August 23, 2013

Good Afternoon!

It is hard to believe that this is the last week of summer and the kids will be starting school next week.  I hope you have all found time over the summer to enjoy family and friends, relax in the sun, and enjoy this beautiful time of year.  We have had a very busy summer to say the least. On August 3rd, we left our townhouse of 8 years and moved into our new home in Wexford.  We were very fortunate to have sold our townhouse quickly and made the transition into the new home as simple as possible.  As I am sure you all know, there is nothing "simple" about moving!  Nathan is enjoying the space and is settling into his new home.  Any time he is somewhere he does not want to be or is trying to get out of something he now says, "home." Once he is here, he is happy as can be.  We are grateful for this new beginning for our family.  It has been a challenging year, but we hope and pray this is a new start for all of us.

Yesterday Nathan had his 8th MRI and 31st chemotherapy treatment.  After a very long day at the hospital, we received news that the tumor has remained fairly stable over the past three months. There is a portion within in the medulla that looks like it may be a little smaller.  There is another portion that may have grown slightly, but it is difficult to tell at this point.  Since Nathan's tumor can be a fairly fast growing tumor, we will do another MRI in two months to make sure the questionable new growth is responding to the treatments.  Stability is crucial for a tumor like Nathan's and for the placement within the brain, so although we always hope and pray that the tumor will shrink, no growth is very good news.  We will stay with the same course of treatment for the next two months. He gets it weekly for three weeks and then has off a week.  Although there are side effects from the drugs, Nathan has learned to manage them very well and continues to grow and progress despite the treatments.  Our oncologist does a fantastic job of getting just the right dose to treat the tumor without causing undue side effects from overdosing.  We know that we have a long road ahead of us, but with each scan we are extremely grateful that the current treatments are working and we do not have to move to more aggressive therapies. 

Nathan continues to receive physical therapy, occupational therapy, and now speech therapy four times a week.  He has now learned to run, climb, and bounce. He has discovered that he can climb on top of the chair and bounce up and down while watching himself in the mirror.  Of course my first reaction is to quickly tell him to get down, but then I have to laugh and smile because I am just so happy he is able to do it.  He still has his feeding tube but has gone from being hooked up 18 hours a day to 1 1/2 hours a day.  He is taking in almost all of his nutrition on his own and only uses the tube to make up the liquids he is unable to drink by mouth.  There is never a meal that goes by that I am not thankful for each bite he is able to take.  He is a strong little boy and fights hard every day to keep up with the other kids and accomplish what he wants.

It has been a wonderful three months for our family.  We were even able to take Nathan to the beach last week and watch him run freely in the sand, play with his cousins, and swim in the pool.  It was truly amazing to see him so happy and enjoying the things that we all take for granted.  Just yesterday, Nathan went through general anesthesia, an MRI, hours of waiting in hospital rooms, and 2 hours of chemotherapy.  Although he firmly said "home" all day long, he woke up this morning jumping in his crib ready to start the day like nothing ever happened.  Although I often wonder why we were all given this challenge, I am once again grateful that I am able to see and appreciate life in a way I could have never imagined.  I have dedicated my life to teaching children, but now Nathan is my teacher of how I should live my life.

There are a great deal of uncertainties on Nathan's path, but the one thing we know and trust is that prayer is helping us every step of the way.  Thank you for your constant dedication and commitment to our family.  We know your prayers never stop and we never stop praying for you.  

We wish you all a wonderful start to this new season and we will continue to keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

Love,

Mike, Beth, and Nathan

Talkowski Family Vacation - Avalon, New Jersey - August 2013