Farewells

Monday, January 06, 2003 at 11:33 PM (CST)

Friends,

Time for another update. By special request a lighthearted post tonight. I am honored that the "Queen" of Caringbridge authors visits this page regularly. So revealed a source close to both of us. I am aware that sometimes these pages can get to be emotionally draining for those so close to us but yet prevented from being with us by distance or responsibilities. So, to start with if you can stand a little corn (we are Nebraskans you know) Click here for a short video clip from "No Name Brands" latest release...... well maybe not(They're not angels and the music isn't loud enough). We agree with the message though.

Anyway, Steven continues to do well. Today was an easy day. Easy for me to say. Steven had a rigorous work out from Luli his PT. We enjoyed not receiving meds. And a much more normal schedule of outputs (which will make tonight much more restful.) We know tomorrow to expect that Steven will be emotionally "wound up" from the preinfusion medications. And then that he may well sleep the rest of the day away. Then feel pretty good and hopefully be released to go to target house by early evening.

We had another physician on the floor today. Doctor Bename I believe. Originally from Ecuador. He started the fellowship program here at St. Jude. Played basketball for Ecuador's national team and was recruited to Oklahoma State, but passed on the offer. He shed some more light on how the research is done. And protocols established. His specialty being bone marrow transplants. He further revealed that Steven's "auto" transplants without complication would be billed out at a minimum of $75000 each. And he gets 4 of them. A difficult "allo" transplant would run around $500,000. And none of these patients are turned away for financial reasons. And no parent ever receives a bill. Not every child is accepted as a patient to St. Jude. But any reason for rejection would center on qualification for Clinical Reasons. Or research protocol qualifications. Many of you don't realize that Steven was only days from being outside the 4-week window after Surgery before we learned and decided to come here. Unless treatment begins at an institution that refers parents to these specialized institutions. Most parents are unable to access or assimilate the necessary information in time to get their children accepted into the limited trials around the country. Our getting Steven treated here was nothing short of a miraculous answer to prayer. And our story has been repeated over and over here. Just today we took a call from a Nebraska family dealing with a similar diagnosis 3 weeks out from surgery having to make the same grueling decisions we had to make 7 short months ago. No one can make those decisions for you. We simply relayed or experience with St. Jude to date. No one can judge the decisions made by others for their children. You can only honor and support in the best way you know how. I am so grateful that none of our family or friends questioned our decision to leave "home" and come to Memphis for Steven's treatment. Even though it placed a huge burden on so many. Thank you.

Oh yes, I promised an upbeat post today. Had a lot of laughs with Nurse "Vicki" today. We got a good report on Drake. The fever has finally come down. And he had a good day yesterday. Motor skills continuing to improve. Austin is doing awesome, hard to believe he was unable to hold his head up just weeks ago. Today he nearly ran over people in the hall with one of the tricycles the kids ride up and down the halls. Many coming into St. Jude for the first time would mistake this place for a children's museum or day care. The kids and their siblings actually look forward to coming here many days. It has no resemblance of a sterile boring environment to them. Each clinic is staffed with volunteers and Child Life specialists to help pass the waiting time. And you learn in short order that often waiting is the name of the game. At first it bothers you. Then you realize that when your turn comes and you have extra questions or concerns that you are never rushed out before you are satisfied.

Tomorrow, Steven will receive his final stem cell infusion (transplant). He will place his hand prints on the wall here on the fourth floor as tens of tens of children have before. Along with the details like date of diagnosis (5/29/02), date of discharge (1/07/03), and some few words of gratitude, wit or wisdom. I have some idea of what he has chosen. He has chosen the spot. It will be a special location with special meaning. His words will be his, Not his Dad's, or his mothers. It will seem so little to describe the journey He has been through. We know now that this is not an end but a beginning.

From the book Amanda's Gift: "Sometimes God does not change our circumstances.... but changes us in our circumstances." -Carla Killough McClafferty(Author of Forgiving God)

Good night, Sleep Well,

Lyle and Peggy, For Steven

Sunday, January 05, 2003 at 10:33 PM (CST)

Welcome,

No more Chemo!! Well, almost. He gets his last vincristine next week. Usually no effect. Steven felt very good today. He has to keep the bladder empty. Last night's and tonight's sleep filled with interruptions. Yet he never napped today. Ate a good lunch and dinner. Walked the halls some and we had phone calls from JD, MJ, Nancy, Grandma G. and Eric. I visited with Wade (Drake's Dad), a couple of times. Drake is still fighting fever and will undergo externalizing his shunt tomorrow. They have a bacterial staff infection and having difficulty locating it's source. Also enjoyed a long visit from Dr. Gajjar today. He is a really amazing man. Great heart, along with his talent and expertise. He is responsible for giving many kids a 2nd chance and a better quality of life as well.

Steven's latest obsession is the Golf thing. Spent allot of time today again browsing for irons, putters, drivers and even shoes. Also watched some football today. His team the 49ers. Made a great comeback win much to his delight. Tomorrow is a day off. Don't know what we are going to do tomorrow. He is feeling so good. Yet they won't let him leave the floor. We'll figure something out to humor ourselves. Today we discovered the aerosol hand cream has nearly the same effect as shaving cream in the envelope. Only no cleanup. Fill your hands and then clap. The nurses were humored the first time. About 7:30 he decided yogurt in a waffle cone sounded good. So I headed out to find some. 1 1/2 hours and 3 prospective locations later no yogurt. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow. Will try to firm up my travel plans tomorrow. Either have St. Jude try to get me a flight or use priceline. I guess. We are so grateful the fevers went down. Shouldn't have to have and extended stay for antibiotics. Really nice weather the last two days. Almost feels like spring. I left my coat at home and only really missed it one evening so far. I don't really have much else. Not feeling very inspired tonight. But still somewhat in awe that we are so close to being done with treatment. It will be an adjustment to leave. I will always have strong feelings and good thoughts about this place. It is really hard to explain to anyone who has not experienced it.

Missed you all at Clay Center Christian Church today. We had our own communion here in the room. It's just not the same.

Thanks for your prayers. Keep checking in.

God Bless each of you.

Lyle

Saturday, January 04, 2003 at 09:12 PM (CST)

Friends,

Day -3 of the final cycle is nearly complete. Steven's Fever subsided in the evening and cultures are negative so far. This allowed the treatment to continue on schedule. Lord willing tomorrow will be Steven's final dose of Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide). Today and tomorrow are generally easier than the 1st day of each cycle and today was further confirmation of that. Steven ate pretty well today and even road the stationary bike for 10 minutes or so. We are so thankful that this is going so well. Tomorrow will be the last chemotherapy treatment with the exception of a vincristin push on day +6 (a week from this coming Monday). Now we pray that Steven avoids infections and fevers through the next couple of weeks of low counts. And that the treatments have been effective in destroying the cancer. All indications reflect that is the case. It will be a constant battle for me to move forward without fear of relapse or recurrence. I pray constantly because these past 7 mos. have taught us that is all we can do. That and continue to keep up on latest preventative and curative treatments. We have also found ourselves in the position of sharing what we have learned with others. About medulloblastoma and childhood cancers. About how to cope with a child suffering catastrophic illness through faith and prayer. About perspective and joy in suffering. About the love and support of friends, family and community. About the special people who make their life's work caring for sick children and searching for cures.

We (Steven and I caught a special interview on TV with Lance Armstrong, the tour de France biking champion. Lance survived testicular cancer with metastasis to his lungs and brain to win the tour de France once again. The question posed to Lance sounded strange. It was asked, " If you had to choose only one experience, would you choose having cancer or winning the tour de France. Silly question!! Surprising answer !?! His answer " A very difficult choice, And there is no way he would ever want to go through it again. But, He said, " I would have to choose going through Cancer". It was by far the hardest thing I have ever done. But, it also did more for me, taught me more, and made me a far better person than winning the tour de France ever could. I don't know Lance Armstrong, I don't know what kind of person he was before, or after for that matter. I know Steven. Steven was a pretty good soul before cancer. I can't help but think surviving this will make him stronger. I have learned allot. I have been given a very unique gift, but one I would never have asked for. Now what do I do with it?? That is the question I struggle with now. What are you doing with the gifts you've been given? Perhaps yours (as is mine) is the gift of good health. Give thanks.

Steven spent much of the day browsing the Internet for golf clubs. Tried calling Cousin Adam a couple of times for his advice. Wants to spend his Christmas money. He is enjoying the break from school but LuAnn will be cranking him up next week again. Enjoyed exchanging a couple of calls with Jeff Charlton last night. Jeff is a big Canes fan. Way to go OSU. Imagine that from a Cornhusker. Odd that all I could get was the answering machine once the contest was decided. Eric and Bridget are home, opened their gifts and will make the move to Norfolk tomorrow. Justin is playing another ball game tonight. Got a few minutes last night in their 10th consecutive win. I will be trying to get tickets home toward the end of next week with a return on the 27th of the month to be here for some of the final results of the testing and decisions concerning the future follow-up or necessary care. I regret that schedule will cause me to miss good friend Mary Alice and Lizzie Dorschel. But I really hate to leave Michelle much longer and there is always lots of office work to do this time of year.

Please continue to pray for Drake Dahn. Drake is from Austin, Texas. He has high-risk medulloblastoma. Drake has had a hard road from the beginning. Suffering posterior fossa syndrome. A shunt, problems with his feeding tubes, nausea, and now fevers since Christmas. They have had a hard time diagnosing the source of the problem. They fear an infection in the fourth ventricle. They have started antibiotics. Pray that Drake receives some relief and that the remainder of his treatment goes easier and is successful. Post on his guestbook at www.caringbridge.org/tx/drakedahn.

Really appreciate how many of you faithfully check in on us. And continue to covet your faithful prayers. Leave a note if you would.

God Bless you all, Keep Praying, Keep believing,

Lyle

Friday, January 03, 2003 at 08:36 PM (CST)

Good Evening,

Lyle has been busy doing bookwork all-day and so he said it’s my turn to update. So here goes.

Thursday eveningwe ate a meal at the Target House and Steven ate very well. We headed to the hospital around 8:00 p.m. On the way to the hospital, Eric called. They had just finished eating supper in town and were waiting for a shuttle to take them back to their condo. Were having a great time and had good snow for skiing. Eric was a little sore, from muscles that hadn’t been used for a while, while Bridget being in shape from Volleyball was not. Thank goodness not broken bones. If the train was on time, they were to take off for home at 4:00p.m. Mountain time Friday afternoon. We are in a different room on the 4th floor than we have been before and it is the roomiest of all. The guys said it was a little noisy last night. Lyle spent the night with Steven and I went back to sleep at the Target House.

Came to the hospital around 8:45 a.m. this morning and they were getting ready to start Steven’s chemo. He slept off and on and was a little sick starting around noon. He spiked a little fever late afternoon, so they had to draw blood for cultures. Since he had an infection after the first round, they have to be cautious and check to be sure he doesn’t have the same thing. Pray that this is not the case, because if they grow a culture they would have to delay his next 2 days of chemo. He has been drinking well and even ate some fruit for supper. They took his temp at 8:00 p.m. and it was coming down. Is watching the big Fiesta Bowl and really wants to see Florida get beat.

Dr. Gajjar came in late afternoon and we showed him pictures of the wedding and baby. Lyle quizzed him about when we would be able to go home. If all goes well, could be the 1st of February. Pray for this 4th round to go as good as the last 2.

Eric and Bridget are going to open presents tomorrow, should be a fun time. Wish we could be there, but we are glad they have lots of family that can join them.

If any one wants to call and say Hi, our number at the hospital is 901-495-5405. If you don’t call, at least leave a note on the guestbook page.

God Bless
Peggy

Thursday, January 02, 2003 at 02:46 PM (CST)

Good Afternoon,

We (Lyle, Peg, and Steven) are back in Memphis. Had a great week at home. If every kid could go home for the last week of each cycle it would really make things easier. We were fortunate to get this opportunity. When we made the decision to come here. Dr. Gajjar assured us that we would be able to work around the wedding. The more we have learned since being here suggests he must have had more faith than we at the time. We were just ignorant. There are so many potential complications and "issues" that could have interfered or prevented Steven from coming home. Remember November and Turning Point? This time things could not have gone better. I said at the beginning that there was no way we could pull off the Month of December without some Divine intervention. Thanks for your faithful prayers. Cycle 3, Our 25th anniversary, Steven's recovery, The travel, The rehearsal dinner, the wedding and reception, Baby Samuel John's (that's his name) birth, Steven caught 2 New Years Eve parties, Even ate lunch with Uncle Merle on his birthday before leaving Tuesday. The travel back, all went without a hitch. All while avoiding Colds and Flu.

We have been to the Hospital this morning. All the counts were good. ANC was down to 1200 so they gave him GCSF. We will check in tonight to start the Last Round. Visited with Jennifer H. (Dr. Gajjar's assistant some. Tried to pick her brain a little. Here again each case can be a little different. She suggested that Steven will probably feel much the same this cycle as the last. The accumulated effect of the Chemo Therapy will, however probably require a few more days for Steven's marrow and therefore his blood counts to catch up. Then scans and tests as well as discussion concerning the timing of removing his lines. All of this adding up to mid February it sounds like. We tried to catch up with some of the other kids we know. All of which seem to be doing ok. You remember Donnie; he is slowly making progress. Still day to day.

As we begin this next phase it is hard to remain patient, but easier and easier to see and recall all we have to be thankful for. I added Peggy's Aunt to the prayer request list at the bottom of the page. I really need to add two separate pages to the site. One for thank you's and one for Continued Prayer requests. There are so many I need to include. I'm sure many of you have additional needs as well. I'll try to address that at a future date. Your prayers are so effective and appreciated we need to continue in that long after Steven's trials are done. And check out the wedding a baby pictures. Click on them for larger versions. Eventually I'm going to have to create a Photo album. Seems this page just kind of turns into a mish mash and collage of sorts. Thanks for your understanding.

We Miss Michelle and Justin already, Hope Bridget and Eric are making the most out of the snow in Colorado. No Broken Legs?!?

Once again thanks for checking in. Be sure to sign the guestbook!

God Bless you all,

Lyle

Monday, December 30, 2002 at 10:35 AM (CST)

Friends,

Sorry about being out of touch. Steven is doing great. Hopefully not exposed to any "malicious bugs" at this point. Although the flu has been going around town and school.

Wedding went off without a hitch. The highlight of the wedding? A tough call between Eric's guitar vocal solo, The ring bearer having to leave and return mid message to go to the little boy's room, and the supposed misplaced ring fiasco orchestrated by the groomsmen. The church was packed. It was so good getting to see everyone. The reception and dance was a lot of fun with plenty of food and dancing. Steven got several requests, Michelle is now labeled as the crazy party girl of the family and Peg and I slowly remembered a little of the 2 step we learned this summer. The Studnicka's far outdanced the VonSpreckelsen's. Eric and Bridget are a beautiful couple and are honeymooning at Winter Park Co. with lots of snow. Thank you to everyone that was involved in the wedding, preparation, attendance and cleanup.

Peggy and I got up early to clean up the Church for services. Sat as a family for the first time in Church since September. We enjoy our times at Lindenwood in Memphis. But the preaching can't compare with John's. One more of those things you don't appreciate till you don't have it. Justin flew out to San Jose today. Practice and games this week made for a short break. It has been such a great few days with all the kids here and the festivities of the Holiday's as well as the Wedding. Now we await the arrival of the newest VonSpreckelsen to be born to Scot and Robyn any day. I lost my bet (2 to 1 odds that the baby would arrive on the wedding day. Great self control Rob). Who knows Steven may get to meet him (?), before we return to Memphis on Wednesday to start treatment on Friday.

Last one. Entering the 4th quarter. Pray that this cycle goes as well as the previous 3. We will remain nervous while we're home. I'm sure that is just preparation for when the treatments are complete and we return for good in February. Pray for continued divine protection of Steven. He has been enjoying catching up with friends and relatives.

Will stick in a couple of Wedding Pictures for you all.

God Bless and thanks for your continued prayers,

Lyle and Peggy

Thursday, December 26, 2002 at 12:27 PM (CST)

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! – 2 Corinthians 9:15, NIV


Friends,

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.
Just a quick note to let everyone know that Steven and I arrived home last night around 10:00. Peggy, Eric, Justin, and Michelle picked us up last night at the airport. What a enjoyable ride home. Tried to stop for a bite to eat. Nothing open so feasted on Pepsi's, Jerky and Candybars from the truck stop. A full schedule now. We had our Christmas last night. Such a special time. . Then all the bridesmaids showed up. 6 out of them . What a hoot. Justin noted that with Eric getting married things will never be just us any more He is so glad to be home. Pray for him as he is right now dreading the return to California to finish School. He misses the seasons so much. The hunting, his friends and his family. Steven immediately went to work rearanging HIS ROOM back into HIS ROOM. He rested well and is up had a bath and playing games with his brothers this morning. MJ is still in bed and Peggy is making Cheesecake deserts for the Rehearsal Supper. Christmas at Mom and Dad's today. Then rehearsal tomorrow. will have to run Steven into Aurora for a blood draw. They want to make sure that his platelets are ok. Shouldn't be a problem. Though Peggy undoubtedly willl have to instruct in how to access the lines and do the flusshes.

Thanks for all the notes, cards and e-mails. You encourage us so much. Be assured that your faithful prayers are powerful and effective. Even more stories of how God has blessed Steven and How HE cotinues to touch others lives through Steven to come.

Need to go. Please take time to read the 24th entry if you haven't. Thanks for checking in. Please remember to sign Steven's guestbook.

Love you all ,

Lyle

Tuesday, December 24, 2002 at 08:42 PM (CST)

Welcome Friends

Medical Stuff: Steven continues to feel well. Check the counts page, Everything is up except the HGB. So we stayed at the Medicine room till about 3:30 getting 2 units of blood transfused. I checked in with Nortwest Airlines, online, and got our tickets printed out. Got arrangements made for Steven's Blood draw and Labs while at home. Steven got a couple more gifts while there today. They (people in the community) make a real effort to make Christmas special for those stuck in the hospital. We have to return in the morning for blood work. Haven't decided whether to participate at the RMH Christmas potluck. May just stop in there and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Barring something really unexpected Steven and I will head out to the airport by 2:00. Only possible snag will be whether they will let Steven carry on his Bass Guitar. That's about it. Oh yeah, Little Dakota from Arkansas got really good news. Battling Ependenoma Brain tumor since 99 received word yesterday from Dr. Merchant that his scans were clear. Including an inoperable tumor on the brainstem. We prayed with Dakota's Mom in Chapel one night with the group "Salt and Pepper". Dakota's Grandpa was the one that told us in triage this morning. He couldn't contain the tears of joy, nor could we. What a Christmas present to be able to deliver to his mom and Dad at home with Dakota's brothers and sisters.

Christmas Eve:
Hadn't thought about it much. Probably a good thing. As I do the memories come flooding and with that the emotions. Nearly 7 mos. have passed. The time has passed quicker than thought possible. Yet when I recall all that has taken place it seems like years instead of months. Hiccups, diagnosis, fear, anger, grief, elation, gratitude. Old friends, New friends, Doctors, Nurses, Hospitals, tests, surgeries, infections, fevers, mri's, treatments, protocols. Miles on the road, Miles in the air. And tonight here we are. 800 miles from home and loved ones. Yet feeling loved, and blessed... and cared for.

It seems not that long ago when mom and dad would find some reason for us to go outside and explore or do some chores or take a ride. Naturally, we would return to find that we had just missed Santa. Usually after you thought all the gifts had been opened. Mom or Dad would bring in or lead us to some big surprise gift exceeding all our expectations. The joy of the giver always exceeding that of the receiver. . Christmas Eve has nearly always been at Grandma and Grandpa VonSpreckelsen's since. Grandma always has one of the younger children read the Christmas story. Then a carol or two. Often happy birthday to Jesus, before opening packages. In recent years after all the packages were opened we would load up and go to Church for Christmas Eve Service. Always a special candlelight service attended by many from the entire community not just our Church. It seems like just moments ago Peggy and I shared our first Christmas together. She has purchased a dated hallmark Christmas ornament every year since. Special ones for each of the kids first Christmas's. I have always hated shopping with two exceptions. For something for my wife when she is with me. Talking her into something she would not otherwise purchase for herself. And shopping for my kids for Christmas. Always on a quest to find the perfect gift. Bigger, and better than they could hope for. Just to see their faces. We always number the packages in ascending order instead of putting names on them. Just to enhance the anticipation.

