History

Journal History

Monday, March 13, 2006 2:22 PM CST

Hello Everyone ~

I know that I said that I would update shortly, but life just seems to happen without regards to our plans. So, here it goes.

As you know, Mother (Mary Anderson Montgomery) was put on Hospice a few weeks ago, sent to the hospital and was sent home in stable condition. Over the past week, her condition rapidly deteriorated and on March 4, 2006, Mother went home to be with her Jesus where she will never feel the pain of cancer again. She put up one heck of a fight against the breast cancer monster and fought it three different times, but the last time she was just so weak and tired that her body did all it could do until it could do no more.

Please be in prayer for strength and comfort for my Dad. My parents would have been married for 40 years this coming July and he seems absolutely lost and so alone. The children are doing okay. They were really close to my Mother and miss her greatly. As for me, well my Mother told me that I would have to be the strong one for my Dad, brother and the rest of my family. So, I breathe in and I breathe out and it seems to get me through the day.

Thanks so much for all of you that have kept a check on our family and continue to pray for us.

Love & Prayers,
Lynne Montgomery Martin

Monday, March 13, 2006 2:22 PM CST

Thursday, February 9, 2006 3:10 PM CST

Hello Everyone ~

Wow! Can you believe that it is 2006 already? I am sorry that I have not updated in so long. My how the time passes so fast when you are busy. Anyway, just a quick update for now.

2005 - What a great year for the children in school. Mitchell graduated from kindergarten and Samuel graduated from elementary school. Mitchell is still in remission and doing great. His vision is still an ongoing problem, but we think that we have a handle on it for now. His speech is improving and he may not have to have speech therapy much longer - YEAH! Samuel is doing great. He started the 6th grade.

2006 - Not such a great start to the year.

Robert's father had a triple bypass 3-4 weeks ago. He is doing very well now and in rehabilitation therapy.

My mother (Mary Montgomery) was put on Hospice this past week. Her breast cancer has returned and is rapidly spreading. Both her family physician and oncologist have said that "they have done all that they can do." She was taken to the ER with respiratory failure on Friday, but has now stablized. She is at home now and resting well. Please be in prayer for her that she be comfortable at this time and not worry about all of us.

Thank you for all of the prayers that have been said for our family and those who continue to keep our family on your prayer list.

With love & prayers,
Lynne

Wednesday, June 2, 2004 9:50 AM CDT

Hello Everyone ~

Just a very short entry today. I will do a better update later.

We pray that every one had a wonderful Memorial Day and remembered our Armed Forces and all that they have sacrificed for us as a nation.

Mitchell was finally given permission from oncology to take all of his missed immunizations and start kindergarten. He will start in August 2004. He actually passed all of the tests required by the school system also. This was the one thing that we were worried about, but with all of the PT, OT, speech therapy and vision therapy, he passed. YEAH!.

Samuel is doing good. He did well in school this year and will be in the 5th grade next year. Wow! Were does the time go. It seems that he should still be in Kindergarten. They grow up so fast.

Now, on a sadder note - Miranda has fallen out of remission again. www.caringbridge.org/nc/mirandarae She has went home from the hospital, apparently for the last time. Her chemo is not working. Please visit her website to get a more accurate update and to sign their guestbook with words of encouragement. I have put a hot link at the bottom of this page for her site. Pray for a miracle for this family.

~ Lynne

Thursday, March 11, 2004 12:24 AM CDT

Hello Everyone ~

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and shared it with many, many loved ones.l

Basically, December 2003 was great. Mitchell turned 5 years old. YEAH!!! The only bad thing about his birthday was the weather. It stinks having a birthday in the winter because it is so hard to plan anything. Trust me I know. When I was a child it snowed every year on my birthday. I never knew when I was having my birthday party, but eventually I a party because my mother always made sure that I had a great birthday. We will probably let Mitchell have a pool party this summer since his was basically cancelled due to inclement weather. He seemed to think that it was a great ideal. We still celebrated here at home with cake, ice cream, balloons, streamers, etc.

Christmas came and went with all of the normal functions. It was really great this year. It was our first year with no chemo meds. I did not have to worry about carrying them with us or forgetting them during the rush or craziness of the holiday functions. No doctor appointments of any kind. It was kind of strange, but still it was great nevertheless.

Mitchell’s January clinic appointments went great. Oncology was a great checkup. Eye Clinic reduced his eyeglasses a little in hopes that it will improve his vision. There goes another $200 for a new pair of miniature bifocals. Sometime I wonder if the doctors really know what they are doing or if they just like to make us spend money that we do not have just to keep them happy.

In February, Mitchell went in for his “ONE YEAR OFF CHEMO” checkup. Wow! It does not seem like it has been a whole year. Everything went fine with his checkup, weight, height, etc. or so we thought. His initial counts looked great, but when the differential came back his ANC was low. It was around 930. It has not been that low since he was on consolidation chemo. It usually hits around 2200 to 2400 even when he is sick. He had been complaining of leg pain for about two weeks, but we concluded that it was because he had become so active and his muscles were not used to all of the activity. So, when I got the news of his ANC, I almost could not catch my breath. After I caught my breath and could hear the nurse talking again, I kept hearing her say “breath it is okay.” She said that the doctor said that it was probably just a fluke and that maybe he had a virus of some kind and to have his CBC rechecked in four weeks to be sure that his immune system has recovered. I guess that because he had been doing so well and gaining weight/height that it was a little bit of a shock. Well Mitchell’s ANC was still a little low, but at least it was above 1000, barely above – actually 1060. So, we have to have it checked again in four weeks at his first “two month” visit.

This will be the last entry with Nemo in it because he passed away on Sunday (3/7/04). So, there will be no more stories about the silly snow sledding dog, which is the story that I was going to tell you today. Instead, I have put a picture of him in the snow sled on the picture page. They say that a picture says a thousand words and this picture pretty much describes him to a “T”. He will be dearly missed by our family.

- Miranda – www.caringbridge.org/nc/mirandarae – Miranda fell out of remission again. Her leukemia returned this time in her bone marrow. Please keep her and her entire family in her prayers.

- Cody – www.forcody.org – He is bouncing up and down. Please pray that he stays more up than down.

- Please continue to pray for all of the children and families on CaringBridge. These wonderful, courageous families are sharing their journey with you. Please take a moment and sign the guestbook with an encouraging word. You would not believe how much this uplifts and encourages them.

~ Lynne

Thursday, March 11, 2005 9:50 AM CDT

Tuesday, March 4, 2004 11:50 AM CST

Thursday, March 4, 2004
Hello Everyone ~

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and shared it with many, many loved ones.l

Basically, December 2003 was great. Mitchell turned 5 years old. YEAH!!! The only bad thing about his birthday was the weather. It stinks having a birthday in the winter because it is so hard to plan anything. Trust me I know. When I was a child it snowed every year on my birthday. I never knew when I was having my birthday party, but eventually I a party because my mother always made sure that I had a great birthday. We will probably let Mitchell have a pool party this summer since his was basically cancelled due to inclement weather. He seemed to think that it was a great ideal. We still celebrated here at home with cake, ice cream, balloons, streamers, etc.

Christmas came and went with all of the normal functions. It was really great this year. It was our first year with no chemo meds. I did not have to worry about carrying them with us or forgetting them during the rush or craziness of the holiday functions. No doctor appointments of any kind. It was kind of strange, but still it was great nevertheless.

Mitchell’s January clinic appointments went great. Oncology was a great checkup. Eye Clinic reduced his eyeglasses a little in hopes that it will improve his vision. There goes another $200 for a new pair of miniature bifocals. Sometime I wonder if the doctors really know what they are doing or if they just like to make us spend money that we do not have just to keep them happy.

In February, Mitchell went in for his “ONE YEAR OFF CHEMO” checkup. Wow! It does not seem like it has been a whole year. Everything went fine with his checkup, weight, height, etc. or so we thought. His initial counts looked great, but when the differential came back his ANC was low. It was around 930. It has not been that low since he was on consolidation chemo. It usually hits around 2200 to 2400 even when he is sick. He had been complaining of leg pain for about two weeks, but we concluded that it was because he had become so active and his muscles were not used to all of the activity. So, when I got the news of his ANC, I almost could not catch my breath. After I caught my breath and could hear the nurse talking again, I kept hearing her say “breath it is okay.” She said that the doctor said that it was probably just a fluke and that maybe he had a virus of some kind. He has to have his CBC rechecked in four weeks to be sure that his immune system has recovered. I guess that because he had been doing so well and gaining weight/height that it was a little bit of a shock. We all think that his blood work will be fine, but we will let you know when it done.

- Miranda – www.caringbridge.org/nc/mirandarae – Miranda fell out of remission again. Her leukemia returned this time in her bone marrow. She has already had one BMT when she was very young. Please keep her and her entire family in her prayers. She has been on and off of chemo since she was about 9 months old. She will be on a new trial study for one year.

- Cody – www.forcody.com – He is bouncing up and down. Please pray that he stays more up than down.

- Please continue to pray for all of the children and families on CaringBridge and ChubbyChica. These wonderful, courageous families are sharing their journey with you. Please take a moment and sign the guestbook with an encouraging word. You would not believe how much this uplifts and encourages them.

~ Lynne

Thursday, November 27, 2003 5:29 AM CST

Hello Everyone ~

YEAH ! ! !

Mitchell’s fever has finally broken. After two days, it finally came down to 100 by noon yesterday and did not spike up again. The redness finally left his cheeks and he was feeling somewhat better yesterday evening as well. He was also able to keep down all of his medications and has been eating, but he will only teddy grahams. He will however drink his special apple juice (2/3 unflavored Pedialyte and 1/3 apple juice) and he will also drink some gingerale. We were told that the ginger was a longtime proven remedy for settling upset stomach and thank goodness that it works. We called the local clinic and they were very happy. They said to just keep an eye on him to make sure that he did not dehydrate and have him checked when he goes for his monthly oncology clinic visit on 12/1/03, especially his ear. They also told us that if he takes a downward turn that they would be in for half a day today. I guess they are used to him doing that with a fever by now.

Other thinks that we are thankful for: Our health, food on our table and a roof over our head. There are many families that do not have these basics, but wish that they did. Our wonderful family and friends that are traveling this journey that we call life that includes all of the bumps, the roadblocks and the disasters (childhood cancer) that we have endured. We truly thank you for all of your support and love you all dearly. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Last but not least, Happy Birthday Dad. Yesterday was my Dad’s birthday, but have we always celebrated it on Thanksgiving Day ever since I can remember. It seems to make the day all the more special.

Prayer Request
- www.chubbychica.com - Please remember that all of these families could use your prayers, especially during this holiday season.
- Please pray for our military members and their families. It is very hard to be so far away from your family during the holidays, especially when you are overseas.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ! ! !

~ Lynne

Tuesday, November 25, 2003 8:56 PM CST

Hello Everyone ~

Mitchell News:
We hope everyone is as excited about Thanksgiving as we are this year. On Monday (11/24/03), Mitchell’s preschool had their Thanksgiving Day program and then a special dinner for the parents afterwards. They were so cute dressed up like pilgrims and indians. I would love to share some pictures, but I forgot my camera if you can believe it. Mitchell sang in the car and everywhere else, but he would not sing during the program. He just sat there and waved at us and blew kisses to us. Mitchell keeps saying that you cannot decorate until after Turkey Day dinner. He cannot understand why everyone has been decorating for the past week or so. I think that he has finally given in though. For the past two days, we have watched almost nothing but Christmas videos. We are not sure if it is because of the Thanksgiving dinner at school or if it is because he does not feel well.

So, now for the not so good news. We had given him some allergy medication on Monday (11/24/03) morning because he had been coughing and just had not felt well. I took him to school and they told me that there had been many viruses going around the school. We figured that he just had a little virus. Then, after we ate dinner at his school, we noticed that he was very warm. I took his temperature when we got home and it was 104.5. We started with the Tylenol and it eventually came down a little to around 102.5, but he went to sleep for a little while and seem to feel better. Then, this morning his fever spiked to 105.2 and then 105.7. No I am not kidding it was actually that high. I must have checked it a million times to see if I was reading the thermometer correctly. Well, of course we were going in for blood counts with a fever that high and especially since he did not keep the any of his medication. After two hours in the local pediatric clinic, we were told that he had a really bad ear infection with a probable virus. They gave him Augmentin, which he has been able to keep down, but he cannot keep the Tylenol down to help fight the fever. His temperature is still at around 104 to 104.9. It has not gone much below this all day. He has not been eating very much and is really weak and shaky from not eating. We are supposed to call into the local clinic tomorrow with a progress report. I guess if he is not much better, we will be going back to see them. We will let you know. Please pray that Mitchell will be able to keep all of his medications down so that he can fight the fever and infection.

Samuel News:
Samuel’s soccer team won the tournament. They had their awards banquet last night (11/24/03). They pretty much took over the pizza place for about two hours, if you can imagine 16 hungry soccer players at an “all you can eat” buffet. They really had a great time. Everyone got their trophy and two team pictures. Samuel wants to frame them.

School is out for three days for Thanksgiving. They will not go back until 12/01/03.

Prayer Request
- www.chubbychica.com - Please remember that all of these families could use your prayers, especially during this holiday season.
- Please pray for our military members and their families. It is very hard to be so far away from your family during the holidays, especially when you are overseas.
- We would like to thank everyone for your continued prayers for Mitchell and our family.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ! ! !

