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...