Then Eric, and Justin were grown and off to college. And now Eric is getting married to start his own family. My baby girl is a freshman in high school. All natural and joyous events in the seasons of life. Then without warning we were faced with the mortality of a child. Our child. Forcing us to live by faith or by fear. Testing the faith we had professed since childhood. Allowing me at least, to learn how great a gift it is that was given on that first Christmas Day.

You see, If we are truly created in God's image. Then I have some tiny idea how much our Heavenly Father loves us. Because until faced with losing a child I truly believe you will never know how much you love that child. That is how I now am just beginning to understand how much God loves Steven and me...... and each of you. You see, I have suffered, watching my son suffer. Watching other parents suffer, with their sick and yes, even dying children. I have just a very faint image now of How much God loves me, His child. So much that he allowed Jesus, His Son, the Christ child. To suffer at the hands of men. To die a far more painful death than anything we have seen or experienced. This in spite of Jesus, in his human form, praying "Let this cup pass from me." Why??... So we can be reconciled to Him as His children, Heirs unto salvation. A gift. The only gift that will ever matter! I pray each of you has received this most precious of gifts. And share it this season with someone you love.

My favorite Christmas Verse, you see, is not from Isaiah, or Luke or Mathew but from:
the Gospel of John, Chapter 3 vs. 16 and 17.

16"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,[6] that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.



Wishing each and every one of you, The Merriest of Christmas's

Lyle, Peggy, Justin, Steven, and Michelle. Oh yes, and ... Eric and Bridget

Monday, December 23, 2002 at 06:39 PM (CST)

HO HO HO

Another Rainy Day in Memphis.

Praise God. All is still going according to plans. Stevens ANC is up to 1700 this morning. With two days to go. Tomorrow may be the last day of GCSF. His Platelets came up to 40,000 from 33 the previous day. The "HGB" was down to 8.0 borderline for needing Red Blood Cells. Steven talked them into waiting till tomorrow. Don't know how long we'll be there tomorrow as Angela and Dr. Gajjar want him "tanked up" before returning to Nebraska. If there is any question they will probably give him blood and/or platelets. Steven says no problem, he is confident, on the edge of arrogant that his counts will be even higher tomorrow. We meet with Angela tomorrow to make sure all arrangements and plans are understood while at home.

Had a nice talk with the Sterling's today. They are from Pennsylvania, their 7-mo. old son dx with medulloblastoma. They via e-mail have had a far ranging impact on others as they communicate their faith and God's provision as they have been on this journey via e-mail and the Internet. She expressed that God is always sending them encouragement "blessings", "rainbows", she referred to them. She was contacted by Loice recently. Loice asked if we had met. Loice is Tori's mom, who first contacted us and referred us to Dr. Gajjar. Loice gave us hope and encouragement that there are successful treatments and futures for these kids.

Speaking of encouragers or "rainbows" we heard Joy Michelle's (Johnson) Name called today. She was one of our first "rainbows" after arriving in Memphis. So we ran her down in D Clinic and made her late for her appointment. She looked great and gave us both big hugs. She really wanted to see our Michelle Joy. Got to introduce her to Tonya, and her Dad, and some other friends.

While waiting in "B" Clinic for the Medicine room, Steven got to talk with Brandon about his upcoming muzzle loader hunt in Virginia.

After getting out of the Hospital. We went to Kroger's to pick up some supplies and fought an unbelievable crowd while Steven sat in the van. From there Steven was interested in going to Target. He wants to start a new family Christmas tradition this year. He would like us to see who can exchange the funniest card. Sooo we laughed allot looking through the selection at Target. Kids you will have a tough time outdoing his selection's this year. I got into the act as well. Should be fun. Below is one he picked out for his buddy Brandon:

Sick Humor Huh!!

Sunday, December 22, 2002 at 10:13 PM (CST)

Friends,

Another Sunday in Memphis, Talking with Peggy this evening, She reminded me that I have only been doing this for 3 days (without her here). How these two have done it for 3 months is amazing. She is glad to be home but not overjoyed. She won't be content till the whole flock is gathered. Thing here are going well. Steven's counts are recovering a little slower. The accumulated effect of the 3 treatments. He is still feeling well and Eating amazingly well. Especially since I am in charge of the food preperation. We hesitate to call it cooking. We slept in today. Then went in to the Hospital for the GCSF. Steven got sprayed with the "Cold Spray" by Ron just to keep him on his toes. From there to the Peabody Center for the Matinee showing of "Lord of the Rings - Two Towers". Tonight we downloaded some christmas music. Read a little and Steven played some Tiger Woods Golf on the Play Station II. Sounds like JD made it home fine. Sounds like the few days at home are pretty well booked up. Will take a real effort not to completely where Steven out. And the rest of us for that matter. Know you are all anxious to see Steven and Peggy. Just realize they won't be able to go everywhere and see everyone. They have earned a well deserved break and rest. Keep them in your prayers. And Eric and Bridget as well as their big day approaches. Still mulling over in my mind what I want to tell them on that special day.

Need to turn in . Thanks for checking in. Sign the Guestbook please.

Keep Praying. Keep Believing. Need the ANC above 2000 if possible by Wednesday

Love you all,

Lyle and Steven

Saturday, December 21, 2002 at 06:45 PM (CST)

It's.... Saturday Night.

All is going well here, Went to the Medicine room this morning around 10:00 or so. Got the GCSF and lab work done. Counts are on the way up. ANC around 300. Hopefully will not need any blood products tomorrow. Steven is feeling fine. We took a trip to Germantown checked out a Best Buy and A CompUSA store. Steven spent a little time in Best Buy but not much. Drove through Wendy's for lunch. A group of college kids came to the Target house around 4:30 DJ 'd a Dance for the kids. Gave out more Christmas presents. Steven picked up a Nerf football. We sat in the main lobby with the pool table and threw it back and forth some. Steven's working on his spiral. Security guard looked a little nervous but didn't say anything. Put one of the casseroles mom made in the oven for tonight. Last night watched the "Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring" on DVD last night. Steven wanted me to see it so we could go to the 2nd one "Two Towers" tomorrow night if his counts are up. " That way hewouldn't have to be answering alot of Dad's questions and could enjoy the movie.

A couple of quotes from the JR Tolken classics intrigued me. Steven and I are struggling to get these close and know that they are paraphrased. Anyway. One having to do with Frodo expressing regret that the ring ever came to him. Gandalf's reply to the effect that "He had no choice that. It was not his to choose." "He could only choose now how he would live the life he was given". And later another of Gandolfs "Some men live who deserve to die and some men die who deserve to live." We both commented on how they reflect the situation Steven has found himself in. He had no choice in the diagnosis he was given, and the resulting months of difficult treatments rehabilitation and years of followup. He has however with a maturity beyond the young age of 17 chosen to be happy and honor God as he lives the life he has been given. To accept these experiences as a gift to use in a way to Glorify God. Thank you Steven.

Haven't been able to get ahold of anyone at home tonight so they must be on the go. Know the VonSpreckelsen's had Christmas at Aunt Dot's today. Wonder if their was enough to go around?? Ha Ha. Missing you all. But things are still looking good for wednesday's take off. Counts are coming back and flights are confirmed. Will check in on the internet on tuesday and print boarding passes to avoid what Peggy ran into on Friday. Spoke with Justin tonight. He was killing time sitting in a mall with the team. They had to check out at noon and don't play till 8:00. They have a 8 game win streak going. Hope to make it 9 tonight. Said he will get back to campus about 3:00 am. Then he has to hurry and get packed and to the airport for a 7:00 flight to Lincoln via denver. Couple of his buddies from the CC state qualifying team of 2000-2001 are going to pick him up and bring him home. Thanks' Jed, Nate. Justin only has an hour layover in Denver so pray he makes his connections ok. Steven and I haven't decided whether to go to church or not. Still wanting to be a little cautious. ANC below 500 is still considered nuetropenic. (low resistance). See what time he gets up.

Well, supper is ready,

Better sign off and see if steven left me anything.... Nope, He didn't. That's a good thing for both of us.

Keep praying. The Mom of a little girl(11) on the same protocol as Steven was in the medicine room with us today. Amazed that Steven wasn't getting sick. Said that they had taken the 2nd dose of vincristine out of her protocol and still having 3 or 4 episodes of Nausea a day 7days out from transplant. She wasn't complaining. She accepted it as a small price to pay for a cure. They too now over half done with treatment. It again confirms how God has spared Steven so much. And us as well. Thanks for your faithful prayers and notes of encouragement.


Love you all,

Lyle and Steven

Saturday, December 21, 2002 at 06:45 PM (CST)

It's.... Saturday Night.

All is going well here, Went to the Medicine room this morning around 10:00 or so. Got the GCSF and lab work done. Counts are on the way up. ANC around 300. Hopefully will not need any blood products tomorrow. Steven is feeling fine. We took a trip to Germantown checked out a Best Buy and A CompUSA store. Steven spent a little time in Best Buy but not much. Drove through Wendy's for lunch. A group of college kids came to the Target house around 4:30 DJ 'd a Dance for the kids. Gave out more Christmas presents. Steven picked up a Nerf football. We sat in the main lobby with the pool table and threw it back and forth some. Steven's working on his spiral. Security guard looked a little nervous but didn't say anything. Put one of the casseroles mom made in the oven for tonight. Last night watched the "Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring" on DVD last night. Steven wanted me to see it so we could go to the 2nd one "Two Towers" tomorrow night if his counts are up. " That way hewouldn't have to be answering alot of Dad's questions and could enjoy the movie.

A couple of quotes from the JR Tolken classics intrigued me. Steven and I are struggling to get these close and know that they are paraphrased. Anyway. One having to do with Frodo expressing regret that the ring ever came to him. Gandalf's reply to the effect that "He had no choice that. It was not his to choose." "He could only choose now how he would live the life he was given". And later another of Gandolfs "Some men live who deserve to die and some men die who deserve to live." We both commented on how they reflect the situation Steven has found himself in. He had no choice in the diagnosis he was given, and the resulting months of difficult treatments rehabilitation and years of followup. He has however with a maturity beyond the young age of 17 chosen to be happy and honor God as he lives the life he has been given. To accept these experiences as a gift to use in a way to Glorify God. Thank you Steven.

Haven't been able to get ahold of anyone at home tonight so they must be on the go. Know the VonSpreckelsen's had Christmas at Aunt Dot's today. Wonder if their was enough to go around?? Ha Ha. Missing you all. But things are still looking good for wednesday's take off. Counts are coming back and flights are confirmed. Will check in on the internet on tuesday and print boarding passes to avoid what Peggy ran into on Friday. Spoke with Justin tonight. He was killing time sitting in a mall with the team. They had to check out at noon and don't play till 8:00. They have a 8 game win streak going. Hope to make it 9 tonight. Said he will get back to campus about 3:00 am. Then he has to hurry and get packed and to the airport for a 7:00 flight to Lincoln via denver. Couple of his buddies from the CC state qualifying team of 2000-2001 are going to pick him up and bring him home. Thanks' Jed, Nate. Justin only has an hour layover in Denver so pray he makes his connections ok. Steven and I haven't decided whether to go to church or not. Still wanting to be a little cautious. ANC below 500 is still considered nuetropenic. (low resistance). See what time he gets up.

Well, supper is ready,

Better sign off and see if steven left me anything.... Nope, He didn't. That's a good thing for both of us.

Keep praying. The Mom of a little girl(11) on the same protocol as Steven was in the medicine room with us today. Amazed that Steven wasn't getting sick. Said that they had taken the 2nd dose of vincristine out of her protocol and still having 3 or 4 episodes of Nausea a day 7days out from transplant. She wasn't complaining. She accepted it as a small price to pay for a cure. They too now over half done with treatment. It again confirms how God has spared Steven so much. And us as well. Thanks for your faithful prayers and notes of encouragement.


Love you all,

Lyle and Steven

Friday, December 20, 2002 at 12: PM (CST)

Friends,

We're batching it. Mom made it on the plane. Although it was touch and go for a while. Dropped her off about 7:30 for a 8:55 departure. The airport was a zoo. I should have checked her in via the internet I guess. By the time she got her luggage checked. They said she couldn't get a boarding pass as the flight was overbooked. Great!! Then even though authorized she was hassled at everyturn by security because she didn't have a boarding pass trying to get to the gate. She called as Steven and I drove into the hospital fearing that I would have to come pick her up till a later flight around 4:00 as they were boarding her scheduled flight then. I told her to hang in there and I would call her back in 10 minutes. In the mean time I tried to get the NWA on the phone to plead her case. To no avail. Then I tried to call Peggy. No answer. A couple of minutes later the phone rang. A relieved wife and mom called from the plane saying she had gotten on. Talked to her around 11:30 she was in the car with her luggage headed for home. Thank you Lord.

Anyway, Yesterday went well. Steven recieved 2 units of platelets. He ate well and we were back at Target by 4:30. A group of voice students put on a very nice concert at The House and Pizza, Cake and Ice Cream was served. The rest of the evening spent packing and preparing for Peggy's departure and Lyle's instruction. Steven's appetite is coming back. He has found most of the pounds he lost earlier in the week the last couple of days. Almond joy's and Beaf Jerky seem to be the current snack favorites along with Pepsi. This morning Steven's counts show signs of coming back. He is recieving 1 unit of Blood. Red Blood Cells actually. Should be out by 1:30 or so. Takes a couple of hours for each unit. The nurses in thehar medicine room are pretty sharp. Ed, and Ron a couple of guys keep things light and Steven is usually looking for a way to pull Ron's Chain. Ron has relatives in Seward, Says next summer he will be coming through Nebraska. We offered a room. He said that he will honk as he goes by. Luli put him through the paces at PT (physical Therapy). 10 minutes on the treadmill and up and down the stairs.

Mom had a good talk with JD last night. He has several games to play before coming home. Sounded like he was going to suit up last night. Pray those ankles hold up.

5 days and counting. Everything is on schedule.
Pray continued good health for Steven.
Rest for Peggy,
Pray for the wedding couple's final arrangements.
Travel mercies.
And good weather.
And give praise and worship for bringing us this far.

You folks are doing a great job. Thanks for checking in on Steven. Keep signing in on the guestbook.

Keep praying. Keep Believing.

Love,

Lyle and Steven

Oh and JD. better confirm your reservation and get there early. We can check in via internet on Northwest. Don't know about your united flights. Mom was too close to getting bumped.

Thursday, December 19, 2002 at 07:56 AM (CST)

Good morning,

Lots of wild weather around here last night. 4 inches of rain and still coming. Some talk of flooding in neighboring counties. It is unusually warm supposedly to get up to 60 again today. Peggy is really hoping for a snow storm at home while she is there. I don't how she is going to fit that in between flights, christmas's, weddings and return flights. Myself, I hope to get a pheasant hunt or a round of golf in.

Yesterday turned out to be a long day after all. Steven needed a couple of units of blood. His Hemoblobin was 7.7. Whenever it goes below 8.0 he gets blood. Took till about 8:00 p.m. usually a couple of hours per unit. Seems they always take their time about getting things started. ANC at 0 again hopefully the counts will start to recover in the next day or so. Steven has lost a little weight. Trying to find stuff that tastes good. He eats well at the sit down meals just not as much. We just can't find any snacks in between meals that he is interested in. The advice is always to eat smaller amounts more often. Being home for the Holidays will undoubtedly make this easier.

Peggy is busy trying to gather the needed supplies for line flushes and dressing changes she will need at home. She has our menu pretty well lined up. She finally found a pair of shoes for the wedding. I told her she could just where "chucks" too. But, shorty, thinks she needs the heels. I told her we needed to try to remember what little we learned at the half dozen ball room dance lessons we took this past spring. Seems like decades ago. She is fighting a little bit of a cold. She returned to Target yesterday afternoon to try and get a little rest.
while steven and I sat in the Medicine room for the tranfusion.

Today is a big day, lots of tests due to the clinical trial nature of the treatment. They are makeing a real effort to get much of this done to allow Steven those couple extra days at home. Steven has another buddy here now. Brandon met Steven at the Ronald McDonald house. A young man with an 11 month old baby being treated for lukemia. He has a keen outdoors interest. Lives in Virginia and loves to hunt turkeys, Deer and waterfowl. They have really connected and pass alot of time sharing stories and dreams of future excursions. Steven says we are going turkey hunting next spring there. We'll see. That is spring planting season.

Well I we need to get stuff together to go to the Hospital. Start at 9:15 and don't get to the Medicine room until 3:45 so hopefully all he will need is GCSF. Have a great day.

Everything is on schedule. Keep praying. Keep Believing.

Lyle

P.S Thanks for the notes in the guest book.

Wednesday, December 18, 2002 at 08:10 AM (CST)

Hello All,

Missed the update yesterday, Had alot going. Thought maybe Steven would do it while Peggy and I were out celebrating. Also prodded Peggy to get on here and say something nice about me after 25 years. She said no one would believe her anyway. Not really. ;-)

The day began with the usual stuff at the hospital. Assessment/Triage, Then to School with his tutor while waiting for the page to the medicine room. Steven required platelets and the GCSF. Counts are now at 0. Pray for God's protection. It is amazing each of us have fought colds one time or another yet Steven has thus far avoided those. I'm afraid anything of that nature now would require hospitalization for anitbiotics and other meds. My guess is if we can get through a couple of more days his counts should begin to recover. He has been very careful. Wearing his mask whenever he leaves the room and good about washing his hands obsessively. We just keep praying that God puts a hedge around Steven and protects him. As well as seeking wisdom in all we do as we approach the busy Holiday Schedule.

After dropping Steven and Peggy at the Hospital I took the van to a not so local Ford dealership to check out the front end noise. Jeff had had it checked while he used it while we were home for the break after Radiation. All they found then was rear break pads. Anyway they replaced the left front wheel bearings this time and all the tie rod ends. They were very accomodating getting it right in and fixed. Still it took till after 2:00 and $650 to get it out of the shop. By then Peggy and Steven had finished and rode the Shuttle back to the Target House.

I stopped on the way back and got a much needed haircut. The little gal cutting my hair led me into an interesting discussion and opportunity to share my faith. A single Mom of 3 boys wondered how I could be comfortable with my 22 year old son getting married so young. I told her I was married at 20 and today was our 25th aniversary. She commented that having a 2 parent home probably better prepared Eric for the commitment of marriage and to one woman. At which time I expressed to her how important we felt sharing a common faith and Biblical base was for lasting family relationships. It seems daily we are reminded how trying to live by God's word not only prepares us for the next life but spare's us so much heart ache and brings so many lasting blessings in this lifetime.

After returning to Target. Peg and I exchanged gifts. They each at least look partly silver. hint. hint. Then after discussing plans for the evening with Steven, Peggy prepared Steven a tater tot casserole and Peggy and I gussied up for dinner out. I took her to the restaraunt in the Peabody Hotel. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas. We had a nice table and enjoyed the evening dining and visiting. Even got Peggy to share a really devine dessert with me. Then strolled around the Peabody Place Mall. Stopped at Starbucks for coffee and sat on a bench for a bit. Really couldn't have been a more perfect evening if we had planned it. Returned to Target around 10:00 where we found that Steven had spent much of the evening on the phone with Grandma V. and Brother Eric. Good Timing.

Today should be a relatively short day. Tomorrow a long one. Need to get a little more bookwork caught up before the year is over. Know I won't want to mess with it while at home. Steven is up and feeling well. And Peggy is doing her Road work down stairs. She shared with me last night her goal of running in the St. Jude fund raising marithon someday! At 45 that is a lofty goal. She gave up running for walking nearly 20 years ago. Now, however she is jogging up to 4 miles several days a week. You know what? I have lived with this woman for 25 years. I'll take odds she will achieve that goal. Me? I'll probably be waiting at the finish line to be the first to congratulate her. Who knows?

Thanks so much for the guestbook entries. Kathy, Patti, Robyn, Doug, Lori, Cindi and all the others who have been so faithful. You are so encouraging. We will try to reply occasionally. Adam, Kaci, Jordon and all of Steven's friends you don't know how much your notes encourage Steven. Continue to keep Him in your prayers as we commit to keeping you in ours. There is no way we will be able to pull off these next 2 weeks without some divine intervention that's for sure.

