News Archives:
2nd Quarter 2006 April 1, 2006-June 30, 2006
Quick Jump: 2nd Quarter 2006 : April May June
June 30, 2006 Day +1,185 Day #883 off treatment
I am so glad it is Friday. We met Guh for breakfast this morning. We gave her birthday present and then she headed to the beach. Logan said, "she went to beach without me". He is so silly. We have no plans for today, but big ones for the weekend. The boys are staying with Gam maw tonight where we will go eat and swim for our 4th celebration tomorrow. Sunday we are going to the bike parade and fireworks at church. Taylor is ready to decorate his bike now. Logan will decorate his too. He was none to pleased sitting in the wagon last year. I hope he does better at going at the parade speed this year and not running over the folks in front of him. We will be hanging out here on Monday and then going to Guh's for another cook out on Tuesday. The boys really want to get back to Alabama Adventure, but I am not sure yet. I woke up all broke out again this morning. I am itching like a mad woman. It doesn't look near as bad, it is only on my arms and tummy. I have no idea what set it off this time. Oh well!
Lucky for me, in time the rash has gone away for now all but the patches on my ankle. We ran a few errands today, but we have mostly been home. We are working on potty training and so far it looks pretty good. I put Logan in under wear and put the potty in the living room. He had one accident and it was only the start of one. He caught himself and ran to the potty. I was so proud. He has not pooped today and he has usually gone about 5 times by now. I am not exaggerating, just ask his teachers! He is in the bed now and in a diaper which he was not happy about. I am interested to see how it goes. It sure would be great if he was potty trained by the time we left for the trip. It would make life a lot easier with fewer diapers needed. Keep your fingers crossed! Logan also ate great today. He ate 6 waffle sticks! Pig! Taylor did too and now he is eating pizza. Pig! I will be back to update on all this weekends fun. I am sure the boys will have a blast with all the activity going on. Our desk top computer monitor died, so there will be no knew pictures anytime soon, so enjoy the ones he posted last week. well, I have stalled as long as I can and I have to go do the cleaning, so we can play all weekend long!
June 29, 2006 Day +1,184 Day #882 off treatment
I am feeling and looking better. I have some ugly varicose vein looking spots all around my ankles. I do not hurt anymore, so I guess that is a good sign. I am a little worried about the spots, but I will hold out a little longer on that and see what comes of it. We had a pretty good day at school today. Taylor didn't get in trouble and was able o play outside. I spoke too soon on his leg. He woke up today and said it hurt to bend over and pointed to his back. I assumed he slept funny and let it go. He then groaned that he couldn't squat or sit indian style because it hurt his leg. He is pointing to his groin area. I still kind of shrugged it off because I am telling you other than not being able to sit indian style, he ain't hurt. He is running, biking, climbing, jumping etc. I over heard him tell a friend at school to hand him a lego because it hurt o bend over. I then get worried for him to tell a kid that. They soon started saying I can bend or I can do this and though he never bent over or squated down, he was doing hand stands. I don't know, I guess he must have pulled something and it does hurt to do certain things. All the way home he cried with tummy pains, but as soon as we were home he was in the back yard. Doing what you ask? Swinging where he pumped his legs ultra hard and squatting over a dirt pile to play cars. Hmmm.... He is on his 5th week of antibiotics and has not pooped in a few days, so I assume that is where the tummy troubles come from. I think he just likes to get a rise out of me!
Taylor played outside for a long time until Logan got up and then he came in to play with him. Jim took them out again while I ran to Wal-mart. Logan isn't acting himself either. He hasn't eaten in a while not much to mention anyway. He is very whiney and wants to be held all the time. That is just not like him. Taylor and I did some "school" stuff last night. He is so eager to learn, I hope he stays that way. We wrote words such as cat, dog, see etc and he sounded them out. He did real well with it. He then got out his big K5 workbook and did a lot of pages in it.
Please pray that Taylor is really just pulling my leg or just pulled a muscle and is fine. Pray for Bailey as he continues to fight. Pray for Amber who is back inpatiend after more chemo troubles. Bless her heart! www.caringbridge.org/al/amber Pray for all the other kids who are fighting.
June 28, 2006 Day +1,183 Day #881 off treatment
I am still itching!! I clawed all night long and woke up feeling a tad better, but had to get in the shower. I looked better than yesterday, but it was still bad. I did itch a lot, but once I was at work I was distracted enough not to claw at it all day. My pointer finger is so sore and that same toe on both feet is very sore. My legs are looking much better, but one big spot at the bottom of each leg. It feels if the insides are ripping if I squat down or walk the stairs. Other than that I feel okay. I did climb in bed when I got home to see if it helped and it did a little, but now that I am back up and moving around it is all hurting again. Dr. L put me on Prednisone, so hopefully that will kick in soon.
Taylor was a bit on the bad side at school. He had to miss his outside time at school and he can not go out at home or watch TV. He was not the worst he has ever been, but he as not following directions and kicked a friend and licked a friend and I just want to make him realize that we are not playing and that he is going to learn to behave no matter what it takes.
Well, that about does it for us. We have no plans tonight that I know of. I found out today that Bailey, a fellow NB friend, is inpatient and they have signed a DNR, so his time is very limited. Please pray for his family as they struggle through this. He is constantly getting blood, but his Crit never rises, this is not a good sign. Please pray for Amber who got more chemo today. She has had such a hard time with her chemo. Pray for all those who are fighting their battles. Pray for those who are missing loved ones.
June 27, 2006 Day +1,182 Day #880 off treatment
Howdy all! We had yet another crazy day. I woke up so swollen that it hurt to walk, wiggle my toes or fingers. I was going to go on into work, but once I got in the shower I was so dizzy I thought I would pass out. I called in to work and then called Taylor's allergy Dr. and made an appointment. I laid on the couch all day and my feet got little better, but it still hurt. I took Logan to Nana's house, so that I could actually hear the Dr. Taylor was pretty good. He had to be reminded a few times how he spent his night last night and how he would do that again if he didn't calm down. Dr. L came in and checked me over and we have come to the conclusion that I have solar hives. Interesting huh? It is an allergy to the sun or over exposer of. The swelling is hives in the deeper tissue. He said it wont hurt me and is not contagious, but is just annoying. I of course will not try to do this to myself again, but I will not be over exposing anymore.
Once we got back home we just hung out. I was miserable. I was hurting because my hands and feet are so stiff and I was itching. I put the boys in the bath tub with all intentions of taking my own shower after I was done with them. Dr. L said the hot water is what made it flare up so bad Tuesday morning and to take my bath at night and I wont look like such a nut when I leave the house. Nope, couldn't do it. Just putting my hands and arms into their warm bath water had me so flared up that I was about to claw my arms off. I went to bed at 8:30 just due to misery. It didn't help much as I clawed my entire body. I would drift off and wake up an hour later scratching.
June 26, 2006 Day +1,181 Day #879 off treatment
Hello! Today was a crazy day. I woke up with a rash from head to toe and I mean head to toe and all in between. I am about to itch myself crazy! I broke out like this about 4 years ago after a trip to the beach and was told that it was sand mite allergies. I did go to the sand at Alabama Adventure, so I guess that is what it is. However, it is killing me. I am itching like crazy and I look awful. I took Taylor to see Dr. LaRusa, his allergy and asthma Dr. He said his chest sounded great and he is pleased with his nose clearing up. He put him on a low dose of Amoxicillin daily for 4 weeks. I have my fears about this idea, but after a long talk with our pharmacist, we are doing it. It is called prophylaxis therapy and it just means to prevent. Dr. L wants to keep him snot free for the summer and see if we can't keep the sinus blahs at bay. Well, I worry about him getting immune to the drugs and then being in trouble when he does get an infection. He said that all the drugs he has had have been the penicillin group and he would have to move to the cefzil etc group sooner or later. I will not do more antibiotics after this 4 week round. I think enough is enough. Anyway, after discussing his history he assured me that as a parent he would try it. We shall see! Anyway, I also had Dr. L up his Singulair dose. At first he thought I was nuts because I have expressed my disappointment in it's no ability to fight off his allergy problems. However, once I told him why I wanted it upped and that it could be helping him stay NED he immediately upped the dose. He said it is so safe! He had a kid swallow 17 pills and they didn't even have to pump his tummy because it is such a benign medicine. How great is that? I asked him about my rash while I was there and he gave me some samples of Zyrtec and Alavert.
We went by the camp office to drop off some pictures and the boys ran wild. I was so embarrassed! I gave Taylor a big pop on the leg once in the car and told him he would not be going swimming this afternoon at Gam maw's. He was pretty good from then on out. However, that all changed when we went to speech. He was awful! He gets into trouble quite often after speech while I try to talk to Katie, but he has never gotten in trouble with her. Katie had to take his game away and hold his feet and hands still. He was not saying words, he was ignoring her and closing her eyes and I could go on and on. Anyway, it was a mess and I was so mad I could have spit nails. He had to miss swimming, TV, outside play and I took Bozo and night night. He continued to get in trouble at home and got put to bed with no movie or night night and Bozo. I tell ya, it is so hard to go to bed and hear him cry and know how sad he is. Especially when you have learned bad news from another kid you check on, but he has got to learn to behave no matter where he is or who he is with and unfortunately it will have to be learned the hard way for him since nothing else seems to work.
June 25, 2006 Day +1,180 Day #878 off treatment
Today we went to Alabama Adventure. This time daddy and Gam maw went too. We, as usual. ran into a ton of friends. The boys had a blast being there long enough to go to all the parts and play. Usually with me by myself we pick one area and stay about 2 hours, but this time we went all over for about 4 hours. We didn't do the rides because this time we were all in need of a nap. Logan and Taylor rode with Gam maw to run an errand and we went home. They were not gone long and we had a don don picnic in the living room.
It was a very simple day. We just hung out and had fun. I hope we write about many more, normal and boring days like this one. Please pray for Taylor's continued health. Oh, by the way, after watching him play for several days it is obvious that his legs are fine. He may have had a growing pain in them, but he is fine. Thank you God! Pray for Amber who is home, but will get more chemo on Wednesday. Pray for Christi whose final reports showed that her chemo kept her cancer stable and not a small improvement like first thought. Pray for Andrew who will soon have a stem cell transplant. Pray for all the kids out there who are fighting this beast or some other illness or injury.
June 24, 2006 Day +1,179 Day #877 off treatment
We went to Taylor's best camp buddy, Calvin's birthday. It was at the McWain center, a cool science center in B'ham. The boys had a blast. Taylor felt a little upset when Cal's school friends came in and he didn't have his undivided attention. He kept telling us that he was mad because he didn't like the shirt he had on. I am sure that he didn't like that shirt, but I feel sure that more of his problems were not having Cal all to himself. Anyway, once the party got underway he was fine and part of the group. We had cake and ice cream and then the critter guy brought in hissing cock roaches, snakes, frogs and other creepy crawly things and let them touch them. Taylor didn't touch anything except the boa constrictor. NUT! Logan wasn't touching any of it! After all that fun we went up to the play levels. There were many science things to look at such as sitting in a chair and pulling a rope to raise you up, laying on a bed of nails and them raising you up etc. The boys liked it all. Logan found the water exhibit which showed how the force of water could push up a ball. What does he do? Yep, take the ball out! They both loved the play ground area that we stayed in the longest. We soon went up to the money exhibit which was way over my head. It showed everything money. Stocks, bonds, depression, how money is made, how to tell if it is counter fit etc. It had a grid that showed inflation and how prices had changed since the 1920's. Let's just say it was ugly seeing as they predict that an average family car will cost 57,000 in 2020. My kids will be riding bikes that are predicted to cost about 2,000. Yikes! The boys took turns getting their picture made and put on million dollar bills. Don't you wish we cold cash that! Soon it was getting obvious that Logan was in desperate need of a nap. We left the party and headed for Gam maw's where they wanted to swim. Unfortunately a storm blew in and made them get out. We headed for home and hung out the rest of the night.
June 23, 2006 Day +1,178 Day #876 off treatment
Hello to everyone on this Friday morning. We are doing well. Logan was up bright and early as usual. That was okay because it gave me time to do 2 loads of laundry and still get to Alabama Adventure before 11:00. It opens at 10:30 and it was about 10:45 when we got there and we still didn't get a chair. Oh well, it isn't like we really sit anyway. We went to the "baby" water park today. Taylor was not real happy about it, but once he got there he had fun. They did the water slides over and over again. Logan is getting a little too brave as he was going down on his back, head first. We had to have a talk about that! Taylor made a friend and played with a water spout for a long time. A little girl pushed Taylor out of her way and took the spout away from him and when he tried to get it back to started beating on him. I very sternly told her to get her hands off of him right about the time her mom came and got her. I thought she was going to be mad at me, but she wasn't. She made the little girl apologize. A little boy tried the same thing with Logan, but Logan is meaner than Taylor and he did the beating. I made him say sorry too and told the little boy to ask him to share rather than push him. I got tickled at this big boy and by big I mean 8 or 9. He was splashing and making the streams of water hit kids in the face so that they would leave and he could get to the toy they had. Well, Logan just closed his eyes and waited on him to stop then made the water spout hit the boy in the face and the kid cried. I just had to laugh out loud. That will teach him to mess with another baby! Too funny! We ran into lots more friends again today. They all had so much fun together. Once again, we were only there about 2 hours. I can only handle so much by myself. It was a good thing we left too, about half way home it started thundering and lightening and a storm blew in.
Once we got home Taylor complained of his leg hurting. He had actually said it hurt when he first got up, but I thought he might have laid on it funny. I of course was all worked up and upset. I had him sit in my lap and nonchalantly touched him and he jumped. Well, that sent me into a real frenzy. I don't think it helped matters that I had re read the "how it started" page on Taylor's new page. Remind me not to do that again! Anyway, I decided to play with him and see what he did. We started exercising and he did jumping jacks and then we jumped from square to square on the rug. He did push up on one leg, he hopped on one foot. He did a lot of things that I don't think a little boy with a hurt leg could do. I don't know, I know it is me and he probably just a growing pain or something. He was soon watching cartoons in my bed and started jumping on the bed. What do you do? I want to see him move and show me he is okay, but I want to spank him for jumping on the bed like he knows he should not do. Anyway, long story short, I think he is fine. He has eaten like a pig and played like a crazy man. Please pray for his health to remain at its present state and that he never again faces cancer.
He is geared up for the trip. Today he asked me what he could do on the boat, so I named off a few things and he drew on a piece of paper. He was making a check sheet. He said each day when he came in from the boat he would check off what he did. I think I will go on line and get some photos of stuff and help him make a cool sheet to bring. with him. I think that will be fun for him and maybe it will count as a project for school since he is missing so many days. I talked with the school today and they assure me he will not miss anything in the first month of K5. Ya'll keep reminding me of that. I have no idea why I am letting it bug me so, it does not matter. I am just anal I guess.
We just hung out at home tonight. The boys are playing. Taylor has colored all the art he missed at school while at camp. Yes, he is anal too and made me promise to save it all for him so that he didn't miss anything. He has eaten green beans, mac and cheese, 2 sticks of cheese and 2 cups of yogurt. Again, I stress that I think he is fine!
Tomorrow we are going to his best bud, Calvin's, birthday party. We may go back to Alabama Adventure depending on how things go and how much energy we all have left. I will update again soon. Please be sure to keep all the kids in prayer. Keep Taylor in prayer and that he is just messing with me because we all know he can rile me up! Pray for Mr. Eddie as he awaits the news of rather or not he will lose his toes. Pray for all those out there who are fighting some sort of illness or injury.
June 22, 2006 Day +1,177 Day #875 off treatment
Happy Thursday to you all. We have had a pretty good day. We went to school as usual. Logan had a hard time. He forgot baby this morning. He left with his new cars in his hand and never thought about baby. I didn't notice that he didn't have it until he went to looking for it once we pulled up to school. I didn't think it would cause too much trouble seeing as he puts it in his bag as soon as he gets to his class. Boy was I wrong. He was so upset that he was shaking. Mrs. Joan had to bring him back to me until he could calm down. He wanted to play in the gym, but I wouldn't let him. I told him to get down he had to go to his room. He finally agreed if I gave him his cars back. He was fine after that. I don't know what that was all about! Taylor had a great day. He was in a great mood and played well with all his friends. We only had one girl today out of 8 kids, so she was kind of out numbered. It was still a good day, they all played well today. We got home and I called and made the FINAL payment on our Disney Cruise. We are set to leave in exactly 11 weeks. 77 days. Jim even told me the minutes and seconds, but I wont go into all that! I will admit, I am still a bit upset about Taylor missing school, but I have got to put that behind me. I am sure his teachers will understand. I hope! Taylor is so excited that I am sure once we get there I will completely forget about school. Again, I hope!
Please pray for Taylor as he continues to beat cancer! Pray for Amber who still has no answers to her pain. Her birthday is Saturday. www.caringbridge.org/al/amber Pray for Christi who looks to have had some response to her chemo. www.christithomas.blogspot.com Pray for Harrison who is waiting on results from scans. www.caringbridge.org/nc/harrison Pray for Carolyn who is going to rescan due to a strange spot. www.caringbridge.org/va/carolyncoveney There are many others who need our prayers. Please remember a dear family friend, Eddie. He had a blood clot several months ago and surgery didn't fix things. He has since been in a medically induced coma for a while and has had to have his leg amputated. He is fixing to have to have his toes amputated on the other leg and hopefully nothing more. He has been in good spirits thus far, but it is taking wear on him. Please lift him and his family in prayer.
June 21, 2006 Day +1,176 Day #874 off treatment
Hi ya'll. We are beat! We went to Alabama Adventure today. We went to the wave pool this time. They had a blast. Logan thought he was doing some serious swimming, but he was holding himself up with his hands. It was funny. They both enjoyed the waves when they came on. Logan wanted me in the shallow end so that he could sit in my lap, but they waves were rough and drug me across the cement. Oh well, he was having fun. The wave pool has sand, so we played in the sand too. There was a bunch of folks from school there, so that made it fun for all of us. We were only there for about 2 hours and we headed for home. It was so HOT!!! When we got home Taylor went outside and Logan went to bed. He pitched a fit, but was out in no time. I had to wake him up at 4:00. We left to pick up Jim and to go eat dinner with Guh. Jim and Gam maw are car pooling now. It has worked out nice. It was a miserable trip up to Amsouth for us. My air in my car apparently is still not fixed. It has been getting cool but it takes a good while to do so. Well, today it never got cool. I had turned it to come out at my feet, so that when it got cool I could blast it to the boys in the back. I had to turn it off it was so hot it was burning my feet. So, looks like we are not done with car repairs just yet! URGH!
We played at Guh's house until about 8:00 and we loaded up to head for home. For those of you that know anything about air, penny for your thoughts!! We had perfectly cool air all the way home. It is always cool in the morning and evening, but can't get cool when it is hot. What do you think?
Once home the boys took baths and played with their new tractors and trailers that Guh bought them. It was a quiet night around here.... Please pray for Taylor's continued success against cancer. Pray for those who are still fighting.
June 20, 2006 Day +1,175 Day #873 off treatment
Happy Tuesday. We went to school this morning as usual, but the boys got to go home early. They went to see Cars with Ghen Ghen and Paw Paw. Yes, I said they. Ghen Ghen and Paw Paw were brave and took Logan too. They said he cried when they first got there, but he is afraid of the dark. Once the movie started he was fine and only talked to ask for more pop corn. What a big guy he is! They took pictures in one of those little booths to commemorate his first trip to the movies. He says he isn't going back, but I am not so sure he even understands the question.
I came home and spent a peaceful afternoon washing clothes. Since my house has finally gotten clean it is a little more bearable to do these things and I haven't let the laundry and stuff pile up. However that is easy to do when I am off 2 days a week. Help me keep this routine going once we get back into our routine of 5 days a week.
The boys got home around 4:00. Logan is so sleepy, but I don't want to him to nap this late, so he is in his room playing. He is very quiet since Taylor is gone. Taylor went with Paw Paw and Jim to play some golf. We do not have many kids on Wednesday, so my co worker and I are taking turns working that day and I am off tomorrow. I am going to take the boys to Alabama Adventure early and then get home in time for a nap and dinner at Guh's.
Well, that is about it for our day. It was full of fun for the boys and I am always happy to report that. Please keep Taylor and his continued success in your prayers. Please pray for Amber who is having a hard time right now. www.caringbridge.org/al/amber Pray for Christi who is scanning to see what sort of response she had to her last treatment. www.christithomas.blogspot.com Pray for all the kids out there who are fighting some sort of illness or injury and the adults too.