~ Lynne

Monday, November 10, 2003 9:42 AM CST

Hello Everyone ~

WOW! I have been corrected. I thought that it had only been about two or three months, but a very sweet and wonderful person let me know that it had been over six months and that I needed to get my act in gear. I offer my sincere apologies to everyone. Time has just flown by since Mitchell has come off of all of his medications. It seems that we are playing catch up for the last three years. But for now, we will just try to catch everyone up for the past six months or so.

May 2003
Mitchell recovered from his surgery without any complications and has not slowed down yet. We are trying to get him back in his preschool this fall, but we are not sure if they will have room. He is so excited about going back to preschool and seeing all of his friends again.

Samuel did very well in school last year. He received several academic awards on Awards Day at school and of course he made “A” Honor Roll for the year. Our community paper puts the students’ pictures in the paper when they receive awards, special achievements in sports, etc. and so his picture was in the paper several times during the year. This was a big thing for him last year. It was one of the only positive aspects of his school year.

Samuel’s birthday was near the end of school, so of course, we had a water party complete with a huge water gun (or water cannon) fight, water balloons and a piñata. Every body got soaked, but most of the children brought a change of clothes and it was a good thing that they did.

June 2003
Both Mitchell and Samuel took swimming lessons at the YMCA. Samuel did wonderful, except that he kept swimming away from the instructor. It took a few days for him to get into the swing of swim lessons. By the end of the first week, they both were really worn out. Mitchell did fine. They recommended that he use a private instructor because he did not warm up to the idea that he had to trust more than one stranger in the water. They were also concerned with his vision and thought that may have had something to do with it. After the first week of swim lessons, Mitchell had his monthly clinic appointment. He did wonderfully at the visit, mainly because he was so tired. He also did great medically speaking too. We found out that his both of his ear tubes had come out since his last visit. Wow – he was so excited. He could finally put his head under water without wax earplugs. During the next week of swim lessons, he was unstoppable, but he only had four days left. The only thing that he would not try was going down the enclosed water slide on the outside pool. His local pediatrician said that it probably had something to do with his vision since he had to take his glasses off when he was in the water. We tried to get his eye doctor at NC Baptist Hospital to let us put prescription swim goggles on him, but he rudely refused. He said that they would never put prescription goggles on a child unless the child was a competition swimmer. Now, I ask you. If the child cannot see the instructor in the water, but they love to swim, how can they ever learn all of the strokes to become a competition swimmer so that an asinine ophthalmologic surgeon who is over confident in his abilities will give him prescription swim goggles? We were looking at it as a safety issue and also a confidence issue. His doctor also refused to let us have Mitchell wear an old pair of glasses in the pool, even though they had plastic safety lenses in them.

July 2003
Again, clinic was uneventful. Yeah!!! I can get used to this. I even forgot to call and get Mitchell’s blood count results. Mitchell’s nurses just laughed at me when I remembered to call about two or three days later. They said that we had adjusted well to him being off of treatment.

Here it is near the end of July and almost time for school to start and we still have not gone on vacation. The children want to go to Myrtle Beach so they can go pier fishing and go to the aquarium – we didn’t. Instead, I called my aunt Frances in Alabama to see if she would like some company for a few days and of course, she said yes. She had not met the boys so it just seemed perfect. After we loaded what seemed like the entire house, we headed out. Traveling at night has definite perks – children sleep in the car and do not ask “Are we there yet?” a million times. Anyway, we arrived about 5 a.m. and woke everybody up. After a huge southern breakfast complete with grits, eggs, biscuits, apple butter, jelly, sausage, bacon and whatever else was in the fridge we got the day going. Robert, Samuel and Uncle Hawk went out and played 18 holes of golf. Samuel was the golf cart driver – YIKES! But they made it off the course alive. Mitchell, Aunt Frances and me went shopping. We forgot Mitchell’s floatie and he would not go in the pool without one. So we bought several pool noodles. The boys had a blast. The family dog loves to go swimming and he throws the ball in the water and then fetches it. It was so funny. We also got to be dinner for some pterodactyl mosquitoes. They grow them big in Alabama. We took the boys to see Noccolula Falls. This was one of my favorite places to visit when I was younger and I wanted to children to see it also. They have a really neat childrens park beside of it and a train that runs through the old “Pioneer Village”. They also got to feed the ducks that were at the Falls. We went to the gift shop where they bought wooden snakes and of course they had to use them as swords in the car.

Uncle Hawk builds remote controlled airplanes, which Samuel though was absolutely wonderful. He took Robert and Samuel to the airfield. They had a great time even though they brought one of the planes home in a bucket. It was in a million pieces, but Uncle Hawk will rebuild it.

Mitchell loved being able to finally not worry about germs. I rolled around in the floor with the dog (Rebel), harassed the cat (Bogie) and picked fresh vegetables. He also liked chasing in the dog with the water hose, but his favorite thing was throwing the tennis ball for Rebel. Aunt Frances said that Rebel could chase that ball all day, but I think that he finally met his match with us. Robert was used to throwing the ball for our terrier that was very hyper, so it did not bother him to throw the ball for two or three hours straight, but Rebel needed a nap to recharge by 9 a.m.

It was really good seeing all of my Alabama family and letting them meet my family. I guess it must have been at least ten years since I have seen my aunts and uncles and about 20 years since I have seen all of my cousins. Of course, the Montgomery’s always have food (and lots of it) with any type of reunion. I think that I must have gained ten pounds, but I enjoyed every pound. I also enjoyed on catching up on everything. Uncle Bobby made it by to see us. David and Tammy also came over. They brought their children Luke and Emily. Cassie, their other daughter was away at camp. I guess that I will get to meet her next time. Janice came by later after work and of course we were still eating supper. Dean and Julie came by the next day for lunch and brought their daughter Lauren. It would not be the south without fresh tomato sandwiches for lunch now would it? Aunt Frances also took us to see Chris, Dean’s son. Wow it is hard to believe that he turns 23 in August. I think that Chris was about 12 years old in the last picture that got. After we left Chris’ house, we went down to Birmingham to see Holly. She was the nurse that Mitchell had when he had his seizures. She had only been on the job for two days when it happened. It was really good to see her again.

I cannot wait until I get all of my pictures developed. Yes, on vacation, I am a shutterbug. We usually keep a picture diary. It is easier for the children to remember everything and they love helping take the pictures for the diary.

After we finally pulled ourselves away and got our care basket that Janice packed for us, we stopped by the aquarium in Chattanooga, TN. It was really neat. There were so many things to visit there, but we only had time for the aquarium. We spent a great deal of time there seeing everything and then enjoyed our picnic lunch on the way home. The children loved it and though that it was really cool to have a picnic in the van instead of going through a drive through window somewhere. We decided that we would have to go back later and visit the other neat places around the aquarium.

Wow, another Mitchell milestone has passed without much ado. Mitchell was diagnosed with leukemia on 7/13/00, so this July has been three years since diagnosis. It is hard to believe it, especially after all he went through in the beginning. Sometime it seems like a distant memory. Then, on other days when the weather starts to change and it is hot one day and cold the next and there is a certain feeling in the air, it seems just like it happened yesterday. Luckily, late summer/fall only comes once a year. When it happens, all you can do is than God that your child survived and then you pray that the leukemia will never come back again. Mitchell gets a little clinging during this time of year. I guess that it is his body’s way of remembering what happened. At first, I thought that it was allergies and that he was clingy because he did not feel well, but it happens around the same exact time every year. Go figure.

August 2003
Samuel is in the fourth grade now. Wow, where does the time go. It just seems like yesterday that I was bringing home that very chunky ten-pound baby from the hospital and now he is almost as tall and big as I am. I don’t believe that I weighed 90 pounds in high school and I know that I was not as tall as him. All of this cam to light when he was looking for a certain kind of shirt for school. Of course, I went into the old clothes to get a concert t-shirt and it fit him. I guess that is when reality hit. My baby is growing up – FAST, maybe too fast for me and Mitchell is right behind him shooting up like a weed.

Well – Mitchell has had his first virus. Samuel had the same virus that lasted for 24-hours. Mitchell’s, on the other hand, lasted for 14 days. It started with a bizarre fever 105.2 that lasted for two or three days. Then his temperature dropped to 103.8 for several days and then hung around 101 for several more days before it spiked back up to 103. It finally dropped down to 99.9, he broke out in a rash with ulcers all over the back of his throat and then the fever spiked up to 101.5 again, which had us all stumped. Then, just as suddenly as it appeared – it disappeared, totally. This was the first time that he has been sick since he came off of chemotherapy in January 2003.

September 2003
Guess what time it is? It is time for Mitchell’s 8-month off treatment labs and his last LP (lumbar puncture). Well, it took forever to get him in and out of clinic. Why, we don’t know. He had an 8:30 a.m. appointment. He finally got his LP done about noon. There was one emergency ahead of us (and we understand why we were delayed an hour), but it is the one that jumps in your treatment room and then you have to go back out to the waiting room that makes it a little hard to swallow. Especially when their appointment is an hour after yours and they do not have an emergency situation – just routine clinic visit. I guess this is how you can tell that you are not one of that particular nurse practitioner’s favorite patient mainly because he will not let her do the exam with extreme resistance. Luckily, there are at least two of them in the clinic every day and the other one is very, very kind. She is one of our favorites and Mitchell always lets her do his exam without complaint. Then, he went up for his LP. This time a third year resident did his LP with Dr. McLean overseeing everything very closely of course. She did a great job – no mistakes. Mitchell came through the procedure just fine. No complaints, except that he was very hunger. Of course, his nurse Sharon went and got him some Pediasure. He still loves the stuff, but he does not need it for regular meals anymore. After he drank three 8 oz. cans of the magic Pediasure, we then went to Wendy’s where he then at a cheeseburger and half a pack of fries.

Samuel went with us this time to the clinic visit. He wanted to see exactly what happened when Mitchell had an LP done and since he was out of school, we did not see any harm in it. He was very interested in what was going on. I guess that is the science geek in him. Samuel has wanted to be a marine biologist since he was about two or three years old. At first he kept calling it a shark doctor. Boy, that can make a mother’s heart skip a few beats.

In other Samuel news, he loves school. He said that this is the best year of school since kindergarten. He absolutely loves his teachers and the fact that he is not being yelled at or called down all day long. He is doing fairly well in his academics as well. His science teacher has a “science museum” in her room, which all of the children love. They get to bring in dead things for it. Everything has to be dead to be put into the museum. They have bird nests, a tarantula, a velvet ant (red & brown ground wasp), etc. He is also doing better behavior wise as well. I think that he is so much more relaxed this year and the fact that his teachers are so soft spoken probably also helps.

Samuel started soccer this year. We made a deal with him. He had to prove that he could stick with piano for one entire year and make the spring recital and then we would let him sign up for soccer in the fall. We wanted him to understand that when he plays on a team that it is a real commitment. I think that it worked because he has made every soccer practice, make-up practice, extra practice and game during this season so far. He loves playing soccer and it has been a real confidence builder for him. His coach could not believe that he was a first year player. He said that Samuel played really well and he actually started him in the very first game of the season. Samuel was kind of disappointed because he did not get on the team with all of his friends, but I think that I was a good thing. This way he has to prove himself to all new people and it expands his friend base. Besides most of his team is made up of fifth graders, which impresses his fourth grade friends that Samuel knows the older kids at school. Wow, the social ladder starts sooner now than when we were young. Anyway, Samuel played with the “Bethlehem Flames” for only two practices before he decided that it was the only team for him to be on. He told me that it was the only team that he every wanted to play forever. He has really good coaches, one of them played college soccer and is really skilled. All three of them are good Christian men. Before every game they all say the coaches prayer, a silent prayer and then the Lord’s Prayer. This really impressed Samuel and us too considering that it is a county recreational ball team. His coaches also let all of the players have at least two quarters of play out on the field during each game. It is really refreshing to see coaches that want all of the players to be treated equally. I think that this is the reason that they have done so well this season. So far the have won all of their games.

October 2003
Mitchell starts back to preschool. First field trip was to the apple orchard. Yeah! 30 adorable, very excited two, three and four year-olds running loose in an orchard picking apples. They had a blast. The apples had not been sprayed for several months so the children could eat the apples right off of the tree. They loved that. The second field trip was to the farm/pumpkin patch. One of the little boys thought that since they had eaten the apples from the orchard that he could also eat the pumpkins right from the field. We had a hard time convincing him that you needed to cook pumpkin first. They got to feed the baby cows chocolate milk, gather eggs, milked a cow, etc. Mitchell had so much fun. They also went on a hayride. Mitchell’s little friend Peyton came up to him, sat down beside of him and told him that she would be his partner for the day. Apparently, she is a little sweet on him. It was so cute. I took some pictures of them, but I have not had a chance to get them developed.

We made the Make-A-Wish Reunion at Carowinds this year. The children had not been all year so they were really looking forward to going. They also got to trick-or-treat at Carowinds. They had the cartoon characters handing out candy. Mitchell was a little spooked when George Jetson tried to give him some candy. He could not get his bag opened and dropped it several times. We got to see several old friends and got caught up, which was great. But the best part was that we were all there as a family. Samuel has hit a milestone – he finally rode an adult roller coaster and not just any adult roller coaster. He rode Top Gun. He loved it. Mitchell, on the other hand, would not ride anything this year. His allergies were bothering him and his head was a little stopped up. We believe that had something to do with it. He will usually ride anything that he is tall enough to ride. He is just a little daredevil or a speed junkie, whichever suits the occasion.

