Thursday, July 22, 2010

the iPad is hot!

so much so, that scorching sales sent the Apple store up in flames tonight (not really).  Claire and I grabbed our tandem rig and rolled into downtown naperville tonight to check out the goings ons and there was a false alarm at the Apple store.  Was actually kind of sad watching the people leaving the store while the alarms were going off...except of course for those who were in line for the iphone4 who apparently would rather burn to a crisp than live one more day with their inferior 3g.  After things settled down, the Naperville firemen hung out and let the little kids kick it in the fire engine for a bit.  Was very cool of them.  I was freaking out from excitement and said to Claire "Claire, let's go sit in the fire engine!!!" and she replied "Let's go play with the iPad instead."  She won.


Nicole and I had a very good meeting with the doctor who is leading up Matthew's stem cell tranplant process.  This was our second such meeting and we went over the plan.  A few things stood out.  The process is long and will require probably 3-4 months of Matthew living away from home, either at the hospital or in an apartment downtown with limited contact with people/places/things.  The first 100 days are crucial.  The risk of infection is high.  The risk of rejection of the cells is high (see graft vs host disease). The side affects of radiation are painful to say the least.  Our doctors are working with cancer/transplant specialists from around the country.  This is not an exact science and there are still many unknowns regarding what is the best alternative in terms of the types of radiation/chemo.  In the longer term, the radiation will cause Matthew to be in need of special assistance throughout his schooling, he will be unable to reproduce, he will have difficulty with reading and math, and other developmental delays.  Things which frankly, at this point, Nicole and I do not even bat an eye at.  We will do everything for him (For him, not To him) that we can to beat this POS disease.

Claire is starting Kindergarten in a few weeks and Nicole are I are both obviously worried about her and how she will process all of this.  Starting kindergarten at a new school is going to be a huge event for her and I know I am not going to be as involved as I want to be.  Not that she is not in good hands, she is.  The Grand P's have been beyond awesome and have made this impossible situation liveable for the C-biscuit (claire).  Like Matthew, I know she is a tough kid living through something I wish she didn't have to.

2 comments:

Garbis Grapevine said...

wow guys, lots of information to process and think about. My thoughts and prayers are with you as you continue down this path to heal/cure Matthew. I'm sorry that you are going through this and hope you find the answers and miracle. We are pulling for Matthew and the Furi Team!!!!

Natalie5378 said...

You guys are awesome. Claire and Matthew cannot ask for better parents. We love you guys and comtinue to pray pray pray!!!