I think my last report on Emily (my couple month old niece w/ <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroblastoma” target=”_blank”>Neuroblastoma</a> a few weeks ago? Well, two updates since I think I last updated. On her December visit to Chapel Hill (where her doctor is), they found her mass to have shrunk a great deal. There was some confusion as to the math of it all, but the mass was now about 20% the size it had been. That is great news… There’s a chance that this thing would just wilt away and be forgotten. She just recently had another check-up and the news, while not as good, wasn’t bad, either… The mass had not shrunk, but also not grown. My fear is that we’re on the bottom of a parabola… The doctor said the next checkup would be in two months as opposed to the usual month, which doesn’t make much sense to me, but he or she is the doc.<br/><br/>On the Jade front, she has gone into remission! You can of course read all about her journey on <a href=”http://www.jadesjourney.com/” target=”_blank”>her site</a>. While she’s not in the clear, this means that the treatment the doctors prescribed her is working. She’s currently back in the hospital for another phase of treatment, but she was able to get home for the holidays and is now in a “maintenance” phase, where she’s allowed to go home for weeks at a time. Unfortunately, during this visit she has developed a fever so the expected week-long stay is going to be longer until the fever is under control. I visit her yesterday for the first time in a few weeks and my, how things have changed; she looks REALLY tired, her face is all swollen from the medicine, her hair is well on its way to being gone, and she’s definitely not her bubbly little self.<br/><br/>No bad news, but not the best of news… Gotta keep on truckin’. Thank you to all of you who have supported the causes.<br/>