It was determined today that Liam no longer needed to be in Cornell’s ICU since his vital signs were strong and he was breathing fine on his own. A bed was open in the POU unit back at Memorial so by late afternoon we were back in the same room Liam recovered in over 3 months after his biopsy. Liam did not sleep well last night in the noisy ICU. It was almost as if he felt relaxed to be back in the hospital he is now familiar with and could finally sleep. He’s taking full advantage of the private rooms in the POU unit and sleeping. Liam also took a very important first walk just an hour or so ago and will be required to take more of these uncomfortable journeys several times each day to help keep his lungs clear and maintain his strength. Many are shocked to see him back from ICU so quickly but for those of us who know Liam best, it’s really not that much of a surprise. He is simply determined to be pushing his dump truck and chasing little Ella around as soon as possible…or as Liam would say “Right now Daddy.” The concept of seeing Liam running around tumor-free is one that I can’t wait to realize.
Tomorrow I will try to answer the question about what the removal of the tumor means in Liam’s case. It might be easy to assume that since Liam is tumor free, he has no more cancer. Unfortunately ridding a child diagnosed with Neuroblastoma is not that simple. Don’t get me wrong Liam is doing great so far and we are very encourages as are his doctors and nurses but we have a ways to go and we need all of you to stay by our side and continue to give us strength.
-Larry