Be sure to look at the new pictures. There are pics of the motorcycle ride and some new snapshots of the kids!!
June 19, 2006 Day +1,174 Day #872 off treatment
Back to Monday already, where does the time go? Taylor woke up shortly after 7:00, but climbed in my bed and went back to sleep. Logan slept until about 8:30 which was huge for him. I got up with him and let Taylor sleep. Well, tried too. Logan was playing a harmonica and screamed very loud when I told him to wait until Bubba woke up. Well, needless to say that Bubba came out of my room at about that time. Logan just looked at me and said, "bubba up, I play now?" What a stinker he is. He has been playing that darn thing all morning. Taylor was indeed over being mad at me and he went to his room to play legos which is what he wanted to do last night when I made him go to bed.
The boys are now playing camping. They have made little houses out of pillows and stuffed animals. My house sure did look good for about 24 hours! Last night I unpacked all of Taylor's stuff from camp. He made it home with everything he brought with him plus 3 socks:) I was very proud of him for keeping up with everything. I am also happy to report that there is soap missing from his bottle, so I know he took a bath. Just teasing, I knew he had, but it was so funny the way he said, "nope, I just jumped in the pool to bathe."
Taylor has speech today. He has only missed one session, but we have been going on odd days, so it seems strange to be going today. It will be the first time that Logan has gone to Nana's in about 3 weeks. He told me he was going to play with the hook at Nanny's house. He always goes in and get the same toy as soon as he gets to her house.
Taylor did great at speech. They worked on "V". He actually does them well when reminded to smile and bite his lip. I know that sounds strange, but that is what he has to do it not say a "B". Next week they will start on blended sounds such as blanket, sleep, squirrel, queen etc. He really is improving, I can not wait until he is tested again to see how far he has come.
We went swimming again. Taylor is a darn fish! He can not get enough. Logan is getting braver, today he sat on a float for a while, but usually wants to be held. He would really rather be in a hose pipe than the pool.
I didn't realize how peaceful it was last week with just one kid here until they started all their bickering this morning. I, of course, wouldn't trade it for the world, but it is annoying all the same. They fight over everything from touching one another or their stuff or looking at the other ones TV in the car. I am an only child, so I don't get it! I had a long talk with Taylor. I told him that if he was big enough to go to camp the entire week and keep up with his clothes and eat by himself etc then he was big enough to act like a 5 year old at home and not whine all the time. I don't think it worked, but maybe! I don't really care for Sponge Bob, but that is what is on and they are so quiet, I mean not so much as a peep has come out of the living room for about 10 minutes. That settles it, Sponge Bob is on 24/7!
I was going through all the stuff that Taylor brought home from camp and found Jackie Bushman's autograph. Yes, all you hunters, that would be the Buckmaster's guy. I think daddy was a bit jealous of that. Taylor got to learn to shoot a bow and arrow from a prow. Do you see what cool stuff camp brings to these kids. Taylor is still talking about camp and all the fun stuff he did. He is very proud of the talent contest where he rolled his tongue upside down and ate ice cream like a dog. What a talented son we have! Everyday there is a new story. I can not wait to see the pictures that Camp SAM puts up, I know they will be great.
June 18, 2006 Day +1,173 Day #871 off treatment Happy Father's Day!
We slept late. We had no kids here and had not gone to bed until after 1:00, so we were a bit tired. We met Guh for breakfast and took Logan with us afterwards. We went to Gam maw and Paw Paw's for lunch, swimming and more Balderdash. It was after 7:00 when we made it home. We were all beat from our fun time. Logan was so tired, but didn't want to go to bed. He piled up with 2 blankets and Bozo and we snuggled in the chair. Taylor was playing in his room, but whining all night. I know he is exhausted after a week at camp and then swimming all day today. I told him to get in bed and he was furious! He pitched a fit and almost threw up his meds, but I knew he was just tired. He was asleep in no time and I am sure he will be over his madness by morning.
Today was fun. The kids loved the pool and their new slip and slide. They were so funny sliding on it. Jim was pretty funny sliding on it too! The dogs even had a nice slide or too. Taylor is all about the pool though. He tried to show off and forgot he didn't have his floatie on and jumped right in the pool. We were all close by, so he was in no danger, but he had a "Oh shoot!" look on his face. We can tell he had a few swim lessons at camp because he popped up and paddled to the steps and was fine. Now, he will not do it again, but we know he can do enough to stay about water and that is good. I am going to look into some lessons for him.
June 17, 2006 Day +1,172 Day #870 off treatment
Taylor is home!!! He did great at camp. To all the people who participated in the bike ride, THANK YOU!!!! I have posted pictures from the bike ride in Taylor's PhotoGallery. Click here to see all the pictures. If you happen to be in one of the pictures and want a copy, email us! Please make sure you tell us what number the picture is so we can verify and send the right one!!! The guestbook is also up and working, so be sure to sign in and drop us a line!!!
Welcome home Taylor! What a long, but exciting day we have had. We started out bright and early. We were up and out of the house by 6:45. We got to ALexander City and set up our stand and then we sat and talked until the bikers started to roll in. There were about 200 bikes there and it was an awesome site to see all those bikes coming down 280. They pulled in and filled the parking lot! The all came and got tea and bracelets. It was so exciting to be so busy pouring tea for the many thirsty bikers. We made almost $100 dollars in about 15 minutes. That's not a bad 15 minutes worth of work! They only had about a 30 minute stop before we all hit the road for the last 10 miles. I told them my baby was at camp and to get me over the Kawliga Bridge fast! They did too. We had police escorts and we were going about 60 miles an hour down this little 2 lane road. Yeah, Jim was loving it! We pulled in to camp and there were so many bikers that the stretched from the gate to the back of camp, they could hardly all get in, what a beautiful problem to have! We all got in and got up to the main area of camp and there were the kids holding up signs welcoming the riders. Taylor was front and center! We of course had to run get him before I even took a picture of him. What a beautiful site he was!!!
We all ate lunch with the kids then they took us to show us around. Of course, Jim and I have seen it all, but some VERY DEAR friends were riding and he showed them around. He along with his new pal, Brendan. I hear they became the best of buds and had bunks the touched. I bet that was fun! Taylor was so excited to show us his bunk, his rock in the rock garden, and all his arts and craft. He rode in a canoe and that is impressive because none of us Watts folks are good at that. Jim and I hit the bottom of the lake at Oak Mountain one year. We hit the bottom more than once. Why did we hit bottom you ask? That would be because we couldn't even get away from the bank without falling in. Anyway, Taylor must have better skills than us. He rode the banana boat again and did not fall in. He lit candles for the lost friends and they left them burning in the sand. How sweet that must have been. He swam, a lot! He had band-aids on every toe from the pool tearing his feet up. The best surprise came about half way home. He asked to take his shoes off and I said it was fine and when I looked back at him and saw his feet I fell out laughing. They were black as an ace of spades! It was so gross. I said, "did you take a bath while you were gone?" He said, "no". I know that he did, but it was so funny. He was proud of those dirty feet. There is a picture on his picture page.
Once we looked at all his stuff he started checking out the bikes. He fell in love with the red one. He then fell in love with a blue one, a purple one and so on. He was having a ball. The bikers were terrific with them and let him try on helmets and glasses and gloves etc. One guy even let him crank it and rev it up. He loved that! He went and sat with our pal Jimbo and took some great pics. I will be sending you all some soon. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to Susan, Jimmy, April and Jimbo. You don't know how special what you did for us and all the kids is. We appreciate you taking time out of your day to come see our cancer kids and raise money for them. It was great to get to see you all too!
All the bikers left and we did closing ceremonies. We do this after every camp, but today it was pretty impressive. With nearly 70 kids there and their parents it was a huge circle. We squeeze hands all the way around the circle, so you can imagine that it took a while. That is representing the heart beat of camp. We were soon on our way home. Much to our surprise Taylor did not fall asleep until we were about 10 miles from home. He talked and talked about all he did. He is ready to go back next year!
We stopped at Paw Paw's house where Logan had been for the day. They both ended up in the pool. You would think that Taylor had had enough by now, but nope. We had to drag them out and get home where Guh was waiting to take Logan to her house. He stayed with her while we had our little get together. Taylor stayed with us and ended up going to Paw Paw's afterwards. We had fun playing the game Balderdash.
It was a long day, but it was the best. We got to pick up Taylor and meet some very wonderful people who put their heart and soul into raising money for camp. We had a great time playing a board game. How often do people do stuff like that anymore. We are so blessed to be spending our days like this. We pray for many more!
June 16, 2006 Day +1,171 Day #869 off treatment
The guestbook is now fixed and you should not get the error page anymore. So, please sign in to let us know you were here.
Tomorrow is the big day. I am so excited about the lemonade stand and all the bikers that are coming. I am even more excited about picking up Taylor. I know he will be so excited to show us where he slept and all the art he made and everything in between. Tomorrow is a big day. We are not planning on leaving camp until nearly 2:00 and then going to a birthday party and rushing home just in time for our poker party. It will be fun, but I am sure that Sunday will be a low key day.
Taylor was on the news last night. I missed the 4:30 slot and he had several shots in that one. Oh well, I saw the 10:00 spot and though he was only on it once, it was great to see him. He was dressed in his own clothes and they matched, so that is a good sign that he is doing okay!
Today Logan and I did more of the same. Cleaning, TV and playing. We went to pick up our Milo's tea for tomorrow. I was trying to find some pictures on the computer and started watching some old video. Logan loved it. He was laughing at one of him in his swing at about 5 months old. Jim was making faces at him and had the sweetest little baby laugh. There was one of Taylor at barely 3. He was dancing in his room and didn't know we were taping him. It was funny, but it really got funny when he turned off the tape player and walked out of the room and ran into Jim and the camera before he ever realized he was there. Too funny!
We went to the bank where Logan got 4 suckers. Why, you ask because only I could go to the bank and the teller mess up. I had to go back and have them fix the mistake. I had several checks, but one of them was for $10 and the girl put it as $1. She gave Logan 4 suckers to compensate for coming back. I guess that is good enough because it kept him quiet.
I got an interesting email today. You all probably remember Sydney, a fellow NB fighter. Her dad, who started Lunch For Life put this on his page and even thought I do not really understand it, I find it interesting. It has to do with Singulair which Taylor takes every day for allergies. Could we be combating cacner and fighting snot too? Interesting! Here is the study.
5-Lipoxygenase and Leukotriene Receptors Are Expressed in Childhood Neuroblastoma and Inhibition of the Leukotriene Synthesis Pathway Suppresses Tumour Growth (what a title)
Baldur Sveinbjornsson, Agnes Rasmuson, Ingvild Pettersen, Frida Ponthan, Abiel Orrego, John I Johnsen, Per Kogner Childhood Cancer Research Unit, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Experimental Pathology, University of Tromso, Tromso, Norway
Eicosanoids have been shown to play important roles in promotion, survival and metastasis of tumors. Lipoxygenases (LOs) are overexpressed in certain carcinomas and leukotrienes may have important functions in the process of carcinogenesis. In the present study we investigated NB primary tumours from different biological subsets and from all clinical stages. High expression of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) as well as the leukotriene receptors CysLT1 and BLT1 was detected by immunohistochemistry in a majority of the tumours(30/31) whereas no expression was detected in adrenal medullas from healthy children. RT-PCR, western blotting and FACS analysis showed expression of 5-LO, the 5-LO activating protein (FLAP) and the leukotriene receptors CysLT1 and BLT1 in all seven human NB cell lines investigated. NB cell lines synthesized both LTB4 and LTD4, as measured by ELISA, and this synthesis was increased by proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1, TNF-a). Moreover, stimulation of senescent NB cultures with LTB4 or LTD4 induced proliferation indicating an autocrine survival loop between the NB cells and their 5-LO products. This suggested that the leukotriene synthesis pathway or leukotriene receptors could be a potential therapeutic target in NB. Treatment of NB cells in vitro with inhibitors of 5-LO (AA-861), FLAP (MK-886) and the CysLT1 leukotriene receptor (montelukast) induced cell death in a dose-dependent manner. All three inhibitors induced depolarization of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential, cleavage of caspase-9 and caspase-3 followed by apoptosis. Inhibitors of other LO isoforms were significantly less effective in inducing NB cytotoxicity. Oral administration of montelukast to nude rats carrying human NB xenografts significantly inhibited tumour growth (p<0.05) without overt toxicity, whereas untreated xenografts grew exponentially. We conclude that 5-LO and leukotriene receptors are present in NB tumours and that functional inhibition of these proteins induces apoptosis and suppresses NB growth. These findings provide a novel therapeutic potential in childhood neuroblastoma.
Well, now that I have totally blew you all away with that. Is that a great read or what. I know it makes no since at all, but somewhere in there is something important and hopefully Taylor is benefiting more from this med than we thought. Please keep all the cancer families in your prayers. If we do not update again before Sunday, Happy Father's Day!
June 15, 2006 Day +1,170 Day #868 off treatment
We made it through another day. Logan has not said much about Taylor being gone, but he has certainly talked to their school picture a lot. He says, "hey bubba" "that's my Bubba not you Bubba." He is so silly.
Today is the last work day of the week for us. I know Friday will fly by as it is an off day and they always fly by! I have got the important rooms back together. My room is a mess and Logan has yard sell stuff all over his room, but the living room, kitchen and dining room are back to normal. Yahoo! I hope to get it all back to normal on Friday. We will be going by Milo's tea Co. to pick up tea to serve to the bikers. Thank you Jay and the Milo's staff for the donation!
Please be in prayer for the director of Camp SAM. She was called away from camp the other night when we husband was in a serious car wreck. He is stable and will be okay, but he has a very long road to recovery ahead of him. To the entire Thompson family, we are thinking of you and praying for you. We love you! Alos, remember Paula, a coworker of Guh's. In the past week, she has had to look for her escaped dog who is like a child, fell and broke her foot and her husband had a heart attack and died. Please be with her as she works through this tragic week.
We did not hear from Taylor today. Tonight is the traditional camp talent show. We didn't go over this with Taylor as we didn't really think he had anything to do. I knew he would never sing or anything like that. Well, Jim faxed them today and told them to have him turn his tongue upside down. I am sure there are other who can do it, but none of us can, so we are impressed by it. I must say the days are getting harder. I still miss him in a good way, but I miss him all the same. I can't wait to see him Saturday even though I am sure I will still not get a big hug. Logan has taken care of that for me. He has been so lovey dovey lately.
Please keep Taylor and his continued success in your prayers. Pray for all the families who are still fighting or missing their baby.
June 14, 2006 Day +1,169 Day #867 off treatment
Another day down and one more closer to Saturday when we pick Taylor up from camp. I miss him a lot, but not like I thought I would. It is a happy miss, if that makes any since. I am proud of him for going and trying something new. I just wish I had a fly on the wall spying on him and taking pictures. We did get a letter from him today. I sent an envelope addressed to me, one to Jim and one to Logan. Guess which one came today? Yep, Jim's. It is a picture of 2 stick people and a sunshine. It has Jim and Taylor wrote under the people. How cute!
Logan and I had another day at school as usual. I put tennis shoes on him today rather than his usual sandals and he said, "why". I said, "you have to wear shoes" and he said, "I take it off at school". Smarty pants! I guess he was right though, why bother putting on cute shoes and socks that match the American flag shirt he had on because he will take it off as soon as he gets to school and he did.
Please be in prayer for two of my friends from school. One is awaiting some blood results for a protein deficiency and the other is having an ultra sound of his kidneys to see why he has to potty so much. These are 2 of Taylor's friends and we certainly hope that they do not have anything serious, but I know from experience that the testing and waiting can be agonizing. So, remember them as they test and wait for answers.
Please remember the Spyek family. Laura, a NB fighter went to be with Jesus yesterday. www.caringbridge.org/ma/lauraashley We met her in New York when we did 3F8. She has been fighting NB since 1997, my that is a long time. Please stop by and leave them some kind words. Also, two new friends. I, unfortunately found their pages at the end of their fight, but I have already fallen in love. Please visit www.caringbridge.org/ky/will and www.caringbridge.org/fl.jacob Please remember all the families out there in their different stages of the battle. Pray that Taylor is having a blast at camp and has WON his battle with NB for good. Pray that those who are in remission or NED can stay that way.
June 13, 2006 Day +1,168 Day #866 off treatment
Well, we are making it around here with our man gone. He must be having a blast, I haven't gotten the call to come get him. I figured if he got through bed time on night one, he would be fine. I did get an email from our Hand In Paw friend, Nena. She and her dog Ellie went to camp today. She said Taylor was having fun and playing. He got mad at lunch because he had to leave the beach/sand area. He was back to all smiles once he got into the galley. I am glad he is enjoying camp. I have heard from several folks that I will be shocked at how "big" he is once he gets back home. That makes since. He has now proven he can go off on his own and be a big boy. It is so exciting and sad at the same time. Jim has sent him some faxes, so he knows we are thinking of him. I mailed him a letter this morning. I packed stamped envelopes in his bag, so maybe we will get a letter from him too.
Logan and I went to school today. Logan is funny, he tells everyone that "Bubba is at tamp". He asked where he was when he woke up this morning, but when I told him camp, he was okay. I think he has enjoyed being the center of attention for a while. I know that the baby of the family usually gets the attention, but not in his case. I am not saying that Logan gets left out of things, but Taylor will always have that extra heartstring to pull with us all.
We are just doing our normal routine around here. I have been cleaning up and Jim has put the finishing touches on the house. We are having a sorority social here Saturday night, so we have to get it together. It is a good thing that we are having a social, it made us get in gear and get the little things done that we have been ignoring. Things are almost back to normal around here.
Well, I guess I wont have much more to report on Taylor this week since we do not get to talk to them. I did hear that NBC 13 filmed there today and will air on Thursday night at 10:00. I have no idea who or what they filmed, but if you watch you may see Taylor. If you don't you will at least get to see what they do at camp. I have to say, I am a bit jealous that I am not there too. I would love a week long trip to camp!
June 12, 2006 Day +1,167 Day #865 off treatment
We did it! We put Taylor on the bus to Camp Smile A Mile this afternoon. No tears were shed though they were wanting too, for mom anyway. We had an interesting morning. He was up at 7:30 ready to bathe and dress. He had to wait on Logan who slept late for once. We got bathed and dressed and ready to go. We left around 11:00. We got stamps for his envelopes, so he can mail us letters from camp. We got lunch and then hit the road. He cried out several times that his tummy really hurt. I thought he was just scared, so I didn't put too much thought into it. I got his burger out and he wouldn't eat it. I still just chalked it up to nerves. A few minutes later he started to cry hysterically and he had thrown up all over himself. I did not have time to stop and buy clothes, so once we got to the hospital we put some clothes on him from his suite case. He will now have exactly the same number of clothes as days, no extra, but what else could I do? He seemed fine once he did it. I am not sure if it was nerves or the new meds he is on. He was crying about missing us and all when he did it. Once we got into the hospital lobby to sign in, he was full force. He was so excited and I was so excited to see that Nurse Rhonda was going all week. I feel very comfortable with all the folks at Camp, but Rhonda is someone Taylor really knows and will do well with if their is an issue. We met David, his counselor, and found out that his friend from other camp sessions, Broxton, will be this same counselor, so that will be great. It was soon time to board the bus. He grabbed David's hand and hopped on the bus. He never looked back. He wouldn't give my a hug and a kiss, so I am feeling a little put out with the little squirt. He picked a seat on the other side of the bus, so I couldn't see him, but Jim crossed the street and waved to him. I know he will have so much fun. They are probably laughing at us as we have already sent him a fax to tell him to have fun. The fax probably beat him there! Logan is very ticked off that he didn't get to go. We will pick him up on Saturday. We will be doing his lemonade stand without him and we will ride in with the bikers to get him. No news is good news, so if we do not hear from camp we know he is having fun. They will call us if he needs to be picked up early. I am not sure yet what to expect, but I think he will make it the full week. We shall see!
Did you all get to see Taylor on the news? It was on the 5:00 hour and not the 6. It was cute. Jim is working on getting new pictures on the web site, so soon we will have some updates ones. Our new guest book is acting up, so bare with us as Jim works on it. You can always email us if you need to. We love to hear from you all!
