May 1, 2007 Day +1490 Day +1188 off therapy
Today is the big day! Taylor has his kindergarten program tonight. We got hair cuts today. I was waiting because I thought he was a weed and needed to have his hari spiked up, but I was wrong and he is a vegetable and will have no spikes, so we got it cut. He looks better! Logan got one too. I went to a new place that just opened by our house. Well, it is a new building, but the lady has been at it for years in the area. Paw Paw has always gone to her. Anyway, Logan went with Paw Paw last week to get a hair cut and I got in trouble today because I didn’t park where Paw Paw did. My my!
Please stop by www.caringbridge.org/al/sarahanne and congratulate her. She was dx 7 years ago today and is doing great. Sarah was one of the first people we were led to after Taylor’s dx and her and her family continue to be dear friends and prayer warriors. We love you Hicks family!!!
Tonight we went to Taylor’s program. It was so very cute! Taylor was a carrot. He just wore a hat with a huge carrot taped to it, but it was floppy so he had his kind of crooked. He was the “cool carrot” They all did a great job! I can not believe that in 15 days his kindergarten year is over. I am so sad! I am not sure what I am sad about. I have never missed any of my own teachers, but I am just devastated to lose mrs. Thornton! Oh, we will miss her!
After the show we all went to eat at our old stand by, the mexican place. Taylor must have worked up an appetite singing as he ate every bite on the plate. He was thrilled to see friends coming in and out while we ate. He likes to see a buddy out and about. I can’t wait to go to Alabama Adventure this summer, it should be great fun to see him interact with friends we run into.
Well, that is about it for today. We have a lot of fun stuff coming up. I am sure Jim will get pictures of the races and the program up soon. Remember Logan has a program on May 15th at 6:30. Taylor also has a game that night, so I am sure it will be interesting trying to get to all the places at once. Taylor plays ball on Thursday night at 7:30 and Saturday at 4:00. Logan plays at 8:30 Saturday morning.
Don’t forget to the ROL coming up on the 19th. Mail checks to us made out to Camp Smile a mile or go to www.campsam.org to donate online. Also, I am having a purse/jewelry party on Sunday, May 6th at 3:30 and the sweet cunsulatant will be donating 75% of the profit to Jim’s ride, so fellowship with the girls and shop!
Pray for Taylor as he continues to do so well. Pray for those who are in pain tonight. Pray for those who are missing their babies tonight. Pray for our little friend Christian who broke his arm last night. Poor guy!
April 30, 2007 Day +1489 Day +1187 off therapy
Back to Monday! It was a bit crazy today at work, but a good day. Taylor had a great day at school. When I went to pick him up he was in car pool line and was sitting on the second row. When they called his name out he tripped and slammed into the floor. I just knew he would cry from pain or embarassement, but he was grinning from ear to ear when he got in the car. He screamed, “I got my year book today and I am on page 6-3″ He had an absolute ball showing me himself, his friends and his 5th grade buddies!
Once we were home they were outside in the sand where they stayed until dinner time! They love it. It is nice too now that I can let Logan out and just sit and watch and have to be right behind him all the time. They fight like cats and dogs, but they have fun. Summer will be nice!
They did end up getting in trouble due to kicking each other and they had to come in. We were going to eat out on the deck, but I made them come in since they were ugly. They still couldn’t be nice inside, so they took a bath and went to bed early with no TV. They were not happy at all!
Please be in prayer for Taylor as he continues to win against the beast!!!! Pray for Evan, Molly, Sarah, Morgan, Madison, Jacob and all the countless others who are still fighting. Pray that those who are in remission may remain that way! Pray for a cure!
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29th
April
2007April 29, 2007 Day +1488 Day +1186 off therapy
6:30 came very early this morning, but Taylor was up, dressed and ready to go. At 9:20 I got a phone call from Taylor telling me that he made it to the races. He was so excited! They went to the store and got a race car, a t shirt and a shot glass. Taylor thinks it is a tiny cup, but I think it is so funny that is what he picked out. He is a goof ball. He predicted that Jeff gordon would win and he did! He bought a #24 shirt and plans to wear it to school tomorrow. They got home around 5:30. I think Taylor would have stayed all day, but Jim knew he had to get home and get ready for school and he wanted to beat some of that traffic.
Thank you to Camp SAM and Tom for this great day!!
Logan and I went to Guh’s house and played while they were gone. Logan was good all day until the end. He was getting tired and was acting up. We got in the car and left and he was asleep in a matter of minutes.
It was another great day! Please continue to pray for Taylor and all his friends that are fighting cancer or other things.
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28th
April
2007April 28, 2007 Day +1487 Day +1185 off therapy
Please be in prayer for the Long family. They have learned this week that Andrew has yet again relapsed. He has two new tumor spots on his spine. Please pray for them as they start the chemo again. www.caringbridge.org/al/andrewlong
Today has been busy yet rather layed back. Is that possible? I guess it has just been full of normal, family stuff and that is always a good thing.
I cooked breakfast. Yes, you all read that right, I Kim Watts, cooked!!! Mark this day down, it don’t happen often! Anyway, I was so proud and we were going to sit at the table and eat and I put some salt on my eggs and the top came off and ALL the salt went on my eggs. UURGH! So, I had bisuits and sausage and not eggs. Oh well!
After my salty breakfast we got ready and went to Lowe’s and bought the stuff to make a sandbox under the club house of the swing set. The boys helped dig out the hole and put the plastic down. Taylor helped shovel out all the sand. We have lattice and screan to put around it to help keep it clean, but it got dark and it didn’t all get done today. However, they have played in the sand all day. They were outside from about 1:30 until 8:20!
I was inside most of the time cleaning and doing laundry I went out a few times to help or watch. They were having a ball and were so very dirty! It was 6:30 before we even thought about food, so guess what I did. I cooked, AGAIN, in the same day. My stove is probably going to blow up! We even ate on the deck only because the kids were so nasty, but it was still fun.
After dinner they made a circle with rocks and made a camp fire. Taylor wants to sleep on the trampoline. We have convinced him to wait until summer when it is warmer. They were going to use the light of the fire to put the netting on the trampoline, but it wasn’t enough, so we put out the fire and came in. They took a bath in my clean tub and made it all nasty again. Isn’t that great!
Taylor has a nasty bruise on his arm. It has a knot in it it is so bad. I was very frantic over it, but after his answer, I really feel better. I am still a worry wart as you all know, but I am okay. When I asked about it he immediately answered with I hit it on a table when I went to Mrs. Pappas’ class. Jim asked him later and he said the same thing. He would have had to hit it hard to get that nasty thing, but he seemed so sure unlike in the past when we get crazy, mixedup answers.
Logan gave us a scare too the other night. He was limping really noticabley late Wednesday night. Just because he is the “healthy” one doesn’t mean we don’t jump at things like that. He had not limped all day and he had played outside, so at first we thought it was from a fall, but we got to looking him over and found a pretty big splinter in the bottom of his foot. Jim got it out and he walked just fine. Praise God!! It was still an eary feeling to see him limp. One of the many Dr’s we saw when Taylor was sick tried to tell us it was from a splinter, so memories did flood back.
Please be in prayer for Evan. They did not get the best of news from the team at MSKCC. He is now back in Memphis gearing up for ICE on Monday. Stop by and leave some kind words and prayers. www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason
Now for the fun news! A while back Taylor was chosen to give away the keys to a Dodge charger that was signed by several Nascar drivers. The car never sold on Ebay, so he did not go today to hand over the keys. However, the very generous man who was selling this car to help Camp still gave Taylor and Jim tickets to Talledega! They will be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning and driving to the races. Taylor is all packed and ready to go. He is excited, but he really has no idea what it is about. I know he will love all those cars and crashes etc. He has his hat, sunglasses, binochulars, race cars and ear plugs ready to go. I know they will have a great time. Thanks a million Tom and Camp SAM!!!
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27th
April
2007April 27, 2007 Day +1486 Day +1184 off therapy
TGIF! It has been a long week with all our field trips, appointments and just getting back in routine after our vacation.
Today was a special day for Taylor. It was grandparent’s and special persons day at school. He had Guh, Ghen Ghen, Gam maw and Paw paw at lunch. It was a very hectic day at the school with all those people, but it was fun. He went to the book fair, twice! He did get Logan a book! He has had a blast with the magic book he got. He went to bed with all the books!
Brianna came home with us again. Thank goodness it was dry today and they played outside for a long time. They were so tired. They all came in and took a nap. Temp, Chris, Jim and I took all 4 kids out to eat. That was fun! No, really they were all good as gold!
Once we got home we just hung out and did nothing. The boys were tired and went to bed around 9:00 which is unusual on a Friday. I think they still have some catch up to do on their sleep after the long week too!
Please pray for Taylor! Pray for Evan who has met with the NB team at MSKCC. Pray for Penelope in NY who is in grat pain. Pray for the Thomas team as they near Christi’s birthday. Pray for all the families out their who need our prayers.
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26th
April
2007April 26, 2007 Day +1485 Day +1183 off therapy
What a nasty morning, but it turned out to be okay. I had a dentist appointment today, so I was off. Logan was none to happy to be dropped off at school knowing that I wasn’t staying. He was not a sweet boy today either.
This afternoon we brought Brianna home with us. She was fine, but Logan was ugly everytime she touched anything. They had a good time, but I wish it would have been dry so they could go outside. They really wanted to.
When Jim got home it was time for me to go to my meeting that happened to be at Tannehill. I took the boys with me and he rode his bike. Remember you can still donate to Jim’s Ride of Love event by mailing us a check made out to Camp Smile a Mile or by going to www.campsam.org and clicking on the donation link. You can tell them it is for Jim’s ROL. Anyway, while I was in my meeting they rode their bikes around Tannehill. They loved it! Logan fell and scrathed his face, but other than that they were good.
I won woman of the year at the meeting. It is voted on by my fellow sorority sisters based on my charity work and helping others. I was very honored!
Please be in prayer for Taylor. Pray that he has beaten the beast for good and will never be faced with cancer again.
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25th
April
2007April 25, 2007 Day +1484 Day +1182 off therapy
Today I went to Josie’s farm with Taylor’s class. We had a good time. It is a working farm and the kids got to feed sheep, goats, pigs, horses and ponies. They brushed the horses too. Taylor fed the goats and sheep, but he threw the horses food on the grownd. I guess that mouth was too big!
He had a blast and really could have cared less that I was there, he was off with his friends. That’s okay though. I am so glad that they had a good time. They are so funnyw when they talk. They talked about ball, but it wasn’t like big boy talk where they talk stats and stuff. They discussed who was on what team and how many boys shared a team. How many jerseys they had that matched etc. It was funny!
It was much later than expected when we got back and my car was blocked in by buses. Yikes! I jumped the curb and got out of there before I got stuck behind all those buses. The boys went outside as soon as they got home. Guh came over and played and we grilled chicken.
It has been a nice, normal day around here and we pray for many more just like it. Please pray for Taylor and all of his friends who are fighting.
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24th
April
2007April 24, 2007 Day +1483 Day +1181 off therapy
Hello all! Today was another busy day. We all had school as usual and then ball practice. Both boys had practice, but I made Logan go hit real quick and we left. We went to eat dinner for Pop’s birthday. Logan was so good, it was shocking. He ate all his food, sat in his seat, didn’t cry, asked nicely to go potty. It was crazy!
Taylor stayed at practice and had a great time as usual. Logan and I got home around 7:30 and the boys got ready for bed and played for a while. They are back to fighting and arguing over toys, but I guess that is okay.
Please be in prayer for Taylor as he continues to win this battle. Pray for Sarah who has had some foot pain and limping. www.caringbridge.org/nc/sarahsmith Pray for Evan who is going to NYC for consults this week. www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason Pray for a new friend www.caringbridge.org/visit/treygreen Pray for all the families out there dealing with their own illness, injury or whatever may be their prayer needs.
