesn't drop at each doctor visit. You are relieved when you can go a day without giving your child a stool

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-88499410332354370112009-02-03T11:40:00.004-05:002009-02-03T12:40:27.559-05:00

Hi everyone,I am sorry it's been so long since I posted. Last week was full of Dr visits and craziness. First, Katie and I had an AMAZING time on Tuesday night at The Little Mermaid on Broadway! It was an awesome show and she and I both loved it! The 2 1/2 hours flew by and I would see it over and over and over again! I was so thrilled that her first Broadway experience was so great. She was so

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-56030338909445770422009-01-26T14:01:00.007-05:002009-01-26T15:46:16.056-05:00

Hi everyone...Yes, the saga continues and nope, there is never a dull moment. On the plus side, Mike took all 5 nights of chemo like a champ! I was so thrilled! On the down side...On Saturday when I got home from Katie's birthday party I woke Mike up from his nap to get him ready to go up to my in-law's house. When I went to change his diaper I noticed that his left testicle was big again. I

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-31375821421426637042009-01-24T09:18:00.010-05:002009-01-24T10:23:35.401-05:00

Hi everyone! I know, our appt was Wednesday and it's Saturday. That's 3 days and I haven't updated. You need to understand something though... Katie's birthday was on Wednesday. She turned 7. She has been talking about turning 7 since the day after she turned 6! On New Year's Day she woke up yelling, 'It's January! Finally! It's my birthday month!' So, while Wed was an important day for Mike, it

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-88443435067102737442009-01-16T12:41:00.013-05:002009-01-17T11:50:01.716-05:00

Hi everyone...On Thursday, shortly after I wrote about Tuesday, I got a call from the Drs at MSKCC. The Dr that called me was Dr. B. He was the Dr. that we saw on Tuesday afternoon when we got the MRI results. Anyway, Dr. B said that he spoke to Dr. G and Dr. D and they came up with a new treatment plan. They feel that the best chemo drug to try now is Temozolomide. It would be given once a day

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-331162215203215122009-01-15T07:52:00.007-05:002009-01-15T08:29:39.890-05:00

Hi everyone... Well, here I am, back again. It has been a very long, hard week for us here. Mike is still not walking and he seems to still have major 'off centered' moments, leaning to one side, only sitting in the 'W position' and just not comfortable so much of the time. He has started to stand for more than a minute at a time so I am hoping, since we are about 17 days after the last chemo

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-65233022760770389912009-01-02T19:39:00.014-05:002009-01-02T21:52:04.135-05:00

Hi everyone! Well, Mike did indeed need a transfusion today. We got his numbers back and his WBC was 3, platelets were 248, ANCs were 1.2 (ugh!) and his hgb was 8.1. Now, Mary (our favorite NP ever! LOL) said that they usually send kids home at that level but she didn't like Mike's coloring so she wanted to make a clinical decision on whether or not to transfuse him. So she looked him over, took

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-12593296889502237372009-01-01T10:00:00.017-05:002009-01-01T11:09:40.636-05:00

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a safe New Year's Eve and that you all have a Healthy, wonderful & Happy 2009! I rang in the New Year quietly at home hoping that Mike and Katie would sleep through the fireworks going off outside of the house. 2008 was a tough year for me, from the miscarriage in April to Mike's diagnosis in September and those things tend to outdo the good things that came from

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-49417651283724492832008-12-30T17:13:00.004-05:002008-12-30T18:54:23.496-05:00

Hi everyone,Well, they say that when you or someone you love is going through long term health treatments, you start to take each day as it comes. You embrace every small milestone and look for the light at the end of the tunnel. Today, I feel like we hit our first milestone. Mike received the last chemo treatment of the induction phase. Now, I can't say that the induction phase was without

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-57146196387183025242008-12-26T06:04:00.003-05:002008-12-26T06:34:58.889-05:00

Hi everyone! Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! I hope that your Christmas was wonderful! Mike and Katie actually slept in until 7 AM!! I couldn't believe it! They both loved their gifts! Katie's big gift was a Nintendo DS with a couple of games and Mike's big gift was a tricycle and a V-tech laptop of his very own! lol Of course the biggest gift of all for both of them was Daddy under the tree but

