In 2001 Matthew began having headaches and seizures and a new recurrance of the tumor was discovered. He had another craniotomy in November of 2001 followed by 6 weeks of radiation treatments. Now we wait to see if it stays gone.
Through it all Matthew has kept going with his pride, dignity, and most of all his sense of humor intact. He enjoys all things other boys his age enjoy: Harry Potter, Game Boy, Pokemon, Legos, roller blades, swimming, etc. He is truly a hero!
Update March 2002: Matthew was diagnosed with pancreatitis after radiation finished. Yuck! But feeling better now that we know what's wrong. Hates the low-fat diet and we've all eaten so much chicken we're going to start laying eggs!
Update Jan 2003: Matthew had his one year checkup after his recurrance, surgery, and radiation. No Tumor! We still have to wait and watch but it looking good so far! Pancreatitis has cleared up and he can actually eat the occasional bite of red meat now!
Update July 2003: Matthew has an ulcer now (they think), he has been throwing up and complaining of stomachache, Zantac seems to help but we're back on a restricted diet. The fun just never stops! But at least the tumor is under control for now. Matthew is preparing to go to Camp Sunrise this month, a special camp sponsored by the American Cancer Society for kids with cancer. He always has such a great time there, hiking, canoeing, horseback riding, s'mores around the campfire, all the usual camp stuff.
Update May 2006: Matthew had a clean MRI in February (Yay!) but has started to have seizures again. Oh yeah, they're not letting us off this ride yet! But Matthew stays upbeat about everything. We're planning our summer vacation and he's really looking forward to that. Planning to go to prom and finishing his sophomore year in high school. Life goes on and so do we!
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