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23rd
April
2007April 23, 2007 Day +1482 Day +1180 off therapy
Back to routine! It was not fun getting anyone out of bed this morning. Paw Paw took Taylor to school, so I didn’t have to do that. Taylor thinks that is the coolest thing in town, for Paw paw to bring him to school.
I was by myself today and that was not much fun seeing as all the kids thought I forgot the rules after a week off. It was a bit hectic, but we made it!
Taylor fell asleep at rehearsal for the program. I asked what Mrs. Thornton said and he said, “nothing, she shouldn’t have taken our nap time away” Well! Any other day he wouldn’t want a nap, but he is still tired from his busy week.
Today is day 97 on green. Wow, I can not believe it. I can not believe that this year is almost over, it seems like just yesterday we walked him into his forst day. He told me today that the last song of the program would make me cry! I am sure it will!
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23rd
April
2007April 22, 2007 Day +1481 Day +1179 off therapy
We slept late this morning and then just hung out for a bit. I started on the mountains of laundry that we brought home and unpacked all our stuff. It doesn’t look to bad around here until you enter the bedrooms of 2 little boys. Oh well, we will get to that one day. They have been outside all day long. They have played ball for the longest. They are both so into it!
We went to Gam maw and Paw paw’s where they worked on the deck. I went to the grocery store and then we all went out for dinner. It was a busy yet rahter lazy day. Tomorrow we will get back into out routine, but only for a few short weeks.
Please pray for Taylor as he continues to fight and win against cancer. Pray for Evan as his family continues through this long journey. Pray for Molly who has just had her MRI. Pray for Karissa who had all clear scans!!! Pray for Avery as she continues with her chemo. Pray for Jim as he continues to train for the ROL. Remember donations can be sent to us or to Camp made out to Camp Smile A Mile.
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21st
April
2007April 21, 2007 Day +1480 Day +1178 off therapy
Well, the tooth fairy does travel! She found us all the way in Gatlinburg. Taylor woke up to a 10 dollar bill and a note about how she looked all over until Ernie, the elf, helped her find us. He was thrilled and has carried that note around all day.
we slept until 9:30, so we didn’t get a chance to swim again. The boys didn’t really mind. We packed up and checked out of the hotel. We rode up the mountains. We saw some snow still on the ground, the temp dropped about 15 degrees as we climbed. We got out a few times and took pictures along the way. We stopped at a picnic area and walked around and climbed on rocks. It was making me a nervous wreck watching them jump and hop around the wet rocks in the icey cold water. I know I used to do it too, but that was different!
We then headed back to Pigeon Forger where we had to do some back road driving to miss that traffic jam. We went to the Nascar Speedway park and rode go karts. Well, Taylor did anyway, Logan was too short and he was not happy about it at all! I bought 9 tickets and Taylor got tired of riding before he used them all. He didn’t want to waiste 6 by riding the big one with Jim until it was too late and there wasn’t 6 left. He was riding with some bigger kids and they got too rough and wrecked him a few times and I think he got a bit intimidated because it is not like him to want to get off the go karts! Logan rode a train a few times. He got really mad and chose to wait in line again when he didn’t get to ride the first car of the train. I had t step in when it was his turn though. Since he was the only kid in line the lady running the ride told the people on it they could ride again. Well, a kid that was about 10 years old, way too big for this baby ride, jumped into the first car and Logan went to crying. I told the woman to make her move, she knew he was waiting for that car. The kid got mad and got off all together, oh well, she was too big anyway!
We finally used all the tickets and headed for some lunch. The boys have both eaten great all week long. After lunch and a stop for gas we hit the road towards home. We got home around 8:00. we only stopped for one potty break and the boys threw a ball around for a while and stretched their legs.
It only took them about an hour to destroy their rooms once they got home. They played so good until bed time. It is good to be home and even better to see that it did not rain in the house. Thank goodness, I was worried about it! We had a blast and I wish it could have lasted longer, but it is time to get back to business. Only 4 1/2 more weeks of school. Yahoo!
Please pray for Taylor as he continues to win his battle with NB! Pray for all of our friends who are fighitng. Pray that those in remission remain that way. Pray for a cure in 2007!
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20th
April
2007April 20, 2007 Day +1479 post transplant Day 1177 off therapy
TBIF! Know what that means? Too bad it’s Friday! We are still having a blast and not wanting to head home. we are staying one more night. The kids wanted to stay Saturday night too, but I want Taylor to get home and rest up before going back to school Monday. UURGH, I dread that!
Today we slept late and then took our time getting ready and packed up. We didn’t know if they had any rooms left. We were supposed to go home today, so we had to find a room. There is a car show down here and it is crowded! They did have a room, but we had to move. It was okay though. We took a big step down in terms of room condition when we left SC. However, we are back in the good. It isn’t as nice as the Hilton, but this room is nice. We never did make it to the pool last night and now we are rigt next to it, so we may do it. The kids are actually more in to sitting in the room playing. In fact, we were about go walking here in Gatliburg, but they don’t want to.
After we got the new room today we went Dollywood again. We did Blazing Fury, a roller coaster similar to Thunder Mountain. Taylor didn’t want to do it and I didn’t remember that it was pitch black and that you got wet. OOPS! He was not happy about being wet. It must have rattled him good though because when he got off he was hysterical. His tooth was hanging by a thread, literally! It took a few minutes and some tears, but he pulled it out! He was then very excited!!! We had to go find a mirror to look in. We did the kid section. Logan had a huge melt down because he couldn’t get on anything. We did the ferris wheel and he was a little afraid, but he got over it and liked it. Taylor did his favorite several times, the swings. Time really gets away from you there, it was soon nearly 5:00. We left there and had intentions of going to a go kart place, but the traffic was awful. We bypassed Pigeon Forge and headed back to Gatlinburg where it was less hectic.
We are just hanging out here for a bit until the kids are ready to get out again. I forgot to tell you Logan’s funny the other night at the Braves game. He is a parrot, he will repeat anything. There were vendors all over yelling out what they had. He wasn’t paying any attention or so we thought. It wasn’t long before we heard, “cold beer” coming out of our 3 year olds mouth. The guy behind us said, “i like this kid”. Oh boy, that little boy is a hand full!!!
Well, I better go round them up and head them out the door. It is already 7:30 here. We will be home tomorrow night, probably very late. Until then……
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19th
April
2007April 19, 2007 Day +1478 post transplant Day 1176 off therapy
Whew, we have been busy! After a late bed time last night, Taylor woke me up after 6:00 this morning. He had wet the bed. He was so upset. I am not sure if he was upset due to having an accident or that he had to get up and change, but he was upset. It has been years since he had an accident. I told him it was not a big deal, he was just exhausted after all the playing and traveling he has done. I had to clean up the best I could and put him back to bed on towels. I called house keeping this morning and had them come give us all new bedding.
We went to Dollywood today. I had been as a child and remember loving it. Jim nor the boys had ever been. We bought season passes since it was only a few dollars more. We plan to go again tomorrow and possibly the next day. We know we will come back at least once this summer, so we will get our money out of it. We didn’t ride a whole lot since it was rather cold and rainy, but we got some fun in. I rode the Mystery mine and that was fun. The kids played on a play ground for a while. They would do that all day long. We did the Dollywood train and scoped out the park. We then did the 50’s cars. Jim and Logan went first so that he could take pictures of Taylor riding. Logan thought his car was faster since he was ahead. He is so funny! They both loved driving. We did the Veggie Tales roller coaster or “coller roaster” as Lolo calls it. Logan did not like it at all. Taylor had to ride alone and I didn’t think he was going to like it, but he was fine! Taylor wanted to ride the swings, you know the old fair type swings that go up high and swing. Luckily, they have double ones that we rode together. I was afraid he wouldn’t like it, but he loved it. It wasn’t crowded, so she let us stay on and go again. I think he would have done it all day. We headed home after that ride since it was looking like it was about to rain. They were okay with that since they know we are going back tomorrow and tomorrow is suppsed to be pretty and much warmer.
We did a little more outlet shopping and Taylor had an all out fit. I mean it was a doozy!!! We let them get something out of a quarter machine. Taylor got a gun necklace and Logan got a hand cuf key chain. Taylor decided he wanted what Logan had and Logan wouldn’t trade. I was trying to get him another quarter so he could get another one and he said he was going to kick me. Well, I kept my quarter since he was going to be ugly. He got worse and worse. He was kicking walls and threw the quarter he already had into the bushes. He got the toy he already had taken away. We left the place and he was still going nuts. He is calm down now, but pouty since he didn’t get his new toy and lost his old one and his quarter! It is tuff being 6!
Well, I guess that is about it. The pictures from Sunday through Wednesday are posted. Scroll down to the first update on the 18th for a link. I am sure he will get the latest ones up soon. We will be going to dinner soon then possibly hitting the indoor pool. They have been wanting to swim all week. Logan is alseep, so we will have to see how it goes. We were planning to come home tomorrow, but they want to stay. It isn’t crowded, so we will see if we get all we want to do done tomorrow and see how behavior goes and decide if we will stay one more night.
Funnies for the day. We had ice cream at lunch and Jim ate his very fast. Taylor looked at him and said, “do you have a brain freeze?” Logan told Taylor, “you have a freakin’ attitude!”. They keep us on our toes, I tell ya. What are we going to do?
Please keep Taylor in prayers. Pray that he will continue to conquer his cancer and never again be faced with it again. Pray for all of our friends!!!
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18th
April
2007Pictures finally posted…
We made it to Gatlinburg in our tour across the Southeast and back! Pictures are here.
http://www.taylorwatts.org/photogallery/springbreak07/
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18th
April
2007April 18, 2007 Day +1477 post transplant Day 1175 off therapy
Why Hello there! Sorry for not posting sooner, but it was 1:00AM before we hit Gatlinburg last night.
Today we got up and packed up and headed towards Savannah. We just rode through town and looked around, we didn’t really have time for anything else since we had such a long drive to Atlanta. We were starved and there is nothing for miles and miles. We finally found a KFC and Taco Bell and pulled in. Those are places we rarely go, but the boys lapped up the KFC. I don’t know if they liked it that much or if they were just starved!
We went to a few outlets in the mall before heading to Turner Field. We got there real early so that they could watch batting practice. Taylor loved it! He caught a ball too! Well, sort of. #33 Oscar V-something caught it and threw it right to him and with Jim’s help he “caught” it. He was soooo excited! He carried that ball around proudly! He cracked me up when he asked why they had 2 infields and 2 outfields. He was confused since they have grass around the pitchers mound and his infield is all dirt. Logan was very tired and being very ugly and ended up rubbing the sun screen into his eyes and didn’t want to do anything. He and Jim sat and watched warm ups while Taylor and I went up to the fan area. He liked that. There was a place where he got to run bases. He sat in a HUGE chair, it was so big he couldn’t get his leg up in it. We were not up there long and we went back. There was a place to go in and hit machine pitched balls, but he didn’t want to do it. He found a small wooden bat that he wanted, but i had no money on me, so he went to find his daddy. While they were getting the bat and balls they wanted they ran into a friend from Taylor’s ball team last year. He was so excited to go all the way to Atlanta and find a friend. The game soon started and they liked it. Logan loved it when they broke their bats and it happened quite a few times. Taylor didn’t get balls and walks since they do not use that in their league, but he enjoyed it. He watched the 2nd baseman play and dive to catch balls, I don’t think we will see that anytime soon from Taylor. We left at about 9:30, it was only the 5th inning, but we had a 4 hour drive ahead of us.
Logan fell asleep pretty quickly, but Taylor took a little longer. It was a long boring drive, but we made it safely. I could tell we were tired due to the giggling go on. We laughed at not very funny stuff all the way through Pigeon Forge and Gatlingburg. Finally, around 1:30 we were in the bed. Logan was ride awake after his 4 hr nap. We left cartoons on and we all went to bed.
Please continue to pray for Taylor as he beats NB!!! Pray for the folks in Virginia and Virgina Tech as they grieve after the masacre on Monday.
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17th
April
2007UPDATE #2 “OPEN OR CLOSED?”
