History

Thursday, December 23, 2010 8:06 AM CST

Merry Christmas from The Moore's!

Will continues to do great! He is 12 and in 6th grade now and has been in remission for almost 3 years!

Will loves to play football, hunt, and just hang out with his friends. Will has 2 dogs now, Maggie and Hank.

Will is scheduled to return to St Jude in April for his 3 year POST treatment check-up. We continue to support St Jude and thank God everyday for the doctors and nurses that helped take care of Will and our family. WOW...what an amazing place St Jude is! Please continue to pray for the families still fighting the cancer battle...it's one you will never want to face.

We wish everyone and Very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a BLESSED NEW YEAR!!!

Sunday, October 11, 2009 8:04 AM CDT

Well, I haven't updated in forever but that's because things are just going great! Will has started 5th grade and played Pee Wee football for the Chiefs. I will post some pictures soon. He did great and loved it!

Tomorrow is Will's check-up at St Jude. I know everything will be fine but we do ask you all say an extra prayer. It's always hard to go back and see all the children there and know what lies ahead for them. Those 3 years we spent there seemed to never end....but look at Will now! WOW! God is so good!

I will update tomorrow after Will's appt. We have to be there at 12:30.

Always Believing,
Ali

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 2:18 PM CDT

Well, I know I am WAY overdue for an update! Life is just so full now that I have a hard time fitting everything in!

Will is doing GREAT! He had his 1 year post therapy treatment visit in March. Everything was good....his next appointment is in October.

The new picture at the top of the page is Will's new dog, Norman. Will adopted Norman from an animal shelter in Southaven. Will saved up his own money to pay the fees for Norman. Norman is getting used to us and having a great time at our house...lots of good stuff to chew on here! Will is learning how hard it is to have a puppy...but loving every minute of it.

Will is now finished with 4th grade and ready for the summer. He is planning on swimming, playing golf and just hanging out this summer. No big plans...just being a boy:)

Thanks so much for checking in on Will!

Always Believing!
Ali

Wednesday, March 4, 2009 11:46 AM CST

Today is the four year anniversary of Will's diagnosis....and yes, I can tell you specific details of that day and probably will always be able to. What is sooo wonderful is to see him today with his long hair, yes it is long!, running and laughing with his class!

We want to thank everyone who had a part in helping us thru those years and of course to St Jude and their wonderful staff for giving us our Will for yet another year!

Will,...we love you and are so proud of you! We know it has been hard but you have done a GREAT job!

ALWAYS Believing,
Ali

Monday, February 16, 2009 12:18 AM CST

I know that is has been a while since I updated...sorry...normal life is so hectic. Will is doing good. He has had some problems with his knees lately but we went to see an orthopedic doctor and he gave us some really helpful information and ideas to help ease the pain some. It works when Will cooperates:) I do think that Will is starting to grow some which makes him feel good about himself.

Will is enjoying his weekly art classes. I will have to post some pictures of some of his artwork. He is doing great at it and loves it. Will is also playing Upward Basketball at our church. He is really enjoying it and having a great time.

Will is under the weather right now and has been running fever since yesterday. It was so nice last night to not have to call St Jude and rush up there because of fever.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will.

Love,
Ali

Monday, December 29, 2008 7:22 AM CST

We all had a great Christmas! We had lots of good family time and just seemed to eat and open presents for two days non-stop! Some of Will's favorite presents are a flat screen tv, paint ball gun, a new Northface, and a 4-in-1 tool set. Emma Kay and Ben got a Wii to share and are really enjoying it ..... along with Emma Kay getting doll stuff and Ben getting his long awaited for football pads!

We have been very blesses this past year with Will successfully finishing his treatment at St Jude. 2009 is going to be our year for good health and limited drama!:)

Will is looking forward to shooting fireworks on New Year's Eve - he LOVES fireworks!

We wish you all a very Happy and Safe New Year!

The Moore's

Wednesday, December 24, 2008 7:08 AM CST

Merry Christmas!

Will is continuing to do great! He is still dealing with some anxiety issues but it is getting a little better. He is really growing up fast. He is getting taller and taller....finally!

He is so excited about Christmas. We had a visit from Santa the other night. I took the picture above and there is another one on the view photos link. All three of the children are ready to start opening presents:)

We are counting our blessings this Christmas. This is the first Christmas in three years with no St Jude visits. I have been an emotional wreck lately just thinking about all Will has been through and how truly blessed we are as a family to have our three children with us! Please take a minute to hug your babies and make sure your family knows how much you love them.

On a funny note....We read the Christmas story the other night. Now Ben walks through the house saying a in a very deep voice "Fear not!" like the angel did. He is so silly and keeps us all going all the time!

Make sure you check out the link at the bottom of the page for Will's school. It has a neat article about one of our good friends and a picture of her and Will. Very sweet!

We are so grateful for our "Caringbridge family" and we pray you all have a very Blessed and Merry Christmas!

Love,
The Moore's

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 2:03 PM CST

We have been on an emotional roller coaster since my last update. First of all, Will's "Big Mama" went to Heaven last Wednesday night. We were all so sad to say good-bye to such a wonderful woman. I had to remind the children that she wasn't suffering anymore. Cancer is just such a horrible thing!

Then, our friend Allen came to St Jude for his check-up like Will had last week and they thought he had relapsed. What a shock! Fortunately, they think they have ruled out relapse at this point and are doing further tests and bloodwork. They have gotten to go home so we know they are excited about that:) You can visit him at la/allensmith.

Will's couisin Alison went today for her check-up in Shrevport. The doctors are so pleased with how it looks and even took her out of the brace! WOW! We are so excited for her. She has been so brave and strong....never doubted her for a second:) She is getting to go the Jr High Christmas dance tomorrow night and I can't wait to see her all straight and tall WITHOUT her brace! Her caringbridge page is visit/alisonhardison.

Will is doing pretty well considering all that he has had to take in this past week. He is getting excited about Christmas and especially being out of school! Scares like Allen had make me step back and think about how blessed we are that Will is with us today. We are so blessed and are not taking a minute for granted! Things can change so quickly.....too quickly.

I know we say this all the time but Thank You for keeping up with Will. We really couldn't have done any of this without all the support and prayers you have all given our family through these last 3 and a half years.

Merry Christmas!
The Moore's

Monday, December 1, 2008 3:20 PM CST

We had Will's 8 month post therapy check up today at St Jude. It started off with Will very nervous about the needle stick. We had a new nurse in Assessment Triage. He got the needle in Will's arm and starting drawing out the blood. They needed a lot of blood for several tests they were doing. While the nurse was transferring some blood into its designated container....the needle got pulled out. Will had already gotten pretty upset when they stuck him, he said it stung but then for the needle to be pulled out and the fear hit us all that he may have to be re-stuck! Fortunately, they decided to send off what they did get and "see" if it would be enough - it was!

Will's blood work turned out to be completey normal! Yea! We had a good visit with Dr. Howard. He still hears a little more wheezing in Will's lungs which could be the beginnings of asthma. Also, Dr Howard gave me the name of a doctor that he thinks Will should see concerning all the "things" Will has had to deal with emotionally and physically over the past three years. Hopefully Will can open up to someone that can help him with his anxiety problems. I think these are completely "normal" considering the circumstances.

All in all....a good day at St Jude. Please remember the families that are battling cancer with their children at St Jude. It is truly an amazing place - like none other!

Also, Veo's grandmother - Jean Burrow - known to us all as "Big Mama" has been battling cancer and is not doing well at all. Will got very upset at Thanksgiving after seeing how sick she is. Please send up a prayer for her. Thank you!

Well, we are off to the Christmas Parade tonight to brave the cold. Will is riding on the fire truck and we are all going to watch all the floats. Thank you so much for checking in on Will. Next check-up.....MARCH!

Have a great week,
Ali

Saturday, November 29, 2008 6:36 AM CST

Will had a great Thanksgiving. We go from my mom's to Veo's family back to my mom's house.... holidays are exhausting! We ate and ate and ate a little more. That is one thing that Will is really enjoying lately....eating! He even said something last night about how much he has been eating. I guess he is going through a growth spurt.

Will has an appointment at St Jude on Monday (Dec. 1st). This will just be blood work and a doctor visit. We feel that everything will be fine but there is always that little "what if" in the back of my mind. I know it shouldn't be but it is. This will be his 8 month post therapy visit. Next visit will be his year check-up. I plan on finding out what all the year check-up involves when we go Monday. I am looking forward to seeing all his nurses and doctors but it always brings back old feelings....and seeing all the kids still fighting. Be very thankful is all I can say!

Will is enjoying hunting. He has killed a doe and a spike so far this season. He's off to a good start. He also enjoyed a trip with our church to play paint ball and loved it! Will is also contining with his art lessons. His class had little pot luck dinner at his art teachers house the other night and we all enjoyed looking at everyone's art she had displayed. He is doing very well in art.

I will update after our visit. Please say a little prayer that all will be fine and clear on Monday! Thanks so much for checking in on Will.

Love,
Ali

Sunday, November 2, 2008 2:32 PM CST

Well....We made it through another Halloween. Will and Ben were football players and Emma Kay was a genie. As you can see from the new picture on the website, Will is growing! Lately, I have really been able to tell that he is starting to grow...Praise the Lord. I was really beginning to worry that his treatment had done something to his growth but he is starting to slowly grow. New photos are in the View Photos file also.

Will is a typical 10 year old right now. He is really testing his limits on some of our rules lately but all in all - he's doing good and is a good kid. He is really worried about Alison right now. Her surgery has been moved to this Thurday. That's right....she leaves tomorrow (Monday)with Rebecca and our mom (Mimi) and then I am riding over with Greg and Kendal on Wednesday. Will is nervous for Alison and nervous about me being gone. He is very attached and I guess that is OK considering all we have been through together. Veo is going to do a great job as mom and dad while I am in Shreveport with alot of help from Grammy and Pops:)

Alison does have a caringbridge site so that everyone can send her messages and know exactly what is going on. It is visit/alisonhardison.

We will probably move Will's check-up appointment at St Jude to December 1st to make sure we are all here and prepared for it. I just can't take too much in one month!:)

Thank you for continuing to check in on Will! I will update soon!

Love,
Ali

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 10:05 AM CDT

Hello to everyone! Will is doing good....just like a regular 10 year old boy:) Just gong to school and playing. He has started art lessons and loves them! He was hesitant at first but is much better now.

We are so happy that our Alison got accepted into the Shriner's Hospital in Shreveport for her scoliosis. She will be going on Nov. 5th to meet with the surgeon and set a surgery date. We will know more then....we are in the process of getting Alison a website set up so that she can update on her progress and receive messages from her friends while she's out of school and in LA. Thank you so much to everyone for all your prayers and support for her already! Today is her 14th birthday ~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISON!

Well, Will is looking forward to trick-or-treating Friday night. He is a football player so of course Ben is too! Emma Kay is a genie ~ a very pretty genie at that:)!

I will try to update pics soon ~ Will is changing daily. Please conitnue to pray that Will feels more peace about his daily life. He struggles with issues of seperation and fear but is making some progress.

Thanks for checkin in on Will!
Ali

Tuesday, October 14, 2008 9:36 AM CDT

**Update on Alison - Just wanted to let you know that my niece Alison DID get accepted into the Shriner's Hospital in Shrevport. She will go on Nov. 5th for tests and to schedule surgery. Thank you so much to all of you who have emailed and called about her! Once again, you are all right in there with us!:)

Will is continuing to do good. He is just trucking right along in school....making good grades, playing with friends, just enjoying life. He wasn't feeling well a couple of weeks ago but after a trip to the pediatrician and a finger stick - he starting feeling better. His counts were normal ...... just like mine and yours - we are so thankful!

Will is still helping the high school football team. He didn't end up going on the charter bus to Starkville because it was raining like crazy that day. Will doesn't like rain AT ALL. He is going to try and go this Friday on the bus to Columbus but we will just have to watch the weather:)

We are dealing with another problem but this time with my niece Alison. She has been diagnosed with scoliosis with a curvature of 56 degrees. This means that Alison will be having back surgery to fix this problem. Rebecca has applied for Alison to be accepted to the Shriner's Hospital in Shrevport, LA. The doctor's there will meet this Thursday (Oct. 16th) to decide. This is where everyone believes Alison needs to be - so please pray that we will recieve good news on Thursday. I will keep you updated on this! We just love Alison so much and want the best for her. Pray, Pray, Pray.

Well, thanks for checking in on Will. Next check up at St Jude in November.

Have a great week,
Ali

Sunday, September 14, 2008 9:40 AM CDT

Will is continuing to do good! He has been having some trouble with horrible headaches lately. The eye doctor has found that his muscles in his eyes are having trouble focusing which could contribute to the headaches but may not be the main source of them. He is also battling bad sinus/allergy issues which I think is a big contributor to his headaches. Other than that, doing good.

Will has been helping the High School football team on Friday nights at the game and is loving it! He just loves being on the sidelines with all of the football players and coaches. They are all so good to him and make him feel important. He runs around giving out water and whatever else they may need. He works very hard during the games. They have asked him to go on the Charter bus with the team to Starkville Friday for our game. He is so excited.

Will is also doing good in school. Of course, math is not his favorite and never has been:) But his progress report was good. He just gets frustrated very easily.

Thanks for checking in on Will. Next check-up is in November! Have a great week!

Love,
Ali

Monday, September 1, 2008 2:39 PM CDT

Will is continuing to do great! He got his "boot" off his foot this past week. The doctors thinks his foot is all healed up and it hasn't been giving him any problems. Yea!!

Will is enjoying playing with his friends at school and at home. He is really into football right now. He helped at the Jr High football game Thurday night and had a blast! He plans on helping the team at all the Jr High games.

Our church has set up a shelter to help the hurricane victims so we are headed up there with our Sunday School class to cook for them. The children are going with us to help and play with the children that are there.

After we cook at church we are headed out to Ben's first soccer game! I think that Will is more excited than Ben is:) We all get a kick out of watching Ben do anything - he is just so silly!

There is no doubt in my mind that Will is a healthy ten year old little boy who is enjoying life! Thank you so much for all of the prayers and support you all continue to show our family! We are so truly blessed!

Next check-up at St Jude - November:)

Have a great week,
Ali

PS Happy late 5th birthday Anne Raegan!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008 8:10 PM CDT

Well, I know that an update is LONG overdue! Life is just really good after treatment! That is how it is all summed up:)

Will has had a minor set back. He has fractured the top of his foot just playing out in the yard with Ben Sunday afternoon. I was the "bad momma" that made him go to school all day Monday! I guess he just tolerates pain well but it finally really started hurting Monday night so off for x-rays Tuesday morning. We will go back in 10 days to see how it is healing. He is just rolling right along with a walking boot and crutches:)! What a trooper!

Will is LOVING fourth grade. His teachers are just wonderful and he loves changing classes. He is really happier in the past two weeks than he has been in a LONG time. I was really beginning to worry about him over the summer but things are looking up and prayers are being answered. I think that Will just feels more "normal" now and fits in better.

Our friend Drew Bouchillon (visit/drewbouchillon) is doing great in Jackson at therapy. He is such an amazing young man also that is such a testimony to us all. Our friend Cole (visit/wesleycolehardy) is about to finish up and we are praying for him during this very exciting time of counting down the weeks!

I will update with more later but it is bath time and bed time! Thanks for continuing to check in on Will!

Love,
Ali

Monday, July 21, 2008 2:41 PM CDT

We are home from Will's first post therapy check up. Every thing looked good as far as his blood work goes. He had only grown 1cm which was not very reassuring BUT Dr Howard told us that we shouldn't expect things to happen so soon after treatment so I did feel a little better. Also, his face problems could be stemming from him getting off of his 6mp which can cause skin problems so that also made me feel better. The leg pain that Will is experiencing is probably growing pains mixed in with a lot of Vincristine (chemo)damage. This is reversible but it takes a while and starts at the spine and works its way down. We are so very THANKFUL that these are the only problems Will has! He is so blessed to be where he is today.

Anybody who needs a reality check has to only walk through the doors of St Jude. It is really the most amazing place I have ever been but also can be very sad. I guess four months out, I had forgotten about all the sick children. You walk in and see kids Will's age walking on crutches because their legs aren't strong enough to hold them up, or there was a little girl Emma Kay's age there trying to color and she only had one eye to see out of. And of course, they are all bald and their parents all look the same, tired!

I remember those days and oh, how nice it was to leave with my healthy, happy child but how sad to leave knowing that all those sick children were there and their parents were wondering if they were going to make it. It really hits home and I am sure God has allowed this to take place in our lives to teach us a lesson. Believe me - I have learned a lot of lessons!

Thanks so much for checking in on Will - he read his messages last night and wanted to update but it was so late. Next check up at St Jude - November!:) Wow!

Have a great week,
Ali

Friday, July 18, 2008 7:27 AM CDT

**Update: Saturday morning - We received the sad news that a St Jude buddy, Tyler McKinnon, passed away last night. Please pray for his family. His website is visit/tylermckinnon.**

We are home from our trip and glad to be here! Ben just about drove us crazy in the car - he is not a good rider and asked about every 3 minutes if we were almost there! Everyone had a great time. We stayed at Lake Tiak-O'Khata and went to Geyser Falls water park. Will rode almost every slide - he loved it! Ben and Emma Kay had a good time also especially in the Creaky Leaky Water Factory area. They all loved the Wave Pool and needless to say we were exhausted when we got back to the lake that day. The also had some water slides so they enjoyed those as well. We fished some and Emma Kay caught her first fish the first time she threw her line out - Will says her pole is lucky! Ben's line stayed in the trees most of the time but he didn't care:)

I took lots of pics but none at the water park. I was too scared to get my camera out with all the water and trying to watch Ben.

Will goes to St Jude on Monday for his check-up. His leg pain comes and goes so I feel sure it is growing pains. He is nervous about getting stuck since he doesn't have his port anymore but I am sure he will do fine. His face is having problems again after being out in the sun on our trip and I didn't even put sunscreen on it. It is driving me crazy and Will cries saying it looks horrible. He is starting to get at that age where looks matter.

I will update after his check-up Monday. Thanks for checking in on Will and don't forget our friend Drew Bouchillon (visit/drewbouchillon).

Have a great weekend,
Ali

Monday, July 14, 2008 7:08 AM CDT

Hello to everyone! We are heading out this morning for a quick trip to Lake Tiak-O'Khata and Geyser Falls. The children are SOOOO excited! I will have to admit it is nice to pack for a trip and not have to pack 25 bottles of meds and to not have to plan which hospital we would go to if Will got fever:) Much easier this way - a bottle of Tylenol and a bottle of sunscreen!

Will is still doing good. He has been having a lot of leg pain. We are praying that this is growing pains. Speaking of growing, maybe we could get some prayers that he would start to grow. The doctors said he would eventually "catch up" once off treatment, but we really haven't seen much growth.