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-11969139835383732082008-12-24T20:16:00.003-05:002008-12-24T20:21:18.565-05:00

Hi everyone! On Tuesday while we were at Chemo Sloan had their annual Christmas party. Here is the clip from Fox News (Channel 5). My dad, Katie and my BFF Col made it on. (Katie is sitting on Col's lap in a green sweater w/ a mask on her face b/c she has/had a cold) It was really a nice party! Santa was there and so were the FAO Schwartz Toy Soldiers! :) The people that work there are amazing

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-9683455973410653002008-12-23T19:10:00.005-05:002008-12-25T19:42:08.927-05:00

Hi everyone! Just a quick update from today before I put 2 tired children and 1 exhausted Mommy to bed! Mike had week 9 of chemo today. The Drs. wanted to give him both meds again, which I expected them to do. We have discussed things and have decided that we should keep these last 2 weeks of the induction phase the way they were planned and then talk about possibly changing the dose of the one

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-33236342054428531192008-12-22T16:48:00.008-05:002008-12-22T18:50:21.779-05:00

Hi everyone...That's right, we had our first (and hopefully our last) emergency trip into Sloan this morning. Yesterday after Mike got up my mom noticed his eye turning. His left eye. The eye that started this whole mess. We watched it all day. It would turn in and go back to the midline. It would also come out past the midline which it didn't do when this all first started so I was hoping that

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-41244928113104859182008-12-18T07:55:00.004-05:002008-12-18T08:17:53.293-05:00

Good morning everyone!Well, I am going to post a non-Mike chemo blog! :) We had a very exciting few days here! We watched the first snow fall, Katie cheered in her first basketball game and we got our very own Elf!! :) I want to share the pictures with you from all of it but first I am going to share a couple of cute stories with you. On Tuesday it snowed. Not a lot, just a light dusting but it

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-71547530490794052132008-12-17T17:50:00.004-05:002008-12-17T18:06:33.882-05:00

Hi everyone, First, I want to thank everyone that has already, is going soon, has an appointment and is making an appointment to donate blood for Mike! I know it is early and we have a long way to go so we will be needing blood for a long time so please don't get frustrated if your appointments start getting staggered out! We are so grateful to all of you for all of your prayers and for all of

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-70350050558883950902008-12-16T15:46:00.009-05:002008-12-16T16:31:55.799-05:00

Hi everyone!! :) Well, Matt came up over the weekend and since Mike was feeling well enough, for the most part, we drove upstate to my in-laws. It was a nice weekend and the kids were absolutely thrilled to see Matt. I would love to share more about the weekend with you but for now I am only going to share about our drive upstate. It was a drive that I don't think I am going to forget for a long

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-74303484079495004002008-12-11T09:33:00.010-05:002008-12-11T13:17:59.463-05:00

Hi everyone! I want to thank all of those that have responded so generously about giving blood in Mike's name. I appreciate you all more than you will ever know! So, yesterday Mike received his 7th chemo treatment. His numbers were holding strong yesterday!! :) His WBC was 11.7, HGB 11.3, Platelets 458 (!) and ANCs 5.9!! :) YAY Mike!! :) It seems that the transfusion and the 5 days of Neupogen

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-18828691326975696662008-12-09T09:09:00.003-05:002008-12-09T09:13:52.141-05:00

**This is an e-mail that I sent out to just about everyone on my e-mail contact list. There is a flier that I have with all of the information on how to donate blood for Mike but I am not posting it on here for privacy reasons, so if you would like the information please send me your e-mail address. My e-mail address is: chrissielw@gmail.com. Thank you so much!! Please keep those prayers coming!!