After I left you earlier we went back outside for a while. There was a really loud and rather bossy little boy out there and we left the playground and went to the beach. We played for a while and found shells and took more pictures. We took over 200 TODAY! We played for an hour or so and then headed back to the playground. Taylor was ahead of us and screams back to us, “that kid is still there”. Since we knew that he was heard we just went back to the room. He was not realy happy, but we were not going to go sit with these folks after that.
We went back up to the room. I started packing for us to leave tomorrow. We opened the balcony door and let the kids run in and out and play. We decided to go find a snack and some milk for Logan, so Jim shut the door and started getting ready to go. The kids were still playing and not paying any attention. Taylor ran across the room to go back outside and slammed right into the sliding glass door. He was knocked all the way to the floor. He was crying, but Jim and I were laughing too hard to be able to ask if he was okay. I guess you had to be here to think it was funny, but trust me it was. He was fine, I think more embarassed than hurt. We talked about the commercial where the birds shut the door and make the man run into it and that that was why it was funny not because he got hurt. He really wasn’t hurt! Later on Logan looked at taylor and said, “why did you run into the door?”
We went to mcDonald’s and got some milk and a cinnamon melt. The boys wanted happy meals or rather ATRN2 turtles, that would be teenage mutant ninja turtles to us, but to Logan it is ATRN2. I don’t ask? Anyway, when we got back to the room and we were snacking Taylor started screaming and shaking like crazy. You know me, I am immediately alarmed. He had bitten his chicken with his loose tooth and almost pulled it out. He was hysterical! He stood in front of a mirror for a long time pushing it with his tongue with his hands cupped under his chin. As you may recall, his first tooth fell out and he lost it in the car. We found it, but I guess he was going to make sure he had this one. It never did fall out, but it is hanging. He went to sleep afraid he would swallow it, I hope not as that would really freak him out!
Tomorrow we will leave here and head to Savannah, GA. to look around before we go to Atlanta to see the Braves play the Cubs. We will then head to Gatlinburg for a few days at Dollywood before we go home on Friday. The week is flying by, but we are having a blast and taking enough pictures to never forget a minute of it! Until tomorrow…….
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17th
April
2007April 17, 2007 Day +1476 post transplant Day 1174 off therapy
What a busy day we had. We got up around 8:30 and got ready to hit the beach. It was still a bit breezy, so the boys were in swim trunks and sweat shirts, a nice look, huh! They had a ball. They dug to China and back I think. Taylor made a tunnel to drive his boat into. They had buckets of water to pack it with, they were happy as could be. They took time out to fly a kite. That was easy in the wind. They loved running along the beach with it. It is against the law to leave it tied to something during certain hours, but we didn’t know the hours, so we put it away after a they tired of running with it. They tried to play frisbee, but it was too windy to throw it around and Logan had no idea how to play and got really upset about it.
I was quite content sitting in my chair watching them play. Little did I know I was getting burnt to a crisp. I guess sun screen slipped my mind since it was freezing cold and one side of me is as red as a lobster, another great look! The boys had their backs to it playing in the sand, so they are okay. Logan has a little pink spot about where his sunglasses were, but otherwise he is okay.
Jim went and rented a bike and had a buggy on the back for them to ride in. We were all going to get one, but the boys would not leave the sand. He got himself one to see if we could entise them with it. He took them for a ride down the beach. That kills me, the sand is so packed here that you can ride on it, you can’t do that on our Alabama beaches. Well, the plan worked and they wanted bikes, so off we went. We rented me and Taylor a bike. We knew that we would never get anywhere with Logan on one, so we didn’t even ask about one for his size. We took him in the buggy. I think he was a little scared of it because he wanted the flap closed over him at all times. I was a nervous wreck with Taylor. We were in a bike lane, but it was right next to the road. Taylor was doing fine, but I was so scared he would fall off or drift into the road. He made it fine though. There was a cool little bridge that took you over the high way, you could go all over the island on a bike id you wanted too. We rode for a while and took some pictures of the trees. We found a back way into the Pirate’s golf place and took in a round. Boy, you better like to golf if you come here. I was the score keeper and picture taker. I videoed a little bit of it, but you know it all looks the same after a while, so I stopped. Wouldn’t you know that after I turn it off Taylor got a hole in one! The look on his face was priceless, he was so excited! Logan has a style all his own. He held the putter backwards, upside down and like a bat. He hit it the first time and where ever it landed he picked it up and moved it closer to the hole hen putted it in. He got a 2 or 3 on most holes and was quite proud of himself! Turkey! He was a little upset when the ball was taken away on the 18th hole, but he got a flag when he returned his putter, so he was happy again.
After our golf game we rode our bikes back to the shop and turned them back in and walked back to the hotel. We got cleaned up and headed out to lunch/dinner, it was nearly 4:00. We have been so busy we didn’t eat. We went to Harbour Town and ate at the Crazy Crab. It was yummy! We walked around the town and found an awesome playground. Taylor learned how to cross the monkey bars. He was so funny. He did some one handed hanging too and about gave mom a heart attack. It is so funny! I remember riding my bike all over the place, hanging on the monkey bars, jumping out of swings etc, but when he does it my heart flutters! I am getting old I guess. Another prime example, I used to ride all over Tannehill on my nike with no hands eating or drinking. I could go all day and never touch the handlebars. Today was the first time I have been on a bike in probably 10 years and I was afriad to take one hand off to scratch!!!
We are back in the hotel now. we are mapping out what to do next, we check out of here tomorrow. We are going to a Braves game tomorrow night and then we do not know. We are just roaming around this week and seeing what we see! Jim is still looking into the pics, but I promise it is worth the wait, they are cute!
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16th
April
2007April 16, 2007 Day +1475 post transplant Day 1173 off therapy
Another great day! We had breakfast at the Moose Cafe again. They have the biggest pancakes on Earth! We really wanted to go to Chimney Rock, but there were wind gusts of 45 mph and we didn’t think that was the best place to be with wind like that. It is still so cold, but we were bundled in our new sweat shirts. We headed out of town and Gam maw and Paw Paw headed towards home and us towards Hilton Head, SC. We got to our hotel, the coolest place I have ever seen, and found that it was 72 degrees, but still very windy.
We went to the beach for a while. The beaches here are not like ours in Alabama. The sand is dark and full of shells. The hotel is way off the water, there is beach for ever before you hit the ocean. It is also not crowded. There were about 5 people on the beach with us. Not like Alabama on spring break, it is nice. They also have tons of shells, Taylor has alreadu found a HUGE one. We had to go buy buckets to collect them in. They can not wait until tomorrow to get out there in their play colthes and really get busy. The pools were full of people. I felt the water and it was freezing. I talked to the lofe guard about it as I am sure we looked nuts in jeans and sweat shirts and they were swimming. She said they were all from New England and it was hot to them.
We went to eat and to get sand toys and did a little shopping. There is not much here in the way of kids, but we did find a goofy golf place that we plan to do tomorrow evening. We also plan to rent bikes to ride here on the resort property. It is gorgeous, the streets are all completely covered with huge, old trees. We can’t wait to get pictures! Speaking of pictures, we were going to put the news ones up, but it wouldn’t work for some reason. He will keep trying, but it may have to wait until we are back home.
The kids have been funny all weekend. We were driving today and Taylor said look theres something. We didn’t understand him and kept asking and he would repeat it and say right in front of your face. Finally, he sceams “Filmore” and points the van in front of us. Filmore is the van from Cars. He is so funny!
It is now after 10:00 here and the boys (all 3) are in bed watching Home Alone. I am gioing to snuggle with Logan in the biggest, most snuggly bed I have ever seen……
Please pray for Taylor as he continues to win his battle. Pray he never again faces cancer. Pray for all our friends that are fighting! Pray for Mr. Mc who is not doing real well. We love you all!
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15th
April
2007April 15, 2007 Day +1474 post transplant Day 1172 off therapy
What a crazy day! We got up to about a 65 degree day. we got ready and headed to the Biltmore House. As soon as we hit the road the rain started to pour down. We had to run into the house, but other than that it didn’t really matter that it was wet. The house is simply AMAZING. That is the only way to describe it, if you have never been, go. It is 175,000 sq. ft. My house would fit in the dining hall twice. That one room is 70×40 with 70 ft cielings or 3,000 sq ft. WOW! Taylor liked it for a while and then he got bored. He had a head set that was telling him the details of each room and you could see that he was looking for things that were being pointed out such as paitings and secret doors. he really liked those! Gam maw and Paw Paw had been there before so they took them out for food and a change of pace and we finished the tour. We met back up for a behind the scenes tour of things you didn’t see in the regular tour. Again, it was amazing. It showed how the nearly 100 staff ran the house back in the early 1900’s. The things that house had in that time was amazing.
As the day wore on it got colder and colder and when we left the house it was snowing! Yes, big, huge flakes and they were swirling like a blizzard. It was pretty cool. We had to go to K mart and buy sweat shirts, we were not prepared for the 35 degree temps. The wind was whipping like a hurricane was coming. street signs and lights were going crazy. When we got back to the hotel the power was out and it flickered most of the night. It was a crazy day.
We had a blast today and learned a lot too. North Carolina is a very pretty place, the mtns are gorgeous! We ate at the Moose Cafe and it was very yummy. We will load up tomorrow and head down to South Carolina. I hope it is warmer! Until tomorrow…..
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14th
April
2007April 14, 2007 Day +1473 post transplant Day 1171 off therapy
Today was wet and windy. Logan did get to play his 9:30 game this morning. He did very good. He payed attention and would run wherever the ball was hit. He also took his glove off to throw, but we wont think about that. He was trying his best to hit without the tee, but had to use it. He ran and slid into hopme like he loves to do.
After the game we headed home to pack up for our spring break getaway. We did not know if Taylor would play due to the threat of severe weather. It was raining all afternoon, but not severe, so we were just waiting. The coach finally just called it off since no one really wanted to be out in the wet severe or not. Since we were not going to play we loaded up early and hit the road. The trip started off funny. We passed a car that looked just like Herbie, it was cute.Taylor wanted to eat right then and we wanted to get on down the road, so I gave him something to look for thinking that would keep him busy for a while. Nope, he found a to I 20 sign in about 10 seconds. We stopped for dinner after an hour or so and then we got busy driving. When we crossed into Ga. we told the boys to hold their feet up and they did. About 10 miles later Logan said, “can I put my feet down?” Too funny! We drove in the rain the entire way, but not too bad. I just hope it wasn’t raining in my living room!
It was about 10:00 our time when we got to our hotel. The kids were so excited to be there. Well, Logan was mad he wasn’t on vacation. He doesn’t get it at all. He thinks vacation means the house we stayed in in Ga a few months ago. He has asked the whole trip when are we going on bacation? We got unloaded and went to bed. We have gig plans for tomorrow, so stay tuned…..
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13th
April
2007April 13, 2007 Day +1472 post transplant Day 1170 off therapy
Friday the 13th, it didn’t mean much for us. Taylor’s team lost their game, but that is nothing new. The poor little fellows haven’t won yet. They try so hard, but it just doesn’t go their way. However, I am happy to say that our little Taylor scored 2 of the 5 runs they scored and batted in one run. Way to go Taylor! The boys don’t car if they win or lose, they just want to have fun and that we did. Most of the team went to McDonald’s after the game for ice cream. They had a blast playing in the play area. Someone had the bright idea of sliding down the slide on a tray and it was so funny! I don’t know who had more fun, the kids or the parents.
After a late night, it was 10:00 before we left Mcd’s, we headed home for bed. The rest of the day was just an average day. Guh came over to play for a while before the game. They played outside and caught caterpillars. Taylor loves the nasty things and he found one so big he was afraid to pick it up, but he got it in the bug box! Yipee!