June 11, 2006 Day +1,166 Day #864 off treatment
Today was a much smoother day. Logan woke up at 6:02 this morning, but I was too tired to even look at him, so I ignored him and he fell asleep and slept until a little after 8:00. He would have slept longer, but Taylor woke him up when he stumbled out of his wet bed. OOPS! He must have been dead asleep because he never wets the bed. We got baths and ate breakfast and then headed to the amusement park. Taylor did the go karts a few times and the spinner thing. I did the spinner thing with Logan who did not scream this time. Logan did the train and they had had enough. I think it was so hot they just couldn't really have fun. WE did a very quick round of goofy golf. I mean quick! Logan would walk to the hole and drop it in and Taylor put the ball down and drug it with the club to the hole. We got tickled at Logan, he had put his ball and club down to do something and when he got up he grabbed just his ball. He didn't get a few steps away before he turned and said, "I forgot my bat." After goofy golf Taylor and I walked over to "Wild Woodie" which is a wooden go kart track that goes up on several levels. He, of course, could not drive, but he had fun riding with me. It was very bumpy. We then all headed to the arcade where we got just enough tickets to get Taylor 2 rings and Logan 2 deer. They were both happy and therefore so were we! We headed back to the camper to pack up and head home. We finally hit the road around 1:00. Logan was asleep before we hit the interstate and slept for a good hour and a half or so as did Taylor. We stopped for lunch at McDonald's and luckily, this time they got the "Cars" toy they wanted. We got back to Guh's house around 5:30 and Jim picked us up in my car, yahoo! The radiator and air are all working fine now. Yipee! I love to drive the jeep, it is a 5 speed and it is fun, but for a limited time especially having to kill myself to get both kids in the back in their car seats. I am thrilled to have the old Xterra back.
We got home and grilled hot dogs and Chris, Temp. and Christian came over to play. We got Taylor all packed and ready to go to camp tomorrow!
June 10, 2006 Day +1,165 Day #863 off treatment
What a day! Mr. Logan was up at 6:04. I went and got in the bed with Taylor until 7:00. We were bathed and out the door and sitting in the sand by abut 8:30. Logan had made it quite clear that he was not getting in the water. They both played in the sand for a while. Taylor and I went out to the water for a bit. Where we were the sand had made a slight hill towards the water and Taylor had a blast running down that hill and splashing into the water. Logan soon decided that he was going to get in, but only with Guh. He held her hands and just floated around like he was the king. A group of teenagers came out and found some sort of sting ray looking thing and dug a hole to keep it in. That kept Taylor occupied for a while watching them. Logan and Taylor both touched the thing which shocked me and scared me too. After a few folks touched it it started to shock people, so I am glad it didn't shock them. The guy said it didn't hurt at all, but it is still kind of scary. They finally let the thing go and told Taylor he could play in the hole they had dug. They enjoyed playing there for a while. We took turns burring the boys in the sand. Taylor thought that was funny. By about 11:00 we were all ready to go, so we cleaned up and ate out picnic lunch at the pavilion by the beach. We then headed for the camper where we hung out a little while. We went to a huge playground, but it was so hot that they couldn't even play on anything. We left and went to good old Wal mart. We bought some water guns and took them back to the camper to play. The boys were so tired that they didn't nothing, but fight and fuss for hours. It was very frustrating. We finally went back to the park when it cooled off some. We were not there 5 minutes until Taylor was screaming he had to poop. I tell ya, play ground equipment makes that kid have to go. It never fails! Well, there was no potty, so we were going to leave. By the time I rounded up Logan it was looking to be too late. Well, Guh improvised. You can't tell that you know this as he made us promise not to tell! Guh put a Wal-mart bag over a plastic crate in the back of her car and he went. It was so hot and miserable that all we could do was laugh. He was ready to go home at that point, but once he got all cleaned up, he opted to go play comando style. We stayed for a while and he was fine. After the park we had to hit Wal mart again to return the water gun that Taylor picked out since it didn't work. It was 4 guns that hooked together to make one big one and the biggest one wouldn't squirt. Logan went bananas and I had to go wait at the car while Guh paid. We went back to the camper and hung out some more. We shot water guns for a long time and then we went in to play. Around 8:30 Logan decided he was sleepy and wanted his baby. Uh Oh! We searched the camper and car over and could not find it. We just knew that he had left it in the buggy when he was having his fit. We all loaded up and went back to Wal mart. We really thought we would have to dig through buggies or better yet just let him pick out what he wanted for a make shift baby until we got home and got the back up. We knew how miserable we were for 30 minutes in the car when he threw it out of his reach and we were really dreading how miserable we would be all night and on the trip home without it. Can you feel the stress!!! We walked into Wal mart and before I could ask the greeter, a nice, older lady, I saw it all laid out over her little platform. I could have kissed her! How blessed are we to have found that? Thank you God. We went back to the camper where we were sure that Logan would be gone, but once again he proved us wrong. He did settle down and get in the floor, but he still rolled around and kicked hit feet and stuff. He was no where near asleep. Both boys finally fell asleep in the floor. We moved them to their beds and we fell asleep right behind them. It was a fun day, but the sun can really ware you out.
June 9, 2006 Day +1,164 Day #862 off treatment
We spent most of today on the road. Taylor did have speech this morning though I didn't pay much attention. I had Logan with me today and spent the 30 minutes trying to keep him quiet rather than watching Taylor. We left speech and dropped of the jeep to daddy and hit the road towards the beach with Guh. We were on the interstate by a few minutes after 1:00 and we were sitting dead still in traffic by 2:38. It was a little disheartening, but after only 20 minutes were back in business. Well, back in business as far as moving, but not as far as peacefulness. Logan started a huge fit that lasted about 30 minutes. He threw his baby in the back of the SUV and there was no way to get it. We stopped at a gas station to get it and some fresh milk and then hit the road. We didn't get 10 miles until he had thrown it again and started screaming bloody murder to the point of thinking he would throw up. We listened to it for ever until we got to a rest area. We stopped and let him run around and get a snack. He was so worn out that he was out like a light in no time once we got back on the road. We didn't get to the beach until 6:00 or so with all out stops. We went to the store and then spent the evening in the camper playing blocks and cards. We sat outside and played ball for a while too.
Bed time was interesting. Logan wanted no part in it at 11:00. Taylor fell asleep in the floor and Guh moved him to the bed and she went with him. I finally just rolled over and ignored Logan and fell asleep, so I don't even know when he finally went to sleep.
June 8, 2006 Day +1,163 Day #861 off treatment
Well hello there! We finally all got to school today. It was Taylor's first day back. He had fun and got in plenty of trouble. He really liked the new boy who started this week. He was thrilled to see Ethan, he has had withdrawals with a week off. After school we went to Wal mart and I got Taylor some stuff for camp. He is very excited, but the nerves are picking up. I had a long talk with him, so I think he will be okay.
The piece that holds the hose to the radiator broke on my car, so we took it tonight to the shop. I was beyond worried about driving it over, so I was just a praying as I drove the jeep with the boys. I asked Taylor to help me, so he started repeating me. He asked if God heard me. I said yes, and that is what he can do at camp if he gets scared. I told him to find Miss Jennifer or Miss Lynn and tell them to help him talk to God. I know they will help him out if he gets upset. I am getting nervous too! I know he will be in the safest hands with them, but it is hard to send you baby away for a week for the first time.
We made it to the shop okay and now we are home and hopefully will have my car back tomorrow or at least Monday. I have got me and the boys all packed up for the beach. We are going with Guh tomorrow after Taylor's speech session at 11:30. It will be a quick trip as Taylor has to catch the bus to camp on Monday at 12:00. I have started his packing for that too. I have been getting things laid out and putting his name on everything. He is just as anal as I am about his stuff, so I think he will do fairly good at getting it all home.
Please keep all our friends in prayer. Pray for Taylor's continued success against NB. Pray for safe travels and that my car is fixed soon with no more troubles.
June 7, 2006 Day +1,162 Day #860 off treatment
Today was so much fun. We started it real early by picking Guh up and heading to Vandiver, Al to 29 Dreams, a motorcycle resort. What a cool place. Kids are not allowed, so the boys thought they were cool stuff! We hung out and played until the NBC 13 news crew got there. We filmed sitting in a swing near a creek on this beautiful land that is covered by 1,000's of bikes and bikers on the weekends. If you are a motorcycle enthusiast you must check it out. www.29dreams.com Taylor wouldn't talk seriously with them, so they just shot him playing and revving up the engines of a bike they let him sit on. Logan wanted to sit with him, but the closer we got the more he screamed.
When we went back into the lodge area and got ready to go, Taylor wanted to color, so he was doodling while we talked. I forgot to mention that Kathy, who was the stem cell coordinator when Taylor went up the that unit, owns 29 Dreams. We had a great visit with her and it was fun since we haven't seen her since his transplant days. Anyway, when Brooke, the news anchor, was ready to go Taylor said that his picture was for her and gave it to her. I looked at it as I passed it to her and noticed that it had his phone number on it. For those of you who have not seen her on the news, she is a knock out. She gave him a kiss! What made it even funnier is her camera guy asked if he had chicks all over him at school and he ignored it and we decided he didn't know what "chicks" meant, but apparently he does!
Guh took both boys to her house while I headed to the blood drive. It flew by and we collected 35 units which is the goal the Red Cross had set for us. I was pleased. We had 7 people that couldn't give, so we would have had a great number, but that is out of our control. I thank you all who came out to help work and to donate blood. We had several donate on the "ALYX" machine which took the red blood cells and separated it from all the other components and gave you the rest back. This allowed them to take 2 units and each of the donors who did that machine counted as 2. How cool is that! Thanks guys and we will see you again in 2007!
June 6, 2006 Day +1,161 Day #859 off treatment
Logan and I went back to school. It was a pretty good day. I had 5 kids and don't tell anyone, but I was bored. I cleaned up some and rearranged the room while they played. Taylor had gone to the movies to see Over the Hedge with Ghen Ghen. They also went by her school and let her lizards loose. She had them as pets in her library this year and she let him help her turn them loose for the summer. He let it crawl on his arm before it jumped off and ran away. He didn't want anything to do with the hermit crab and I can't say as I blame him.
Once he got home he played for a while and then we headed to Paw paw's to swim. They swam for a little while, but it was cold. The pool just got full and hasn't had time to warm up good. They didn't stay too long until they got out and went inside to play. Gam maw and I walked across the street to our meeting. The guys hung out at Paw Paw's until I got done and we headed home.
June 5, 2006 Day +1,160 Day #858 off treatment
Welcome back to Monday. We do not go back to school until tomorrow, but today was still a yucky day. I spent all day on the phone straightening out Dr. office bills. I then went to the Dr. with both boys and waited forever and got to pay $5 to get out of the parking lot since they no longer take the parking passes that we bought. Oh well, what do you do?
After the Dr came in the room at 4:00 for our 2:45 appointment we learned that Taylor has ANOTHER SINUS INFECTION!!!! UURGH!!!! I am ready to reach in and rip his sinuses out myself. It is getting so frustrating. He put him on prednisone for 5 days and Augmenton for 4 weeks. He also put him on a Flovent inhaler twice a day as well as his nebs all throughout the day. The Flovent is supposed to be stronger, but he doesn't really understand how to inhale it, but he is getting better. I am just sick about it all. When he was getting ready for bed I gave him all this med, now brace your self, it is insane.
1 4mg singulair 2 1/2 tsp. Prednisone 1 tsp. Brovex 1 tsp Augmenton 2 puffs of Flovent 2 squirts of Nasonex in each nostril. He had 4, 15 minute long nebs throughout the day.
Isn't that insane! His Brovex ran out and I hate to say it, but I am not refilling it. He has been on it a month now and he is snotty as every and I think he is on way to much, so I am taking it upon myself to stop that one. Can I do that?
We went to Ruby Tuesday's to eat. I had had all I could take of the kids bickering and what not and was really craving pasta from there and I didn't leave poor Jim much choice. He walked in and I ushered him back out to the car. After dinner we went by to check on how the pool is coming. It is almost full and the boys are so excited!
Please keep all of our friends in prayer. Austing's angelversary is June 6th and so is Emma Grace's. www.caringbridge.org/al/austin www.caringbridge.ar/emmagrace Kadin's birthday is the 7th. www.caringbridge.org/visit/kadingazzaway Mr. Bailey has some progression in the form of visible tumors on his head. That is not good, so please keep him in prayer. Pray for Madison who is feeling great these days. www.caringbridge.org/visit/madisonbeck Pray for Christi who just got her stem cells back and is waiting patiently to come home. www.christithomas.blogspot.com
June 4, 2006 Day +1,159 Day #857 off treatment
Saturday, June 17th the Motorcycle Ride for Camp Smile A Mile. This ride will leave from one of 3 places. Montgomery, Tuscaloosa or Vandover and will converge at the Winn Dixie in Alexander City. All riders will ride into the camp at Children's Harbor. It is $50 for rider and co rider and riders are asked to get pledges. First 500 to sign up and remit money will get a rider pack with a shirt and pin. Riders with at least $250 in pledges will get to go to a reception at the Barber's vintage motorsports museum on Friday, June 16th, 5:30-8:00pm. Riders or highway sponsors with over $1,000 will get a "hot lap" from Porsche. For more info contact Camp SAM at (205) 323-8427 or www.campsam.org
We had another busy, but fun day. Jim and the boys went to gam maw's this morning to get wrinkles out of the pool. It only had a few inches of water, but that was perfect for the boys. I think they would be content with it staying at that depth. They loved it. We hung out at Gam maw's until time to leave for Taylor's team party. It started to rain right when it started, but that didn't stop the boys from swimming. The rain finally got a little too hard for us mommies to stand and we made them come in. We scattered all over the gorgeous home to eat our hot dogs and treats. Taylor loved the play room equipped with real drums. Jim and the other dad's have a fun game of poker. It finally cleared up and we all headed back to the pool. Taylor acted a little strange. He wouldn't go out and play he just hovered on the edge. He said it was cold and I know he was tired, but it still gets to me when he acts like that. He did, however, love the cool blow up slip and slide. Logan did too! Logan had a little baby pool to play in and he loved it. I did too as I didn't have to worry as much. Taylor was thrilled with his new Rattlers baseball signed by coach Jon. Taylor gave Jon a signed ball last week and I got a cute picture of them both holding up their autographed balls. The boys didn't want to leave, but it was all too soon time to leave. It was sad because it meant leaving behind his team for the season. He knows he will play again, but he doesn't realize that most of those boys will move up the next league. He will be sad. He will meet knew friends to play with. It was a fun season and we thank Coach Jon and all the coaches for all their work!
After the party we went to Jimbo's house to swim because we had not done enough of that this weekend. Taylor was more normal there. He was jumping off the diving board doing cannon balls and fancy twists. He is so goofy. A big storm brewed up all of a sudden, so he had to get out, but he was okay with that. The boys all went up to Paw Paw's to play and me and Guh stayed to chat. When I got back to Gam maw's we all went to dinner.
Once again it was after 9:00 when we got home. Taylor went straight to bed. I know he is exhausted. Logan went to bed too, but he has been having trouble lately. His bed is against the wall and he has decided in the last week that he is afraid of the wall. He will not go to bed unless I leave the light on. I have pulled the bed out and let him see there is nothing there, but he is so afraid. He sounds so pitiful at bed time when his little voice says, "you leave that light on, that wall scare me". Poor fella! I leave the lamp on and then sneak in and turn it off when he falls asleep.
Please continue to pray for Taylor's success against cancer. Pray for all our friends who are still fighting. Pray for that those in remission may remain that way.
June 3, 2006 Day +1,158 Day #856 off treatment
We had a very busy Saturday. We went to the Smith's Variety sidewalk sale this morning. It was fun to sit and visit with the Camp folks. It was nice to meet the Maui Jim sunglass people. Taylor Hick's band was there and we got to listen to them play. While we were doing that Gam maw and Ghen Ghen took the boys to Taylor's trophy ceremony. This year they actually called out their names and we missed it. Oh well. He is so excited about his trophy. Logan immediately asked why he didn't get one. OOPS! Gam maw dug out some of Jim's old ones from the basement, so he now has one and Taylor has claimed a few too.
Gam maw, Ghen Ghen, me and the boys all loaded up and went to Alabama Adventure. We had a lot of fun. We started in the water park. After a few hours there we took off to ride some rides. Taylor did the BIG ferris wheel and loved it. We stopped at the very tip top for a while and he liked checking out the view. We all did Wild River Gorge and Logan wasn't so sure about that. Logan is about 34 inches and you need to be 36 to ride most everything. They never even looked at him when we got on the Wild River ride, but they checked him for every kiddie ride and he missed out on a few. We had to drag them out, but we did finally get out of there at 6:00 and we went to eat dinner with all the men that we had left at home.
After dinner we all went to Paw Paw's to have a "put the pool back together party". The boys had fun watching as they put the new liner in and started filling it with water. It was nearly 10:00 when we got home and neither boy wanted to go to bed. I don't know how 'cause I certainly wanted to go to bed. It was a very fun day, but oh so exhausting.
June 2, 2006 Day +1,157 Day #855 off treatment
Here is some incentive for you: When you give blood you will be entered into a drawing to win $1500 in gas. I know you all want to win that, so join us at Taylor's blood drive and enter to win.
I have some dates to share with you all. Don't forget the 4th Annual Taylor Watts Blood Drive. Wed, June 7th, 2-7pm. It will be at Pleasant Hill UMC off exit 1 of I-459. Please come out and help us out. We collected 38 units last year and hope to get more this year. You can help by donating blood or working a registration or snack table. Email me for more info!
Saturday, June 17th the Motorcycle Ride for Camp Smile A Mile. This ride will leave from one of 3 places. Montgomery, Tuscaloosa or Vandover and will converge at the Winn Dixie in Alexander City. All riders will ride into the camp at Children's Harbor. It is $50 for rider and co rider and riders are asked to get pledges. First 500 to sign up and remit money will get a rider pack with a shirt and pin. Riders with at least $250 in pledges will get to go to a reception at the Barber's vintage motorsports museum on Friday, June 16th, 5:30-8:00pm. Riders or highway sponsors with over $1,000 will get a "hot lap" from Porsche. For more info contact Camp SAM at (205) 323-8427 or www.campsam.org
Wed. June 7th, Taylor and I will travel to 29 Dreams to tape a news clip for the motorcycle ride. I know it will air on the following Monday, June 12th, but I am not even sure what station, so check back for more info on that.
I think this is the first time and last time I will ever be sad to say it is Friday. We had a great week off from school and work and it would be great to do this all summer. We really will get a big break seeing as we will not be working on Monday or Friday, so we will always have that 4 day weekend. I know August will come quick though! We will enjoy it while we can, though.
This morning Taylor and I went to WDJC 93.7 FM and had a great visit. Derek and Chris were great tour guides to me, Taylor and our new friend, Katy, from the Red Cross. Katy even brought Taylor a little Red Cross radio to listen to himself on. First off, radio is so cool. We did a radio spot a few years ago at the Galleria and I had a ball, but going to the studio and seeing how it is done is great. We walked into the on air studio and there sat the guy eating away while a song played. Once the song went off I expected to see him jump into action, but no, he had a whole segment taped and was just chatting with us and eating his food. I could do that:) Taylor didn't much care for the tour. He did like talking into the microphone. It was so very easy. I just talked into the mike about his dx, tx, need for blood. I talked about how easy it is to donate and how rewarding it etc. I thanked all donors for saving Taylor's life. They will peace it together later with a DJ and it will sound like we did a complete interview. You could bumble around like a nut and still sound great, that is my kind of thing. Taylor got on there and say thank you for giving blood. It made me feel all better. To donate call 1 800 give life or visit www.redcrossblood.org Now mind you he said that one syllable at a time, but they will be able to piece it all together and make it sound good. I don't know if people will really know what he is saying, but he sounds so cute doing it. We got some photos with the afternoon personalities, Justin and Carrie. They were so nice. Thanks to Katy and all of WDJC for a great visit.
After our radio experience we hopped on over to the Camp SAM office and turned in Taylor's Tots N Tykes application and gave them a CD of all out camp pictures. I hope they like it! I can't believe we just turned in Taylor's last Tots N Tykes form. Five is the oldest camper age that can go. I bet we can squeak in a few more times due to Logan's age, but I don't know. TNT was the first camp he ever went to and we were hooked from the get go! What can I say, those gals at camp are like family.
