Latest scans all clear. Dealing with some chemo side effects. THOMAS'S RESULTS Thomas had his semi-annual checkup yesterday at Arkansas Children's Hospital. We had the results of the MRI and... Fri 3 05:28 PM by Ron Pacheco

August 2005 Scans All Clear! Six months comes around fast! Since Thomas's last scans we've moved as a family from Connecticut to Arkansas near Ritina's... Wed 31 10:48 PM by Ron Pacheco

Headaches For the past few weeks Thomas has been experiencing headaches that seem to range from a dull ache to severe... Tue 8 11:27 PM by Ron Pacheco

CT & MRI Yesterday Reported All Clear Thomas and I went down to Columbia Presbyterian yesterday for his now semi-annual CT and MRI scans. We spoke with... Tue 8 11:14 PM by Ron Pacheco

Latest scans all clear Thomas's latest round of CT and MRI scans show that he remains tumor free. It was a rough day due... Sun 15 03:00 PM by Ron Pacheco

Scans yesterday--ALL CLEAR! Thomas's scans did in fact end up taking place yesterday. His oncologist emailed us this morning to know that the... Wed 25 12:34 PM by Ron Pacheco

Scans Delayed Again We received a call from Columbia Presbyterian late last week. The day that Thomas was scheduled for his scan, the... Thu 19 04:04 PM by Ron Pacheco

Prosthetic Eye Adjustment / Next Round of Scans Ritina and Thomas visited his ocularist in the city yesterday. Since his last reconstructive surgery on the eye socket, the... Thu 12 09:41 AM by Ron Pacheco

Recovering with some minor bumps I took Thomas down to Columbia Presbyterian yesterday. Dr. Kazim removed the dressing and both Thomas and I got a... Fri 7 05:58 PM by Ron Pacheco

Today's Surgery Thomas, Ritina, and I headed out shortly after 6 AM this morning. Around 10 AM I accompanied Thomas to the... Tue 4 06:46 PM by Ron Pacheco

Reconstructive Surgery #2 On Tuesday Thomas will undergo his second reconstructive surgery. The purpose of this one is to open the eyelids covering... Sun 2 09:13 PM by Ron Pacheco

Thomas featured at Make-A-Wish The Make-A-Wish Foundation is running a short feature on their web site about Thomas's wish, the 1000th wish granted by... Wed 8 03:07 PM by Ron Pacheco

Scans all clear Thomas's scans on Tuesday were limited to an MRI of the head--his oncologist doesn't feel that full chest and abdominal... Fri 26 08:16 PM by Ron Pacheco

Quarterly scans today Thomas and Ritina are in NYC today for Thomas's quarterly CT and MRI scans. They are a bit late this... Tue 23 05:17 PM by Ron Pacheco

No, we didn't drown . . . A few weeks ago, one of Ritina's relatives mentioned that we should post an update so that those who aren't... Tue 23 05:06 PM by Ron Pacheco

Labadee We spent Thursday on Labadee, a Royal Caribbean owned peninsula of Haiti. The ship anchored in the harbor and passengers... Fri 11 09:21 AM by Ron Pacheco

Somewhere Between St. Thomas and San Juan Another wonderful day! We docked early this morning on the island of St. Thomas. After breakfast, a quick check through... Tue 8 09:34 PM by Ron Pacheco

Greetings from the Caribbean! Well, we made it, and what a time it's been so far! The ship is amazing and Thomas and Taylor... Mon 7 03:59 PM by Ron Pacheco

Bon Voyage Tomorrow morning at 4:30 AM we head to New York, catch a flight to Miami, and at 5:00 PM tomorrow... Fri 4 09:07 PM by Ron Pacheco

Relay for Life Results & Upcoming Make-A-Wish Trip Our sincerest thanks to all of our donors and team members for a successful American Cancer Society Relay for Life... Wed 2 02:51 PM by Ron Pacheco

Support Thomas in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life Starting at 5:30 on May 16 and going until 7 AM the next morning, Thomas will be walking in the... Tue 29 07:10 PM by Ron Pacheco

