Where Have We Been????

I apologize for not updating the blog in a while, but we left Romania to head back to the states for a couple of months.  The reason: my 11 year old nephew, Hunter, was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  We headed to Mississippi for his surgery and recovery.  As many of you know, he came through the surgery with flying colors, but we are not out of the woods yet.  Before he began his radiation/chemo treatments, he underwent an in-depth MRI and a second tumor was discovered.  The doctors originally thought a second tumor was there when the first one was found, but a biopsy of that area confirmed an abnormality – no tumor.  Just when we thought we’d have only one thing to deal with, here comes another one.  Because of the location – very deep in the temporal lobe – the decision was made to opt out of surgery and treat with radiation.

Treatments have been going well.  Hunter finally started losing his hair last week, so they shaved his head.  He now has a t-shirt that reads:  Too sexy for my hair, that’s why it’s not there!  The loss of his hair was depressing; up to that point, there were no visible signs that he was sick.  He has since perked up and is back to his old self.  He will have his last radiation/chemo treatment on June 19.  After that, another in-depth MRI will be performed to determine how much shrinkage has occurred.  Currently, he will be free of treatments for one month, then begin his 2^nd round of chemo.  Please pray that the doctors are thrilled with what they will see on his MRI.

You can follow his progress at:  caringbridge.org

                                        Site:  Michael “Hunter” Smith

Or you can follow him on Facebook at Hope for Hunter Smith

Dennis and I came home on May 30 and we’ve been trying to catch up since.   I will continue to write new updates as quickly as possible.