Daley Ponderings

Well, it's been a couple of months since we posted an update. We're thankful for this break from medical appointments. With the dry weather, Grace's skin has really broken out. It gets dry and itchy, and then she scratches so hard that she makes herself bleed, and gives herself welts. So our... (More)

Some pretty good appointments yesterday, and the snow (9 inches?!) wasn't too bad at all driving up to Dartmouth (one car sped by our line of traffic and a couple minutes later was spun off the road in the median, but she was already out of the car and on the phone, so presumably was fine, but... (More)

23 years ago, we started this blog to have a good way to keep everyone informed of how things were going. In some ways, it really does feel like a lifetime ago.  However, Isaac is still close in our hearts.  His life and death are a part of our family and influence our relationships to... (More)

We have only read the test results ourselves and have not heard from any doctors yet. Her TSH is uncomparable, since the tests they do at Dartmouth don't go any higher than ">100" so is it 400 again, or 101 or 1000? But her T4 was up, almost to the normal range. So hopefully that means... (More)

On Sunday, we went to the Franklin Park Zoo. This event was hosted by the Jimmy Fund clinic for its patients. It was sobering how many families were there, and it reminded me how many different types of childhood cancer there are. We had a fun time, though . There was a bubble lady, face... (More)

Jeremiah and I will be with Heather's first cousin once removed and sailing from Florida to Connecticut starting tomorrow. We've thought about going in prior years, but the schedule never quite worked out, but this year we decided we would jump in; we don't really know what to expect, but... (More)

Jon was reading through Grace's test results and saw that the most recent bone marrow report mentioned the JAK3 mutation. He contacted her doctors because we thought that one was gone following the transplant. Dartmouth doctors can't see her Boston results to compare  so they contacted... (More)

Our week has been somewhat full, with a few extra church services, including Maundy Thursday with handbells, which I didn't find out until the end of the service that it wasn't recorded, and I meant to record it during rehearsal, but I forgot.  But, it went well, despite Jeremiah being... (More)

We had our appointment with the NF1/oncology doctor yesterday. It turns out the neurofibroma is even bigger than we thought. In addition to what we already knew, which is that it goes from her external ear where we can see into her middle ear, it also extends down under her ear into her parotid... (More)

One year ago today, our older kids got to see a total solar eclipse, and Grace came home! These annual milestones are flying by this year, and we are thankful.  Grace's NF1/oncology doctor called Jon with biopsy results on Friday. It is the opposite of what we were hoping. Both biopsies... (More)

I get daily emails from GodTube.com, and they are often worth reading.  Today's devotional  was good. While I don't ever feel (well, not since just after the bone marrow transplant) that "life is over", it is sometimes hard to think about what Grace's life will be like, and the... (More)

As previously mentioned, Heather noticed a spot in Grace's ear last summer, and when the NF1 doctors heard about it, they were concerned that it might be a plexiform neurofibroma , and so scheduled an MRI for today to take a closer look. While it has shrunk on the surface, it is still there... (More)

From all outward appearances, Grace has been doing very well. She's eating well and gaining weight. All her blood numbers look good. She only has one more week of her last medicine. However, I noticed a dark spot in her right ear and wondered if it could be connected to her hearing... (More)

Sorry we left you hanging about Grace's recent appointments. Here are some things to be thankful for about Grace. She did really well during her audiology appointment. It took a long time, but she followed all the directions and was cooperative as usual. She does still have some hearing loss in... (More)

Last weekend, Heather took all of the girls on a retreat and had a lot of fun together.  Those of us at home had a work day at Grammy's and another friend's house and then had a really great day at home with a friend from church.  Elbereth, Jonathan's snake, was out and various people... (More)