Thank you to all that have been praying for Drew Bouchillon. He is improving but as we know, it takes baby steps. If you want to visit him and his family, his website if visit/drewbouchillon.

Will's 4 month post-treatment check-up is next Monday, July 21st! We can't wait to see everyone at St Jude and visit any old friends that may be there. We just know that it will be a GREAT check-up.

Thanks for checking in and we will update when we get back. Please pray for safe travels!

Have a great week,
Ali

Thursday, July 10, 2008 4:55 AM CDT

Well, I couldn't sleep so I thought I would check on a few friends that I have been thinking about. I also have added a new (short) slideshow of the children swimming. We haven't taken many pictures around the water this year because I am so scared to take my eyes off Ben! We have finally figured out that it is the sunscreen that is bothering Will's face. BUT, we can't find one he can use on his face. He is doing great and enjoying getting back in the pool!

Will has been playing lots of golf lately. He is getting really good for a 10 year old and seems to like playing. He is really pumped up this week because he did great at golf lessons Monday. He was smiling ear to ear when I picked him up that day.

Will's check up at St Jude is in about a week. This will be his first check up since March when he finished treatment. We are all looking forward to seeing everyone at St Jude. We miss them all so much - it's hard to spend three years with them and then to not see them for 4 months. Will has a picture in a frame on his desk of him and Dr Howard (his main doctor from day one. I heard Emma Kay ask Will the other day if he missed his doctor and Will said, "I miss them but I don't miss the medicine and needles." He is already stressing about getting stuck when we go since he doesn't have his port anymore. I am sure that he will do just fine!

We do ask that you all continue to pray for Drew Bouchillon. He is our friend who was injured in a bush hogging accident on June 23rd. His website is visit/drewbouchillon.

I will let Will update more when he gets up. Have a great day!
Ali

Thursday, July 3, 2008 8:01 AM CDT

Will is doing good! We spent yesterday going through all the stuff in his room and redecorating to fit his "age". I was complaining about Will being a "pak-rat" but I realized that I had a lot to do with all the stuff he had accumulated. I had to really let go of the past three years and get rid of some things yesterday. I would think,"Will drew this when he was really sick and in the hospital." Then I thought - that is over - move on! It is so hard sometimes though. We went and bought a box and filled it with the stuff that we couldn't quite throw away yet and put it in the attic. I think that was a good compromise:) He is very proud of how the room turned out.

We put bunk beds up in Ben's room so look for an update soon that tells about him breaking his arm or leg from jumping off of them! He says it is a fire truck because of the ladder. Crazy Ben! Now Emma Kay says it is her turn to re-do her room - you know girls are so expensive when you do things like that!:)

Will's face was doing better until we got back in the pool. I just don't know what to do about it! I don't know if it is the sun or the chlorine - I am leaning more towards the chlorine now. They enjoyed playing on the water slide outside yesterday.

Please continue to pray for Drew Bouchillon. He has been struggling to over come breathing issues and fever. We have so many prayer warriors that have prayed Will's fever away that I know if we all come together that we can get this fever taken care of! His site is visit/drewbouchillon.

They all three are looking forward to going out the Country Club tomorrow night for BBQ, swimming and fireworks. Much easier to go somewhere than try to do it ourselves!:) Will loves the big fireworks they do out there and all the kids sit on blankets and watch.

Thanks for checking in on Will. He checked his messages last night but was too tired to update. Maybe he will today!

Happy 4th,
Ali

Monday, June 30, 2008 8:49 PM CDT

Just a quick update to say that Will is continuing to do good. He is just looking for ways to spend his birthday money. He has purchased a new set of walkie talkies so far.

Will has a friend over tonight to spend the night. They just came in from having a water balloon fight. Tomorrow they have plans for me to take them swimming. Ben is loving following the big boys around!

Will had a reaction on his face a week and a half ago from the sun but it is looking a whole lot better this week. It was very upseting for him when his face looked so bad but he is back to the old Will again:)

He has been checking his guestbook alot and loves reading all the messages from everyone. He checks our friend Drew Bouchillon's page a million times a day so then he checks his. Please continue to pray for Drew and his family. His website is visit/drewbouchillon.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. Life is SO good after treatment!

Love,
The Moore's
Veo, Ali, Will, Emma Kay, and Ben

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 9:27 PM CDT

Will continues to do great! He had blast at the Fire Department Benefit Golf Tournament today. We are all tired and look forward to relaxing tomorrow:) We did receive Will's appointment reminder for his 4 month check-up at St Jude. It isn't until July 21st but I am sure I will be nervous until it is over with! This is his first check-up since he got off treatment in March.

Our friend Drew that we told everyone about the other day is doing a little better. He has a caringbridge site so please visit him and let his family know that you are praying. His site is visit/drewbouchillon.

Will wants to type now so I am handing it over to him!
if you check my site you sign it:)you need to check drew's site it is really cool!I have been playing golf alot this week.I will check in again tomorrow.
later,
WILL

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 7:57 AM CDT

Well, yesterday was Will's tenth birthday! He had a great day. Ben and Emma Kay have gone to basketball camp at DSU with Veo's mom. They are staying with their Aunt Scottie and Uncle Rodney. Will went to work with Veo doing home inspections. He always wants to go so this was a good day since the little ones wouldn't be screaming to go also!:)

Last night we went out to eat for Will's birthday. We went to a mexican restaurant in Hernando and they smeared whipped cream ALL over Will's face. I will post pictures soon. It was so funny and Will really enjoyed it. Will is really feeling good and had a great birthday without any St Jude visits. We miss our doctors and nurses and can't wait to see them in July. But I will have to admit, it is nice to be finished! This was Will's first birthday since his 6th birthday to not have to go to the hospital. I remember his 7th birthday, he was in a wheelchair because he was hurting so bad from the Vincristine chemo. Rebecca had to go with me and help me take him for treatment and everytime we moved him his face would show the pain that he was feeling. He would sit in my lap at home and I would hold him all day. I asked him the other day if he remembered that and he said, "Yes, I felt like my bones were being crushed!" It just breaks my heart that he had to feel that way but look at him now! Running and riding a skate board:)

I do want to ask for prayers for a very sweet boy who goes to MHS with us, Drew Bouchillon. Drew is a junior and was bush hogging yesterday when he was thrown from it and run over. He has lost both of his legs at different places and is in ICU at the MED. He has a wonderful family that has been VERY supportive of Will and our family these past 3 years. He will be back in surgery today. PLEASE say a prayer for him and his family along with the doctors, nurses, and surgeons that are helping him. Thank you!

I better go for now. We are busy getting ready for the Fourth Annual Benefit Golf Tournament that the fire department puts on. Its a good thing that Emma Kay and Ben aren't here because their rooms are full of door prizes and bags! Ben would have a great time with all of it:)

Thank you for checking in on Will!
Ali

Monday, June 23, 2008 2:49 PM CDT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILL! TEN YEARS OLD TODAY - JUNE 23!

Thursday, June 12, 2008 7:13 AM CDT

Will is still doing great! He is having fun this week in golf camp at Northwest Community College. He is continuing with his golf lessons weekly and is loving it! He and Veo played yesterday and I think he did as good as Veo did:)!

We have been busy as you can see from the new slideshow. We have celebrated Ben's 4th birthday and Emma Kay's 6th birthday. We have attended the St Jude Stanford golf tournament on Wednesday for ProAm day and on Sunday for the trophy presentation. Both days were great for Will. It was so hot but he had a great time! He was able to meet lots of golfers and Stanford had wonderful suites on the 18th green and the 11th green that they invited us into where we could rest and cool off and eat. It was just great!

We also went to our Relay for Life this past Friday night. We all wore our green Will Power shirts. It is just strange when they call out Will's name to get his survivor medal. He is so young compared to all the other survivors.

Well, I better go get everyone ready for VBS and golf camp. I am ready for a week where we don't have anything going on! We are working on Will's birthday now which is June 23rd. He will be 10! I can't believe it!

Thanks for checking in on Will - leave him a message and let him know that you were here!

Have a great weekend,
Ali

Monday, June 2, 2008 12:52 AM CDT

Hi to everyone! I am happy to report that Will is doing great! He is happy and just enjoying summer. We have been swimming and playing outside. All three of them went to basketball camp last week at the school and loved it. They were worn out! Emma Kay is still playing softball and Will is playing golf. Ben just goes around enjoying the concession stands and playing!

Will is excited about the St Jude/Stanford Golf Tournament this week in Memphis. We are going up on Wednesday for him to participate in the "Little Eagles" event where the patients get to caddy for one of the players. Then he will go back on Sunday for Seersucker Sunday. He will get to participate in giving the trophy out to the winner. He just loves golf and we are so thankful that he is getting to participate in this. Thank you St Jude for asking Will!

Friday night is Relay for Life here in Senatobia. Will is participating in the Survivors Walk of course! We hope to see everyone there - it is alot of fun and couldn't be for a better cause.

We do ask that you pray for our friend Tyler McKinnon. He was released Saturday from St Jude after 36 days there. He is on hospice at home now. His dad is originally from Senatobia. His page is visit/tylermckinnon.

Will did go to the Podiatrist last week to check out the knots on his feet. The doctor feels like they are going to be fine. If they get bigger or start hurting him, then they will remove them. We are praying that they just go away! Next checkup at St Jude is scheduled for July 21st.

We hope that everyone is having a great summer! Enjoy your week and thanks for checking in on Will!

Love,
The Moore's

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 5:36 AM CDT

Sorry for the lack in updates. I sit down to update and then someone needs me!

Will is doing GREAT! He is having fun just being a kid - running, playing, eating popsicles - just normal stuff. His appetite is back plus some! Veo and I sit amazed every night at dinner at how much Will enjoys eating now. When he was on treatment - nothing tasted good. He would think that he was going to like something and then one bite and yuck! Now, he cleans his plate:) We are so happy for him.

He decided to buzz his hair. It killed me to cut it off but then he said, "This time it is gone because I want it to be gone. Not because I am sick." He looks cute as can be and is enjoying his "cool" haircut. He says it is easier because he doesn't have to brush it!

Will has started golf lessons and loves it. He has it this afternoon and really looks forward to it. All three of the children are going to basketball camp next week at our school. Hopefully Ben will do what he is supposed to:)!

Will is also scheduled to go to golf camp this summer and then we may take a trip sometime too! Emma Kay's 6th birthday is next Thursday along with the pool opening next week.

Will also goes back to the Podiatrist next Wednesday. His warts are doing great but he has some knots that have come up on the tops of his feet. The are hard and feel like bone. St Jude said to see what this doctor said so hopefully we won't have to go the St Jude route. Our next appointment at St Jude is July 21st.

I will post new pictures soon! Have a great day and a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

Love,
Ali

Sunday, May 11, 2008 7:35 AM CDT

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms! I am so blessed with a wonderful mother and mother-in-law. We couldn't function daily without both of them.

I almost feel guilty this Mother's Day as I look at my three wonderful (yet entergetic) children. I know so many moms that don't have their children here with them. I know WAY to many moms that don't have their children here!

We are headed off to church this morning and we will see baby dedication as they always do on Mother's Day. I love seeing all the babies and the parent's sweating it out:)!

Will is doing great - enjoying every day! He has had a touch of the stomach bug but hopefully is over that now.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will!

Have a great week,
Ali

Wednesday, April 30, 2008 12:53 AM CDT

Will is doing great! He is just having fun and being a kid:) We did go to the Podiatrist about his warts on his foot and he was so brave. The were able to cut some of them off and gave us medication for the other ones. The doctor feels that these most likely developed due to Will's weakened immune system. Hopefully now we can get these taken care of.

We had Special Awards today at school. Will got several including most money raised for St Jude. He got a Savings Bond which he is really proud of:) Of course, he is a walking testimony of what a great place St Jude is!

This weekend we have Emma Kay's first softball game which should be very interesting. Will has been working with her so I am sure that she will do great.

Thanks so much for continuing to check on Will!

Have a great week,
Ali

Friday, April 25, 2008 12:51 AM CDT

Will did GREAT yesterday with his port removal surgery. He was pretty sore last night but the pain meds took care of it and he slept really well. Today he hasn't even had to take anything for pain. He said that it stings a little but not too bad. He is such a trooper!

Thanks so much for all the prayers and well wishes! Will is finally "normal" if you can call any child that:) Leaving yesterday from the hospital it really hit me that he was finished with treatment and how LUCKY and BLESSED we truly are to still have him with us. We are so happy to be finished but weill really miss all the wonderful friends we have made at St Jude. If you have never been there, you really should go for at least a tour.

Today is Ben's birthday - he is four years old! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN! This is Ben's first birhtday to have that Will hasn't been sick. Ben was only almost 11 months old when Will was diagnosed. He was so excited this morning and just hugged Will when Will told him happy birthday. Ben loves his big brother.

Well, we hope that everyone has a great weekend! Thanks for checking in on Will!

Love,
Ali

PS Second order of Will Power Shirts are in if you haven't gotten yours, give me a call!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 5:37 AM CDT

Hi to everyone! Will's MRI Friday was good. It took longer than I thought it would but Will did fine:) He won't have another MRI for two years which will be of his brain then. Will is scheduled to go tomorrow (Wednesday) at 1:00 for his pre-op appointment. They will draw labs and look at where his port is located. Then we are scheduled to get to St Jude at 6:30 Thursday morning and his surgery should start at 7:30am. He is really excited about getting his port out. Please pray for his safety during this surgery. This should be the last time Will is put to sleep. I should try and go back to see how many times he has been put to sleep. I know it would be alot:)! He is a trooper!

Next Monday, we are taking Will to a podiatrist to look at his foot. He has had warts that they have been treating the best that they could at St Jude without causing any infection while he was on treatment. Now that he is finished with his treatment, we are hoping to get rid of these painful warts. There are several little ones and one big one. Will is more nervous about this appointment than the surgery. I think that we are all spoiled by our wonderful doctors and nurses at St Jude so when we have to go outside of there, we all get nervous!

Our buddy Allen didn't get to have his surgery so please continue to remember him. We know he can't wait to get his port out also. Another friend of ours, Cole, had a crazy spinal tap like Will did back at week 120 of his treatment also. We all know that Cole is going to be cleared during his next spinal tap, but I know how stressful the wait is. His website is visit/wesleycolehardy.

If you ordered one of the Will Power shirts this past time, they should be ready this week. The green shirts were backordered and I figured that everyone would rather wait a few more days and have the same color green that the first ones were. I will get them delivered as soon as I get them.

Thank you so much to everyone who is still checking in on Will and continuing to pray for him. He is really enjoying the warm weather and just being a kid!

Have a great week,
Ali

Sunday, April 13, 2008 8:40 PM CDT

Well, Will had a great time Saturday night at his fireworks party. Everyone just relaxed and watched the children play until dark. Then the show began! Will helped Veo light every one of the fireworks. They all went off and looked wonderful! What a way to end three years - loud fireworks!

We did receive a visit from the police but once we told them why we were making such noise, they told us to "shoot on!" and that we did.

I will get a new slideshow up as soon as I can. I took lots of pictures that I hope show up since it was dark.

We have a friend that needs a miracle right now. His name is Tyler McKinnon. His dad grew up in Senatobia and was actualy my grandmothers physical therapist. Tyler has been getting treatment at St Jude and has even tried a trial protocol in California but his latest scans showed progression of disease. Please visit him at www.caringbridge.org/visit/tylermckinnon and send up lots of prayers for him and his family.

Will is scheduled for a MRI on Friday. He will be put to sleep for this as it is a lengthy MRI. The on April 24th, he is scheduled to have surgery to remove his port. This is a day that Will has been waiting for! Please remember to pray for these two days that he will be put to sleep.

Our friend, Allen is traveling to Memphis tomorrow to have his port out on Tuesday. You can visit him at la/allensmith. I am anxious to hear from him to see how "involved" the surgery really will be. Please pray for safe travels for them and a safe surgery.

Thank you so much for continuing to check in on Will. We will keep you updated!

Have a great week,
Ali and Will

Tuesday, April 8, 2008 8:53 PM CDT

SATURDAY UPDATE: If you are coming tonight - and you have a lawn chair - please bring it:) Also, it is going to be chilly but please still wear your Will Power shirt. Thanks and we can't wait to see you all tonight!

Love,
Ali and Will

Will's doing great!

OK - the fireworks are planned for this Saturday night. HOPEFULLY they will all go off and Will will love them! The grilling will start around 6:30 - hot dogs are on the menu along with whatever else I can rustle up:)! Fireworks will probably start around 8:00 - whenever it gets dark. We are just planning on letting all the children play after we eat until it gets dark. Everyone is welcome - let Will know in the guestbook if you plan on coming. He has been checking everyday since my last entry to see if anyone had said anything about coming.

Also, wear your Will Power shirt if you got one but don't let that stop you from coming if you didn't get one.

Have a great week,
Ali

Saturday, April 5, 2008 7:49 AM CDT

Well, Will had an interesting start to the week. On Monday, Will woke up not feeling well. By the time we got to school, he was running fever. So... you guessed it - we had to go to St Jude. He was very scared that we would have to go inpatient (me too!) but thankfully his counts were 2700 so we got an antibiotic and were allowed to come home. He still felt yucky Tuesday but by Wednesday, he was better. He has been playing and just watching all the rain lately! Yesterday he did have to go back to St Jude for his pyscological testing. Veo took him for that and the doctors were impressed with how well he did.

One good thing that came out of Will having fever was that our ong time St Jude buddy, Anne Raegan, and her parents were there for her one year checkup and we got to see them. This is the only picture I have of Will and Anne Raegan where they have hair!

It was great to see them.

This weekend we are just hanging out. Hopefully things will dry out before long and the kids can play outside!

We are thinking about maybe shooting some fireworks this weekend for Will. It has been so wet that he hasn't been able to shoot his fireworks that he has collected. HOPEFULLY it won't rain Saturday night and we can do that. Let us know if any of you can come!

Thanks for checking in on Will!
Ali

Sunday, March 30, 2008 7:17 PM CDT

Wow! What a week:) We have just been waiting on Will's MRD results (the more "conclusive and extensive" test run on his bone marrow and spinal fluid) and it is NEGATIVE! All of that yucky Leukemia is gone for good!

Will has had somewhat of an emotional week. I think that it is just hard for his little mind to take in everything that has happened to him. He is so young but so mature in some ways. I have to share what he said the other night. When Veo is at the fire house he likes to sleep on my "end of the house":) We were just watching TV and he said, "Wonder what God has planned for me, momma?" I was floored. This is obviously something that he has been thinking about. I told him I think that he has BIG plans for him to have allowed such challenges already. I didn't know what else to say.