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12th
April
2007April 12, 2007 Day +1471 Day +1169 off therapy
Mark your calendar!! Tuesday, May 1st at 6:00 in the McAdory Elementary school lunch room. Taylor’s end of the year program. I know you all want to see it anyway, but now you have insentive. The class with the most visitors wins a popcorn party and the teacher gets $25 to spend on her classroom. I know you want Taylor to get a party and his wonderful teacher to get some money. Come and down and see the school and what all Taylor has learned. Also, Logan’s program is on Tuesday, May 15th at Pleasant Hill UMC. I am not sure of a time yet. I will let you know.
One more day and then we are out!!! Yahoo! I am so ready, but I wish the weather would be better! It isn’t supposed to be very warm. Oh well!
Today was a good day for us all. Logan got in trouble at school for screaming. I forgot to tell you about his trouble yesterday. He headbutted a teacher when she bent to tie his shoe. Guess what? He got the bad end as he had a big ole red spot on his forehead! NUT!
Both boys have practice tonight. I am not really looking forward to it. I really should be cleaning and packing, but I am just not in the mood for that. I will get to it at the last minute I guess.
Well, be sure to pray for Taylor to never again have to face cancer. Also, to skip the chicken pox! Pray for Evan, Carter, Sarah, Morgan, Peyton and the many more who need our prayers.
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11th
April
2007April 11, 2007 Day +1470 Day +1168 off therapy
Today was a yucky day and it didn’t get much better when we got home! Taylor woke up barking like a seal and stuffed up. UURGH! I guess playing catch in the rain wasn’t a good idea. He didn’t feel bad and we used some saline to clear him up some and then we went off to school. I worried about him all day long. I don’t know why, I had no real reason to be worried about.
After school Logan and I went to carpool and sat and it started to get darker and thunder. We got Taylor and got home just in time as the bottome fell out of the sky by the time we got in the house. I put Logan to bed and was helping Taylor turn on a movie and I heard a noise. Uh oh, the cieling was leaking all the way across the bay window. It looked like we had 70’s beads hanging it was dripping so fast. I called Jim and he called Paw paw who cleaned out the gutters. We are hoping that that is all the problem was as it was pretty full of leaves and gunk. It never rained another drop, so we don’t know yet, but I am sure we will get to see Saturday as we are expecting severe weather. UURGH! Let us pray that it is taken care of as I really don’t want to trade in spring break for roof repairs.
The boys played outside for a while after the storms blew past. Logan got one of those worm looking things out of the trees in his shirt and he went bananas. He screamed ad jumped “theres a patapillar in my shirt”. We showed him what it was and he was okay, but that heart was going 90 miles and hour.
Please pray for Taylor as he continues to kick NB butt!! Pray for all the kids out there who are still fighting.
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10th
April
2007April 10, 2007 Day +1469 Day +1167 off therapy
Hello all on this wet afternoon. We all had a good day at school today, but ball practice got cancelled due to weather. Taylor was not a very happy guy either. He is very much into practice right now.
Everyone had a good day ay school today. Logan and I had a few errands to run after school and then we headed over to get Taylor. We went home and did some clean up and changed clothes to head to practice. Taylor got to catch with his friends for a few minutes while we waited on the coach to get there. It was raining by then, so he just sent us home. I knew Logan wouldn’t practice in the rain, so we headed to McDonald’s for a birthday party. The kids had a blast and played and played!
We have learned of another case of chicken pox and this time it is in Taylor’s class. I am praying really hard that we stear clear of this and IF we must get them lets wait until after spring break. Taylor has some red spots in the bends of his knees that have me up in arms. I am sure it is dry skin (it is not a bump), but when I saw red I got scared!!
Please keep Taylor in your prayers as he continues to win against NB!!
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9th
April
2007April 9, 2007 Day +1468 Day +1166 off therapy
Hello all! I am so thrilled that it the start of a new work/school week. Last week was one I would like to put behind us. I want no more sickness out of anyone!!!
Taylor went to school today and had a blast. The teachers put on a talent show and it must have been great as he talked non stop all the way home. He forgot his red folder that is where all communication between us and the teacher takes place, so I hope there is nothing in there we need to deal with immediately. Oh well! He found an egg as we were pulling in the driveway and had to hop out and get it and found 2 more while he was getting that one. He is so excited. He looks out the windows and thinks he spots one and runs out to look. He is so silly!
Logan had a good day at school, but a pretty crappy day in car pool. He is so tired and his nose is just dripping non stop, so I bet he doesn’t feel his best. He is mad right now, but in his bed. I am sure he will be out in no time.
Taylor’s practice got cancelled today. Yahoo! oops, did I let that out. I love ball season, I love the ball park and the games and visiting with friends, but I hate practice. We will now only practice on Tuesday and Thursday and we will practice at the same spot as Logan, so I will not kill myself trying to get them both to a different spot. When it gets warm, I wont mind as much, but when it is cold is no fun to just sit there. Anyway, enough on that topic!
I have a few dates for you to jot down IF you are interested. Taylor will his his end of the year program “How does your kinder”garden” grow” where he will be a veggie, on May 1st at 6:00. Logan will have his end of the year prgoram on May 15th and I am not sure of the exact time right now.
Please be in prayer for Taylor as he continues to win the battle against NB. Pray for all those who are NED to remain that way. Pray for those who are still treating to get to NED soon. Pray for a cure!!!
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8th
April
2007April 8, 2007 Day +1467 Day +1165 off therapy
Happy Easter or Bunny Rabbit Day as Logan calls it.
I hope you all had a wonderful day! We certainly did. Taylor woke me up at about 7:30 and asked if he could look at his basket. He went to get Logan and off they went. He has decided that Ernie (our elf from Christmas) told the Easter bunny what he liked. We agreed because how else could he have known that Taylor liked Dick and Jane books reese cups and Logan liked tractor books and pez?
We went to church where we heard a great message. Logan went with Taylor to children’s minute for the first time. He liked it, but looked a little confused when it was over and all the kids took off. Taylor was very kind and pulled him back by the sleeve:) They did very good in church and colored. After church we got to meet Peytona and her mommy, Tara. It was so nice to finally meet them in person. We are so glad to have ANOTHER miracle in our community.
We headed to Guh’s house after church. We had lunch then an egg hunt. There were 201 eggs and we only found 197. She has prizes bagged up and numbered. After we all had prizes and we saw what was left no one wanted to go looking. Not that candy bars aren’t good prizes, but the $$$ prizes would have drawn them all back out in the yard. After the egg hunt the kids went out to play ball and the grown ups sat inside.
We are now back home. Taylor is playing and Logan is sacked out on the couch. We have gotten ready for school tomorrow and picked up all our Easter stuff away. We just need to take a bath and head to bed.
I hope you all had a Blessed Easter. We certainly did. Please be in prayer for Taylor and his friends as they battle their diseases. Pray that Taylor never again faces cancer in his life. I hear that chicken pox have hit the kindergarten class. Pray that they do not hit Taylor and if it must then it must do it after spring break!!!
Happy Easter Friends!
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7th
April
2007April 7, 2007 Day +1466 Day +1164 off therapy
What a busy day we have had! The boys stayed with Gam maw last night after a VERY cold night at the ball park. The boys did pretty good at the game. It was all tied up and Taylor caught a grownder and if he had thrown it to 1st and got the guy out we could have held them, but he had his hand down in his shirt sleeve because he was cold and couldn’t get his hand out to throw the ball. I know he was upset with everyone yelling. We couldn’t see what was wrong we just thought he wasn’t throwing it. He got upset and cried, but it is okay. They have to learn (the coaches need to learn that it is just a game and they are only 6) and they will get better!
This morning we had our Easter egg hunt. Taylor was thrilled that some pals from school and ball came. They had a blast! We played until it was past time to head to the ball park and then we went to McDonald’s. We didn’t get a good practice in before the game, but it was too cold to make the stay out there any longer than they had too.
It was just as cold today as last night. The boys didn’t do too hot today. I think they were just too darn cold to play. Our head coach was out due to bringing home his new baby girl from the hospital. Congrats guys! The coaches that were there let the boys all swap positions and get some experience elsewhere. Taylor did some hind catching. He did it once last year and hated it, but he likes it yesterday. He even caught a few. The other team got a 10 run lead and we got to leave early. It was so cold that I didn’t really care who won, I just wanted to go home!
We took the boys to see Firehouse Dog. It was cute. They really laughed when the dog burped or pooted. Typical boys! Taylor got a little scared during the fires, but he was okay. Once again, that hand never stopped moving from the popcorn bucket. He is going to turn into popcorn!
Once we got home we played a little bit then went to bed. We had to get ready for the Easter bunny.
Please be in prayer for Taylor. He is eating great, running and feeling fine. There is always a head ache, a dent in the head, a red spot, a burn etc that is bothering him. I think he just talks to hear himself talk. I MUST learn to let it go and not worry about every little thing that pops up, but it is hard. Pray for Peyton who got all negatives on her tests this week. God is good!
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6th
April
2007April 6, 2007 Day +1465 Day +1163 off therapy
Hi there. Thank goodness everyone is feeling good today and went to school. Taylor went to ball practice last night and did great and felt great. He ate good all day long even ate pizzza. I was afraid that may come back, but it didn’t. He has been complaining of a headache and I do worry, but I think he has really learned to push my buttons. He has also limped around due to a pin hole size boo boo on his knee. He hit his elbow on the door and it was a 45 minute ordeal. I think he is full of drama and I will have to learn to deal with and weed through it to know what is real. He has eaten like a horse since he got home and played. In fact they have gone to their rooms for throwing a ball and knocking over stuff on the mantel and wrestling. I think he is fine!
Paw Paw took him to school today. He thought that was cool! I still got up at the same time, but I didn’t have to rush to get me and Logan ready. That was nice. Taylor had a filed trip today. He had a jelly bean hunt and a Easter bonnet parade. He liked his hat we made and he was wearing it when I picked him up, so I guess he enjoyed it. They looked cute coming out in their silly hats.
Logan has had a good day too. His game got cancelled tomorrow due to the cold. It is just going to be too cold for the little kids. I am glad really as we have so much to do this weekend that that is just one thing we can mark off. He wont know the difference anyway. Taylor has a game tonight and tomorrow at 2:30. I am not looking forward to the one tonight in the cold. BURRR!!!
Well, I better go. They are dressed and ready. We have to load up the car with ball stuff and blankets. It should be a fun night.
Pray for Taylor and that he never again faces cancer. Pray for us all! Pray for Peyton who had a slight change in her DX, but hopefully will not change things too much. www.caringbridge.org/visit/peytonsheheane Pray for Evan who is HOME! www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason
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5th
April
2007April 5, 2007 Day +1464 Day +1162 off therapy
Last night didn’t turn out to be too bad afterall. Taylor was ready for bed by about 10:30. He wanted to sleep with me and I have to say I was not real keen on the idea after just putting clean sheets on it where he puked on it earlier, but I gave in. As soon as he touched the bed he yelled turn the light on and he took off to the potty. He tried to throw up and poop, but nothing would come out. I don’t know if he just got up too fast and upset his tummy or what. He asked to go back to the floor, so he slept in the floor and I slept on the couch. It was not very comfy, but we made it. He was really upset about his tummy hurting after he laid back down. I gave him some Benadryl, that will help with the naussea and put him to sleep. He was waiting for Amareica’s funniest Home videos to come on and fell asleep as it came on. I don’t think he moved all night. He woke up at about 9:00 and jumped up and started eating and playing. I was going to go on and check him in, but I thought we better just play it safe and make sure he is better. However, from the sounds of it up there, he is better. Although, fighting brothers never sounded so sweet.
I am so thankful that it is over and I have had many people email me with their own “bug” stories. Thank you all for helping me through these hard times. You would think 4 years later I would get over it, but it is often harder now that when he was on treatment.
I will update again later. I am sure nothing too exciting will happen with us at home, I certainly hope not anyway. Please be in pray for Taylor as he heals from this tummy bug and pray he never again faces cancer. Pray for Peyton as she scans today. www.caringbridge.org/visit/peytonsheheane Pray for Evan as he continues on his new chemo www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason Pray for Karissa who had scans yesterday. www.caringbridge.org/al/karissa Pray for all the boys and girls out there who are fighting.
