Christopher Court - After the radiation

After the radiation

Chris had come through the radiation treatment very well.  He had lost a patch of hair over his left ear and had developed an allergy to ChloraPrep (the chemical used to clean the skin before accessing the port) and he had gained a lot of weight from the steroids, but all in all things were looking pretty good.  Chris could walk without Christopher Court with his Lego Boeing 787the leg brace and had regained use of his right arm; there was a tremor in his arm but he was able to build Lego models and that was the most important thing!  At this stage no-one could say if the radiation treatment had been successful - the effects of the radiation continue to act on the brain for up to six weeks after the end of treatment.  An MRI was scheduled for four weeks after treatment and the doctors warned that it might show the tumor as being bigger than before treatment started.  This proved to be the case, although the scan did show that the bulk of the tumor was either dead or dying tissue surrounded by tissue producing a watery substance (think of a bad case of sunburn and you get the picture).

The family had no way to know what the ultimate outcome was going to be, although the statistics were not in Chris' favor, so they decided to make the most of the summer.  Family members were told that if they wanted to visit, they should do it sooner rather than later just in case and make the most of the healthy time.  Chris' brother from England came to visit at Easter and in the summer and they spent a lot of quality time together.