We are so excited that we don't have to go to St. Jude tomorrow. I would be lying if I didn't say that I would love to know what his counts are! Our life has just been lived by counts that it is going to be hard not knowing. Will does have a pretty nasty cough that he can hopefully fight off without meds. He finishes his 6mp(night chemo)tonight and is really looking forward to that. After tonight he can eat a late night snack and not have to worry about having meds to take on an empty stomach. For three years he has had to take 6mp EVERY night TWO hours after he eats.

We are placing a second order for the green Will Power shirts. Everybody loved them so much that we have another order we are turning in on Wednesday morning. If you want one, please let me know by Tuesday night. They are $5.00 - (last time I forgot that great thing called tax:)) Just let me know if you would like to order one. It's not a fund raiser or anything - just the shirt we printed up to celebrate Will getting off treatment.

Well, thanks for checking in on Will. He will go back on April 18th for a MRI that he will be put to sleep for and then on April 24th for his port surgery.

Thanks so much for everything over the past three years! We have had such great family and friends from everywhere cheering Will on!

Have a great week,
Ali

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 5:00 AM CDT

Will had an awesome Easter weekend with the anticipation of his No Mo Chemo party which was held Monday at the hospital. Veo and I took Will early Monday morning to Memphis to start a long day of tests. Our family joined us as it got closer to the time to go to the Medicine Room for Will's celebration. We were lucky enough to be able to celebrate also with Will's buddy Allen Smith. They started their treatment on the same day and ended with a double No Mo Chemo party. The boys smiled from ear to ear as nurses and doctors sang to them and then threw confetti on them after they recieved their LAST chemo treatment. It was wonderful! It was one of the best days of my life and I know I have never been more proud of Will. He is truly a brave young man.

Yesterday at school, Will was surprised when the entire third grade changed into "Will Power" shirts and got ready to party. They released balloons in honor of Will with a note attached saying why they were released and then had cupcakes and drinks while playing on the playground. I have added a link to Will's school, Magnolia Heights, that you can click on and view the pictures of yesterday. It was wonderful as well.

Now I guess we adjust to being "normal". Whatever that is! Will has to go back to St Jude three times in April for tests and to have surgery to get his port out. After that, he doesn't go back until July 21st. To say the least, we are so happy and feel unbelievably blessed.

I will add pics of Monday as soon as I can. Thank you so much for staying with us over the past three years!

Have a great week,
Ali

Monday, March 24, 2008 5:01 PM CDT

ALL CLEAR!

We had the best day EVER!!!

I will update more later with pics and details but right now I am going to sit down and let it all sink in. We are home and resting.... and of course thanking GOD!

Love,
Ali

Sunday, March 23, 2008 7:40 PM CDT

Wow! This past week has flown by - all the children had egg hunts at school and then getting ready for the Easter Bunny! This weekend has been an emotional rollercoaster for me. I have cried one minute and then been excited the next. Will is getting nervous so I try to not talk about it that much. The shirts we had made up came in and they look GREAT! We are wearing them tomorrow and would like anybody that ordered them to wear them tomorrow in support of Will. If you haven't gotten yours from me, they just came in late Friday and I haven't gotten them all delivered. Just call me or email me and I will get them to you:)

Today is Easter ... whoever you are and where ever you are, we pray that you know our God. HE has held us through these past three years and given us peace like we never imagined.

PLEASE pray for our peace, Will's safety during his procedures tomorrow and for clear spinal fluid and bone marrow. Will is scheduled to go into procedures at 10:15am. We have to be there at 8:00am and have a full day of tests. Once we get CLEAR results ... on to the Medicine Room. We are scheduled to go in there at 2:00pm but it may be later. This is when Will will get his last treatment! Our family will be coming up for this and bringing Ben and Emma Kay. Emma told me a little while ago that she was SO excited that Will would not have cancer anymore! So sweet...

Thank you for checking in on Will. Thank you for sticking with us for the past three years! I will update as soon as I can tomorrow.

Love,
Ali

Saturday, March 15, 2008 6:25 PM CDT

Will went to the hospital yesterday for his chemo that he would get on this coming up Monday. This way he doesn't have to miss school since they only go 4 days this week because of Good Friday. His counts were 1100 which is GREAT! He is feeling good and got a good report. Of course, all we could talk about was that the next time they see us it will be for his LAST treatment.

They were actually having a NO MO CHEMO celebration Friday while we were in the Medicine Room. Will participated and helped throw confetti on a little girl. All I could think about was that we would be doing that for him so SOON. I teared up of course and as I looked at his nurse pushing his chemo into him, I thought back to how much he has gone through. He has endured more than I know I have in my life and many others. But then I thought about how many mommas had watched those NO MO CHEMO celebrations and then never got to celebrate that with their child. St Jude is such a happy, hopeful place put it also holds a lot of sad memories for us. We have seen too many children die because of cancer.

On to happy news... Will had an AWESOME day today. We traveled to Cleveland, MS where Will's Aunt Scottie and Uncle Rodney live. Rodney is the Assistant Baseball Coach at Delta State University and had arranged for them to have their FIRST Annual St Jude Charity Day. All the proceeds from the gate today went to St Jude. They also invited Will to go out on the field and throw the first pitch. He did GREAT! He was really nervous but did fine once he got out there. They talked about St Jude and Will before he threw the pitch and I could tell that all the fans around me were really touched. They cheered Will on like he was playing a MLB game:) I have pictures that I will get posted as soon as I can. We have already watched the video of it and I am sure we will watch it many more times. THANK YOU to Rodney, Coach Kinnison, and the Delta State baseball team for doing this for St Jude and all the kids at St Jude. Will wouldn't be here today without St Jude and St Jude couldn't do all the wonderful stuff they do without everyone's help!

Well, off to school next week for four days. Then it will be Easter and then the BIG day. Please, please, please pray for Will and these upcoming days. I think he is getting nervous as well. Our lives will be changed again soon but this time for the better. Thank you for checking in on Will. Don't forget to leave him a message.

Love,
Ali

PS Will says that Ms Melody has to come to his party that we are going to have and bring her fireworks to shoot. He also said he thought the 150,000th visitor would be her or Alison so he got it right:)!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:13 PM CDT

***HAPPY BIRTHDAY VEO!***

Well, we made it back from our vacation to Gatlinburg. Everyone had a great time and was exhausted last nigt. We were very happy to be home. I have posted a new slideshow with just some of the pictures I took. You know me, I took a million pictures!

Will is still feeling good. He will go on Friday to get his treatment so he won't have to miss school on Monday. He's glad to be out on Spring Break. Friday will be his last treatment before the BIG day! Only 12 days left... I am so nervous:) I know that everything will be fine but... there is always worry in the cancer world. Please pray that everything goes as scheduled and Will finishes on March 24th, the day after Easter.

Emma Kay is still sick. I took her to the doctor and she tested negative for the flu and strep. They are going to treat it like strep since her throat does hurt. They did blood work and will let me know tomorrow how everything looks. I had a flashback of the day we took Will to the doctor and they did blood work and sent him to the hospital. That was three years ago but is still so real and vivid. I will probably always be nervous when they test any of my children for anything!

Thanks so much for checking in and leaving Will messages! He has been checking every day to see if he has 150,000 hits yet. Don't forget to tell him if you are the 150,000th visitor.

Love,
Ali

Monday, March 10, 2008 8:21 PM CDT

We are having a great time here in Gatlingburg! Will is loving every minute. We have been to the Dixie Stampede, the Ripley's Believe It or Not Musuem, the Aquarium, and Ober Gatlingburg. We have also eaten everything we have seen and ridden every Go Kart here! Will rode the Alpine Slide today down the mountain at Ober Gatlingburg. He has NO FEAR!

Emma Kay started running fever running fever yesterday morning. I started her on meds and she went with Beck and her girls and Mimi to keep her away from Will for a while. She is feeling better and doesn't have fever anymore but is still on antibiotics. Please start praying now that Will doesn't get this! This would bump us back if Will's counts were to fall and he got fever! I am so anxious. This would CRUSH Will if he didn't get to finish on schedule.

We will update when we get home. We are heading home tommorrow morning!

Thanks for checking in! Let Will know if you are the 150,000 visitor:)

Love,
Ali

Friday, March 7, 2008 12:54 AM CST

**UPDATE Friday night - We were able to bring the laptop so now Will can check. He says to tell Ms. Melody HI! We only made it to Jackson, TN due to the snow! The kids have thrown snowballs and gotten frozen here at the hotel. Ben thinks that it is SOOO neat. Hopefully we will be able to make it to Gatlinburg tomorrow. We will check in tomorrow - hope everybody got some of this beautiful snow! Pray for safe travels!
Ali

Hello to everyone! Will went to St Jude this morning so that we could leave for our trip to Gatlinburg. His counts are holding at 1000 again this week. We also got our schedule for his LAST day. Can you believe it - only one more treatment until THE DAY! Scheduled for March 24!

Will is feeling good and is very excited about our trip. We are trying to get gone before all the snow moves in today. They are calling for snow in Gatlinburg tomorrow so the children are all excited about that.

We have placed the order for the Will Power "No Mo Chemo" shirts. Will is really excited about those too. Some people have ordered them to wear at the Relay Walk this summer. We think that is a great idea:)!

Well, we are about to leave. Please pray for a safe, HEALTHY, trip for Will. We don't want to have to visit any hospitals while on vacation. We will check back in when we get back!

Have a great weekend,
Ali

P.S. Will is standing right here and wants me to add: "If you check my page while I am gone, please sign it. I will be checking back in Tuesday night when we get home. See ya!"

Monday, March 3, 2008 5:41 PM CST

**Tuesday, March 4th marks Will's THREE year anniversary of his diagnosis. Three years seemed SOOOO long when they told me in the beginning but it really has gone by fast. I just keep thinking back to that day and how much we have all gone through! WOW - I never would have thought we would have made it. Will is truly a STRONG young man. I am so proud of him. We would have never made it without our AWESOME family and all of our friends like you! THANK YOU!**

3/3/08
Will is doing great! His counts were 1000 today. His Grammy took him to the hospital for his treatment. I think that they had a great time shopping from what they came home with. He is feeling good and counting down the days till No Mo Chemo.

We have made up a design for some t-shirts that say Will Power on them with a cross. They are for Will's No Mo Chemo. We plan on having a party after his last treatment - maybe the weekend after. I am still planning it. Anyway, we thought it would be cool to have the shirts. They are green - Will's favorite color. TeeZers is printing them up and only charging $4.00 a shirt. If anyone is interested in one, please email me or call be before Friday morning. I need all orders and money by then. We are leaving Friday for Gatlinburg and I want to have it all taken care of by then. They come in Youth XS-L and Adult S-2XL.

Will is also excited that Coach Dukes gave him two tickets to the Ole Miss basketball game tomorrow night. His Pops is going to take them and I am sure that he will have a blast!

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. Please continue to pray for him and ALL the children at St Jude!

Have a great week,
ali

Sunday, March 2, 2008 6:36 AM CST

I know that I am WAY behind on updating this week! We have had a busy week. Will went to ST Jude on Monday. His counts are sky high at 3200. He is feeling good and playing hard.

Will and Emma Kay had their Upward Awards night Tuesday night. They enjoyed that. All the players got an Upward basketball that is really nice.

We are getting ready to go on a Spring Break trip. This Friday we will head out to Gatlinburg, TN. We will be there through Tuesday. The children are really excited. My mom, Beck, Alison and one of her friends are also going with us. It should be fun, exhausting, but fun!

Then, Saturday, March 15th, Will is going to throw out the first pitch at a Delta State University baseball game. Will's uncle is the assistant baseball coach there and they have arranged a fund raiser for St Jude that day at the game. All the proceeds from the gate will be given to St Jude. Will is very excited, nervous, but excited!

As you can see, our Spring Break will be busy, but a good kind of busy:)

Will will head out tomorrow for St Jude. I will do better in updating this time:)

Thank you so much for checking in on Will. Not many more treatments left:)

Have a great Sunday!
Ali

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 1:21 PM CST

Will is still counting down the days until NO MO CHEMO! We are all getting a little anxious:) I can't imagine what life is like after three years at St Jude. I am sure it will take some adjusting back into the "real world".

Will went to St Jude yesterday for his treatment. His counts are a little on the low side - 1000. We'll take it though! Everything went well.

Will had a good Valentine's Day last week. His Upward basketball team won this past Saturday so he was excited about that. He scored 6 points! This Saturday is their last game.

The children are excited because Make-A-Wish sent us 5 tickets to go see Frog and Toad tomorrow night at the Orpheum. I just hope Ben can sit there for an hour:)!

I have some new pictures to put on the website but I am still having trouble getting them to download. I'll figure it out soon!

Thanks for checking in on Will! Please continue to pray for his healing, especially as we get closer to his end of treatment date. We will all sleep a little better when this is all over.

Have a great week,
Ali

Tuesday, February 12, 2008 3:51 PM CST

So sorry for the lack in updates! Things are busy - a good busy! Will has been doing great. His counts last week were 1500 and this week they are 1200. It is unbelievable to me that our family of five has not gotten this horrible flu that is going around. I hate to brag but we very rarely get by without a hospital stay but so far so good. Let's just keep praying!

Will did wake up and said his throat was a little sore and he did have a headache when I picked him up at school but he seems to be well enough to play X Box with Tucker:)

Will had his play at school last week. It was so just and he did great. I am having a problem with my pictures but I will get some new ones up as soon as Veo can fix it for me:)! Will is also looking forward to his Valentine's party at school Thursday. We also are going to Jackson on Friday for Greg's graduation from the Fire Academy. He has been there for six weeks and we are so proud of him for making it through - we know that it has been tough! I think that Will is really going to enjoy watching the graduation.

Will is continuing to enjoy Upward Basketball. Only two more games left! He has decided to play golf this summer instead of baseball. He has been saving for new golf shoes so we are going soon to get those. He still LOVES baseball but just decided to take a break this summer. Will hasn't had a summer to just BE so he wants to enjoy his first summer off from St Jude!

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. Please remember Will and all our friends at St Jude in your prayers. Keep checking that ticker!

Happy Valentine's!
Ali

Tuesday, January 29, 2008 9:50 AM CST

Update Thursday 1/31 - Will had a sad day yesterday. His beagal dog, Suzie, passed away yesterday. She was pretty old, we really don't know how old because Greg found her about two and a half years ago on the side of the road. She had been hurt and needed a good home. We still have our dog, Maggie, who seems to be missing Suzie.

1/30
Will is doing great! His counts last week were 1400 and this week they are 2000. I am glad for the increase in his counts because it seems that everyone we know has the flu! Will's day yesterday was unusually long due to computer problems at the hospital - hopefully those will be resolved before next week.

Will has been enjoying basketball. He really likes to play. He gets nervous before the games but then does great. He scored 4 points Saturday.

Will and Emma Kay LOVED the High School Musical play at the Orpheum. It was really good. Ben is still looking forward to Go! Deigo Go! which is coming up in March.

Will's class is having NFL week at school this week. He had to do a report on the Denver Broncos and they will be having a mini Super Bowl party Friday - hot dogs and all! He is excited about it.

Emma Kay is Star Student this week in her class. We took Maggie yesterday to show her friends. Will went down to her class with me to help. He is going to read a book to her class on Friday. He can really be a good big brother when they take a break from fighting:)!

We hope that everyone has a great week!
Ali

Monday, January 14, 2008 1:18 PM CST

Will is doing good. His basketball team won again this past Saturday. Will got fouled and he made his free throw so he was really excited. He was so nervous before the game started but it didn't take him long to get over his case of nerves.

Will did go to St Jude today. His counts are 1200 which is really good. The doctors have decided that unless Will starts showing symptoms like fever, pain in his abdomen, throwing up, etc. they will just leave his bladder issue alone. Hopefully Will will never experience those symptoms. If he does, then they will go from there. It was an incidential finding and I am thankful that they did find it but I am ready for this all to be over:) What a long three years it has been full of worry but also a lot of good lessons learned along the way.

Wednesday night, Veo and I are taking Emma Kay and Will to the High School Musical play at the Orpheum. This was part of their Christmas from us. They are so excited. Ben got tickets to Go Diego Go which is also coming up at the Orpheum.

Will is really wishing for some snow down here. Even if it is just a little, he really wants to see some. He watches the weather every day to see if it is in the forecast!

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. We love to read his messages and see who all has been checking in.

Have a great week,
Ali

Friday, January 11, 2008 4:04 PM CST

We still have not heard any decision on the ultrasound that Will had on Wednesday. His nurse practioner did call yesterday to let me know that Dr Howard has not seen the picutres yet but that she will discuss it with him when he gets back. She also said that Will's 24 hour urine culture had not grown anything so that was good as far as infection goes. Will is experiencing some pain in his back still but did not have to take pain medication yet today for it:).

Will has basketball tomorrow at 10:00am at our church and always looks forward to that. Emma Kay's is at 8:00am tomorrow morning and is excited as well. Ben just looks forward to the concession stand! We had Rebecca a little family b-day party last night and the children enjoyed giving her presents and singing happy birthday to her.

Please pray that all of this with Will works itself out and we can just forget about it. Also, please remember our friend, Madelyn Beamon. Her website is tn/madelyn. Her family is really going through a tough time right now. I know they would appreciate prayers.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. He checks his ticker and messages every day. Oh, he said to tell Ms Sheila that no singing would be necessary at his No Mo Chemo party, just bring the fireworks!

Have a great weekend,
Ali

PS. THANK YOU to Stacey Suddoth and family for the fireworks you brought to Will the other night. He has added them to his stash for his BIG day! He was very excited. Thanks again!

Monday, January 7, 2008 2:46 PM CST

Update Thursday Jan 10
First of all HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECK! (my OLDER sister!)
Will did have to make an unscheduled visit to St Jude yesterday. He has been having syptoms of a kidney infection and then woke up with his lower back hurting. They wanted him to come in to get a urine sample and blood work. An ultrasound was also done to check for kidney stones. His kidneys look great but they have found an area of concern in his bladder. It looks like a thickening in his bladder wall. This is not related to his symptoms but is just an incidental finding. The Radiologist has spoken to an Urologist at LeBonheur and they are talking to Will's doctor as well. We should know by Friday if they will need to do anything or if it is fine left alone. We are also waiting on cultures to grow to see if there is an infection. His back is still hurting so we will pray for no pain and good results from everything.
Have a great day and I'll keep you posted! Ali PS His counts had jumped up to 2300 yesterday.

Will is doing really well since his hospital stay. He went today and his counts are 1400 - PERFECT! He is feeling good as well.

Saturday Will had his first Upward Basketball game at our church. His team won but best of all, he had a great time. It was so good to see him running up and down the court smiling. He really enjoyed it! Emma Kay also had her first game. Their games are more of a "learning" game since they are only 5:)

Will had a great time on New Year's shooting fireworks. His counts were only 200 when we went back for his checkup that day, so we stayed here at home and shot fireworks. He had a good time helping Veo light them. Here's a picture of Veo and Will on New Year's Eve. I have no idea why they aren't smiling - must be a "guy thing".