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-79929311113876472622008-12-08T13:45:00.005-05:002008-12-08T14:08:51.710-05:00

So Mike now officially knows some Sloan terminology... we walked into the IV room and Mike says, 'fingerstick'. Of course, coming from the mouth of a 3 year old with a speech delay is sounds like 'finadiks' but I knew what he said... and so did Caitlin, the receptionist in the IV room. It was actually quite pathetic because he said it through tears while he was holding his hand up ready for them

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-49259013194221691802008-12-06T16:54:00.008-05:002008-12-09T20:16:16.069-05:00

Well, here we are... just about 24 hours after getting home from Mike's first transfusion. Matt is here, Christmas decorations are going up, the kids are ok... I mean, Mike is still cranky and I can tell he isn't feeling right but for everything he has gone through, especially this past week, he's ok... so I should be ok. I really should be ok, right? But, I'm not. I'm tired... I don't mean just

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-68482255579289763972008-12-06T09:49:00.003-05:002008-12-06T10:17:35.246-05:00

Hi everyone....Yesterday was a long day... and when I say long I mean looooong... one of those days where you swear someone stops everything and everyone but you and your 24 hour day becomes at least 2 days long. We had to be at Sloan at 8:30 so we left Rockaway at 7. For the entire almost 48 hours from our chemo treatment to the time I had to get to Sloan on Friday I was praying and hoping that

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-91312121320799286512008-12-03T15:27:00.003-05:002008-12-03T15:46:04.060-05:00

Hi everyone... I am going to make this short because I am exhausted and need to take care of Mike. We had week 6 of chemo today. First they drew blood when they accessed the port and we waited... and waited and were finally called in to see the Dr and NP. Well, the NP we love, Mary, was in the room and started by telling us (my BFF J and me) that if this were a week where he was supposed to get

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-47912848914773057592008-12-02T20:23:00.002-05:002008-12-02T21:02:53.839-05:00

Hi everyone! While the kids are laying in bed I thought I would take this time to update you all on the appointment today instead of adding it to tomorrow's chemo update and making it, yet another, loooong blog! :)I have to start out by saying I LOVE LOVE LOVE our new pediatrician. He is wonderful! Since I love him so much I absolutely trusted the first doctor that he referred us to for Mike's GI

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-68767031375958216992008-12-01T13:31:00.007-05:002008-12-01T15:10:10.963-05:00

Hi everyone!! :) Well, here it is... Mike's 3rd birthday! I can't believe he is 3 already! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was being admitted to the hospital... and here he is, walking and talking and bossing us all around! He has been through so much in such a short time, and he has such a long road ahead of him. He is such an amazing little guy. I hope and pray for 100 more happy

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-42726308904542270052008-11-27T07:37:00.006-05:002008-11-27T07:45:09.765-05:00

"This is the e-mail I sent out to family & friends. I wanted to share it with those whose e-mail addresses that I don't have... thank you so much for reading my blog and for keeping Mike & our family in your prayers. Happy Thanksgiving!"For times like this...For days like this...For smiles like this...For laughs like this...And all the moments in between...We are truly grateful! We hope you and

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-31368807618095134132008-11-26T15:22:00.006-05:002008-11-26T15:54:37.413-05:00

Hi everyone,I am so sorry I didn't update earlier. I was taking care of Mike all night and all morning today and then when he was finally feeling better I was able to go run some errands and pick Katie up from school. He is napping now so I can finally sit down and let you all know how things are going. He did really well yesterday. I think the people at Sloan forgot to take their speedy pills

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-1373190733788028642008-11-20T08:20:00.006-05:002008-11-26T17:06:44.076-05:00

***Update again... Mike's c-diff came back negative!! :) What a relief... it wouldn't have been serious but it would have been a pain again! I hated waking him in the middle of the night and he was so freaked with the gloves... YAY negative c-diff results!! LOL**Update -- Mike's c-diff results are not back yet! :( ARGH!! Hopefully we'll get the results tomorrow!!Hi everyone,Well, week 4 of chemo

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-87718304975625660802008-11-14T07:59:00.003-05:002008-11-14T08:13:09.998-05:00

suck. I think that's the only way to put it. They suck. Mike has waves of what I think is nausea. I say what I think because he is really too little to tell me what he is feeling. He just comes over with his hands on his face saying, "Mommy up" and I scoop him up into my arms and he just stays there. He curls himself up on my shoulder with his thumb in his mouth until it passes. They usually come