We stopped to get Logan who had stayed with Nana. Nana made him and Taylor a camo blanket. She was teasing Logan when he didn't want his and said "I'm going camping". When we got in the car Taylor asked me, "is Nana really going camping?" How funny! We came on home after Nana's and put Logan to bed. He has not been on a normal nap schedule all week, so I thought we better do that. We hung out here all afternoon. The boys are going to Gam maw's tonight. Jim and I are going to a movie if there is anything good out. We will probably do the Wal-mart thing too.
Tomorrow morning Gam maw gets the pleasure of taking the boys to Taylor's trophy ceremony. We will be missing it, but it usually is not that big of a deal. He will have his team party, a swim party, on Sunday. He is so excited.
June 1, 2006 Day +1,156 Day #854 off treatment
Hi all. Happy Thursday. We have been busy today. We went to register Taylor for school. He got to look around a little bit. He didn't meet his teacher or see his room, but he did see where Memommy's office is. Memommy is my second mom, my best friends mom. He knows how to walk to her office if he ever needs her. Her office is right next to the health room and the principal's office. We met him too. Taylor was actually very talkative with him. Mr. Jackson made a funny by shaking my hand and saying we would be very chummy in about 3 years. He was talking about Logan of course who was making a mess with the water fountain and flicking light switches. He is going to cause the man to retire early! Taylor is very excited, but kind of scared too. Heck, so am I!
After we checked out the school we went to lunch at Don Don's. Logan made me so ill. He ate and then climbed to the tip top of the play area and then proceeded to scream bloody murder and refuse to come down. I sent Taylor in after him and he kicked and screamed at him. There was a church group there, so there were kids every where and I had to climb my fat butt up there and pull him out. I was not happy. It was hot in there and it stunk and kids were all over me. UURGH! He then had the nerve to go get a drink of his coke and ask if he could go back in. I think not! We then did a little shopping. Taylor got some SPD power Ranger sandals. He is so excited. He refuses to wear any of his sandals, but assures me he will wear these. We shall see!
Taylor made up his speech today since Monday was Memorial day. Logan stayed with Guh and played in the sprinkler while we were gone. I let Taylor play a while once we got back. Once again, they were mad as ever when we headed home. Logan fell asleep, but Taylor decided he wanted to count to 300. He got bored (thank goodness) at about 125.
Tomorrow is another busy day. We will be going to the WDJC radio station at 10:30. We are going to run some errands then the boys are going to Gam maw and Paw Paw's house. Saturday morning Jim and I will be working at a Camp event. The Smith's Variety Toy and Gift Shoppe 2715 Culver Rd. B'ham, Al. 35223 will have an event. They will be selling Maui Jim sunglasses, Crocs, and Taylor Hicks t-shirts. 10% of proceeds will go to Camp SAM. Taylor Hicks' band will play 12-4. No, Taylor Hicks wont be there. Come out and buy some goods and help Camp!
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May 31, 2006 Day +1,155 Day #853 off treatment
Today is Wednesday and we have more plans. We actually hung out at home most of the day and then we went to Lu Lu's house to swim. They had so much fun. Logan was a little skittish at first, but soon he was jumping in. I had to catch him, but he was trying. I had to drag them out, but they got over it quickly since we went to Gam maw's house for dinner. They played outside for a while. They really got ugly when it was time to go home, but luckily they both were asleep before too long. We watched the Dukes of Hazard, it was kind of silly, but enjoyable. Taylor liked watching the General Lee jump and race.
We will be going to the radio station on Friday morning. It is WDJC, but I really don't know what station that is??? It is my understanding that they will just let us talk and then cut and paste it later so that we sound real good. It should play all month long to promote blood donations. I will give you all the info Friday when I get it, so you can hear it.
Please keep all our friends in prayers. Pray that Taylor has been cured!!
May 30, 2006 Day +1,154 Day #852 off treatment
Tuesday and we are home sweet home. PDO is closed this week, so we have no school. I am so very happy to report that my kitchen is back to normal and clean. It looks huge after having it stuffed full of stuff for a month. All we need to do now is get the dining room table back up here and we are set. We do need thresh holds, but those do not hinder my daily living, so I can wait on that. I just don't like clutter. I am feeling good. Our bathroom has had mountains of folded clothes all over it for 2 months now and finally, it is all put away. It is starting to look like home again.
The boys and I are going to Alabama Adventure again today. I just need to get my Mary Kay consultant's agreement in. Yes, I have a new consultant under me, yipee! We are also waiting on the towels to dry and then we are out of here. I don't think I am up to the task today. They are so loud and full of energy. Logan has the new little squeaky voice that he likes to use and it is driving me bonkers. They are tattle telling like mad and to top it off the locked me out of the house. The mail lady came real early today and I had not put Taylor's camp forms in the mail yet. I took off up the drive way before she came back around to our side of the street. When I came back on the porch I could hear the phone ringing, but couldn't get in the house. I was so mad! I finally got back in and had to have a talk with them. Taylor had locked the door to keep Logan from going out. I hated to get onto him for trying to help, so I just told him next time to let him be and then Logan will get in trouble for not following directions. I tell ya, they are going to kill me.
I am waiting on a call from a radio station to do a spot for our blood drive. I have agreed to go to the station and do it, so that Taylor can tour and get to see how it all works. That will only work if Logan gets a sitter and the station is not too hard to find. If it doesn't pan out we will do the interview over the phone. Either way we will be on the radio. I have no idea what station it even is, so be on the look out for more info on that. I will do my best to let you know what station and when it will air.
We did make it to Alabama Adventure. It was kind of hard with both of them wanting to do different things. We stayed about 2 hours and headed for home. We just hung out at home for the evening. We were all very tired. Taylor is not acting like himself, but I guess he is just tired after all the busy days we have had lately.
Lets all say a big Yahoo and Praise God for Miss Colette. Her scans are unchanged from the last round. She still has a spot on her original tumor site, but it is thought to be mature cells that dead. Lets pray that the Craputane, I mean, Accutane, will take care of that and the next round of scans shows NED. www.caringbridge.org/al/colette. Pray for Miss Amber who is feeling a bit down. She just graduated high school, but missed most of her senior year. Lets visit her and boost her spirits. www.caringbridge.org/al/amber Pray for Christi who is handling this new trial like the pro she is. www.christithomas.blogspot.com Pray for my dear friend Tina as June 6th approaches. That is the 3 year "angelversary" of Austin's passing. Pray for all the kids out there who are still fighting their battles. Pray that those in remission may remain that way and be cured. Pray for those who are missing their loved ones.
May 29, 2006 Day +1,153 Day #851 off treatment
Happy Memorial day. We all slept late and then just kind of did nothing all morning. We headed towards Alabama Adventure at 11:00. It opens at 11:0 and there was not a chair to be found. It was so crowded and so hot! We finally just stopped looking and threw our stuff down and jumped in the lazy river. They had fun, but Logan was not happy about the water fall. Taylor loved the slides again this year. Logan decided he liked them too. Taylor and Jim did the big, black, enclosed tube slide. Taylor didn't like the dark or the way the tube went up the sides of the slide. He did okay until he got to the steps to climb out of the pool and he fell out the bottom of the inter tube. He was scared then and said he wasn't doing that again. It was nice at the baby pool. The water is only about 1.5 feet deep and I just sat in the pool and let Logan splash around me and we could see Taylor coming off the little slides. Logan liked the dump truck slide and did it over and over again. We didn't stay but about 2 hours. That is the great thing about it being only a few miles from home. We just come and go and not worry about it. The boys and I plan on going back this week a few times. I think I will be able to handle it. Pray for that:)
We came home and out Logan to bed. I heard a cracking noise and just assumed it was the guys down in the playroom and thought nothing else about it. Taylor wanted to go outside a little later and he came running in wanting to know what was wrong and why they did that. I had no idea what he was talking about, so I got up to see. A tree had fallen. We had no idea why, it isn't dead and it isn't windy. There were a few rumbles of thunder, but all we can figure is maybe lightening struck it. It is very odd and scary. What if Taylor had been out there when it fell? It isn't really anywhere he plays, but still it is scary.
We got so much done today. Jim got the vents cut out and we have a temporary and ugly cover on them. We hope to get some made from the same bamboo as the floor. I did about 50 loads of laundry and I am not being silly. My word, I washed all day long. I can't get it all put away, there is too much. Taylor is looking for shorts that I have no idea if he has. He is upset that he can't find them and I don't even know if they exist. I know he used to have them, but are they too little now and put away? Did we leave them at camp? Was it even him that took them to camp or was it Logan? He is making me bonkers over these pants.
The boys played outside late in the afternoon. Jim was tooling around the yard. I finally had to make them come in at dark. Isn't that what little boys should be doing in summer time? Anyway, Logan had so much dirt in his hair that we made mud in the tub. It was so nasty! I have never seen such gross bath water.
Please pray that we have many more perfectly normal days. Pray for all our friends that are fighting the fight. Pray that Taylor has continued success and that he has beaten NB for good.
May 28, 2006 Day +1,152 Day #850 off treatment
Happy Sunday. We went to church this morning then to Guh's for a cook out. The boys had so much fun. We had a water balloon fight in which I think I caught the brunt of. Guh had a little pool for them to play in although they preferred the hose. Taylor and Logan were fighting and spraying each other. Guh went down and got right in Logan's face and told him do not squirt Taylor again or I am going to take your hose away. He said okay and then squirted her right in the face. Ha, too funny! Well, funny to all of us but Guh. Logan also thought it would be a good idea to spray up at the screened porch and all of a sudden we were all wet. It was a lot of fun and we are ready for the 4th of July to do it again.
We didn't get home until nearly 9:00. Logan was asleep when we got here and never made a peep when Jim put him in the bed. Taylor fell asleep in our bed watching cartoons. It was a nice and normal day. We hope to have many more!
May 27, 2006 Day +1,151 Day #849 off treatment
****UPDATE****
What an exciting last 2 games. Last night we played the team that won the league. It is so stressful to play this team and there is always a time out to discuss some stupid rule, anything to rile us up. Our hind catcher was at kindergarten graduation, so we were going to play without one, we did last weekend, but not tonight. Poor Taylor got put in that position and he has never even practiced there. The equipment was bigger than him. It didn't help matters that his leg was really sore from his shots and he could hardly walk anyway. He tried. It was rather funny, when he would go to catch the ball if it didn't come right to him he would just stand back up and leave it. The ump would have to get it. Luckily for Taylor the catcher came in after the 1st inning and he got to go back out to the out field. He just didn't feel good tonight and didn't want to play. He did get a hit, but got out at first. He was limping pretty bad by the middle of the game. I hate it was the game against this team, but it isn't like Taylor would have really been that much help. I don't mean that ugly, but you know what I mean. We were down by one in over time and needed to get 2 runs and win. We were home, so we got last bat, we could have done it. I about died when out walks Taylor. God love him, he gave all he had, but we needed the top of our line up to win that game. Oh well, it is just a game, but boy how I would have liked for them to have won that one. They lost 11-10, but it was so close. Our Timber Rattler played with 110% of themselves last night!
We got home and Taylor took some Tylenol for that leg and climbed in bed. We all did, I am telling you, it was a stressful ball game. This morning I went out with my Nana, Mama, and Mary. I just headed straight to the ball park after our day of shopping. It was soooo hot it was just gross outside. We were all miserable, but luckily it was our last ball game, so we wont have to suffer through any more days like that one. I don't think there is any worry about us having to deal with all stars:) Today we were way ahead and it was the last game, so Jon let the kids play different positions which made things real confusing for me when I couldn't keep up with where everyone was. Taylor was feeling much better today and was geared up and ready to play. I think Jon is trying to kill me! He put Taylor in the circle. It is not a rule that they have to wear the chest protector, but David, the ump, saw how small Taylor was and put it on him. It was so funny! He had no clue what was going on. The very first kid up to bat hit the ball and it just floated right into Taylor's glove and he somehow managed to throw it to first and they got the guy out. Did we have our video camera?? NO!! The next few times were stressful because if he got it he didn't know what to do with it on top of the fact that I was so afraid he would get pelted in the head with the ball. He actually got hold of one thrown in from the field and he didn't know to say "time" to stop the play, so the runners just kept coming around the bases. Poor fella, he is learning. I am just glad that Jon let him try it out, he was so very excited about it. He drew Jon some pictures and gave them to him. He even autographed a ball for him. It was so funny. I asked Taylor what he wanted to get Jon for his thank you present and he said, "I want to sign my name on a ball for him". He loves coach Jon. Thanks to Jon and all the coaches who helped Taylor have a great year full of fun and learning! Way to go Timber Rattlers!!!!
After the game was fun too. The boys had cups of water that we all thought were set ups, but instead they all ran and dumped them on coach Jon. He got them back though. He lined them up to take a group photo and while they pretended to be working on the camera he snuck around and got some water balloons to throw at them. Too funny! He is a big kid, so they have had a lot of fun this year doing fun things like that.
We finally got home around 5:30. We quickly changed clothes and ran to the Galleria to drop off the film at Wolf Camera. We had 2 hours to kill while we waited on it, so we went to the toy store and bought some race cars. That kept them occupied while we shopped. We didn't have the stroller, so we thought it was going to be a bad trip. However, someone had left one of the strollers you rent outside, so I plopped Logan in it. It is like a race care and has a steering wheel on it, so he was in hog heaven. We just kind of milled around until time to pick up the pictures and then we headed home. Logan did not want to go to bed even though it was well past his bed time and he had had no nap.
The boys have cracked us up. They love the song, "Red Neck Yacht Club". They sing their hearts out and dance. Logan just picks up on words here and there and will sing them. He likes to say trailer park and hot and Bob. They both just yell red neck yacht club. Taylor can say it quite well, but Logan is so funny. You get red and club, but the in between is kind of crazy. It was so funny!
May 26, 2006 Day +1,150 Day #848 off treatment
Today was a fun day. It was the last day of our regular session, so we had a pizza party. I stopped to buy cupcakes for both boys class. However, we had 2 birthday parties in my class, so we had a ton of cupcakes. It was funny! We shared with all the classes. Logan did not forget either. He has talked about those cup cakes all day long. He was so excited to get them. I actually was just going to get Taylor's class some, but Logan wanted some so bad. He is growing up!
After school we went to the Dr's office. UURGH, it can never be easy. After all the calls they still do it wrong. We walk in the procedure room and she starts to explain that he has to have shots for school, but luckily he only needs one. Remember, there should be 3. I questioned her and she said they had decided to fill out the medical waver saying he didn't need them since his titers were saying he didn't need them. I understand why they did it, but I called and told them yesterday that they would need to go ahead with them regardless of the titers. Well, what did it mean, it meant we had to wait while she went to call poor Meredith and find out what to do and of course she said to do it. She told them to treat him as a normal 5 year old. By the way, his titers showed his immune system to be completely normal!! When the nurse came in and saw that nasty boo boo she said, "you are a normal 5 year old".
I had to hold him down for the 3 pokes and he did cry, but not too bad. She told me I was a good holder and I am used to it, but I think it is more that he is used to it and really doesn't move. Poor guy! He got to go pick some stickers out and then we headed out. I am home now, but so mad I could spit nails. I laid the blue card down to pay and when she said we don't owe any money I turned to leave and left it laying there. That was my fault, but I took Logan to drink out the water fountain before going out and then I sat in the car and called the speech therapist and Meredith before leaving, so she could have brought it to me. I didn't realize I didn't have it until I went to put it with his stuff for school. UURGH!!! I called them and they have it and I will stop by and get it tomorrow on my way to Guh's house. We are going to have a girls only breakfast with Nana and Mary. Anyway, once I got that fixed I realized that I didn't go by CVS and pick up Taylor's meds. UURGH! I have too much going on and I can't keep it together.
We are now home and Logan is asleep. Taylor is eating cheese balls. We bought a huge bucket of them and he came and asked could he have 35 of them in a bowl. How funny! I don't know if he tried to count them out or not, but I hear him crunching. Taylor has a game at 7:30 tonight and again at 3:00 tomorrow. That doesn't leave much time to wash the uniform. Well, it leaves plenty if I did laundry in a timely manner, but it is clear that I do not! That will be his last game unless we go into the playoffs and I am not thinking we will. I have to say I am thrilled that ball is over. I know he enjoys it and I love the games, but getting to practice and all is a hassle.
Well, I am not sure when I will update again, but keep checking in and sign that guestbook. We are out of school next week and we have lots of plans, so I am sure there will be lots to tell. Have a Happy and safe Memorial day!
May 25, 2006 Day +1,149 Day #847 off treatment
I have spent the day today on the phone with Meredith and Dr. p's office trying to see which shots Taylor will need to get. I was able to find in all my records that Taylor did get those shots, but it was kind of my word against theirs. Luckily, the blue card that was in Taylor's file at PDO had all of them listed. I faxed that to Dr. p and Jim also stopped by to talk to him. We will go tomorrow afternoon to get an MMR and his DTaP and Polio boosters. His titers were good enough not to need the titer, but Dr. Sande wanted him to have them. It is the normal 5 year old shot anyway, so I am not sure why the titers could exempt him from it unless it is for older kids??? Anyway, we will get that over with tomorrow afternoon.
Jim was not feeling very good today and the added stress of learning that Amsouth and Regions would be merging didn't help. Please keep Jim's job in prayer as all our $$ and insurance comes from good ole Amsouth! He came home a little early and we all sat around the house. He had to work on the air in my car that has decided this 90 degree weather is a good time to stop working! He was able to take Taylor to ball practice. Taylor got hit in the chest with a ball and has a nice bruise. I am glad his port is gone! He got pushed yesterday and has a really nasty boo boo on his arm. He has shown it off proudly. He has had many boo boos, but this is the first really big, yucky one. He is a normal 5 year old!
Gam maw came and got me and Logan and we met the guys at the Plaza for dinner. It was yummy. We came home and put two of the nastiest little boys in the tub. Taylor is so snotty it is nasty. Logan is a tad on the snotty side too. He can't stop coughing, poor guy.
Please pray for all of our friends. Christi will be getting her stem cells back tomorrow. www.christithomas.blogspot.com Amber was able to graduate with her class, yahoo. www.caringbridge.org/al/amber
May 24, 2006 Day +1,148 Day #846 off treatment
I have some dates to share with you all. Don't forget the 4th Annual Taylor Watts Blood Drive. Wed, June 7th, 2-7pm. It will be at Pleasant Hill UMC off exit 1 of I-459. Please come out and help us out. We collected 38 units last year and hope to get more this year. You can help by donating blood or working a registration or snack table. Email me for more info!
Saturday, June 17th the Motorcycle Ride for Camp Smile A Mile. This ride will leave from one of 3 places. Montgomery, Tuscaloosa or Vandover and will converge at the Winn Dixie in Alexander City. All riders will ride into the camp at Children's Harbor. It is $50 for rider and co rider and riders are asked to get pledges. First 500 to sign up and remit money will get a rider pack with a shirt and pin. Riders with at least $250 in pledges will get to go to a reception at the Barber's vintage motorsports museum on Friday, June 16th, 5:30-8:00pm. Riders or highway sponsors with over $1,000 will get a "hot lap" from Porsche. For more info contact Camp SAM at (205) 323-8427 or www.campsam.org
Wed. June 7th, Taylor and I will travel to 29 Dreams to tape a news clip for the motorcycle ride. I know it will air on the following Monday, June 12th, but I am not even sure what station, so check back for more info on that.
Refer back to yesterdays entry and see where I put "should be simple". It never ends up that way. The hearing test went fine. The guy we had was new to us and was great. Taylor had about a 10 decibel drop in his left ear, but it is not a significant enough change to be considered a change. Does that make since? It is kind of chalked up to human error at that low number. He will go back in one year. We went to Arby's and had fires and milkshakes to kill time between appointments. We went to the well baby clinic for Taylor's check up and I thought it would be nice and quick over there. Nope! I am not sure if the office has poor records, if I remember wrong or what, but I am quite sure that Taylor has had his MMR shot and Dr. P is quite sure he has not. His form is rather crazy seeing as we are redoing all his shots, but still that is no excuse. We ended up leaving and not getting any shots. I have to fax my sheet to him where I have kept up with his shots. All I have are dates, so it really wont prove much. It should not hurt him to get another shot if he has had it, but it is an unnecessary procedure for him to go through and us to pay for. I have called Meredith to see what all his titers showed to see if that will help narrow down when he may have gotten them. UURGH, can nothing be easy for this child. I will fax all the info to Dr. P and see what we need to do. Taylor did do well on all the other stuff. He has 20/30 vision. He weighed 35# and 14oz. He was 42 inches tall. He scored abnormal on his hearing which is true for a normal kid, but she did at least get the same numbers that the audiologist did which was a 65 on right and 50 on left. He knew all the numbers, colors, phone number, spelling his name, hopping on one foot etc. that he had to do. Taylor had fun at this visit. Hopefully, we will have the shots figured out and fixed soon and that will ready him for the big 5K!!!