Will also completed one of his Christmas presents the other day. Emma Kay gave Will a kit to make a '53 Chevrolet truck and he worked very hard New Year's Day to finish it. He is very proud of it.

I guess that is about all for now - we have school for the rest of the week and then basketball again on Saturday.

Thanks for checking in! Will said, "Leave a message and check out that ticker!"

Have a great week,
Ali

Sunday, December 30, 2007 3:37 PM CST

Hi from HOME! We got to come home today. Will is feeling good - just stuck at home because his ANC is only 100. We have to go back to St Jude tomorrow but we get to sleep in our own beds tonight. Ben is also feeling better - thank goodness!

If you watched the Liberty Bowl, you may have seen Will and the MSU football players when they came to visit the hospital. It was some time during the third quarter when they aired it. He was wearing his mask so it was a little hard to recognize him but it was Will!

Well, I have to go wash clothes and clean:)

I'll update tomorrow after his visit!
Ali

PS Buy lots of fireworks over New Year's to save for Will's No Mo Chemo party in March. He wants LOTS of fireworks:)!

Saturday, December 29, 2007 9:31 AM CST

Another update: 12:00 Saturday - They want to keep Will one more day so maybe we will get out tomorrow. As for Ben, Veo is on his way to the doctor to see what is wrong with him. Will was disappointed that he wasn't getting out but Rebecca, her girls, and Mimi are on their way up to stay for a while so that lifted his spirits. I think that this has become so "normal" for Will that we forget that this is NOT what a 9 year old should be doing on his Christmas break. I am going home for a few hours to see Ben and Emma Kay. Ben isn't dealing well with me being gone and not feeling good on top of that. I'll keep you all posted! Ali

**Update 9:50am Saturday - Right after I posted my update, Veo called to tell me that Ben had woken up with fever. I just can't believe this! I just want to scream....
Ali

Good morning from St Jude. Will is feeling pretty good. He ran a very low fever - around 100 - during the night. The Resident doctor we saw this morning thinks that we have a good chance of getting out. We have agreed to do anything to get to sleep in our own beds:)! Will's counts are not completely back but we do know that his white count has gone up some so that is good!

Will did get to meet several MSU football players yesterday. They gave him a hat and signed it. They were very nice to him. Then, once we got settled into a room, they came and asked if Will would take a picture with Joe Theisman. He was the quarterback for the Redskins many years ago. He was super nice to Will and I got a good picture of Will wearing his Super Bowl ring. I will post it when I get home.

Well, that's about it for now. I will HOPEFULLY update from home tonight! Thanks so much for the messages. Will is sitting here reading them.

Thank you for all of your prayers,
Ali

Thursday, December 27, 2007 8:51 AM CST

*Update Friday, 12:00
Will has been admitted into St Jude with fever and an ANC of zero. I'll keep you all posted. Please pray for a fast recovery!
Love,
Ali

Well, Will had a great Christmas - along with Emma Kay and Ben. We went and went and went until Christmas Day and then we just stayed here at home. Will got an X Box 360, new 4-wheeler helmet, bike, clothes, toys, .... TOO much! Emma Kay got her baby doll she wanted and then some. Ben got a new BIG jeep that has a radio that works in it and then some also! I have been busy trying to find places to put thigs:)

Will did go to St Jude yesterday to get his treatment. He was unable to get his chemo because his counts are only 100 and his white cell count is 0.9. I had no idea his counts would be so low. Of course, now I am just cringing when I think about all the people he was around and what he could have been exposed to. He is feeling VERY tired and is really just staying in his room watching TV. We were all a little disappointed that the rest of Christmas break will be spent here at home since he can't go "public" without the mask and that is just not an option with Will at this point. We will go back next Wednesday to recheck counts. PLEASE pray that he stays fever free!

I will try to get a new slideshow up soon with pictures from Christmas. Of course, I took a million pictures so it may take me a few days:)

We hope that everyone had a very blessed Christmas and we wish everyone a Happy Safe New Year!

Love,
Ali

Tuesday, December 18, 2007 7:59 AM CST

Counting down the days til Christmas!

Will is so excited about Christmas that he can barely stand it. Every morning he tells me how many more days until Christmas. He had his Christmas party at school yesterday morning and is now officially out until January. Wow, what will we do?!

Will is continuing to have stomach problems. It has been so bad at times that he gets sick at his first bite of food. So... he chooses to just not eat. He had lost more weight yesterday when he went for treatment so they have decided to decrease his nightly chemo to see if that will help. Of course, we don't want to do anything to jeopardize his remission so they are being careful and it is just a slight decrease. His counts were much better yesterday - 1300. He handed out Christmas "happies" to everyone and really enjoyed doing that. Special thanks to Grammy for getting all the cheese straws together for him!

Santa made a semi-surprise visit last night to our house. Will is still asking for an X Box 360, Ben wants a motorcycle or four-wheeler, and Emma Kay wants a barbie doll and baby doll. They all took their picture with Santa and got candy canes from him.

That is about all for now. Please continue to pray that Will is able to be at home and enjoy Christmas. I always get nervous around the holidays that he will get sick and have to be in the hospital. Thanks for checking in on Will!

Merry Christmas,
Ali

Monday, December 10, 2007 2:11 PM CST

Good Monday to everyone!

Will is at St Jude right now with his dad waiting on his chemo. They just called to give me the magic number that we wait for every Monday. Today his ANC is 2000. This is lower than last week (3900) but still too high. So... you guessed it ~ they are increasing his nightly chemo again. He is still battling his stomach from the last increase so we really need prayers in this area. Veo said they are giving him more stomach meds to take this week since we have just about used up our stash. It has just been so long since Will has had any problems that this is throwing us.

Will did have a good time at the sleepover he went to this past weekend. He was very tired when he got home and rested all day Saturday. Sunday we had Breakfast in Bethlehem at church at 8:30am. The second grade presents the Christmas Story but they were short a wise man and asked Will to fill in. He was the best looking wise man I have ever seen!:) Then all the children's choirs sang Sunday night and Will rang handbells with his group. He did very good! I was very proud of him and Emma Kay.

Will's class presents Germany tomorrow to the school for our Christmas Around the World. Will has two sentences that he had to memorize for it. I know he will be nervous.

This week consists of only three full days of school and two half days. Will is really excited about that. He is still counting down the days until Christmas and getting more and more excited every day.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. Please pray for his counts to even out and his stomach to get better.

Have a great week!
Ali

Thursday, December 6, 2007 1:18 PM CST

I know that it has been TOO long since my last journal entry. We have just been SO busy trying to get Christmas presents bought, the house decorated, and not to mention school!

Will's counts were really good last week but back up way too high this week. They were 3900. Since they have consistenly been high, they have increased his nightly chemo. This has caused his stomach to hurt. He feels sick to his stomach and says that it just hurts. He has been taking Zofran daily and it will hopefully soon pass. Please pray that his body get adjusted to the increase and for his stomach issues to disappear. He has been invited for a sleepover tomorrow night and is very excited. Hopefully his stomach will feel better by then!

He had his first Upward Basketball practice this week and seemed to enjoy it. He is really looking forward to playing and has several friends on the team. Emma Kay is playing also and really enjoyed her first practice.

Will is getting very excited about Christmas. We have a decoration that counts down the days and Will remembers to change it EVERY morning right when he wakes up and keeps us all on top of how many days till Christmas.

I have forgotten to mention that Will had some artwork chosen for wrapping paper at St Jude. It is red paper with ornaments all over it that Will drew himself. I will try to get a picture of him holding it and put it on the website. He is VERY proud of it. It is for sale at the giftshop and online at St Jude's website.

Thank you so much for checking in on Will. I know that I haven't been updating enough but Will does check his guestbook at least every other day:) He has more time than I do:)

Have a great weekend and I promise to update after Monday's visit.

Love,
Ali

Thursday, November 22, 2007 7:27 AM CST

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Will went for his treatment on Monday. His counts had gone back up a little to 2100. It seems like they are just going to stay high. In FOUR months ~ our life won't be ruled by numbers so we are just watching that ticker tick:) He has been feeling so-so. He has a really bad cough and some stomach issues. He isn't sleeping good AT ALL. Even with his sleeping meds, he just can't sleep. So much just goes through his little mind... I just can't imagine what all he thinks about.

We are planning a day of eating, eating, and more eating! We will start off at my mom's for breakfast/brunch where we will watch the parade with the children. Then we will go to Veo's parents to eat turkey. Veo is actually at the firehouse today so we will spend some time down there with him.

We have SO much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Will has come so far as our whole family has! Every year we see too many families loose their children and I can't imagine spending a holiday without my babies. We are just thankful for another Tahnksgiving ALL together.

Please pray for our friend Madelyn Beamon. Her family recieved some bad news this week. She has participated in some of the fund raising events that Will has and they are just a GREAT Christian family. Her website is TN/Madelyn.

We are so thankful for everyone that continues to check on Will and pray for us. We truly would not be where we are now if everyone hadn't reached out to us and helped us. THANK YOU!

We wish you all a Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!
Veo, Ali, Will, Emma Kay, and Ben

Wednesday, November 14, 2007 3:41 PM CST

Hello! Will is continuing to do good. His treatment was on Tuesday of this week due to Grandparent's Day being on Monday at school. His counts were 1900 this week. They are slowly coming back down to where they should be. He has battled a pretty bad ulcer this past week but it has finally healed up:)

We did have some excitement this past weekend. Will's Aunt Scottie had a baby boy on Saturday. His name is Reed Alexander (Will's is William Alexander). Reed decided to come a month early but is doing great! He is just perfect ~ weighs 5lbs 7ozs and is 17 inches long. He is little but is doing great! We went to Cleveland Saturday and spent the night to help welcome baby Reed here. Emma Kay thought we were going on vacation!:)

Will has hit $1,100.00 on his Math-A-Thon. It is due this Friday. He is very excited that he has raised so much. If you ever need to KNOW how important it is to give to St Jude, visit la/hallie. Hallie was a St Jude patient for 4 years and went to heaven Sunday. She would have been 6 in Febraury. That means she was Emma Kay's age. It just doesn't get any easier to accept. We have just known too many children that have had to suffer from cancer.

We are all looking forward to a good Thanksgiving. Veo will work at the firehouse on Thanksgiving but we will have plenty of family around to visit with.

The children are already talking about Christmas and Santa. Ben is REALLY into it this year.

Please pray that Will continues to feel good and enjoy everything that he possibly can! We are so thankful for all of you who check in on Will and pray for him!

Love,
Ali

Thursday, November 1, 2007 3:41 PM CDT

Hello to everyone!

We have been SO busy just being normal that I haven't had a chance to update and I am SO sorry:) Anyway, Will is doing great. His counts have repeatedly been high - in the 3000 range for a couple of weeks. They don't seem concerned so I just try to not worry. He is feeling good except some leg pain after alot of activity.

Will is planning on playing Upward Basketball at our church along with Emma Kay. I am praying his legs don't bother him too much. Will is also Student of the Week this week. He has taken everyone St Jude pencils and today his Aunt Beck bought everyone in his class a slush from Sonic. Tomorrow I am taking his Wildebeest mount up there to show the kids. He also wants me to bring his Caddy Bib from the St Jude golf tournament.

All three of the children had a great time last night on Halloween. We went to Trick or Trunk at our church and they got WAY TOO much candy. Ben just loved watching everyone and looking at their costumes. Emma Kay loved handing out candy and Will just ran around and had fun.

As you can tell, Will is having a great time just being a kid lately. This is something that we are enjoying watching! We just pray that nothing brings it to a halt again.

Will is also still busy collecting money for his Math-A-Thon. He wants to raise more than last year in celebration of him getting through with treatment this year. His money is due on Nov. 16th if you are interested in donating:) It certainly is one of the best causes I can think of to donate too. He is at $400 now and wants to raise over $1000. Just let me know if you want to donate.

I am going to try and get some new pics up soon! Thanks so much for checking in on Will. Have a great weekend!

Love,
Ali

Friday, October 19, 2007 5:45 AM CDT

I am so sorry for not updating before now. This has been such a busy week. Will is doing good. He did go to St Jude on Monday for his treatment. It was a long day because he had a three hour appointment with Behavioral Medicine for Psyc. Testing. We do not have all of the results but so far everything is looking great! Will tested WAY above his grade level ~ thanks to all those great teachers he has had:)! The doctor was very pleased with Will.

Will's ANC is very high at 3700. Hopefully we can get these counts under control. It is so frustrating sometimes. I guess as long as the cancer is staying gone I shouldn't worry but that little "what if" is always there.

Will has had a good week at school. He is looking forward to a Halloween Costume party this weekend. Will is a doctor this year ~ how appropriate huh?! His Grammy has made him a Dr. coat with Dr. Moore monogrammed on it. He looks very official. Emma Kay is Hanna Montana (of course) and Ben has chosen Spider Man. Then we also have Alison's 13th birthday party ~ wow ~ she is going to be a teenager! Scary:)

Will is also busy collecting money for the St Jude Math-A-Thon. Last year he raised $1,010.00 and he wants to raise more than that this year. Everyone has been VERY generous so far. He is at $320.00 right now. If you would like to donate, just let me know. All checks need to be made out to St Jude and are tax deductable. Believe me, it is worth every penny!

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. Have a great weekend and I will update after Monday's visit. I'll get some pics up of Will Saturday night at the Costume party.

Love,
Ali

Monday, October 8, 2007 8:16 AM CDT

Update: Monday 9:20am Veo just called and Will's counts are 2400 so they are just waiting on chemo. Looks like we will have another great week:)!

Monday 8:16 am
Will is doing good. Veo has taken him this morning for his weekly visit. We went last night to get an early start on his labs since today if Fall Break for Will. We didn't want him to waste a whole day at St Jude. We plan on relaxing today and getting s few pumpkins for the kids to paint.

Last week Will's counts were 1500. He really enjoyed getting to see his buddy Allen Smith. They both have the same No Mo Chemo date so we have decided that St Jude will just have to shut down that day so all of their fans can come up there!

I have added a new slide show and will update when I know what Will's counts are today. Thanks so much for checking in on Will!

Love,
Ali

Friday, September 28, 2007 5:33 AM CDT

Happy (early) Birthday MIMI!
*More new photos in view photos*

Good FRIDAY morning! Will is continuing to do good. He did have to stay home from school on Tuesday because his back was still hurting but has been fine ever since. He has been acting a little more tired than usual but it may just be the change in the weather. He is excited about a birthday party he is going to this afternoon. This weekend we have his Mimi's birthday and an event at church that he is really looking forward to ~ Super Saturday Soakdown. They will play water games and eat pizza.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. I plan on adding a new slideshow soon ~ I have to sneak away from Ben or he bangs on the computer keyboard:)

Have a GREAT weekend!
Ali

Monday, September 24, 2007 5:20 PM CDT

Will had as good of a day as poosible today with all of the tests that he had going on. We started off with counts of 4800! Wow ~ it made me a little nervous going into the spinal and bone marrow aspirate with such high counts but we had faith. His CAT scan went fine - there is not much to it. He then went to MRI and was sedated. His MRI lasted for about an hour and then to procedures where he stayed sedated for his spinal tap and bone marrow aspirate. It all took around two hours. Veo and I were a little anxious to say the least by the time they called us to recovery.

GOOD NEWS is ~ all test CLEAR! We are so excited, happy, blessed, ....... Will smiled ear to ear when they told us the news. THANK YOU so much for all the emails, messages, test messages. We knew that you all were praying for Will and it means more than you will probably ever know.

Back to his high counts ~ they have increased his nightly chemo some but not back to the amount that he was taking. We will see how this goes and just take it week by week. Also, his NO MO CHEMO has changed from April 7th to March 24th! YEA!!!!! I will have to change to ticker at the top of the page.

Again, thank you for always being here for Will. Please continue to pray that his head doesn't hurt and for his back to heal quickly. I will update in a few days.

Have a great week,
Ali

Thursday, September 20, 2007 5:23 AM CDT

Will is doing good. He had a good, but LONG, treatment Monday at St Jude. They were behind so Will did not get home until 7:00pm. Makes for a long day for a 9 year old that had been going since 7:30 that morning. His counts were really good - ANC 1500.

He does have three tests scheduled for Monday. He will start out with a bone density scan, then go for an MRI of his brain, and then have a spinal tap. All of this is part of his protocol. IF he were a girl, his treatment would be finished at this point. Kind of disappointing but we know that they know best so we continue on for 6 more months. PLEASE start praying now for wonderful, clear results from all three tests along with his safety. After he had that horrible spinal headache back in April from his spinal tap, I am so nervous that he will get another one.

This week is homecoming week at school. They have dressed up every day as something different. My goal is to get a new slideshow up with all the pictures I have been taking. Will is having a great time coming up with his costumes. He is also excited about the football game tomorrow night.

On Saturday, I think that he is going with his Grammy to Cleveland to see his cousin Austin, Scottie, and Rodney. I know that they will have a great time.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will and for all of his messages. He does enjoy reading them. Again, please start praying for Will�s tests on Monday, Sept. 24.

Have a great weekend!
Ali

Thursday, September 13, 2007 4:54 PM CDT

Hello to everyone!

Will had a good visit at St Jude on Monday. Veo took him to give me the day off:) His counts are high again ~ ANC 2200. I just don�t know what to think about it. It seems to be the trend with Will and our friend, Allen Smith. They are both on the same week of treatment and seem to have high and low counts at the same time. It is really strange. Anyway, I just hope that these high counts don�t throw us any surprises when Will has his next spinal to check for continued remission. It is set for Sept. 24 but we are a little unsure since we found out about a MRI that is scheduled for that same day. They put him to sleep for both but usually have never done them both in the same day so they are still deciding what to do.

Will is having a good week at school. He has been having some headaches lately and seems to be getting very hoarse. We will pray that he isn�t coming down with anything.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. Don�t forget to leave him a message. He does check his guest book:)

Have a great weekend~
Ali

Thursday, September 6, 2007 1:35 PM CDT

Will had a good visit yesterday at St Jude. His ANC is 1700 so we were very happy with that. He got his treatment and did not get as sick as last time but did feel a little sick to his stomach. He tried eating a snack before he got his chemo and it seemed to work so I guess we will do this each time now. He is continuing his nightly chemo and is starting back on Gabapentin. He used to take this med to help with the leg pain he would have when he would get the chemo Vincristine. He stopped taking it when he stopped getting Vincristine but he is having neuropathy in his feet which is caused by the Vincristine affecting the nerves. He will take this 3 times a day and hopefully this will solve the issues he is having with his feet. They did tell me that this problem will most likely be gone by his first post-treatment visit and that his reflexes in his legs should have come back by then.