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4th
April
2007April 4, 2007 Day +1463 Day +1161 off therapy
Why is Satan in my mind? I have to kick him out fast before he makes me looney. Today started out okay, but got a little rockey. Taylor didn’t want to get up, but I chalked it up to being at ball late and going to bed late. He then cried when I asked him to eat. That is unusual, but again I just assumed he was still half asleep. He got dressed and went to school. He played his playstation in the car just like every day, but he kept laying his head down and cuddling baby (his blanket). I thought that was odd, but when I asked him if he was okay he said, “Yeah, I am just sleepy.” I took him on to school and headed to work where we had a busy day ahead with an Eater party and egg hunt. At about 9:20 or so I barely heard my cell phone ring and when I answered it it was the school calling. Taylor was throwing up. NO! That can not be!
It was odd because just yesterday I was reading a magazine about small things that end up scaring you in school and one of them was throwing up. I thought how lucky I was that that never happened to me and that I hoped it never happened to my kids and boom there it is! Poor Guy! I asked him if he was upset about it and he said no. Maybe it is a girl thing. Lucky for us we have the cancer kid who knows how to be neat about it. I don’t mean that to be ugly really, but it is true. He almost made it to the bathroom at school. I feel awful for Mrs. Thornton. We are so sorry! I would never have sent him if I thought he was sick. He went to the health room to wait for daddy. Luckily, he is still off and picked him up and I didn’t have to leave work. He threw up in Jim’s jeep. I hate that, but better his car than mine, he has drain plugs and we can just hose it out! He took a nap and then started to perk up. He went outside to watch Jim wash the car out and he got on his bike and ended up throwing up again. It was not much luckily and he just sat in a chair in the garage and rested while Jim got the mess out of the car.
I got home and he threw a ball to me from his chair a few times before wanting to go lay down. He stayed in the floor all afternoon. He wanted chicken nuggets, but didn’t eat any. He has had water though, I guess that is good. He finally got up and got in MY bed after we begged him too and not 5 minutes later he had puked. UURGH! It was on the sheets, but that is okay. He threw up in the floor a little then started to dry heave there is just nothing left. He looked so pitiful, I felt so helpless and scared. He went back to his post on the living room floor and started to EAT. Kids are crazy!
He fell asleep around 5:00 and slept until after 7:00. We worked on getting pea gravel in the play area outside while he slept. I peaked in on him every few minutes. I came in one time and he was gone. I took off looking and the poor guy was on the potty. It is now coming out the other end. I guess that is better than the alternative, but he still feels yuck. He went right back to the floor when he was done and so far (it is 9:50) he has not been sick again. He has had several cups of water and some slatines. Jim and I had pizza and he wanted some, but we didn’t feel like that was a very good idea. I left it up to him, but when there was a mention of the possibility of being sick he no longer wanted pizza. He is watching TV and seems to be perking up. He has laughed a few times and he laid with Jim on the couch for a bit. He has gotten to where now he answer my questions with silly noises where as today they were simple yes or no answers.
I called into work. I certainly hope that there is no more sickness tonight, but I wanted to be safe and not spread it to his friends. I also think we will be up a long time seeing as he had such a long and late nap. He has to get to feeling better for the field trip Friday for a jelly bean hunt. I have no idea what that is, but we want him to be well enough to find out!
Logan played outside trying to help us with our project. He sat in the jeep so he could ride with Jim as he moved the trailer around to empty the gravel in different areas. When Jim finished the last load and went to move the jeep to the driveway, he found Logan fast asleep, curled up in a ball on the passenger seat. How Cute. He is still asleep, but has had some very restless moments. I guess he will get up early since he went to sleep so late and Taylor will sleep all day since he will be up all night. Oh well, as long as they both get healthy we will survive!
Please pray that Taylor has a tummy bug that is over SOON. I did talk to Meredith, of course, and she assures me that there is a bug going around and he has had NO fever, so that makes me feel much better. Pray for Evan as he has started his ICE. Pray for Peyton as she goes to the hospital tomorrow for scans. Pray for all the kids out there. Visit www.sharethelove.org for many websites of children battling illness and injury.
March 31, 2007 Day +1459 Day +1157 off therapy
Today was very busy! Jim left early to do Century Tuscaloosa a 100 mile bike ride. I had to get both boys up and ready to be at the ball park by 9:00. Logan had a grand time at the park, but didn’t do much playing ball. He hit good and “walked” the bases, but when it was time to be in the field he was just playing in the dirt and would not get up. That is what most of them were doing, so I guess it is okay.
After his game I threw shorts on him and we went to Alabama Adventure and got season passes. Thank you Gam maw and Paw Paw. We are ready to use them!!! The boys love it and it is so close and easy to run over there for a while any day of the week. Logan did very well after we xeplained that we were only going to get the cards made and that it was not open and we could not stay and play. At first he looked upset, but I guess he could clearly see that it wasn’t open, we were the only people there.
After that stop we went to Cracker Barrel for lunch. That was yummy as always and the kids were not behaving very well. I am not sure what has gotten into the lately. They are not the mose well behaved creatures, but they can usually be tamed, but not lately. I am at my wits end. After a quick stop at walmart we were headed back to the ball park, our second home.
Again we lost, but the boys played like new men. They were on top of it this time. Taylor made several plays today and made outs. Way to go man. He hit every time and hit well! He did get out at second, but that is just the way it goes sometimes. He scored 2 other times. His buddy Cole made 2 homeruns and boy were we excited! Way to go Cole! Taylor was just excited for him as he was for himself! They had a great time. I had a lot of my students on the other team, so this was a hard game to know who to cheer for. All of them did great!
After the game all us girls rushed out with 2 very dirty boys and went to Guh’s house for a party. After the party we rushed back out with 2 semi cleaned up boys to Uncle Bob’s birthday dinner. Logan was very eager to get in the cake and had a hard time waiting until dinner was over, but he managed. After dinner was over it was time to go home and go to bed. We were all exhausted after such a busy day!
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30th
March
2007March 30, 2007 Day +1458 Day +1156 off therapy
What a day! We slept late especially Taylor! We just hung out and watched tv for a while this morming. We soon had to get up and get ready to go to the Dr. Taylor had his follow up with Dr. Ansari, the pulminologist. The kids were not very good at the Dr. and they were in big trouble because of it. I really do not have all the details since I couldn’t talk to the Dr. Taylor does have reflux, but doesn’t seem to have damge from it. He has started prevacid for a month and if it seems to be helping him we will take it for 2 more months and see Dr. Ansari in July. If it doesn’t seem to help we will not refill it again and still go back in July to discuss further treatment options. He has not shown any outward signs of reflux other than the cough where gunk goes back into the lungs (which I had no clue was due to reflux) and has no damage, so we feel confident that the meds can help him and no surgical procedures will be needed. I certainly pray that it helps and no furhter invasice procedure is needed. He also put him on Zithromax to go with the Augmentin. He did this due to the fact that he is still coughing so bad after 6 days of meds. He has not seen the x ray done last week, but he feels that the spot that Dr. Corotpassi saw was indeed walking pneumonia not just asthma related gunk in the chest. The Zithromax is a different strand of meds and will take care of the pneumonia and the augmentin will get the sinus stuff. Poor guy! Is that contagious? I hate that he was at school all week if that was the problem, but I had no clue and apparently neither did the Dr. I went ahead and called in some more Albuturol too, but he doesn’t think he will need it at much once the zithromax kicks in.
We stopped by CVS to fill ALL the meds for my poor 6 year old. He took way more that that after his transplant, but it is still sad to give him all that at once. Poor guy! The boys were asleep and it was nearly time for ball practice, so I just parked and read a magazine while I waited for the meds to be ready. While I was there a bad wreck happened right in front of the store, so I had some action to watch. I pray that men involved are okay and the the two ladies are mentally ok. I saw that they were not physically hurt, but I know they were shaken, it was not a pretty sight. The boys woke up and we we went to get the meds and then headed to ball practice. Logan had a blast with all the other siblings. He was sooooo very nasty, but he had fun!
Once ball was over we picked up some pizza and headed home. I had to get off my butt and get the house clean for teh egg hunt this weekend. I have put it off until there is no more time. Oh well!
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29th
March
2007March 29, 2007 Day +1457 Day +1155 off therapy
It is Friday for us since we are out tomorrow for a weather day. Yahoo! My pocket books hates these days since I don’t get paid, but my mind and body love them!
Once again we got a day off from ball. Taylor feels much better, but I still wont let him outside. He is still very angry, but oh well! We went to eat Chinese food with Guh and when we got home I let them play outside for a few minutes just enough to satisy him and get his anger issues out! He looked all over for caterpillars, but didn’t find any. He found a bunch the other day, but hie bug box was broke and they all got away. He will keep looking! This is his favorite part of the year I think, he loves to catch caterpillars. I on the otherhand do not. I was trying to help him find a way to fix the box, so they couldn’t get out and I had to tap it so it fell to the bottom. Well, it dissapeared and I couldn’t find it and I started to get all excited with fear that it might be on me and I didn’t know it. Lucky for me, Mr. Eagle eye spotted it on a stick he had put in the box, so I calmed myslef and fixed the box. It didn’t work though as he too got away! Darn!
Bath time was crazy today. The boys both picked out new bubble bath the other night, so we had some of it all in the tub and we had bubbles galore. I had a very hard time getting them rinsed off to get out. They loved it though.
Be in prayer for Evan as he has his BM’s tomorrow. It would be great news to see some improvement in the marrow and he could go on to transplant. Pray for the results as well as his comfort level after the procedure, it is not a fun one!
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28th
March
2007March 28, 2007 Day +1456 Day +1154 off therapy
No ball today! I totally forgot to take Logan to practice last night. Oops! I was supposed to bring him up to his practice and then go back and get him at 7:00. I never even thought about it until I was putting him in the car after Taylor game at almost 9:00! He probably wouldn’t have stayed anyway, but I can’t believe I forgot!
I am thrilled that we are off tonight. When it is not ball season I just want to go, I can not stand to be at home. Now that I have somewhere to be all the time I just want to stay home.
I had to go to the school today to give Taylor sudafed. He had a headache and didn’t want to be at school. I know his head hurts with sinus pressure and the antibiotics are not going to fix that, so I brought him something else. He apparently just didn’t like whatever was going on at the time of his complaint because by the time I got there and he was in PE he didn’t want to go home. Hmm….. do they learn those tricks that young?
We had dinner wth Gam maw and Paw Paw and then went to the grocery store. The kids love to do that! Once again it was a late night, but homework was all done and they had not gone outside, so I didn’t make them take a bath. Shh, don’t tell! Taylor was furious with me because I wouln’t let him go outside. I tried to tell him that the pollen only makes his sinus woes worse, but he did not care!
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27th
March
2007March 27, 2007 Day +1455 Day +1153 off therapy
Taylor went back to school today. He seems to feel better and no more fever. I got to the school this afternoon just in time to see his class fly their kites. His didn’t do too much and he was not too happy about it. I was afraid he was being mopey because he didn’t feel good, but he was just mad. Logan really enjoyed watching the kids fly their kites.
Taylor had a game tonight. He did pretty good. Seeing as I am a week behind in my updates I am not really sure of the details. We didn’t win, but I don’t care, I just want the kids to have fun. Taylor last time up to bat he hit great. It was in the air and almost to the outfield. That doens’t happen a lot for the poor little thing. He ran about a foot and stopped to watch the ball. It was pretty funny when Paw Paw yelled out to run, we are taking pictures! He was so excited!
After the ball game we were back home for baths and bed. Luckily, Taylor did all his homework before the game, but he didn’t eat, so he had to grab some dinner and then take all his meds. He did have a real cough attack out on the field. I usually keep his inhaler on me, but he had had a puff before the game and I didn’t think he would need it, but he did and I had to run and get it. I thought I would need a puff myself. I am sure that the dust didn’t help much on top of all the running.
