Hi, I'm Colleen O'Brien, and a mom of a child with cancer. We learned my daughter, Morgan, had ALL when she was diagnosed at Brook Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio, Texas, at the age of two and a half—in 1993, a lifetime ago.

She started the first phase ("induction") of her chemotherapy program (called a "protocol") at BAMC and was in remission within four weeks.

We entered the longer phase ("consolidation") while still at BAMC and then moved to the Washington D.C. area where she continued treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

(The move is story in itself; a 2800 mile drive during an August heat wave, two cars, two cats, a two-year old on chemo and me in the midst of a second high-risk pregnancy! Thank God for our brother-in-law Ben, who flew out and helped us with the drive.)

But anyway, Morgan completed consolidation at Walter Reed and moved on to the longest phase (maintenance). She finished up chemo in February 1996 and had great lab results for a year and a half.

Until August 1997.

We learned she had relapsed.

Big sigh: So, you see, our own "Squirrel Tale" is ongoing.

It was during one of Morgan's marathon ultrasounds that I found myself spinning a three-hour yarn starring her companion since she was diagnosed—a squirrel. "Squirrel" has kept her company during chemotherapy, surgery, and even an MRI, so it was only natural that he join us in radiology.

As I sent Squirrel running through the woods and over hills and off to the mall, I wondered how often were parents left unprepared to pass long waits in the hospital (or how often they had simply run out of ideas) with a sick child. It seemed as though each parent was reinventing the wheel every time.

It was my musings about the situation that led my friend, Debby, to develop this web site. It is her "contribution" of sorts, to Morgan's well being and recovery.

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