HAPPY 4th of JULY!

Drew had a clinic appointment, yesterday. We all agree that now is a good time to take a break from chemo. Drew is officially off treatment, again! Praise God!!!

What does that mean... it means we are not presently battling the brain tumor. Now, we are aggressively battling the side effects. He had Botox injections to his right leg in May. The Botox relaxes the muscles. He then has had a series of serial casting, casts that go on his right leg and foot to hold them in the proper position as the Botox takes effect. Drew, being the quirky fellow, has skin breakdown (irritation/blisters) very easily. Cast #1 for 7 days did well and we gained some range in motion. Cast #2 had a little breakdown so we postponed getting cast #3 for 3 days so he could heal. Cast #3 was placed on June 19. It was to stay on longer since we were going away for a week. While away visiting friends, we removed the cast on June 25 (yes we removed it ourselves with a Dremel tool). He had some serious breakdown. It was awful. Good news is he is healing well. Since he cannot be casted until he heals completely he has a resting night splint to try to maintain or gain some range. He will go back to the orthopedic doctor next week, we hope.

For now, we are enjoying summer. Drew got his yellow belt at Tae Kwon Do this week. He is so proud and so are we. Johnny will be in the 4th of July Beaverdam Parade tomorrow. If you see more grey in my hair, Stephen is now a licensed driver.

As I had posted, our dear friend Liam passed while we were away. Please keep his family in your prayers. It is a pain I pray no one ever has to experience. www.caringbridge.org/visit/liamreilly

Thank you for your prayers, love, support and kindness. The battle of a brain tumor never ends. However, the blessings are amazingly numerous! God is GREAT, all the time!

Love & Hugs,
The Goodman Family