Waiting

As many of you may know already from our recent facebook post, we are still waiting for Ari's surgery to remove the nodules and take care of the excess fluid.  Our neurosurgeon was not able to get a time in the OR until today at 9 p.m., and she didn't feel comfortable doing a 6-hour surgery at 9 p.m.  We agreed with that!  So, we continue to wait here at Doernbecher.  The plan is for the surgery to take place on Thursday morning.  Ari remains pretty happy overall and has been pretty interactive.  We do notice that the pressure in his head has been bothering him a bit more, but he continues to be bright and active when he's awake.  We are going to try to get away from the hospital for a few hours today on a day pass.  The doctors and nurses have been great about being flexible to allow us to take multiple walks outside each day, and they've offered day passes for us to go out and about.  It has been a nice change of pace from the hospital life.  

Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers you have been sending.  We got the word last night that Ari's CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) came back negative!  This is a big first step for the treatment ahead.  It basically means that the cancer has not metastasized and is localized to where the nodules are located.  Not only is this good for the overall progression of the disease, but it makes him a better candidate for the focal radiation that hopefully will happen after his surgery.  Please celebrate with us for this first step.

As we find out more information, we will do our best to add a new blog post or send facebook updates.  After Ari's surgery on Thursday, we will be going to PICU for several days for recovery.  Just a heads up, we are not allowed to have our cell phones on while in there.  So, if you are texting or calling us after Thursday, there may be a delay in our response.  We continue to be grateful for all your journeying with us through this season.  We have had time to reflect on the past 6 months these past several days, and we continue to be baffled at the support and love we have been shown.  Thank you!

Here are a couple videos for you.  Enjoy!

Ari has really enjoyed giving us high-fives here recently.

Ari has begun to mimic not only us but his squeaky toys as well!