God Bless,

And we love you all

Lyle, Peggy and Steven

Monday, December 16, 2002 at 07:21 PM (CST)

All,

Lyle here, arrived without incident around 1:00 about 45 minutes behind schedule. Thanks to Nancy Noyes, aunt Nancy for picking me up and taking me to the airport. I found Steven and Peggy once again playing the waiting game in the medicine room. Steven has plenty of spunk and is feeling awnry inspite of having low counts. Peggy looked gorgeous as always, a sight for sore eyes. I turned around and went right back out to get Steven and I sandwiches from Arbies. Today was an easy day. Steven only had to recieve the GCSF. (marrow stimulant) He will probably need platelets tomorrow. Steven did meet with the Eye doctor that did the Botox injection to Steven's eye and recieved some very good news. She expressed surprise at how well the left eye had responded. Steven is more than two months out from the treatment. This is the doctor who suggested that generally these injections only last about 2 months. Usually requiring a 2nd injection and eventually a surgery to correct the muscle of the eye. She suggested that she will check Steven again in January, but it appears that the eye is healing on it's own and doubts any further treatments will be neccesary. We are thankful and continuing to pray for Steven's complete healing. Two other mom's whose kids are on the same protocol as Steven expressed good wishes and amazement at how good Steven is feeling and doing. Thank you for your consistant and fervent prayers on our behalf. You are doing an amazing work through Jesus. Many express apologetically that they wish they could do more but all they can do is pray. Believe us when we say that is the most you can do. After all you are going before the throne of the Creator of the Universe on Steven's behalf. What a privilege to carry everyithing to God in Prayer. (sounds like an old Hymn).

Peggy had been complaining about a vibration and rumble in the front wheel drive of the van. So she wanted me to drive so I could try and figure it out. Naturally it ran fine for me. They suggested a different route down North Parkway to allow a little faster pace in order to replicate the problem. Wouldn't you know it as soon as I goosed it there was mister Policeman. I was presently pulled over. He asked if I was living out of state. I replied sort of. After noticing Steven' mask he must have believed me. Just like Matt and Steven joked this summer. The St. Jude bracelet even works like a get out of jail free card in Memphis. He wished us a Merry Christmas and sent us on our way. When we arrived at the Target House there was a special Christmas party going on for the kids. Santa was there. Steven made it a point to sit on his lap. Everyone got a chuckle. Weather is nice. in the upper 40's today.

Had a good call from Justin. He is getting anxious counting down the days till he comes home. I think he is more excited than the wedding couple. We have been preparing the kids for a meager christmas in the gift giving department. There has just not been much of an opportunity to do any shopping. And I really don't see any between now and Christmas. No one seems to care. It seems we are all anticipating this Christmas season with more excitement and anticipation than any I remember for a long time. Don't wait for a tragic event in your lives before you can appreciate your time with family and the true gift of Christmas. God's gift of his Son.

Had a lot of time to think today. As a result of my sister in law putting an announcement in the local paper. We have recieved many Cards honoring our 25th anniversary. I have been reflecting some on this 25th year of bliss. Many husbands joke sarcastically about their marriages and their wives. I am serious when I say. Peggy is the absolute best thing that has ever happened to me. Many times I haven't acted like it. Or appreciated her as I should. As I close tonight on the eve of our 25th anniversary I want to publicly thank God for bringing us together and confess my undying love, devotion and admiration for you sweetheart. I had so planned that we would spend this time in some secluded romantic paradise. But now, after these past months I have come to realize that paradise is anywhere that I am, if you are there with me. Thank you for the last 25 wonderful years.

It is ironic that Thanksgiving is past, yet in this post, without effort or intent God has revealed to me just a few of the things I have to be thankful for.

God Bless you all,

Lyle, Peggy and Steven

Miss ya already MJ. Mom will be home soon.

..................................................

Sunday, December 15, 2002 at 10:03 PM (CST)

Good Evening,

Hope that you all had a great day worshiping our Lord and cherishing your time with family. Steven and I watched a church service on TV before going to the hospital. Not quite the same as being there.

We arrived at the hospital around 10:00 this morning. Haven’t seen the medicine room that busy before on a weekend. Played the waiting game today, but what else do we have to do. Steven received his GCSF and we then waited to see how his counts were. They were low as we expected. So we parked in a room to wait for his blood and platelets to show up. Dr. Gajjar was covering the medicine room this weekend, so we had a couple of visits with him. Lyle and Steven had been discussing how they get the mice in a MRI machine, so we asked Dr. Gajjar. He said they have a special MRI machine to use. They have one building here at St. Jude that is just research, it is very important to come up with new treatments for our children with cancer. Well after waiting 3 hours Stevens blood products arrived. We ordered pizza and it arrived quicker than the blood. Steven watched golf and football; I watched the movie “The Rookie” on the computer. I also went upstairs and visited Tammy and Vicki. Tammy is inpatient getting high dose chemo and then will receive her own bone marrow. Shared some pralines that a friend had brought us. Steven also passed the time away by talking on the phone. Clay Center Christian Church was having their annual caroling and soup supper. Lyle called from church and Steven got to visit with several friends and relatives. We left the hospital around 8:00 and came back to Target to eat supper. Dishes are done, trash taken out and should be turning in for the night soon.

Received this story about the “Three Trees”, it really spoke to me.

Have a great week.

God Bless
Peggy


THREE TREES

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were
discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I
hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and
precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and
everyone would see the beauty."

Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will
take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the
world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."

Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and
straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill
and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how
close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time
and people will always remember me."

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a
group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree
he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to
sell the wood to a carpenter" ... and he began cutting it down. The
tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into
a treasure chest.

At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I
should be able to sell it to the shipyard. The second tree was happy
because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened
because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true.

One of the woodsmen said, "I don't need anything special from my tree
so I'll take this one, "and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed
box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay.

This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and
made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and
carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large
pieces and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams. Then one
day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed
the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree.
The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this
manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this
event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the
second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they
were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think
it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping
man, and he stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this
time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through
the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it.

When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in
the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came
to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and
be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going
your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your
trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what
they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always
know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not
our ways, but His ways are always best.

Saturday, December 14, 2002 at 10:34 PM (CST)

Good Evening,

Sorry I didn’t update last night, we were tired and didn’t have a lot to report. The neatest thing that happened yesterday….. I looked out the window around 8:00a.m. And it was snowing. It had rained during the night, but evidently the temps dropped enough. It snowed most of the morning, but the ground was to warm to let it last. It made us feel like being home, God sure can make special moments. Steven had PT and got his GCSF in the medicine room. While at PT, Luli was watching Steven walk and decided that his left foot was not picking up like it should. So we went back that afternoon and they made a cast to use to make a brace for his left leg. Steven of course was disappointed, but also wants what is best for him. It shouldn’t show underneath his jeans. The chemo drug vincristin is the reason for this; they had warned us that this could happen. If he didn’t have another cycle to go they wouldn’t have had to do this. Made a batch of beef stew for supper and froze the extra, so Steven and Lyle can have it while I’m gone.

I got up early and went to the mall, as Penny’s was having a big sale. Found a few bargains and came back around 10:30. We then went to the hospital for his GCSF. His counts are dropping and will probably need blood tomorrow, but was a short stay today. Made spaghetti and meat sauce for lunch and froze the extra for later. We went over to the RMH for supper. The Lauren King ministry was there and I had met them before. They have a wonderful ministry and have been prayer warriors for Steven. They had never met Steven before because he was inpatient. We had supper with friends from the RMH and visited with others. God is truly blessing us while we stay here.

Pray for Lyle as he is fighting a cold. For Michelle to hang in there, I love you MJ. For Eric and Justin as they finish classes. And for Steven to stay healthy while his counts are down.

Again thank you all for your prayers, we continue to be calm and peaceful. I know this could only be from the Lord God. We are so anxious to be home and see family and friends.

God Bless
Peggy

Thursday, December 12, 2002 at 10:56 PM (CST)

Hello everyone,

Well today was an eventful day. I’ll try to give you the low down.

We went to the hospital at 9:30a.m. for assessment/triage. Steven has gained 4 pounds since he left as an inpatient. We are very pleased with this since he is not on TPN, and Steven was very concerned about losing weight. We have found out that if we eat at 2:00 and 8:00, he eats a lot better. After weigh in he spent time with his teacher and then to B Clinic to be checked out by Angela his Nurse Practitioner. She said that he looks very good and that his counts have not started coming down yet. Then on to the medicine room to get his GCSF. We even got in to the medicine room ahead of schedule today. So by 11:30 we were done at the hospital. I needed to go to the Target Store, so Steven decided to go along. We picked up a few things and back to the Target House. We ate a light lunch since Target is serving a meal for Christmas tonight. This is their Christmas Party for all St. Jude families. Steven hung out in the room while I did some laundry and exercise. We then got a call from a volunteer hear at Target for Steven to come down and meet Matt Hoffman. For the last 3 days they have been putting up a half pipe in the parking lot. The Hoffman BMX team is coming to put on a show before the dinner. So Steven and I went down stairs, where Karri and Jennifer took us outside to meet Matt Hoffman. I took Steven’s picture with Matt and he got an autographed T-shirt and some stickers. They chatted for a while and then Matt needed to get ready for the show. Target Stores are one of the sponsors of Team Hoffman. Around 4:30 we went outside and sat on bleachers they had put up with heaters in front and underneath. They also had hot chocolate and apple cider. These guys are not used to performing in the cooler weather, but put on an awesome show. We ate supper with a couple from the RMH that we had met. They have a 6-7 month old baby that also has a medulo. They are from small town Pennsylvania and agreed that we don’t know how lucky we are to live in a small community where you don’t have to lock your doors or listen to sirens all the time. They had presents for all the St. Jude patients and they could also meet and get autographs of the BMXers. Some friends from Louisiana are back for a few days, Jeff & Aundra. They had 2 girls flying in and needed us to take them to the airport to pick them up. So off to the airport and then we dropped them off at the Marriott. We are now back in our room and we will soon be heading to bed.

We are so very thankful to you who continually hold us up in pray. God has been so good to us and we feel his presence all the time. I’ve been reading a book about the singing group Newsboys. They of course sing the song “Shine”. Something I read was really neat. It was talking about how we are to be a light. I want to share with you a little from the book.

This book is called Shine: Make Them Wonder What You’ve Got. There is a reason that “Shine” comes before “Make Them Wonder” in the title. It is a truth we often forget or ignore: We can’t make people wonder about Christ if our light isn’t first shining. We can’t make them wonder what we’ve got if we haven’t got it! So when Christ says, “Let your light shine,” He is saying, in essence, “Remember who the Light is. Let me shine through you.”
Jesus wouldn’t have said we are the light of the world if we couldn’t be the light of the world. The trouble is that we have forgotten what that means – or we never learned it in the first place. We are not just “meant” to be the light. Light is who we are. Jesus didn’t say, “ You can be the light,” but “You are the light.” That means His lights is already inside us. When we remove what’s obstructing His light, nothing in the world can stop it from being seen.
Remember – your life is the message.

Just a little something to ponder.

God Bless
Peggy

Wednesday, December 11, 2002 at 10:05 PM (CST)

Good evening,

Well Lyle is back in NE, so I guess you will have to put up with my updates for a few days.

Took Lyle to the airport around 7:45a.m. It is not fun to have to say goodbye like this. Lyle really hates it. Steven & I watched some of the Today show before going to the hospital. Back to the usual things that go on after having chemo. Assessment triage, then wait to get the counts from the B Clinic. Steven spent time with his tutor and I visited with people and read a magazine. We finally got into the medicine room and back to getting his GCSF. We then came back to Target, where Vicki and Tammy asked us to go eat lunner (lunch and dinner combined) with them since Tammy checks into the hospital tonight and could be inpatient for 2 months. We met up with Linda and Mikey and had an enjoyable time visiting. After we got back to Target, Steven & I went to the exercise room for a while. Ate a light evening meal since we ate a big one this afternoon. Watched some TV and then Lyle and Michelle called. He had a good flight and Michelle is glad to have him home. A pretty uneventful day, but we are doing fine and counting the days until we can all be home together.

God Bless,
Love,
Peggy

Tuesday, December 10, 2002 at 04:17 PM (CST)

Good afternoon,

Updating early as we should be checking out and going to Target 320 by 7:00 7:30. Steven's Stem Cell infusion went very well. No blood pressure problems or anything. Want to thank you all for your continued faithful prayers on his behalf. Also for interceding for the two boys I told you about a couple of days ago.

Just to confirm how effective your prayers are. Both are doing much better. Drake's pain is under control and now off medications. Had his first Radiation treatment today. Donnie is still in intensive care, but his condition has improved markedly. In the past 48 hours he has gone from getting weaker to stable to now seeing improvement. They are now saying they are hopeful for a recovery. His family thanks you for your prayers and asks for continued prayer support.

Peggy went out to do some grocery shopping then will return the van to the Hospital for Steven and I. She will take the shuttle to the Target House to attend a meeting for the residents and prepare Stir fry at Steven's request. Ever since peggy bought her first wok at a home show over 15 years ago, the kids have always enjoyed their veggies. I remember it came with a cookbook "101 ways to wok your dog". I'me sorry that is a poor effort at a bad joke. See why Steven is ready for me to go home for a few days. I think he feels like it's MJ's turn to put up with me for a while. Too bad Lizzie doesn't show up to help bear the pain. Anyway. that's all for now. See some of you soon.

keep praying. Keep believing.

Lyle

Monday, December 09, 2002 at 10:33 PM (CST)

Welcome once again,

Good day here today. Steven had physical therapy and usual visits from dr.s and nutritionists. Nutrionest felt that steven is eating well enough to stay off of the TPN for now. He is a little concerned as he really wants to maintain weight. They assured him he would do fine especially since he wanted to go off before going home for the holidays and the wedding.

Tomorrow is Day 0. Transplant day. Usually a pretty easy day except for the fact that some of the pre-meds mess with the emotions. Steven usually gets a little cranky or sometimes just very emotional. This time we are a little more prepared for it so maybe it won't be as bad. The infusion of the stem cells itself takes only about 30 minutes. They bring the cells to the room and thaw them. The only real noticeable thing is the odor of the preservative. Steven will put this off for a couple of days as it comes out via his breathing. Many complain that it is very offensive. We haven't let it bother us that much. But then we used to raise hogs, ;-). More of a chemical smell really.

Once again we were reminded how prayers are being answered on Steven's behalf. Another family on the same protocol was surprised we were getting to go home. They were told that the Dr.'s were only aware of one patien that ever went home while under treatement. And that they regretted doing so. So really stay on your knees for us. Everyone we run into says so you must be the one that went duck hunting last weekend. His reputation precedes him. All the decorations on the floor are so low from the cieling he has to dodge them on our laps around the floor. Once again most of the kids here are much younger. Matt and Steven are really about the only 6 footers I have seen around here under treatment. Talked with MJ tonight. It is good to here her voice. She seems to think that she can begin to demand" some things from us now since she has had to stay home away from all this fun. "We'll See". She is really a strong girl. My baby girl is turning into a young woman right before my eyes it seems. A beautiful one at that, but fellas you are going to have a tough time by the time you get through me and 3 protective older brothers. I will be home wednesday. I know she is looking forward to sleeping at home as well.

This copied from a friends page has been on my mind alot lately. I remember a message preached by Greg Sweeney several years ago emphasizing "temporary" said very quickly vs "E.....T....E....R....N....A.....L" said very slowly. This situation, Lord willing is very temporary. While we look forward to and prepare for what God has promised for Eternity.

"All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all...So, we fix our eyes not on what is SEEN, but on what is UNSEEN. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is ETERNAL."
2Corinthians 4:15-18

good night all

Keep Praying. Keep Believing.

Lyle

Please sign the guestbook. Steven reads each one. How many of you post is kind a bench mark of sorts to Steven of your concern. Thanks once again for checking in.

Sunday, December 08, 2002 at 08:38 PM (CST)

Friends,

Hope you had good weekend. Things are going according to plan here. Not alot of medical stuff to report. Still needing uniterrupted rest. The Cyclophosphamide is done now. Tomorrow Steven get's a day off. Then the transplant on tuesday. Steven had 4 other teenagers in his room tonight. 4 kids who have only know each other a few weeks. 4 kids who care for each other. 4 kids who "understand. One from Ecuador. One from Tennessee. One from Illinois, and One from Nebraska. They had a good time and really lightened things up. Laughing about stuff only a Cancer Kid would undestand. 4 kids with hardly any hair laughing and relating as if they were normal. "Normal". I was told this week that once your child is diagnosed with cancer you are constantly redefining what "normal" is. Be thankful if you have never been faced with such questions to ponder.

Although a very good day for Steven today. It was not as good for some of the other kid's and parents we have come to know. I had never considered what these kids endure or their families before this experience. Now it seems I have to be careful not to get too involved with the many families here. I tend to connect with the other Brain Tumor(BT) families. Because of our experience and similar treatments. But you also reach out to all of the Cancer kids and their families. Everyone is in the same boat here. Which is in a way therapuetic. It doesn't take long to build trust and relationships with these folks because of your common experience. The genuine concern and care shown for each other is refreshing yet emotionally draining when things don't go well.

Jeff, stopped again today. It was good. We exchanged mutual affections but most of the communication seems to take place without words. Our hearts continue to reach out to them. And in his own way. In the little time he was here he encouraged another family visiting our room just beginning their battle with the same disease that took his son's life.

Forgive me as I ramble and tell of two more kids we pray for and ask you to do the same. The first is Donnie. 10 or 11 year old who finished his treatment a little over a week ago. Has been dealing with complications from the treatment. Kidneys, liver, and now pneumonia. This morning he had cardiac arrest and is currently on ventilators. His grandparents have been his primary care givers. They called his mother today to come. They are giving Donnie 72 hours fearing he is too weak to fight off the complications. Pray for Donnie's miracle and peace for his family.

One other although there are many more. Is Drake. www.caringbridge.org/tx/drakedahn. 6 years old. Same dx as Steven only now staged as a high risk due to additional tumors on the spine and brain etc. Drake is dealing with numerous complications from posterier fossa syndrome, a shunt the similar pressure problems that Steven endured with the meningitis. Drake suffered with a great deal of pain today through scans and such. We could relate it to stevens first two weeks here with the additional surgeries, meningitis and such. As a parent you are so helpless to take the pain away from your child. The fatigue and anxiety become almost unbearable. Pray for Drake, Wade and Katie.

Why do I write this. Not to depress you. To try to help you gain a perspective that I did not have. One that I was totally missing and taking for granted. To encourage you to care. To take action. Raise awareness about Childhood Cancers. 1 in roughly 300 children will be diagnosed with cancer before reaching the age of 20. To encourage you to cherish the day. To appreciate places like ST.Jude and the Ronald McDonald houses treating not just children but their families. Be a volunteer to facilities like these in your areas. Realize that these illnesses require long term support and encouragement to the families and the patients. We are so fortunate to have all of you. Many of these families grieve feeling as if no one cares once the first week or two has passed. It is easier to forget or ignore. I ask that you hold me accountable when our journey is done. To not let me forget about the many families who will have to go where we have been. Pray for a cure. Pray for all the Children. Pray that the families know that God loves them and their kids. And that He sends someone who cares to show them and tell them. Consider letting him use you to be that person.

Thanks for checking in so faithfully. Tommorrow will be cheerier. I promise.


God Bless you all.

Keep Praying, Keep Believing.

Lyle

Saturday, December 07, 2002 at 11:34 AM (CST)

Hello,

Lyle and Steven were having too much fun last night, I guess they forgot to update. I left about 5:30 in the afternoon to go get some rest. Kind of fighting a cold and don’t want it to get the best of me or pass it on to Steven.

They started Steven’s third round yesterday morning about 8:00a.m. He did pretty well until about noon and then he lost the apple he ate for breakfast. Most kids on the protocol are sick all day long. Steven seems to be an exception, as he only got sick twice all day. He slept most of the afternoon and then seemed to get a second wind after I left. Matt, Nancy and Bill Noyes came by and said hi. Matt had gotten his chemo and had a 2-hour wait before they had to draw blood. Steven’s doctor for the weekend is Dr. Mirro and Lyle got to visiting with him and he is the chief of staff of the hospital. Very polite and humble. Told us if we had any questions or concerns to not hesitate to call him.