I dropped the boys off at the ball park to Gam maw and Paw paw and I headed to dinner with my girl friends from work. We had a blast. I wheeled into the driveway at 8:50, just in time to watch Taylor win American Idol. Yahoo! I guess I better get to bed now, but I wanted to update since it has been sooooo long since I have updated. Be sure to read all about camp, it was fun. Oh, speaking of Taylor has decided to go to week long camp. Holy cow!!! I am not sure who is more afraid me or him!
Please keep all our friends in prayer. Madison is home from Vandy where she had some great success. Yahoo!! Colette is scanning, so pray that she hears the words NED!!! Pray for Christi who is back at CHOP doing a new trial study. Pray for Bailey who si doing MIBG at CHOP. Pray for Amber who is inpatient, but really wants to get out to graduate tomorrow night.
May 23, 2006 Day +1,147 Day #845 off treatment
Today was not much different than any other day. We had school as usual then we came home where Logan napped, Taylor played and I picked up very little. We stayed home to watch American Idol and the Country Music Awards. It was a great night. I think Taylor Hicks cinched the title of American Idol and my very favorite, Kenny, won entertainer of the year. The boys had fun dancing to all the music. Who watches House? Was that crazy or what? I will never make it till Fall to find out what is going on.
Tomorrow we have a hearing test and 5 year check up for school. That should be simple enough.
May 22, 2006 Day +1,146 Day #844 off treatment
I have some dates to share with you all. Don't forget the 4th Annual Taylor Watts Blood Drive. Wed, June 7th, 2-7pm. It will be at Pleasant Hill UMC off exit 1 of I-459. Please come out and help us out. We collected 38 units last year and hope to get more this year. You can help by donating blood or working a registration or snack table. Email me for more info!
Saturday, June 17th the Motorcycle Ride for Camp Smile A Mile. This ride will leave from one of 3 places. Montgomery, Tuscalossa or Vandover and will converge at the Winn dixie in Alexander City. All riders will ride into the camp at Children's Harbor. It is $50 for rider and co rider and riders are asked to get pledges. First 500 to sign up and remit money will get a rider pack with a shirt and pin. Riders with at least $250 in pledges will get to go to a reception at the Barber's vintage motorsports museum on Friday, June 16th, 5:30-8:00pm. Riders or highway sponsors with over $1,000 will get a "hot lap" from Porsche. For more info contact Camp SAM at (205) 323-8427 or www.campsam.org
Today was back to normal for us with school and speech. Taylor will not have speech the next two weeks. Miss Katie has to be out. I could have rescheduled, but I chose not to. He has been fussing about going, so I think a brake will do him good and when she cancels it doesn't count as an absence for him, so why not? We went to Krispy Kreme after we got Logan. They loved watching the doughnuts be made. Logan didn't even eat his doughnut, he was too busy watching. Taylor ate 2 while we were there, but he too was more interested in the machines.
Guh came over after work to play for a while. She really didn't plan too, but she changed her mind when she heard them crying because we were not going to go back outside. Sucker!
May 21, 2006 Day +1,145 Day #843 off treatment
Today started early. We got the car packed up and drove over to the departure area of camp. We had breakfast and then took some group photos. We did some pottery again. Logan wanted his own bowl to paint, so we got him a plastic cup and he was happy for a while. He finally went to the beach and threw rocks into the water. We soon gathered to do our closing ceremony. We let Taylor give the money that was donated by mine and Gam maw's sorority. They used it to buy digital cameras for digital scavenger hunts at week long camp. Chad, one of the councilors donated a big check and that was a very cool thing from a college student. However, the way he won the money is what made it to cool. He won $250,000 on psycho Fear Factor. How cool is that? He had to eat live tarantula's for that money, yuck! We did the camp heartbeat that we always do. Jennifer starts it out by squeezing the hand of her neighbor and passing it around. It is fun to see where it is and to watch the little ones try to do it. Logan was off playing in the dirt somewhere.
Both boys were asleep before we hit 280 and it is only about 10 miles. We rode home in the quiet. They had so much fun. Thank you Camp SAM!!!
Taylor had a birthday party to go to. I tried to talk him into staying home because I was so tired, but he was having no part in that. We went and he had a blast though I am not sure how he was able to even run and play after this weekend. We came back home and played some more until Jim and I could go no more and put everyone to bed. While Taylor and I were gone, Jim cut Logan's hair and let him play in the pool. He loved it!
May 20, 2006 Day +1,144 Day #842 off treatment
What a day! We were up and outside the gally by 7:30. Logan was ready to go. He and Sam took off to the bubbles. We had to drag him in to eat. After breakfast I had to laugh at Sam as he gave me odd looks taking the diaper bad, baby and sippy cup. Taylor had to go take a swim test. He got a red band. That meant he had to wear his swim vest, but could down the slide or jump into the deep end. He was a little sad when the boys he had been playing with got yellow meaning they had to stay in the shallow end. He stayed down there most of the time, but he he did do some sliding and jumping. My little fish! Jim went to make a bird house in the barn with the dads. Us moms went to make collage frame out of broken up plates. We also painted glass bottles. It was fun even though I have NO artistic abilities what so ever. It was soon time to do some Yoga which I did not like last time, so we snuck out and just sat in the shade and talked. We had lunch soon there after and then went to play games with miss Terry. You can not be shy to play one of her games. It was a lot of fun.
After we played game it was time for some free time. Jim and I went and got a back massage. It was great. We were on a gazebo and it was so breezy and I could have slept there for hours if they would have let me. We then went to the pool and found the kids and went to the boat for a ride. Taylor and Calvin decided they would ride the banana boat which was being pulled behind the boat. We put them on along with Jim, and both the kids councilors. They were cracking us up. Cal would scream "faster" and Taylor was holding his hands up. They rode for a long time and then they flipped over. I think Kammy and I were more scared than them. The councilors and Jim did great at getting the two boys up and out of the water very quickly. They were both crying pretty hard and did not want any part of getting back on the banana, but they did. However, the rest of the ride was a death grip and a scowl on the face rather than all the tricks. Too funny! They are both still talking about it and claim they will do it again. We shall see!
We went back to the pool for a while. Logan had napped the entire time we were on the boat. It was his second boat ride. He and Sam had went for a while. He cried and cried for me, but once they let him sit with the driver and beep the horn he was okay. After his nap he was ready to swim and he had a blast playing with the sprinklers around the pool. We had to drag them out, but we did it anyway. We went to get cleaned up for dinner and the dance. We went to eat dinner in a hurry as we had some more cool stuff to do. Taylor ate spaghetti!! I know, the weekend was full of surprises from him! We had to hurry down the main road to see the bike riders come in. Stephanie led the 60 bikers all the way from Tuscaloosa to Alexander City and for those of you not from here, it was 150 miles. They rode it in about 12 hours. I had chills to see them come riding in. They raised nearly 90,000 for camp. They had such tears of joy when they came in all hot and tired and looked at the faces of the sweet kids they did it for. It was so great. Thank you to Stephanie and all the riders!!!! We are so proud of you!!!!
We went to the memorial garden where they presented their check to camp. Taylor was chosen to take a photo with them. All the kids took a photo, but somehow Taylor ended up in there by himself. We then let them shower and eat while we all headed to the dance. Wow, it was fun this year. Last year it was so loud that Taylor didn't like it. It was loud this year, but Kammy gave him some ear plugs and that was all he needed to have fun. He was clad in his toga and he was cutin' a rug. He did the electric cha cha, the electric slide, the hokey pokey and many others. Logan was slow dancing with a 3 year old, an older woman! It was so cute! Taylor won 3rd place in the toga contest. He picked a baseball cap as a prize. Logan won the boy side of his age group just because he and aidan were the only ones in that group. He had taken his toga off long before. He picked a jump rope that he used as a microphone like DJ OZZ. It was so much fun to watch the kids interact with others. It was also so sad to see the kids that are still on treatment that were tired, but trying so hard to join in. Why does this disease have to even exist?
Taylor was so tired that he wanted to sleep with us. We didn't push him, so he gathered his sleeping bag and stuff and headed back to the room with us. Unlike last night, Logan was out in no time and Taylor was close behind him. I packed up our stuff and got it ready for in the morning. I put pillows all around the bed, so that Logan wouldn't go under the bed. He was in a sleeping bag in the floor. It didn't work. I woke up to nothing but his butt sticking out from under the bed and it was a naked butt. He was so tired that we just changed his diaper and let him sleep in his t shirt and the tape to his diaper got caught on the sleeping bag and he took his diaper off in his sleep. Luckily, he did not wet on anything. It was funny, I tried to get a picture, but he woke up when I got off the bed.
May 19, 2006 Day +1,143 Day #841 off treatment
We are so exited that Friday is here and we are heading to camp. We had school as usual today and it was crazy hair day. Taylor had his hair painted orange and blue striped. We tried to make it stand up, but it was too short and wouldn't stay no matter how much moose and gel I put in it. After school we went back to the elementary school and paid for Taylor's supply pack. This is where the school gets all the supplies for you. I was going to do it, I thought how hard could it be to buy some kindergarten stuff. Wrong, it was crazy the stuff that was on that list, so I just paid it and will let them worry about it. We headed towards home and Logan went to bed and Taylor and I loaded the car. We picked Jim up at 5:30 and headed towards Alexander city. We felt as though we were making good time, but we weren't we were late, but it was okay. We were not the only ones. We stopped and ate Captain D's and the kids liked it pretty good.
We finally got to camp around 8:00. We met Drew and Sam who were Taylor and Logan's councilors. Taylor immediately said "I am sleeping with Drew". He never wants to sleep in the boys bunk unless Jim goes too and that wasn't a choice this time. He had been telling us for weeks that he would not do it and not 5 minutes after getting there he has declared he will do it. Yahoo! Logan took off with Sam who we have given a hard time all weekend. He is a big, stocky fella who loves camp and kids, but had never had a 2 year old before. He called Sasha another councilor and asked, "do 2 year olds walk?" She told him yes, and the run too!" How funny!
The kids went to play and make smores and the parents went to get to know each other. We went around the room and told about our kids illness and where we were in treatment etc. It was interesting to hear the different stories and stuff. It was fun too. Many new faces which is fun, but sad too, that means another child has been diagnosed.
We met back up with the kids and played until about 10:00 and then headed to our rooms or bunks. I didn't think Taylor would really sleep with Drew, but Jim took him to the bunk and I jumped in the shower fully expecting him to be back by the time I was out. Nope, he stayed all night. Logan did not want to go to bed. He was all over the place, this is why he will not come out of a crib until he feet wont stretch out!
May 18, 2006 Day +1,142 Day #840 off treatment
Welcome to Thursday in Watts World. It was an average day around here. We went to school as usual and then we went by "big school" to pick up the paper work to register Taylor for kindergarten. Wow! Taylor liked what little bit of the school he saw. Logan was very impressed with the playground. There were some cars lined of for carpool, so I was able to show Taylor how we would drop him off and pick him up each day and seemed very comfortable with it.
We headed for home after the stop at the elementary school. Logan went to bed and Taylor and I started packing for camp. We cut a white sheet and made Togas for the dance. We painted gold awareness ribbons on the bottom. We also got some rope for his belt and some ivy for his crown. He looks real cute. Logan has the same thing although I am sure he will not wear it. Oh well, we had fun getting it all ready. I didn't make Jim and I one. I should have. Maybe I will for the next camp with a dance.
May 17, 2006 Day +1,141 Day #839 off treatment
Already Wednesday, yahoo! School was great even though we had a full class. That isn't a bad thing, just different than the last few days, so it was a bit wild. Since the boys played ball last night we didn't have practice. We met Gam maw and Paw Paw for dinner at the Railroad Cafe. It was yummy as always. We had to make a quick run by the grocery store for milk then we were headed home for bed time. Another normal day in the Watts house.
May 16, 2006 Day +1,140 Day #838 off treatment
Today was an average school day. We didn't have a lot of kids, it is dwindling as we near the end of the school year. After school we headed home where we did a lot of nothing. We just hung out at home until it was time to get ready for Taylor's ball game. Taylor didn't do too hot this time, he struck out each time at bat. They ended up losing 13-7. Oh well, they tried their best. I actually had to leave early to get to a sorority meeting.
I hate to say it, but that is all there is to this update, ain't it grand!
May 15, 2006 Day +1,139 Day #837 off treatment
Last nights potty woes carried on into today. We ended up staying home today. I hated to miss, but didn't want to share this germ with anyone. It seemed to be over by about noon, so we went to speech as usual. We had dinner with Gam maw and Paw Paw. Jim and Taylor came in real late since they were at practice, but it was no big deal. We just talked and munched on chips and salsa while we waited.
Taylor had a good practice. He only has 4 more games, well, really 3 he will miss Saturday's game since we will be at Camp SAM. I am not sure who is more exctied the boys or Jim and I.
May 14, 2006 Day +1,138 Day #836 off treatment
Happy Mother's day!
We had a good day despite Taylor not feeling real good. He woke up around 7:30 and exploded. He has had diarrhea all day. He seemed to slow down, so we went to lunch, but I took him to the bathroom a bunch of times. We had plans to go to Alabama Adventure, but gave him the choice since he was sick. He wanted to go, so we agreed to try. We have season passes, so if we had to leave it was no big deal. He did fine. He had a blast, but did have to make several potty stops. Once we got back home he finally ate and about 30 minutes later it came back to haunt him. He started back up again. He never really complained or acted sick, but he was not real happy about his many trips. He told me he had water poo and he needed Lo Lo's butt cream. I tell ya, the kid is nuts!
Logan did better on the rides today. They are not real consistent. They wouldn't let him on rides that he rode last time we went and let him on rides that he was told no last time. Who knows! He had an all out fit when he had to get off the fire truck ride. Taylor slipped on the greasy bumper car floor and had grease all over him and in turn got it all over the rest of us. A bunch of rides were closed and that was disappointing.
We sat out on the deck and let the kids play. I had a bad night. I had bug spray on everywhere but my face and neck and I look like a nut with about 10 bites down my neck. Logan was about to give me a heart attack. He thinks he is 10 years old. He was all over the rock wall, the big swing, the ladder, the trampoline. I finally gave up trying to get him to act 2 and went in the house.
Thank God for such a normal Mother's day. Thank God that Morgan also received great scan results. Thank him that Colette was able to go back to Mobile. Thank him for Taylor's success. Pray he is with all those who are still fighting or missing their kids on this Mother's day.
May 13, 2006 Day +1,137 Day #835 off treatment
Another rainy day. We spent all morning doing laundry, putting pictures back on the wall etc. Gam maw brought the boys back home and we started getting ready for Taylor's ball game. It quit raining in plenty of time to dry out the field for our 5:00 game. The boys did great and got a 10 run lead in the 3rd inning and we got to go home early. We went to eat with the crew then went to Wal mart to develop some baseball pics.
Taylor needed to go poop in Wal mart and as we ran (literally) to the bathroom he said "I'm squeezing cheeks momma". Too funny! We headed home after our pictures were ready and helped daddy put the spindles back in the stair rails. He painted them all white. That was fun!
I am so sorry that these updates are so blah, but we are just normal folks these days. Please pray for all of our friends and Taylor's continued success.
May 12, 2006 Day +1,136 Day #834 off treatment
It was another normal day. Well, other than it being character day at school and Taylor was dressed as a power ranger. They had a blast. We got home and put Taylor's new allergy reducing pillows and mattress cover on his bed. We cleaned up that nasty room of his too. We bagged up several bags of trash, throw away stuff and toys to bring back to their home in the playroom. It looks so much better.
We dropped the boys off at Gam maw and Paw Paw's house for the night. Jim and I went to Formosa and to see the movie RV. It was so funny. I had tears rolling down my face at one point I was laughing so hard. We didn't get home until midnight, so needless to say not much more cleaning got done. Things are really much better. The furniture is back in place and most of the accessories are too. The dining room table is not back yet the book shelf is still in the kitchen, but other than that it is put back. Jim still has to finish painting the trim in the dining room and stairs. We also need thresh holds, but that isn't hindering us, so we will deal with that. It will all be done soon and we can see marked improvement in Taylor's health, so it is worth it.
May 11, 2006 Day +1,135 Day #833 off treatment
Today was an average day. We went to school as usual and had ball practice as usual. I went to Curves once I swapped places with Jim. I haven't been in a week, I sacrificed my time to get my house put back together. I don't know if that was the cause or the fact that they rearranged the machines, but it kicked my butt. I was about to die when I left there. We met Gam maw and Paw Paw for dinner after practice. Other than that it was a pretty normal day.
May 10, 2006 Day +1,134 Day #832 off treatment
Last nights program went great. The kids looked so nice all dressed up and having parents in the audience to watch really calms them down. They sang loud and clear just like they practiced. After singing several songs we walked them off the stage and put on their cap and gowns. Boy did they look cute and they knew it! We marched back out after announcing the graduating class of 2006. They sang a Spanish song and then got their diplomas. It was so cute how they stopped and looked for their mom's in the crowd to take their pictures.
Logan sat by me at the front of the stage while they sang. He was quiet as a mouse until I had to leave to change the kids. He got passed around from family to friend until he had a pocket full of skittles and was happy. After the program we took lots of pictures and ate cake which Logan enjoyed immensely. We got tickled at Lu Lu and Taylor. Ghen Ghen went to take their picture and at the same time with no words spoken they both shot out their tongues. Too funny, I guess it is meant to be. We all went to the Railroad Cafe to eat afterwards. It was our first time there and it was good. Logan loved the trains everywhere.
Today we had Logan's program at school. It was cute even though he didn't move a muscle. He sings in class, I have seen him, but not today. Taylor got in trouble, but he was so proud. I went to check on him in the bathroom because he had been gone forever. He had put a paper towel in every square on the floor. UURGH! I tell ya, they are going to kill me. He picked it up, but did so by crawling on the floor and of course that grossed me out. Anyway, he sat in time out for a few minutes then took off to get in trouble for fighting. The joys of healthy 5 year olds!
A huge, nasty storm blew in just in time for us to go home. It was dark as night and within 5 minutes the parking lot was ankle deep in water. We waited for a while before going home, but it didn't show any signs of stopping, so we headed home. Logan slept great in the dark. As much as I needed to be cleaning, I couldn't resist the urge to crawl in the bed for a little bit. It was dark as night and cold, so I think we made the right choice!
Please pray for Miss Morgan and her family who flew to NYC today for her scans. She and Taylor are two pees in a pod and copy one another even though they are several states away from each other. Pray for all the kids out there who are still fighting.
