Gianni is our pants on fire 6 yr old. In Nov 07 she was diagnosed with a supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumor (sPNET), a highly malignant, rare brain tumor. Dr. Nalin Gupta (UCSF) performed surgery to completely remove the tumor. She completed 9 mos of high dose chemotherapy with Dr. Paul Fisher/Trish Murphy, NP at Stanford's LPCH (Palo Alto, CA) in Aug 08. Today (19 Nov 2011) she is 1,464 days (4 yrs, 3 days) NED!!! [who's counting...?] Thank you for your positive thoughts!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
PICNIC
This has been a weekend of picnics. Yesterday Brisbane held its annual "Day in the Park"; a really fun set up in the main park with bouncy houses (yes plural), carnival games, hay rides, live music, tons of junk food AND the Soap Box Derby. I took the kids and a fun time was had by all. I got the biggest kick out of all the people (big and small) who know Bruno. In the few short weeks since he's started kindergarten the tables have turned - I've gone from being Karen to being "Bruno's Mom".
Today we went to the LPCH NeuroOncology Group's annual picnic. It is a fun-packed day; full of face painting, button making, funny hat decorating, balloon creatures, dog tricks, two pinatas, and really great food. All the invitees were patients (past and present) and neuro oncology team members. A really good time was had by all. I was not sure what to expect - it is a . . . club (for lack of a better word) I never expected to be a part of. . . There were families in all phases of treatment and it was a safe place to share experiences, catch up, and mingle with other kids and parents. It was also fun to see the people who have been taking such good care of us in a more relaxed setting. The kids are exhausted and looking forward to seeing Dad tonight.
We'll have a short week - driving to LA on Friday to hook up with G'ma and G'pa Austin (from Kentucky) for a weekend at Disney Land... woo hoo!