Well it is Saturday morning and even though I left early to get lots of rest, well you know how that goes sometimes. Was awake about every 2 hours, Steven says that normal when your in the hospital. I do feel better this morning and pray that I will not be contagious. On my way to the hospital this morning, got detained for about 30 minutes at an intersection, due to a marathon. They are having a half and full marathon going on today to raise money for St. Judes. Some people are running to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Anyway it was very interesting to watch the different runners. Some were cancer survivors, young and old, some sported Christmas hats, even saw a guy on a unicycle. One of the ladies that works in the Child Life area with teens was running the full marathon, she said she has been training since this summer. This is the first time this marathon has been associated with St. Judes. Got to the hospital and Steven was eating a bowl of cereal. Has received his chemo for the day and now is the time that we need to make sure he urinates every 2 hours to clear the drugs out of his bladder. He is in good spirits and was playing delta force on the computer. Lyle left to go shower and rest a bit. Matt, Nancy & Bill stopped in to say hi and goodbye. They will leave early in the morning. It was so good to be able to spend some time with them.

Lyle & Steven tried to call Michelle last night but could never get through. Hope she had a good game and that she has fun at the tournament today. We miss you MJ and Dad will be home soon.

Thank you for continued prayers and notes of encouragement. It is very much appreciated and we can see the results.

Have a great weekend.

God Bless
Peggy

Thursday, December 05, 2002 at 11:02 PM (CST)

Friends,

Lots of updates to the addresses and phone info tonight. Be sure to take note. Checked in around 8:00pm to start the premeds and fluids for tomorrows start of Cycle 3 . Some how the orders got messed up and they didn't get the Blood transfusion started till about 11:00 so won't get much sleep tonight. They wanted to boost his HGB a little before hitting him with the chemo. It was around 8.7 which is usually sufficient. However before the high doses of chemo drugs they prefered to have him over 9.0. Steven is doing very well on the protocol. He lost 3 or 4 pounds while off the TPN over Thanksgiving. But has put 2 of those back on since the weekend. It's pretty rare that a patient goes off of TPN on this protocol. We will probably start it up again following the 5 day chemo cycle. As you don't eat a whole lot over those days. If it works out he may go off again while home for Christmas. Got clearance from Target House and the doctors today to take a couple of more days at home if we can make the airline arrangements reasonably. Will work on that tomorrow. Good to hear Michelle's voice tonight. She sounded good. Can't wait to see her again. Her and Steven chatted affectionately? about their favorite? teacher's tonight. So nice when they can agree on something. That's about it. Will try to update a little earlier tomorrow.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. This next month is scheduled pretty tight so will take a little divine intervention to pull everything off. Target House is working out nicely. Hope all is well at home. Cherish the day and the Season. Remember "Wise Men still Adore HIM"!!!

Keep Praying, Keep Believing.

Lyle

Wednesday, December 04, 2002 at 11:19 PM (CST)

I know,

It's getting late. Spent the morning shopping for supplies and groceries. Steven had a day off today. took full advantage. worked on homework for a little while. This afternoon I went back to the RMH and helped a young mom move into our old room with her son and little daughter. She is doing a great job taking care of her kids in a most difficult situation. The Dad has kind of just dropped out. Austin is on the same protocol as Steven. Peggy and I have kind of connected with Tonya and the kids and hope to be able to share Christ's love with them. She had been on the 2nd floor. Which was difficult with Austin in a wheel chair and another little one besides. So hopefully getting them moved to the main floor, closer to the dining and kitchen areas will help till she qualifies for Target.

Got a call from the Noyes. Matt, Bill, and Nancy came over for supper tonight. It was nice to be able to entertain friends in "our own place". After we ate, Peg and Nancy went out for a girls night out. While Steven, I, Matt and his dad Bill met Stan out front and followed him to the FED X facility here in Memphis. No, we weren't expecting any packages. After clearing the neccesary security checks Stan took us to the pilot training facility. Gave us a tour and told some backround and stories. It was interesting. At that point Stan took us to the flight training simulators, the point of the visit. Here they check out and train pilots on any one of several jet cargo planes used by Fed X for the overnight delivery. It was amazing, For the next 3 hours each of us got to fly a DC 10. It was as real as it gets. From basic taxi, level flight, take offs and landings, to engine failures and stall recoveries. The scene was the Memphis area at night. With the bridge lights and highrises and highways. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Stan and his wife are christians whose only son left for college in California. Rather than spend Thanksgiving at home they elected to volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House and help serve the dinner and clean up. It was there that I struck up a conversation with both Stan and his wife while perusing the desert table. Having JD leave for college in San Jose was a common link that led to further conversation and eventually the inquiry and offer for the opportunity in the simulator. Never did I expect to get to fly. Just to ride, learn, and experience the cockpit. Stan went out of his way to make this happen for us and bring some joy and memories to a couple of courageous kids whose lives have had to go on hold while battling cancer. Thanks Stan for your kindness. We will remember tonight for a long time with pictures to prove it.

By the way. Matt's scan's looked great. Praise God.

Tommorrow, Steven goes in for some tests in the morning and then checks in tomorrow night to begin IV fluids preparing for Friday's 3rd Round. Keep us in your prayers. It is important that things go well once again to allow coming home for the wedding and all. Matt and his family will be here till Sunday so will probably see them some more as well. Hope all is well at home. Sounds like it must be chilly. It is December I guess. Has been rainy here and cold for Memphis. The locals are complaining. Jacket weather by Nebraska standards.

Love you all.

Lyle

Still plan on getting pictures up of Steven's latest adventures and background changes for the Christmas Holiday. It may take a couple of days. MJ love you and miss you. Call us if we don't get you. Will post the number for the Hospital Room when we have it. Target 320 is 901 545 0125

Oh yeah, Thanks for checking in. Sign the guestbook and till next time....Keep praying. Keep Believing.

Tuesday, December 03, 2002 at 10:24 PM (CST)

Friends,

Big Day today, Steven had his LP (spinal tap) today. All went well. Results tomorrow. I did a bunch of bookwork only to find that I had an old backup installed on the notebook. Leaving me two options. Do it over if I can get the backup off my home computor OR enter all the old missing entries. Probably do it over. Mostly Grain Sale allocations and Deposits. Oh well, Not a pro at this mobile office stuff yet.

Matt, Nancy and Bill Noyes made it in today. Matt is doing great. Will have confirmation of that after some testing. He is on a different protocal than Steven and is tolerating it well. He is able to take his Oral Chemo at home. He even still has his hair. After packing, orientation at Target we ate out at Hard Rock Cafe with the Noyes and then they helped us unload the van at Target II. A beautiful new facility.

We are the first to ever live in this apartment. Michelle, you will want to play the baby grand in the Music Room donated by Amy Grant. Peggy and STeven are talking about rearranging the furniture already. It will be a more normal existance than Steven has enjoyed for the past 6 mos. Having a room and place of his own. Being able to eat and snack will also help him maintain weight. He is talking about pancakes for breakfast. I may have to run to Kroger for toiletries yet tonight. It is nice that Steven does not have any appointments tomorrow so we can get settled and do the shoppping for the apartment. Many of the free items and paper products were stocked and furnished free at the RMH are now the Target Residents Responsibility.

The opportunity to live here is a blessing we hadn't counted on. We had considered an apartment. But the costs would have been terribly high with minimum 6 months leases. etc. God has once again provided for our needs and abundantly more through his people. Need to help Peggy and get to bed so will be signing off now.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow. I think we will have another neat experience to relay if all goes as planned. Cool that Matt and his dad can be here if this works out.

Love you all,

Hugs to Michelle. Hope you enjoyed another day off of school. Will try to call tomorrow night. Until I get the new address and phone # posted permanantly write this down.

901-545-0125

Apartment 320 Target II

Thanks for Checking in and Please sign the guestbook while your here.

Keep Praying. Keep Believing.

Lyle

Monday, December 02, 2002 at 07:45 PM (CST)

Evening all,

Not alot to report tonight. Just finished an authentic mexican meal prepared by our neighbor's(christopher, thanks for signing his page by the way.)Grandmother, Martha. Lookout Taco Bell !!! Other than that a pretty typical day. Steven spent time with the tutor and Lulie, his physical therapist, triage, and B clinic. Blood Work looks good. He is scheduled for a LP tomorrow. that's a Lumbar Tap. They will continue to do this periodically to monitor CSF fluid for cancer cells. We don't expect any surprises. We got word today that we will be moving tomorrow. It will be in the evening however. Peggy and I have mixed feelings about it. There is such a support system here. Nearly all of the families have a child being treated for some form of cancer. Everyday we meet a new family it seems. Most are still in the first month of diagnosis. I see in their faces the same uncertainty and fear of the unknown that I experienced back in June. It is in many ways hard to believe that 6 months has now passed since we got the news of Steven's tumor. So much has happened since then. We are so thankful to have been accepted into the trial at St. Jude. Fully convinced that God brought us here and that it is the best possible place for Steven. We met today a family from Austin Texas, and one from Orange County, California that just arrived. Stories very similar to ours. You do your best to make the new families feel comfortable in the new surroundings. Most of these families have young children with young siblings. Many with just mom trying to do it alone. It has to be much more difficult for them. We are so blessed and try to help out when possible.

We now will enter new surroundings once again as we leave the RMcHouse for the brand new Target House II(a small 2 bedroom apartment). Steven will really appreciate his own space. I will probably be able to get more done with my computor work when I'me there. And Peggy can rise early and exercise, cook, do laundry and such without worrying about disturbing Steven. The community meals, The special functions put on by ministry groups. The war stories and the genuine concern expressed daily for the families whose kids are currently inpatient or going through tough times will be missed greatly. We will still try to drop in on friends and invite them out for a meal when possible.

Steven is looking forward to spending a couple of days with his friend Matt who will arrive sometime tomorrow for a routine checkup. Pray all goes well. I'me sure they will have to get out on the town some before Steven checks in on Thursday evening for Cycle 3.

Don't know how long it will be till we update again. Steven has Wednesday off so probably won't be alot to report. Love to MJ, make those free throws and JD hope the ankle is better. Eric enjoy these last 26 days. ;-). It has been said after the 28th. You may be right, and you may be happy, but it is doubtful you will be right and happy at the same time??..... Just kidding Bridget, He is a lucky man and I know he can't wait. I know we can't.

Thanks for checking in and faithfully keeping Steven in your prayers. God Bless each of you

Keep Praying, Keep believing,

Lyle

Sunday, December 01, 2002 at 09:37 PM (CST)

Good evening,

Hope all of you had a great weekend. We did. Had a good time with Mom and Dad, Eric and Michelle all down. They left early this morning and called around 8:00 to let us know they got home safely. I know you are all wondering about the big hunt.

Well it went off very well. Will try to get the pictures up sometime this week. It was really neat to be outdoors. Steven thoroughly enjoyed it. Did tire him some but that's OK. During a break in the action I said man, it's a beautiful day. Isn't it good to be outdoors again. Steven answered "yeah, I almost feel normal today Dad." Thanks so much, Jeff, Bubba and Bruce for the opportunity. It was such a good day. God even blessed them with some ducks to shoot at. The group bagged a dozen or so and missed at least that many more. Our lunch was great. Steven will have to explain eating "Road Kill with Bubba" Yes, it's true. and his name is Bubba. The whole day was a success. All of the guys in the blind today were wonderful men of faith that loved the outdoors and doing a great job of combining the two. If you are into this sort of thing you can't do better than “Twin Rivers Guide Service “in Ripley, TN

Today was spent going to Lindenwood for WOW worship. Resting up. Making new friends. Dinner furnished by "Salt and Pepper", three men from Alabama with a very effective prayer and encouragement ministry with a heart for evanglism.

Steven, has had 4 days now without a visit to the Hospital. It's been a nice break. Tomorrow though we get back into the routine. A spinal tap sometime this week. Move to target house II on Tuesday. Then check in on Thursday for Cycle 3. Pray that all goes well with no infections or fevers and that Everything for the wedding comes together with no complications. It was great to have Eric and Bridget here over thanksgiving. They are a neat couple. I know God has great things in store for them. Sorry Eric, but I still think the short hair looks really good.

Saying goodbye to Mom and Dad and especially Michelle was really hard once again. I know we miss her as much as she misses us. She is being such a trooper. There won't be many more goodbyes now, Lord willing. Pray for her and Justin as well, being away from the rest of us. Christmas will be such a great time.

Thanks for faithfully checking in.

Keep Praying, Keep Believing,

Lyle

Friday, November 29, 2002 at 08:08 PM (CST)

Good Evening,

Well, the Husker losses are getting easier to accept. But the good news is the rest of the day went very well. Had a very nice Thanksgiving yesterday with Turkey and all the trimmings. Played games in the evening. Said goodbye to the Studnicka's about 8:00.

Today:
First off. My wife has taken up jogging this fall. 10 years ago I tried to get her to jog, but her knees couldn't take it. Now she does 3 miles. I got up to go with her. Asked her if she remembered CPR she said she wasn't sure but it would be OK cause she knew my Life insurance was paid up ;-). Anyway, Kept up for the first mile or so then I walked a couple of laps while she jogged on. But I did survive.

Huge number of volunteers showed up to decorate for Christmas today with trees, wreaths, garland and such. Grandpa, Eric, Merle, Steven and I went to Bass Pro Shop, ate lunch at subway, visited the St. Jude pavilion and returned to RMH to watch the Huskers while the girls went to Wolf Chase Mall. Played Cards and ate Pizza for Supper. Turning in early because Steven and I are heading out to the Duck Blind tomorrow at 3:00 am. ???? Ducks fly in the DarK?? Steven is pretty excited first time since May he is getting out in the field. Jeff Martin, with Twin Rivers Guide Service has set him up with new camo and access to a new shotgun for the day. I am going along to take pictures. Sounds like it will be alot of fun whether the ducks fly or not. Thanks Jeff.

MJ and the rest will be going to the zoo if the weather is nice. Steven has really felt good the past couple of days. No hospital visits all weekend. Will return monday and then Check in for cycle 3 on Thursday. Praying it goes well so we have no problems returning for the wedding.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. The next few weeks will pass quickly with all that is going on. Thanks for checking in. Please sign the guestbook.

Our next door neighbors covet your prayers as well. Just setting up their page tonight. Surprise them with a few guestbook entries. Say Hi to Christopher at www.caringbridge.org/tx/christophermh or Click Here

Keep praying. Keep Believing.

Lyle

Thursday, November 28, 2002 at 11:48 AM (CST)

Good Thanksgiving morning,

Sorry about the lack of update yesterday. I know many of you check this site daily. And I will try to make it worth your while. Hope all of you are enjoying your holiday with family and friends. And taking time to count your blessings.

Michelle, Grandma, Grandpa, Merle and I met Eric at the Rockport exit on I 29 about 3:30 on Wednesday. We headed south in the Scot and Robyn's new suburban they so graciously loaned us for the trip. We arrived in Memphis about 1:30 am. Got Mom and Dad in the motel and then went to the RMH to catch a few winks. But not before making sure Steven knew we were here. He is still pretty ticklish and took it pretty well.

The next morning I went with Peggy and Steven to the Hospital for the appointments and time with the tutor. Visited with Dr. Gajjar about the results of the recent MRI's. And got cleared for the weekend. This morning I believe is the first day since He returned on the 25th of September that Steven didn't have to go to the Hospital for blood work, Medicines or appointments. He gets the whole weekend off. His counts are doing well even his Hemoglobin (HGB) was up showing that his bone marrow is working well. The Dr.'s commented that he was feeling too good and that we needed to get him back into the Hospital to knock him down again. Such is the life of a cancer patient.

Bridget and Brandice arrived after lunch. Great to see them. They will be here till Thursday evening. Bridget has to return to Tuscaloosa tonight in order to leave for Wake Forest on Friday morning for potentially the last volleyball game of her stellar career. Last night. We played a few hands of pitch (studnicka rules) before 7 of us went to the Grizzlies vs. Sonics NBA game last night. This was probably the highlight of Merle's year. Now an avid Griz fan. The hometown team shot lights out and took Eric's Sonics down handily 117 to 99. It was a great time. Thank you much Tom Penn and the Grizzlies Organization for making this possible.

Today the Meat is being prepared for the RMH residents. And the Residents are making carry in dishes and deserts for what will surely be a huge Thanksgiving meal. It will be a special time for us here. Wish you could all have joined us. Thinking especially of Scot and Robyn, Jesse and Bethany, Justin, Ed, Judy, Adam, Tina and Grandpa B. back at home today. Along with all of Peggy's Family on the other side. The Holidays have always been special times for our families. This one will be as well.

What do families with Cancer Kids have to be Thankful for? Well.....

We are thankful for this place. The RMH, All the staff Drs. and Nurses at St. Jude, LeBonheur, and Children's Hospital of Omaha, Dr. Johnson at home for pushing to get this diagnosed.

We are thankful for family, friends, our Church, our community for the support and love shown. For all the special people we have met here. For those who gave us financial help without us ever asking. Those that have made this an experience to remember. So many good times along with the difficult ones.

People like the Noyes, Dorschels, Charltons, Jacksons, and so many more. All of you that did things without being thanked or recognized back home to allow me to be with my wife and Son. Scot, Robyn, Merle, all my Aunts and Uncles and Church family. Gary, Rich, (Leroy) and so many more I don't have room or time to mention.

And we are Thankful to our Heavenly Father that he loved us so much to allow HIS SON to endure the cross so that we can claim the promise of a time and place where there will be no more sickness, sadness or pain. Where we can all be together forever in HIS Glorious presence. Our greatest desire is to see each of you there in that glorious day.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving

From all of us in Memphis.

Love,

Lyle and the Gang

P.S. Remember!!

CANCER CAN NOT. . .

Cancer is so limited.....
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot invade the soul.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the spirit.
It cannot lessen the power of
the RESURRECTION!

Author unknown

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 09:36 PM (CST)

Good Evening,

Woke up to what Memphis thinks is a cold morning. It was 39 degrees at 6:30 as we left for the hospital. Steven had a MRI of the brain early this morning. We know that to those of you in Nebraska this is not very cold, as Lyle said the high yesterday was 19 degrees. After Steven’s MRI we had 30 minutes before assessment/triage. Then he spent time with the tutor. They have been working on Algebra II. Steven’s counts are still doing well. His hemoglobin is still hovering around 8.0. We were back to the RMH by 11:00. One of the shorter days in a long time. Did some laundry and ate some lunch. Then Jeff Martin from Twin Rivers Guide Service stopped by. We met him this summer at a sports show. He brought Steven some camo clothing. Steven gets to rise up early on Saturday and go north of here to hunt some ducks. Jeff has a blind complete with heat, kitchen and bathroom. Needless to say Steven is very excited. We have a couple of appointments at the hospital tomorrow and then off until Monday, December 2nd.

Lyle called around 6:00p.m. And they were somewhere around Kansas City. They are all coming down in his brother Scots Suburban. If all goes well they should be here around 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning. We are very anxious to have family here for a few days.

Hope you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving. Praying for safety for all of those that will be traveling.

Seems we don’t have a lot to say, but maybe when Lyle gets here he can take over with the updates. He does such a good job of explaining all the details.

God bless,
Love,
Peggy

Monday, November 25, 2002 at 10:19 PM (CST)

Good Evening,

What a day we have had. Went to the hospital at 8:45. The usual … Assessment/Triage … B Clinic … Medicine Room … Tutor … Physical Therapy. The good thing is Steven’s counts are up and he is done with his GCSF until after the next Chemo. He may need a unit of blood yet as it is hovering around 8.0. While we were in the medicine room the line nurse took out his two stitches from his line. They want them to stay in for 6 – 8 weeks. We also met with his nutritionist after lunch and we decided to try without TPN for a week. Steven has been eating fairly well and with Thanksgiving and company coming is a good time to try. Steven was to get a MRI of the spine at 2:45, but they were running late and then the one machine was not working right. We left the hospital around 5:30. Was a long afternoon and you get very stiff sitting all the time. I try to get up and wander now and then. We then went to the Target House for a Thanksgiving meal. They had a meal catered in and the RMH was invited. They served the meal in the new dining room in Target II. We also got to tour the new Target House. It is very impressive and hard to believe how they get so many people and organizations to donate to this. We visited with the manager of the Target Houses and she felt that it would be in our best interest to move next Tuesday. That way we can move directly into Target II. We were a little disappointed but are just grateful that we finally have a date.