May 9, 2006 Day +1,133 Day #831 off treatment
Oh Happy Day! Dr. Berkow's exact words were "Stone cold normal". The day went pretty much as planned. We were walking into the access center at 7:30. We got the contrast right at 7:45. However, they had a new guy who didn't come ask what he wanted to drink with it in which we usually give them the cup of tea we bring with us. He brought out a can of Hawaiian Punch with contrast in it. Taylor doesn't like kool aid anyway then add that bitter contrast and it is really a bad combo. I didn't change it and only for one reason. He can not have tea at school next year, so I am making him drink milk at night, so I figure it wont hurt him to try some juice too. We took the contrast with us and went to clinic to get an IV started and labs drawn. However, that didn't go as planned. I knew it wouldn't. There were no nurses in the clinic at 8:20, the clinic that opens at 8:00! The receptionist acted like she couldn't call IV therapy. This is the point where Jim gets mad, but I have been around more than him and I know where to go to get what I need. I just left clinic and went to the nuclear med. dept. I called Sharon and told her what was going on. I had already called CT and told them Taylor had drank half his contrast and they said he was okay to stop. I guess at this point he had about 20 minutes left until he could go into CT. Within 10 minutes of calling Sharon he was in the CT sedation room getting an IV. I forgot to put Emla (numbing cream) on his arms, so he did it with no cream. He cried out, but no real cry. The nurse was not from IV therapy, but she still got it in one try with limited pain. He had time to watch the credits to Sponge Bob and then he went into the CT room. While he watched Sponge Bob Sharon came and injected his bone scan isotope. The CT took about 15 minutes and we were all done. We went to the clinic and had his labs drawn and then we went to eat. By the time we finished eating it was time to go to the nuclear medicine dept. for his scan, the isotope has to be in him for 2 hours on a bone scan unlike the 24 for an MIBG. Anyway, that went smooth and easy. Sharon and Tonya are the only 2 who have ever scanned him, so we had a fun time talking about how far he has come. Before he was potty trained if his bladder was full they would have to put a catheter in. One time we tried and tried to make him go without doing that because it was awful for us all. Tonya poured water on him and pushed on his privates and when she finally gave up to go get a catheter he went everywhere and it shot all over the walls. We had a good laugh. I actually watched the scan today if that tells you how not worried I was. It looked beautiful! He had a spot on his keen, but it was no where near the bone so it was definitely just urine. Speaking of urine he went in his cup and had to finish in the potty and he went and went and giggled and giggled. I had to drag him out, he was playing with the techs. It is funny how we used to drag him in and now he wants to hang out. We went back to clinic and waited to see Dr. B. It didn't take all that long at all. Taylor got a little wild in the exam room, but that is normal. Dr. Berkow came in and we went over everything. He wrote down the 2 new meds he is on. He said his lungs sound better than he has ever heard them, so we think the new meds and all our efforts at home are working. He told me that he trusted Dr. LaRussa immensely since he was the one who trained him in pediatrics. I was so thrilled to get the good news and you haven't heard anything yet. We are to follow the COG protocol that he was originally on at diagnosis. I talked to Kushner from NY about it, and the one they follow up there is different than the one here, but to follow what was his original plan. That means that in September he will go in and have an exam by Dr. B, lab work and urine and that is it. I said, "are you sure you don't need to run him through some sort of machine?" He said he will still scan him, but not every time. I assume we will scan again in January or around that time. That is so exciting and scary at the same time. We also have another first. Since he is in school next year we will go in for this appointment at 2:40 in the afternoon rather than our 8:00 AM.
We are now home where we will be hanging out until time to go to Taylor's program at school. I will update again on the details of that, but I wanted to share the good news with you all. Please join us in praising God for the blessings he has given us.
May 8, 2006 Day +1,132 Day #830 off treatment
It was a busy day. We had school of course. It was a pretty good day. I think all my boys have spring fever mixed with a good case of the sillies, they are so wild. After school we did the usual Monday routine of dropping Logan off at Nana's and going to speech. Taylor did pretty good. He has been working on medial T sounds like mitten, kitten and rattle. He practices this by saying midden or millen then mitten since the tongue goes in the same spot this will help him to see where to put his tongue to make a T sound. It is so frustrating for all 3 of us that it is so hard for him to get it. He did give it a good try today. We picked up Logan and headed home in a hurry where we dressed Taylor in his ball uniform and headed right back out the door to the ball park.
The Rattlers won again. They did so good. Taylor struck out his first at bat, got a hit and made it on base the second at bat. He ended up getting out at 2nd. He hit the 3rd time up and got on 2nd by the Grace of God and a kid missing the ball. He didn't watch the 3rd base coach or he could have got to 3rd. He finally got to score for the 2nd time this game. Guh gave him $5 for scoring and he called her out on it and told her he scored twice. His two buds scored two and I have never seen such grins coming into home. So sweet!
Tomorrow will be another long and busy day. We have to be at Children's at 7:45. He will sign in on 2nd and go get his contrast. He will drink that while we go to clinic to get an IV. Once that is in he will go get his bone scan injection and then go get in the CT machine. He will then have to wait 2 hours to get the bone scan. We will probably try to eat then since he will be NPO for the CT contrast. That is the way it is supposed to go, nice and simple, but I am sure tomorrows update will read differently. I don't care so long as Berkow gives me good news. Please be praying tomorrow as we scan. We should have plenty of time, but be praying for that too. We have to be back home in time to change and get to the school at 6:00 for his graduation program. It starts at 6:30.
I will update as soon as I can it all depends on how soon we get home. Please be praying. I think you can all tell my nerves are starting to catch up to me. It is always nerve racking to scan, but truly I know he is fine. Please read yesterday's update for a list of links and prayer requests.
May 7, 2006 Day +1,131 Day #829 off treatment
It was a lazy Sunday. Everyone was pooped. We hung out at home trying to see if it was going to rain or not so we could go to Alabama Adventure. We finally decided to just go shopping instead. Guh called as we were pulling out and said she would keep the kids. Well, that sparked us to do more than shop. We went to see Mission Impossible 3. It was okay, but it isn't my kind of movie.
We ran to Wal mart and Best Buy to look around and then headed back to get the kids. I know Guh was ready, it is hard to be with those two. We headed towards home and the tub. However, our plans were changed when we got home to find that the water was out. It was something going on with the entire neighborhood. They said they would call us when it came back on and they hadn't called by 9:00, so I put them to bed dirty. I don't know when it came on, but it was on at 10:30 when I went to bed. Oh well, they enjoy being dirty!
Once again we piled up in bed to watch TV. We did watch a little TV in the living room. It is so nice to be back and it looks so different in the room with the new pain and floors. It is nice.
Please pray for Taylor as he has scans on Tuesday. I have no fears at all and that scares the heck out of me! He seems o happy and healthy and full of little boy silliness that I can't even nick pick a thing to be worried about. Praise be to God and may my predictions be right and all be crystal clear on Tuesday. Pray for all the kids still battling. Pray for Madison who still has some cultures growing something and is being treated for that. Bless her heart she can not catch a break. www.caringbridge.org/visit/madisonbeck Pray for Colette who is getting her counts checked for her Craputane and may get to head back to Mobile soon. www.caringbridge.org/al/colette Pray for Christi who is about to start a real hard hitter and it will be really hard on her. www.christithomas.blogspot Pray for Morgan who also will be scanning this week in NYC. www.caringbridge.org/nc/morganbarnes Stop by and praise miss Sarah who has been trying for a very long time to learn to ride a 2 wheel bike and has now learned to do it! www.caringbridge.org/nc/sarahsmith There are so many kids out there who need prayers, please remember them.
May 6, 2006 Day +1,130 Day #828 off treatment
It was a busy day. Taylor had an 11:00 game today. It was against our rival team if you can have a rival team in Rookie ball. There were a lot of controversial calls and fussing between coaches and bleachers. I think that riled both teams as they would forget how to play. However, our boys did great and though we lost 11-10 they had played with all they had. Taylor hit in a go ahead run though they hit one of their own in the next inning. We were still super proud. He was also the controversial call. He was out at 2nd on a forced out, but it was after the runner crossed home, but the run doesn't count in a forced out. Oh well!
I had the brilliant idea to bring water balloons for the boys so after the game they had a water balloon fight. The boys, dads and coaches had a blast. I guess that made it worth the trouble of blowing them all up and tying them!
After the game we went home where Paw Paw and daddy put the couch, chair and TV back in the living room. Yahoo! Jim and I moved the curio cabinet back into the dining room. We still have stuff to put back and lots of dusting and sweeping, but the big stuff is back.
We weren't home long before it was time for Lu Lu's party. That would be Taylor's girlfriend. He would never in a million years admit that he had a girlfriend, but he talks about her all the time and went to great lengths to pick out her gift himself and played with it to test it for her:) He had so much fun. They swam, swung, colored, blew bubbles and lots more. He stayed an extra hour after the party. I had to drag him away. We went to get Logan from Gam maw's house and ended up having dinner with them.
Once we got back home it was late, so the kids went to bed and so did we. We have a couch and a TV in the living room again and we go to bed. Go figure!
May 5, 2006 Day +1,129 Day #827 off treatment
Happy Friday! We spent today inside since it is rainy out. We did enough laundry to get Taylor's uniform clean for tomorrow's game. Taylor had practice again. Jim stayed home to finish the molding and start painting the trim. He did have me pass a message to coach Jon. Taylor has been hitting great, but he is so slow and being left handed it always goes down the first base line and he can't get on. They have decided to pitch faster and make him swing late and therefore he will hit more towards the center or 3rd base line. I have no idea, just passing along the message. However, I think the guys know what they are talking about, Taylor hit every ball towards center field. Granted they still didn't go far, but at least he has a chance to get to first base.
I had to take Logan to the car and clean him up. He was standing in mud and sunk. While I was doing that I could hear the kids hitting and I heard Jon saying Way to go etc. I had no idea that loud ping of the ball hitting the bat was Taylor. I was so excited.
Once practice was over we went home and got daddy and headed to Walmart. We bought Taylor new allergy reducing pillows, cases and mattress covers. He also has a germicidal air purifier for his room. His nose is not running at all. He coughs first thing in the morning, but hopefully with all this new stuff that too will ease. Keep your fingers crossed that we are going to get to the bottom of his snot issues.
Taylor fell asleep in his floor. He was actually pretty hidden, we looked all over for him before finding him curled up in a blanket on his floor.
It was another normal day and yet spectacular for Taylor. We have a plastic bike at school with rather wide wheels. It still takes balance to ride it, but it isn't as hard as a real bike. Taylor can go the length of the gym on that bike and he is so proud of himself. He wants to try on his bike at home.
May 4, 2006 Day +1,128 Day #826 off treatment
It was PJ day at school. The kids had a blast. After school we met Lu Lu and her mom at McDonald's and played for 2 hours. The kids had so much fun. When we got home Logan passed out as it was way past his nap time. Guh came over and played with Taylor until time to go to the ball park. The minute we pulled into the park it started to rain. It was a nice down pour that delayed the game a while. We ended up playing in the rain. It had stopped by the 2nd inning, but it was still miserable. The bleachers were wet and it was cold. The boys obviously like the rain, they played great. We won 9-7. The team met at Pizza hut after the game. Taylor was in heaven. He had 10 other boys to run and be silly with. I know the staff were ready to see us go. Thanks Coach Jon!
We got home around 9:00. Logan was in bed and I threw Taylor in the tub and put him in bed. It was a gross night for us grown ups, but the kids loved it. Logan was jumping in a puddle and I mean jumping hard and making huge splashes. Jim asked him rather sarcastically, "why don't you just lay down in it". Well, you know Logan, he laid down in it! What will we do with that child. Jim took him on home after the game and Taylor and I headed to Pizza hut without them.
Please pray that Taylor will continue to have such great days filled with great childhood memories. Pray for all the others out there who are fighting their own battles.
May 3, 2006 Day +1,127 Day #825 off treatment
It was an average Wednesday. The boys went to work in the garden with Gam maw and Jackie. I don't think gardening got done with the 3 little monsters running around, but they had fun. We met Gam maw and the boys for dinner and then we went to Lowe's. We needed some more quarter round to finish up the dining room.
I must say that that is all there is to report. Please keep Kadin's family in your prayers as they start the next phase of this journey without him. Pray for Christi who is scanning this week. Pray for Taylor who will scan on Tuesday, May 9th.
May 2, 2006 Day +1,126 Day #824 off treatment
I have to say this is a mixed update. I have good news and bad news. Kadin went to be with Jesus early this morning. He put up a brave fight and we are so proud of him. I can not even begin to imagine the pain Emily and Billy are feeling. Please stop by and leave them with words of kindness in this dark time. We will miss you Kadin, you truly were a Super hero! www.caringbridge.org/visit/kadingazzaway
We went to see Dr. LaRussa today. It was a tough visit, but I am happy to report that we got some much needed answers. We got to our 2:00 appointment at 1:40 and was called back at 2:45. We weighed and measured where he was 36 pounds which is down a few ounces, but he was a few inches taller, so she said that evened it out. If she says so! We went into the room where Dr. L came in and listened to him. He said he sounded much better. I didn't dare tell him that he may have had about 5 nebs total out of the 5 a day for 3 weeks he was supposed to get, but I assume it is okay since he sounds much better. He sent his assistant in to do the allergy tests. This time they did injections not scratches. He was to have 5 on one arm and 4 on the other, but he ended up getting them all in one arm. You can not move during the shot or you have to do it again and though he screamed bloody murder and spit all over the place he did not move and the nurse didn't want to risk changing arms and having him start moving around, so she just kept going. I could tell very soon that one of the spots was welting up and I knew that meant he was allergic, but I had no idea what all had been injected. The nurse came back in the room 20 minutes later and took a look and confirmed that he has a severe allergy to dust mites. I am not real sure why this is not the first thing tested since it is common, but oh well, I am just glad we found it. Dr. L came back in and looked him over. He said the hard woods will help a lot. We need to get him zip up pillow and mattress covers that are to block the mites from getting on his bedding. He already has a air purifier in his room as well as a humidifier. He gave me a book on tips for reducing the mites in the house, so we will be working on that. He will continue to take Singulair, Nasonex and now Brovex for 4 weeks. We will go back in June and start tapering the meds and hopefully have him off by Fall. He is thought to have allergy induced asthma, so this too could clear up his lung issues, but more than likely that will not stop completely.
On the way home both boys fell asleep and I did a few "drive through" errands before heading to ball practice. Taylor did a pretty good job. Logan was good too since he was still sleepy, but he eventually got geared up and played. Taylor thought he needed the Plaza since his arm hurt!
Please thank God for giving us some answers and pray we see results soon. Pray that Kadin's family feels God's presence with them as they go through these dark days ahead. Pray for Cams family as they too continue on with out Cam. Pray for Christi, Colette, Madison, Madison T., Morgan and the many others who still fight.
May 1, 2006 Day +1,125 Day #823 off treatment
Finished, done, no more! Yeah, Jim finished the floor. He still has base boards to do and some touch up paint, but that will be a breeze compared to what is already behind him. I may not have furniture just yet, but I see light at the end of the tunnel.
We had a good day today. Taylor enjoyed school as did Logan. We went to Nana's after school so Taylor could go to speech. We haven't been the last few weeks and he has been upset with me and so has Nana. I think Taylor needed that break from speech. He did great today. Katie is as baffled as I am about him doing t and k backwards every time. He doesn't get frustrated with her like he does me, but he still does it wrong. Once again the child before us canceled and that allows us to go in 30 minutes early.
Once we picked up Logan we headed for home. Logan took a nap and I helped Jim. I was the bringer of the wood. At 5:15 Taylor and I headed to ball practice. Logan was still sleeping, so we let him stay home with daddy. It was nice to sit at practice and just watch and not have to chase Logan.
Please keep Taylor in your prayers as we head into next week and do scans. Pray for Mr. Kadin as he has struggled today. Pray that the next round of accutane goes well for Colette. Pray for Madison as she fights her tummy woes and heads to Vandy. Pray for Christi and that her fevers stay away. Pray for all the others who are fighting their fights. Pray for those who are missing their babies or other loved ones. Pray for Mrs. Roberta who will do chemo tomorrow.
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April 30, 2006 Day +1,124 Day #822 off treatment
I woke up with the worst sinus headache and laid around for a while. Gam maw and Paw Paw brought the kids home and helped on the floor for a while. The stairs are done!! Woo hoo!! It should go quick from here, I hope! We went to Don Don's to pick up lunch. It was an interesting trip. The lady put all the food (for 6 people) in one bag and it tore as we reached for it and all the food hit the road. She was ill too, oh well. She gave us another sack of food and we were on our way. Logan said his back hurt several times, but I shrugged it off as he does this from time to time if a toy gets behind him in his seat. A few minutes later he was screaming and when we looked at him he had thrown up all over him and his seat. He was so upset that his clothes were dirty. He didn't act sick before or after the episode, so we think maybe he got choked on his gum or something, I am not sure.
We had a picnic on the floor and then played. Logan went to bed around 2:00 and slept until 5:20. That is a great nap by any means, but the fact that he slept through the saw and hammering is amazing.
I have been checking on friends today. Kadin's steroids were stopped and he has declined. Please pray hard that the upped meds can fix this and he can pull through this. His parents have had to make some tough decisions today. Please stop by and leave them some encouraging words. www.caringbridge.org/visit/kadingazzaway Madison is still having tummy troubles as well as gearing up to head to Vandy. www.caringbridge.org/visit/madisonbeck Colette is HOME, yahoo.... Lets pray that she does well on this next round of Accutane and doesn't have to stay too long in B'ham the next time she comes up. www.caringbridge.org/al/colette Stop by and read about Amber the star. She has been in her high school drama production and based on her journal and the pics, it was a hit. www.caringbridge.org/al/amber There are many other friends to play for, so please remember all the families out there struggling. Pray for Taylor as he gears up for scans on May 9th!!!
Reminders: May 4th, 6:15 ballgame, May 6th, 11:00 ballgame, May 9th scans, May 9th 6:30 graduation at Pleasant Hill, June 7th 2-7 blood drive at Pleasant Hill.
April 29, 2006 Day +1,123 Day #821 off treatment
Today was fun, but cold. Logan was up at 7:00 as usual! I got up and got ready and headed to Curves and Guh let the boys play at Don Don's until I was done. We ran by our house and left Guh's car and looked at daddies progress and headed to Alabama Adventure. It was way to cold for the water park, so we just stayed in the rides part. Taylor didn't like the kiddie roller coaster this year. I think he is getting older and realizing that he can get hurt as he loved it last year. He did the bumper cars and he liked it because he was the only one out there so he was bumping, but no one was ramming into him. Logan was not tall enough, but he big tears melted the girls heart and she let him ride with Taylor. He thought that was cool too, that he was driving his little brother around. Logan loved the balloon ferris wheel, train and fire trucks. Taylor liked the air planes, race cars and motorcycles. Logan isn't really tall enough for most of it. He rode the airplanes with Taylor and screamed bloody murder. I rode the Zoomerang with some other lone person. I have done it before and wasn't scared, but I am a screamer and I was just a screaming. The boys sat with Guh on a bench way at the bottom of the hill and waited. I waved at them as I went to the top of the drop and when we fell and I screamed Taylor heard me. How embarrassing! I think they had a lot of fun, but Logan will have more when we get to the water park and he can do more. He was asleep before we got to the car and never missed a beat as we drove or moved him to the car.
They spent the night with Gam maw. I am surprised she didn't say to take them back with me. Before I even left Taylor got in trouble for jumping on the couch and Logan tried to pour coke from one bottle to another and dumped it all over the place. I ran fast before she could catch me:) I ran by the grocery store and Subway and Jim and I had a lovely dinner on lawn chairs and scaffolding as a table. Sounds very romantic doesn't it!
Progress, I see progress. Jim has gotten the living room done up the the banister and the steps have to be done to do that. It looks real good, I hope to have furniture this week!!! Keep your fingers crossed.
April 28, 2006 Day +1,122 Day #820 off treatment
Today was another average day. Taylor is on my last nerve. He does the exact opposite of everything I say. He has been wild as a buck and in trouble all day. He has been taken to the bathroom twice at school and spanked. He has kicked friends and talked non stop. He has talked in a silly voice, a loud voice and said potty words. He has played cars right outside Logan's door while he napped. He has destroyed the room he cleaned up yesterday. Need I go on? However, as unnerved as I am with the situation, I must say it is a beautiful sight to see 2 weeks from scan day! It makes you feel good to see he is happy and healthy enough to do the things all 5 year old boys do.
Logan fell asleep on the way home and never missed a beat when I moved him to his bed. He slept until 5:00!!! I did the dishes which I have put off all week. I am still avoiding the laundry. I did some of it, but I had had enough fun for one week, so I quit:) The boys and I are packed up and heading to Guh's house for the night. I am not going to try and keep them out of the living room.
Jim got home right on time and I flew out the door to Curves. After my workout I completely wiped out any effort by going to the mexican restaurant for dinner. After dinner the boys and I went to Guh's. We played cars out on the deck for a while. We then put the boys in a bath. Taylor was so dirty that his legs were brown. We played legos for a while and then had to make Logan go to bed. After Logan was down we made Taylor a nice bed to sleep in on the floor. It was at that moment that he remember Bozo and Night Night. He was so upset that he didn't have it. However, Guh has Jetix, a channel we do not get and it just so happened that Power Ranger Mystic Force was on and he got so into that that he forgot about it. He agreed to sleep with a blanket she had and a stuffed cat about the same size and color as Bozo. It worked out okay. He was asleep in no time and Guh and I watched Weakest Link until we fell asleep. It was a nice sleepover, thanks Guh.....
Please keep all of our friends in your prayers. Kadin seems to be doing real well right now, keep those prayers coming. Pray for Madison as she continues to have tummy troubles.
April 27, 2006 Day +1,121 Day #819 off treatment
Today was another good day. It was average I guess you could say and that is a good thing. I ended up getting all of course this afternoon. I didn't get my message about my meeting being changed, so I casually left the ball park thinking I had 30 minutes to get them home and back to the Plaza, but I was wrong, I was already late at the moment we were leaving the ball park. Oh well, it was okay. It just stressed me. You all that know me well, know I am early for everything and it totally freaks me out to be late for anything. My good ladies didn't mind though and we had a nice evening of food and talk. What more could a women want?
