Thursday January 24th, Scans Are Clear!

Ashley wants me to write about our day today, and I’m not nearly as thorough. We obviously focus on different aspects of everything! But that’s probably good for many reasons. We had Ingram’s second set of post-treatment scans today. We’ve been done with treatments since late October. It’s been a little harder emotionally since we haven’t been receiving treatments because we aren’t actively doing anything. The stasis makes us feel like the tumor could come back. Nonetheless, this is just the beginning of a long road. 

The scans today were clear! In other words, no signs of a tumor in either the brain or the spinal fluid. It was a huge relief for us, and for our family and a whole lot of friends who seem to be in the middle of this valley with us. Ingram was a stud once again. He didn’t cry at all when he was accessed...twice. He helped the doctors with the IVs, as he always does. And he was a magnet for attention, as he also always is! I was stopped by a stranger a few weeks ago – that’s not unusual nowadays. They asked me if I was “Ingram’sdad.” I laughed to myself about my new identity. It felt like something from a movie. The reality of it is, yes, I am. And I am quite proud to be “Ingram’s dad.” As I said, he’s as stud!     

Thank you all for your prayers and your words of encouragement. Our family has been blessed to have so many people in this battle with us. Everyone has their own way of helping and it is a lot of fun for us to watch. When we had the opportunity to speak at the Country Cares event last weekend, Mr.Shadyac asked how our experience has changed our lives. As part of the answer, I told the audience that I had become much more of an optimist about people. That I knew people were inherently flawed,but that there was also an inherent goodness that we fail to see most of the time. Perhaps we don’t see it because we’re too busy to notice. I suspect I’m too busy pursuing my own self-interests to let my own goodness out. That’s one of the few silver linings to life’s tragedies, they remind us that self-interests are less important than loving others. They have a way of putting things in perspective for both the afflicted and those around them. Thank you all for loving my family the way you have.

“’Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’” Matthew 22

What Better Way To Pass Our Time Waiting In
Assessment/Triage To Start Our Long Day!
We Love To Play With The Camera!
 

Oh Yeah! 
Check Out That Stomach!
He's Over 35 Pounds Now!
(From dad: Check out those delts!)
 

Even Though It's Been A While, Ingram Did Not Cry Or Flinch When He Got Poked
AND He Showed Our Nurse How To Draw His Labs!

Showing Off His New Letter Of The Week That He's Working On At School
By Making His Name IMGRAM Instead Of INGRAM!

Aren't My New Pajamas Cool?
They're Rainbow And Oh So Soft!

Ingram And Daddy Playing Trains Waiting On Our Appointment With Dr. Gajjar!

Ingram The Red Nosed Conqueror!
While He Was Waking Up From Being Sedated, He Was Fascinated By The Pulse
Ox On His Finger So We Started Playing With It!

We Were Having A Long Talk With Him At 2pm In The Afternoon!
It Was To Convince Him To Finally Eat For The First Time Of The Day
And Finally He Decided On A Grilled Cheese To Match His Cutest Ever Smile!

Oh How We Love Dr. Gajjar!!
"St. Jude Rocks!" As All Three Of Our Kids Say!