Daley Ponderings

The MRI went smoothly. The anesthesiologist listened to Jon and adjusted some things, and it seemed to be good. There is not a glioma on her eye. Her plexiform neurofibroma is about the same as it was last time. (They were concerned about some abnormal tissue in her right cheek, but that's... (More)

Wednesday's many tests all went well. The MRI showed shrinkage of the tumor, especially around the ear canal (less so in the cheek/salivary gland.) The hearing test confirmed Grace's attestation that her right ear is significantly improved. Her eyes are still perfect. Her heart is also good, no... (More)

Jon just put this comment on a recent post, but I don't think most people get notified of comments, so I'm posting it here: She's getting an echocardiogram right now [July 9, 2025, 8:42am] , and then an MRI, regular oncology checkup, opthamology and audiology. We don't expect too much... (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)

As Jon mentioned, Grace is having ear surgery tomorrow to explore what's going on, get a biopsy, and maybe get a tube in.  The oncology/NF1 doctor also managed to schedule her bone marrow aspirate for the same day so Grace will not have to be sedated twice in a few weeks. Prayers for all... (More)

The appointment with the NF1 doctor went well. One of her oncology doctors was also there, the one who works closely in the NF1 world. Jon didn't remember meeting the NF1 doctor, but it was right at the very beginning, during Grace's first hospital stay, when she was diagnosed. So, much to be... (More)

Grace has had a fun birthday overall, with balloons and presents and blowing out the candles. But tonight, during her line flush, the white side busted a hole through, up above the clamp, near the Y . We did our best with a paper clip clamp, but Jon took Grace to the fire station... (More)

When Faith signed up for the donation, she was told to expect one or maybe two days of significant pain, and then a week of pain that should be managed with Tylenol and then no running and jumping for six weeks, even if she felt like it. She had 3-4 days of significant pain, and has certainly... (More)

The doctors started talking about discharge last Friday and that continued on Monday.  They decided to turn off the continuous morphine and moving more of her medicines to her NG tube. I was pretty skeptical that she was going to tolerate only on occasional morphine and I expected her to... (More)

We have lots of good news to report. Grace has been improving the last couple of days.  Her abdomen measured 53.5 cm, the smallest it has been in weeks.  They have changed her cyclosporin from IV to NG (nasogastric) which is a step towards getting ready to be discharged.  The... (More)

The last couple of days have been tough, but today is looking up. At 2:00 this morning, Jon called me to say that her breathing was worse and they were considering bringing her up to the ICU. I called my sister, she prayed for us. 45 minutes later, Jon texted to say that they had increased her... (More)

The last several days have been back and forth. I’ve started several posts in my head, and then they end up changing. The weekend doctors cancelled the stool studies, then the attending on Monday re-ordered them. Jon had some very frustrating conversations with the doctor, but an... (More)

My place beside you, My blood for yours, Till the Green Ember rises, Or the end of the world! One of our favorite series is The Green Ember, by S. D. Smith . Rabbits with swords, new stories with old soul, heroes and villains, joy and grief, hope and longing, with love and... (More)

For the most part, these last two days went pretty well.  Grace was a trooper as we navigated the multiple confusing buildings and talked with many providers and was poked and prodded by various specialists. Her audiology appointment went pretty well.  The doctor was impressed with... (More)

(this was written January 2024, referring to Grace's first two years of life) When Grace was about six weeks old, right at the beginning of December 2021 , I noticed that she had “ café au lait spots .” I looked it up on the internet, and discovered that these... (More)