Halloween went well. Samuel was a surfer complete with shorties, surfboard and beach shoes. Mitchell was a jack-o-lantern. We went to all of the grandparents and neighbors. Then we were off to the church for the fall festival. This year’s theme was “The County Fair”. There had balloons, hay and games everywhere. They also had snacks and candy for everyone. We were going to try to make to the Trunk-or-Treat at the church down the street, but we ran out of time. Between school, the fall festival and all of the other stops, we have enough candy to last through next year.

Report cards have come out and Samuel made the “A/B Honor Roll”. He has done very well this year. His teachers are wonderful and so different from his teachers last year. Ms. Yount and Ms. Johnston are so much more relaxed. It is such a joy to have teachers that are so excited about learning. The only problem that Samuel has had so far is his homework. This year homework is counted as a grade, whereas last year it was basically busy work. He has done much better with turning in his assignments on time during the second quarter.

He has also hit one more milestone this month. It has been three years since his horrible seizures that put him in PICU and almost took him from us. He has made great strides in the past two years. His gait/stride is almost normal. His hearing is perfect, but they are still working on his vision. Mitchell still has to wear very strong bifocals. He has also again mastered most of his social skills/manners. We were told that he was not too far behind most children of his own age, which is a relief because after the seizures, he was real far behind his peers. Mitchell has finally started back on speech therapy. Boy, the School System is slow. We have been trying to get him services since May when his last speech therapist left. Then, when he was finally assigned a therapist through the school system, she went out on maternity leave the day we were supposed to sign the paperwork. We had to start all over again because she did not have any of the paperwork complete. He has a temporary therapist for now. He loves her and gets along well with her. His speech understandability is at a 2-1/2 years old, but his vocabulary is at a second grade level. Do you know what this means? It means that the horrible seizures did not do much, if any, brain damage. YEAH!!! We were very excited to hear this news. The best part is that anyone who does not know about his past, never knows that anything was ever wrong with him. Big kudos to all of his doctors, nurses and therapists.

November 2003
Mitchell is getting ready for their Thanksgiving program at preschool. We have no idea what to expect, except that we will be served lunch afterwards.

Samuel’s soccer team has finished their season and will start with the tournament this weekend (11/08/03). They finished in second place for the season.

Cap’t Nemo News: He turns one year old on 11/11/03. Samuel wants to throw a huge party with people, food, games, etc. I told him that I was sure that Nemo would be just as happy with a small gathering and a box of dog biscuits or a tennis ball.

I hope that I have not forgotten anything. If so, I will put it in a later update. Your coffee is probably cold by now and your snack is long gone. Thanks so much for all of those who continue to pray for Mitchell’s continued remission. He has done so well because of so much care, concern and of course and most of all your prayers.

Prayer Request
- Jalen – www.caringbridge.org/fl/jalen – He became an angel June 6, 2003. His parents and family could really use some encouragement during this very difficult time.
- Cody – www.forcody.com – He was supposed to be getting his traveling papers from Duke, but it looks like he is going to be admitted again due to infection. Please pray that his kidneys handle all of the antibiotics without incident.
- Jon – www.caringbridge.org/wv/jonpowell - They have a new baby girl named Marijo. Please pray for good health for Marijo and Melissa.
- Please continue to pray for all of the children and families on CaringBridge and ChubbyChica. These families are sharing their journey with you. Please take a moment and sign the guestbook with an encouraging word. You would not believe how much this uplifts and encourages them.

~ Lynne

Sunday, October 5, 2003 9:56 PM CDT

Hello All ~

The update is coming very soon, but in the meantime, I have already added new pictures from our summer vacation. These are only a few. It has been such a busy summer. I will have a more detailed update shortly, maybe by tomorrow. So be prepared to grab a cup of coffee and sit down for a long read becuase we have about three months of catching up to give you. Until then, God bless and thank you all for checking in on Mitchell (even when the site has not been updated). It means more to us than you could possibly imagine.

Lynne

Tuesday, May 6, 2003 6:51 PM CDT

Hi everyone ~

Sorry that I did get update yesterday, but after you hear our crazy time line, you will understand. We have all had days like this, haven’t we? We had to check in at the Surgical Clinic at 5:30 a.m. and his surgery was not until 7:30 a.m. This meant that we had to get up about 3 a.m. and leave our house close to 4 a.m. to get there on time. It is about 1-½ hours to the clinic (if the traffic is good). Nevertheless, we survived and were very tired when we finally made it home.

As for Mitchell’s surgery, it went great. It actually went smoother than anyone (even the doctor) had expected. Dr. Pranicoff (the pediatric surgeon) did not even schedule a follow-up because it went so well. He said that we knew what to look for because we were not new at this. We are not sure if that is a good thing or not. Do we want to be new at this or old at this? I really do not want to be anything at this, but we did not have a choice. Dr. McLean (the oncologist) did the four-month off treatment follow-up LP and it was completely clear. YEAH!!! Another cancer milestone met and passed. Mitchell slept most of the way home, which was what he needed. He then rested off and on for the rest of the afternoon.

He was supposed to take it easy for 24-48 hours and nothing that took balance (i.e. riding toys, stairs, etc.) It has been real tough to keep him from roughhousing with Samuel. Every time that we turned around they were wrestling. Needless to say, they were wrestling and he fell – big bruise, swelling, a knot and scrap above the eyebrow. So is life.

Thank you
- Thanks to Cristal and Greg for helping out with Samuel on Sunday and Monday. We greatly appreciate all that you two have done.
- Thanks to Dorrine for the dinner. You were right. It was a relief not to have to worry about making dinner after such a long day.
- Thanks to everyone else who did anything to make Monday go so smoothly. Especially for the prayers. We appreciate every one of them. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, but did not and we know that it was because of all of the love and prayers that were given up for Mitchell.

Prayer Request
- Jalen – www.caringbridge.org/fl/jalen – His is recovering from a PICU visit.
- Cody – www.forcody.com – He is supposed to be getting his traveling papers from Duke soon so he can move back home.
- Grace – www.caringbridge.org/nc/gracecain – They have had a loss in there family.
- Please continue to pray for all of the children and families on CaringBridge and ChubbyChica. These families are sharing their journey with you. Please take a moment and sign the guestbook with an encouraging word. You would not believe how much this uplifts and encourages them.

~ Lynne

Friday, May 2, 2003 1:52 PM CDT

Hi everyone ~

Just a quick update.

MITCHELL
4/30/03: Mitchell had his last speech therapy appointment today. “Miss” Susan is has left Graystone ENT and will be greatly missed by an energetic little four-year old of mine. He really loved going to speech therapy and it seems that some of it has stuck. You can actually understand most of what he is saying now. “Miss” Susan has given us the name of another pediatric therapist in our area and they also have physical therapy and speech therapy in their clinic. We just hope our insurance will cover them.

5/1/03: Mitchell is doing great. We had a very long day at clinic yesterday. Mitchell had appointments with anesthesia, surgery and oncology. None of them were in the same building/wing of the hospital so we had to run between appointments to make sure that we arrived on time for the next one. In a word – surgery is on for Monday (5/5/03). His counts look great i.e. WBC of 6.1 (totally normal). It has not been that high in the past two years. His WBC average was 2.8. He has no erosion of the port-a-cath site, which will make removal easier I am told. The surgery is not supposed to take very long and he will only have to be in recovery for a few hours and then he can go home. Well, that is if everything goes as planned. Mitchell chemo/course of treatment has been anything but normal as the doctors have told us many times. We pray that this will be the exception and go as planned. He will also have his four-month off-treatment labs drawn while under anesthesia (i.e. LP)

Coming up soon – 5/12/03: American Cancer Survivor dinner for Alexander county. Mitchell is signed up to go. I believe that the Relay for Life is on 5/16/03-5/17/03. We usually only go on Friday at the kickoff. Mitchell gets grumpy around 10 p.m. so we head home, but he has fun while he is there. Last year, he actually walked most of his “Survivor” Lap, which floored us. We usually have to carry him because he has some muscle fatigue. He has gotten a lot stronger over the past year, so I think that he will probably make at least one or two laps this year.

SAMUEL
He is doing much better in school. His teacher has lightened up and is letting him breath without sending him to the office and in turn, his mood toward school has improved. He got “Scholar of the Month” for April. Mid-term reports came out last week – he scored over 100 points for AR this month along and the required amount is 9. Yes that is what I said 9 (nine). He was so excited. He has now surpassed most of the fourth and fifth graders in AR points. I believe he said that his only competition is his friend Spencer. Who knew that competition could be so constructive. His math and reading were as normal A to A-. During mid-term reports, we only get scores for math, reading and AR. The others have to wait for end of grading period. Samuel will take his first EOG (End-of-Grade) test on 5/13/03-5/15/03.

Prayer Requests
Our family:
- We ask that you pray for an uneventful surgery for Mitchell on Monday. His history with anesthesia is the only thing that really worries us. He has a tendency to quit breathing while sedated.
- Pray that his four-month off treatment labs come back with “No evidence of disease”.
- Pray for Samuel during his EOG. His is so nervous about this test and does not want to fail it because he does not want to fail the third grade. We have tried to put his mind at ease, but to no avail. He is still nervous.
Caringbridge Family:
- Jalen – www.caringbridge.org/fl/jalen – His is recovering from a PICU visit.
- Cody – www.forcody.com – He is supposed to be getting his traveling papers from Duke soon so he can move back home.
- Grace – www.caringbridge.org/nc/gracecain – They have had a loss in there family.
- Please continue to pray for all of the children and families on CaringBridge and ChubbyChica. These families are sharing their journey with you. Please take a moment and sign the guestbook with an encouraging word. You would not believe how much this uplifts and encourages them.

~ Lynne

Friday, April 18, 2003 4:38 PM CDT

Hello to all ~

Well I guess that we need to get right to the update since it has been a while. I apologize for taking sooo long, but I have been swamped at work and it has been nonstop. You would think that two-thirds of the state had strep throat. Any way, here we go.

Every thing has been just cruising along. It seems so far away since Mitchell was on chemo and it has only been three months. He only has about three or four months left on antibiotics and then he will be medication free. YEAH! He is doing well with his monthly clinic visits and all of his counts look good. Well sort of. We though that they looked great, but the doctor said that he was neutropenic. How can that be? He is off chemo. We apparently, his ANC was not high enough for him being off treatment. His ANC was supposed to be around 3000 and it was only 980 and he had a low-grade fever to boot. Who knew? So he went in this week (4/17/03) to have his counts and they were fine – around 2200. At least they are recovering. Apparently, his allergies are causing this. The pollen here is awful. Everyone prayed for rain and guess what we got – a monsoon. It has rained about 2-3 inches in 24 hours. We are glad that we live on a hill. They have sort of come to an agreement on his rash. Some say eczema and some cannot decide. They are treating him for eczema for right now to see if it clears up. On 5/1/03, Mitchell goes in for his preop visits for his port-a-cath removal and will be in one clinic or another all day. If all goes well, then on 5/5/03, he will have his port-a-cath removed and his four-month follow-up studies done. Since he has to be put under anesthesia for an LP (lumbar puncture), they decided to do everything at one time so it would be less stressful on him. We agreed.

There are only six weeks of school left and we are glad. Samuel has still been butting heads with his teacher and again, another parent/teacher conference. We are not sure that it has helped, but it seems that she has not been picking on him as much the past few weeks. Looks like we may be making progress, or not. At least he has come home from school in a much better mood and not had any disciplinary actions. That is a plus. I love having my smiling Sam back.

Both boys have a touch of spring fever. It seems that lately we cannot get them in the house before dark and of course Nemo is with them at all times. He is such a silly little puppy.

We pray that everyone has a very pleasant and meaningful Easter holiday. Spend time with your loved ones and thank God each and everyday for all that you have been blessed with, even the very little things. The following is a poem that my aunt sent to me one day and we would like to wish you “big mud puddles and sunny yellow dandelions” also.

Big Mud Puddles and Sunny Yellow Dandelions

When I look at a patch of dandelions, I see a bunch of weeds that are going to take over my yard. My kids see flowers for Mom and blowing white fluff you can wish on.

When I look at an old drunk and he smiles at me, I see a smelly, dirty person who probably wants money and I look away. My kids see someone smiling at them and they smile back.

When I hear music I love, I know I can't carry a tune and don't have much rhythm so I sit self-consciously and listen. My kids feel the beat and move to it. They sing out the words. If they don't know them, they make up their own.

When I feel wind on my face, I brace myself against it. I feel it messing up my hair and pulling me back when I walk. My kids close their eyes, spread their arms and fly with it, until they fall to the ground laughing.

When I pray, I say thee and thou and grant me this, give me that. My kids say, "Hi God! Thanks for my toys and my friends. Please keep the bad dreams away tonight. Sorry, I don't want to go to Heaven yet. I would miss my Mommy and Daddy."

When I see a mud puddle I step around it. I see muddy shoes and dirty carpets. My kids sit in it. They see dams to build, rivers to cross, and worms to play with.

I wonder if we are given kids to teach or to learn from?

