St. Jude Day 3: Brain Function and the Zoo

I think I was even more stressed about Steven's MRI than I realized, now that our minds are at peace about that for another six months.

Steven had three and a half hours of cognitive testing today. This is kind of an IQ test where they measure the effects of the radiation on his brain.

Steven's recent academic successes have put our minds at rest somewhat, but before we started treatment we'd been reading about IQ losses of 18-25% from whole brain radiation after five years.

We are now just coming up on three years out and so far I feel like we've dodged a bullet, his academic recovery has been nothing short of miraculous.

After Steven's testing, we met Nicholas and his mother Amy and went to the zoo and had dinner.

More cognitive testing today and a visit with the neurologist. Hopefully we'll find out about the thyroid as well.

Despite the fact that Steven woke up wheezing this morning (Memphis is some sort of allergy mecca), we are both breathing easier.

We are blessed.

- Kathleen