Well, that about does it. Tune in for more….
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26th
March
2007March 26, 2007 Day +1454 Day +1152 off therapy
Be sure to scroll down to the 23rd for a link to new pictures and to the 22nd for a link to the ROL video!!
Here we go again. Taylor is home today with fever. He was still 103 at 4:00 this morning. When he woke up it was 100. He never threw up again and didn’t even cough as much, so we are assuming that he had an upset tummy due to the meds and not enough food in him on top of all the snot draining in his tummy. He ate a good breakfast and then took his meds this morning and so far seems to be okay. He is till a tad warm, but otherwise seems to feel okay. They are fighting like cats and dogs if that means anything.
You know I called Meredith, but just as I suspected, she made me feel 10 times better. She said a 20,000 wbc is signs of a huge infection and one dose of antibiotic was not going to help. We have not treated it yet and therefore he still has fever. If he is still that high after several doses I can call her back, but at this point she is not worried at all. (insert huge sigh of relief) She agreed with our thoughts on why he threw up, so again I feel better. We are just waiting it out today with high hopes of the meds kicking in and fevers going away. I DO NOT like these on again off again fevers as you all know that was his first symptoms. I know that kids get sick and have these sort of things go on, but I can’t deal with it!!!
I just wanted to let you all in on what is going on today. Please say a prayer that things will improve and that none of this is in anyway cancer related. I will update again later.
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25th
March
2007March 25, 2007 Day +1453 Day +1151 off therapy
Taylor woke up feeling much better today. The boys went with Jim to Lowe’s and then played outside while Jim cut grass. It was all too soon time to get ready for picture day at the ballpark. It was so hot! It didn’t take too long, but when you are standing there in the heat and telling a bunck of boys not to get dirty it seems like an eternity. Taylor did fine, no tears or anything like we have had in the past, but he just can not smile if it is not funny. It is such a fake, goofy smile. Oh well! We even pulled him to the side to do some with our camera and he still gave that fake smile. Logan kept laying down, but he finally got up and gave a cute little smile!
After pictures we all drove to Jasper to have birthday dinner with Dugan. The kids rode home with Ghen and Bob. I don’t know why us and Gam maw and Paw Paw didn’t go the other way! Just kidding, but it sure was quiet in our car. Once we got to Gam maw’s house we did the coolest thing. Have you ever heard of ear candeling? You put this hollow candle in your ear and light it and it draws out all of the wax and gunk from your ears. It was so cool and nasty too!
It was late before we got home and the boys went right to bed. Taylor was asleep in no time flat. He went to bed after taking his new meds and more Tylenol for the 101 fever he still has!!!! Jim and I were watching tv and he kept coughing. I kept thinking I would get up and check on him, but didn’t. I finally got up and as soon as I walked in his room he sat up and threw up. Joy! cleaned him up and Jim put him in the tub while I put all his bedding in the wash. You all know that was it for me. I was a nervous wreck. He was burning up with fever of 103 again. He was in our bed where he was under me all night long. I can’t sleep with him all over me anyway, but when I am sweating due to the heat coming off his littlle body iti s even worse. It was a very long night!
Please pray that this is just a bad sinus infection and nothing more!!!
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24th
March
2007March 24, 2007 Day +1452 Day +1150 off therapy
Another crazy day! We all got up at the crack of dawn since Logan had to be at the ballpark at 8:00. Taylor kept saying he needed to throw up and he was once again burning up with fever. Today is 103 and that my friends about did me in! We did a saline treatment and that made him throw up and it was pure snot. He seemed to feel better though he did not want to eat and still had fever. We heded to the ball park and I made a Dr’s apt for 10:00.
I had dug out duty, so I was not able to really watch Logan’s first game, but he sure did look cute. It was totally different from Taylor’s first game. There was no fear or tears in Logan. He is a slider. He slid once between bases and once onto the pitchers mound! NUT!!! As soon has his game was over Taylor and I headed to the Dr. and Logan went with Gam maw and Ghen Ghen.
We had to see Dr. Cortapassi since our Dr was not in this weekend. I must say, I liked him. He said his nose was disgusting! He was sureit was in his head, but did a CBC anyway. His WBC was 20,000. Viral things drop counts and bacterial ups them, so he knew it was just a raging sinus infection. He did a chest x ray to be sure and there is a white spot on his lungs that could be the beginnings of pneumonia, but with his asthma history it could be just gunk. We will do the same treatment no matter what, so we just started 500mg of Augmenton two times per day. Fun!
We went ahead and played the game. Taylor tried to get out of it, but Dr. C said he had to play since he was the 2nd baseman. He did pretty good not to feel good. He made some stops and got some hits. He got tagged out at 2nd and he hates to be tagged. He was the last batter and he hit it right down the 1st baseline and got out. I hate that because it never fails he ends up being the last out of the game everytime and he feels awful! Poor guy! After the game he went to the bouncy toys for a bit. Logan was asleep on the bleachers and wouldn’t get up to go jump, so he had an all out fit in the car.
We headed home to change clothes and the 4 of us went to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The kids loved it, but it was a really hard hour for us big folks! It was awful. Taylor cracked me up, his little hand never stopped moving from the popcorn bucket to his mouth. He ate non stop and then at half a bowl of mac and cheese after the movie. Pig!
The pharmacy was closed when we came back through, so we were unable to get his meds. I hate that, but what can I do? Please be in prayer that he will feel better soon. Pray for Evan as he does more tests. Pray for all the kids out there!
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23rd
March
2007New Pictures!!!
Pictures from Taylor playing baseball. Click Here!!!
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23rd
March
2007March 23, 2007 Day +1451 Day +1149 off therapy
TGIF!!! I am so glad it is Friday. This week flew by, but it is too nice out to be stuck at school and work.
Be sure to scroll down to the link for the Ride of Love video!!!!!!
I told ya’ll Taylor wasn’t right. I had a sinking feeling all night. I really thought it was just my nerves on edge after talking to Melissa about Evan’s tests. I woke up at about 3:30 and Taylor was talking in his sleep. He has never done this before and I thought it was odd, so I went to check on him and he was on fire with a 102 fever. I gave him tylenol and water and he went back to sleep. He woke up this morning saying he felt fine, but he was still running a temp. Shh, don’t tell the school, but we went anyway. He knew it was the inflatable party and I knew (even though I had satan sending nasty thought through my head) that it was just his sinuses. I told Mrs. Thornton to call me if she had to and she was fine. Boy, I am going to miss her next yr! Can’t she just go to first grade? Anyway, he did fine. He claims he went to the health room and used his inhaler because he was coughing, but I do not know? He actually did not earn the time on the inflatables, but somehow he made it out there anyway. Stinker! He played, but not like he usually does. I knew he still didn’t feel good. By the time I got Logan back in the car the car pool kids were lining up, so I didn’t go in and get him like I had said I would. He didn’t seem to care. We went to Momma’s ice cream per his request. He ate a little of his ice cream, but them said he was cold, I knew he still had fever and he did. I gave him more tylenol and I bought him some Sudafed. I did a saline wash and got a good bit of thick, green gunk out. Hopefully that is all it is and he will get over it quick. I know with all the pollen it will take a while. I too am full of gunk! He went out to ride his bike, but came back in after about 10 minutes. I hope he is okay! I know, honestly, I know that all is fine, but after the news with Evan it is just hard to let it go. Please pray for both these sweet boys!!!
We have had some excitement around here today. We were getting meds at CVS this morning when the cops arrested a man. I didn’t care for the comotion, but Logan loved it! I then went to work to join the others in watching the news where a man had hung himslef on the side of the interstate and the body could be seen. Oh my, what is the world coming to? It is scary!
Please be in pray for Taylor to feel better. Pray for Evan as they decide what to do next. Pray for the individuals who have taken their lives are taken from others. Pray that they soon can see God as the way out of trouble.
Off to the ball park more later……
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22nd
March
2007A video I ask everyone to watch…
The Ride of Love Video
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22nd
March
2007March 22, 2007 Day +1450 Day +1148 off therapy
Taylor had a field trip today. He didn’t want to go see a “silly ole princess show”, but he says that he did enjoy Cinderella. I decided it was such a pretty day and he was doing nothing today anyway that I would check him out. When I got to the school his class was on the playground, so I had to let him play a while and Logan too. It was a little nerve wracking with so many kids and Logan not as big as them, but he held his own. We headed for home after a few minutes of play time. Logan fell asleep and Taylor played with glue. I ended up having to take Taylor over to Paw Paw’s house and he took him to practice while I went to get Jim. Gam maw got stuck at work. We got to practice as soon as we could. We stopped for some dinner afterwards. Taylor ate great, but just didn’t seem himself. Hmm… I am sure it is his sinuses with all this pollen falling. Mine are acting up big time.
I talked to Evan’s mom tonight. His scans did not show the news we all had prayed for. His scans are no worse, but no better. I know they are devestated and they need our prayers right now. Please stop by and visit his page and leave them some kind words. www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason They will still do more testing to see what the next step will be. Pray for the family as well as the medical team to have the knowledge and wisdom to make the best choice for Evan.
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21st
March
2007March 21, 2007 Day +1449 Day +1147 off therapy
Happy Hump day! No practice today. Jim did ride some and we ended up having to go pick him up since it got dark. We don’t need him getting ran over by a car. The kids loved hopping in the jeep and going to “look” for daddy. I knew he was coming from the opposite direction, but I told them to be on the look out for him. It kept them occupied!
We all had good days at school. It was all I could do to keep my head up at car pool and Logan too, so I just knew that he would fall asleep on the way home. Nope! I cleaned up a lot and the boys played out on the deck for a long time. They finally got tired of it and came back in to watch cartoons.
It was another boring day for us and we like them like that!!!
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20th
March
2007March 20, 2007 Day +1448 Day +1146 off therapy
Well, here we are again. It is another great day. The boys and I were not home long before we had to head to the ballpark for Taylor’s practice. Just about the time I got there and got him ready to play Jim pulled in and Logan and I pulled out. We had to get to his practice. He was a turkey! He was asleep on the way and did not take kindly to me waking him up and making him practice. He didn’t do anything he was told to do and did everything he was told not to do. I was not real happy by the time we left there!
We went to dinner at Gam maw’s house after practice and watched American Idol. As soon as we got home we hit the bath tub then the bed.
Please be in prayer for Taylor as he continues to win this battle. Pray for Evan who will start his scans tomorrow. Pray for all the kids out there who are struggling.
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19th
March
2007March 19, 2007 Day +1447 Day +1145 off therapy
Back to routine and finally back to warm weather. We all had good days. Taylor had a sub, but it was his “girlfriends” mom, so he thought that was cool. Don’t tell him I said that! Logan looked like a nut today. He had on camo overalls that are too short and crocs, but whatever!
There is really nothing to tell today. Logan is thrilled that he gets to bring snack for his team this weekend. He wanted to buy something when Taylor did and I didn’t even realize it was his turn, so we get to go have another 30 minute jaunt through the snack aisle at Walmart.
Well, that is about it. Please continue to pray for Taylor as he wins this battle. Pray for Carter as he continues to fight. Pray for Evan as he goes into scans. Pray for Avery as she nears her next MRI. Pray for janie’s family as today would have been her birthday. www.caringbridge.org/al/janiesims
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18th
March
2007March 18, 2007 Day +1446 Day +1144 off therapy
Happy Birthday to Kim!
I am 21 years old today? Did any of you believe that? No, really I am 29, one year closer to 30. Boy that makes my mommy old! Just kidding! I slept late today and then we all went to eat lunch at Nana’s house. The kids went nuts over Abby, her dog. They are not afraid of our 180 pound lab, but they are terrified of Roo Roo who is about 3 pounds and Abby who is 30. Nuts!
Guh took them home with her to play while Jim and I went to see Wild Hog’s. It was funny! I have a horrible sinus infection and really just wanted to go to sleep, but it was so funny I was awake. When we went to pick them up they were both wearing summer clothes and their clothes were in the wash. They did some digging and got really nasty.