Pray for our family, as they will be traveling in the next 2 days.

Thank God for all he truly has blessed us with. Our families, friends, faith, love, health and wealth. We seem to take so much for granted.

I was reading in a book that my sister Patti gave me. We need to praise God in all things, at all times. He is God. Psalms 91:1-2 says … He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!”

We must always look for the good and not dwell and the bad.

God Bless
Love,
Peggy

Sunday, November 24, 2002 at 09:43 PM (CST)

My turn tonight, Sent some of you an e-mail. Tonights post is mostly an excerpt of that. largely a summary of the past weeks events and preview of the coming week. Thanks for Checking in and please sign the Guestbook while you are here.

Since Steven was released on November 13th, He has not been re admitted and his blood work shows remarkable improvement in his counts already on the 23rd. Only day +11. For those interested. the "Counts" link on the web page tracks his daily blood work and has links to further explain his protocol and the drugs involved. Thus far he as avoided the potential mouth sores, bone pain, leg soreness and rectal pain some of which Steven experienced with the first cycle. "Thank you Jesus!!" Since he has avoided fevers this cycle and his immune system is recovering rapidly he was able to take advantage of the opportunity to go the Washington Wizards Vs. Memphis Grizzlies NBA game last night. Steven relayed It was exciting to see the infamous Michael Jordan go down in defeat to the Grizzlies. Their first win of the season.

Pray for Justin stuck in California It is tough enough to be missing out on the family get together and Holidays. He was supposed to be playing in a tournament this weekend. He had just about recovered from a nagging ankle sprain and beginning to get some more significant playing time. Then Friday in practice he suffered a severe sprain of the other ankle in spite of wearing braces. Severe swelling and bruising will prevent x-rays till Wednesday. We pray that it is only a sprain and that God grants JD Grace and Peace this next week. He is faithful to provide all your needs, JD. Love you lots. The wedding is just around the corner. See you then.

Some of the necessary mid treatment scans and tests have been scheduled for early next week. Freeing Steven up for a long weekend. We hope that only daily blood work and no transfusions or platelets are neccesary. These can take up 4 to 6 hours to accomplish. He is relieved that he has completed the semester in a couple of his Classes taking some of the pressure off or a few weeks on his homework.

Eric, MJ, and I are planning on going down possibly on Tuesday afternoon. With Mom, Dad, and Merle to follow. Bridget and Brandice (future daughter in law and her sister) will meet us there as well. Steven is excited to have allot of people down and we are so thankful that He is feeling up to the company for the Thanksgiving Holiday and feeling so well. They are still hopeful to get moved to the Target House early next week. And have their own apartment and kitchen. Peggy is busy packing this evening fairly confident that they will be making the move to the Target House tomorrow. Sounds as though they have a big schedule tomorrow. starting fairly early and not finishing till 5:45 in the afternoon. If they try to do a move on top of that they will be pretty exhausted. by the time they hit the sack on Monday Night.

Steven will go in patient on the 5th of December to begin Cycle 3 on Dec. 6 and hopefully out patient by the 10th or 11th. We continue to pray that all goes well for this cycle. As Peggy has a flight home on the 20th of December with Lyle and Steven to follow on the afternoon of the 25th. The wedding on the 28th and then Peggy and Steven return to Memphis on the 30th prior to the last cycle starting on the 3rd of January. Not really sure what the rush to get them back was about. More testing I imagine. Something to do with no more than 7 days absence to remain qualified for the housing assistance as well.

Thanks for all the acts of kindness, and concern. Especially for your prayers. I was challenged today to fast, as well, by a guest speaker from CSF at our Church.

Love you all,

Keep Praying, Keep Believing,

Lyle,
for Steven and Peggy

And thanks for signing in.

Saturday, November 23, 2002 at 10:46 PM (CST)

Hello,

Yes we are still in Memphis and things are going great. We have been busy and I have been too tired to update the last couple of nights.

Thursday, Steven had a hearing test, which showed his hearing has not changed. Also had a pulmonary test, which showed everything was ok. He spent time with his tutor and then a quick check by the nurse practitionar. We then had a visit with Dr. Gajjar and off to the medicine room. Steven needed blood again even though he had had two units on Wed. Steven decided to try only one unit so we wouldn’t have to stay so long. We arrived back at the RMH late afternoon. I went to West Memphis to get a few groceries. The Germantown Church of Christ was serving supper. We met up with Linda our neighbor that was packing up to leave. She had her granddaughter with her and I offered to watch her while she finished cleaning up. Brianna is 9 months old and a real cutie. We played with toys and then she took a nap while I held her. We exchanged addresses with Linda and Mikey. We also exchanged addresses with a family from Virginia. They have a 9-month old girl who has leukemia. She started her treatment her and will be able to continue with a St. Jude affiliate in Virginia. Brandon would like for Steven to come and go turkey hunting with him sometime.

Friday Steven had an Audio Brain Response test done. They put electrodes on his head and do some kind of test that has to do with his hearing. We had some free time and then off to the medicine room for platelets. Friday evening we went to the Target House to have supper with Vicki and Tammy, some friends we made this summer. We played a game of Risk and had a fun evening.

Today we slept a little bit later than usual. Did some laundry and then to the medicine room to get his GCSF. Then we checked with the nurse to see what his counts were. They have started coming up. His ANC is up to 700, so we were very happy with that. Had some lunch and put clean sheets on the beds. I then left Steven and went to the mall for the afternoon. Got a hair cut and tried to find some shoes for the wedding. Have a hard time finding something dressy but yet comfortable. Steven played Playstation while I was gone. Didn’t seem to miss me too much. We ate supper and then went to the Grizzlies vs. Wizards. Didn’t have real good sets, but was fun. The Grizzlies finally won a game this season. Michael Jordan plays for the Wizards, as does Tyronn Lue (a former Husker basketball player).

Steven is feeling well and very happy that his has been out of the hospital for so long. No fevers or infections are a very good thing. Thank so much for your prayers.

We a pretty sure we will be moving to the Target House the first of next week. We had a message from Patient Services on Friday, but by the time we got out of the medicine room, the office was closed. We will wait and see come Monday.

Have a great Sunday worshiping and spending time with family and friends.

God Bless
Love,
Peggy

Wednesday, November 20, 2002 at 09:59 PM (CST)

Good Evening,

Hope that everyone had a good day. We missed out on a beautiful day here in Memphis. We came to the hospital around 8:15 a.m. Steven had to have and echo/EKG. Then on to assessment triage, he then spent time with his tutor. At 10:30 Steven had a hearing test done, back to the tutor until they were ready for us in the medicine room. Steven had to have 2 units of blood, 2 units of platelets and his GCSF all done today. We got into a room at about 12:00 noon. I had visited with his Nurse Practitioner about him not getting pre meds. They usually give him Benadryl through his IV and it makes him very sleepy. They do this because sometimes they can have a reaction to the blood or platelets. His NP said they we could try it today and see how he got along. Well it is now after 8:00 p.m. and we are still in the medicine room. Shouldn’t be too much longer and back to the RMH. When we found out we would be here all afternoon, I made a quick dash to the RMH to get the computer and some DVDs to pass the time away. Steven has had no reactions, so hopefully this means he won’t have to get pre meds anymore. Our neighbors at the RMH, Mikey & Linda stopped by the medicine room this afternoon to give us addresses and phone numbers. Mikey is done with his treatments and they are releasing him. They will leave tomorrow. Will be back for check ups around December 3rd. We will miss having them around, but glad he’s doing so well.

Well made it back to the RMH. Steven took a bath and I changed his dressing. Started his TPN and then went out and did my chore for the day. Boy all this activity can wear a person out. Seriously we are just thankful to be here. Praise God Steven has not run a fever and he is feeling well.

Please remember the Charltons tomorrow as they lay their sweet Robert to rest. We were truly blessed to get to know him and his family. They have been an inspiration to us.

Steven has more tests tomorrow and we have to get up early so we are off to bed.

God Bless
Love,
Peggy

Tuesday, November 19, 2002 at 10:17 PM (CST)

Good Evening,

We’ve had a pretty easy day. Went to the hospital around 10:00 a.m. Had is blood drawn, weight, temp., etc. Then he did some math with his tutor. We then went to the medicine room for his GCSF. Went to B Clinic to get his counts and then back to the RMH around 12:30. No blood or platelets today. We like it when we have some shorter days. Steven did some studies and just relaxed most of the day. I did some laundry and met some new families. Steven is being very careful right now to avoid to many people. He stayed in the room all day except to eat. He would really like to stay out of the hospital if at all possible. I’ve been trying to keep the bathroom and sink as clean as possible to avoid any germs. One nurse told me to act like a person who has that disease where nothing can be clean enough. The Target House is having an open house tomorrow to dedicate the new building that will open in December. They had a very nice article about the Target House in the local newspaper today. I’m going to send it back to Lyle. Maybe he can make copies or post it somewhere where people can read about it. For those of you that don’t know the Target House is for families that will be getting treatments for 90 days or longer. It is like an apartment building. The rooms have 2 bedrooms, a combination kitchen/dining room and living room. The Target Stores support them as well as celebrities. Scott Hamilton, Tiger Woods and Amy Grant to name a few. They have just built a second one that will open in December. Well Steven & I have to be to the hospital around 8:15 in the morning, so we better say so long and get in bed.

God Bless
Love,
Peggy

Monday, November 18, 2002 at 10:29 PM (CST)

Good evening,

Lyle got left yesterday morning around 10:00 a.m. He was dragging his feet as usual. Patti, Steven & I attended a church service here in the chapel. A Baptist Church from Mississippi had a worship service and then fed us at noon. Went to the hospital around 12:45 and Steven’s counts were holding so all he had to get was his GCSF. Took a little nap and then Patti and I played scrabble. Another group served us a meal in the evening. Steven played a game of scrabble with us in the evening and beat us. We then headed to bed.

Monday morning we dropped Steven off at the hospital around 9:15 and I then took Patti to the airport. It was so nice of her to take time away from her family and come down. We really enjoyed the time with her. Steven needed blood today so we came back to the RMH for an hour until a room opened up in the medicine room. We then hung out in the medicine room until 8:00 tonight. By the time they give him his GCSF which takes ½ hour, then pre meds take ½ hour, then blood 2 hours per unit and he got 2 units. He also got his second dose of vincristin. Back to the RMH to do my chores for the day and change Stevens’ dressing on his line. We are both very tired.

We still don’t know for sure when we will move, but Rod said should be yet this week. We will not hold our breath and just be happy with what ever happens. Seems quiet in here without Lyle or Patti. Talked to Michelle and Lyle tonight and she is thrilled to be back in her own bed. She sounded very happy. So glad she is adjusting so well. I’m very proud of our girl.

Continue to pray for no fevers.

Pray for Justin as he takes his 1st quarter tests.

Pray that time goes by quickly until our family is together again.

Thank God for how he takes care of our needs and gives us new strength each day.

God Bless
Love,
Peggy

Saturday, November 16, 2002 at 03:27 PM (CST)

Friends,

Missed updating last night. Caringbridge server was down when
Steven and I returned from the Grizzlies vs. Timberwolves game thanks to the asst. manager of the Grizzlies organization for getting us really good seats. By then it was time to turn in. The Grizzlies Organization are big supporters of St.Jude. Tom Penn and Shane Battier met Steven at the Hospital one day and gave him his card.

Stevens blood work continues to stay a little above last cycle at the same time. probably do to the large doses of GCSF he had recieved prior to stem cell harvest. He is still feeling pretty good. Hope we aren't taking too many risks as his immune system will probably bottom out in a day or two. While his counts are good we feel like it helps Stevens spirits alot to get out and enjoy some special activities not available at home.The only other risk is the envy of his siblings. Steven wears a mask at all times when out of the room as a precaution and is harped on continually to wash his hands, as are we. Steven has not required any Blood products yet this cycle, but will probably get a transfusion tomorrow. So far has only had to get the GCSF at the medicine room, which is nice, vs. 4 or 5 hours when tranfusions or platelets are required.

Patti arrived on Friday. An aquaintance I met when I flew down last trip gave me a card and offered any assistance we might need while in Memphis. Works with the Perkins restaraunt franchise. His wife Dorene has called several times asking if there was anything we could use. Well, we took them up on the offer and they, without ever having met Peggy or Steven, have graciously opened their home to Patti while she is here. I am planning on driving home on Sunday afternoon for a few days. Michelle and Eric are driving(sorry MJ air is really expensive over the holidays)down the following week for Thanksgiving and sounds like Ed and Judy may be down the weekend before.

Doug conjured up pleasant memories of past November weekends in the hills of Pine ridge. Steven, Each of the kids for that matter, and I have spent some memorable times pursuing the white tails and muley's following most years harvest. A tradition started well over 30 years ago by my Dad. We are looking forward to many more fall weekends like that in the future. Sounded like Scot, MJ, and her cousins may have been hunting locally today. The poor Huskers are having a season to forget aren't they. Oh well I guess we can take one of these every 41 years or so.

I always struggle when it's time to leave. When is it time? There are always reasons to stay and to go. But, it is getting easier as we can now see the end. 2 Chemo treatments down and 2 to go. And Steven is still strong as ever. Peggy and He have got a great routine and relationship going. Plugging away a day at a time. Laughing at each other along the way. That is, when I'me not here to poke fun at. So I'll get out of the way awhile spend some time with my little girl. Get some FSA, Payroll and Tax bookwork out of the way. Maybe ride a tractor for a day or two. And give Peggy one less person to worry about cleaning up after.

Still no word on Target House. We had really hoped to move in before the weekend. Will now be Monday at the earliest. They are preparing to move everyone from target I to Target II. As they will renovate Target I before reopening it. Problem is that there are 3 less units in Target I. That is the explanation for not wanting to move us at this point. Our only fear is that too many delays will put us inside the 90 days remaining treatment, window and disqualify us for the facility. What ever will be will be.

Thanks for your cards, prayers and calls. Keep Steven in you prayers that he be protected from infections and fevers. His is resting very well right now. I always offer to wake him up a couple of times just to keep him on his toes but he declines the offer. Love you all.

Keep Praying Keep Believing,

Lyle

Always meeting new families and their kids. Pray that they all get their miracles. Thy will be done.

Again, appreciate any and all guestbook entries. Pass the word. www.caringbridge.org/ne/steven

Thursday, November 14, 2002 at 10:02 PM (CST)

Day +2 Cycle 2

Hey,

Had a nice birthday with Peg, and Steven. All slept in. Steven slept all night only up once and finally a little after 10:00 he got out of bed. He deserved that and fully enjoyed uninterupted Sleep. I let them go to the Hospital and I stayed here and tried to do some bookwork. Semiproductive time. Slooowwwwww Internet is frustrating and not finding much of any solution. Maybe target house will have more options. Anyway. Steven felt good today. Only had a short visit to the medicine room for GCSF. That will continue now as his ANC will decline rapidly. Once his counts recover above 2000 two days in a row they will discontinue the "G". Recieving a lower dose this cycle since his stem cell harvest is done. Hopefully this will result much less or prayerfully none of the Bone and Leg pain he suffered last cycle. HGB started down a little. If below 8 he will recieve Whole Blood tomorrow.

Tonight they took me out to supper to Isaac Hayes Restaraunt. Steven and I both had the ribs. The waitress pointed out that the MINN Timberwolves Basketball team was eating there tonight. Steven did get Kevin Garnett's autograph. The waitress had comunicated it would be OK for Steven to meet him. Steven was not impressed by his personality or lack of congeniality. Oh well. Still kind of a thrill. And he learned how not to act once he is "Rich and Famous".

Learned of the 3rd BT kid we are aware of under treatment from Nebraska on Jared's websight(www.caringbridge.org/ne/jared). Sheila from Hildreth. www.caringbridg.org/ne/sheila. Pay both of them a visit.

Returned back to RMH got some appreciated BDAY calls from MJ, JD, and George. He cracks me up. Mom and Dad in Branson for a few days. Hope they relax and enjoy. Also visited with Jeff (Robert's Dad) today. Keep them in your prayers as well.

Trying to get through to Eric. But he and Bridget's lines are busy and probably will be well into the night. Give me a call bud. need to talk about Thanksgiving.

Anyway. back to the Hospital in the morning. Triage, Medicine room and time with the Tutor.

Continue to pray for no fevers. We would enjoy a long break from inpatient.

Leave a note in the guestbook. And if you didn't get blue mooned you'll have to go to yesterday's entry in the history.

Love

Lyle, Peggy, and Steven

Keep Praying, Keep Believing.

Wednesday, November 13, 2002 at 06:57 PM (CST)

Welcome,

Day +1 cycle 2,
We're checked out and making like vegetables in our room at the RMH. Got out about 10:30. Peg and I went to Walmart across the river. Steven, did some homework, watched TV, put a puzzle together and hung out with Mikey another BT teen from across the hall that will be going home soon. Can't believe he didn't take a nap. Barring anymore unforseen misunderstandings it sounds like we will be getting an apartment at the "Target House". A small 2 bedroom apartment furnished again for families under treatment at St. Jude. TARGET stores, Amy Grant, Scott Hamilton, Tiger Woods and other celebreties are big supporters. Many of which are supposed to be on hand next week for the Grand Opening of a New Expansion. Steven is hoping to be there for the event. Timing is right during his lowest counts however so we will see.

Pizza party for the Nov birthdays in the cafeteria tonight. Steven managed to put down a couple of slices. Sometimes he feels like he may be getting an appetite back. Mostly he eats only because he knows he has to. The TPN(line nutrition is supplying 50% of his requirements. This is adjusted according to how he is eating. It's kind of, it's better to eat but if not, it is better to keep the weight and strength up, and when you use TPN to assure that, you don't have much of an appetite so you don't really feel like eating. Try to say that 10 times.

Expecting Patti, in on Friday through Sunday, I have very tentative plans to return home Sunday as well. We'll see how things go. So good to sit here and laugh with Steven at stupid TV shows and such. I forget what a cutup he can be. For a message from Steven click here at your own risk.

His counts should be good yet tomorrow before dropping rapidly for about a week and then returning to normal by day +14 the 26th. Which works out well for Thanksgiving, and 28 days later for Christmas and the wedding.

Once again thanks for checking in and for all the encouraging posts to the guestbook. Keep em comming.

God Bless,

Lyle

P.S. Oh yeah, Keep Praying! Keep Believing!

Tuesday, November 12, 2002 at 10:40 PM (CST)

Friends,

Day 0 Cycle 2 Thanks for checking in. Steven recieved his cells today. He did extremely well once again. The stem cells this time were ones harvested from his blood (peripheral stem cells)rather than from his bone marrow. Dr. Gajjar suggests that his counts may recover a day or two ealier this time as a result. Once again we had super nurses today. The only disapointment today was the fact that somehow the orders didn't get written for restarting Steven's TPN (line nutrition) last night. So they had to wait till tonight. That required an overnight stay to monitor blood sugar levels. Everyone apologized all over themselves but that didn't make Steven feel any better. He so desires an uninterupted nights sleep. Dr. Cunningham offered to take 30 lashes. Being from Ireland he is a Notre Dame fan. The punishment subscribed was to wear Red the next time the Irish play the Huskers.

Met another family today. roughly 4 weeks behind Steven in their treatment. This is their first cycle. The Dad was suffering from some of the same anxiety as we felt. Tried to comfort them from our experience as others have done for us. You really can't understand all of the emotions and thoughts that run through a parents mind until you have experienced it. In a perverted sort of way it is a gift. I now have the opportunity to empathize with others who have or will go down this path. While sharing our experience we pray for the opportunity to share our faith as well.

They promised an early release tomorrow. Needless to say we aren't holding our breath. But, Steven is tieing the sheets together from my cot as I finish this. So I expect one way or the other He is outa here tomorrow.

Pray for a nice break and no fevers. Although they are pretty common about a week following transplant. All in all Steven is feeling good and looking good. We are thankful for that. Steven will recieve GCSF tomorrow and then vincristine in 5 days and scans the end of the month. We continue to pray that those remain clear. Counts page now has links to some of the medications. Simply click on the names if interested. More to follow.