No wonder God loves the little children!

Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.

I wish you Big Mud Puddles and Sunny Yellow Dandelions!

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

Prayer Request
Please pray for all of the children and families on CaringBridge and ChubbyChica. These families are sharing their journey with you. Please take a moment and sign the guestbook with an encouraging word. You would not believe how much this uplifts and encourages them.

We would like to thank everyone who prayed for Mitchell’s remission and ask that you pray for his continued remission.

~ Lynne

P.S. We have added a few new pictures.

Wednesday, February 19, 2003 at 05:23 PM (CST)

Hello to all ~

Just a quick update tonight. I will try to catch up within the next few days. First of all, everyone is still trying to fend off a virus or should I say viruses. It seems that when we get rid of one virus, someone else brings another one home. Thank goodness for disinfectant sprays, hand sanitizer, etc.

We survived another clinic visit, speech therapy, mom’s birthday, valentine’s day and many “NO SCHOOL” days. February is a busy month.

Mitchell’s speech therapist thinks that he may be going through the terrible two’s again. It seems that he was throwing Play-Doh across the room for no reason. We hope this was just a one-time event. His first off-treatment (OT) clinic visit was wonderful. He did great. His counts were great. The only remnants left from the chemo is the methotrexate rash. YUCK! It is now spreading from around his mouth to all over his face, behind his ears and down onto his chest and arms. We were warned that sometimes it gets worse before it gets better, but we did not expect it to spread like this. He only has five more months until his immune systems rebounds, so hopefully it will be gone by then. He is handling the rash well. He even puts lotion on it himself.

Oh, by the way. Samuel’s teacher called and wanted a conference with us. We had an interesting meeting. We thought that we would just be meeting with his teacher. When we got there, we were actually meeting with his teacher, teacher’s assistant, two guidance counselors and the assistant principal. Boy, were we blind-sided. Anyway, they all came to the conclusion that Samuel has an “anger issue” and they wanted to know if we knew why. OF COURSE – HIS BROTHER HAS CANCER. Wouldn’t you have trouble dealing with this if you were only five-years-old when found out that your brother had cancer? To beat it all, the children in all of his classes (1st grade, 2nd grade and now 3rd grade) though that having leukemia was funny and picked on him. They would say things like “I touched you and now you have leukemia” and then they would laugh. Anyway, something good came from it. Now, the school is going to set-up a cancer siblings’ counseling group time for Samuel and other children in the school who are dealing with siblings with cancer. Also, Samuel is making a presentation to the entire 3rd grade on what it is like to have a sibling with cancer and how it affects the entire family. After two years, the school is finally trying to help. Robert and I thought that he had been seeing the guidance counselor regarding this for the past two years – NOT. She was only doing her regular duties teaching all of them “life skills”, in other words she was teaching him to say please, thank you and yes ma’am. He was taught to do that when he learned to talk. Isn’t that what parents are for? Well, enough for venting, it’s just that the entire situation with Samuel’s school is so irritating. We have been dealing with this for so long and were beginning to worry if Samuel was going to be “marked” as a problem child or ADHD, which they also tested him for without our knowledge. YELL, SCREAM and YELL some more.

Don’t for get to contribute to “Pennies for Patients.” We were asked by the school if Mitchell could be their sponsored child, especially since his brother is a 3rd grader there. They wanted someone that everybody knows. Is it good that the entire school knows your child? We are still pondering that idea, but we did give them our permission for Mitchell to be the sponsored child.

Prayer Requests
FIRST: Please keep in your prayers Mitchell’s granny Montgomery (Lynne’s mother). She has had some changes since her last mammogram and will have to have more test done this Friday (2/21/03). As many of you know, she has already had a radical mastectomy on the right (8/94), recurrence of her breast cancer (10/00) and chemo. Please pray that she does not have to travel down this road a third time. Also pray that we, as a family, can be strong for her.

SECOND: Please pray for all of the children and families on CaringBridge and ChubbyChica. These families are sharing their journey with you. Please take a moment and sign the guestbook with an encouraging word. You would not believe how much this uplifts and encourages them.

FINALLY: We would like to thank everyone who prayed for Mitchell’s remission and ask that you pray for his continued remission.

~ Lynne

PS: Check out Mitchell’s “Smile Quilt” It is really cute.

Sunday, January 19, 2003 at 05:23 PM (CST)

Hello to all ~

Thursday - 7/16/03:
It snowed. Not much, only around 3-4 inches, but it snowed enough for the boys to go out and sled. We finally made it out around 10 p.m. Both boys had a blast. He likes to ride down the hills in our backyard headfirst on his stomach. Every time he goes down I have visions of going to the ER with head wounds, but so far, we have not had to go. He seems to swerve and miss the trees, the dogs, etc. and giggling the entire time. He was so proud that no one had to pull his sled back up for him this year. He said that he was a “big boy” and that he did not need any help.

Friday - 1/17/03:
School was closed due to the weather so we spent most of the day inside. The boys played with the puppy some, but Nemo slept most of the day because he was not used to all of the activity. I guess that he had finally adjusted to Samuel being back in school. Mitchell got his last dose of his methotrexate (MTX) and 6MP. I gave it to him during his nap. Well, it is hard to keep a child from eating for three hours straight, especially a preschooler. I think that they believe that they have to constantly eat. Hopefully, he will get back to three regular meals with a snack or two instead of 24-hour eating. His MTX rash got worse this time. It is all over his body this time (legs, arms, back, face, neck, etc.) He was complaining that his skin hurt. His nurse Nancy said that it should get better within a few weeks and would then probably disappear. Let’s hope so. I think that he just likes the massage when lotion is applied to his body. He usually takes a nap afterwards. Hum….

Day 1 off treatment:
He was a velcro-child all day, which is normal for the day after MTX. Nothing would appease him, not even junk food. I finally ended up going out to the grocery store about 9 p.m. for some “Mickey Mouse” cereal because he stated that is all he wanted to eat. Then, he would not eat that either. He was real happy when he found out that he did not have to take his “tea medicine” anymore and only had to take a small antibiotic pill every night. (All of his chemo meds were crushed and mixed with ice tea and that is why he calls it his tea medicine.)

Day 2 off treatment:
Mitchell has pretty much recovered from his last dose of MTX. It usually takes about two days. He ate much better this morning and at lunch. He has played and watched cartoons with Samuel just about all day. Samuel has not felt as much like playing today because he woke up with a stomach bug about 1 a.m. this morning. We are just praying that Mitchell does not get it. The boys were wrestling face to face all afternoon yesterday.

Other news:
FIRST: Please go to www.chubbychica.com and click on the “CaringBridge” tab. You can adopt a child. All you have to do is to commit to visit ONE child’s site and sign the guestbook once a week. You would not believe how uplifting this can be for the child and their family. Chris and Aime’s goal is to have all of the children and angle families adopted soon.

SECOND: We would like to thank everyone who prayed for Mitchell’s remission and ask that you pray for his continued remission.

~ Lynne

Thursday, January 09, 2003 at 10:56 PM (CST)

Hello Everyone ~

God is good. Our prayers have been answered. As of today, Mitchell’s End of Course diagnostic testing showed “NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE”. Thank you for all for the many prayers that were lifted up for Mitchell.

We are not totally out of the woods yet. They said that if he were to relapse that it would most likely be within the first six months after treatment ends. His treatment will end on 1/17/03. On that day, he will get his final dose of Methotrexate and 6MP. After that he will be on antibiotics for six months for prevention of pneumococcal pneumonia. His immune system will not fully recover for about six months to one year. He will have one set of diagnostic tests done at his six-month check up and then another set of test at his one-year check up. Then, only finger sticks and physicals. He will continue to have checkups (and finger sticks) on a graduated schedule until the five-year anniversary (i.e. monthly in YR 1, bimonthly in YR 2, etc.). Then, he will only have to go back once a year.

Other good news – Samuel made “A” Honor Roll again this grading period. He also made the Math All-Stars Program and is #1 in his class for AR points on two different class lists: “This grading period” and “Entire year”. This is a big accomplishment for him. So what is he is not the teacher’s idea of a perfectly behaved child. If she had been through what he has been through as a cancer sibling, she would understand. She should be happy that he is a scholar student. Who cares if he is a little rowdy. He is a boy and they will be rowdy, especially when other children are around. Sorry, I know that I usually do not vent, but I just had to. It seems that they are trying to set an example with Samuel and I have just about had enough. I’ll explain. Samuel was sent to the principal’s office for burping in class during a school party and he received in-school detention for it. Well, Robert and I though that the principal had lost her mind, so we call the school. The principal stated that this was not the first incident. We asked why we were not informed because there could be a medical reason for this. We took him to the doctor. He has a spastic stomach with excess gas and now has to take prescription medication for it. We call the school back thinking that the detention would be overruled. They said “No because they felt that he needed it anyway.” His doctor was livid when she heard this and so were we. Since when is a medical condition justification for detention? YELL! SCREAM! YELL! Well, I hope that we are still in this school district when Mitchell reaches 3rd grade. Then, they will truly know what constitutes a child with a behavioral problem, because he is very stubborn and will not do anything that he does not want to do – period.

Otherwise, everything has been pretty benign here. Nemo, the puppy, is chewing on everything in sight (chair legs, shoes, gloves, paper, etc.). He is finally up to 7 pounds. The first day that Samuel went back to school, Nemo cried from 6 a.m. to about 11 a.m. He finally cried himself to sleep. He had not been away from the boys since we brought him home.

Thanks for your continued support and prayers for Mitchell and our family. Please remember all of the CaringBridge families that have empty plates at the table this year. They really need your prayers and support, so sign a guestbook on their website or send them an e-mail of support. It really means a lot to know that someone cared enough to take a few minutes out of the day to think of you. It brings unbelievable support to these families. So many families have lost children to cancer within the last 12 months.

~ Lynne

Wednesday, January 08, 2003 at 04:32 PM (CST)

Hello Everyone ~

We have a little bit of interesting news. Mitchell’s End of Course (EOC) diagnostic testing has been moved up to tomorrow (1/9/03). For some reason, when he went clinic in December 2002, they scheduled him for six weeks instead of four weeks for his return visit. Guess what? Tomorrow is four weeks. So, if everything goes well and all of his tests are negative, he will have only one more week of oral chemo medications and then he will be FINISHED WITH CHEMO. YEAH!!! The next step will be scheduling his port-a-cath removal, probably sometime in February 2003.

Please be in special prayer for Mitchell that all of his test return negative. We will be in clinic tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. and he will get his lumbar puncture and bone marrow aspirate. Mitchell has to be put to sleep for these because of his history of seizures and the fact that he stops breathing with certain anesthesias. He will also have his other scheduled blood work draw during his clinic visit. We will let you know the results of his tests as soon as we get them.

Thanks for your continued support and prayers for Mitchell and our family.

~ Lynne

Thursday, January 02, 2003 at 12:56 PM (CST)

Hello Everyone ~

WOW! I cannot believe that it has been two months since we last updated everyone. We have a lot to catch up on. I will try to be brief, but it will probably not be. Sorry.

NOVEMBER 2002:
First off, Mitchell’s clinic visit was uneventful. Yeah! We pray for those each month. He has been doing very well at his Speech Therapy visits during November. His therapist said that she knew when he had enough because he just scream, “shut down” and then would not do anything else. I told her that we called that “meltdown” (also known as “nuclear meltdown” depending on the size of the tantrum) in the cancer circle. His therapist is very patient and understanding. She works with a lot of children and also with cancer patients of all ages, which was a big plus because she understands his behaviors and tolerates them better than most therapist would.

Secondly, we hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a quite Thanksgiving here at home and then went to Robert’s mother’s house for his family Thanksgiving. Wow, so much food, so little time. A body can only eat so much turkey and ham (along with the fixings) in one day. {For those of you that are not from the South, “fixings” includes everything else to eat on the table i.e. potato salad, green beans, etc.} Needless to say, we had plenty of leftovers to eat for the next few days. Of course, I made the mini pecan pies. What would Thanksgiving Day in the South be without pecan pies? As for the amount of pies cooked, I forgot. I sent them home with everyone and Robert also took them to work. I try to make baked goodies every year for him to take to work because some of his workers are single and not from the area. It was something that we started when Robert was in the Navy and we were overseas. It is hard to break old habits – especially the good ones.

DECEMBER 2002:
Well, how about an early snow/ice storm? The children had just went back to school from the Thanksgiving holiday break when snow and ice started. They got out early on 12/3/02 and did not go back until the following Monday (12/9/02). Then, they went to school for nine days and got out for Christmas break on 12/20/02. So basically, they have been in school for only ten days since Thanksgiving. I will be ready for school to start back on Monday (1/6/03).

On 12/10/02, we have added several new additions to our home in the form of a mother beagle and her three puppies, because they were only three weeks old. It was the only way we could get a puppy (without paying a small fortune) was to take the mother and the siblings. I know I must be crazy to do this especially right before Christmas. I am, but it got to the point where Mitchell was putting a leash around Samuel, walking him and teaching him tricks. Samuel did not mind, but we did. Robert and I decided that a puppy was what was needed. We found a home for the other two puppies with another clinic family. So all we have left is the mother and our puppy.