Scans All Clear We are thankful and joyous to report that Thomas's latest set of CT and MRI scans show that he remains... Sat 19 06:36 AM by Ron Pacheco

MRI and CT Scan Next Week Next Tuesday Thomas heads to Manhattan for his next set of scans. We ask for your prayers that, as has... Fri 11 11:53 AM by Ron Pacheco

"Real Fake Eye" Thomas received his final prosthetic two weeks ago. The "real fake eye", as Thomas calls it, is painted to match... Fri 28 09:34 AM by Ron Pacheco

What a difference a year makes ... One year ago today our lives changed forever. March 7, 2002 was the day our world was destroyed. And per... Fri 7 11:55 PM by Ron Pacheco

Prosthetic Eye Step One Today started at 10 AM with a visit to Dr. Kazim to assess the healing of Thomas's eye socket. It... Tue 4 06:00 PM by Ron Pacheco

Healing after surgery Since Thomas's surgery two weeks ago today, his eye socket has been packed with gauze and vaseline to keep it... Thu 2 05:52 PM by Ron Pacheco

Surgery Round Three Compared to April 12, today was easy. Though Thomas shared several times that he was nervous, his anxiety was nowhere... Thu 19 10:46 PM by Ron Pacheco

Surgery this Thursday Tomorrow Thomas will be having a chest CT at Columbia in preparation for what we hope will be his last... Mon 16 06:49 PM by Ron Pacheco

Rough day of scans, but CT and MRI are clear. On Monday of this past week Thomas had CT and MRI scans of his head. The MRI was tough for... Sat 7 11:51 AM by Ron Pacheco

Mild Fever Thomas did end up at the hospital yesterday with a fever, but this one was not as severe as the... Fri 22 08:59 AM by Ron Pacheco

The final chemo is over. Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! Thomas and Ritina returned home from Manhattan this afternoon following the completion of Thomas's final round of chemotherapy. Thomas appears... Mon 18 05:04 PM by Ron Pacheco

A brother's love ... We are often asked how Taylor, Thomas's six-year-old younger brother, feels about everything that has happened to Thomas. Our honest... Tue 12 05:49 PM by Ron Pacheco

The final round! Thomas and Ritina are headed down to Manhattan today for Thomas's final round of chemotherapy at Columbia Presbyterian. We can't... Tue 12 08:37 AM by Ron Pacheco

Thomas is home again and doing fine. Following Tuesday's rough day, Thomas spent an uneventful (medically) two and one-half days at the hospital, and was allowed to... Sat 2 09:20 AM by Ron Pacheco

Another setback, but Thomas doesn't waiver. Forgive me if this entry rambles more than usual. When something difficult or emotional happens I usually wait a while... Wed 30 01:25 AM by Ron Pacheco

Home from round eight. Taylor and I went down to Columbia tonight to pick up Thomas and Ritina. We returned home about 11:30 PM.... Sat 26 11:05 PM by Ron Pacheco

Round eight. Thomas and Ritina headed down to Columbia today for chemotherapy round eight. Both this round and the next, which will... Tue 22 04:58 PM by Ron Pacheco

Thomas is coming home tonight. After close to 72 hours the cultures have again shown no sign of any bacterial infections. Thomas has had no... Mon 7 04:02 PM by Ron Pacheco

Unplanned, but not entirely unexpected, return to the hospital. About 10 PM tonight, less than an hour after Ritina's parents arrived to visit for the week, Thomas began showing... Sat 5 12:58 AM by Ron Pacheco

Chemo round seven complete. Ritina took Thomas down to Columbia Presbyterian this past Tuesday for his seventh round of chemotherapy. They were expecting a... Thu 3 02:24 AM by Ron Pacheco

A better week, and chemo round seven around the corner. Since returning from the hospital on Sunday, Thomas has had a great week. There have been no further medical issues,... Sat 28 06:33 AM by Ron Pacheco

Heading home ... hooray! There have been no more fevers or other problems, and Thomas's white blood cell count has nearly doubled since yesterday.... Sun 22 01:20 PM by Ron Pacheco