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-52557694852189498502008-11-12T14:38:00.002-05:002008-11-12T15:17:26.817-05:00

Well today was week 3 of chemo. It was a crazy morning here. Katie was really upset with us going to the hospital this morning. She was so afraid of us going and not coming home tonight that she was hysterical crying before we left. I was so relieved when we finished the treatment early enough for me to get home and pick her up. She was so excited to see my dad, Mike & me at pickup that she was

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-83876652166765198602008-11-07T09:22:00.002-05:002008-11-07T09:31:30.240-05:00

Here we are, about 48 hours after the administration of week 2 of chemo and already we have waves of nausea and hair thinning. The poor little man just whines and runs over to me to pick him up when he doesn't feel good. I pick him up, he curls up on me, sucks his thumb and just leans on my shoulder. And I just hold him... and we cuddle through it.The hair freaked me out yesterday. I felt like it

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-42190755163942513842008-11-06T08:10:00.004-05:002008-11-06T08:32:23.553-05:00

Good morning! What a night we had here!! Mike slept great. He asked to go to bed around 8 and fell asleep within 20 minutes. He even pooped in the middle of the night and let me change him without waking up! Katie, on the other hand, is a ball of worries and stress. She was up 8 times going to the bathroom. And every time she woke me up and made me come to the bathroom with her. I would sit on

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-47680000803454038872008-11-05T18:08:00.006-05:002008-11-05T20:54:29.985-05:00

Ok everyone, I know, I have really been slacking on updating this blog. It has been so nutty here that I just haven't had time to sit and really update.One of the problems I am having is that I don't know anything about any of this stuff. I don't know what's normal on chemo and what isn't. I don't know if little things Mike does are chemo related or if they are something else. On Sunday Mike

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-40294383140774440022008-11-01T07:30:00.002-04:002008-11-01T07:32:58.489-04:00

I just wanted to share some pictures from yesterday for all those of you that are reading and whose e-mails I don't have. Both kids had a BLAST yesterday. I am so grateful that Mike was feeling good enough to enjoy the day. He ended up crashing at 7:30 last night and didn't really have a restful sleep so we are just going to relax today. Here are some pictures of Dorothy and Dino Mike :)

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-42757311140188207532008-10-30T08:25:00.004-04:002008-10-30T09:23:11.674-04:00

Thank you to everyone who e-mailed, called or left comments on my MySpace and Facebook to check in last night. I am sorry I haven't updated before this but I was exhausted last night and just wasn't awake enough to post anything. So, we got to the hospital at 7 yesterday morning. We were scheduled for a 9AM spinal tap procedure. I wasn't thinking on our way in and was hoping that they could

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-82473320911468126582008-10-28T14:45:00.002-04:002008-10-28T15:00:20.798-04:00

The scheduling office at Sloan called and told me that we need to be in at 7 am tomorrow for a 9 am spinal tap/lumbar puncture. We then have a 9:45 appt in the Pediatric Day Hospital bed area for the 'before you start chemo talk' and then they will administer the first round of chemo. Of course, since they are going to 'knock him out' for the procedure he can't have anything to eat or drink after

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-79721518080584458312008-10-23T22:04:00.003-04:002008-10-23T22:32:34.427-04:00

Well, the surgery went well. Mike is home and ok. Definitely not himself. He is uncomfortable, not in pain but uncomfortable. :( I hate seeing him like that. I will be up all night because he is breathing loudly from the suctioning and the intubation (sp?) from the surgery. The right side of the body was preferable for the port placement but since the VP shunt is threaded down that side they had

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-64580655780849125392008-10-22T14:05:00.006-04:002008-10-22T16:08:46.725-04:00

This blog has been great for me but I tend to hold back how I feel. I put the updates out there and let a little out but I am not one to 'let it all out for the world to see'. So I tend to have my breakdowns in the shower where no one can hear me cry over the water running and the radio on. It's the only time of day that I can acknowledge the fact that I am a human, not the robot I feel like I am

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-61029820641859299372008-10-21T16:43:00.004-04:002008-10-21T21:45:15.584-04:00