Mitchell passed some more milestones quietly this month. First of all, on 12/14/02, he turned four years old. Mitchell wanted a party with napkins, plates and invitations just like his Samuel had, except Mitchell wanted Thomas the Train. We have a few pictures on the photo page and will try to add some more soon. He specified that he wanted his cake half-chocolate and half-yellow not marbled (or checked as he calls it). The two days before his birthday, I called our local grocery store and they actually had the Thomas the Train kit for a birthday cake and would not charge any more for the specific instructions of a four year old. This was an answered prayer. I just knew that I would have to bake two separate cakes to meet this request.

Next, 12/15/02 was the two-year anniversary – no lymph and no WBC in his spinal fluid. He also has been on maintenance since then, which means that he will finish is oral chemo meds on 1/25/03. YEAH !!! He will have his end-of-course LP and BMA done on 1/23/03 and then, he will get his port-a-cath removed in February 2003 once we know that all of his labs are normal. Can we really say “normal” or should we say within standards? Who cares? His treatment is almost over. YEAH!!! Then it will be monthly visits for one year, then every two months during year two and so on until year five. Then he will be considered in long-term remission. Please pray for long-term remission. If he relapses within the first six months it is very serious, after that if he relapses, then they will just start the 2-1/2 years of treatment all over again. The Lord has been very good to us during this time. He has allowed me to work from home so Mitchell could stay out of daycare (to lower the risk of infections). He has also given Mitchell a second chance at life. Things looked very grim in August 2000 and the outlook was not very good after he got pneumococcal meningitis during induction chemo treatment. But, he has overcome all off the effects from that and more with the help of our Lord. He still has ups and downs, but there are more up days and longer periods between the down days, which we think is pretty close to normal or as close as you can get.

Samuel is still doing great in school. He does not like being the youngest in his class, but he does not mind being #1 in his class for AR (accelerated reading). He is in the 3rd grade and reading at a high 5th to 6th grade reading level. He is also doing very well in other subjects as well. We will know more in a few weeks. They don’t get their report cards for another week or so after they return to school.

On 12/24/02, Aunt Alice came over to see the boys and of course, she brought gifts and food treats. They love visiting with her. In the evening, Paw and Grandma Dawn (Robert’s father & wife) came over for their Christmas get together. The children loved everything. Finally, Samuel and I were going to go with Grandma Linda to Christmas Eve service, but Samuel fell asleep, so I went with Grandma Linda by myself. It was such a busy day that Mitchell fell asleep by 9 p.m. so Robert stayed at home with him.

On 12/25/02, we had brunch at my parents where we ate way too much. After all of the gift giving and cheer, we came home and took a nap before round two. For supper, we went to Grandma Linda’s house (Robert’s mother) for his family Christmas dinner and gift giving.

In a tidy little summary: The boys have a lot of toys and clothes, we ate way too much food and enjoyed the company of all off our family and friends during this holiday season. We pray that all of you had a wonderful Christmas also.

JANUARY 2003:
Not much to tell about yet because it is only day 2, but so far the boys have played almost all of their gifts and left them all over the house. We finally found a home for the mama beagle and delivered her to her new home yesterday. The children have actually decided on a name for our puppy. He has only been without a name for two weeks now. They were watching one of Samuel’s favorite movies – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (you probably know where this is going) and that is where they finally came up with a name for the puppy – Captain Nemo. That’s right our dog will be named Nemo. It beats what they wanted to name him – Godzilla. We told the boys that name was too big for such a small dog because he will only be about 14 inches tall and weigh around 20 pounds. Nemo is one of the small beagles.

Mitchell’s next appointment is on 1/23/03. I will try to update well before that depending on my transcription schedule. It looks like I may be getting back to a regular schedule. The holidays throw everything into a tizzy.

Thanks for your continued support and prayers.

~ Lynne

Saturday, October 26, 2002 at 04:25 PM (CDT)

Hello Everyone ~

I apologize for taking so long to between updates. Life in the Martin household has been mostly calm.

Mitchell update: Mitchell has been doing great. He had his eye check up and had to get bifocals last week. Bifocals are hard enough for an adult, but can you imagine trying to teach a child to use them. He was not happy, but we think that his is adjusting – finally.

He went in for his annual ear infection admission in August. It seems that August is not a good month for us. It seems that he always ends up with an ear infection. We had no idea that he was even sick. The day started out fine, but within four hours it went down hill fast so we took him in for blood counts. His WBC was 20.7 and his segs were 94%. (Normally, his counts are WBC 2.7 and segs 3.4.) That’s right. His counts were way high, so to Brenner’s we went. He was diagnosed with an ear infection and possible mystery bacteria. He is fine now and back to his normal mischievous self. He has been into everything.

Mitchell started Speech Therapy two weeks ago. He was found to have some problems controlling the muscles around his mouth and this is why he cannot form certain words and phrases. His therapist said that he would probably need between six months to one year of speech therapy. He sees the therapist for about one hour each week and really enjoys his time there because they play with toys.

Samuel update: Samuel is doing great in school. This year he made “A” Honor Roll. He has been doing much better each year. He has had a lot to handle being a school sibling of a cancer patient trying. When Samuel started first grade, Mitchell was PICU with an unsure outcome. Samuel had a very tough year between schoolwork and worrying about his brother. He was so scared that Mitchell would never come home. The next school year was a little better, but this year is great. Samuel said, “This is the best year yet because I do not have to worry about Mitchell.” Samuel is such a caring young man. Sometimes it is hard to believe that he is only eight years old. He acts and looks so much older, especially now that he has glasses. Samuel was slightly losing vision in one eye so they put glasses on him to hopefully increase the strength in that eye. His doctor stated that he may only have to wear them for a short time (few years) or it may be for a long time, she was not sure yet. He gets his next check up in a few months. We will know more then.

Other updates:
Miranda – the 2-year-old with recurrent leukemia. We have some sad news. She has had a third reoccurrence. This time it is in her spinal fluid. She has started chemo treatments again and so far, her injections have decreased her spinal fluid cell count dramatically. She is still fighting many fever visits. Please keep her in your prayers. Her website is www.caringbridge.org/nc/miranda

On the saddest of notes: Jon Powell had a relapse and passed away on October 19, 2002. Please pray for strength for Tim and Melissa (along with the rest of the family). Jon was such as sweet, loving little boy who touched the lives of so many people during his way too short life here on earth. He will really be missed by all who knew him. His website is www.caringbridge.org/wv/jonpowell

Thank you for checking in.

Saturday, August 03, 2002 at 09:22 PM (CDT)

The tourists are back home. We are impulsive vacationers. Last week we decided go to the Outer Banks of NC and see all of the lighthouses. Can you believe we have never been to the lighthouses? We couldn’t either. The boys had a blast. We all climbed the Curttuck lighthouse. Cape Hatteras was not open for climbing, but it was a wonderful sight. Samuel loved it. He has decided that no one should climb it again because he does not want it to collapse. He does not care how well it was constructed. Mitchell decided to just sit in the van and drink water. It was unbelievable hot. The heat index was between 105-degrees and 115-degrees. I think that the boys drink every thing in sight. We then took the ferry to several islands. It was the first time that the children had been on a ferry. They seemed to enjoy the rides very much. Of course if you go to the coast you have to visit an aquarium, at least our family does so we went to the Fort Fisher Aquarium. They have finished the renovations and it was much larger than the last time that we visited. The children wanted to stay all day. It is very hard to get them away from water. You would think that they were ducks.

On Tuesday, we went Wilmington and visited Aunt Carmen and Uncle Larry. Both boys had a blast there. They really enjoyed spending time with them. Finally, it was time for pier fishing so we headed to Myrtle Beach. We just got checked in the hotel and then a horrible thunderstorm hit – no fishing until morning. The pier was closed. The children were very upset, but were happy that they were going to be able to watch the firework show until it was cancelled also. Then, it was tough to keep them happy. We sat out early the next morning to calm the savage fishermen. Mitchell will not leave the hook in the water for more than five minutes, but he still considers himself fishing. Samuel thinks that he is part of BASS Masters or some kind of king fisherman. We have added pictures of them pier fishing. Of course, no trip to the beach would be complete without several games of putt-putt. By the time we finished the last game, Mitchell was so tired that he would just throw the ball instead of using the putter. The best part is that he got several hole-in-ones. We came home to get some sleep before heading back to work.

Samuel starts school this Wednesday (8/7/02). When I was packing his backpack, Mitchell was taking most of the school supplies and putting it in his Clifford backpack. He told me that he was packing for school. We had to sneak in later and get Samuel’s school supplies because Mitchell became very upset every time we asked him for them.

We just found out that Jeannie Snider’s mother, Nancy has breast cancer. Jeannie was one of Mitchell’s favorite nurses at Brenners. Please keep Nancy in your prayers. You can find updates on her at www.caringbridge.com/nc/nancysupdate. Thank you for also remembering Jon Powell and Miranda Shively.

We have added new pictures.

Sunday, July 21, 2002 at 10:28 PM (CDT)

“THANK YOU” to everyone who participated in the “Mother’s Day Tea” for the Leukemia Society. The donations that we turned in shows that your heart was worth over $700. Thank you for having such a huge heart. This will help with patient aid and research. This was Mitchell’s fundraiser for the year. Next, year he will probably walk more than the Survivor Lap in the Relay for Life.

Great news: Mitchell only has six months left in treatment. YEAH!!! We hit the 2-year mark on 7/12/02. This past weekend we took several day-trips. Robert and I both were off work for four days so we made a long weekend of it.

On Friday, 7/12/02, we took the boys to Carowinds. They had a blast. Mitchell road several roller coasters including the Carolina Goldrusher. He wanted to go on it again before we were let out of the cars. It was hard to convince him that we had to wait in line again and that they would not let us just sit in the car for as long as many rides as we wanted. It was not very hot, which was wonderful and since it was on Friday morning, there were not many people, which was also a blessing.

On Saturday, 7/13/02, we headed to the mountains for a few days. It was clear here, but it rained like crazy up there. Well, if it takes us going on vacation for it to rain, I guess we could vacation all summer. After we had arrived and put the tent and canopy up in the rain, we realized that we had left all of Mitchell’s home-chemo medication in the kitchen. So, the next day after breakfast we headed home. We were going to stop and do some trout fishing, but there were too many swimmers. Robert and Samuel tried for a little while with no success because of too much splashing. Mitchell was worn out and fell asleep in the van about five minutes after we started driving, so I sat in the air conditioning with him. Who needs all of the bugs and heat?

On Monday, 7/15/02, we took the boys to see the movie “Crocodile Hunter – Collision Course.” They loved it. We took their special Scooby-Doo cups that we bought at Carowinds for $1.99 (I know I could not believe it either. Nothing at Carowinds is that cheap.) They though that was the best. They got the Crocodile Hunter and their special cups at the same time. Afterwards, we went to Petsmart for the dog adoption schedule. Mitchell and Samuel want a dog. Apparently, a Saint Bernard, parrot, turtle, lizard and several fish are not enough pets. We told them that we would think about it. Let’s see how much time that buys us.

As for the clinic visit on Friday, 7/18/02, it went well. It is time for vincristine and steroids again. It has hit him a little harder this time. He is worn out, but he will bounce back soon. You cannot keep him down long. The only concern that the doctors have is Mitchell’s speech. They want to get an audiology consult. One of the big side effects from the meningitis is loss of hearing. They want make sure that his hearing is normal. If it is he will probably just have to have speech therapy. If not, well, we will see. We take it one day at a time. You never know what tomorrow will bring. We just pray for strength to fight this along with Mitchell.

Thanks for checking in. Please prayer for continued remission for Mitchell. The longer that he is in remission, the less likely that the leukemia will reoccur.

Please also include on your prayer list – Jon Powell and Miranda Shively. Both of these children are fighting a recurrent round of their cancer.

Thursday, June 13, 2002 at 07:12 PM (CDT)

Wow – can you believe it already June. It seems that time is flying this year. Samuel is finally out of school. This is his first full week out. On Tuesday, he told us that he was ready to go back because he missed his friends. (He had only been out two days.)

Samuel was finally able to have a birthday party this year. Normally, school is out and everyone is gone because of the Memorial Day holiday. He had several friends over. They had a water fight with balloons and water guns (parents are included and targets). He tried out a Slip n’ Slide that he had just unwrapped. It lasted for about two days and then we had to go by another one. It was used a lot in those two days. Finally, they broke the “shark” pinata. Mitchell played in a bucket of water the entire time. He did not care what the older children were doing. He was soaked from head to toe as if he had been in the water fight also. Later that evening, he had his what he calls “family birthday.” We mostly just snacked and chatted. Both Robert and I were wiped out after the earlier events.

We have made a few trips to grandma’s pool, but other than that we are starting this summer out slowly. Mitchell is getting better at swimming. He always wants to “save my mama.” We cannot convince him that I can swim. Samuel started back taking piano lessons after a long break (two years). He was very excited. We have a new addition to the Martin indoor zoo. We are now the proud parents of an Eastern Fence Lizard. It seems that when you have boys they want to keep every bug, snake, lizard, turtle, etc. that they find. Mitchell loves to stand and watch the lizard, but I don’t think that the lizard likes to be stalked all the way around the tank.

Thank you for checking in on us. We appreciate your prayers, thoughts and concerns about Mitchell and our family.

Please be in special prayer for Jon Powell and his family. They found a NB lesion in his brain last week. He had surgery this past weekend, but will now have to undergo treatment again.