MJ, it was really good talking to you. Your cheerful voice really lifted all our spirits. Eric enjoyed our visit as well. Hope to chat with JD later. First game was tonight.

Thanks again for checking in. Steven really, really apprecitates the guestbook entries and the e-mails. Keep them coming. Tonight he shared with me how much he misses all his friends back home at school. It's hard.

Well, enough for tonight. Keep Praying, Keep Believing,

God Bless

Lyle

Monday, November 11, 2002 at 11:21 PM (CST)

Tonight,

I sit in the dark, thankful. Steven is resting peacefully after a pretty easy day. He gets his cells back completeing the treatment portion of cycle 2. God spoke to us today in many ways. Mostly through others. One parent from Nassau, in broken English, told the story of how prayer alone accomplished getting him and his daughter on the steps of St. Jude at 11:00 pm. one night in January I believe. And accepted into a new trial for AML lukemia patients. She recieved her transplant a few days ago.

After Peggy left for the night, Our night nurse asked me how did we get such a wonderful son. "Every nurse", she said, "I mean every nurse comments that they are so lucky to get Steven on their shift. He is so nice, so happy, so cooperative." Joyful is the word she was looking for. In spite of everything. Then she asks "are his brothers like that". I explained that they both were preparing for various forms of full time christan service and that his Sister was just as sweet, as I broke down in tears. We are sooo blessed.

This morning I read Kevin's article about faith without strings in last weeks "Priority" refering to Daniel 3:15-18. Then tonight read Jeff and Kathy C.'s websight for their son Robert. Again, We are sooo blessed. To have met the Charltons, and others like them. To see again others, demonstrate unshakeable faith.

So tonight, I go to bed at peace, grateful for a loving family and a loving God. A peace that trancsends understanding. For HE is faithful.

Keep Praying, Keep Believing, Trust only in Jesus,

Lyle

Sunday, November 10, 2002 at 08:22 PM (CST)

Good evening,

We had a pretty good day. Steven's lasic prediction was right on. Was pretty busy through the night. That is not all bad as the cyclophosphamide needs to be cleared to prevent bladder damage. Today Steven's Chemo was done by 9:30. He spent most of the day sitting on the couch. playing computor games and watching TV. We had our own little worship time in the room. With some praise music mp3's stored on the computor, communion and prayer. Steven didn't take a nap so he should sleep pretty good tonight in between interuptions. Right now it appears he will get along without the lasics. But still up every 2 hours to empty.

Steven's spirits are pretty good. He is tired. Misses uninterupted sleep. Tired of being in the Hospital. Enjoyed visiting with Justin today. JD is under the weather with a cold, ankles healing slowly with the first game on tuesday. he probably won't suit up till Friday.

Talked with Michelle, this afternoon. She is keeping busy, Basketball not to start till a week from Monday. Hang in there girl. Love you lots. See you soon.Glad the weather is good in Nebraska. Sounds like the 2002 harvest will be wrapping up for most of you this week. Severe storms were here in the Memphis area last night and today with some tornados. We only recieved a shower. Really warm yet overcast.

Steven will get a "day of rest" tomorrow with no meds just fluids. But will have to work to keep a positive attitude. He is feeling well enough that the Hospital confinement is wearing on him. He has been such a good patient. All the nurses hope to draw him. He is usually good for a laugh or two. On Tuesday Steven will get his cells back(stem cell transplant) and if all goes well will be released yet that aftenoon. The next week his counts will decline and trips and waits in the medicine room will be in order for transfusions and platelets. Pray for no complications or fevers. He deserves a well earned break from these wonderful doctors and nurses.

Love to all of you. Thanks for faithfully checking in. Again please leave a note in his guestbook. You may have noticed he placed a counter on the page. So now he knows how many visit the guestbook without signing.

Will be turning in shortly, Have a good week. May God bless each of you as he has us.

Keep praying, Keep believing,

Lyle, Peggy, and Steven

Saturday, November 09, 2002 at 07:15 PM (CST)

High all,

Day -3 Cycle 2, I love it when a plan comes together. Remember when you took Lamaze(spelling?) the child birth classes and they said Phase 1 so many hours minutes, Phase 2 so many minusts minutes Phase 3......etc. etc. Out of 4 kids only one followed that road map. I remember when the first one didn't. I started to panic. What's wrong we should be in transition !!!!. Well, Cancer protocols are much the same. But. today at least was pretty much by the book. Drugs were done by 11:00 except for the MESNA. Which will continue till tomorrow am. When they start it over anyway for Day -2 which is a carbon copy of today. Steven has had no Nausea today and hardly any other problems. He has been Cruising. Sitting in Bed, Eating, Watching football, playing video games etc. Probabaly not much different than his Brothers on a typical Saturday afternoon.

Took some laps around the floor etc. Peggy went over to the RMH to get some of the food that was provided by the "Pitman's " tonight. One of several groups that come in on weekends and minister to the families at the RMH with a meal, a worship service and sometimes Crafts for the children. 4 of the group came back to the hospital with Peggy, visited with Steven and offered a wonderful time of prayer with us. Thanks folks.

Steven is predicting lasics at 8:00. His outputs have been declining all day. And his weight.has gone up nearly 8 pounds since this morning. He asks wouldn't it have been better to pee all day and Sleep all night? Nah?? Once the lasics are in place things flow pretty steady.

Wish that our cycles would have started on Monday. 28 day cycles keep you on the same days of the week for the entire 16 weeks barring complications. Which means we are inpatient on Sunday alot. Missing out on worship at Lindenwood. Hope all of you are able to enjoy the fellowship tomorrow at your Churches. Give Worship and Praise for the answered prayers you have offered on Steven's behalf.

A little boring I know. Boring is good. Keep Praying. Keep Believing.

Sleep well,

Lyle

Hey MJ, Hope your having fun. Be good. Miss ya and Love ya lots. Call anytime cause we can't find you. ;-)

Say a prayer for Jeff, Kathy and Robert.

Friday, November 08, 2002 at 09:11 PM (CST)

Friends,

Day -4 of Cycle 2 is complete. Steven is sleeping now. Wasn't a terrible day. But was harder than the 1st day of the 1st cycle. The amifostine pretty well controlled the stomach till about 6:00. Everytime Steven tried to drink a little or eat something you could pretty much guarentee it would be coming back with very little warning. They tell us that the drugs affect the nerve center that controls the vomit reflex. That it's not really a stomach thing. The anti-nausea meds try to counter act the reflex. Usually doing a pretty good job. The combination of the Cisplatin and amifostine however generally rules. Which is why it was pretty amazing Steven got along so well the first cycle. I think the good Lord knew that mom and dad needed a break the first time around being rather anxious anyway.

One for the suggestion box. What are these little spit bowls for. They tell us nearly every kid vomits on this stuff. You ask for a pan or bucket so you can be prepared and all they can find are these little 12 oz. sized trays. After House keeping made two trips to scrub the floor. And we changed bedding twice. They finally found something the size my mom kept by my bedside when I had to throw up. Evidently most kids throw up on empty stomachs and give up trying to eat after the first episode resulting primarily in dry heaves or something. Anyway, Steven showed them how real men heave. I know this is more than I needed to tell. But Doug is enjoying it if no one else is and Steven is sleeping so he can't tell me not to write this embarassing stuff about him. His kids will enjoy it someday. Got to keep the ratings up somehow.

All in all however, Steven really felt pretty good. Slept some, and by evening ate some jello, melon, an apple and some pop holding it all down. Watched a little of the basketball game and then was ready to call it a night as am I.

Tomorrow and Sunday are The Cyclo/MESNA days along with alot of fluids and neccessary trips to protect the bladder. This is usually much easier on the stomach. Steven however had trouble with diahrea and related soreness last time. We are praying he be spared some of that, as well as the fevers this cycle.

The nurses have been great, and I was able to speak with Dr. Gajjar some today as well. Always entertaining and educational. Entertaining for Him, Educational for me.

We, Peggy, Steven and I are really much more relaxed and at peace this time around, Knowing what to expect and having all of you praying makes alot of difference. I am amazed how Peggy did this for 2 weeks on her own. This is a little more intense right now, but it seems one of us is kept pretty busy with the ins and outs, clean up, and general just running around. It works pretty well to be able to take shifts to eat, do laundry, e-mail, shower, etc. We even caught up on a little bookwork today. I don't know how she manages it all on Her own. Selfless, talented and gorgeous! what more could any man hope for?

Pray for a restful night, An easy day tomorrow, and that the Chemotherapy drugs do their job killing any remaining diseased cells.

Keep praying, Keep Believing, Keep Trusting,

Rest Well,

Lyle

Thursday, November 07, 2002 at 07:49 PM (CST)

Friday 1:00 pm

A quick update, Things are going pretty well this morning not feeling bad but have had a couple of spells of nausea with the amifostine. To be expected. No heart or blood pressure problems however which is what they are most concerned about. This drugs primary function is to protect the ears from the cisplatin. After the first round Steven hearing showed no impact as a result of the 1st round. That's a praise.

The current phone and contact info is posted below. More tonight. Thanks for your concern and prayers.

Last nights Post to follow:

Good Evening,

Been a nice break, but we're goin in. Sounds like a battle cry doesn't it. It is. Short term pain for long term gain.

Visiting with some other families today at the hospital shared similar stories of how they got here. Seems to be alot of frustration with some medical communities not defering to others with more experience in these rare and specialized cases. Not suggesting St. Jude is the only place children with cancer should be treated. But there are places that have little experience with rare dianosis and recognize that EXPERIENCE MATTERS and if not refer at least consult with those that are recognized as the experts. Hopefully more will follow their lead.

Had an enjoyable day today. Steven spent quite a bit of time with the tutor. Dad got lectured on not to push the eating issue. The nurse practioner advised Steven to wait till the next time I was really sick with nausea. At that time to get a large pizza with lots of toppings including anchovies. Put it in front of me and tell me to eat it. It's good for you. I got the point.

The rest of the day consisted of a trip to the peabody place with night golf. Walmart, back to the RMH where steven shot me to pieces on the PS2. Supper, Steven ate really well by the way. Nice conversation with Mom and MJ And now packing to check in at St. Jude for Round 2. Will post the room # when we have it.

Till Then God Bless
Keep Praying, Keep Believing

Glad to be back

Lyle

P.S. Steven is really glad to have me back. He missed having someone to harrass. That's Ok That's how I know he is really feeling himself. And I can give it back pretty good.

Wednesday, November 06, 2002 at 10:43 PM (CST)

Friends,

Hi all, Made it. Finally, around 7:30 still haven't figured out where I went wrong. should have been a little short of 12 hours, somehow turned into 13. Steven missed me so much he waved leaving the room to go to the movie as I was walking in. He is doing really good. Peggy and I caught up over dinner. (Chinese). Returned to the room and visited before being asigned to the update. As they turned in. I will have to adjust they turn in early. I haven't been in bed before midnight more than a couple of days since I was home. Good to be back. Will be able to have some free time tomorrow before readmitting around 8:00pm tomorrow and they ring the bell for round 2 on Friday morning. Keep us in your prayers as we continue one day at a time. Remembering that when Jesus prayed he always stipulated that God's will be done. Pray each of us does what is neccessary to conform to HIS will.

Oh and Michelle, Love you, Honey, We all send Hugs and Kisses. You make us proud. Steven just sends a Hug ;-)

Rest Well

Lyle

P.S. Some of you are aware. Another young boy and his family from Superior Ne. Are now facing a yet undiagnosed brain tumor. They have a page up and would appreciate a visit I'me sure. Currently undergoing tests in Minnesota

www.caringbridge.org/ne/jared

Good Morning,

Well, The Huskers couldn't get it done. Should have just kicked the field goal and gone into overtime. Another weekend so you get my long distance 2nd hand report. Sounds like they are getting better rest and in good Spirits. He has been getting along great without his eye patch. Steven is recovering from the leg and joint pains. Said that he made a few laps around the floor tonight. The source of the pain is either or a combination of the vincristine - one of the chemo drugs, or the GCSF(nuepogen)bone marrow stimulant. He is off of the GCSF for now since his ANC is over 2000 once again. The first 28 day cycle nearly complete now. Steven will be released on Monday recieving his last antibiotics on Sunday. He should feel pretty good for a few days before readmitting on Thursday evening prior to beginning cycle 2 on Friday. Pray that He tolerates the Drugs as well as the 1st Cycle.

Many tell us that the 1st is the hardest due to the fact you have no experience with How the patient will react. And just the anxiety of not knowing and understanding all that takes place. For a guy that expects things to go according to plans and schedules, this has been an adjustment. We have found, as we were warned early on, not to make any concrete plans. As there are nearly always complications, exceptions and adjustments to be made to schedules and treatments. Once again I didn't listen real well. This protocol is a high dose, complicated treatment. Steven recieved blood products, either plateletts or whole blood 8 or 9 days out of the last 2 weeks. Thus the need to be in Memphis for the duration of the treatments. Most protocols require only one or 2 days inpatient every 6 weeks barring infections or fevers. I am thankful that Steven was involved in the decision to go to St. Jude. Some have asked why not change to an easier protocol. The answer is that we still believe that this is Steven's greatest opportunity for a cure. He actually is doing quite well. He is very strong, maintaining weight, doing everything the doctors, PT's, tutors, and staff ask in order to stay that way. The total length of the Chemotherapy is roughly 1/3 of the standard protocol 16 weeks vs. 48 weeks. Although each treatment may be lower dosed in the other treatment the total dosage is higher. Many don't tolerate all 8 cylces of the other protocols and have to reduce dosages or quit early, many after 6 cycles.

We have found some peace in being so closely monitored, daily blood work, etc. while being outpatient. Especially when fevers and infections carry with them such a high risk with suppressed immune systems. What I am saying is we are glad and fortunate to be at St. Jude. A Praise.!!

It was reported that Eric did an adequate job of filling in for Steven at the "Battle of the Bands". but not up to speed with Steven. (Eric just picked up the Bass Guitar a few weeks ago.) Steven and Peggy will go to a Concert at the Pyramid tomorrow night. "3rd Day" not sure who else. Angela, one of the resident Docs from Le Bonheur, has continued to follow Steven's progress. Angela is involved with the youth ministry at her Church here in Memphis. Angela was able to get Steven and Peggy tickets on the floor. Thanks Angela!! Hopefully this will help make up for missing the Turning Point event in Nebraska this weekend. Sounds like Jerry is going to hang around till they are released leaving sometime on Monday. Thanks Jerry for being there. You have no idea how much that helped us all. I hope to get to Memphis on Wednesday. Harvest or no Harvest. If the weather holds tonight and tomorrow should be able to finish up on tuesday.

This is the longest I have been seperated from Peggy, and Steven for that matter, since we were married nearly 25 years ago. We maybe have talked more these last couple of weeks than when we were in the same house. Sad I know. It has made me painfully aware of how blessed I have been to have her in my life. And how much I have taken for granted all she does. Honey, you know how much I love you and how tremendously proud I am of the strength and faith you have shown through all of this. Looking forward to being there soon.

1.Give God Praise.
2.Start the Prayers for NO COMPLICATIONS to interfere with the big Wedding in December.
3.Please offer a prayer for Robert Charlton, (patiently waiting for his miracle)
4.Travel Mercies
5.See you in Church !!

Love,

Lyle

Friday, November 01, 2002 at 08:46 PM (CST)

Hello,

Well Steven slept fairly well last night. Kind of had an emotional morning. Combination of morphine, pain, wanting to go home and being cooped up in a hospital for so long. Can’t imagine how these families that have to stay in the hospital for weeks do it. He took a 2-hour nap and as the day progressed seemed to be in less pain. They took him off the morphine pump around 12:00 noon and has only had one dose since then. Steven has a guy nurse today and was a nice change. He was very considerate and concerned about Steven’s pain. I fixed Steven some supper at the RMH house tonight. He just doesn’t like the food in the hospital. I am always glad to fix him something.

Lyle is a little discouraged, as they have not been able to get back to harvest yet. He is very anxious to get it done.

Michelle and the CC youth group should be in Norfolk. Pray for safe travel as they come home tomorrow night.

Thank God for another day and that Steven’s pain is residing. That he will get good nights sleep. Only three more nights in the hospital and then were free for a few days. Pray that the weekend goes by quickly and we enjoy the time with Grandpa Jerry.

God is continually watching over us and we feel His presence around us.

God Bless
Peggy

Thursday, October 31, 2002 at 10:21 PM (CST)

God’s Blessing to all,

Just wanted to give you and update this evening. First of all God has answered all of our prayers, Dr. Hale called about 5:15 and said they had harvested enough stem cells for the next three chemos, so no more time in the blood donor room. Praise God, He is truly good and thank you all for lifting Steven up in prayer today.

I can’t tell you how comforting it was to have my Dad here today. Steven was in so much pain and when he is in pain like that it is hard for me to not have tears also. Even though he was in so much pain, he still said he was sorry I was crying. Thoughtful even when in pain. It is so hard to see your child in pain and not be able to do anything about it. They have been giving him morphine every 2 hours. Seems to keep it dulled, but never seems to go completely away. He did perk up a little after the stem cell harvest. We put him in a wheel chair, he put his afro wig on and we made a few stops. You would not believe how they go all out for Halloween here. The costumes were great; the staff really got into it. Each clinic chose a theme and then dress up like it. There was Sponge Bob, Bob the Builder, Hollywood celebrities, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, etc.

Dr. Metzger came in this evening and they will set a pump up to give morphine around the clock tonight, so Steven will hopefully get more sleep. He did not sleep at all today. I did manage to get a nap in. Steven played a computer game and then played cards with Grandpa.

Even though we sometimes complain about being woke up a lot, we have been blessed with wonderful nurses. I even had one tells us that the nurses all want to have Steven. He’s pretty easy to take care of and never complains.

Thank you again for your prayers and words of encouragement.

Pray that the pain in Steven’s legs will go away and he will not have to stay on pain medicine to long.
Pray that his spirits will continue to be so positive.
Pray that Lyle and Michelle will continue to get along without Mom.
Pray that the youth group will have safe travel to Norfolk and back this weekend.

Good night and God Bless
Peggy

Thursday, October 31, 2002 at 01:51 PM (CST)

All, A quick update.

Steven's counts and marrow are recovering nicely.
Peggy has been occupied these past 2 days. Steven's first Stem Cell Harvest was yesterday, They started early and went till about 3:30. Long time to lay still in bed when your really feeling pretty well. They were pleased to have Grandpa G. show up about 5:30. He really lifted their spirits.

Steven showing some frustration with the aids that come in to take vitals all hours of night and early morning carrying on as if it was mid-afternoon. He is too courteous to tell them to shut-up and let me sleep. Peggy is on the verge however. She always feels like she can't confront these folks because by in large they are so caring and competant. A couple of minor mixups have her ready to take Kathy C.'s direct approach should we have anymore.

Anyway, They only extracted enough Stem Cells yesterday for 2/3 of one transplant. With 3 cycles to go they needed to harvest again this morning. Things started out fine, then steven was overtaken with terrible pain in the bones and joints of his legs. We were warned that the GCSF given in double doses(to allow stem cell harvest) would eventually cause this. But Steven was confident he had dodged the bullet. Since they were harvesting intrevenous pain killers were not an option till after they had taken a certain amount of platelets. Steven rated the pain on a scale of 1 - 10 at a 15!!. As strong as Peggy is, when Steven is hurting and she hurts as well. It was such a blessing that Jerry was able to be there support them. Eventually they were able to manage the pain to some degree with intravenous morphine. Haven't been able to get any answers as to how long this may hang on. They were supposed to finish the harvest by 12:30.

1. Pray that the GCSF pain is short lived.
2. Pray that the Stem Cell Harvest was large enough for the next 3 cycles.

Thanks for Checking in. Please leave a note.

May God bless you all and bring you peace.

Lyle

Click Here for a unique Halloween Message!

Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 10:14 PM (CST)

Welcome,

Thank you to everyone for your encouraging thoughts and for the strength we gain from your prayers. We had a pretty easy day. Steven tried to sleep as late as you can in a hospital. Didn’t get up until about 10:00 even though they come in and get blood, blood pressure, weight, temp and all that good stuff. He worked on his Algebra with thanks from a college student who called last night. He is a student here in Memphis and will help Steven out when he needs it. Luli from physical therapy came by and he watched a movie. He seems to be having problems with hiccups again and they think it is from his anti-nausea medicine he is taking. Probably will try to change it. They are going to harvest his stem cells tomorrow morning. We will go down to the blood donor room around 7:30a.m. Since they want his platelets to be a little bit higher at midnight to night they will give him platelets, then an hour later draw blood and check his levels. May have to give him whole blood too. Might not be a real good night for sleeping. They have to check his temperature and blood pressure when giving these things. But they also give him Benadryl so they don’t have any reactions from the blood or platelets, Benadryl does make him sleepy. Our good friends Matt and Nancy Noyes called tonight, they always seem to lift our spirits. Nancy is so considerate about keeping up with us. Talked with Lyle and said it was raining lightly and they were still calling for snow, but not a terrible amount. He & Michelle ate supper at Aunt Dots, she always feeds them good. He was helping Michelle study for a test. She still hates the cold weather. Our dear nurse Donna is hooking up his TPN tonight, they said that I have done a good job and didn’t have to do it tonight. Well we are going to call it a night, do all the stuff you do before you go to bed, like brushing your teeth, washing your face. Continue to pray for strength and courage. We have been trying to laugh and not let this get us down.
God Bless
Peggy

Monday, October 28, 2002 at 10:49 PM (CST)

Good evening,

Well our day started out pretty good. They said we had met the 3 criterias, but didn't know what time we would get out. Then at 12:00 noon Dr. Wing(I think) came in and said they wanted us to wait until Tuesday, so they could see me give Steven his antibiotics with the side kick and so they could change one from every 6 hours to every 8 hours. We were disappointed but could live with staying one more night. But, then, around 5:00 they came in and said they have a shortage of one of the antibiotics and have to change to a different one, it will still work just as well as the other one, the only hitch is it can only be given in the hospital. Soo, we will be staying inpatient until Monday. This was very hard for Steven, he feels so good and wants out so bad. We have shed many tears. Then to call Lyle & Michelle and let them know that the plans to come home this weekend will not happen, was not easy. We shed more tears.

For those of you that didn't know, we had tickets to fly to Nebr. on Friday and go to Norfolk, where Steven was going to get to play with his band, in the battle of the bands and get to see many friends. This is the hardest part of all.

We know that we can't always see the big picture that God has in store, so we are trying to trust and believe that we will understand someday.

The one good thing that did happen today, was a package that came. It actually was here Friday, but I didn't get to the mail room in time. Guess there was a reason for that. My mother sent Steven a care package and it had two sets of legos in it besides many other things. The legos did seem to keep Steven occupied and made the time go by a little bit faster. What we are going to do the rest of the week, we will have to figure out. As I said he feels good.

So please pray for us to stay happy and positive.

For Lyle and Michelle as they were looking forward to seeing us.

For the weather to not be to bad as they are calling for snow again. They did manage to get in the field for a while this afternoon.

It is late and we are tired, so we will try to sleep as well as possible and dream peaceful thoughts.

God Bless
Peggy

Monday, October 28, 2002 at 07:34 AM (CST)

Got Lazy, didn't get you updated yesterday. wet and getting wetter here in nebraska. Steven's counts improved ever so slightly yesterday. with the wbc at 300. The doctors said that if he met 3 criteria today they would be released. 1. No Fevers 2. improvement in the blood counts, and 3.Negative culture on the samples from stevens lines. We will pray that those are met. They could really use a break from the hospital. Forecast doesn't sound favorable for getting the harvest done this week. Hopefully they will miss this one. Amazing how we can go from so Dry to so wet. We'll get it out I just hate to tear the ridge till fields up. Justin called from California. Always enjoy talking to him. Basketball is taking its toll on his ankles. Hopes he can be practicing again by the end of the week. It is suggested that he should have had a surgical repair done when he injured it in High School. Michelle is doing well. She has had to grow up pretty fast this year. She has taken on added responsiblities. Laundry, House Cleaning etc. She is doing a great job. It was good to have Eric home for the weekend. He helped alot on Saturday with the Harvest. Started collecting Bridget's Stuff and moving to the apartment. Man she has a bunch of "stuff".
She will graduate on December 12th and get married on the 28th. We are looking forward to that day. They have taken all these distractions in stride. Rambling now and need to get MJ to school. Please pray that the improvements are made today to allow Steven and Peggy to be released. We are at day +13 today. Will try to post his counts after I speak with Peggy. Need those to get going so we can do the Stem Cell Harvest this next week.

Later

Lyle

Saturday, October 26, 2002 at 11:10 PM (CDT)

It's the weekend. Lyle here, subject to our agreement Peggy updates on weekdays, Lyle on the weekend.

Steven can never just follow the roadmap. From the beginning of this if there is pothole to be found seems Steven hits it. The latest is that he as a bacterial infection detected from one sample pulled from his red line. Soo... 10 days of 2 to 3 high powered antibiotics via his hicman keeping him as an inpatient for the next several days. The good news is that he hasn't experienced any sickness or fevers as a result for the past 3 or 4 days. Just the inconvenience of staying in the hospital and possible plan changes for what we counted on as feel good days next weekend. He continues to take all this in stride. The pain associated with the BM's remains and even has intensified to some degree as Morphine is now required for those events. Pray for relief. His counts have been at zero now as noted on the counts page, if you follow those at all, for 8 days now. The plan is that they will have recovered by day +14 and that the stem cell harvest can take place to have for the next 3 cycles. They may have to do a preriferal harvest via lines in each arm, similar to platelet donations, due to the infection in his hicman line. Not a big deal but one more discomfort that we had not planned on.

Here at home, Weather has kept us out of the field since tuesday afternoon. were able to mud about 100 acres out today prior to a 80% forecast for rain or snow tomorrow. Need a couple of more dry days to finish up. Thankfully the crops are still standing good and yields have been a pleasant surprise. Really hope to get finished up by the middle of next week. Peggy seems to have a handle on her new nursing duties. Changing line dressings, flushing lines, administering TPN (Nutrition via line) and periodically flushing the lines when not in use.

All in all steven has tolerated this hard protocol very well. Just spending more days in the hospital than we had hoped.

Tonight, Peggy said that Steven had wanted Chunky Chicken Soup. Some how logistically Peggy wasn't able to get it prepared and back to the Hospital. Steven's nurse(Donna) I believe, somhow became aware of this. It turns out due to an appreciation lunch of some sort for the staff meant that she didn't eat the lunch she had brought with her. Thus she generously offered it to Steven. Guess what she had planned for her lunch. Chunky Chicken Noodle soup. Co-incidence??? I reminded Steven that God cares about the small stuff too.

Hang in there Bud, We will get to the end of this. You will get to go home. You will do normal 17 year old stuff. And we will be together as a family around that old Oak Kitchen table watching the geese land in the cornfield out the west window.

Keep Praying, Keep Believing,

Lyle

Friday, October 25, 2002 at 09:21 PM (CDT)

Good evening,

Finally got to the computor. It's been a pretty full day, lots of people and lots of medicines.

Yesterday, Thursday, Steven's hemaglobin was down so he had to get 2 units of blood. Took some morphine for his pain in the butt. I went to Walmart and got a set of Tom Cruise DVD's for Steven to watch and pass the time away. Some dear friends from Maine had sent him a gift certificate. I hate to say it but we are having beautiful fall weather here. In the upper 60's. They have even been planting pansies around. We watched some of the baseball game, but as San Fransico was so far ahead, we called it a night around the 8th inning. We got as good a sleep as you can in a hospital.

His counts still weren't up today, Friday, but he only had to get platlets. They came in this afternoon to teach me about giving Steven his TPN. The company that provides the product came first, Melinda a lady we had met at Lindenwood Christian Church. She was a patient here about 20 years ago and went on to become a nurse. Really neat lady and fun to see someone familar. Then Sandy a nurse from St. Judes came in and showed me how to use the pump and add the vitamins to the bag. They will come in at 10:00 tonight and observe me as I hook Steven up tonight. His tutor came by with some homework and his PT brought a stationary bike for Steven to use over the weekend. Mike and Linda our neighbors in the RMH stopped by and so did Vicki Jackson. Her daughter Tami got admitted last night with a fever. We are getting along very well, but anxious to get out and back to the RMH. Steven has not run a fever for 2 days, but will need to be on antibiotics for 10 days. They still say probably Monday when we get out.

Pray for counts to start coming up and for his pain in the butt to go away.

Pray for Lyle as he is going a little crazy with harvest being delayed, all the bills to keep up with and wishing he were down here with us.

Thank God for doctors and medicines. For the great nurses that work here at St. Judes. We have truly been blessed.

Have a great weekend and wonderful fellowship worshiping on Sunday.

God Bless
Peggy

Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 07:58 PM (CDT)

Hello,

It's hard to believe that it's snowing at home, the last couple of days have been very nice fall days here. In fact today when I went out, I didn't even use a jacket. You know what they say about Nebraska, if you don't like the weather, wait a day or two. Michelle said she doesn't like winter, it's to cold. She went to Hastings with Lyle today, since they only went half day, due to Parent/Teacher Conferences. Michelle said Lyle didn't need to go.

Well they warn you of things that can happen, but you still don't seem to be prepared when it does. Steven fought so hard to not get admitted with a fever. It's been up and down all day. We did still manage to get some laps in around the hall, he did some homework and just layed around.

We talked with the nutritionist today and she said now would be a good time to start TPN. Steven's appetite and tastes of food is really slowing. They need to start it in the hospital and since we are in with a fever now is a good time. Steven is almost relieved to do this, so he doesn't have to worry about getting enough calories in. They explained that TPN is to help him mantain his weight, while getting all the nutrients, vitamins, protein and whatever else his body needs for the day. If his appetite comes back and he starts eating good again, it can always be stopped. Since they will start the TPN tonight, we will be inpatient probably until Monday. They start him out with 24 hours and then gradually work down to where he only gets it 12 hours a day. They will also have to teach me how to hook it up. A dear friend we met this summer, Mary Alice, has given such good advice and is always so encouraging. She e-mailed Lyle this morning about not worrying about TPN and that they do it for the good of the kids. Her advice always seems to come at just the right time. Thank You Mary Alice.

Sometimes it seems so overwhelming when you see all the medicines and fluids they put in Steven and then I know someone must be praying for us, because its like God is saying I'm taking care of him. Thank you all for your prayers, we truly do feel them and be assured that God is watching out for us.

Those of you in Nebraska drink a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the snow, that is one thing I will miss this winter. I love a good snow storm. I wonder if anyone scooped the sidewalk? Lyle will probably not be very happy with me saying that as they still have crops in the field. Thank you for checking in and may God keep you all in His loving care.

God Bless
Peggy

Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 11:00 PM (CDT)

Evening,

Lyle Here, We got rained out and now up to 6" of snow is forecast. Guess I'll have no excuses for not getting office work, laundry, and cleaning caught up. Spoke with Peggy tonight. A ritual, 2 or 3 times a day. This first cycle they are learning about the "Medicine Room". Long hours spent waiting for blood products and medications to offet effects of low counts from the Chemo. Yesterday they were at the Hospital from Morning till about 7:30. Tonight they didn't expect to get done till around 11:00. Steven, is still doing quite well.....

The Phone just rang. Peggy calling to inform me that they are being admitted as an inpatient due to a fever. Room 410. A precaution that they had prepared us for. We were hoping to avoid this. Steven has been uncomfortable the last couple of days. I can only describe it as a very large pain in the butt. The Chemo affects the fastest repoducing cells in the body. (usually mucus and digestive tract along with the loss of hair) He has been spared the mouth sores so far but the other end is not fairing as well. This can be agravated by constipation although Steven has not been seriously affected by that as of yet. As he reads this I'me sure he and maybe some of you are saying "Too much information, Please!

They are still amazed by His ability to eat and maintain weight. Peggy said the nutritionist can only recall one other patient on this protocol continuing to eat and avoid TPN while under the Chemotherapy.

Please keep Steven in your prayers. As this discomfort and having to go back into the hospital is discouraging. Pray that his counts begin to recover quickly. The stem cells should begin taking hold soon as we are at day +7 and generally Counts recover around Day +10 to +14. Until then He likely won't get alot of relief as the body doesn't have the ability to heal when the immune system is so suppressed. Also pray that the fevers subside quickly to allow him to return to the RMH. You really can't rest in the Hospital.

Other than that Thank the Father for Steven's great attitude and strength. Pray that the weather straightens out in Nebraska so the last 2 or 3 days of Harvest can be completed with no losses and that the time passes quickly with no delays for Steven's on-going treatments. And naturally for Complete Healing within HIS will.

Sleep Well,

Lyle

Monday, October 21, 2002 at 07:18 PM (CDT)

Good evening,

Sorry we don't keep you informed as well as some. Lyle is so busy farming, paying bills and keeping up with things at home and when he does have some free time he plays with other peoples web pages. What a dear. He also tries to keep Stevens dog Luke from being so bored. I think Luke is getting very spoiled, gets in the house way more than he would if we were their.

Saturday we came to the hospital around 11:00 and found out that Steven's counts had dropped considerably. His ANC was at 0, platlets at 33,000. They don't like them to get below 30,000 so he got his first platlets that afternoon. We are becoming to familar with the medicine room. By the time we got back to the RMH Steven was tired and layed down and slept for about 2 hours. Even though his counts are dropping he still continues to eat, which amazes at lot of people. Another young man Mike just finished his last chemo of 4 and he can't believe Steven eats. He's been using TPN (a nutrition they get through there line at night) since his first chemo. Steven is one tough kid and wants to be able to write on the wall that he didn't use TPN.

Sunday back to the hospital at 11:00 and out by noon since he didn't need any thing but his GCSF immune booster. We didn't go to church with his counts so low. Will try to avoid large crowds while his counts are so low. We watched some football, golf and napped. Talked with Michelle for a long time. She is growing up so fast. I'm so proud of how she does her laundry and keeps up with school. Lyle said she was beautful for homecoming. She keeps busy being a helper with volleyball, is involved with Student Council and doing the sound for the Christmas Musical at Church. She stays involved with youth group and even managed to take hunter safety class and passed, so now she can go hunting with the guys.

Well it is now Monday evening and we have been at the hospital since 10:00a.m. Steven needed both platlets and blood today. It takes a while for them to get to the medicine room and then the blood takes about 3 hours. He gets tired of cafeteria food, so I went back to the RMH and made us some dinner and brought it back to the medicine room. He should be tired from the benedryl they give him, but hasn't slept at all. Should sleep good tonight.

We continue to be amazed at how God answers prayers. Steven still doesn't have much of an appetite, but eats because he knows he needs to. God keeps putting people around us to pray for us or just encourage us. Continue to pray for us and thank God for what he is doing.

God Bless
love
Peggy

Friday, October 18, 2002 at 07:34 PM (CDT)

Hello,

Well I took Lyle to the airport yesterday morning. He was able to get a straight thru flight, so he got home earlier than expected. We didn't have to be to the hospital until 11:45. We found out what people have been talking about, you do have to wait some days to get into the medicine room. This was our first day to get medicine and for just a half hour dose we waited a long time. Steven is getting what they call G shots but thru his hicman line. He will get these everyday until his counts come back up to 2000 and stay for two days. Steven went to the hospital without his eye patch and seems to be doing well. His PT said he has better balance without, imagine that. Vicki & Tami Jackson, whose room we moved into, got extra tickets to the musical "Aida" by Elton John & Tim Rice, Disney's new musical love story. They picked us up at 6:30 along with Cindy & Mike Anderson (Mike is 20 and just finished his last chemo treatment, he is on the same protocol as Steven). The musical was at the Orpheum here in Memphis, a beautiful building and I assume very old. The musical was wonderful, colorful, great voices, dancing and music. We then went out for a late snack at Perkins. Steven had eggs, hashbrowns and toast. He continues to eat, just smaller amounts more often. We got in late and is the lastest we've stayed up in a long time. We had a great time and again good to get away from the routine.

Today we slept in and went to the hospital around 10:00. Steven met with his tutor, had blood drawn and then waited for the medicine room again. They have a play station 2 in one of the waiting rooms now and so Steven spent some of our waiting time playing games. His counts did drop quite a bit today, but still only needed the G shot. We came back ate some lunch and then I went grocery shopping. Fed X came in and fed us dinner tonight. It is so nice of the different organizations to come in now and then and feed us and play games or have devotions. It was a beautiful fall day here. Steven played his bass some this afternoon and his eye continues to improve. Don't think he's put his patch on once today. God is so good and it is amazing what medicine can do.

We will go to the hosptial both days this weekend and will probably need to get platlets. We will probably just lay low when not at the hospital. We pray that you all have a great weekend and don't forget to thank God for all he has done and will continue to do.

God Bless
Love,
Peggy

Friday, October 18, 2002 at 07:34 PM (CDT)

Hello,

Well I took Lyle to the airport yesterday morning. He was able to get a straight thru flight, so he got home earlier than expected. We didn't have to be to the hospital until 11:45. We found out what people have been talking about, you do have to wait some days to get into the medicine room. This was our first day to get medicine and for just a half hour dose we waited a long time. Steven is getting what they call G shots but thru his hicman line. He will get these everyday until his counts come back up to 2000 and stay for two days. Steven went to the hospital without his eye patch and seems to be doing well. His PT said he has better balance without, imagine that. Vicki & Tami Jackson, whose room we moved into, got extra tickets to the musical "Aida" by Elton John & Tim Rice, Disney's new musical love story. They picked us up at 6:30 along with Cindy & Mike Anderson (Mike is 20 and just finished his last chemo treatment, he is on the same protocol as Steven). The musical was at the Orpheum here in Memphis, a beautiful building and I assume very old. The musical was wonderful, colorful, great voices, dancing and music. We then went out for a late snack at Perkins. Steven had eggs, hashbrowns and toast. He continues to eat, just smaller amounts more often. We got in late and is the lastest we've stayed up in a long time. We had a great time and again good to get away from the routine.

Today we slept in and went to the hospital around 10:00. Steven met with his tutor, had blood drawn and then waited for the medicine room again. They have a play station 2 in one of the waiting rooms now and so Steven spent some of our waiting time playing games. His counts did drop quite a bit today, but still only needed the G shot. We came back ate some lunch and then I went grocery shopping. Fed X came in and fed us dinner tonight. It is so nice of the different organizations to come in now and then and feed us and play games or have devotions. It was a beautiful fall day here. Steven played his bass some this afternoon and his eye continues to improve. Don't think he's put his patch on once today. God is so good and it is amazing what medicine can do.

We will go to the hosptial both days this weekend and will probably need to get platlets. We will probably just lay low when not at the hospital. We pray that you all have a great weekend and don't forget to thank God for all he has done and will continue to do.

God Bless
Love,
Peggy

Wednesday, October 16, 2002 at 10:21 PM (CDT)

Released! Day +1
New room at RMH 25 - (901)312-7425
Lyle flies out at 8:36 am
Give thanks.

Steven was released aroung noon today. His counts are holding up well. They want him to wear a mask however while in public to reduce exposure due to the fact that his counts will be declining for the next few days. It has been suggested that his ANC will drop to 0 at around day +6 or +7. For those interested a link to a table will be up on this page shortly to help track his counts and predict how he will be feeling on future dates. So many have asked about visitation or offered special activities. It is really difficult to predict the low risk days. The high risk days should be fairly predictable. Generally day 0 (transplant to day +10 - +14. Steven truly has surprised many to this point. After moving to the new room today. Peggy and I each took short naps. Steven is supposed to be feeling some fatigue. He worked on homework and then went out with me to get the Van serviced. The new room is more spacious and arranged some better. Steven and Peggy at this point in time seem content to remaing here in the RMH vs. seeking an apartment. They are so expensive in areas considered to be safe yet conveniently located to the Hospital.

I need to do a little work on this page tonight. The embedded music link doesn't seem to play on many of your computors so it will be removed to stop the nagging codec update request. and the contact information needs to be updated along with hopefully some menu links at top and bottom to aid in navigation to other pages about steven and his treatment. This is a canned format furnished by the good people from caringbridge. The format is limited however and it takes some creativity to work around some of those limitations to add the spice as images, links to outside pages and static content as the links and contact info and such. At some point I may want to move the site to a different host and format. By then Steven will be out of treatment and on with a normal teenage life, Lord willing. This however has been simple, (in the beginning) fast to set up and a great html learning experience for me. I hope you have benfitted from it as much as we have. Steven really does receive such a lift from your notes and checks several times a day for your guestbook and guestmap posts.