Well, we had our audiology and speech evals yesterday, Monday, at Sloan. When we got there I was told that the pre-op for the port was scheduled for the 29th of October and the port placement surgery was scheduled for the 31st. In all of this craziness the one day I wanted to be more than normal for Katie was Halloween. So, I asked if we could change that day to that Thursday so that I would be

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-26293234169545419182008-10-17T16:50:00.005-04:002008-10-17T17:24:31.731-04:00

Today I went to discuss the un-diagnosis and treatment plan with the neuro-oncologist at Sloan. First off, I have to say, I really like this Dr. He is so kind, talks to you like you are a human being and is to the point but not harsh about things. I really like that he talks to me like I am not an idiot like some Drs do. Second, I have never been so overloaded with information in my life. It was

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-29246547260579293372008-10-16T14:15:00.000-04:002008-10-16T14:16:01.933-04:00

Yep, ... the official pathology is back... Officially, on Sloan's final pathology report, this is an unclassifiable tumor. Apparently, they can't classify/identify it based on the health organization tumor standards. They do know, however, that, under the microscope, this does not look to be a high grade malignant tumor. I am so thankful for that, but so upset and worried that they can't figure

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-37152375712299603682008-10-14T13:22:00.001-04:002008-10-14T15:23:40.316-04:00

no such luck.I called Sloan this morning only to find out that there is STILL no final pathology report back! This is so frustrating. It has been just about 4 weeks since this whole thing started and we still have no answers or plan.And then to add to the frustration, Mike's stitches were starting to absorb and his hair is starting to grow back in the spots that they had to shave for the surgery

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-25042477192009145082008-10-08T19:32:00.002-04:002008-10-08T19:40:29.383-04:00

So I got a call from the neuro-oncologists at Sloan today. They still have no final pathology report! :( They said that they were pretty sure we wouldn't have anything until the beginning of next week and if I didn't hear from them by Tuesday to call them. I hate waiting! I feel like I am so useless just sitting here letting this sh*t stay in him like this. And to make matters worse, we were up

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-26478153186814924552008-10-04T16:30:00.004-04:002008-10-05T11:35:03.709-04:00

So, we got to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan on Thursday. The pedi neuro-oncologist who is in charge of our case and the neuro-pathologists here have said that whatever type of tumor this is they feel it is going to be a rare one. They are studying the slides from the first surgery on 9/19 and I had to bring up the pathology slides and a frozen section from the surgery

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-91078422070779271592008-10-03T08:58:00.002-04:002008-10-03T09:45:46.489-04:00

It was a tough night. We are in isolation since Mike has been having loose bowels. They want to test for c-diff and stuff before they will let us play in the playroom or anything so we are stuck in the room for the next few days.The IV that he came up from Florida with is in his left hand. He is a thumb sucker and only his left thumb will do so as soon as he moved the IV beeped because he bent

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-90376141030194833272008-10-01T15:35:00.002-04:002008-10-01T15:38:05.487-04:00

We just got the word that Sloan will have a bed available for Mike tomorrow. I am so relieved yet so afraid. I am so terrified that the diagnosis is going to come back and it won't be the one we are hoping and praying for.The transport team will be in our room at 9 AM tomorrow so we are hoping to be at Sloan by mid-afternoon since we have to ambulance to the airport then get on the jet and then

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-90335853750485285462008-09-30T10:52:00.003-04:002008-09-30T12:08:19.937-04:00

We made a big decision yesterday. In speaking to the Dr's here and at Sloan Kettering we feel that Sloan is the place we need to be. With this being an un-identifiable tumor after 10 days Matt and I, and our families think that this has gone on long enough, actually we think it has gone too long, with no answer and that the best place possible for him is Sloan.The neuro-pathologists here and the

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-29770494549033768372008-09-28T16:12:00.005-04:002008-09-28T16:27:26.024-04:00

I would live in Florida for 100 years if it meant not having to move back to NY for something like this.We have decided to go back to NY for any treatment that Mike will need. Even though we don't have a diagnosis we have learned that pretty much any spine/brain tumor gets treated w/ chemo regardless of whether or not it's benign or malignant. The support system we have up there is amazing. Down