Next request: Miranda has ALL and just had a relapsed post BMT. She is doing better and as of 5/25/02 there were no leukemia cells in her blood, bone marrow or spinal fluid, but please pray for the doctors to proclaim her in full remission. Once they decide that she is in full remission, her chances of being cured jump from 10% to 50%. Her website is www.caringbridge.com/nc/mirandarae.

P.S. We have updated the photos. They are from Mitchell's Make-A-Wish trip.

Thursday, April 11, 2002 at 09:24 AM (CDT)

Hello everyone ~

I did not realize that is has been sooooo long between updates.

We hope everyone enjoyed the Easter holiday. It rained at our house. We went over to Grandma's for lunch, but the Easter egg hunt was cancelled. Mitchell, Samuel and Meagan may a bubble forest and Travis tried to pop some of them. The children did not seem to mind the weather, but isn't that how it usually is. Children always seem to have fun no matter what the weather is like.

Samuel's friend Abbe came over for a couple of days during spring break. Samuel and Abbe decided to use the skateboard as a street luge. They started at the top of the driveway and ended up at the very bottom of the yard. Mitchell was upset that he could not ride it with them at the same time. I had a hard time convincing Mitchell that you have to wear a helmet when you ride a skateboard, scooter or in-line skates. He is a little dare-devil. He chose to ride his "motorcycle", which we cannot convince him that it is only a tricycle. He is determined that it is a motorcycle. At least his imagination is working at 100% again. After all of the motor sports were finished, we came inside and had some down time and watched a movie. Thank you Scooby Doo.

Samuel went to clinic with us during the break. He was my helper, which was nice. They had increased Mitchell's steroids again and he was a handful. He was very grumpy, but he loves his "Sam" and enjoyed all of the attention Samuel gave him.

The good news is that Mitchell is still on track with his therapy and only has one more LP with chemo. I think he only has two rounds of steroids with vincristine left. We are rolling down hill. He has gained another 1/2 pound. Yeah! It was probably from that week of steroids. He eats like a horse during that week. One night at dinner all he wanted was yogurt. He ate five containers and wanted more. We decided that five was plenty at one sitting. I don't think that he slept any that week either. I believe he just ate for the full seven days.

His counts have been good. We have been very fortunate. He has only had a few colds/minor viruses. His temperature has been just below 101 (100.9), so we did not have to call the clinic. Yeah! We did not want a weekend visit at the Winston Condo (6-Reynolds Rm# 620). It seems that is the room we almost always get. One day, Robert ask if we could repaint it. The room doors, bathroom and trim is hot pink, which is not Robert's favorite color. The doctors just lagughed at him.

Thank you for checking in on us. Please be in special prayer for Miranda. She has ALL and just had a relapsed post BMT. Her website is www.caringbridge.com/nc/mirandarae.

Wednesday February 6, 2002 11:24 AM CST

Hello everybody ~

Just a little quick note to let you know how Mitchell’s week has been going. Last week, we had to take him to the local clinic because his foot hurt. He said that he needed to see “Dr. Clean” because he had an ouchy. I told him that we would just see our local clinic because it did not seem too bad. When we got there and the doctor looked at his foot, he told us that if the antibiotics had not made a significant change in 24-48 hours that we would be on our way to Winston anyway. Apparently, Mitchell had hit his little toe in his sleep the night before and had a small cut. By morning, his entire foot was swollen and red and he had a yellow-green pus pocket formed underneath the sore. After a few calls to Winston, antibiotics and many prayers, it has started healing. But of course, Mitchell has suffered the standard set backs associated with antibiotics – dropping counts, no appetite and a sore bottom. He still has about 4 or 5 more days on the medication, but it looks as if everything is going to be fine. You try to make sure that he does not get anywhere anyone that is remotely sick, but you don’t think about stopping him from playing because he may get scratched. It seems that the “germ factor” is everywhere no matter how much antibiotic soap you use.

On the lighter side, the boys are finally calming down from their trip. They both still want to visit the Ice Cream Planet every night after dinner. But since we cannot go to the village every night, we have ice cream at home a few times a week. Now they call in Mama’s Ice Cream Planet. We now have a variety of ice cream flavors, sprinkles and syrups. The only rule is they have to eat it all, because now, it is not free. They do not have any problems with the rule.

Thank you for checking on Mitchell (and Samuel too).

Saturday January 26, 2002 4:00 PM CST

Quick update:

Mitchell has been doing very well. His ANC was getting rather high, so his medications were increased last week. So far, it has not bothered him in the least.

We just returned from Mitchell's Make-A-Wish trip. Mitchell's wish was to met "Bear in the Big Blue House." So, we went to Disney. They said that he would not be able to actually meet the Big Bear, but he could see him at Playhouse Disney Live. But as any mother would do, I asked the stage manager at Playhouse Disney to see if Big Bear had a few minutes to met a very special child who watched him all the way through his chemotherapy treatments. The stage manager returned with a "YES". We took plenty of picutres. Now we just need to get them developed. Both boys had a wonderful time at Disney and at the Village. After a few days, Samuel wanted to stay in the Village all the time. He did not want to go to any parks. Mitchell called the ice cream shop the "Ice Cream Planet". Every time we went by it, we had to go in and get ice cream. They really know how to spoil children (and their parents too). Samuel had to write several school papers about his trip to get credit for missing four school days, which he did not like writing.

We would like to send out a special thank you to everyone who takes part the "Give Kids the World" Village. It was a very special time for Mitchell and his brother also. They really enjoyed the entire experience. We are also greatful that Mitchell was in good health and could enjoy his special trip.

Monday, December 31, 2001 at 09:09 AM (CST)

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Mitchell is doing great. We had a wonderful Christmas and pray that you did also.

This year, we had a quiet Christmas at home with the boys. Then around noon we set out to visit all the relatives and eat way too much food. And of course, the boys were spoiled with all of their gifts. We are still trying to sort out who got what. They like each others gifts better. But, that is joy in the faces of children at Christmas.

As we look back to last year, we are so thankful to be where we are now. Mitchell is doing well. His counts have been stable. He is gaining weight and getting very round. His weight is up to about 38 lbs. now and he is 38 in. tall. All of his checkups have been great and he is still on course to finish his treatment schedule in December 2002. So far, Mitchell has only had a few colds this winter.

He has started jumping now. This is new for him and he is trying, but his coordination is still not great. He just smiles and says "I love jumping Mama." And, then he bunny hops down the hall. It sounds like the house is coming down, but what a wonderful sound.

Quick note on Samuel - he is growing like a weed. He is 4'2" and weighs 63 lbs. He has went up two sizes (to a size 10) in his jeans and the school year is only half over. At this rate, he will be taller than me soon. School pictures came back the day before Christmas break, so they were not able to be put in the Christmas cards. We'll try to do better with the picture distribution.

Thanks for checking in on Mitchell's progess.

Saturday, November 24, 2001 at 11:52 AM (CST)

Mitchell has been doing well. No one would ever believe that he was so sick just one year ago. He is still a little behind on his speech, but it is improving daily. His sentences are getting longer and more complicated and he is starting to use larger words also. His motor skills are very good. He can open bottles and things that we cannot get open. He has is trying to dress himself now. He can put on his coat and shoes by himself also. He races his brother up and down the stairs. He does not want any help when he is eating unless he gets his hands messy.

It seems that he has overcome almost all of the mountains that were placed in his path last year. Now, he only has a few small hills left to roll over.

Our family has much to be thankful for this year at Thanksgiving. We are very thankful for all of the prayers for Mitchell's health and continued remission, for our family and friends who have been such a great support system and all the new friends that we have made.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with family and friends. Please remember our Service Members who are overseas and so far away from their families. The we know from experience that military is a big family, but it is not the same as being at home during the holidays. Please keep them in special prayer as they fight for our freedom this holiday season.

Saturday, November 24, 2001 at 11:52 AM (CST)

Monday, November 06, 2000 at 11:42 PM (CDT)

INITIAL ENTRY:

Mitchell Cordell Martin was born on December 14, 1998 to Robert and Lynne Martin. He was always a very happy baby, even when he was sick. His illnesses began with probable pneumonia at 3-weeks old. It then progress with many, many ear infections, RSV, rotavirus, colds, flu, GI/intestinal viruses and full-blown streph throat (twice under 1 year of age). He had ear tubes put in at 9-months old and removed on June 19, 2000 along with his adenoids. Here is where our world started to change.

Mitchell never really recovered from surgery in June. His health started going downhill quickly. He was put on medication for anemia. On July 11, 2000, a pediatric nurse (and very good friend) said he needed more than an iron supplement. On July 12, 2000, he was admitted to Brenner Children's hospital as an emergency case. On July 13, 2000, he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. They said he was be fine as long as he kept on his treatment schedule. Then, 1-1/2 weeks after diagnosis he was admitted with fever. The next day he started having seizures. Last one was documented at 57 minutes. From there, he went to PICU. He was supposed to be back in his room by supper that same day. Four days later he finally woke up enough so he could be extubated. He was then diagnosed with bacterial Meningitis. He was only the second pediatric leukemia patient since 1980 with Meningitis at Baptist. His prognosis was not good. They did not expect him to sit up by himself or walk again. They said recovery would take many months for him to do very basic tasks. He was discharged in four weeks and was already crawling, feeding himself and sitting by himself. Now it is hard to keep up with him. The doctor said it was a miracle because most adult don't recover as fully as he has done and children rarely make it this far. He has had no lasting effects from the infection.

He has been a real trooper. In 30 days he had numerous CT Scans, MRIs & x-rays; audiograms; new ear tubes & exploratory ENT surgery; and 16 transfusions (9 platelets, 7 red blood, & 1 plasma). Not to mention his chemotherapy treatment, which did not stop while he was hospitalized with meningitis.

He is a true miracle. He is proof that prayer works.

Sunday, August 12, 2001 at 09:38 PM (CDT)

Mitchell’s Weekly Update: (a few weeks late)

It seems that I am a little behind in getting Mitchell’s site updated. It has been a very busy time for Mom trying to get everyone to their doctor’s appointments and getting Samuel ready to start school.

Mitchell has fully recovered from his ear infection and all of his viruses. He now sports earplugs and a swim cap when he goes into the pool. You would think he was the next Olympic swim champion. He only wants to jump in the deep end even though he doesn’t know how to swim yet. He tries very hard to swim and doesn’t want any help. I guess he figures that after last summer that he can do anything.

His blood counts have recovered and are climbing. Last week’s ANC was over 1800. He is almost 36” tall and has gained weight thanks to Pediasure and Kindercal. We are thankful that he will drink the supplements because many days he will not eat much solid food other than yogurt, cherrios or a few crackers.

Clinic decided to send Mitchell to a pediatric ophthalmologist about his eyes. They wanted to be sure that it was a vision problem and not a reoccurrence of leukemia in the brain blood. All of us believe it is vision. The ophthalmologist agreed. Mitchell got a pair glasses last week. He goes back to clinic on 8/17/01. We’ll know more how his vision is doing after then. He is wearing them well. He put them up by himself at bedtime and puts them on when he wakes up in the morning. We pray this good habit continues.

He has really enjoyed this summer. A few weeks ago, we went fishing and Samuel accidentally, knocked over the cricket container. Crickets were everywhere. Mitchell had the most fun trying to catch all of the crickets and put them back in the container. He loves to play outside on the swing and with sidewalk chalk. He even attempted to ride a horse by himself… He quickly decided it was too high and someone needed to ride with him. He also got into the storage box with Samuel’s old toys. He found a lot of really neat toys in there. He took them to his room because they are “my toys” he said. There isn’t much room in his bedroom for him with all those trucks, cars, trains and blocks.

When we went to clinic last Monday, we saw Mitchell’s friend Jon Powell. He looks wonderful. His hair is full and his smile is bright. His Mom said his was also enjoying the summer.

Thanks for checking on Mitchell.

Monday, July 02, 2001 at 11:32 AM (CDT)

Mitchell’s Weekly Update:

It seems Mitchell is riding the blood count roller coaster. On Friday (6/15/01), his counts were high enough to restart all of his medication except his antibiotics. By Wednesday (6/20/01), he had all the signs of an ear infection. We had to have his counts re-checked and take him to his ENT doctor because his low-grade temperature would not go down. Everyone said he was fine. That evening, the Peds/Oncology Clinic called to reschedule his regular clinic visit to Thursday (6/21/01). He was still fine and had his LP (lumbar puncture) injection, etc. By Friday night everything looked good and his fever was almost normal.

But the next day (Saturday-6/23/01), his fever was back – spiking to 102.6 +. We left that evening for a weekend stay at our Winston condo – Room 620 in the Reynolds Tower. I believe they refer to it as the “Mitchell Martin Suite”, especially after last August. When his blood draws were done, they were low and he was neutropenic. But he got great care from “his nurses” and a lot of rest. He was happy to see all his night nurses. Mitchell had not seen them in a while.

On Monday (6/25/01), “Dr. Clean” as Mitchell calls him, said his ears were clear and he could go home but to have his blood counts re-tested on Thursday (6/28/01) to see if they had recovered. His counts were still too low for him to be able to take his medication, so we had to have another finger stick today (7/2/01). Today, they were much better and his only complaint is that his back still hurts. He wants his lower back rubbed around the LP site. We pray that his medication roller coaster doesn’t affect his remission. It hasn’t so far.

