What a week!!

This was the first full week of therapy for Ashton and he has been so brave. Every week so far has had a holiday or there was the week where he skipped radiation, so this week has
been particularly tough. A full 5 days in a row and it just happens to be the week where he
is having full radiation beams to the brain and spine. He is doing ok...his face is pretty red and he has a red streak down his chest and back, but that will fade hopefully by tomorrow. The radiation will taper down for the next couple of weeks until treatment is over, so we are over the hump. Funny thing is he was way sleepier last week then this one. He was going to bed as early as 4pm where this week he has been up much later..he was even up till 8:30 last night, and I had to make him go to bed. The dr. realized that he could have been dehydrated last week so this week he has been getting fluids as he gets chemo and he really seems to be feeling better.

Wednesday was a day that I will remember forever. Our doctor gave us great hope.
I was telling her about a book I had received from a woman from Jacobs Heart. It was
all about Brain and Spinal cord tumors. It talked about everything there is to do with them and I found it to be pretty helpful to me...especially where they said that Medulloblastoma, Ashtons Cancer, is very sensitive to radiation and it is pretty much the power house for getting rid of it.
Our dr. told us it was true, that it is actually one of the few tumors that has really positive results from radiation. Then what she said made my day, my week, my year. She said, " I wouldn't say this to you if I didn't really feel this to be true, but I think Ashton is going to do just fine." She said she can't say that to everyone. My eyes filled with tears and my heart skipped a beat and pretty much I was on cloud 9 for the rest of the day. I believe it has something to do with the clinical trial he is on, or they must know something. I know that no one, not even the doctors really know for sure what will happen, but something about her optimism has just given me such great hope for the outcome I want so desperately. Of course though, my emotions can go from one extreme to the next. Later that same day Pat took some photos of Ashton and Ashton wanted to see them, so we scrolled through a bunch. There were still some short videos on his camera of our summer trip to Disneyland. The few I saw were of Ashton, running, playing, riding rides and smiling and waving. They ruined my night...I was in tears for the rest of the day. I think I need to wait a bit longer before viewing things like that..it's too painful right now.

As I have mentioned before, an amazing group of friends have set up a Skate Night event for Ashton. They are selling tickets now and I am getting so excited. I still hope Ashton will be able to be there, his treatment ends the 28th or the 29th of this month...two days before the big night. Here is the web address with the information: http://www.ashtonscircleofhope.net

Please keep thinking positive thoughts for us, we still need them.