Some pictures from this morning at the hospital!!! 

I just got home from the hospital...this morning Camden was smiling and playing with Nana and I in the floor on his mat and had kept down about a quarter of a banana and some pedialyte!  The Dr. said if he could keep down his food and have a poop they will get to come home at 6 tonight!!  So, back to Thursday, they did the bone scan - the results came back negative!!  Friday he was scheduled for his MIBG scan at 1...at 10ish Mom called me to tell me they were about to take him back they had a spot open and were going to be able to do it early and 90% sure would be doing surgery after that!  About 11:30 they finally took him back for the scan which was over pretty quick - he came back to his room and got to sit with mommy & daddy until about 3 when they came to get him to prep for surgery.  They said the surgery could take up to 3 hours but if they could do it laparoscopically that could cut the time in half...I think about 4:15 the surgery board said he was in the operating room.  I believe there were 16 of us sitting in the 3rd floor waiting area when the nurse came out to tell us they were an hour in...thought they were going to be able to get it all laparoscopically and he was doing good!  Finally, about 6:30 they took Rick and Carrie back for a consultation with the surgeon...they came back out with some great news!!  They were able to get the whole tumor...they did have to take a few lemph nodes and his left adrenal gland...said he could possibly have to take some hormone replacements later in life but that's no big deal!!  The results from the tumor and the decision of chemo or not should be found out in about a week.  Rick kept asking if his neurological symptoms would go away and they kept telling him they didn't know...less than 3% of children that have neuroblastoma also have opsoclonus/myoclonus (which was the eye movement/muscle twitching/ataxia) at the same time...so his case was very rare - rare enough to be pulished?!  The door opened and the nurse said the grandparents could go back to see him...then the next group which had me 1st in line!!  He looked so precious sleeping on Carrie and you could tell Rick & Carrie were so relieved and so much more relaxed!

Carrie said last night was kind of rough - they finally gave him a little more pain medication and he slept good for a few hours...he woke up to Caca and Nana ready for some love!!  He was absolutely adorable - smiling so big and playing with his toys...he's such a strong little man and is totally showing that he is going to bounce back from this in no time!  So, I brought home all of the goodies everyone has been so wonderful to bring and unpacked everything for them in hopes they will come home to a clean house (thank you Aunt Kathy) with nothing to do but rest and take care of that sweet angel!!  Thank you all agian for all of your thoughts and prayers...the power of prayer is obviously a very amazing thing...

Caca!

Camden's Curve Ball...

I am updating today for my sister...Camden was admitted in to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital Saturday, February 20. Now I will take you back about 6 weeks...we started noticing Camden getting a bit clumsy, he was running into things and falling quite often...which was pretty out of the norm for him...we ended up in Vandy's ER and they did an MRI of his head which showed some fluid on his brain. 12 hours later they diagnosed him with Acute Cerebellar Ataxia, said it would go away on it's own in 1-8 weeks and he would be back to walking/running all over the place in no time. As the days/weeks went by Camden grew progressively worse, could not walk/crawl at all, was having a hard time focusing on things and then his eyes started jumping/twitching. Friday, Feb. 19 she took him to a neurologist at Vandy because things were obviously not going away on their own...he (bluntly) stated that he didn't believe this was Ataxia at all but rather neuroblastoma which is a malignant tumor...he said they'd do another MRI in 2-3 weeks!! So, completely distraught they left thinking that guy was rude and so wrong and planned to get another opinion...until Saturday, we all went to Olive Garden for lunch and Camden seemed to be pretty sick. It seemed he was having a hard time even sitting up without assistance, he was having trouble swallowing and if something would get down he would throw it back up. Rick, Carrie & Nana headed to Vandy to either be admitted or walked out by security...a mother knows when something is wrong with her child!! They admitted them and managed to do another MRI of his head and a spinal tap...during the spinal tap they were able to drain some fluid which relieved intracranial pressure that had built up. Monday they did a CT scan of Camden's neck, chest & abdomen and found the tumor in his adrenal/left kidney area which they feel 99% sure is neuroblastoma. The oncologist seemed very educated and positive...they said in more cases than not this is 100% curable, we met with the surgeons and they also seemed extremely educated on this type of tumor. Wednesday they did some more blood work, a urinalysis and a bone scan - Friday they will be doing a MIBG scan at 11 am and 90% sure he will go to surgery after that to remove as much of (PRAYING ALL) the tumor as possible. He has definitely been a trooper through this - at times not keeping any food down at all - yet still waking up with that gorgeous smile on his face. As you are reading this please add Camden, Carrie & Rick to your prayer lists...this journey is just beginning, they will need all of our continued support and prayers to help them stay strong & positive. I will continue to update her blog to keep you all informed...

Love,

Caca (Aunt Cassie!)

**Here are some pics I have gotten of Camden during his hospital stay...