As always, thanks for checking in on Mitchell and thank you for all your prayers and concern.

PS: We have new pictures.

Tuesday, June 12, 2001 at 09:02 AM (CDT)

Mitchell's Weekly Update:

We are back from the beach and everyone had a wonderful time. We did something different every day so we would not wear them out too quickly. This was Mitchell's first time in the ocean. He is a true duck in the water. Robert and Sameuel went pier fishing. Samuel caught many baby sharks (catch and release, of course). He had his picture taken while holding a few of them. He thought that was the best part of the entire trip. He wanted to go fishing everyday. Mitchell just loved playing on the beach. He sat in the tide pools and played for hours. He even had a bucket of sand in the room so he could play after dark.

Mitchell's counts dropped Friday (6/8/01). All of his medication was stopped again. He will have blood counts again this Friday to see how they recovered. Since this is the second time in about four weeks that his counts have dropped, his medication may have to be changed. We'll find out more this coming Friday.

Please pray for elevated counts, good health and continued remission for Mitchell. Thank you for checking on his progress. We appreciate your concern.

Friday, May 25, 2001 at 10:01 PM (CDT)

Mitchell's Weekly Report:

Things are looking up this week. Mitchell is pretty much back to a regular activity level. His counts were good, so he started back on his daily medication today.

School ended at noon today. Mitchell was excited that Samuel came home early. They played and watched cartoons most of the afternoon.

We are in high gear preparing for Samuel's birthday celebration tomorrow. Both boys are very excited. Samuel specifically requested water balloons, which Mitchell thoroughly enjoys. Grandpa and Grandma took us all for dinner and to the toy store tonight. Samuel wanted a chemistry set for his birthday and Grandpa bought it. He said seven wasn't too young because Daddy had one when he was seven also. Mitchell got a small "love" gift - a Scooby-Doo ball. He had to give the ball a test drive in the toy store - all over the toy store to be more exact. I bet they were glad when we checked out.

Thank you for checkin in. We hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

Friday, May 18, 2001 at 09:33 PM (CDT)

Mitchell's Weekly Report:

Well we've hit another small bump in the road. Mitchell's ANC fail below 500 again this week. We can handle these small bumps as long as they don't grow any larger. He was taken off all his medications for seven days and will have his counts retested on Thursday. This will give his bone marrow enough time to recover. Apparently this is a side effect of the pulse vincristine injections and it usually happens two weeks after the last injection. We don't mind small bumps in the road because we know others who have mountains in they are trying to cross.

We just got back from the "Relay for Life" a little while ago. Mitchell and Samuel had a wonderful time. Mitchell walked in "The Survivor" lap with Daddy, well part of it anyway. He rode on Daddy shoulders most of the way. Little legs can only go so fast. Later on he finally walked around the entire track.

Our GA & RA Youth Groups at church had a camp site set up and of course we made ourselves at home. Mitchell and Samuel had their picture made with them. The youth group had already collected $5,000 and was not finished collecting the donations yet. We pray they exceed their goal of $7,500. Those children have worked really hard to meet their goal. They were planning to walk all night. We hope they are not as tired as Samuel and Mitchell. The boys were so tired we barely got them into their pj's before they were asleep.

Thank you for checking in on Mitchell and most of all for your continued prayers. We are truly greatful for every prayer that has been said for him.

Thursday, May 10, 2001 at 10:31 PM (CDT)

Mitchell's Weekly Update:

We have new photos.

Aunt Cindy had a baby boy on Thursday, May 3, 2001. Mitchell went to visit him on Friday after we left the clinic.

Mitchell has hit another milestone. He now has his blood counts done every other Friday. He's on the downhill side of treatment. December 2002 gets closer everyday. His ANC was well over 1500 on Friday. It hasn't been that high in a long time. I guess that explains his high energy level these days.

Both boys are doing great. Samuel is very excited because he only has two more weeks of school. He has also finished his birthday list and expects to get everything on it. We explained that his list was just a guideline for us to use. Believe it or not, the first few items on the list were clothes, then he added toys and a new bike. He found a few shirts with sharks on them and said "I must have these". You have to hug them while they are still small and you can catch them because they seem to grow up so fast.

Please be in special prayer for the Finberg, Cain and Powell families this week as they face all the challenges that lie ahead for them. Thanks to everyone that has sent prayers up for these families and for us. We appreciate all that you have done.

Tuesday, May 01, 2001 at 09:45 PM (CDT)

Mitchell's Weekly Update:

We are half way through vincristine/steriod week. He is very clingy and easy to upset with this round of vincristine. His counts were good, so we figure it is probably the medication. His appetite is fair and his mood changes quickly, but otherwise his is doing well. Mitchell goes in Friday for his next vincristine pulse. Then he should be back in his regular routine for a few weeks.

We have finally gotten all of Mitchell's pictures loaded on the computer. I hope to get them on his site very soon.

Thank you for checking on Mitchell. God bless.

Thursday, April 12, 2001 at 12:44 PM (CDT)

Mitchell's Weekly Report:

What lovely weather we've had lately. The boys have had a wonderful time outside. Mitchell got to play in the vegetable garden and run through the "turtle" sprinkler for the first time in close to a year. It was around 90 degrees here on Monday and Tuesday. Today is pretty warm but overcast. They are planning to go outside and play shortly.

Mitchell's doing well. His speech is still progressing and he is acting more like himself (a wide-open little boy). Samuel has been home from school for spring break this week and they both have enjoyed it. I'm a little tired, but they're not. Yesterday we went over to Grandma's house to color Easter eggs. Mitchell thought you needed to stick your entire hand in the cup to stir the egg. So, now his hands are mutli-colored.

Tonight is Survivor night on TV. Samuel has designated it as "Family Night." Everyone must sit in front of the TV at the living room table and eat dinner (which has to wait until 8 pm). He says they are so funny. We usually try to have something like chicken nuggets or sub sandwiches. They make a smaller mess to clean up. Mitchell loves it because he gets to eat beside of Samuel. Samuel's food always seems to taste better than what is on his plate. Imagine that.

We hope everyone has a wonderful and joyful Easter. Thank you for checking on Mitchell.

Wednesday, April 04, 2001 at 12:22 PM (CDT)

Mitchell's Weekly Report:

His counts recovered. Mitchell's ANC was around 900 on Thursday (3/30/01). On Friday, he went to clinic and the sedation suite for his spinal chemotherapy. Then we had luch with Aunt Cindy. He really enjoyed seeing her and eating lunch. Mitchell doesn't have to go back to Winston for four weeks. Yeah. He still has to have weekly counts, but he doesn't mind that to much. He will start Vincristine injections and decadron at the end of April (his next clinic visit).

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers for Mitchell's continued progress. We appreciate all that you have done. Please remember the Powells & Cains in your prayers.

Tuesday, March 27, 2001 at 09:58 PM (CST)

Mitchell's Weekly Report:

Mitchell's counts recovered after a week off home chemotherapy medications. His ANC was 1025. Great news. He re-started on Thursday (3/15/01). When he went in on Friday (3/23/01) we assumed they would continue to rise, we were wrong. His ANC had dropped to 512. So now he is teetering around the "magic number of 500." If it drops below 500 he will not be able to receive his spinal chemotherapy this Friday (3/30/01). You would never know his counts were dropping. He has been wide open.

In other news ~ We have finally finished both boys bedrooms. Two rooms at once can be quite tough. Mitchell thinks his room is wonderful. He has Scooby-Doo everywhere. Samuel wanted hammerhead sharks, but settled for Star Wars wallpaper border. Shark wallpaper is very difficult to find. He also wanted curtains, sheets, pillow cases, comforters, and throw pillows (in shark of course).

Mitchell has had a few small changes in his appearance. His hair is returning, cowlick and all. We actually had to cut his fingernails last week. It had been so long since that had to be done. He was patient and sat very still. He just smiled and said "Thank you" when I was finished.

Samuel wrote a story in school for Mitchell. It was about dogs. He had drawn pictures of Mitchell with dogs (to go along with the text). In the "About the Author" section, Samuel said he wrote the story for his brother because Mitchell loved dogs and he loved Mitchell. Sometimes they really amaze you.

Thank you for checking in on Mitchell and for all your prayers. Please remember Jon, Grace and their families in your prayers.

Sunday, March 11, 2001 at 11:03 PM (CST)

Mitchell's Weekly Report:

When it rains, it pours. The virus has made its presence known. On Friday (3/9/01), Mitchell went in for routine blood counts. We had hoped they would be close to normal (near 1000 or better). They had dropped to 425. This means he has dropped below the cut-off for his home chemotherapy medication. He will have his counts done again on Thursday to see if they have recovered. They haven't been this low for a few months. You wouldn't think a little virus could do this much damage to your immune system. He has been very clingy and had a low grade temperature. But there is one good thing from this, his appetite has returned since he has been off his medication. He is eating everything in sight. He has not eaten like this in months. It's a great sight to see.

Thank you for checking on Mitchell's progress and for all your prayers.

Thursday, March 08, 2001 at 09:58 PM (CST)

Mitchell's Weekly Report:

Sorry I'm late updating Mitchell's page. I thought I had updated it on Sunday, but I must have forgot.

We think we have overcome the virus. Last Friday Mitchell's ANC was 550. This was it lowest is has been in a few months. He is finally eating better. Tonight he has a whole slice of pizza. It has been months since he has eaten that much at one sitting. We were lucky this time, he did not have to go to Winston for fluids. I sometimes think we own stock in the Ross Company (they make Pediasure & Pedialyte). Who would think that a stomach virus could last ten days or more. It has been four days and counting without signs of stomach upset.

We have started the long job of redecorating his room. We have just about removed all of the nursery wallpaper and will repaint it to match the new Scooby-Doo theme that came with his "big boy" bed.

Please remember all the children at Brenners and Duke's BMT Unit in your prayers. Thanks for checking in on us.

Sunday, February 25, 2001 at 09:03 PM (CST)

Mitchell's Weekly Report:

You can't let your guard down for a minute or a virus will sneak up on you. Mitchell has another stomach virus. This one has lasted about six days and counting. So far we have been lucky and have remained at home. We have to call Winston on a regular basis and let them know how he is doing. He has not been able to keep much on his stomach. They said if the vomiting and diarrhea didn't soon subside we would have to take him to Winston for fluids, etc. After about three days we thought we were home free, but all symptoms came back last night. He has slept a lot, but that is what he needs right now.

He loves his new bed. Now he goes to bed without even a tear. Especially since we bought a Scooby-Doo bed set for his new bed. He thinks he is a big boy now (just like his big brother).

If you get a minute, check in on Jon Powell and Grace Cain. They both have wonderful news and new pictures. Please continue to lift them up in your prayers. Thanks for checking in one us. God bless you.

Tuesday, February 13, 2001 at 09:25 PM (CST)

Hello everyone ~

It has been awhile since we last updated Mitchell's site. His grandmother Montgomery has had a reoccurance of her breast cancer and has started chemo treatments (on top of her twice daily insulin injections). This time it is in her lung directly under the previous tumor. I've been a little busy between Mitchell's schedule and helping my mother.

Mitchell's counts have been bouncing up and down, but that is expected for a few more weeks. We don't mind as long as his ANC stays above 500. If it drops below 500, it affects his medication schedule. It has been holding somewhere around 800-1100. All other counts were good. He'll go back to Winston in about 4 weeks for another check-up and to have his port checked and flushed.

He is progressing well. The doctors are very pleased. They said, "To look at him today, you would never guess how sick he was a few months ago." He is laughing a lot, playing and just seems to feel better. His appetite has not returned yet, but that too will come with time. He is finally sleeping again. We had to get him a regular twin bed. He would not sleep in a toddler bed. He said he would rather sleep in the floor -- and he did. Now, he gives "night love" and walks to his room by himself when it is nite-nite time (just like his big brother). He said he has a big boy bed like Samuel. They grow up so fast.

Thanks for checking in on Mitchell. I'll try to get new pictures on the site soon.

Monday, January 29, 2001 at 08:24 PM (CST)

Mitchell's blood counts were a little low on Friday. His white count was below normal and so were his segs. His ANC dropped to nearly 600 from over 1,000. Everything else looked fine. They said to just watch him over the next week for signs that his counts were dropping. The only thing we have noticed are a few headaches. We hope that is all we see until his next checkup on Friday.

He is starting to walk up the stairs (without his hands on the steps). His speech is improving. He is now using more words and longer sentences.

It has been a pretty uneventful few days. Both Mitchell and Samuel have been fairly active. It is good to see Mitchell laugh and play with Samuel.

Thanks for checking in on Mitchell. Please keep the Powells and Cains in your prayers also.

Saturday, January 20, 2001 at 09:43 PM (CST)

Mitchell is making progress with his speech. He is still about six months behind, but the doctors said he would gradually catch up to his age group. He now uses 2-3 word sentences, but still forgets the first letter of most words. On Thursday he climbed the stairs for the first time by himself. He said he was walking up them, but he used both hands and feet. It looked like climbing to me and Robert.

He got a good report from the doctor on Friday. We were not sure how the oral methotrexate would affect his blood counts. They said they would vary for a few weeks. His counts were fair, but his ANC was a little over 1,000. This means his infection fighters are starting to work. We'll know more when he returns to Winston for a check-up on 2/9/01.