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-40520270860127981472008-09-26T20:09:00.003-04:002008-09-26T20:31:26.715-04:00

Today Mike had his 2nd surgery in 7 days. The neurosurgery team decided that placing a permanent shunt would be the best thing to do with all of the excess fluid issues Mike has been having due to the spinal issues. I can't even really begin to fully deal with all of this so I have been calling it spinal issues. I don't think it will really hit me what we are dealing with until we get a firm

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-35997592596780897932008-09-25T19:17:00.003-04:002008-09-25T19:21:41.827-04:00

We are getting another MRI done tomorrow and are going in for another surgery to take out the temporary drain and replace it with a permanent shunt.We have gotten preliminary pathology results back and they are now ruling out an infection. The path results are showing that this is a tumor/growth of some kind and we will have to wait until next week to get the final pathology results.I can't even

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-63468097614850099862008-09-23T15:51:00.002-04:002008-09-23T16:21:48.037-04:00

We were moved out of the PICU this morning. They have decided that they have a good handle on the brain fluid drainage and will continue to do what they have been doing in terms of draining and monitoring manually. We have no news as to a diagnosis though. I don't think anyone can even guess-timate when we may get something on that front.Mike has been an amazing kid during all of this. He

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-31334095068942261342008-09-23T15:30:00.001-04:002008-09-23T15:50:42.855-04:00

****This was copied from an e-mail update I sent on Sunday 9.21.08 Hi everyone, First, thank you so much for your good thoughts and prayers. Second, please keep them coming, we can certainly use them! Third, I am sorry I haven't answered some e-mails and phone calls but I hope you can all understand why that is. We have been in All Children's Hospital in St. Pete Florida since Wednesday

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-15474667963416788392008-09-23T15:19:00.002-04:002008-09-23T15:30:40.496-04:00

**This was copied from an e-mail I sent on 9.18.08I am going to make this short because we are waiting to go for some more tests. On Monday evening (9.15.08) I noticed Mike's eyes were starting to cross. I was able to get him into the pediatrician on Tuesday who agreed that it was very concerning that it came out of no where. The ped was able to get me in with a pediatric ophthalmologist

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-44895589380017450932008-09-11T12:04:00.002-04:002008-09-11T13:08:28.120-04:00

Seven years ago... is that really possible? Has it really been 7 years? It seems like only yesterday. My nightmares still come, I now really dislike the sound of airplanes over my head and whenever I smell smoke it brings me back to that day.It was one of those days that I don't think anyone who was alive to see it and old enough to know what was going on will ever forget what they were doing. 9/

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-19751177960592537072008-08-30T08:05:00.007-04:002008-08-30T08:31:59.436-04:00

Good morning...It's been a while so this is probably going to be a long one!!We got back from Mike's MRI on Tuesday around 11:45. I think most of you know the reasoning behind having to do this... the speech delay/apraxia/neuro visit...if not, go through my older blogs and read the one entitled Mikey-Mike. Anyway we had to be at the hospital at 8 so we dropped Katie off at the before care

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-61033392162626205212008-08-15T13:04:00.003-04:002008-08-15T13:08:49.014-04:00

I am in a Mom's group and the question was posed... What do you love about Target? Well, once I started writing I couldn't stop!! LOL I just wanted to share what is probably a sad love-story but here is what I wrote..."I liked Target in NY but the closest one was about 1/2 hour away and not in the best of neighborhoods and I didn't get to the good ones too often. But, I have to tell you... when

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-22223066946896566122008-08-01T11:02:00.004-04:002008-08-15T13:09:06.110-04:00

The eval yesterday was ok. The neuro really can't diagnose speech apraxia without ruling out medical issues first so he ordered blood work and we have to go for an MRI. I am not really thrilled about the MRI... it is scheduled for Aug. 26th and he has to be sedated for it. :( I really liked the Dr, he was very informative and really listened to what I told him about Mike. He asked all sorts of

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-18382972143417467422008-07-30T19:42:00.004-04:002009-07-21T08:39:40.547-04:00

