Richard Dalton Oswald - April 23, 2001

4-23-01 (Three e-mails sent out this day)

Just a FYI to let you all know that we're moving back to Tampa - our new address is:

[deleted]

New home phone is [deleted]. Our e-mail will remain the same:

me at work: [deleted]
my personal: [deleted]
Jen's personal: [deleted]

Just in case anyone's on AOL Instant Messenger, I'm [deleted].

Jen and the boys are down in Tampa already, and I'm still here in DC finishing the packing. Movers come on the 29th, and I drive down on the 30th. We should be living in the new house by the first of the month.

Good and bad news on the family update - Jen's expecting Oswald #3 - due in late Nov. Also, right now we're not sure, but it looks like Dalton might be having a recurrence of his tumor. Jen's at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital
with him right now, and he had a MRI done at 2 this afternoon. Should have the results back soon. I'll keep everyone posted.

Joe

#2

Guys -

Just wanted to give you a heads up that it looks like Dalton's having a recurrence of his tumor.

Jen and the boys are in Tampa and I'll still be in DC through the weekend and will be driving down there on Monday.

Jen took him into the hospital on Saturday because he went from being very active on Wednesday to very lethargic on Thursday, and didn't pull out of it. On top of that, his left eyelid was drooping very badly. So, they did a CAT scan on Saturday, and first concluded that he had two tumors - but after talking to Jen about it decided that it could be the same calcification masses that he had before, and ordered a MRI for today to clarify the picture. Jen's been in the hospital (St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Tampa) with him all weekend, and she says that he's still very lethargic, won't eat, and has thrown up a couple of times. Yesterday she
said that he got to the point that he didn't even want to be held, which usually means he's in a little bit of pain. The only reassurance I have
right now is that they concluded that his CAT scan hadn't changed since the last one we had at the beginning of March - but unfortunately CAT scans aren't conclusive with identifying tumors.

He's having his MRI done as I'm typing this (it started at 2). If it comes back clean, then it could be his internal shunt not draining properly, calcification growth that is applying pressure to the visual center of his brain, or a meningitis infection (which they'll do a lower lumbar puncture -similar to a spinal tap - to identify).

I've been trying to keep Jennifer positive, but the timing of the whole thing, and the fact that all his blood counts and cultures came back clean (it's not being caused by an infection), are not encouraging.

If he does have a recurrence right now, I'm not sure how many options he'll have left - it depends on the current advancement of the tumor and the malignancy rate. Surgery and Radiation are both out, so if he does anything
it'll have to be another round of chemo. The problem with that, is that his bone marrow is already decimated, and standard chemo might be too much for him right now. Another stem cell cycle is out, because of the bone marrow
issue. That means if we do chemo again, we'll only be able to use the lighter, less effective chemicals.

We could speculate all day. We'll know more in an hour or so, and I'll try to update you on things as soon as I can after that.

Joe

The MRI results came back this afternoon, and Dalton's tumor is definitely coming back. The doctors from up here in DC got together with his new doctors down in Tampa, and all have decided that there is no course of action that we can take to ensure any quality of life for him, or ultimately, survival.

We've made the final decision regarding his treatment, which is to allow him to live his final days at home under the love of his family and his God, instead of in a hospital amid strangers and sickness. I pray that it's a decision Jennifer and I will be able to live with for the rest of our lives.

The support and prayers that all of you have provided over the last seven months has helped my family survive, and we could not have made it through this without you.

Joe, Jennifer, Jack, and Dalton

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