Logan never got a bath tonight. He fell asleep in the car and wasn’t budging, so we just put him in bed. I guess it is a good thing he is a boy and I can get away with that! Taylor did get a bath and then he went to bed. He didn’t want to as usual, but also as usual, he was asleep in a matter of minutes!
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17th
March
2007March 17, 2007 Day +1445 Day +1143 off therapy
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Are you all wearing green? We aren’s we are wearing Astro’s stuff. Taylor was supposed to have 2 games today, but the last one got cancelled. The boys have now won 3 games in a row. They are doing very well. It was once again freezing outside today. Logan was all bundled up and fell asleep in Pippy’s lap. The boys did pretty darn good. We scored all our runs in the first inning and then we kind of fell asleep. That’s okay, they are giving it their all!
After the game us girls went to a home interior party and then did a little shopping and then met up with everyone else for dinner. After all that fun we stayed at home. I had great plans to clean up, but I didn’t lift a finger. Oh well!
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16th
March
2007March 16, 2007 Day +1444 Day +1142 off therapy
Field trip day. I must admit, I was not looking forward to going on this field trip at all, but we did have fun. The 1 hour bus ride was not too bad. The kids started out very loud, but once they got calmed down it wasn’t too bad. Thankfully, our class was the first in the cave. We had a great tour guide that even caught on to Mrs. Thornton’s “give me five” that quiets them down. It took an hour to go through the cave. We saw some bats, we saw cities, cakes and more made from rock formations. It was interesting. I had it easy. All the boys in our group gravitated to Jim and the front of the line. Me and the girl just took our time.
THe playground was all wet and that is what we were supposed to do after lunch, so lucky for us we just loaded the bus and went home. It was so very cold sitting outside, so the kids were not upset at all. We were back at school and checked out by 1:00. We picked up Logan and we to Academy where we got a few items for ball and a few very unneccesary items such as camo wrist bands and yellow plastic worms. We went to Wal mart to pick out snack for the team since it was Taylor’s turn. Who knew that could be a 30 minute ordeal?
After all that fun we headed home to rest up and get ready for the ball game. It was SOOO COLD out there. I took no pictures since I was covered in my hood, scarf, and blanket. I hardley even saw the game if they ran out of my line of site, I was too bundled to move. Logan couldn’t be still,but he was all bundled up too.
Taylor didn’t do as good tonight as last night, but I am sure having a busy day and it being so cold didn’t help anything. He still did good and tired hard and that is all we ask.
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15th
March
2007March 15, 2007 Day +1443 Day +1141 off therapy
More games this weekend! You wont want to miss a one! Friday at 8:00 and Saturday at 11:30 and 6:00.
Well, so much for the beautiful weather. It is a rainy, nasty day here. We still had a good day. Logan and I went to the show store after school. It was looking like it was going to clear up when we went in, but it was raining cats and dogs when we came out and no we did not have an umberella. We ran and he thought that was funny. He slept all through carpool which was nice, but that meant no nap at home. I told Taylor to lay down and rest before his game and he did. I still don’t know if he just listened for once or is he truly was tired and wanted to lay down.
He was ready to get dressed in his new uniform and go play some ball. I was not looking forward to it in the rain, but wow, our boys did awesome! Everyone of them did a super job, way to go Astros!!! Taylor was 3 for 3 at bat! Can we say WOW! He scored every time too! Another big ole wow! He caught quite a few balls and made some fancy plays. He did miss a few, but he was always paying attention and backing up the other guys. He is truly doing an awesome job this year. He caught the last ball hit and threw it to first where it was caught to make the last out of the game. Way to go Taylor and Astros!!! I think Jim and I both will be hoarse after this weekends ball games from all the cheering! Jim made a deal with him that if he caught a fly ball we would go to Disney World. You know, one of those deals to light a fire in them, but you are pretty sure you wont have to do anything. Well, this one might come back to bite him, but that’s okay, we are so proud. Taylor wants to invite his Dr’s and nurses to the ballpark. I think we will invite them. They may not enjoy a little league game, but I think they would enjoy seeing our miracle in action just like all the other boys.
As for Mr. Logan he stayed in the mud puddles all night. He finally got really tired and crawled up in Ghen Ghen’s lap. He fell asleep on the way home, but woke up for a bath. He was asleep in his bed before I even hadt time to get milk and baby in there to him. Poor little guy! Taylor is still a ball of energy and can’t seem to settle down (Jim too) after all that excitement. He is tried though, I hear him in there yelling at his PSP.
Well, I better hit the sack. We have a big field trip tomorrow to Rickwood Caverns. Taylor is thrilled that mom and dad are going. Mom is not too thrilled. I have never been and I am not liking the sounds of it with a bunch of 6 year olds and mud. I am sure we will have fun!
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14th
March
2007March 14, 2007 Day +1442 Day +1140 off therapy
Hello all. What a beautiful day we had today. We all had great days full of normal stuff. How glorious is that? Taylor is still on green, I think that makes 77 or somewhere near there. He set a goal and he is going to reach it. Way to go man! Logan is very sleepy today and very grumpy. Thankfully, we do not have ball practice tonight.
Can you believe that there is nothing to tell? I think that is a good thing though! Please be in prayer for Evan www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason as he finishes up chemo and starts the next stage. Pray for Madison www.caringbridge.org/visit/madisonbeck as she waits for spinal results and has a week on steroids. Pray for the other Madison www.caringbridge.org/visit/madisonmiller as she is having a rough time right now. Pray for Carter as he continue to battle. www.carterfinger.com Pray for all the children and their families out there!!!
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13th
March
2007March 13, 2007 Day +1441 Day +1139 off therapy
Another beautiful day! I still didn’t want to get up, but we made it. We all had a good day and Taylor is still on green light. Logan had a good day too. He is just a silly goose all day long. He is the class clown! I ordered his class pictures today and I am sure it will be silly, I heard he was being a clown while they took it.
I talked to Meredith today. I had to call and get his latest counts to put on his camp forms. I honestly don’t even remember now what they were. It is so funny how we used to hang on them and now I can’t remember from an hour ago. I know the WBC was 10. something and plts were 440,000. Perfectly normal! She also gave me the wonderful news that his HVA and VMA were both normal. I wrote it down, but it is in the car. All I need is normal!
Well, I just wanted to share the good news. I have to go clean up so the dishwasher guy can come mess up tomorrow. Yahoo, I will have a dishwasher tomorrow! I can’t imagine not having one, it has only been broke a week and you would think it had been a month!
Please be in prayer for Taylor as he continues to kick cancer’s tale. Pray for Evan who has an ANC of 700 and still on chemo. Pray for mom who took on both boys this week, brave thing you! Pray for Madison as she does a week of steroids and waits on results from her bone marrows. Pray for our new friend Peyton. I do not know her nor what she has, but she goes to our church and has just been diagnosed. She had surgery today. I called and left them a message, so I hope to get to talk with them soon.
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12th
March
2007March 12, 2007 Day +1440 Day +1138 off therapy
Happy Monday. What a beautiful day. I wore camo capri pants and Logan told me to take daddies pants off and never put them on again. He is a nut! Taylor was on green light for day 75 in a row. Wow, he may just make that 100 days afterall. Logan has a girlfiiend. He was playing legos this morning when a little girl came into the room and he got up and said het to her and sat next to her. He sat with her at lunch too. I asked if he had a girlfriend and he said, “yes, her” and pointed. Too cute.
The boys finally had their check ups today. It was great to go in and out for a well child check up. Taylor is 39.4 pounds and 42 inches tall. He is in the 25% for weight and 50% for height. Logan was 32.4 pounds and 37 1/8 inches tall. He is 50% weight and 25% for height. Both boys had normal vision tests. Logan didn’t do a hearing test, but Taylor did and it is unchanged from last year when he had a loss in both ears in the high 8,000 range. I had promised them no shots and he surprised us. They are now giving Hep A shots at 12 and 18 months or later if you didn’t get it, so they both got one and will get the second dose in 6 months. Let me just say it didn’t go over well. Taylor cried and cried. He was crying so loud that I didn’t know she gave it he was hysterical from the get go. He did calm down rathr quickly. Logan was hysterical just seeing Taylor that way and he kept grabbing at his pants trying to keep her from pulling them down. I could tell when she stuck him, he went into that mouth wide open but no sound coming out mode. He too recovered quickly. Ball practice had already started and we really did intend to go, but I knew after a shot he would act like he had been shot in the leg and couldn’t move, so we just skipped it. Sorry coach! Of course, he rode his bike like a champ. Logan didn’t seem bothered by it too much once it was over.
We are now home and settled in. The boys are in the bed and I am ready to follow. The time change did me in. It was so dark and I was so snuggly this morning. I guess the kids were too. I had to wake Logan up and that is rare. Taylor was up, but I am not sure how he got the oatmeal to his mouth. He was half asleep at the table.
Please join us in thanking God for more good news. April 2nd will mark the 4 yr anniversary of his transplant. WOW!!! God is soooo good! Stop by and see Scarlett who fluched all her chemo down the potty. She is DONE!!! www.caringbridge.org/al/scarlettcowan Pray for Madison who had a spinal today. www.caringbridge.org/visit/madisonbeck Pray for Evan who is doing his last round of chemo before scans and the next step. www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason Pray for all the others out there who are still fighitng. Pray for a cure!
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11th
March
2007March 11, 2007 Day +1439 Day +1137 off therapy
Did you all remember to set your clocks? It was a great day to get an extra hour. It was so nice and the kids loved being outside. Guh brought them home around 12:00. They were not very good at her house this time. She said next time they come one at a time. They ended up going to bed at 8:00 tonight due to their attitudes. They also went without TV and that about did Taylor in. He cried himself to sleep. Logan didn’t care, of course!
I went to a wedding shower today and we had a great time. We then all went to eat and to play at Paw Paw’s. The boys were “helping” him add on to the pool deck. Taylor got a new bat and some sort of contraption to help him hit. They are crazy if they think I am going to hold that thing while he swings a bat at it! He was hitting out in the yard and doing a great job.
I don’t know if the kids have spring fever or what, but they are really acting up. They both have a well child check up tomorrow and I know he will say something about how wild they are. I promise we dicipline them, but nothing seems to work especially for Logan. He is only 3 and his mouth keeps him in serious trouble. UURGH! Hopefully he will have some words of advice!
Well child check up, isn’t that a great phrase. It is really nice to go on a well child check up. Isn’t it funny how different things can strike up a memory. The other day at the hospital the elevators in the parking deck were not working, so we took the steps. I don’t think we have ever taken those stairs but one time and that was the day Jim and I went back up there to see Dr. B when Taylor had all those spots show up on his lungs. Well, after that visit we went over to the camp office and picked up our tickets for our first ever Red Nose ball. The night of the ball we saw Dr. B and we had just had follow up scans that showed he was still NED and we had a long talk about how wonderful that was. Anyway, walking in that stair well the other day made me think of that day and then the next weekend we are at the ball again, it just conjured up all those stressful memories and also the relief and joy that came with the good news.
Please continue to pray for all the kids out their battling. Pray for Taylor to continue to succeed in his journey.
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10th
March
2007March 10, 2007 Day +1438 Day +1136 off therapy
Another fun day. We spent the day cleaning and washing dishes. I will never do that again! My new dishwasher will be here Wednesday. Thank goodness! We got dressed and headed out for a quick lunch and then headed to the ball park. Taylor had a practice game. He did great. He hit everytime he got up to bat and got on base everytime. He got tagged out at second one time. He cried, but that was only because the kid tagged him in the head very hard. He got hit in the next time. He is really paying attention and watching the ball this year. He still missed a few that were hit to him, but he always knew where it was and was in the game. We are super proud of him!
I had to leave the game early to go get ready for the Red Nose Ball for Camp SAM. We had a blast. It is always fun to get dressed up. We didn’t bid on anything, but it was fun to watch the action. They always have a puppy and it is usually a top seller, but this year it really was at $9,000! That one bid will send 36 kids to camp for a week! How wonderful!After the ball we considered a movie, but didn’t want to hang out for an hour until the next show started. We just went home and went to bed.
