Here's the deal

Hey everybody, here is a summary of the the situation as I understand it.

In early September, we learned that Kirk's doctors found a new tumor in his brain. It was much deeper than the others and was deemed inoperable, but they were going to try some different, non-invasive techniques to see what they could do. About a month later, Kirk's parents decided the doctors had done everything they could do, so they took him out of the Mayo Clinic up to their home in Lithia Springs (just west of Atlanta) to ride it out till the end.

So Kirk's at home now, among family and friends. His parents are able to look after him now, but they're investigating hospice options for the time when Kirk can't stand up on his own anymore. He loves having visitors, but he's lost some responsiveness and functionality, and he gets tired pretty fast. He has been showing some improvement in the short term as he comes off the last round of chemo, but no one knows how much longer he'll be around. The doctors are amazed he can still even walk and talk at this point, because the cancer has already separated the parts of his brain that are supposed to handle those functions.

His mom told me she was checking in on him a few weeks back and saw he'd been crying. She asked him what was wrong, and he said, "I'm tired, mom." She says Kirk has made his peace with what's going on. I've been trying to make peace with it too, but damn it's hard. Anyone who can make the trek to visit him, please do so, and keep the Lawrence family in your prayers for the road ahead.

This blog and a corresponding Flickr account are open to anyone who wants to contribute — updates, photos, memories, whatever. Just email me and I'll add you as an editor.