All cultures continue to be negative, maybe coming home tomorrow. A little before six this evening Thomas's oncologist came by. She examined him and feels that he's doing well. All... Sat 21 06:13 PM by Ron Pacheco

Thomas will not be coming home today as hoped. We had hoped Thomas would be able to come home today, but it appears he will be staying at least... Fri 20 04:04 PM by Ron Pacheco

Thomas is still okay. We hope he'll be home tomorrow. Thomas has continued to be perfectly fine, though his doctors are still keeping him at the hospital until they have... Thu 19 09:50 PM by Ron Pacheco

Thomas is much better. I returned around 7 PM this evening. When I left, Thomas was feeling pretty much himself again and his fever... Tue 17 09:06 PM by Ron Pacheco

Quick followup on last night. I just spoke with Ritina. They are still in the ER at Columbia, but Thomas is feeling better. His fever... Tue 17 10:41 AM by Ron Pacheco

Unexpected return to the hospital. About 10:30 PM last night Thomas indicated that he felt ill. Thirty minutes later he was starting to shiver like... Tue 17 06:11 AM by Ron Pacheco

Thomas is home from round six. Thomas's five-day chemo treatment went smoothly. Thomas was released about 10PM tonight. I drove down to pick him and Ritina... Sun 15 01:09 AM by Ron Pacheco

Blood Counts Up & An A-maize-ing Morning Thomas's blood counts were checked again yesterday and have risen high enough that we can stop the GM-CSF injections. Hooray.... Sat 7 03:19 PM by Ron Pacheco

Rebounding, but slower this time. Thomas had his blood tested today. Usually by this point, two weeks after the chemo treatment, his system has recovered... Tue 3 09:58 PM by Ron Pacheco

Thomas is home and doing fine. Thomas came home yesterday as expected and is doing fine. He was feeling pretty good and decided on some physical... Fri 23 04:04 PM by Ron Pacheco

Tests, tests, and more tests. Thomas had an MRI, a CT scan, and two heart tests today. Ritina called a short while ago to let... Tue 20 09:57 PM by Ron Pacheco

Chemo Round Five (With Extras) Thomas's blood counts are back up and he'll head to Columbia next Tuesday for round five of his chemotherapy. This... Fri 16 05:31 PM by Ron Pacheco

Touch of Hope If you just linked here from Thomas's web site, then you'll see a lot that looks new and a lot... Sun 11 05:46 AM by Ron Pacheco

Shots. GM-CSF injections resumed today, but our neighbor, a local nurse who has been giving Thomas the shots, is out of... Tue 6 11:36 PM by Ron Pacheco

We have reached the chemotherapy half-way point! Thomas and I arrived home shortly after 1 PM today. I ended up staying with Thomas at the hospital for... Sun 4 03:17 PM by Ron Pacheco

Heading off for chemo round four. Because of Ritina's poison ivy (it has gotten worse, not better), I'll be taking Thomas to Columbia for chemotherapy this... Tue 30 08:32 AM by Ron Pacheco

Thomas is doing great, but Ritina has poison ivy! Thomas is still doing wonderfully. There was a point a little over a week ago, when his blood counts were... Sun 28 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Thomas is doing great following chemo round three. Thomas is doing remarkably. The latest round of chemo didn't make him sick, and he's been spirited and energetic since... Mon 15 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Thomas is headed home! Ritina called about 10 AM this morning. Other than being tired, Thomas is handling the chemo very well this time.... Wed 10 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

A better week, and chemo round three starts today. Thomas had a much better week. His body clearly rebounded from the second round of chemotherapy. In contrast to the... Tue 9 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

A tough week for Thomas. Last week was a tough week for Thomas. His spirits were up, but it was very obvious for the first... Wed 3 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Home from chemo round two. Thomas and I arrived home about 4:30 PM today. It was a long hospital stay, but Thomas had no sickness... Sun 23 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Hmmnnnn. Thomas's blood counts were fine this time. About 4 PM today, Thomas was doing okay but was tired. So far... Wed 19 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Second attempt for chemo round two. Ritina and Thomas headed off to the hospital just after 10:00 this morning to try again for chemotherapy round two.... Tue 18 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Chemo round two. Shortly before eleven this morning Ritina and Thomas headed down to the hospital to start Thomas's second round of chemotherapy.... Tue 11 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