Will is doing great in school. He is making new friends and making good grades. He doesn't complain about me leaving at 12:00 and him having to stay so I would say that we have come a long way! He seems to be getting along well with the other children and just has more confidence in himself than he has had since he started treatment. I am really proud of how he has been acting. He is really growing up fast!

He did go dove hunting this past weekend but only killed one dove. He had a good time, though. We don't have anything planned this weekend. His Aunt Scottie and cousin Austin are coming from Cleveland so I am sure we will be visiting with them.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. He will go back to St Jude on Monday for his regular treatment.

Have a great weekend!
Ali

Tuesday, August 28, 2007 5:22 AM CDT

Will had a pretty good visit yesterday at St Jude. His counts are too high this week, ANC of 2600. He is either getting sick or his nightly chemo needs to be increased some since the decrease. Anyway, they will wait until next week to see what his numbers look like before adjusting anything. He did get really sick to his stomach when he got his chemo in the Medicine Room. He has gotten sick a few times before but this was the worst. His stomach even hurt on the way home:( We will just pray that this doesn't happen anymore. Will's appointment for next week is not until Wednesday because of Labor Day.

Will is still enjoying school. He is really enjoying the fact that he has Ms Hayes but still gets to see sweet Mrs Jackson from last year. He is getting along well with the other children and seems just "normal" this year. We have our first home football game this Friday night and he is looking forward to going to it.

It's time to get ready for another day of school! Thanks so much for checking in on Will!

Have a great week,
Ali

Tuesday, August 21, 2007 2:05 PM CDT

Will is doing GREAT! I hate to brag too much but he is doing so good. He went to St Jude yesterday and his counts are 1600. (That's good!) He is feeling good, acting just like a 9 year old boy should, and not having fits about going to school. What else can we ask for?!:)

We were told that September 24 is Will's next Spinal tap to check for continued remission. I do think that I will breath easier when that is over with considering what happened last spinal. BUT he is just looking and feeling so good that I BELIEVE everything will be great.

Will is enjoying school as much as little boys do. He really likes Ms Hayes. I do think that he will enjoy playing with the other children at recess more when it cools down some ~ if it ever does!

Please start praying with us now that his test in Sept. will show continued remission and that it will go smoothly and safely. Thanks so much for checking in!

Have a great week,
Ali

Saturday, August 18, 2007 7:26 PM CDT

I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to update. Just know that it is a good thing ~ Will is doing great:)

Will did recieve his chemo this past Monday. His counts have finally started to come back up. His ANC was 1000. They are leaving him on a reduced dose of his nightly chemo for the rest of his treatment unless they see that it needs to be adjusted again. He will go back this Monday for treatment and continue on as such. I have got it where he will be able to go to school every Monday until 12:00. His appointments will be at 1:00pm unless he has a procedure. Hopefully this will prove to work well.

Will started school on Wednesday. We did hold him back this year so he is in 3rd grade again. Since he missed so much school last year and will miss some again this year, we decided this would be the best thing for him. He had so much more confidence going this year because he knew what to expect. He has already made new friends and is really liking his new teacher, Ms Hayes. Here's a picture of them on the first day. (She will kill me if she sees this picture on here:)!)

Here's a picture of Ben, Alison, Will, Emma Kay, and Kendal from the first day of school. My mom finally has all of her grandchildren at one school!

Everything seems to be going good so far with all of the children in school. They are all three doing well once I get them to get up in the morning~ I didn't realize of lazy we had all become over the summer:)

I promise to update after Monday's appointment at St Jude. Thanks so much for checking in on Will!

Love,
Ali

PS Oh, I almost forgot to tell everyone that we have a new addition to our family. We got a new puppy on Wednesday. Her name is Daisy. She and Suzie are getting along really well. The children all fight over her but other than that everything is going good. Here's a picture of Will holding her.

Saturday, August 11, 2007 7:13 AM CDT

Hello to everyone!

When Will left the hospital on Tuesday after being inpatient for a night, his counts were 100 but another number was 800 ~ meaning that everything was coming up. So we went back yesterday (Friday) HOPING to have high counts and get treatment, but his ANC was only 300 and that other number had gone down to 540. SO... they want us to come back Monday. This makes two full weeks without any chemo. They did put him on a reduced dose of his nightly chemo for the weekend. They are also going to leave him on a reduced dose all the time now. They are thinking that it could be his body doesn't metabolize this chemo as fast as it used to so they have to reduce the dose. Thay have also given him something to help him sleep, which he has been having problems with. PLEASE pray that his counts are up enough to get chemo on Monday and start school feeling GOOD on Wednesday.

He has been feeling OK. This heat is just really tough on everyone! We have just been hanging out at home ~ driving each other CRAZY:) We've been coloring alot! Will's widebeest that he shot on his Hunt of a Lifetime came in on Thursday so that immediately gave him something to smile about. It is really cool he says. It is haging in his room and he welcomes anyone that would like to come see it. I can honestly say that I have never seen anything quite like it.

Here it is hanging on his wall.

Here is a picture of Will and one of his favorite nurses, Justine. She takes such good care of us both while we are at St Jude.

Thanks so much for checking in. I will update Monday after our visit. Thank you so much for your prayers.

Have a great weekend,
Ali

Monday, August 6, 2007 4:14 PM CDT

***UPDATE TUESDAY 11:00AM
Will gets to come home. His ANC is still only 100 but he hasn't had any more fever:) He slept pretty good last night ~ wish I could say the same for myself! That couch bed just isn't the same as my own bed:) Will is scheduled to come back to St Jude on Friday to have his counts re-checked and hopefully start back on his nightly chemo. Then we will have to come back next Monday to get his regularly scheduled chemo. PLEASE pray that his counts come back up fast so that he can start school next Wednesday on the right foot. We are praying for a great, stress-free school year for Will.

Emma Kay got her kindergarten shots this morning. Ms Twinkie said that she did great. I am so proud of her. She said that they burned. At least they are over now and she is ready to start school.

Ben is doing good also. I think that he has been kept busy so he hasn't had much time to miss us yet. Hopefully we will be home before he starts asking for us. It will probably be this afternoon before we get home ~ but at least we are coming home.

Thanks for checking in on Will!
Love,
Ali

Today Will was admitted into St Jude with fever and low counts. He didn't feel well all weekend and finally got fever early this morning. They have drawn all kinds of cultures which probably will not grow anything. He does still have the same sore in his mouth. The Dr says that it looks like a sore from low counts. His right side of his face was also swollen this morning and they are thinking that is due to sinus issues. After all cultures were taken and a dose of anitbiotic was in him, they did give him tylenol to get his fever down and he is feeling better now. They are also giving him two different antibiotics every 8 hours to cover anything that may be going on.

The doctors say that we could possibly be coming home tomorrow afternoon if his counts at least stay the same with no fever. Hopefully they will come up (they were 100 this morning) along with no fever.

Please continue to pray for Will. I am sure that this is just another little bump in the road:) Maybe this will be the last hospital stay ever! Thanks for checking in and I'll update when I know anything else.

Love,
Ali

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 6:12 PM CDT

Hi to everyone!

Will is doing OK. He went yesterday for his treatment at St Jude but was unable to get it due to low counts. His ANC is only 100 and he was running a low temp of 99.2. His friend Thomas went with us and I think he was pretty impressed at what Will has to do at St Jude. Will was pretty down that his counts are low. He has a sore in his mouth that is probably the root of the low ANC. They did swab it but it hasn't "grown" anything so I guess that is good. He also will not be able to take his nightly chemo this week. PLEASE pray that he doesn't get fever and that his mouth sore heals quickly. He is really tired also.

We have been busy getting school supplies and uniforms. The children ALL start school on the 15th. Ben will be in 3K, Emma Kay will be in 5K, and Will will be in 3rd grade again. Hopefully this year he will be able to go to school more than he did last year.

St Jude also gave us the tentative date for Will's "No Mo Chemo" party. It is set for April 7, 2008. It can't get here fast enough. He says that he wants to have a BIG party here with fireworks. I am sure that can be arranged. Funny how long three years sounded when they told us that and it has really flown by. We can see the end in sight. Will is scheduled for a spinal check in September. Let's start praying about that now:)!

Thank you so much for checking in on Will. When his counts are down like this he stays on the computer alot so he will be checking his messages this week. We appreciate you ALL so much!

Have a great week,
Ali

Thursday, July 26, 2007 7:09 AM CDT

Hello to everyone! Sorry it has taken me so long to update. My house is the neighborhood hangout lately so I am busy watching children:)

Will did go for treatment this past Monday. His counts had dropped from 1400 to 700. He has a runny nose and a little bit of a sore throat due to drainage so this is probably the cause to the drop in his counts. Veo took him Monday for me to give me a little break and it was nice. Will did get his chemo and will go back next Monday. He is also continuing his nightly chemo here at home.

All in all, he is feeling OK. I have noticed him saying more this week that he didn't feel good but I think that is just the heat and having a little cold. He has been playing outside riding his bike and also enjoying his playstation.

Our doctor did tell us to stop baseball and see if the stomach troubles stopped and they did. I guess he felt the need to please everyone so much while playing ball that he had himself stressed. So.... I think that he is going to participate in the Opening Ceremonies at the World Series this weekend but not play in the games. I hate this for him but he is really OK with it now that I told him that nobody was mad at him for not playing. Our coaches have been very understanding and knew from the beginning that Will was in treatment. We are lucky that he made it so far in All Stars.

Well, Will has really enjoyed his messages. He was going to update himself but he is still sleeping. I will let him leave you all a quick message once he gets up. Thanks so much for checking in on Will! Have a GREAT weekend!

Love,
Ali

Wednesday, July 18, 2007 9:15 AM CDT

Good Morning! Sorry it has taken me so long to update since Will's last St Jude visit. I see that it prompted some to sign the guestbook. Will told me last week to put on his website that if you read it you must sign it:) He is on the computer playing Disney Channel games all the time and I guess he has been checking his guestbook also!

Will's appointments went good Monday, once they got started. Their computers were down and we waited two hours to ever get started. It didn't bother Will much ~ he just went upstairs and played on their computers. Then we ate lunch and were able to get started after that.

They did test his liver enzymes and some other levels that I really don't know what they are. Everything was fine so we are saying that it is anxiety and/or stress that is causing the stomach problems. What are we going to do? Well, good question. Since school is about to start and we all know what we went through last year trying to get him to stay, we are going to try and eliminate ANYTHING that may be causing ANY anxiety or stress. Some things he just has to learn to deal with because he HAS to do them, like school and church but there are some things that he doesn't have to do if it bothers him to do them. So that is where we are now if it makes any sense!:) Please just pray that he can get over this since it is causing him pain.

Will's counts were great ~ finally! They were 1400 so he got his treatment and will continue on with his nightly chemo here at home. He does have a wart on his foot that we are going to try and treat without making a sore. Everything with him is so different than if it were a child that wasn't sick or should I say in the middle of treatment. Will also has a cough that we are just watching right now. Pray that it doesn't turn into anything major, please.

Will is planning on just hanging out here at home and playing this week. We have been trying to sleep in and just rest and play. We have two birhtday parties to go to on Thursday and Saturday and Will is excited about them both.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will ~ don't forget to leave him a message!

Have a great week,
Ali

Tuesday, July 10, 2007 4:32 PM CDT

Will is continuing to do good. His counts had gone up only to 500 from 400 last week. They are slowly coming up. Will's stomach issues continue so they are taking him off Zantac which he has been on for two weeks and next Monday they are going to do a blood test to test his liver. This could be sttibuting to his stomach problems so it is worth a simple blood test to see. His anxiety continues and he hasn't slept in his room in days! We are trying everything to make him feel safe and happy but it all seems to fail.

I did take my three and Alison and Kendal to Como today to the pottery place. They all enjoyed painting some pottery and then we went down the street to eat. Will painted me a travel coffee mug and him a light switch cover for his room. We will pick it up on Saturday and he loves to see how it all turns out. Ben and Emma Kay had a great time ~ Ben really liked painting his plate with his handprint:)

- Get Your Own

Will painting

- Get Your Own

Emma painting

- Get Your Own

Ben painting his plate:)

- Get Your Own

Alison and Will having a good time.

- Get Your Own

Kendal painting Beck a bowl ~ hope it wasn't a surprise:)!

Will is scheduled to play ball this weekend in Horn Lake. This is their State Tournament. Everything will start Thursday night with Opening Ceremonies and then our first game is Friday at 3:00pm. Everything after that is depending on whether we win or not. Will bought him some new cleats with his b-day money so maybe they will make him run fast!

Thanks so much for checking in on Will!

Have a great week!
Ali

Tuesday, July 3, 2007 7:32 PM CDT

Hello to everyone!

Will had a good visit yesterday at St Jude. His ANC is still low, though. It is only 400 this week ~ it was 300 last week. Hopefully some much needed rest will help boost him back to normal. He did get half of his chemo at the hospital and will continue with half of his night time chemo here at home this week. All in all, he has been feeling pretty good. He is still having some stomach issues along with the anxiety problems he has been having. Please pray that he stays fever free and starts to get back to his "old" self soon.

We are thankful that he doesn't have a ball tournament this weekend. We are hoping to rest and relax! Will has been helping us help Rebecca and Greg as they are getting ready to move. I am just glad that it is them and not me:) Moving is such a task. They are just moving here in town ~ we wouldn't let them get away from Senatobia!

Will is also so excited because our neighbor and good friends, Renee and Jeremy welcomed their newest addition into their family today. Will is ready to hold little Molly when she comes home. I always remember how little mine looked when they were newborns ~ so sweet and smelled so good:)

We hope that everyone has a safe 4th of July tomorrow. We think that we will go watch the fireworks at the Country Club this year and just enjoy them instead of having to shoot our own. We are getting lazy!

Thanks for checking in on Will. We appreciate you all so much!

Love,
Ali

Friday, June 29, 2007 9:08 AM CDT

Will is doing pretty good despite low counts (ANC 300). We went bowling Tuesday night and he had a great time. I posted some pictures from it in the "View Photos" section. Wednesday we took Will to get new golf clubs. This was his b-day present from his Pops and Grammy. They are SO cool and he just looks and them all the time. They are "big boy" clubs. He's growing up too fast. We also went by St Jude Wednesday and they have put Will on Zantac to hopefully help some stomach issues he is having. I would love to say that it is helping but it really isn't so far.

Will is dealing with anxiety right now. He is getting VERY nervous about things that never used to phase him. I think that nerves are causing the stomach issues. At his ballgames, he has started crying and getting so worked up afraid that he is going to mess up. We really just don't know what to do. I have had many suggestions ranging from telling him to "suck it up" to "tell him to quit". None really have struck me as the answer to this problem. PLEASE pray for this issue to get worked out FAST. I am so afraid that it is going to spread over into the school year and I don't know if I can go through that again!

His team did play last night. They lost pretty bad. Will played second some and left field. He finally did make contact with the ball when batting but got out at first. They play again on Saturday at 10:45am.

Tonight we are taking Will to the Keith Urban concert. This was a b-day present and he is really excited. I know that he will enjoy it.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. It seems that even though he has low counts, he is doing better physically than emtionally right now. Please continue to pray for him.

Have a great weekend,
Ali

Monday, June 25, 2007 5:43 PM CDT

**BOWLING PICTURES IN "VIEW PHOTOS" SECTION.**

Hello to everyone! Will has been having a good time since my last update. Towards the end of last week, his energy level went down so we weren't surprised today when they told us his counts had dropped to 300. They gave him half of his chemo treatment and lowered his night time chemo dosage.

Will's nurses and doctor had balloons, a t-shirt, and confetti ready for him when he walked in clinic today. This is his last birthday on treatment! He was excited and a little embarassed. I put a picture of it in the new slideshow.

Even with low counts, Will played baseball Friday thru Sunday. His team came in second place and Will is so proud of his trophy:) They only lost the championship game by 3 points. I put pictures of this weekend in the slideshow. Will did have to sit out some because he wasn't feeling too well but everyone was very understanding. He is really enjoying playing baseball this year and being a part of something. They will play this coming up weekend in Batesville.

Will's baseball team also sang Happy Birthday to him Saturday at the ballfield. We are going bowling tomorrow night to celebrate and then to the Keith Urban concert on Friday night. Will is very excited about the concert but with low counts we need alot of prayers for him to stay fever free and feeling good!

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. I'll update soon with pictures of Will bowling which should be a sight:) Please pray for him to stay fever free!

Have a great week ~
Ali

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 3:26 PM CDT

Hi to everyone!

Will is doing good. He went to St Jude today and received his treatment. His counts are 800 which is kind-of low but not too bad. It was such a quick day today:) We were done in 2 1/2 hours! I think it is because it is Tuesday and they seem to be more on the busy side on Mondays.

We did discuss Will's "road map" with his doctor today. We will continue on as we are now until September when we will do another spinal tap. Then when that comes back clear he will conitnue on weekly until March and then he will be finished! Wow ~ we can see the end and it can't get here fast enough.

The "Volunteens" were holding an indoor camp for the children today at the hospital and Will really enjoyed it. They made tiles, bugs, colored, and even threw chee-tos at the staff. The pictures are of one of our favorite people at St Jude, Regina. She works in A Clinic and so graciously came out, let them put shaving cream on her and then allowed them to throw chee-tos at her to see how many the children could get to stick to her. Will threw 15 and 14 stuck. I have posted "before & after" photos:)

Before

Throwing

After

Will playing games at St Jude.

Will has been busy playing baseball. His team, the Senatobia Blues, played this past weekend in Horn Lake where they only won one game. We will play in Horn Lake again this weekend ~ on Will's birthday. Will is turning 9 on Saturday, the 23rd. I just cannot believe that he is 9 years old! This will also be the last birthday that he will celebrate while on treatment:)

Will and some of his team mates after winning a game this past weekend.

Ben and Emma Kay at Will's ballgame.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. Please continue to pray for him as well as all the children at St Jude. They are real troopers!

Love,
Ali

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 3:26 PM CDT

Monday, June 11, 2007 8:20 PM CDT

Hello to everyone! Sorry that I have taken so long to update ~ I did get a new slide show on the page:)

Will has just been having a blast since my last update. We all went to VBS last week and it was wonderful. Will loved his teachers and had alot of fun.

On Tuesday of last week we went to the Peabody for the unveiling of the caddy bibs for the Standford St Jude Golf Tournamnet. It was really nice. We ate dinner and then Will modeled the caddy bib that his artwork was on. Mr Moses spoke some and Will got a standing ovation from about 300 golfers. It was amazing! Then on Wednesday, we went to the ProAm and Will was treated like royalty. We sat some on the 18th hole and then went to a suite on the 11th hole where Will was the caddy for one of the pro's . His name was Robert Allenby. Will loved that. They also grabbed him and some of the other patients for a short video to be aired on ET. It was with the actor from Numbers. That was really cool also.