Thanks for checking on Mitchell and for putting the Powells and Cains on your prayer list.

Tuesday, January 16, 2001 at 11:18 AM (CST)

Hello Everyone ~

Last Friday (1/12/01), Mitchell started his oral methotrexate (chemotherapy). So far he is doing fine. He is still a little grumpy, but that is expected since he also received a vincrinstine injection on Friday. We hope he will start sleeping again soon. This past week he has slept about 5 hours at night with a 30-minute nap during the day. He usually sleeps 9-10 hours at night with a 2-hour nap each day.

Mitchell doesn’t have to go back to Brenner’s for 3-1/2 weeks. By then, they will know how the methotrexate is affecting his blood counts. We still have to be cautious about germs for the next few weeks. If his counts are still good, he will be able to return to daycare full time.

Thanks for checking in. Please remember the Powells and Cains. Jon undergoes his bone marrow transplant this week and Grace will start her stem cell harvest

Tuesday, January 09, 2001 at 10:01 PM (CST)

Sorry for the delay in updating Mitchell's site. We have all been a little under the weather with colds and such.

On Friday (1/5/01), we got great news -- Mitchell is still in remission. He has now entered the third phase of his treatment schedule. This phase will last two years. He will take daily chemotherapy medication at home every night at bedtime. He will also receive vincrinstine injections, steriods and IT methotrexate injections on a graduated schedule.

This week has been really long. We finally moved him to a "big boy" bed. That was a mistake. He has been on steriods for five days, he is very grumpy and will not sleep. What a great combo - the terrible two's and steriods. He will get his next vincristine injection on Friday (1/12/01) and start oral methotrexate.

Thank you for checking on Mitchell and for all your support. I promise to update the site more often, but, sometimes it tough when both children are sick. Please keep Jon Powell in your prayers this week as he prepares for his stem cell transplant and for Grace Cain & her family as they follow in Jon's footsteps.

Friday, December 29, 2000 at 10:22 AM (CST)

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was very nice. The children had love and gift deliveries starting on Christmas Eve and ending on Christmas night. I finally got all the toys and clothes sorted Wednesday.

On Tuesday, both Mitchell and Samuel played like little wild men. It was very nice to see them rough-housing again. Especially since Mitchell was the instigator. It has been so long since he has felt well enough to play that rough for that long. I'm sure the excitment of Christmas had a little to do with it, but we don't mind. Samuel was a little under the weather, but it did not slow him down. He woke up with swollen lymphnodes in his throat.

On Thursday, we took Samuel to Graystone ENT because his lymphnodes were still swollen. One was the size of a quarter. It was an infection in his lymphnodes. He came home with a bag of antibotics. So we spent all day yesterday in doctors offices. While we were there, also I had Mitchell's Friday blood count drawn. Both got CBC with diff blood counts and their second flu shot. Mitchell's counts are rising, which is good. Samuel's showed infection. They were in a sticker war to see who could get the most stickers from the nurses. I guess the competition between boys starts at a young age. Mitchell got five and Samuel got six. They wore them all day so they could show Daddy when he got home. He was impressed.

Today is moving much slower than the last several days. Mitchell ate a very good breakfast and he is in a pretty good mood. He really enjoys Samuel being home during the holidays (and so do I).

Thanks for checking in on us. Many thanks for all the Christmas cards, e-cards, gifts, prayers and words of encouragement you have given us. Mitchell has come a long way and we are truly grateful for everything.

Saturday, December 23, 2000 at 07:06 PM (CST)

We made it through yesterday. Now we are waiting on the results. They should be back in about a 1-2 weeks. This blood work has to go to about five or six different testing facilities that specialize in childhood cancer. Mitchell's white count is very low and his platelets have dropped a lot more than normal. He has been very grumpy for the couple of days. We figure this is why.

Today has been pretty uneventful for Mitchell. He has played a little and slept a lot. This morning he watched Playhouse Disney's Christmas Specials and then took a nap.

As always, thank you for checking in on us. Please remember all the children on Brenners in your prayers.

Thursday, December 21, 2000 at 12:06 PM (CST)

Well it has been a busy few days.

On Friday (12/15/00), Mitchell went in for his last in-hospital chemo treatment. It went well. Robert bought cupcakes and balloons to celebrate. Mitchell and his nurse (Jeannie) had a picnic in the floor. They were being silly. We will try to have those pictures on the website soon. The had a roommate this time. They were really sweet. His roommate had just been diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. They played well together. There were a lot of virus patients the floor this visit, so Mitchell stayed in his room most of time. I was glad he had a roommate that was close to his age. It kept him occupied so he didn't want to walk the halls as much. Aunt Cindy and Meagan came by to visit and they brought a big smiley face balloon.

On Saturday and Sunday, he had his picture taken with just about everybody at the nurse's station. He is a ham for the camera. Aunt Cindy came by again today. He loves it when she visits.

Monday: SCHOOL'S OUT - This is the first week of Christmas vacation for Samuel, so they have been little wild men. The closer Christmas gets the wilder the boys get. They are so excited. Mitchell stands really close to the tree but doesn't touch it. He is amazed by the lights and tensil. He wants the lights on from the time he gets up in the morning until he goes to bed. I told Robert that we would have to buy all new lights for next year because these may not last until Christmas.

Mitchell goes to Winston tomorrow for LP and Bone Marrow tests. If everything is still good and he is still in remission, he will start the next phase of treatment. We will find out more about that tomorrow. Please pray that he is stil 100% in remission.

As always, thank you for checking on his progress. We thank God for all the encouragement we have received from you. Please continue to pray for all the children at Brenners.

Thursday, December 14, 2000 at 08:40 PM (CST)

Happy Birthday Mitchell!

Today is Mitchell's birthday. It has been a real busy week trying to get everything done for today. I almost forgot the cake. It's tough having a birthday just two weeks before Christmas, but we made it.

The morning started with the weekly blood counts. They look good so we are preparing for the FINAL in-hospital chemo treatment tomorrow. Mitchell has a little dog for his nurses to sign and "Bear in the Big Blue House" plates for a special treat. Robert and I figured he deserved a special treat after all he has been through during the last six months. School was delayed two hours today, so Samuel helped him open his birthday gifts this morning.

Please keep Jon and Grace (and their family) in your prayers as they go through some pretty extensive procedures/operations in the next few weeks. Thank you so much for checking in on Mitchell. It is such an encouragement to know so many people care about him. May God bless you all.

Wednesday, December 06, 2000 at 02:21 PM (CST)

Hello everyone ~

On Saturday, we had a wonderful time at the Pediatric Oncology Christmas Party. Both Mitchell and Samuel had a blast. After lunch, they went to see Santa. Mitchell wasn't so sure about Santa and was not going to sit on his lap. Santa almost dropped him in the floor, but once the Santa picture was snapped he was fine. He decided to stay on Santa's lap. He thought they were going to take more pictures. He is such a ham for the camera. After Santa, the children made Christmas ornaments and reindeer food, played putt-putt for candy canes and Samuel had his face painted. We then came home and waited for the 3-6" of snow, I mean 6-8" of snow, well we didn't get even a trace of snow. The children were so disappointed. Maybe it will be here by Christmas. That would be nice.

Sunday and Monday: We have been homebodies. Mitchell is still fighting some kind of virus. He is still very tired and has a runny nose, but his temperature is below 100.5 which is good. We hope it continues to stay low.

On Tuesday, he slept until noon and still had a mild temperature. We called the clinic and they said to monitor it. They also said we could give him Benadryl for his runny nose. This made him real sleepy. Maybe rest is what he needs most.

Today has been much like the last few days. He is very clingy. He plays pretty good for about an hour after he wakes up and then starts wearing down. He still is not eating very well. All he wants to eat now are Seasme Street cinnamon graham crackers. The little crackers are shaped like the characters on Seasme Street.

Thanks for checking in on Mitchell's progress. Please keep him and the other children at Brenners in your prayers. Don't forget to check in on Jon Powell and Grace Cain. They need your prayrs this week while the undergo procedures and surgeries. May God bless you all.

Friday, December 01, 2000 at 02:11 PM (CST)

Hello everyone ~

This has been a somewhat busy week. On Tuesday and Wednesday I was in continuing education all day so Mitchell spent the entire two days with his Dad. They watched TV, played with Tonkas, napped and did other miscellaneous "guy" things (like work on stuff with tools).

On Thursday, Mitchell did much of the same. He has been really tired this time, slept a lot and hasn't eaten very much. In the afternoon, he and Samuel helped Dad work on the computer while I finished the boys christmas shopping.

Today he went in for his blood counts. They are good. His white count is still low, but that is to be expected. Now he has a runny nose and a low grade temp. We figure it's only a cold since everyone has gotten their flu shots. He has been asleep since we got home at 10:30 this morning. We hope he feels well enough to go to the Christmas party tomorrow. We'll see when tomorrow gets here.

Thank you for being such a great support system for us. We appreciate all of your words of encouragement in the guestbook, email, etc. You all have been such a blessing to us. Please keep Mitchell in your prayers while he continues on the road to recovery. God bless you all.

Monday, November 27, 2000 at 04:11 PM (CST)

Just got a chance to update the journal. Sorry it took so long. You know how crazy it gets around the holidays (especially with trips to Winston soon to follow).

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. We packed the car up on Thursday night for our trip to Winston on Friday. What a way to spend a holiday weekend. Mitchell ate better on Thursday that he had in weeks. He had three or four helpings of Mac & Cheese. (A picture is on the Photo Page.) Then we attempted to put up the Christmas tree with the children's help. I was only going to put up the tree and let Robert put on the trimmings while we were in Winston, but by 1 am Robert and I had finished the entire tree trimming, put the presents under it, hung the stockings and finished the house decorations. We got everything done between giving Mitchell his medicine and trying to get him to eat as much as possible before midnight since he was scheduled for a spinal tap at 11 am on Friday.

We just finished another chemo treatment. Only one in-hospital treatment left. We received very good news yesterday. The doctor said that Mitchell's spinal fluid is completely free from all signs of menigitis and is still leukemia-free. Mitchell was really tired this time, but of course would not sleep. So we traveled the hall. We made a new friends on this visit. We met the Brenda (Cody's Mom) and Cody Groce. Cody is such a sweet boy and loved Mitchell to death. Cody doesn't sleep much either. He is about Samuel's age. Mitchell is doing well today. He has slept a good part of the day.

As always, we thank everyone for all the prayers that are lifted up for Mitchell. He has come a long way. Please remember all of the children at Brenner's in your prayers. Don't forget to check in on Jon Powell and Grace Cain. God bless you all.

Friday, November 24, 2000 at 08:38 PM (CST)

Mom and Mitchell are in Winston this week-end for a 3 day chemo visit. It will be updated soon. Dad

Friday, November 17, 2000 at 11:07 PM (CST)

Well another clinic trip is over. Mitchell is very tired and his counts were a little low, but the doctor's don't seem worried. They usually drop after vincristine injections (even with the decadron). We'll know more next week. If everything is fine, he will go in Friday for this fifth treatment. We are almost there.

We are thankful that it has been an uneventful week. No colds, fevers, etc. Please pray that it continues that way. It's getting kind of scary now that we are entering the cold & flu season.

As always, we thank you for your continued prayers and support for our family.

Thursday, November 16, 2000 at 08:54 PM (CST)

Just a quick note to let you know how things are going. Mitchell has had a pretty good week. He has been a little tired, but other than that seems fine.

Today he played with the cardboard gift wrap rolls. I believe he has more fun with them than with the gifts. Maybe I'll just wrap a few and give them for Christmas instead of toys. This evening Mitchell and Samuel were sword fighting in the hall with them. I think they were playing Star Wars. He really loves playing with his big brother and thinks the world of Samuel. It's great to see them still very close. Samuel has been a great help with Mitchell. Samuel once said to me "Mama, after I say my prayers out loud with you and Daddy, I say a prayer in my heart for God to help make Mitchell better." It does a heart good to know that a six year old child has that much love and concern for another person and that much faith in the Lord.

We go back to Winston tomorrow. He goes in for a blood count and a vincrinstine injection. Thank you for all your prayers and concerns. Please remember Jon Powell and Grace Cain in your prayers (and their families too).

Tuesday, November 07, 2000 at 02:09 PM (CST)

Mitchell finished is 4th in-hospital treatment on Sunday. He is doing well. He is a little tired. Robert was home today so he spent the entire day with Mitchell. They both enjoy that very much.

He has not been eating very well, but on Friday he starts his steriods so that should help his appetite. One plus, his weight is holding at 27 lbs.

Mitchell met a new friend during this past visit. His name is Jon Powell and he has neuroblastoma. Jon just finished his final in-hospital chemo before his BMT. We pray that all goes well with not complications. Grace Cain was also their this weekend, but we did not have a chance to see them. Maybe next time. Here are their sites soon so you can follow their progress.

Jon Powell - www.caringbridge.com/wv/jonpowell
Grace Cain - www.caringbridge.com/nc/gracecain

Robert and I want to say "Thank You" for all your prayers and concerns during Mitchell's illness. It has be a great comfort. We feel truly blessed to have such a great support system of family and friends. We would also like you to include Jon Powell, Grace Cain, and all pediatric patients at Brenner Children's Hospital to your prayer list.

Click here to go back to the main page.

----End of History----