The first chemo. Anne's art show. Thomas The past couple of weeks have been an up and down ride. Most of the time Thomas has felt... Sun 9 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Breaking a long silence. To all who have been patiently waiting for an update, we apologize for the long silence. We've been waiting on... Fri 24 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

An update on Thomas's progress. On Wednesday of this past week Dr. Kazim met with Thomas to examine the healing progress of his surgery. He... Sat 27 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Hooray! Hooray! No cancer cells in the margins! Thomas gets to keep his eyelids! Ritina and I were both gone from the house, but Dr. Kazim called... Sat 20 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Thomas came home today! Thomas is home! He's tired---he slept most of the trip home---but feeling pretty good. He has some pain, some side... Tue 16 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Thomas is recovering quickly. He gets to come home tomorrow! I returned a short while ago from the hospital. Thomas is doing wonderfully and should be released tomorrow! The swelling... Mon 15 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Starting to recover. It's about 2 PM as I write this. I will be heading down to Manhattan shortly to relieve Ritina for... Sun 14 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

The most difficult day of our lives. Ritina and I both accompanied Thomas to the operating room right at 8 AM yesterday morning. Thomas had some anxious... Sat 13 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Surgery is tomorrow. Thomas's surgery is tomorrow at 8 AM. His eye, all the tissues in the eye orbit, and a layer of... Thu 11 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Planning for surgery. We spent an exhausting but productive day in Manhattan yesterday (and it was a beautiful day for a walk through... Tue 9 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

We will try to save Thomas's eyelids. Dr. Granowetter has indicated agreement with Dr. Kazim's plan to try to save Thomas's eyelids. We have our first meeting... Tue 2 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

AFIP confirmed the pathology, and we have decided on the removal of Thomas's eye and eye socket. AFIP officially confirmed the pathology analysis today. We had not expected otherwise, but we were disappointed by the report nonetheless.... Thu 28 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

We told Thomas about his eye. What a remarkable child! We informed Thomas today. It was an emotional event, but to our complete bewilderment, Thomas was the strong one. He... Wed 27 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

How do we tell Thomas? How do we make this decision? Today was a difficult day. Ritina and I were apart because of a commitment to a client. We had little... Tue 26 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

We are devastated. Thomas's doctors are recommending the removal of his eye and eye socket. A two-hour meeting today with Dr.'s Kazim and Granowetter was thorough but devastating. Although AFIP has not confirmed the pathology... Mon 25 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

The pathology situation. It turns out that it was an unfortunate but understandable communication mistake between departments at Columbia Presbyterian that resulted in... Thu 21 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Still waiting on pathology because the tissue samples never made it to AFIP. After a week-and-a-half of wondering and waiting, we learned today why we haven't heard back from AFIP. The tissue samples... Wed 20 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Still waiting on pathology. Still no word on the second pathology report. Sigh. On a positive note, Thomas is becoming a rather amazing chess... Mon 18 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Talked to Thomas about chemo today. Tomorrow is the day that Thomas was scheduled to return to school following his surgery. At bedtime tonight, Thomas wondered... Sun 17 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

So how is Thomas doing? A lot of people ask how Thomas is doing. We don't usually know if they're asking about how he's recovering... Fri 15 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Waiting on pathology confirmation. Thomas was scheduled for a central line and bone marrow test today, but as the second pathology report is not... Thu 14 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Bone scan shows no cancer cells! Thomas had a bone scan today and there is no evidence of cancerous cells in the bones! We spent about... Mon 11 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

We told Thomas about his cancer today. CT scan is clear! Today was the most difficult day of our lives. We are not strangers to the challenges of life, but nothing... Fri 8 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco

Thomas has cancer! Today we were informed that the tumor that was removed from Thomas's eye is a rare form of cancer known... Thu 7 12:00 AM by Ron Pacheco