Will has also been busy with baseball. His team had a car wash this past Saturday and it was fun, hot but fun. Then Emma Kay had her dance recital and did so good. Will sat through the whole thing and only complained a few times:)

Then yesterday Will felt AWFUL. He didn't eat all day and just laid around in the chair. He couldn't even go to baseball practice. We know he really doesn't feel good when he doesn't go to baseball. Today we went to St Jude and his counts were good, 1300. So they think that he must have had a touch of a virus and was able to fight it off, like normal kids do! Yea! No hospital stay (so far). He got his treatment today and if his stomach bothers him I will call them and they may take him off of his night time chemo for a few days. All in all, a pretty good report.

Will does have a ball tournament this weekend so hopefully he will stay well. We also have the Senatobia Fire Department golf tournament next Monday. We will go back to St Jude next Tuesday.

Everything that I have written about is shown in the new slide show at the top so I hope that you all enjoy the pictures! Thanks so much for checking in on Will ~ we appreciate you all so much. Remember that Will loves to check his messages:)

Have a great week,
Ali

***Please pray for Spencer Boyer. His site is visit/spencerboyer. Let his family know that you were there and prayed for them ~ they need it now more than ever!

Thursday, May 31, 2007 7:39 AM CDT

UPDATE: FRIDAY 8:15PM WE WENT TO ST JUDE TODAY AND WILL'S COUNTS WERE ONLY 600. HE DID GET TREATMENT ~ METHOTREXATE. FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS, THIS CHEMO HAS BEEN UPSETTING HIS STOMACH AND TODAY WAS NOT AN EXCEPTION. HE DID GO TO HIS BALLGAME AT 5:30 WHERE IS WAS VERY HOT. THEY LOST BY ONE POINT BUT PLAYED REALLY WELL. WE ARE HOME NOW ~ JUST RESTING. PLEASE PRAY THAT HIS COUNTS DON'T GO DOWN ANY MORE ~ HE IS SO EXCITED ABOUT THE GOLF TOURNAMENT NEXT WEEK. WE WILL NOT GO BACK TO ST JUDE UNTIL JUNE 11:) HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

We hope that you have all had a great week so far! Will is feeling great and just enjoying everything. He has been playing baseball, swimming, and just hanging out. The only thing that I notice about Will is that he tires out more than other children. We can't complain since I look back to where he was last summer ~ on Dex, hurting, unhappy.
Some pictures I took at the pool ~

Will jumping off the diving board.

Will and Ben

Will is excited to have been chosen for the All Star baseball team. He had his first practice last night for it and loved it. He will play mostly on weekends with this team. He has a game Friday night at 5:30 with is regular season team. They had a great game Tuesday night that lasted two hours and still ended in a tie, 13-13.

We are trying to plan a short get-away but just can't seem to find a time with everything that is going on. We seem to have something planned for every week so we will see. Next week starts Vacation Bible School so we are heading to St Jude tomorrow (Friday) at 8:15 to get his next weeks' chemo & Dr visit. They have been so good to work with us so that Will can do all the things that he wants to do.

The Stanford St Jude golf tournament is next week and Will is going to participate in a Pairings Party Tuesday night at the Peabody Hotel. I will have more details later but the word is that some of his artwork is being used this year in the golf tournament. He is excited since he loves golf just as much as baseball.

Well, I will update with his counts this weekend. Thank you so much for continuing to check in on Will. He informed me that I needed to get new pics on his slide show so I will work on that:)

Love,
Ali

Will and Alison just hanging out yesterday.

Will, Emma Kay, and Ben ~ Burger King Royalty!

Saturday, May 26, 2007 7:49 PM CDT

Hi to everyone! We hope that you all are having a good weekend so far ~ We are enjoying ours:)

Since my last update we have just been rejoicing in the wonderful news that we received on Monday. Will is feeling good. He got his chemo on Monday after his procedure. Since this next Monday is Memorial Day, we went back to the hospital on Friday and got Monday's chemo early SO... no St Jude next week:)! By the way, Will's counts were 1000 on Monday and 900 on Friday. Doing good and couldn't ask for more.

We went to the pool Thursday and Will had a blast! He just enjoyed playing with his friends. Emma Kay is learning to swim and wants me to watch her stick her head under every 5 seconds and then there is Ben. He just wants to play with everyone's toys and eat at the concession stand!

Today we had Emma Kay's 5th birthday party. She had it at a day spa here in town with some of her friends. They got their hair done and nails painted, make-up and all. They had a great time. Will didn't think that he wanted to come to that but he sure helped her go through all her presents when we got home.

Will has played ball twice last week. They won one and lost one. He is really enjoying baseball this year. He got to pitch one night. I tried to get a picture but it wouldn't take good but I did get this one. It's not too bad. Notice his tongue he sticks out when he pitches:)

He will play next week on Tuesday at 7:00 and Friday at 5:30.

We do have one request from you all ~ please pray for Spencer Boyer. If you haven't visited his site you really need to. They are an amazing family and just need alot of prayers right now. His site is visit/spencerboyer. They specifically ask that everyone join in prayer on Sunday night at 7:00pm.

We hope that everyone has a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend. We plan on just taking it easy, swimming, and just hanging out at home:) I will try to snap some good pics of Will this weekend ~ he is just looking GREAT! We cannot tell you how much we appreciate you all and everything that is done for our family. You never cease to amaze us with your giving spirit!

We are so truly blessed!
Love,
Ali

Sunday, May 20, 2007 7:26 AM CDT

UPDATE: 1:45pm Monday

CLEAR SPINAL FLUID! PRAISE THE LORD!

Whatever was in Will's spinal fluid is gone ~ zero blasts! We are just so happy and thankful. He is feeling good so hopefully no spinal headache either.

I would say more but Ben is sick with an ear infection. My mom and Rebecca have had him since this morning and I am sure they are ready to hand him back over to me.

Thanks so much for praying with us!
Ali

Will has been feeling pretty good. Almost as close to normal as we have been in a long time. His stomach gets upset when he gets really hot but it doesn't last too long, so we won't complain much!

He has had a good week. They had State Fair at school and his class presented Arizona to the other classes. He enjoyed that and getting to go around to all the other classes to see their state. We also had Awards Day Friday and he received the All A's and B's award. He was really excited about that also.

He had baseball Thursday night and they lost but it was close. Will actually hit the ball twice - one single and one double. He was so proud of himself! He looks like he is getting more and more comfortable out there. They play this Tuesday at 7:00 and Friday at 5:30.

Will also raced his car this past Wednesday night and did good. His car received third place in best looking and 7th out of 18 cars in speed so he was pleased. It was alot of fun to watch the kids and their cars. Will looks forward to Ra's and what they do.

Will went to the movies with Haley last night to Shrek3 and enjoyed that. It must have been a little scary because he kept saying that he "might" be a little scared during the night. Will doesn't like anything to be scary. He is also looking forward to going to a baseball tournament in Olive Branch today with Tucker. Tucker plays competitive baseball and this tournament is for St Jude. How cool?! So, he's looking forward to that this afternoon.

AND of course, tomorrow will be a long day for Will and all of us. We have to be there at 8:15am to have labs drawn. (We usually do this on Sunday night and then drive back up Monday morning but gas is just TOO high to do that this week. Before long everyone will be riding bikes:))Anyway, then we will see his doctor and get his counts around 9:15. He is scheduled to go into procedures at 11:15am. This could be earlier or later, depending on how many procedures they have scheduled. I am hoping that I will have results around 2:00pm. Will will also receive his chemo after he is able to come out of recovery. We will probably be there the biggest part of the day. Veo and I are both going.

I will keep the website updated as to where we are in the process, counts, and so on. Several of you have seen me and told me that you will be checking so I will try my best to keep everyone posted.

We really feel that this test will show that those cells were NOTHING at all but a virus. This all started 6 weeks ago so a virus would have exited his body by now if that is what it is. Please pray with us for contiued remission and NO spinal headache this time. The headache scares me just as much as the results of the test. All I can say is PLEASE PRAY!:) We know that we can count on all of you and THANK YOU for sticking with us for over two years!

I hope you enjoy the new pictures in the slide show. Have a great Sunday!

Love,
Ali

Wednesday, May 16, 2007 6:33 AM CDT

Hi to everyone! Will's visit went well on Monday. His ANC was 1600 ~ right where we like it to be! He got his treatment. They have to push his Methotrexate in really slow now because it has started making him sick at his stomach. Hopefully just slowing the push down will solve the problem. If not, then it has to be run over an hour which would just add to our Mondays. The sick feeling goes away as soon as the medicine is through so that is good.

We had Emma Kay's 4K graduation Monday night so we were a bit rushed Monday. She was "Mary had a little lamb" and did so good. Here's a picture of her and Will that night.

We also had a good Mother's Day. The children all made me something and were so excited to give me the presents. I took this picture of them lined up that morning in their PJ's waiting to give me the presents.

Our friend Anna Marie McArthur has started her ReInduction 2 and is living at the Ronald McDonald House. When we were there, one of Will's favorite things was to find a "You've Got Mail" slip in his mailbox. I have her address in case you want to send her a card or letter. Her mom, Heather, might enjoy a little note of encouragement also. I know I needed those little words of encouragement while we were there. It's not easy AT ALL to leave your family and move in there. Anyway, here's the address:
Ronald McDonald House
Anna Marie McArthur
Room 48
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis, TN 38105

Will's ballgame got rained out last night so he will play again on Thursday at 5:30. He also has his RA's race at church tonight. He has his car looking really nice thanks to some help from Neil Millington and Ron Archer. I'll be sure to take pictures so that you all can see his car. Hopefully it will go fast!

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. He was in here on the computer and was looking all the way back to last years' messages:)

Love,
Ali

Sunday, May 13, 2007 6:54 AM CDT

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

First of all I want to wish all mothers a Happy Mother's Day. Isn't it wonderful to be a mom?! I have to remind myself daily how lucky I am to have three beautiful children EVEN when they are running around the house screaming:) When Will was first diagnosed I, of course, worried about loosing him but then I didn't think about it very much after the first few months because he was doing so good and we were just so busy dealing with everything. Recently, with his newest scare, I have thought more about being his mom and how lucky I really am! I look at moms every week that may loose their children or have already battled cancer and lost them. Please pray for these mom, especially today.

OK ~ back to Will. He has been feeling good. He does have a stuffy nose and is hurting some from the Vincristine that he got on Monday. It is more at night when he tries to get still to go to sleep. He is taking pain medicine for it and is getting some relief. We will go to St Jude this afternoon and get his port accessed and labs drawn. Then tomorrow we will go for his treatment. We are trying to finish up early at the hospital because tomorrow night is Emma Kay's 4K graduation. She is "Mary had a Little Lamb".

We did go to MayFair here in town yesterday. It was hot but everyone enjoyed it. Here are some pics I took.

Will and Ben

Will and his friend Rhett

Well, I will update tomorrow with how Will's appointment goes. Please begin praying that the tests on May 21st will show remission ~ NO cancer cell, or suspicious cells!

Have a great day,
Ali

Monday, May 7, 2007 3:37 PM CDT

*UPDATE Monday night~ They WON! Score was 3-2. Will did better than last time. I can tell he isn't getting as nervous. Here are some pictures I took.

Will sliding into home ~ He's Safe!

Look at Ben looking up to Will. He wants to play ball SO bad!

Will at bat.

And yes, I was the only mother there taking pictures BUT I am the only mother whose child has cancer out there! Funny how I appreciate the small things in Will's life like playing baseball now when it used to be just something he did! I am so proud of him:)

Monday
Hi to everyone!

We went to St Jude last night(Sunday) to have Will's labs drawn so today wouldn't be AS long. We called this morning to see what his counts are since our appointment wasn't until 12:30 today. We were disappointed to find out that they are only 300. His white count is high so everything is on its way up. We went to the hospital for his appointment and he did get his chemo ~ thankfully! He will start back on his night time chemo also. He got Vincristine along with Methotrexate today(both chemos). Please pray that the Vincristine doesn't make him hurt as much as it has in the past.

Hopefully we are on the right track and ALL of this mess has just been due to a really bad virus. Please pray this with us ~ we want to hear "just a virus" on May 21st:)

Will is feeling good. He is planning on playing in his game tonight and returning to school ALL week:) His game is at 5:30pm tonight and at 5:30pm Thursday night. I plan on taking picutres of him tonight IF I don't forget my camera again like I did the last game!

I'll update with new pics and the score of tonight's game later!

Thanks for checking in on Will!
Ali

Friday, May 4, 2007 5:50 AM CDT

Hi to everyone! Will has been feeling better and better every day. I can tell that he is getting more energy and WANTING to play instead of just lay around so maybe this has ALL been "just a virus".

He did good at his ballgame on Tuesday. He got walked one time and then struck out the next. We can't tell if he is just so nervous and doesn't hit the ball or if he can't see it. We will just keep working:) We are just happy that he can play a few games! His team did win ~ it was a very close and exciting game. He is scheduled to play tonight at 7:00, but with all the rain ~ it may be cancelled.

He is looking forward to going to Millington tomorrow with Veo's parents to a Delta State baseball game. He loves to go watch them and see everyone. They always make him feel special. Speaking of feeling special ~ Will recieved another music tape from David Melton of prayers of love. He is enjoying listening to it and was very excited that he had mail. He also recieved a big envelope of cards from Renay Pulliam's computer class at Independence High School. He read everyone of them to me and they were all SO nice. Thanks to everyone for always thinking of Will!

We are also so sad about the passing of little Ava Yount and Mrs. Sally Durr. I have to tell you a funny story about Sally Durr. Will had lost all of his hair and was about 8 months into treatment. She came up to him and told him that she wanted to share something with him. He said ,"OK" not really thinking and she ripped her wig off and started laughing saying "I'm bald too!" Will nearly fell out of his chair and didn't know what to think. He laughs about that still! We are so sorry for these families that have suffered these losses and extend our sympathy to them.

Well, I will update later with any kind of exciting news but we plan on keeping things NONeventful:) Please pray that Will's counts will be up on Monday and he will be able to get his chemo and go back to school! Also, please pray for Spencer Boyer (visit/spencerboyer)~ he has an amazing family!

Have a great weekend!
Ali

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 6:03 AM CDT

Will has had a great weekend. We celebrated Ben's third birthday on Saturday and just hung out around the house on Sunday. We didn't go anywhere because Will's counts were low.

We just knew that they would be up yesterday when we went to St Jude but they are ZERO and he had FEVER! I couldn't believe it. So, they drew cutures, gave him an antibiotic through his port, and let us come home. Of course no chemo this week either. I am just getting so frustrated. Will had lost another pound this week and has been having a few dizzy spells. Dr Howard says that we are going to blame it on this possible virus and just "watch" him. Seems this is always the answer ~ just a virus. But this could be good news also - IF this is just a virus, maybe it made those cells in his spinal fluid look like they did and they aren't cancer! So, we will pray this is the case and just go on. We know that God is in control and will take care of Will.

Will is going to be allowed to participate in OUTDOOR activities this week. We don't want him to get sick but we also don't want him to get "down". As long as he promises to tell us when he is tired or doesn't feel good, he can play baseball. He is excited and threw the ball all night to Veo last night because they have a game tonight at 5:30.

We will just watch for any more fever and PRAY that he doesn't get any. He does not want to go inpatient. If his cultures grow anything then they will call but I don't expect them to grow anything ~ his never have. I am sure he has picked up something since his counts have been down.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. I'll update and let you all know how the game goes.

Love,
Ali

Wednesday, April 25, 2007 1:17 PM CDT

UPDATE Thursday 4/26 12:00
Will's counts are only 100 so we contniue to have to stay at home. We were really hoping that they would have come up some more but oh well:)

Wednesday April 25
First of all ~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN! Ben is three years old today ~ I just can't believe it!

Will is continuing to do good. He has not had a headache with this most recent spinal tap so we are praising God for that! He has had some back pain but nothing like the last time either. We did hear from another test that St Jude did on the cells that they were able to get on Monday from Will's spinal fluid. The results are encouraging in that the cells didn't seem to show any bad characteristics. This not a conclusive test and the spinal will still be done again in four weeks, but I am taking it as an encouraging sign:)

Since his counts are 0, he has not been able to attend school. We did cheat on that just a little this morning. Magnolia Heights had their Special Awards Day today. This is the awards program where they hand out the St Jude Math-A-Thon award along with some other classroom awards. Well, Will was just not going to miss this because he was the one who raised the most money in our school for St Jude. He raised $1,010.00! Anyway, he was going to get a plaque donated by Dudley and Penny Taylor in honor of their son, Adam, who is a St Jude survivor and in honor of Will. Will is also going to get a digital camera for accomplishing this but it wasn't here yet.

Here's a picture of Will, Penny & Dudley Taylor, and Ms Marilynne our Elementary Principal. Will did wear his mask for the program but I allowed him to take it off as he walked across the stage. He was so proud of that award.

I also snapped this cute picture of Will and Alison at the program.

I am going to take Will back to St Jude tomorrow to recheck his counts. We are having Ben a small birthday party Saturday here at home and I just want to see where his counts stand.

I also have a picture that I took Sunday when our Aunt Shirley and Uncle Dan came to visit. They are both such special people and we really enjoyed their visit.

I also have one to show you what we did while we waited on Will's test results Monday. Will got a frog jumping game out of the treasure chest in procedures that day and we all took turns playing it with him to help pass the time. If you look hard at the picture, you can see is sitting in between Will and Mimi.

Also, please keep Beverly Rhodes in your prayers as she is having some heart issues right now. She is so sweet and has been so supportive of our family and Will.

Well, I guess that is all for now! I will update tomorrow and let you know what his counts are. Thanks for checking in on Will!

Love,
Ali

Monday, April 23, 2007 4:09 PM CDT

Ok I know everyone is very anxious to hear results. Will did really good today during his procedures. We were disappointed to find out that his ANC is 0. The results of most of the tests are back. The preliminary results of his bone marrow is clear BUT there are still a few suspicious cells in his spinal fluid. Since his counts are so low, it was hard to get a lot of cells to look at. The cells they did get still had some "uncertain" cells. We don't know if they are good or bad cells SO we will repeat the spinal test in 4 weeks. This should give anything that might be in there enough time to really "present" itself.

So... yes, we are disappointed that we didn't get the wonderful, clear results we wanted BUT we are thankful for the positive results we did get as far as his bone marrow. There is another test that they will call us tomorrow concerning the suspious cells but I am not really even sure what it is. I just know that we will do the test again in 4 weeks.

Will is also pretty much secluded here at home because of his low counts. I want to protect him as much as I can from any sickness so that we can build him back up. We are praying for no fever!