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9th
March
2007March 9, 2007 Day +1437 Day +1135 off therapy
What a fun day Taylor had. We had a normal day today other than a long stay at McDonald’s. We brought a friend home with us and we went to play at Don Don’s after school. We stayed until Taylor got there at 3:30 and had a party until 4:20 which was about a 3 hour stay for us. Logan ended up falling asleep in the floor with all the kids running around him. I guess I should tell you how they got there. A limo picked his class up from school and broght them to McDonald’s. How cool! He was so excited!
Tonight was spent shopping for a new dishwasher. Fun huh, ours died out right dead will not even drain the water out of it. Oh well, it is original to the house, it is time for a new one.
Not much to report. I guess that is good. Please keep praying for Taylor and all his friends.
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8th
March
2007March 8, 2007 Day +1436 Day +1134 off therapy
Taylor’s first game is Thursday May 15th at 8:00PM. Don’t even ask me what I think about that! He will aslo play at 8:00PM on the 16th and at 11:45AM and 5:30PM on the 17th. Logan’s first game is March 24th at 8:30AM. I will keep you posted on more games.
This week has flown by. I can not believe that it is already Thursday afternoon. We had a good day today. Well, kind of. Taylor had a fever when he woke up. I was half worried and half not. I know he is fine since Dr. B just saw him. I was worried he may be getting the crud again. He ate like a horse and seemed to be fine other than a very stuffy nose. I gave himTylenol and hos Flonase and sent him on his way. I am almost positive that he has a sinus infection in the works. He is fine now full of energy with a 96.5 temp. He is also dressed in his practice clothes ready to go. He made me call Paw Paw to see if he was coming to practice, so I think maybe coach daddy and coach Chris got real serious and scared him and he wants Paw Paw who is a little more tactful with how he handles a missed ball. I am not saying that the other two are mean, they are by no means mean, I think they are just more serious and competitive and it kind of scares Taylor. Taylor is a very emotional child. If you look at him wrong he will cry, so yelling over a missed ball can send him into orbit. Anyway, he is ready to go and seems to be excited about it.
Logan has had a rough day too. He wanted a pancake and I was not going to cook more when Taylor still had some on his plate he didn’t want. He cried and cried over having to eat that pancake. He then pitched a fit to go to McDonald’s and I was not going since he did eat the pancake and I knew he wasn’t hungry. He showed his butt this morning. He was good at school and then fell apart if he saw me and wanted to be held. I don’t mind holidng him or giving him a hug, but he was acting like a baby and crying when it was time to go to his classroom. He screamed a terrible scream that scared us all after school just because he wanted to be held and I was still putting things away. He was awful in car pool too. It has just been one of those days for him. He Came home and started it up again and I had to yell at him. I gave the same old choices of bed or clean and once again he got in bed. However, I took his dog, his lap desk and his train with me and put it with the toy box I took yesterday. Apparently those are important to him as his room is now CLEAN! Of course stuff is hanging out of drawers and over the edge of the toy box, but that is okay it is out of the floor and looks half way descent. That is all I wanted! Way to go Logan! He also has practice tonight. I will take Taylor from 5-6 and then Jim will take over from 6-7 while I go to Logan’s practice from 6-7.
Well, we are just busy being normal. Yahoo! Please be in prayer that Taylor has been healed of this beast forever. Pray for all of the others who are still fighting.
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7th
March
2007March 7, 2007 Day +1435 Day +1133 off therapy
Another great day. Taylor had a great day at school and then spent the afternoon playing outside with Guh. He had ball practice today from 7-9. He was not a happy camper when he got home. His legs are raw where they rubbed together when he ran. He is tired and claiming to hate baseball. This is what we were afraid of. He is not doing well at practice and he was doing great. I am not sure if he is just really getting tired of it already or if something has happened to scare him. Who knows. Jim talked to him about it so hopefully he will perk up.
Logan had a good day at school. He had a rotten afternoon at home. He refuses to clean that bedroom. I finally took his entore toy box and “threw” it away. He was so upset that he started to pick up. He got mad though and fell asleep in the floor, but it looks a little better. Maybe in a week he can get it clean! He missed almost all of Guh’s visit since he was asleep. He woke up right before she left.
Please be in prayer for Taylor as he continues to beat all the odds. Pray for a coworker of Jim’s. Kay has been super to us and to Taylor all these years and her dad has been dx with throat and mouth cancer. Please be in prayer for him as he starts this journey. Pray for all the kids who are still fighting. Pray that those who are in remission or NED can stay that way. Pray for a cure!!
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6th
March
2007March 6, 2007 Day +1434 Day +1132 off therapy
Oh happy day! Today was Taylor’s 6th month visit with Dr. B. Well, it was really a 3 month visit since we snuck one in there in December, but who is counting? It went really qucik and smooth. We were in and out in 1 1/2 hours and that included going up to 4 tower for a visit as well as a new clerk who didn’t have a clue what she was doing and the lab having to fix what she messed up. Anyway, after 4 years of dealing with all that it is nothing and it doens’t even bother you. Half the time us parents know how to fix it anyway and just deal with it. We finally got registered and we went back to triage. He finally has grown!!! He always grows just enough not to be concerned, but he hangs at the same weight for ever. We have been hovering at 37 pounds for 2 years. Not anymore, he is 39 pounds! Maybe he will hit 40 before summer is out. He is 42 inches or 3 ft. 5in. tall. After our triage visit we went to the lab. It was the most horrific thing ever and I don’t have any idea why other than he is getting old enough now to remember the pain and stuff. He was pitching an awful fit and refused to hold his arms out. He was stiff as a board and I had to get really gruff to get him to be still and cooperate. Thank goodness we got the great one who never misses and she was in and out of that vein before he knew what hit him. He told me he was going to be a Dr. when he grew up so that he got to poke people, but they couldn’t poke him. I told him to ask Dr. B about his poke. He had open heart surgery not too long ago. We sure are glad he is feeling better now! Anyway, we then went to the potty, but not before having to go flag down a urine cup and find out why the urine wasn’t ordered. That is a very good test for Taylor and we know Dr. B wanted it. We got it handled and he went and went and went in the little cup. Logan found that very amusing. Guh is usually with us and she keeps Lolo while we go to the potty, so I guess he has never seen that before. Boys will be boys! Some genious had put legos out in the clinic waiting area and the kids were good as gold the entire time we waited. In fact, I was deep into a magazine when we were called back and wasn’t ready to go. Ha! We never wait long once we are in the rooms. Dr. B was in in no time. He is thrilled with Taylor’s success. He went over the normal stuff. He was concerend about a bruise on his leg and I am glad to see that I should question stuff like that and that he is equally concerend. I did know where this bruise came from, so I was able to take care of his worries for once. He didn’t go into detail over what the reflux means in terms of asthma, but did say that this diagnosis could help with it. I can not wait until our Dr. visit with Dr. Ansari so that we can see if this indeed will fix some of his issues. All of Taylor’s counts were great. That made me feel good since his WBC was out of wack when he was sick. I know it is pretty obvious that it was just a virous since I got it, but it is nice to have a CBC to back it up. Taylor will go back June 19th for an exam, CBC, HVA/VMA and an echocariogram. That is it! That will be a 6 month check up since we are going off of the last scans in Dec. This visit was more or less a follow up. I like follow ups. We will be going in to Dr. Petelos Monday for their yearly check ups and I know he will love this update!
After the Dr. visit we headed home where we did homework and packed pags for tomorrow. I had a sorority meeting and Taylor had ball practice. Logan went with the boys to the ball park. Sorry about the bucket coach Chris! Logan spent his time by filling up the coaches ball bucket with dirt. Taylor didn’t do so hot tonight. That is okay! I will post the boys schedules here soon. Taylor has a busy season starting next week!
Please join us in thanking God for the miracle he has worked in Taylor’s body. Pray that he never again faces cancer. Pray for Evan who will be heading back into the Jude for his last round of chemo. Pray for Madison who will have a spinal next week. Pray for Mr. McColeman who had surgery today. Pray for all of our buddies out there!
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5th
March
2007March 5, 2007 Day +1433 Day +1131 off therapy
Hello all. I must say it was fabulous to get up and go to work today. I know we all long to stay in the bed all day, but not 4 days in a row. I am tired of being in the bed. We had a good day. Taylor was on green again and I will be honest and say I don’t remember how many that is. I will have to go look at the calendar again to check it out. I know he is nearing his 100 day goal! He is currently outside digging dino bones. He bought an egg of dirt this weekend and you have to chisel your way into it and once you get the bones out you make a dino. So far he is half way through the egg. I just hope he doesn’t think I am going to know how to put the thing together!
Logan was happy to get back to school and see his friends. He tried to pull the “I want my mommy” bit, but I think he is tired and a little out of sorts from being out all week rather than feeling bad. That better be the case! He took a long nap all through car pool. He is supposed to be cleaning his room. I gave him the choices of bed or clean and he got in the bed. However, he soon realized that Taylor was outside and started to clean. I am sure he will not make it outside anytime today. He keeps stopping to be sure that he will get to go once he cleans up.
Both boys have practice tomorrow. It will be a busy day. I have to check Taylor out for his routine visit with Dr. B. I have to get them ready for ball as well as myself ready for the sorority meeting. Jim will have both boys at both practices, so that should be fun. We have practice most of this week. The boys will be staying with Guh on Satruday night while Jim and I go to the Camp SAM Red Nose Ball again. Iti s so much fun to look at all that stuff and visit with other parents, camp staff and hospital staff. It is always strange to see them all on a different turf than usual, but wonderful too. We are looking forward to it.
Well, I better go. You know if I am on here with you then no one is doing all that house work I mentioned last night! Be in prayer for all of our friends out there.
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4th
March
2007March 4, 2007 Day +1432 Day +1130 off therapy
We are home. I really need a vacation now. I think next time the boys get to stay home. No, really they were pretty good, but they have a lot more energy than we do. They are also so very loud, all the time.
Please take a look at the new pictures posted of this weekends trip. You can find a quick link in the next update! They are so funny, be sure to look!
Today we got all packed up and and checked out of our cute little cabin. We headed to Franklin D. Roosevelts Little White House. I am not a history person, but I do like it if I can see it and touch it and this was a very interesting place to see. Although he was from NY, he came to Warm Springs, Ga to swim in the srping water as it soothed his polio. He built a house here hense the name Little White House as well as built a treatment place for people with polio. Anyway, we walked through a museum full of his things. We also toured the house and servant quarters. It was full of his things many of them just as they were left. It was interesting to see the bathroom and the browned toilet paper. He collapsed during the time he was having a portrait done of himself. He was moved to his bedroom and you get to go in there. We can actually say that we were in the room the president slept in. The actual painting is still there unfinished. The artist did another one years later by memory and you can see the only difference is the color of his tie. The boys liked seeing all the old stuff especially the cars.
We had a very yummy lunch and then we hit the road for home. We had to stop a few times, but we were back home by 5:00. Guh came over to see the boys for a while. I have lunches packed and clothes picked out, so we can get through tomorrow, but we have a mess to pick up later. I have ignored any house hold chore all week and so things are piled up on that front plus all the stuff that needs to be unpacked. Oh well, we will get to it. Tonight we are just going to bed.
We have Dr. appointments this week as well as ball practice, so we will be busy. That’s okay, that just makes us normal! Thanks for reading. Enjoy the photos and we will be back soon…..
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Here you will read about our day to day battle with childhood cancer. Taylor is 6 years old and was diagnosed with nueroblastoma on October 10, 2002. Taylor has completed 6 rounds of high dose chemotherapy, an Autogolous Bone Marrow/Stem Cell Transplant, 12 rounds of radiation (all in Birmingham, Alabama at Children's Hospital) and 4 rounds of 3F8 Anti-Body Treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City.
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