I got home around 9:00. The boys were playing and destroying. Jim and Bob had just finished laying the stair nosing around the top overhang of the stairs. We are ready for the weekend to get things going. Oh how I hope to be watching TV in my living room on Sunday night. I have my fingers crossed, but not too tight. Jim and I finished taking all the floor out of the boxes and stacking it up so it can acclimate. Who knew your floors have to acclimate. I got a big splinter in my hand and was suddenly reminded of where Taylor gets his baby ways in the area of splinter removal. I was freaking out and refused to let Jim touch it. He eventually won and got it out, but not without a production. I am not afraid to admit that to you all:)
Kadin has had a pretty good day, keep those prayers going up for him. Pray for Madison who is at home, finally, but is not feeling real well. She will be traveling very soon to Vanderbilt. Pray for Christi who is at home in Ohio, but has to return to CHOP in Pennsylvania much sooner than wanted.
April 26, 2006 Day +1,120 Day #818 off treatment
Tomorrow, April 27, 2006 at 3:00 there will be a prayer time for Kadin Gazzaway. Please stop at this time tomorrow and join in prayer for this littler super hero. www.caringbridge.org/visit/kadingazzaway
Hello all on this rainy Wednesday. It seems all it does lately is rain. I know we need the rain, but my goodness. Taylor is driving me bananas about going outside and Logan will be much worse when he wakes up. He loves to be outside!
We had a good day at school. It was computer day at school. Taylor loves computer day. I can't get him to tell me what he did, but he went first whatever it was. I went to work out this afternoon. I was putting my tennis shoes on and I am a flip flop gal, so the kids know when I get out the tennis shoes that I am heading to curves. The minute Jim walked in the door Logan said, "ready go exercise mommy". It was so cute. I actually cooked dinner in my crazy kitchen tonight. We dined in the bedroom floor as we watched Idol.
I don't have much to tell today. Please keep Kadin and Madison in prayers. Pray for all the families who are struggling though illness or missing their babies.
April 25, 2006 Day +1,119 Day #817 off treatment
Hi. Today was kind of crazy. We went to school of course. Jim stayed home and finished the bottom set of stairs. He is now at a stand still until the weekend. He has to rent a staple gun for flooring and it cost too much to rent and do the landing return it and rent it again to do the floors, so he will just hold off until he has time this weekend. There is still plenty of molding and what not he can do before that anyway, so he will still be busy. I finally see progress there may be light at the end of this tunnel!
Taylor has a blister on his foot. I told him to take his shoes off at school and I would cut it off later. I was talking about the black thing in his shoes that are rubbing, but he jerked his foot away from me and said "cut what off?" Logan now has tons of boo boos. He got in ants AGAIN. He fell twice on the driveway and skinned his knees. He doesn't really care, he just hops up and keeps going. I guess we better just be prepared to deal with boo boos both big and small with this wild child.
They played outside for a while as they have everyday. I am very stopped up and my throat hurts and Logan has a runny nose and sounds stuffy when he gets up. Taylor is snotty as ever and coughing. He is getting his breathing treatments as well as the Singulair daily, but nothing helps. We go back to Dr. LaRussa on May 2nd. After I give him the what for about sending us for a sweat test without a warning as to what it tested, I will discuss further treatments and other meds to help him.
Urgent prayer request for Kadin. They learned today that he has permanent lung damage and he is deteriorating. They were given several options as to how to proceed. They chose an experimental antibody, but they have no idea if this will help Kadin or how long he may live. How terrible to be given such news and to have to make such a decision. It makes us feel almost guilty to be at home with our healthy child and read about all the kids and families who are suffering. I know we did our suffering too, but it is still hard. We are certainly sending all our love and prayers out to all these families. www.caringbridge.org/visit/kadingazzaway Pray for Madison who is still waiting to travel to TN. www.caringbridge.org/visit/madisonbeck
April 24, 2006 Day +1,118 Day #816 off treatment
Hello all! It was a nice Monday. I almost slept late, I am used to Jim getting up and I get up when he gets finished in the bathroom, but he is off today and that threw me. We made it to work in plenty of time. Logan was proud to show off his boo boo. He wanted the band aid off, so I took it off. It is the tiniest little spot. Taylor was so impressed that it "got better" so fast. He saw all the blood all over his forehead and thought it was a big boo boo. Taylor did cap and gown photos today. I didn't go in there, but they say he did good. I can't wait to see them.
We met daddy for lunch today. We didn't think we would have time for speech, so we canceled. I think he needs a break anyway. He has not cooperated very well the last few weeks, so we will go back next Monday and see how he does. We came home where Logan napped, Jim worked more on trim work and I, get ready for this one, cut grass! Yes, you read that right, I cut the grass. I didn't do the side yard or over by the ditch with all the rocks, but I got most of it done. It wasn't so bad, hey, I was working on my tan.
We went to Cracker Barrel for dinner and it was yummy. Logan at like a horse as did Taylor and they both got a piece of candy afterwards. Logan got the nastiest thing on the plant, Bottle caps, and he loves them.
We are back home now. My nasty kids are bathed. Taylor is pouting because he was told to go to bed for whining and crying. I tell ya, he is the biggest cry baby. Logan is scootin' around on his fire truck. He is going to be devastated when he has to put it outside. He can not ride it on the new bamboo floors. We will cross that bridge when we get there.....
Please be in prayer for Taylor's continued success. Pray for Madison as she travels to Vanderbilt and pray that the Dr's there can get her going again. Pray for Kadin as he continues to heal. Pray for Cody who has a brain tumor and is about to have another round of scans this week. Pray for Colette as she continues her Accutane. Pray for Davis as he learns to deal with his bone issues and that he will not have to endure more painful biopsies. Pray for Taylor and Morgan as they prepare to scan again in May.
April 23, 2006 Day +1,117 Day #815 off treatment
Another busy day. We were lazy today and skipped church. Jim was working again and had some angel issues and called on Uncle Bob. They came over to help. Logan was on a candy rampage and following Bob all over. He ended up getting konked in the head with a saw and bled like crazy. I was a nervous wreck with all that blood, but it is only a teeny tiny little cut. He was fine in about 2 minutes. I think it scared him more than it hurt him and I think it scared us more than it scared him. I think we probably scared him scooping him up and fussing over him more than anything else. He had a nice bright, yellow band aide on it and was proud of it.
We went to the zoo today. Guh went so that Jim could keep on working. As always, camp treated us great. We had lunch and drinks and tokens for all the rides. Logan wanted nothing to do with anything but the water fountain. Taylor wanted to see the animals, so his pal Calvin and his dad offered to let him go with them. He had a blast hanging out with the guys. I am sure Assem is beat tonight. Thank you a million Assem for taking Taylor along. He was ready to come back to me after a while. I think he was tired and a little lonely. That is the first time he has ever gone off like that with anyone other than a family member. He often gets worried just going to the movies with Ghen Ghen, so I am sure it was a little strange to him. He did great though! Taylor shocked us and didn't want to get in the water. We convinced Logan to change clothes. Taylor got an air brush tatoo on his back. It is big and cool! He can not wait to get to school and show everyone. We went to the playground for a little while. Last time we went Logan wanted no part of it and now he was all over the place with no help. After a little bit playing there we started towards the car. We looked at a few fish and a turtle on the way and Taylor decided he wanted to see the butterfly house. It was pretty cool. It has tons of flowers and butterflies all over the place. The kids were not very impressed, they were more focused on a drink. We headed towards the car and to a gas station. Horror of all horrors there was no bug juice. I knew if I got a juice he had to pour into his cup he would be mad, so I got a gatorade with a sport top. He couldn't make it work, so we just poured it in his cup anyway. We found out when why it wouldn't come out, it had foil over the top, who knew! He took a few sips and was out like a light.
It was a fun day. Thank you Camp SAM for taking us the zoo.
April 22, 2006 Day +1,116 Day #814 off treatment
Today started early despite putting Logan to bed way later than normal. The kids are really starting to have a hard time being cooped in their room or mine. I think Logan lost his listening ears as he was pushed through the birth canal as he can not follow directions. Okay, so that was a bit of a stretch, he didn't even go through the birth canal, but he has lost his ability to hear I am sure. I know my innocent 2 year old is not deliberately disobeying!
Taylor cleaned his room Friday night out of boredom. He had nothing better to do, so he cleaned. He then piled in my bed with a bunch of cars and played. Logan did the same, but he was so mad that he couldn't get 2 cars to hook together that he had a fit. I finally put him to bed, but he made no complaints so he was ready. Taylor asked to be tucked in to watch Curious George around 10:00 and I climbed in bed too.
I heard Logan around 5:45, but he went back to sleep until about 7:30. We all got up and got ready. I went to work out real quick and then Jim headed to Lowe's for trim work to start the stairs. He says he will be finished by Sunday night. What glorious words!!! I am not so sure, but we will see. He is off Monday and Tuesday to do some work if need be. I am thrilled at the thought of putting my house back together. I cleaned my bathroom and I feel so much better. That is the only room in the house that doesn't have stuff stashed in it. I even lit candles in there!
Gam maw and I went to Alabama Adventure and bought season passes. We did not know that the park was open this weekend or that we had to go into the park to get the passes. Try explaining to a 2 and 5 year old that we are just here to buy a pass not to stay. We had to play a few games to get them out the door and it still took some doing. They are so excited about going. I am not sure that Taylor understands that he can go whenever this summer and that it is so near home. They will love it and hopefully I will have a tan to go with it.
We went to Wendy's for lunch then to the outlet mall for a little bit before heading to the ball park. Guh made a deal with Taylor that if he got a hit he she would give him $1 and if he scored she would give him $5. This seemed like a safe deal based on his record. Well, he proved her wrong. he was on fire today and hit and scored twice! He was hitting so good, the video I shot was kind of crazy seeing as I was jumping up and down and screaming. Guh may need to revise her deal. He caught a few well, chased a few balls and threw them in. He is kind of slow at getting it and throwing it, but he is getting better. I think the best part of the day for him was the water guns one of his team mates brought for everyone after the game. Logan got one too and he also loved it. We ended up losing the game 14-16 after Taylor tied it up!! and then we went ahead. Oh well, they gave it their all. Way to go Rattlers! We have no games this week as it is play off week. We will be practicing though.
After the game we came home and Jim got right back to work. We ended up at the Plaza for a very late dinner and then hit the bed. It was a very tiring day. It is hard work to sit at the ball park all day. You wouldn't think so, but boy it is.
Please keep Taylor in your prayers. Pray he is cured of this beast for good. Pray for Madison who is waiting on her records and counts to he able to leave for Vanderbilt. Pray for Kadin who is making some great progress. Pray for Colette who is still doing her accutane and we know who rough those 2 weeks can be. Pray for all the families fighting the fight.
April 21, 2006 Day +1,115 Day #813 off treatment
TGIF!! I am so glad it is Friday. It has been another long week. I am sure next week will be too. Taylor will have Cap and gown pictures Monday, how cute is that? He has speech as well. We have practice I am sure, but no games unless we end up in the play offs. I hope not, a break from the park would be nice.
We had a fun day at school. We made coffee filter butterflies and Taylor thought it was so cool. He had a blast dipping it in water and waiting to see what it would look like when you opened it up. Everyone we did was different and they loved examining them. He has been wild as a buck today which is good in a way, if you get my drift. He ate a great lunch and snack. He did poop as soon as we got home, but it was normal. I know you all could care less to hear about such things, but these are the things that make up our days.
We have hung out in the house again today due to bad weather. It isn't raining, but we are under watches and Taylor is not happy to be inside and it not raining. Taylor has spent the afternoon playing cars in the living room. Logan has napped and I have done laundry the best I could. I think it is all clean, but I can't put it away due to the stuff blocking the drawers, so it is all over the bathroom.
The updates have been slim lately, but there isn't much to tell. I am sure they will get better when I am in a more comfortable position to post! Please leep all the kids in prayers. Madison's counts have come up enough to travel to Nashville, she is heading to Vanderbilt for a second opinion. Pray for Kadin who is making progress, but still needs prayers. Pray for Andrew who has relapsed. www.caringbridge.org/al/andrewlong Pray for Davis who has some bone issues that he will have to deal with. Pray for for Colette who is having some troubles with her accutane. Pray for Taylor and Morgan who will scan again in May.
April 20, 2006 Day +1,114 Day #812 off treatment
Well it is another day and still nothing to tell. Taylor is still pooping all day. Sometimes it is pure water and sometimes it is normal. He is eating, but not as great as usual. It is about 2 weeks from scans, so it is time to worry!! He is active as ever, so I am sure he is fine and it is just me getting into that scan time funk.
Please pray for my Mary Kay director, Eliska, her brother fell out of a pick up truck while riding around on Easter. He is in ICU with a severe head injury and severe "road rash". Pray that he is healed of his injuries and pray for her as she deals with his injury and the travel she has to do to see him. We are thinking of you and pray for you, Eliska!
Taylor got real mad at me today when I made him come in due to tornado sirens. It never did rain, but better to be safe than sorry. It get real bad on the other side of the county. He ended up falling asleep watching cartoons in the bed. He was waking up at 6:00 as I headed out the door for Curves. We met Gam maw and Paw Paw for dinner. Paw Paw had a turtle in his truck for the boys, they thought that was funny.
we came home where Jim pulled up the carpet and press board on the stairs. We will be ready to lay floor this weekend. Yikes! Pray all goes well with that!
Please keep Madison in your prayers as she continues to struggle with tummy troubles and looks at heading to Vanderbilt. www.caringbridge.org/visit/madisonbeck Also, Kadin, is struggling with pneumonia and could use our prayers. www.caringbridge.org/visit/kadingazzaway
April 19, 2006 Day +1,113 Day #811 off treatment
Another average day. Taylor has been pooping all day it seems even in his pants, he did this yesterday too. Hmmm.... We didn't do anything special today. We hung out at home after school and Guh came over for a while. Taylor played ball in the yard for a while. He had practice, but we didn't go since Guh came over. I guess I should have made him, but oh well.
Jim worked more on the floor. It really is coming along thought it doesn't feel like it. The kids love it, there is so much room to run and play and the echo, yeah that's great!
April 18, 2006 Day +1,112 Day #810 off treatment
We went back to school today. It was an average day. Taylor was wild today and loud. I think he had way to much candy over the weekend! We came home to as much routine as we could. Logan napped and Taylor played and I pulled staples. My hands are killing me. We have ball practice at 5:30, so we are now gearing up to head in that direction. Today is my weigh/measure day at curves, I am excited to see how much, if any progress has been made.
Well, I lost 6.25 inches and 2 pounds. Yahoo!! I was glad to see results, that makes it easier to keep on going.
Practice was late, so Jim was able to handle that and I just had to drop them off. They didn't get home until about 7:30. We had to watch Idol and House. The Tivo is not hooked up right now and we took a time out to watch it. Then Jim worked for a few hours.
April 17, 2006 Day +1,111 Day #809 off treatment
Today we were out of school. We ran some errands and went to speech. Taylor did okay, but he opened his mouth wide open and asked if what he had coughed up was snot. Oh my child, he is a nasty one! After speech we went to get Logan who was asleep. We let him sleep a while and then we headed for home. I had all intentions of going to curves, but didn't when I spent 30 minutes pulling staples out of the stairs, that was exercise enough! I quickly let time slip away and had to rush to get Taylor ready for his game.
What a game it was. We were down 11-4 and things looked bleak. We had a 3 up and 3 down inning and the next inning we rocked. The catcher was kicking dirt and destracting out batter and he struck out. The ump called him back up and he got a home run! The next few that came up hit great. Taylor came up and hit, but got out. The next time he was up to bat he hit it down the third base line, very unusual for him, and made it to 1st and batted in a run! The fasted runner on the team was next and we told him he better run or he would pass him. He gave it his all and even stole 3rd!!! He came into home plate with the biggest grin in town. Another team members Granny gave him a dollar for his hit! He was so excited. I am horse from all my cheering.
After the game Taylor wanted the Plaza, so off we went. He ate great, I am sure he was hungry after all the excitement. He plays again at 3:30 on Saturday.
Reminders: game 3:30 Saturday. School graduation May 9th, 6:30, scans May 9th, Blood drive June 7th 2-7.
April 16, 2006 Day +1,110 Day #808 off treatment
Happy Easter!
We were up bright and early thanks to Logan. The kids looked at the baskets on the cold, ply wood floor. It was interesting trying to find a place to take a picture, but we made it. Logan had a blast with his Thomas train that he got and Taylor loved his 4 wheeler. He was impressed that the Easter Bunny knew he loved red, but didn't understand how he didn't know he already had a Batman egg. Hmmm....
We got ready for church and left home right on time despite daddy working up to the very last minute. Taylor got a rock at children's minute from the Holy land. They showed some pictures from the trip some members made and they were amazing. It was so cool to see the very land that Jesus walked on. Taylor was a mite antsy in church. We headed to Guh's after church where the Easter Bunny had made another stop. We ate lunch and then hit the yard for some egg hunting. Logan was all about that. He loves to put eggs in his egg sack. We found all but 4 eggs and they were chocolate, a 1 dollar bill and a quarter, so no one jumped up to go find them. Guh will find them while she is working in the yard. After some play time we headed to Gam maw's where once again the Easter Bunny had stopped. This time he left huge baskets full of cars. We had dinner there and Logan enjoyed it so much he had to have a bath before we headed home.
I hope you all had a glorious Easter. We did. Please pray for all our friends who were in the hospital for this holiday. We have been there, we were on the stem cell unit on Easter 2003. Please pray that they are all making strides towards home. Pray for Colette who is at HOME in Mobile!!! Way to go girlie!!
April 15, 2006 Day +1,109 Day #807 off treatment
Today was a long one! We started it bright and early at 7:30 with Logan wanting up. The guys headed to the dump to get the trailer cleaned out. THis project keeps getting bigger. Our sub floor was particle board on top of ply wood. All the particle board had to come up and new ply wood go down. Anyway, Jim started laying the ply wood while we dyed eggs at 9:00 in the morning. Logan had no interest in it, but Taylor loved it. He had Batman egg stuff and went to town with it. I asked if he wanted to eat one and he said no. I guess I get to eat 2 dozen boiled eggs, yummy!
The boys and I took off to meet Guh at Wal-mart. We just wanted out of the chaos for a while and it is hard on the kids to understand why they must stay in their rooms. We ate at Sonic and then headed back to the ball park. Taylor did great in the batting cage. He did good in the game too. He fowled a few times at each bat. I know that counts as a strike and he did strike out both times, but it is progress, he is making contact with the ball. He caught two grounders and threw them back in. He isn't the quickest and I don't think they got anyone out, but he is doing so much better. He plays again on Monday night at 6:15 and Saturday at 3:30. Taylor and Logan both got goodie bags from Miss Cindy and Coach Jon. They loved them. Logan has taken a liking to Jon and will climb up in his lap whenever he is not busy. Silly guys!
After the game we went for dinner and then the boys went with Gam maw for a while and we headed home to do more on the floors. Well, I washed my car and Jim did the floors. He has gotten a good bit of ply wood down, maybe soon we will be doing actual flooring. I am not sure what possessed me to want to wash my car, but I knew if I didn't do it right when the feeling hit, I would never do it. Of course, it wasn't easy. I had everything out and ready before I realized that their was no sponge, so I used an old pillow case, the only thing I could find in the garage. The nozzle on the hose was a sprinkler and it kept spinning around on me and wetting me. I finally gave up trying and took the thing off and used my thumb to make a hard enough stream to get the soap off. I missed some spots, but it looks better and I was able to put Taylor's sticker on. He will be thrilled. It looks like a baseball has shattered the window. He saw one on a car one day and thought it was real, once he saw it wasn't he laughed and laughed and had to have one.
April 14, 2006 Day +1,108 Day #806 off treatment
TGIF!!! This has been a long week. It is hard to live in chaos, be short one car and throw in all the extra Dr. appointments and unusual outings we have had. I am glad it is over and that we have a fun filled weekend ahead of us as well as an off day on Monday. We started this morning early just as we have every day this week. We headed to Mary's house to pick up my car. Yahoo! It was an easy fix, praise God and thank you Andy! As for Friday night activities we had ball practice at 6:00 and then we went to eat with Gam maw and Paw Paw. I took the kids with me to buy eggs to dye. I boiled the eggs, but by the time they were done and cooled it was 10:30, so we will do that tomorrow.