We are so thankful to you all for praying for Will and all of the calls, messages, meals..... the list just goes on and on. I tried to tell Will today how many people were praying for him. We know that even though we didn't get the results that we wanted, God heard each and every one of those prayers.

I will update later..... I am just tired and want to go rest:)
Love,
Ali

Sunday, April 22, 2007 6:53 AM CDT

Will has been having a pretty good week since I last updated. He received a gift card to Sonic from Ms Audrea ~ THANK YOU! He was so surprised. He also received a car and music tape from David Melton who is a member of a prayer group that prays for Will. Thank you also ~ These "happies" helped brighten his days:)

He didn't get much school in this week but did go some. He went Friday morning to be in the Spring Musical which was SO good. Ms Nancy does such a wonderful job with the children and they all sang so well! Mimi, Pops, and Veo were able to come so he was excited.

Here he is in his orange class t-shirt. All classes have a different color shirt ~ 1st -3rd grades participate in the Spring Musical.

His back has hurt some more this week just not as bad so we hate to complain. He did play ball again Thursday night. He didn't get a hit this time either and they lost. He was kind of down but is better about it now. They play Monday night. I know that Will won't be able to play since he has a spinal tap and bone marrow that day but the team is so nice about it along with the parents.

Will had a great visit from a sophomore at MHS, Baker Spencer. He came by on Friday and took Will for ice cream. Then they came back and hung out in Will's room for a while. Baker plays on the football team and golf team so he and Will had lots to talk about. Will showed off his room and all his autographed sports stuff. Then, Baker's family invited Will to the River Kings game last night. Will had a BLAST! He got to go back in the locker room and go out on their bus. He got an autographed jersey and said that the players told Will that he must be their good-luck charm because they won:) He was smiling ear to ear when he got home last night. Thanks so much Kathy, Kam, Lee, and Baker ~ they are a wonderful family.

Today we are headed to church this morning. We are so excited that our Uncle Dan and Aunt Shirley are coming over all the way from Arkansas to go to church with us and visit afterwards. We always look forward to their visits. We will go to St Jude this evening to get his port accessed and labs drawn. We are scheduled to see our doctor at 9:30am in the morning and then everything else will follow. I will have to say I am nervous. BUT I BELIEVE that everything will be just fine ~ no matter what the results. My mom and Veo will go with me and Will tomorrow and Grammy gets Emma Kay and Ben duty:)

I will update as soon as I know something tomorrow. All I can say is PRAY! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Love,
Ali

Tuesday, April 17, 2007 3:25 PM CDT

Hello to everyone! Sorry I didn't get a chance to update yesterday. We rushed in from St Jude and then on to the funeral home.

Will is feeling SO much better. He did have a rough weekend but by Sunday afternoon he was doing so much better. His headache is gone ~ Praise the Lord! His back does still bother him ~ some in his shoulder blade area and then today more in the area where the needle actually went in. He did a lot of standing today at the service for Greg's uncle John.

Will's counts were 800 yesterday so a little on the low side but not too bad. Of course, I tried to get his doctor to tell me that everything was going to be OK but he just couldn't. I know that he wants us to be prepared for the worst but we BELIEVE everything will be CLEAR! His doctor and nurses are so sweet to all of us and we actually had a fast day ~ believe it or not?! Every appointment was right on schedule:)
Here's Will, Alison, Kendal and Emma Kay at St Jude.

So, this week we will try to stay busy and not let worry take over us. Will has his first ballgame tonight at 7:00pm and he got the go-ahead from Dr Howard so he will go and play what he can. He is so excited about it and his uniform. I will take a picture and post it tomorrow.

Greg and his family are doing OK. They had such a nice service today for his uncle John. They have received so much support from everyone and are so appreciative. Friends help make these tough times easier.

Well, I guess that is all for now. PLEASE continue to pray for good results on Monday, April 23rd. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Love,
Ali
UPDATE: WEDNESDAY
Here's a picture of Ben and Will before his game last night - they had an extra shirt so they gave it to Ben.

Will's team did lose but they did such a good job. Will was disappointed that he didn't get on base but I told him that next time would be better:) Kid pitch is so different from coach pitch - not many of them actually hit the ball! Next game Thursday at 7:00pm

Friday, April 13, 2007 8:16 PM CDT

Hello to everyone!

Well, what a week! Will has gone from headache and backache ~ to almost no pain at all ~ to another bad day today. It's been a roller coaster ride.

Today Will's pain increased and we had to take him back to the hospital. He has lost 3 pounds since Monday and has been sleeping alot. They are still thinking that the pain is from the spinal tap that he had on Monday. They gave him an hour of fluids, an hour of a bag of caffeine, and another bag of fluids today. After that he seemed to feel better and we were on our way home. He seems to still be feeling better ~ I wouldn't say he is 100ut he is a little better. They also gave me some muscle relaxers to give him to help ease his back. We are going to try one tonight and see what happens. Hopefully peaceful sleep!:)

Will's counts had gone down to 1200 today. I did try and talk them into doing the tests that are scheduled for the 23rd early but they said that they might not be beneficial if they did them any earlier and we sure don't want to put him through any more than necessary. We BELIEVE that all will be clear on the 23rd. Please pray with us for CLEAR results.

We are also so saddened by the loss of Greg's uncle, John Atkinson, today. John was faced by many health problems. Greg looked at John as a father. Greg and Rebecca appreciate all the support that they have already received this afternoon.

Our family has really seen how God can work BIG works through a small town like Senatobia. We appreciate you all and thank you for all the calls, cards, messages, and even meals!

Thanks for checking in on Will and I'll update again soon.
Love,
Ali

Wednesday, April 11, 2007 3:30 PM CDT

Hi to everyone! Hope that your week is going good. Will is not feeling well at all. We had to take him back to St Jude yesterday (Tuesday) because of his head and back hurting since the spinal tap on Monday. They gave him fluids which are supposed to help a spinal headache. They also feel that a nerve might have been hit during the procedure. He is at home and has been resting. If he gets up his head will just hurt horribly. Hopefully this will pass within a couple of days. They also rechecked his counts yesterday and they had gone up even more to 3500. Who knows what is going on?!!

Thank you so much to everyone for your words of encouragement, prayers, and calls. We appreciate you all!
I'll update again soon.

Love,
Ali

Monday, April 9, 2007 3:11 PM CDT

Well, I wish I had good news for you all to read today. Will's spinal tap today revealed two possible balsts in his CNS (central nervous system). There shouldn't be any, expecially since he didn't have any when he was first diagnosed. He only had them in his bone marrow. Blast are bad little baby cells that never mature into healty adult cells. These blasts push all the good cells out.
The plan is that Will will go back next Monday and get regular chemo. Then the next Monday, April 23, he will go for another spinal tap and a bone marrow aspirate. This will give any blasts time to be there or not. Hopefully not! IF he has relapsed, they will intensify his chemo and start radiation to the brain and spinal fluid. IF Will were to get fever anytime before then, that would also point to relapse.

We are devestated but have HOPE and FAITH that he will be clear in two weeks. We ask that everyone cover Will in prayer. All we can do is pray so that is what we will do!
Will does know all of this ~ we always have dicussed everything with Will and kept it all out in the open. If you see Will out and about, please tell Will that you are praying for him. We need to keep his spirits up:)!

His back is hurting today more than usual so we are also keeping an eye on that. Will is going to get his new glasses tomorrow and hopefully his headaches will get better.

I did snap a few pictures today before we received the bad news.

Will sleeping SOUNDLY after his spinal tap.

Will and Alison hanging out at St Jude.

Will and Allen racing tractors in the waiting room at St Jude.

We have always received so much help from all of you and appreciate you all so much. Thank you for checking in on Will and for praying for him! I'll update and let everyone know of any changes soon.
Love,
Ali

Saturday, April 7, 2007 2:38 PM CDT

Hi to everyone! I know that I haven't updated in almost TWO weeks. I am so sorry but things have been very BUSY around here. I have added a new slideshow of some things that have been going on lately.

Last Monday Will did go to St Jude. He got his tooth fixed FINALLY:) His counts had dropped to 800 but he was still able to get his chemo. Let's just pray that they don't keep dropping! Tomorrow (Easter), we will go to St Jude in the evening to get his labs drawn and get his port accessed. Then on Monday morning, bright and early:), Will will have a spinal tap. This is part of his protocol just to make sure that he is still in remission ~ which we have faith that he is. He will also get chemo, the nasty Vincristine and Methotrexate. This is the chemo that they think is causing the eye problems so let's pray that those issues will just disappear!

Will has been very busy at school and with Easter coming up. He had his school egg hunt Thursday and he had lots of fun. He found one of the prize eggs that had a dollar in it and won a kite. Then today, we had our church Easter celebration. They had a good time despite the cold weather for hunting eggs. They did crafts, sang, read stories, and of course ate:)

We also dyed eggs here at home on Friday. Will did such a good job, being careful with each one. He decorated them with stickers after they dried.

Will has been having ball practice and is pitching some. He enjoys that and is also playing short stop and second base. Of course, I can already tell that I will be a nervous wreck this year in kid-pitch. Will is wearing a chest protector to cover his port but I will still be nervous!:)

Well, I guess I have about covered everything that has been going on. Will is going to get his new glasses on Tuesday and hopefully they will help him alot. Please pray that he gets clear results from his spinal tap on Monday and I'll update soon.

Thanks and we hope that everyone has a wonderful Easter!

Love,
Ali

Tuesday, March 27, 2007 1:07 PM CDT

Hello to everyone! Well, we have of course been enjoying the news of a clear MRI since my last update. Will has been feeling good ~ just a few headaches. We are going to get his new glasses this week and hopefully this will help him. When we were at St Jude Friday for the MRI, they decided to give him Monday's chemo then so that we wouldn't have to come back this week. We kind of feel lost not having to rearrange schedules and go to St Jude. It's really nice:)! His counts were still 900 on Friday so we were pleased with that. Here's some pictures from last Friday at St Jude ~

Will, Anne Raegan, and her new baby brother John Lawson

Will relaxing in my lap at St Jude right after his MRI. He was still a little sleepy:)

Will has just been enjoying himself. He went fishing Sunday after church with Greg. Here is a picture of their catches ~

Looks like Will needs to teach Greg how to fish:)!!

He has also been playing outside and riding his motorcycle with Ben and Emma Kay.

Our school is taking Achievement Tests this week so he hasn't really enjoyed that but at least he is going to school. He has baseball practice again tonight so he is looking forward to that.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. Have a great week!
Love,
Ali

Wednesday, March 21, 2007 1:00 PM CDT

***UPDATE FRIDAY 3:15pm
Will did great during the MRI. He was sedated during it since it lasted a full hour. We just talked to Dr Howard and the MRI was CLEAR! They think that maybe the Vincristine(chemo) that he gets is affecting his eyes since it does affect the nerves. We will get his glasses changed and hopefully figure out if anything else needs to be done to help treat his eyes. Right now ~ we are just praising God for a clear MRI and are so glad that this day is behind us! Thank you so much for all the prayers and phone calls today. We will forever be grateful for all of the support we receive! Love, Ali

UPDATE THURSDAY 7:15 PM
Will did go to the eye doctor today. There were some areas of concern that the eye doctor found so Will is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow (Friday) at 11:00am at St Jude. We will have results by tomorrow afternoon. Please pray this to be clear! Thanks and I'll update tomorrow with results.
Love,
Ali

Hello to all of Will's friends! Will is doing pretty good this week so far. He did go for treatment Monday at St Jude. His counts had gone up to 900. His headaches have gotten better so that is a plus:) He did see the dentist Monday at St Jude and the plan is to fix his tooth next Monday. Hopefully all will go as planned and we can move on to the next issue.

Will did have a pretty bad headache at school today. He will be going to the eye doctor tomorrow at 1:00 since he has been having the headaches, even though they are better, and his vision is blurry at times. He says that he is struggling to see the board at school even though he sits right in front of it. We will see tomorrow. I'll update and let you all know what we find out.

Will did have his first baseball practice last night. He did good and looked just as good as the other children. I always worry that he won't do as good as the others but he really held his own last night. He just loves baseball!

This past Saturday night we celebrated my niece's 13th birthday at my mom's house. All the children enjoyed roasting marshmallows and hotdogs in the fire pit. Here are some pictures I took.

Alison, Kendal,and Will roasting marshmallows.

Alison, Will, Kendal, and Ben

Kendal and Will

Thanks so much for checking in on Will.
Love,
Ali

Please keep in your prayers several of our friends that are battling cancer ~
Anna Marie McArthur (visit/annamariemcarthur)
Allen Smith (la/allensmith)
Cole Hardy (visit/wesleycolehardy)
Gay Bell ~ Gay lives here in Senatobia and is a nurse at St Jude.
Also, Ava Yount is a baby from Senatobia that really needs prayers right now. You can go to www.carepages.com, sign up (it's free), and then visit her page at Avayount.

Saturday, March 17, 2007 8:50 AM CDT

Happy Birthday Kendal and Kate! Kendal is now officially a teenagaer - AHHH:) Kate is two years old today!

Good morning! We hope that everyone that had Spring Break this past week had a GREAT one. Will's has been good. We didn't do anything that exciting. He did go paint pottery Wednesday night with Sam and Haley and he always enjoys that. Then yesterday (Friday) we went to the zoo. It was a little chilly and windy, but we still enjoyed it. Last night we went to the sports store to find a pad that covered Will's port. That's the only way he can play this year in kid-pitch. We found one but it isn't very comfortable. We will see how it goes at his first practice Tuesday night and we may have to look for another one.

Will has been feeling OK. He does seem to have a little more energy so I think that his counts are coming back up. He has been hurting a good bit from the Vincristine chemo he got on Monday but is getting relief from codiene. It was hard on him some yesterday at the zoo ~ you can see in the slideshow above that he rode in the wagon a good bit. Emma Kay was so nice about giving up her spot for him.

Also, Will has not had another headache since Tuesday!:) Hopefully it will stay this way! Thank you all for praying about this issue.

Well, I think that Ben and Emma Kay are going back to Chuck E Cheese today with Grammy, Scottie, and Austin. Will wants to go back to the pottery place to make some more pottery. I already have Veo outside in the cold getting some Honey-Do's done! We hope that you all have a great weekend ~ Thanks so much for checking in on Will!

Happy St Patrick's Day!
Love,
Ali

Monday, March 12, 2007 7:58 PM CDT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VEO!!

As most of you know Will's counts have been zero for two weeks and he has not been getting his chemo for two weeks. He still is not acting like himself so I just wasn't sure what to expect today. Rebecca and Alison went with us today and we all guessed what his counts would be ~ Beck won with 500. That's right, only 500. I really thought they would be higher but he was able to get his chemo in the medicine room and he is starting his night chemo back.

Will has been having some really bad headaches. He had one last night which usually ends with him crying and eventually going to sleep. St Jude has been keeping an eye on this. The plan is: hopefully his counts will be high enough next Monday to fix his tooth that has a cavity. This way we can see if the tooth may be causing the headaches. If the headaches keep on - then we will look further into it. Dr Howard wanted to know if Will was under any stress that could be causing them. I told him maybe Will was having headaches from my stress since I don't even have time for a headache lately:)

Today is Veo's birthday. Since he is at the firehouse today and tonight, we celebrated last night with a family dinner at Cracker Barrel. I took a picture of the staff at Cracker Barrel singing Happy Birthday to him. Look at Emma Kay's face ~ she thought it was so crazy! Mom also took a great family picture that I will post.

We are looking forward to a good relaxing Spring Break here at home. We are planning on going to the zoo. We already went to Chuck E Cheese's Saturday. Ben loved it!

This is a picture of Will and Alison when we left Chuck E Cheese eating cotton candy.

Thanks for checking in on Will. I'll update more later to let everyone know how he is feeling. Please pray for the headache issue to resolve on its own.

Love,
Ali

Sunday, March 4, 2007 7:12 AM CST

Update Monday March5 2:30pm ~ Just wanted to let everyone know that Will's counts are still zero so he couldn't get his chemo again today. He will be at home again this week with hopefully no fever. Please pray with us that his counts recover fast and he doesn't get any fever. I know that he is as anxious to get back to normal as we all are! Thanks so much for checking in and I'll update again soon ~ Love,
Ali

Sunday March 4
Today is the two year anniversary of Will's diagnosis. It fell on a Friday, the day he was diagnosed. We had been in the hospital for 2 days trying to figure out what was wrong. They had sent us to St Jude the day before so we knew it was going to be bad. He was put to sleep that morning to do a bone marrow biopsy. It was horrible, leaving him there asleep on that table. I cried and cried, Veo too. To think that I have now done that over 30 times!

Later that day two doctors walked in to tell us that Will had Leukemia. Rebecca, Greg, and my mom were also there with us. Will sat in his hospital bed coloring a picture never realizing what they were saying. Within an hour doctors wanted signatures about protocols, telling us about Will getting a line, all kinds of stuff. Then we had to make the decision of whether we would allow Will to be part of their research. We decided yes, he would. It doesn't hurt him anymore than regular treatment and doesn't require any extra trips. It is all done while he is there. We figured that if nobody had ever allowed any research to be done then there wouldn't be such a great survival rate for ALL.

Will went through so much that first week. He is so much stronger and braver than I am. I remeber the blood transfusions through an IV in his hand. It was BAD. I remember him getting his line and me seeing him for the first time after - I thought I was going to faint.

Now look at us, one more year of treatment left! We are excited that this is all almost behind us and also about the way our lives have changed. We are so much different than we used to be. Things that used to matter don't anymore and the things that should have always mattered, matter a lot now!

Today is also the day that Shan Whiteside passed away a year ago of Leukemia. Isn't it ironic that this date has changed both of our lives with the same horrible cancer? Gayle is such an inspiration to me. I can't imagine raising three kids alone - I can barely do it with Veo here. Please pray for their family as this is likely a hard day for them. (ms/shan)

Enough of that serious talk, Will is feeling better every day. Thursday he didn't feel good at all but has seemed to feel better this weekend. One more day of seclusion and hopefully when he goes to St Jude on Monday his counts will be high enough for chemo, school, playing, and friends! Please pray with us for that.

I will update with his counts tomorrow. Also, thanks to Stacey Young and April Crawford for changing Will's dressing and to Stacey for coming over tonight after Will's antibiotic to take his needle out. He says he can't wait to get his needle out:) He's such a trooper!

Love,
Ali

Wednesday, February 28, 2007 1:25 PM CST

Well, we did finally make it home yesterday. A big THANK YOU to our nurse April for helping us get out as fast as possible! Will is always excited when April is his nurse:) Will is at home now and getting lots of medicines at what seems to be all different times of the day:)

We are being really careful about germs getting in the house. Will's ANC was still zero yesterday when we left the hospital and his white blood cell counts was 1,000. We just don't want to risk him getting anything else. Will is getting IV antibiotics every 12 hours and is also taking Acyclovir for the herpes virus. His mouth already looks better to me and he hasn't complained about it except when he does his mouthwash. He can't stand the mouthwash!

