Cousins are cool.

Lillian and her cousins Nathan, Daniel (back to camera) and Miranda play with one of Nathan’s Christmas presents, watched by great-grandmother Anne. Lillian has spent time with Denby, Wenner, Williams and Graves cousins this Christmas, and thinks they are all pretty cool.

Hanging out at Uncle David and Aunt Michelle's swankienda

Lillian Explains It All

Lillian Grace enlightens her great-grandmother Joan on Christmas Eve, explaining many previously hidden mysteries of the universe.

Straightening my Granny out...

A Morning Girl

I'm a morning person...

Ashley, Josh and Lillian

On December 17th, Ashley, Josh and Lillian drove to Beaumont to get together with their Denby and Wenner relatives. Lillian had a blast (she is a ham, and likes having an audience) and Ashley and Josh were thrilled to see grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins.

Mom and Dad are smiling, so I am making faces

Sleeping on Mom

Lillian continues to recover from her bout with the nasty gastrointestinal bug that’s going around the city. Still, when a girl is tired there’s no place quite like mom for catching a few zzzs.

Resting from my labors...

Kidney & Other News

I've been a bit under the weather...

Josh and Ashley took Lillian to her nephrology consultation at UT Physicians this afternoon. Lillian got poked and prodded and gave up samples of various bodily fluids (she thought the sparkly band-aids they put on her were pretty interesting). The nephrologists reviewed the results of the sonogram done a couple of weeks ago, which showed that Lillian has two kidneys of the same size.

He thinks that there are several possible explanations, including the possibility that she now has two fully functional kidneys. However, he thinks the most likely explanation is that a year ago, when the two different sized kidneys were discovered, it was actually the smaller kidney that was fully functional, and the larger kidney was the abnormal one. So, over the last year, the smaller kidney has grown and the larger one has shrunk. If that’s the case, the larger one will likely keep shrinking. He does not think that we need to do anything else right now. We’ll follow-up in a year with another sonogram and nephrology visit.

There is a test that can give a more definitive answer about the function of each kidney than does the sonogram, but he doesn’t think we should do it now, unless Lillian develops blood pressure problems or infections.

Lillian caught a stomach bug somewhere or another (so did her mom) and spent a pretty miserable Saturday and Sunday — she had to miss a planned visit with Santa, but early indications are that this will not affect the quantity of presents to be found under the tree on Christmas morning. She’s on the mend: it’s the first real illness she’s had other than some sniffles in her 16 months on the planet.

Ashley is doing well, recovering from radiation treatments and taking a brief break before her next round of therapies begin in January.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

Drum Improvisation on an Improvised Drum

A dog bone and a dog bowl make a fine drumstick and drum.

I gotta make music...

Ashley Update: Monday, 12/5

Ashley's Radiation Mask

Ashley went to Methodist Hospital’s Radiation Oncology Department today for radiation treatment on the three tumors in her head (one was removed surgically a couple of weeks ago). Dr Arnold Paulino headed the team. The treatment took about two and half hours; Ashley’s head was immobilized in a mask (see picture); they took a break after treating each tumor — the mask was very uncomfortable. Dr Paulino believes the procedures went very well; Ashley will have another MRI and a follow-up with Dr Paulino next month to check the success of the treatment.

She has a headache and is very tired, but is doing well and in good spirits — she’s very happy to have completed this next step in fighting her cancer. She gets to rest for a couple of weeks, then does another PET scan at the end of December, and will start treatment with Zelboraf in January.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

Good Morning!

I am a morning person...

Friday in the Park: A Video

In which nothing much happens…