I am going to update this blog whenever I find quotes that I love!! :)'You don't have to be the one responsible for making everything work. Believe me. The big things are already taken care of: The sun will rise in the morning, the stars will come out at night, and- if you work it right- a child, someone you love, or a dear, close friend, will share a special smile with you- and make everything

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-78925887271227671242008-07-28T11:34:00.004-04:002008-07-28T11:48:18.311-04:00

LOL Yep, that's what I hear now!! "Oopies Mama, Oopies! Oopies Mama OOOOpies!!!" And nope, he didn't drop anything and nope, he didn't fall down. Oopies is apparently Mike's word for poopies!! LOL The minute he goes he says it... and unfortunately that can mean we get to it mid-poop and 2 minutes later he comes to me saying Oopes Mama Oopies again!! LOLAnd yes, this is using more diapers... well,

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-186578778687045762008-07-27T23:29:00.024-04:002008-07-28T00:31:47.340-04:00

Now, before I get in all sorts of trouble, let me start by saying I LOVE Sex and the City and I LOVE Disney!! I can't get enough of either of them! I could watch episodes of SATC daily and I could spend days and days at the Disney parks and watching Disney movies. But I really must pose the question, Is Sex and the City really any different from Disney?? Isn't it just Disney on Viagra for the

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-66082534750213016652008-07-27T12:35:00.001-04:002008-07-27T12:36:59.546-04:00

..

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-16132938452490230542008-07-25T15:00:00.002-04:002008-12-10T09:13:18.270-05:00

Well, today was a first!! The first time my little man got a haircut!!! I know, I know... he is over 2 1/2, it should have been done before now!! LOL But, Mike never had hair that really needed to be cut. In his first birthday picture he had a perfect head of hair!! LOL It was just recently that the curls started to come out and get all crazy, especially in the heat. And living in Florida there

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-57667044909831175872008-07-23T14:29:00.007-04:002008-07-23T18:39:57.056-04:00

Yeppers, we are back in the Sunshine (the really nice way of saying hot & humid as all h*ll) state!! We had a great time in NY, there was a lot of craziness and running around and I didn't get to see my friends nearly enough but it was nice to be home for a month. I can't say that I am happy to be back but I am happy to be back to a routine for the kids! Katie is thrilled to be back and to see

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-68070947552188232202008-07-11T16:44:00.004-04:002008-07-23T18:35:03.472-04:00

Since acceptance is a step that all people who have an addiction must go through, I will admit and I do accept that if they had a Disney Addiction Support Group I would DEFINITELY be one of the first in line to join! LOL I LOVE Disney. And I don't just mean all of the Disney movies from Snow White through Enchanted (even though I do love all of them) and I don't just mean the Disney channel in

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-36540607414335544062008-07-11T16:27:00.008-04:002008-07-23T18:35:37.556-04:00

I can't spill the beans just yet but I have to get it out!!! :) I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED!! I got great news today and I am bursting at the seams to say something!! It is going to make me crazy to hold it in but I have to... so I will just say this... HOORAY!! :)Ok, at least I feel a little better about keeping this secret by just saying that!!! LOLWith love from Happy Valley,Chrissie

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-91749225630099314312008-07-10T18:37:00.007-04:002008-07-11T16:30:23.298-04:00

I have to say, I do love time away from reality. Now, I don't mean actually AWAY from reality like packing up and running away, but I mean mentally away. You know, doing those mindless things that keep you from loosing what little sanity you have left. Whether that time is spent sitting on the beach digging a hole with the heel of your foot, playing a game on the computer, reading a book that you

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851368626264518256.post-87430494173644253692008-07-01T14:53:00.007-04:002008-07-01T15:53:14.693-04:00

You know you remember it...that sound that you would wait for every day when you were a kid. The one where your ears perked up as soon as you heard that very first note. It started to play every weekend and on the nice evenings in the middle of April and then on June 1st it was ringing through the neighborhood every day! My parents waited for it, I waited for it, you probably did too. And now my

Chrissie, Christine, Chris, Mommy, Mama, Maaaaa...http://www.blogger.com/profile/09130924476144678998noreply@blogger.com0