Stacey Young is being so sweet to change Will's dressing on his port for me as well as flushing and taking his needle out on Sunday night. If it weren't for her, I would be haiving to drive back up to St Jude Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Will is scheduled to go back on Monday to recheck counts and hopefully get chemo.

Will also had to visit the St Jude dentist. Since Will was inpatient, the dentist came to his room. Unfortunately, Will has a pretty bad cavity. His counts need to be around 1,000 for the dentist to do any work. He is going to try and just fill it but may have to remove the tooth. We are keeping a close eye on it to make sure it doesn't get any worse until his counts get up. It just seems like one thing after another.

While Will was in the hospital, Alison sent him lots of goodies. She is so sweet to always think of him. Here is a picture of him playing the game Hanging Monkeys that she sent him. There is also one of him in the hospital bed holding a flashing ball that she sent him.

I didn't notice how much weight Will has lost until I look at these pictures next to the ones on the slide show. His face has really gotten a lot thinner. He looks so old and grown up:)

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. I'll update again soon!
Love,
Ali

Tuesday, February 27, 2007 9:27 AM CST

Good morning from St Jude!

Will is feeling somewhat better and has been eating a little better also. His counts are still the big ZERO. I just knew that they would be up. His white cell count even dropped some from yesterday. BUT they are talking about letting us come home since his fever hasn't gone back up over 99.8. The word is that they will send us home on IV antibiotics. No word yet on when we will have to come back except they keep reminding me that we will have to come back if his fever goes up again. He is just a little stir crazy and needs to get out!

The doctors are saying that he has some sort of herpes virus because of the sore in his throat and now he has a fever blister on his lip. He will continue with mouth care (yuck!) and also start taking Acyclovir. All this along with the Ready Meds through his line ~ whatever it takes to come home:)

Hopefully we will be home some time this afternoon. Ben keeps telling me on the phone to "Come back home." He is so silly:) Emma Kay hasn't done very well this hospital stay. She wouldn't even go to school yesterday. She is the student of the week so today Rebecca, Alison, and Kendal were going to go to her class to do something special. Will wants to take Suzie (our dog) up there but his counts are so low I don't think he will be able to help out.

Our friends, Keith and Monica Williams, had baby girl yesterday - 9lbs 5 ozs. Congratulations to them - how exciting. We can't wait to see her.

Also, Alison's daddy Pat had surgery last week on his eye. Many of you know that he was badly burned several years ago as a fire fighter. We know that this is a long recovery and as well as a hard one so we want to keep him in our prayers. Today is his birthday ~ Happy birthday Pat!

Thank you so much for all of the prayers, phone calls and messages. It means so much to us all that even after two years you still check in on Will. It will be TWO years this coming up Sunday, March 4. Only one more to go!

I'll update later (hopefully from home:))
love,
Ali

Sunday, February 25, 2007 2:18 PM CST

**UPDATE Monday morning 9:45am - Will's ANC is still ZERO so we may get to come home tomorrow. He didn't run any more fever last night. Right now his fever is trying to come back up so we escaped his room while he was still officially fever free. Hopefully it won't go up any higher. I'll update later! Thanks for all the prayers and messages! Love, Ali

Well... unfortunately Will is inpatient at St Jude. He has just felt really yuck all weekend. He did run a low fever yesterday but then it spiked up to 101.9 this morning so we headed St Jude's way. Of course, whether he went inpatient all depended on his counts which came back at ZERO. We will be here until he is fever free for a while and his counts come back up. He does have a sore toward the back of his mouth which is probably the root of the fever and low counts. He has lost another 2 1/2 pounds since last Monday so that makes his weight loss around 5 pounds in 2 weeks. He really doesn't need to lose any more so please pray that he starts to eat and drink more.

I'll update later when I know more! Please pray for Will to start feeling better fast!
Love,
Ali

Wednesday, February 21, 2007 1:18 PM CST

Hi to everyone!

Will has been doing good. He did sleep alot this past weekend which led me to think his counts were down. We went to St Jude on Monday and his counts had dropped from 2400 to 800. He also had an X-Ray of his mouth so the dentist could look at it. He will go see the dentist next Monday at St Jude for a check up. He also has some teeth that seem to be very slow about coming in. He has been late losing his teeth and now he can't seem to get any to come back in:)

We saw several of our friends Monday and Mimi went with us. Will loves for someone to go to the hospital with him and see "his world". Our friend Allen is inpatient at St Jude now ~ he gave everyone a scare but seems to be doing better (la/allensmith). We also saw Anne Raegan and her daddy. She was precious as usual (ms/anneraegan).

Please continue to pray that Will doesn't pick up on any of the "bugs" that seem to be going around school right now. He is just doing so good that I would hate for him to have a setback now. Thanks for checking in on Will. I'll update again soon!

Have a great week!
Love,
Ali

Friday, February 16, 2007 4:50 PM CST

Hi to everyone! Yes, I know that it has been almost two weeks since I last updated. I have been very busy - Sorry:)

Alot has been going on ~ We kept our nephew Austin this past weekend. We had him a little birthday party that the children all enjoyed. Here's a picture of Ben, Austin, Will, and Emma Kay.

Will did go to St Jude on Monday. His counts are high again - 2,400. We were able to see our buddy Allen and his mom Amie who we have been missing SO much. Here's a picture of Will and Allen in the giftshop (of course).

Will's mouth was blue because he had been eating some kind of candy! Allen is actually inpatient now with the flu ~ hopefully he wasn't contagious when we were visiting! Hope you feel better Allen ~ his page is la/allensmith.

We have also celebrated Valentine's Day ~ I am so glad that is over. Between all three of the children eating a ton of candy each ~ whew ~ Ben was like a WILD man.
Here are some pictures from Valentine's ~

Will, Mimi, and Ben Valentine's morning

Will at his Valentine's party at school - look at all the Valentine's on his desk!

And then here is the famous picture of me and Rebecca with a Python around us. A man came to school to do a reptile program on Valentine's and Rebecca so dearly volunteered me for this ~ talk about sisterly love! Will thought it was great, Emma Kay said we were crazy, and Alison was just down right embarassed!

Will has been having leg pain since last night. This is from the chemo that he got on Monday. It should get better over the weekend. He has had to take morphine it got so bad last night. Hopefully tonight will be better.

We also want to let you all know that our friends Brandi and Anne Raegan have suffered a great loss this week, along with their family. Whitney Watkins passed away on Valentine's ~ you can visit her page at visit/whitneywatkins. We were just so sad to hear this.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. I found him in here checking his messages and he told me that I NEEDED to update:) I'm just slacking lately!

Have a great weekend~
Ali

Tuesday, February 6, 2007 1:47 PM CST

I know it has been TOO long since my last update but the good news is ~ things have been going good! Will had a blast in the snow that we got last Friday. We all enjoyed two days off due to ice and snow.

Emma Kay and Will in the snow.

Veo, Will, and Emma Kay having a snowball fight!

Will, Mom, and Emma Kay freezing:)

You may notice that Ben wasn't in the pictures. He had gone with Grammy to Cleveland to visit Scottie and Austin. He had so much fun playing with Austin. I hope that Scottie has recuperated from Ben!

Will went to St Jude yesterday. His counts are a little on the high side ~ 2500. Hopefully they will even out soon. He has been feeling OK. He did complain earlier today with a sore throat but he also did this last week for a couple of days. Hopefully it will pass without being anything major:)

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. He checks his page every time he gets on the computer to see who has left him messages.

Love,
Ali

Please pray for our friends in Tupelo. You can visit them at ms/anneraegan. Brandi, Anne Raegan's mom, is having a baby today! Also, Brandi's sister, Whitney needs prayers ~ visit/whitneywatkins. Thanks!

Wednesday, January 31, 2007 1:18 PM CST

***LISTEN TO THE ST JUDE RADIOTHON
ON KIX 106 (FM 105.9)
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY!!*****

Things have been going good for Will since my last update. He had a great weekend. We rewarded him for such hard work at going to school and staying at school Friday night. We took him and his buddy, Tucker to eat pizza and then to the movie. They had a great time and just acted like boys!

We went to St Jude Sunday afternoon to get Will's bloodwork drawn in hopes that Monday afternoon wouldn't be so long for him. He went to school Monday all day ~ he is Student of the Week this week so he didn't want to miss at all. Beck, Alison, and Kendal came to his class Monday and did some fun football activites with his class ~ they are having NFL week this week in the third grade.
Here's a picture of Will, Rebecca, Alison,and Kendal on Monday.

Veo took Will Monday afternoon to St Jude for his treatment. His counts are good ~ 1,200. It took them about 3 hours to get Will's chemo from the pharmacy so they didn't get home until 7:30pm Monday night from what was going to be a "short" St Jude visit.

Tuesday, I took Will's dog, Suzie to school since he is Student of the Week. They enjoyed that and we also took Scooby Doo push-ups for the class to eat. We thought Suzie looked really cute in her sweater that Ginger let her borrow:)

Today (Wednesday) was Will's class play. He did great ~ the whole grade did! It was the cutest play! We had refreshments in his room afterwards. I, of course, snapped several pictures.

Will saying his part.

Will and Mimi

Will, Pops, and Mrs. Jackson (Will's teacher)

I am going back up to the school in a little while to make Valentine mailboxes with his class. Then Will has guitar and Emma Kay ballet. Whew - are you worn out from just reading all this?:)

Hopefully tomorrow it will snow and we will be at home ~ wishful thinking, huh?:)

Friday, Will has an NFL party at school and Greg is coming with the Game Warden to talk about hunting to finish up Will's Student of the Week.

As you can see, we have been very busy this week! We are just enjoying being more normal than we have been in TWO YEARS! It feels good!

I have to show you all this picture of Ben. I found him HIDING in Suzie's dog house outside. He is such a mess!:)

Thanks for checking in on Will!
Love,
Ali

Wednesday, January 24, 2007 5:44 AM CST

Hi! Sorry I haven't updated ~ things are busy as usual. Will had a good weekend. We pretty much just hung out around the house. It has been so cold that I haven't really let him out much. All three of the children are about to jump out of their skin being inside so much. We went to church Sunday and that was pretty much the outing of the weekend:) Big weekend huh?:)

Will did go to St Jude on Monday. Veo took him this time. His counts are 2500. A little on the high side. His body could be in overdrive trying to recover from when he was sick or he could be trying to fight off some sort of infection. Either way, he is feeling good! He is going to school ALL day without complaining. It is so much easier on me and Veo when everything goes smoothly like it has been. We had almost forgotten what it was like for things to go like they should!

Will is going to start guitar lessons today after school. This was a Christmas present from me and Veo. We are just now getting the time and day situated with the place he is taking. He is really excited about it. Emma Kay takes ballet so now they both have something "extra" they can do. I feel like a taxi running around. Imagine what it will be like when Ben starts doing stuff!

Well, I will let Will update about his guitar lessons later. Hopefully we will have another "quiet", normal, and event-free week! Thanks so much for checking in on Will!

Love,
Ali

Thursday, January 18, 2007 6:52 PM CST

Hello ~ just wanted to update real quick. Will is having a GREAT week! He has been feeling good - just a few aches from the Vincristine. He has also gone to school EVERY day ALL day long. This is the first time since he got sick that he has stayed all day, all week. I am SO proud of him. We have all been going on and on about it until I know he's sick of hearing it but we have been ALMOST normal this week. WOW! That is major for us. Of course, I am so afraid to brag because I am scared that it will all end.

Will did end up having a great time at baseball camp this past weekend. Veo went and stayed with him on Sunday. He said that Will did really well, especially considering he had just gotten out of the hospital 4 days prior:)

Will is going back to St Jude on Monday for blood counts checked and chemo. Thanks so much for checking in on him ~ we feel like many prayers have been answered this week!

Love,
Ali

Saturday, January 13, 2007 7:30 PM CST

Sorry for not updating yesterday as promised. It turned into a long day at St Jude. Will's counts had gone up to 300. The doctor decided to give him his chemo and put him back on his night chemo. He had been off of all chemo for 2 weeks so I was happy for him to get something. He got Vincristine (the one that makes him hurt) along with Methotrexate. This is the first time he has gotten this combination. He will get this combo every 4 weeks due to them cutting the Dex out of his treatment plan. Will will not return to St Jude this coming up week, hopefully this will give his body time to recover really good and then we will get back on schedule the next week.

Will did get to meet lots of Country music artists Friday for Country Cares. He is also quoted on the St Jude website under the Country Cares page. Also, www.countrycares.org.

Emma Kay, Will, and Pat Green

Emma Kay, Ty Herndon, and Will

Will and Kellie Pickler

Emma Kay and Kellie Pickler ~ I had to put this one on here because Emma Kay thought she was soooo pretty and loved her Red High Heels:)

Will and "Lucy Angel"

Will and James Otto

Will and "Carolina Rain"

Will and Mark Wills

Everyone of these artists were so nice to Will and Emma Kay. They took so much time to talk with them and play around with them. They all enjoyed it!

Will also was given the OK by Dr Howard to go to baseball camp this weekend at Ole Miss. Will liked it ~ it's all about pitching. That is where the picture at the very top of the page was taken today.

You will probably notice in the pictures that Will is losing weight. His taste is SOOOO off right now and seems to be worse today with the new "combo" he got yesterday. Hopefully this will soon pass ~ maybe he could pass it on to me (the weight loss part:))

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. I promise to update soon!
Love,
Ali

Wednesday, January 10, 2007 9:42 AM CST

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECK! Ummm... how old are you again, OLDER sis?!:)

Hello from HOME:) It felt soooo good to get home, see everyone, and most of all ~ sleep in our OWN beds! We got home yesterday around 3:30pm. We saw several people from school when we were pulling into town and I felt like we were in a parade! Will was fast asleep so he didn't see all of his "fan club" waving and smiling. I told him about it, of course.

Will's ANC was still zero yesterday so we are hibernating here at the house. I will give him his Ready Meds here at home through his line today and tomorrow. Hopefully he won't run any more fever. We will go back to St Jude on Friday to have his counts rechecked.

Here is a picture of Will being silly yesterday while we were waiting on the "official" word that we were going to get to come home.

Will wants me to put the pictures of him and his 4-point also.

He's proud but it is pretty yuck looking to me!

I don't know who looks more excited in this picture, Will or Greg:)

Well, Thanks for all the sweet messages and prayers. We appreciate you all soooo much!! Thanks to all of our SWEET St Jude nurses and doctors! You take SUCH good care of Will!

I'll update Friday with his counts if not before!
Love,
Ali

Here are some pictures from New Year's that I never got posted.

Ben holding a sparkler. He wasn't scared one bit!

Alison and Kendal on New Year's ~ SOOO grown up!

Emma Kay and Drew hiding out in the back of Beck's car ~ they didn't like the noise:)

Will and Carly - Happy New Year!

Will and Mom ~ cute hat huh?!:)

Will shooting a Roman Candle OUT OF HIS HAND ~ good thing that you can't see me screaming that he was going to blow his hand off!

Tuesday, January 9, 2007 11:28 AM CST

Will just finished reading his messages and is still laughing and rolling his eyes at Miss Shelia's poem. He always knows that she is going to leave him a silly message ~ it is so good to see him laugh:)

We DO get to come home today!! Who knows when they will get everything together ~ alot goes into getting everything together. Our nurse did tell us that he will come home on ReadyMeds. These are little bottles that have antibiotics in them that I will hook up to his line. He is fine with it but just hates to have to keep his needle in. Oh well, we will do whatever to get to sleep in our own beds tonight. I miss Ben and Emma Kay so much! I think it gets harder and harder each time we come up here.

We haven't heard when they will want him back to recheck his counts. His ANC is still zero. He hasn't had chemo in a while now so hopefully everything will go back to normal soon so that he can get back on schedule.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. He has read every message:)
Love,
Ali

Sunday, January 7, 2007 3:07 PM CST

**UPDATE MONDAY 4:45PM**
Yes, we are still here:( His ANC is ZERO so with the fever this morning and an ANC of 0, we will have to stay tonight. He hasn't had any fever since this morning so hopefully we will get to come home tomorrow. We enjoyed a visit from Brent today. It was so nice to see someone from home AND he kept Will occupied for over an hour:) Each hour down is one more hour closer to Will getting out of here. He is dealing better today about being here than he was yesterday. Veo came up to give me a break and he and Will are playing electronic Battleship right now. Thanks for checking in on Will and all the sweet messages!
Love,
Ali

**UPDATE MONDAY MORNING 10:00AM**
Will ran a low fever of 100.1 at 4:00am this morning so we are waiting on his counts. He has also had a small allergic reaction to a medicine he was given when we first got here. He has small red itchy bumps across his forehead at his hairline. We are just waiting on official word of if we stay or get to go:)
Thanks so much for checking in on Will. He just finished reading all his new messages. I'll let you know whether we get ot come home or have to stay another night.
Ali

Hi from St Jude! Will hasn't felt well and now he has fever! It got up to 100.7 so we had to come in ~ he is in room 2009. He does have a really bad ear infection so they are pretty sure that this is what is causing the fever. We may possibly get to come home tomorrow (Monday) as long as his ear is improving and he doesn't run any more fever. Right now his fever is down but his ANC is only 100 ~ it was 200 last Monday. He is sort of upset that he is in the hospital ~ he says that it is getting really "old". I am guessing that he means just the whole Leukemia situation in general.

Will did kill a deer ~ he got a four-point and a doe so he is still excited about that. Maybe I will get the picutres up soon.

Thanks so much for checking in on Will. Please keep him in your prayers ~ NO FEVER and RISING COUNTS:)

I'll keep you all posted~
Ali

Tuesday, January 2, 2007 2:17 PM CST

Hello to everyone! We hope that everyone had a safe and happy new year. We celebrated at the Copeland's house this year. The children had so much fun ~ maybe as much fun as all the dads did shooting the fireworks. Ben loved the fireworks and was not scared at all of them. Will had a lot of fun and slept until 11:00 on Monday. I do have pictures to share as soon as I get my camera from their house:)

Today we went to St Jude for chemo. Alison went with us. Will's counts ended up being only 200 so he didn't get chemo ~ just a mask to wear! Their are so many children inpatient with fever so let's pray that Will doesn't get fever. He is feeling OK. Just a little cranky which usually means his counts are down -which they are.

Brent Nason earned his angel wings this morning at St Jude. Please pray for his family. ms/brentnason
Our friend Allen(la/allensmith) has been inpatient with fever. He finally got out ~ Get to feeling better Allen!

Thanks for checking in on Will. I'll update soon ~ hopefully with news that we are still at home and not in St Jude with fever:)

Love,
Ali

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