Taylor has a 2:00 ball game tomorrow. We of course had church Sunday and then our big egg hunt at Guh's house. We have about 200 eggs to hunt and lots of prizes too, the kids are so ready.
Taylor and Logan have been doing a lot of singing lately since they haven't had their TV in the car. Taylor was singing If your Happy and You Know it and when he started to say Amen, Logan sang along, but his came out hey man.
April 13, 2006 Day +1,107 Day #805 off treatment
What a fun but exhausting day. We had our Easter party and egg hunt at school today. It is rather stressful to be teacher and mom and try to be in my class and Logan's class at the same time. I went to hunt eggs with both kids and I played games with Taylor, but both kids had to be pawned off for snack while I did teacher things. It was hectic, but they both had a blast. Thank you to all of you who helped them while I was busy! Logan is all about hunting eggs and putting them in his egg sack. How funny is that, egg sack, Ha!
After the egg hunt we resumed a normal day, as normal as you can get with hyped up 5 year olds. After school we got to come home. It is the first time this week that we came home after school. I think the week is catching up with Logan, he asked to go to bed when we got home. He took a real good nap. Taylor had practice, but there was just no way to get him there. It was at 4:30 in which I needed to be leaving at that time to get Jim from work and we had to do some errands as well. Oh well, he will be okay missing a practice, you can't make them all.
We did our running around and then finally got home around 8:30. We did our best to stick to a normal routine in the chaos. I did get the laundry done and the dishes done as well as the trash out, so we have organized chaos now!
April 12, 2006 Day +1,106 Day #804 off treatment
What a day. My car still has not made the noise fro Andy, so he still has the car. We had to leave here at 6:30 in order for me to get Jim to work, Logan to Nana's and Taylor to Children's by 8:00. It has been a long time since I drove a 5 speed and rush hour traffic this morning in a stick about killed me! Anyway, we got to the hospital and I was registering Taylor. I asked what a sweat test was really meaning how do they do it. I didn't need to know what it tested for, I had been sent for allergy tests. Needless to say I about had a heart attack when she said it was to test for Cystic Fibrosis. I got over and thought that maybe that was the big thing is was used for, but it was used for other things too. I went on to the lab and got signed in and then we headed to get Taylor a drink while we waited for our turn. I called Jim and he too was a little upset that we had not been told what we were going for. He looked on the web and saw no other thing that they would use a sweat test for, but still we were not thinking it was CF. I mean, goodness, he has been getting full body scans for 3 years, don't you think someone would have said something if CF was a probable cause of worry. We went back in to do the test. I asked the tech what all this test looked for and sure enough it is only for CF. I was really losing it by then. The test was kind of odd. They put a wet gauze strip in 2 spots on each arm and put an electrode on each spot. Then shocked him for 5 minutes on each arm. He hardly noticed it for about the first 3 minutes and then he got upset. He never really cried, but he was none to pleased. Once that was over, she dried it off and put a dry gauze strip and then taped it down, put some plastic stuff on it, a preemie pamper (yes, you read that correct) and some of that tape they put on you after you give blood topped it off. He looked like he had 2 casts on. In fact, when he went to the bathroom the lady washing her hands said, "poor guy, you broke both your arms". We had to wait 30 minutes and then she took it all off. He screamed more with the tape coming off than when he was being shocked. She put the gauze in a pettrie dish and off we went.
I picked up Logan and went to Wal-mart. We needed candy for their Easter eggs for their egg hunt at school tomorrow. We met Guh for lunch. While I was there I got a call to tell me that the test was negative. I am so relieved! I am still a little upset and probably will be until I see the final report on May 2nd when we go back to Dr. L. I plan on giving him a piece of my mind when I see him. He better not every send me into a test blind again. He must not deal with too many cancer mom's, we are in the know and will have it no other way.
Logan had an apt. with Dr. Petelos today. He hasn't blinked in a while, so he feels it was stress, habit, or a scratch. Who knows. We headed to ball practice after the Dr. We were there from 4:30 -7:00. Taylor worked on fielding, speed and hitting. He really does give it his all! We came home and stuffed eggs and got the party stuff ready. Taylor needed a bath, but Logan NEEDED a bath. I found him behind the press box jumping up and down in a mud puddle. His hair had so much dirt in it that it was brown. He loves the ball park and get sooooo nasty.
We are ready to fall into bed, again. Please pray that the final results of the test are negative. Pray that we never have another scare like that again. Pray that he is NED forever. Pray for all the kids out there who are fighting their battles.
April 11, 2006 Day +1,105 Day #803 off treatment
We had to get up early and take Jim to work and then come back to school. After school we went to Brookwood mall to see the Easter Bunny. While we were walking through, no, I didn't have a stroller!!! A real odd character came by. He had a mowhawk that was all different colors. Logan pointed and laughed and said, "look at your hair". The old guy behind us said, "I was thinking the same thing, but too old to get away with saying it". It was so funny! The picture is not of screaming kids, but nor really smiling ones either. Taylor is smiling, but Logan wasn't real sure about it all. He has baby front and center. Of course, when his turn was over and the next kid went up there, he was all over him and I had to keep pulling him out of the way.
After the mall we headed to St. Vincent's for Taylor's appointment with Dr. LaRussa. It took forever and that is not like that office, but he has the coolest waiting room, so it wasn't bad. He is very wheezy and has to go back to his 5 a day nebs. That will just add to the fun of the chaos around here. I got to call Joy at 5:00 and surprise her with the news that we will be out tomorrow as we have been sent to Children's for a sweat test.
We picked daddy up at work and headed home. Jim did some more work on the floors and once again we all fell into bed dog tired.
April 10, 2006 Day +1,104 Day #802 off treatment
Back to Monday already. We had a good day at school. I had to drive daddies car since mine is still at Andy's, it wont make the noise, silly car! WE went to speech as usual and Taylor did fair. I don't know what his deal was today, he didn't cooperate well and didn't say his words well at all. After speech we rushed home to changed into Taylor's uniform and run out for dinner. We went to Don Don's where both boys ran into a classmate. I hated it had to be a night that we had to go and had no time at all to play in the play place. Oh well, maybe next time. Taylor's team got beat real bad tonight. I think the coaches were upset, but the kids didn't much care. I know Taylor didn't. He had his bud Calvin there to watch him and to play with after the game. The look on his face when he saw Calvin was there when he was on his way to the on deck circle, was priceless. I failed to mention the other day that they are both toothless now. Cal had a collision at school and lost both front teeth. I got the cutest picture of them grinning from ear to ear with those front teeth missing.
After the game we headed home for another round of rearrange and bathe. We all fell into bed again, it is exhausting hauling kids around to ball and appointments and living crazy too. It will all be over soon, right? It will be worth it when it is over, but right now that is hard to see..... I promise the updates will get better too....
April 9, 2006 Day +1,103 Day #801 off treatment
I went to church this morning. Jim stayed home to take advantage of no kids and get some work done in the disaster zone we call home. Now everything is out of the living and dining rooms and all the carpet is pulled up. It is a mess! The kids love it!
The egg hunt was so much fun. We had a ton of kids there including Mr. Bailey, a fellow NB kid. It was hard to look at him with those whispy blond hairs that looked so very much like Taylor did when he was bald. He had a good time, but is still having a real hard time. Please keep him in your prayers. Taylor had a balst with Calvin. They ran and played and jumped and everything in between. After the hunt we had a birthday party and then Christian came over to play. We had a pizza picnic in the living room floor. It was great fun!
We were able to rearrange enough to get lunched packed and baths done and then we all fell into bed.
April 8, 2006 Day +1,102 Day #800 off treatment
We had another demolition day. We tore out all of the carpet, boy is it yuck. Taylor has got to fell better once this is out. There are even a few mold spots we found that should make him feel better once gone. I hope so anyway.
Taylor had a 2:00 ball game and they did great. We one by another 10 run lead and got to leave early. The boys went home to play and us girls went to Wal-mart. We all met for a quick dinner and headed back to the ball park and played a 6:00 game to make up the one we cancelled last night. They didn't do so hot at the late game. I am not sure if they were tired from 2 games or what, but they we were not playing like they usually do. We still won the game, so they are 4-0. Taylor did get a hit and actually made it to 3rd base. The kid on 2nd got tagged and got the 3rd out, so he didn't get to come home. We were so proud of him!!!
Once we finally headed for home we got the boys packed up and off to Gammaw's house and we took my car to good ole Andy. He is going to try and get the noise to appear for him and see what it is.
Taylor is so excited about tomorrow. He has an egg hunt to go to and as if that isn't enough, his bestest bud, Calvin is coming as well as his girlfriend, Lu Lu. Oh my, he is so pumped!
April 7, 2006 Day +1,101 Day #799 off treatment
Big weather day here in Alabama. We got out of school at 12:00 so that we missed the bad weather. It was supposed to be here at 3 in the afternoon, but it finally made it around 2:00 in the morning. Luckily, is had died down before it got here and though it was still a bad storm, it was nothing like the western part of the state got.
We had a ballgame that cancelled, so we will make that up sometime. We have started the demolition part of the house and I am about crazy already. We have everything from the living room and dining room in the kitchen, our bedroom or in the garage. I have to rearrange everything to dress, wash clothes, bathe or feed the kids. It is chaos! Painting has begun and I was told to put my paint brush down!! It wasn't that bad!
It was a low key day. We hung out at home waiting and waiting on bad weather. The three men in the house slept through it once it arrived and I was on the look out just in case we needed to hit the basement. Hope you are all safe!
April 6, 2006 Day +1,100 Day #798 off treatment
Big news!!
The 4th annual Taylor Watts Blood Drive has been scheduled. We will be having it at Pleasant Hill UMC on June 7th from 2-7. This is a Wednesday night, so mark your calendars to come donate and/or volunteer to work a table. More details to come.
Look at the days post transplant, woo hoo, we are just ticking right a long. It is so thrilling to see the numbers tick by like that. We are so blessed. I put him to bed the other night and I looked at his dirty fingernails and thought how gross they looked. I quickly changed that thought to how beautiful they were. There was a time when he could not get dirty and we didn't know if we would ever see a day that he could. It is so wonderful to see him out digging in the dirt and catching caterpillars and just being a boy.
I was alone again today, but again, the kids did great. We had a fun day full of art and practice for the program which by the way is May 9th at 6:30pm if anyone is interested in coming. I will post more info as the time comes. We ended up canceling Taylor's Dr. appointment. My car decided to start acting funny and I was not going to get stuck on the interstate with 2 kids in downtown Birmingham. I rescheduled it for Tuesday, so we will have to hold on a little longer to get some answers on the allergy issues. Taylor didn't mind as he is outside playing. I have finally done the dishes and a load of laundry. I feel a little better!
April 5, 2006 Day +1,099 Day #797 off treatment
Another beautiful day outside. We went to school where I was all by myself today. It was an okay day. We started practicing for our graduation program. It will be so cute. I ordered Taylor's cap and Gown today. How sweet! He will have a royal blue cap and gown and a red and blue tassel with the year on it. I can't wait to see him in it.
After school we came home and put Logan to bed for a very short nap. We had ball practice at 4:00. Taylor hit real good today. He is really trying hard this year, but it doesn't always work out. He has fun and that is all that matters. He certainly comes home dirty! Logan does too, he loves to go to ball prac as he calls it.
Taylor now has about 6 caterpillars in a jar and is waiting to see if they will spin a "raccoon" and become a butterfly. How funny is that, spin a raccoon!!
I have talked with Dr. LaRussa and he feels it will benefit Taylor's severe allergies if we put hard woods in the house. Darn, I will have to beautify my house to clear up his allergies. We got a wonderful deal and even had a wonderful Uncle Bob who was willing to go get it and deliver it. Thank you! That is the project for us over the next little while. I hope to be able to run away from home while it is going on, but we shall see. We got see Dr. L tomorrow and I plan to talk more with him about other things we can do to help him.
April 4, 2006 Day +1,098 Day #796 off treatment
Another lovely day. We went to school as usual. Taylor was as wild as could be and stayed in time out a good part of the day. A church member came by and asked how he was doing and I said he was in trouble and she said, "what a blessing" and she is so right. I am thrilled that he feels well and is a healthy, happy and sometimes bad 5 year old! After school we went for an oil change. Logan started to cry and I am guessing he thought it was a car wash, he hates that!! Once we pulled in and got started they both loved it. When the guy washed the window Taylor said, "we can see now". Yes, they were pretty dirty. Every bump and bing brought a new question. How do they get under us, how do they get out, what is that noise, what is that hose, what is he doing, why and the list goes on. When I was told to honk my horn. Logan just laughed.
On the way home they sang Wiggles songs. We got a little late and Logan was ready for bed. He took his milk and headed to his room Taylor had to clean his room, again! He got done in good time and headed outside to play. He has been real big into catching caterpillars and putting in them in a jar. What makes it so funny is that he doesn't want to touch them, so he rakes them and pokes them and sticks sticks and leaves in their path hoping they will hop on. He has picked up a few, but he ends up throwing and missing the jar. It is so funny. Of course, I am watching all this from inside so that I don't accidentally touch one of the things!
Taylor had ball practice today at 5:30. Ahh, don't you love day light savings time, that means daddy gets to do ball practice. I drove him there and unloaded the kids and by then Jim was there. I took off for Curves, but ended up not having time before my meeting. Ya'll, I am addicted to Curves. I hate every waking minute of the 30 minutes I am there, but I can't wait to get there the next day.
It is now 9:40 and I have not been home long. I have just put Logan in bed and Taylor is eating a lunchable, piglet! I forgot to mention that Logan sat in time out today. I don't even know why, but I know that when he sat in the floor next to the teacher he kept looking at her and spitting! Oh my are we in for it when he gets bigger!!! Pray for us! Tomorrow we have another normal day of school and ball practice!
April 3, 2006 Day +1,097 Day #795 off treatment
I hate to do it, but I must start this update with bad news. I must say that I am in utter shock and devastated about this first bit. Our very own NB hero, Nick Snow, has past away. I am not sure yet as to what happened, but I will pass that on as I learn more. For those of you who do not know Nick, he fought NB for 84 months, that is 7 years and finally achieved NED status in 2003 and has been NED since. What a hero to all of those who have fought and tried all the knew treatments, he gave such hope that there is something out there that can be the answer. He has been in terrible pain for years with no real answers, it was recently determined that it was pancreatitas (sp) and he was in the hospital and things seemed to be heading in the right direction for getting this pain under control. I am still in such shock that this warrior is gone. Please pray for this wonderful family as they struggle through this devastating time. www.caringbridge.org/ca/nicksnow Also, little Cam has also earned his angel wings. He past Sunday morning, but he did leave his parents with a great peace. They witnessed him having a conversation (he hasn't spoken in days) with something that he saw in the air. They are sure it was an angel telling him it was okay to come. As always, Cam's mom has written a beautiful update. Please stop by and read about his experience with the angel and leave them some kind words as they too struggle with the loss of their little man. www.caringbridge.org/fl/camspage
What a beautiful day. We started our day a little later than usual since we were off work/school today for a Dr visit. We went to see Dr. Hill for Taylor's post Op visit. It took forever as usual in that place. The ENT clinic is my least favorite place to go out of all the places we have to go. We finally got in a room around 10:45, our appointment was at 10:00, so not too bad as far as that office goes. We sat in the room for about 20 more minutes, but we past the time playing I spy. By the way, I spy is hard in an exam room made up of 4 white walls, white cabinets, a black exam chair and 2 black stools. It was interesting, but we did it. Dr. Hill came in after a while and had a seat and chit chatted, I found this humorous after our last visit he barely got both feet in the door. He said Taylor has healed well and will be snotty for a bit while it drains out and that will be slow due to swelling, but he is snottier than he would like him to be at this point. He is certain, as am I, that there is something he is allergic to and that flairs up his sinuses. He has narrow sinus passages and we have no way to prove it it is due to radiation or just born that way, but when his allergy flairs it can't get out and backs up and causes the sinuses to block. Until we figure out what the allergy is we are going to stay in this cycle. We have an appointment on Thursday to see Dr. LaRussa again and get some more allergy tests done.
After the Dr. we went for some lunch and then we went to Nana's and hung out until speech. We gave Logan some Benadryl for his ant bites, he calls them "aint" bites, and he almost fell asleep, but didn't. We went to speech where Taylor did very well. He played a fishing game that he loved. He tends to do his speech better when it is a game he enjoys and is eager to play. We rushed to get Logan and rushed home to see if we had ball practice. We didn't, so we just hung out. Logan fell asleep in the car and he is so heavy it is hard to get him in the bed without waking him up, so I laid him on his bean bag chair where he slept for 2 hours. I am not sure how he slept with me snapping pictures of him. Taylor played outside all afternoon. They are loving this weather.
When daddy got home the boys continued to play outside and I went to Curves. I am really enjoying it ladies, you should join me! We did the Wal-mart thing when I got home then it was bath and bed time. It seems we are never in the house these days and it looks awful, but if we keep stayong outside we wont notice!
April 2, 2006 Day +1,096 Day #794 off treatment
Happy Anniversary Taylor! Today marks the 3 year anniversary of Taylor's stem cell transplant. That is huge in the world of Neuroblastoma. We are so blessed and so proud of him!
Today was slept until 8:00, but since it is day light savings time, we were still up at Logan's usual 7!! Taylor slept later than usual even with the time change. It was his day, so we let him sleep. He chose to go play golf with daddy this morning. They went to play 9 holes and he had a blast. When they got home I took Taylor with me to Guh's candle party so that he could go to see Ice Age 2 with Ghen Ghen and Gam maw when the party was over. He didn't want to come home after the movies so he went to play for a while with Paw Paw. He got home around 8:30 or so. I have washed clothes and cleaned up the living room 1,000 times this weekend, but you can't tell it! Logan had a blast being outside all day long, but he is covered with ant bites. Poor baby!
There isn't much to tell on this special day and for that I am grateful. On April 2, 2003, we had no idea what the future would hold. We had no idea if Taylor would live or die, relapse or survive, have late effects or not and we still don't in all actuality, but we choose to believe whole heartedly that he has been cured of NB. We thank God everyday for the miracle that he has performed in our lives. We thank you all who have followed our journey all these years. I can't wait to write another normal, boring update on April 2, 2007!
April 1, 2006 Day +1,095 Day #793 off treatment
April Fools! I have no jokes for you. Don't forget to change your clocks forward an hour. I can't believe it is time to do that already. I wish we could stay on daylight savings time all the time. Of course, that will mess with Logan's 8:00 bed time!
A busy day is what we had today. We started it bright and early by getting to the ball park at 8:00. We dropped Taylor off at his team float. It is so cute. We are the Timber Rattlers and it was a big rattle snake around a W. The W being from the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. It had all the kids name and numbers, it was real cute. Cute enough that our team won the grand prize for the Rookie League. Way to go Rattlers! Taylor loved riding in the back of the trailer with all his buddies and throwing candy. Logan loved picking up all the candy! We all have pockets full! After the parade we went over to the field where they had all the teams line up and they gave out the prizes to the winning floats. We were free after that for a little bit. We went to tour the new facilities at the high school field. This is the field that Jim played on in high school and the same coaches are still there. Taylor had a blast checking it out. We ran out for some lunch. Nothing better than some good ole Milo's to pump you up for a ball game. We went home for a little bit, but had to head back to the park for pictures and our game. We made Logan a shirt too. He has his own Rattler shirt and is proud of it. We had a wait at picture time as they were behind schedule. Taylor did great. Every year in the past it has been a battle full of bribes to get him to smile and at least pretend to be happy, but not this year. He jumped up and grabbed his bat and smiled. After pictures we went to the batting cages and got a little practice in. The boys all got rattler tattoos on, but for some reason Taylor's would not stick, we tried several different tattoos on several different spots, but it wouldn't stick. He was upset, but quickly got over it. We will be getting him his own tattoos and fixing him up. I can't imagine why it didn't stick, he wears those tattoos all the time, oh well.
The boys had another great game. They won 12-2! We got done early thanks to the 10 run rule, what a glorious rule when you are sitting in the blazing sun with a cranky 2 year old! Taylor didn't get a hit today, but did catch a ball and throw it to 2nd base. I think he liked after the game the best as they got goodie bags full of stuff and cupcakes. Logan fell asleep as soon as we cranked the car, but Taylor was still full force.
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