January 3rd, 2013 - Chemotherapy Treatment #71

Welcome to 2013! We began the first week of the new year with a chemo treatment and another appointment with an ENT doctor. Treatment went easy for Peyton and then we were off to the next appointment. For several months now Peyton's speech has been of concern to us. It's hard to describe, but I guess it can be summed up by saying his speech is nasaly and slurred. We don't struggle to understand him but other people who see him less frequently do have a hard time making sense of what he says. After an examination, the ENT doctor said it is an anatomical issue. (In a nutshell....) His palate is shorter than most. This causes air to get in, making his speech difficult to understand. The doctors said a surgery could fix his speech 100%. He said it's a painful surgery and would require a few days in the hospital but said it would make all the difference for Peyton. He gave Peyton several sentences to repeat and assessed that in some cases he was only 20% intelligible. That's shocking to me, but I also understand that I'm his mom and spend the most time around him. Therefore I do, of course, understand more of what he says than others. We will meet with more doctors and therapists in March. He will visit with a speech therapist at that point to make sure it isn't just a speech issue that could be corrected that way. The surgery can't take place until Peyton has been off chemo for 4 weeks. Nothing will be done until summer time since Peyton is scheduled for chemo until June 2013. Charlie and I are both exploring all our options and taking the time to make the best decision possible for Peyton. I think we are in touch with the right people, and we are in the right place to come up with the best plan.

December 21st, 2012 - Chemotherapy Treatment #70

I can't believe we are nearing the end of another year! Here's hoping 2013 is a great one for all of us. Peyton had an MRI and chemo on Friday. All the tumors remain stable with no new growth. We all remain hopeful that we will be able to finish out this cycle of treatment and take a break from chemo in June 2013. We know it may or may not be a permanent break. There's no way to know what the tumors will do once treatment stops, but we are hopeful this part of Peyton's life with NF will be behind us. Only time will tell. Both boys are excited for Christmas and we are all anxious to begin Christmas break at home! Merry Christmas, everyone!