Enough of that. I once again must express my gratitude to each of you for your prayers and encouragement during this past week. And to our Most Heavenly Father, who once again has proved Himself faithful. We were all anxious what this past week would bring. Many had prepared us once again for the worst. Nearly everyone had told us how much more difficult this would be than the radiation and other care we had been given. Realizing that we yet in the beginning stages of nearly a 4 month series, we still are amazed at how well Steven tolerated this past weeks treatments. Tonight, before petitioning the Father for Stevens complete healing offer a prayer of thanksgiving. Thank Him:

That Peg and I were able to be here together with Steven for this phase.

For the Doctors and nurses and facilities at St. Jude

For Steven's spirit of courage, calm and sense of humor throughout this whole time in his life. Without which would make it so much harder for mom and dad to cope.

For the laughter and the tears of the past week.

For sparing Steven the sickness and misery that often accompanies those recieving these treatments.

For watching over Michelle, Justin, and Eric during these days when Steven requires most of our energy and time.

For HIS endless love without which we would have no hope.

Agree with us as we count our blessings and add yours as well.


Sleep Well, We are.

Lyle

Tuesday, October 15, 2002 at 11:21 PM (CDT)

It' late,

Wanted all to know that Steven's first transplant went pretty well. The day started out harder than the previous three. Not that the treatment was harder. Just that the drugs from the previous days began to gang up on him a bit. He was pretty tired and suffered with some stomach cramping and diahrea for awhile. As the day wore on He began to feel better and by supper time had several apple sauce cups and a hamburger. John, our Pastor from Clay Center, arrived a little later than expected. He delivered Steven's New guitar (as we didn't feel comfortable bringing it on the plane)and visited before heading on down the road toward Louisville. The visit was really appreciated. Tommorrow will be my last day here before flying back home to Michelle and the farm. I am feeling at peace with it because of how well Steven handled this past week with the good Lord's help. Lord willing Steven will be released by noon and we will spend the aftenoon and night together at the RMH, before I leave on Thursday morning. The next week will bring new challenges as he will for the first time have low blood counts. With a little caution he should avoid infections and his counts should recover pretty quickly with the stem cell rescue. We have been passing time in the late evening after Peggy returns to RMH watching a new series of Videos(some portions are hilarious) on Duck Hunting. Phil Robertson aka the "Duck Commander" an infamous Louisiana duck hunter sent a series of 6 duck hunting videos and an autographed hat to Steven. They were sent to Steven as a result of some great folks from Twin Rivers Guide service, here in Tennessee. Steven met them at an outdoor show this past summer and they really have taken an interest in him. They share Steven's faith and love of water fouling and have ministered to him in a way few others could have. Thanks Jeff. There is much more to tell but the Nurses gave us the all clear to sleep till 3:00 a.m.

Goodnight and God Bless.

Lyle and Steven

Keep us in your prayers. They have been effective. The lady from social services commented today that few of these kids eat while recieving treatment. I don't think Steven missed a meal in the 5 days. Praise God and give thanks on our behalf.

Monday, October 14, 2002 at 11:52 PM (CDT)

Day –1, No Chemo! But did receive fluids, antibiotics and Menus till 9:00 am. Diarrhea finally improved after lunch. Steven has a good appetite. Blood work showed little change from yesterday. ANC went up a little bit. We have little understanding of these numbers yet. But will be learning quickly as these will determine Steven’s ability to fight off infection and disease and naturally activities will be planned around this.

I gave platelets today as I couldn’t give whole blood since I had given in Clay County in august. Platelets can be given every two days up to 24 times a year. It is an interesting process though time consuming. Roughly two hours. You are hooked up to a machine. Blood drawn from one arm, platelets removed and blood then infused into the other arm. Laying still for 2 hours without being able to scratch your nose or move your arms gets old. It makes me appreciate how patient and tolerant Steven and these other kids have been through these long hospital stays and needle pokes. I would have been much more difficult to get along with and complained much more I’m sure.

This was Steven’s day off Yeah Right he says, Physical Therapy after lunch. She had Steven throwing a medicine ball and kicking a soccer ball up and down the hall till he worked up a sweat. It’s not just mom and dad that are surprised how resilient Steven has been through this. The PT said she has only worked here for 9 mos. But can’t recall anyone going through the 3 days of high dose Chemo this protocol calls for so well. It is suggested that often times it is the adolescent males that have the strongest reaction to the drugs. We recognize and try to communicate to everyone that this is answered prayer and divine intervention of our heavenly Father through Jesus our Lord.

The optometrist was here after lunch and noted noticeable improvement in the eye co-ordination. Steven was encouraged to begin going without the patch while reading or watching TV for several minutes throughout the day. It is inconsistent but the double vision appears to be improving.

Tomorrow is day 0, transplant day. It sounds more sophisticated and complicated that it is. It is actually a couple of large syringes of immature blood cells injected into his hicman lines. Probably won’t take very long. The only noticeable effect will be that of the odor of the preservative used to store the stem cells. Steven will probably have an unpleasant taste so they suggest he has suckers to suck on. So the Carmel Apple suckers are in place and ready. If all goes well there is a chance Steven could be released tomorrow night and we could all return to the Ronald McDonald House together.

Word is that John will arrive sometime tomorrow, Steven is looking forward to that as his new Bass is to arrive with John and he is anxious to get playing again.

Well I need to turn this off and let Steven get to sleep. Thanks for Checking in. Also you are doing much better with your posts to the guestbook and the guestmap. Steven checks them 3 or 4 times a day.(NOTE: Novices, Click on the underlined text above)

Love from Memphis,

Lyle, Peggy, and Steven

Oh and by the way. Good news from the Charltons. Jeff relayed that Robert surprised many in West Palm today by improving enough to be moved out of the PICU. Keep them in your prayers along with Steven, Matt, Lizzie and all the sick kids around the world.

Sunday, October 13, 2002 at 11:09 PM (CDT)

Good Sunday evening,

Day -2 went very well, same Meds as yesterday. Steven is handling this about as well as we could hope. Main complaint is the diahrea. And the hassle of measuring all the ins and outs. Tomorrow is a Day of Rest. No meds just fluids. The blood work shows that the counts are beginning to go down as expected. It was suggested that we plan on transfusions and fevers that may require a hospital stay around day +6 or +7. But we keep praying and God keeps answering and Steven continues to be an exception on the plus side. Peggy and Michelle caught a movie. Steven napped and Lyle hung out with Steven. The Studnicka's picked up Michelle about 7:30 pm. More hard good bye's. Not alot of news to report. Steven did post in his own guestbook today. He wishes more of you would leave messages when you are here. It's the only way we know who is following his progress. Realize it takes time and do appreciate your prayers even more. Continue to pray for young Robert Charleton. He continues to have complications with fluid on his lungs. It breaks Steven's heart to hear how tough a time his young friend is having. I am really enjoying my time with Steven and Peggy. We have alot of laughs and fun even in tough times as these. Those moments will always be cherished and remembered. Looking forward to the End. Let's see. 4cycles X 28 days = 112 - 3 completed leaves roughly 109 barring complications and rescheduling do to interuptions. Trivial things like weddings and such. Anyway hope to be done early February. If the days go by like the last 3 we'll be there before you know it.

Thanks for all you do. Give God the Glory,

Lyle, Peggy and Steven

Saturday, October 12, 2002 at 10:34 PM (CDT)

Thanks for checking in.

Day 2 of Chemo or in BMT 4th floor terminology day –3 meaning 3 days before transplant. Steven rested well last night. Peggy and I stayed next door in the adjoining parent room equipped with intercom so we could here Steven if he needed anything. The fever subsided by Midnight and has not returned the Doctors suggested that the cultures are still negative and that often they can never determine the source of such fevers. And are not concerned at this point.

Day –3 began with fruit and juice for breakfast followed by Zofran anti-nausea, MENSA to protect the organs from the cyclophosphamide, today’s Anti-Cancer Med. (and tomorrows). Michelle arrived with the Studnicka’s at about 8:30 and were able to visit Steven prior to the Chemotherapy while we waited for the Doctors approval of the EKG taken earlier. We broke the rules a little once again with more than 2 in the room at one time. The 4th floor is the ultimate in cleanliness and as sterile of an environment as possible do to the nature of the suppressed immune system of Transplant patients. Most other patients receive their Chemotherapy on the 2nd floor. Steven’s transplant being autologous vs. analogous poses fewer problems risks and shorter periods of low immunology than many of those receiving analogous transplants for other diseases such as AML leukemia. Or relapsed ALL kids. It is comforting knowing that we are being so well cared for and provided with such state of the art facilities and techniques.

Steven tolerated today’s regime quite well. It is important that Steven empty often to reduce the risks of damage to the bladder from the Cyclo. By about 3:00 lasics were given to increase the rate of flow. Quite effectively I might add. So well that we got a little cocky and ate a large evening meal made up of meat loaf, green beans, cheese sticks, and a sprite. With no warning we had a brief nausea episode about 7:00. The nurse jumped right on it with another nausea med., Adavan I believe is the name.
Which seems to have taken care of the nausea. He has since had a Hagendous Ice Cream bar and a sprite and seems to be doing well.

Steven is humored by the new hair he is growing. Light very fine and soft but pretty thick. More noticeable to the touch than to the eye at this point and will probably fall out from the Chemo before it gets much growth. He is also encouraged as it seems the double vision may be improving on things very close as a result of the botox. Usually that is the way it starts. Often it is a temporary fix. But we are praying for more divine intervention there as well.

Peggy got a break this afternoon from the Hospital since things were going well, Her and Michelle went shopping and did some laundry and such at the Ronald McDonald House. Our nurse tonight is Nurse Donna of which Kathy spoke so highly. She is top notch. We are lucky to have her taking care of Steven tonight.

Hope all is well at home. God has been so gracious to us here. We had feared that this would be much harder for Steven than it has been so far. Not that there aren’t difficult days ahead. But we know He will remain faithful and provide whatever we need to endure. His grace is truly sufficient for all our needs. Will miss all of you at Church tomorrow and encourage all that read this to worship and give praise and thanks on this Lord’s Day. Count your blessings and hug your families today. For as we have found. No one knows what tomorrow may bring.

God Bless and good night.

Lyle

Friday, October 11, 2002 at 10:38 PM (CDT)

All,

Day one of Chemotherapy, Steven was moved to 3rd floor ICU 1st thing this morning. This is a precautionary measure due to the fact that no one can predict how a patient will respond to the Chemotherapy drugs. Every patient can react differently. Steven received Amifostine, a new drug that appears to protect the kidneys and hearing from the harmful effects of Cisplatin, which can also cause low blood pressure in some patients. Thus the reason for being in ICU where vitals can be monitored on a continuous basis. Steven also received vincristine one of three Cancer drugs called for, Vincristine a 2nd Cancer medication, Zofran for nausea. We had been prepared that Day one generally is the most difficult of the cycle. We hope so. Steven blew through day one without a single episode of nausea. He gets up and uses the restroom by himself. IV pole and all. He had Chicken soup for lunch, returned to the 4th floor about 4:00, and had shrimp and tater tots for dinner and numerous Pepsi’s, and Jello. All has gone better than we could have hoped. If the next few days go as well Steven is even more convinced that “We can handle 4 cycles of this. “

We do have a concern this evening however, about 7:00 or so Steven began running a fever over 102 degrees. Still feeling well in spite of it. The doctors however ordered cultures done from each of his lines and the administration of antibiotics. Pray that this is resolved quickly, before Stevens counts are depressed from the Chemotherapy.

Day 2 and 3 Steven will receive cyclophosphamide the 3rd Cancer drug and MESNA to help protect the kidneys and bladder from the effects of the cyclo. Experience suggests that patients generally tolerate this better than the vincristine, amifostine, cisplatin combination. But, every patient is different. Day 4 will be a break. And day 5 Steven will receive is Stem Cell transplant. It is suggested that his blood counts will drop to 0 near roughly 7 days post transplant and will recover by day 14. The suggestion is the following Week he will feel pretty good before starting the cycle again late the 1st week or early 2nd week of November. If you read Kathy’s post in the guestbook you will note how parents job becomes focused on the protection of their child’s health from infections, germs, and bacteria’s. Remember that if for some reason a visit is denied or timing is considered for such visits.

Pray for Michelle to arrive safely with the Studnicka’s tomorrow morning. Congratulations to the Wildcats on their victory over McCool tonight. Continue to hold up the Charletons in prayer. And Praise God for all the answered prayers including a bountiful harvest Scot updated me on tonight. We are so thankful for St. Jude and all it’s staff. For all of the family and friends supporting us and taking care of us since the beginning. May God pour out His blessings on each of you.

We are convinced the ease with which Steven has handled this, albeit early in the process, is because of the intercessory prayers from all of you on his behalf. As well as his claiming the promises of Scripture from our loving Heavenly Father through his Son, Jesus Christ. To Him be all the Glory forever and ever. Amen

Sleep well

Lyle, Peggy and Michelle

Phone through Wednesday
901-495-5420
901-495-4400 room 420,

Just made aware that the Make-a-Wish backround needs repair. As does the link to the lyrics of “He’s my Son” Will try to fix that tomorrow.

Thursday, October 10, 2002 at 07:04 AM (CDT)

Good morning,

I planned on updating this last night, but by the time we got ready for bed and talked to Lyle & Michelle at home we were ready to turn out the lights and go to sleep. Woke up to go out and run this morning, but it is still raining. Started yesterday aroung 1:00p.m. I'll back up a few days and let you know how our week is going.

Steven slept pretty well Monday after surgery. Woke me up once for a pain pill. Had a hard time getting comfortable, as they put the hicman on his chest and took the bone marrow out of his back end. He said he truly did have a pain in the butt.

Tuesday we went to the hospital to have blood drawn and no needles this time since they can take it from his hicman. We then went to the B clinic to have his dressing removed from where they took the bone marrow from. I ran into the Charltons and gave them a CD of Steven's band. Jessica and Robert had been asking about it. While Steven was waiting for his next appointment I went over to the Danny Thomas Pavilion for a presentation. It seems that Hancock Fabrics has been partners with St. Judes and they had a fabric challenge to make lap quilts for St. Judes patients. They also presented a sizable amount of money to St. Judes. Well it seems people went out of their way, they made 740 quilts. Every boy and girl could get a quilt. They will take the extras to other St. Jude affiliates. They are so colorful and warm. We then met with our main Dr., Dr. Gajjar. He said everything looked fine and briefly explained how his chemo treatment would take place starting Friday. Steven was suppose to meet with LuAnn his tutor but was sore and tired, she said to go home and rest and she would see him on Wed. He did rest that afternoon.

Wednesday we had all morning off, so Steven slept late, I did some laundry and e-mailed some friends. We went to the hospital for blood work, which will become a daily routine I assume. Steven worked on studies with LuAnn and we then saw a line nurse that showed us how to take care of the dressing change three times a week. Will take a little getting used to and hopefully I will get better with each change. We came back to the room and Steven continued to work on homework, I am so proud of the way he works so hard. He gets a little discouraged because it takes hime longer than it used to. We grabbed a couple of peices of pizza and headed to the Pryamid to watch the Memphis Grizzlies take on the Miami Heat. Thanks to Jeff Charlton who got us tickets, what a great guy. Only wish Jeff and Robert could have gone with us. Will do it some day. Neither of us had ever been to a pro basketball game and even though it was just a pre-season game it was a thrill to go to. The home team won. We then came home and had our routine of things we have to do before we can go to bed. I have to swab bedadine twice a day where they took out the bone marrow. Also put an anitbiotic cream in Steven's eye 4 times a day.

Lyle will fly in tonight around 8:30p.m. and since Steven has to check into the hospital around 8:00p.m. a dear lady from Lindenwood Christian Church will pick Lyle up at the airport and bring him to the hospital. Susan has been going out of her way to call and stop by and see me.

Well, continue to pray for harvest, especially while Lyle is gone, that things would go smoothly for Scot and those that continue while he is away. For Steven as he begins his first round of chemo tomorrow. And for travel safety as the Studnickas come down to see Bridget. They have graciously offered to bring Michelle down and drop her off on their way thru Memphis. Will be good to see her and give her lots of hugs. Pray for Robert Charlton as he has already started Chemo and for the adjustment the family will be make being back together again.

Thank you all for your love and support from all over the country. We are truly blessed.

God Bless
Peggy & Steven

Monday, October 07, 2002 at 10:52 PM (CDT)

Hi, All

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Things went well today for Steven and Peggy. The only glitch was the difficulty getting a vein for the IV. Steven is going to relay to the staff that the next time he needs and IV they will have to fly aunt Robyn to Memphis. He has confidence she could get it right on the first try. Friday, for the first time one of the BMT nurses was telling Steven how bad he was going to feel after the Bone Marrow Harvest. How he would want a wheel chair etc etc. Well he wants to see her tomorrow and say Na Na Na Na Na. As he walked to the car in the parking lot and then to his room at the Ronald McDonald House. Give Thanks.

Sooo. The Hickman lines are in place. The Marrow harvested for the Stem Cell Transplant and the eye recieved botox. I told him I was proud of the way he continues to deal with all this. And with such class and courage. His reply was it's just another step in the process. Over all good news and answered prayers. Good Job everyone keep it up.

At home harvest continues. Pretty good day till about 8:00 when my wet corn auger from the pit to the holding bin folded up. Will have to go shopping tomorrow. These things used to bother me so much. Now it seems pretty insignificant.

To further emphasize that. Please pray for our friends and Comrads in this war against childhood cancers, from West Palm Beach. The Charletons. They recieved about as bad of news as one could expect concerning their son Robert's 2nd Relapse of Lukemia. With Robert's input they will be making some very difficult decisions shortly. We rejoice because they are all Christians with a strong faith and accept that Robert is secure in his salvation. Therefore they can look to the future with confidence knowing that Robert, is not their's but the Lord Jesus Christ's. Wow. How else could one deal with this stuff. If you would like to encourage them and let them know they are in your prayers you can sign their guestbook HERE.

On Steven's page note the new links. One to Steven's Guestmap that let's you flag where your from. Another to the pictures from Steven's Make-a-wish. And one that links to the lyrics of the song "He's my son" by Mark Shultz which plays when you open Steven's page if you wait long enough and have a fast enough connection. It speaks to many of us Dad's struggling with children with life threatening illness. Wish I new the story behind it. Also please sign the guestbook. They really are encouraged to hear from you.

Be there in 3 days

Dad (Husband, Father, Farmer)

Sunday, October 06, 2002 at 09:54 PM (CDT)

Good evening,

We have had quite the weekend. I'll try to fill you in on what all has happened since the last update.

Friday we spent from 9:30 to 4:30 at the hospital. We waited for apointments longer than we ever have. Steven has become very familiar with the exam rooms. I should have sore knees from him trying to find my reflexes. He still hasn't broken the code to get into the computors. He likes to go up and down on the doctors stools. I signed papers for his surgery that takes place on Monday. He will get his double line hicman put in, botox on his left eye, and the bone marrow harvest. He goes into surgery at 8:30a.m. and should be out by 10:30a.m. After our long day at the hospital we headed down the highway to go to Oxford Miss.(Ole Miss), where Bridget's volleyball team was playing. Alabama won 3-0. We then followed the bus to Tusculusca, Alabama and spent the night at Bridget's apartment.

Saturday we watched the ESPN game day that was taking place on campus. When Bridget got back from a morning practice, we headed to the quad with Natalie to see all the activities on campus for the big game. Bridget showed us where Eric proposed to her, we ate ice cream and barbecued sandwiches. We also saw where they were taping the ESPN game day. We think Nebraska football is a big thing, but you should see all the motor homes and barbecues, was pretty inpressive. Bridget said the motor homes started coming in on Wed.. We watched the Alabama - Georgia game and snacked. We even got to see Laura Vanderham and visit awhile. We waited about an hour after the game was over to miss out on some of the traffic. It was neat to see Bridget and get to know her roommates. She has some really neat friends and really made us feel at home. It was a nice break away from Memphis. We returned to the Marriot around 11:30 p.m. Listened to our messages and found out that they have a room ready for us at the RMH.

Sunday morning to the hospital for the first time on a Sunday. They needed to draw blood and have a doctor check him out for surgery. We then went and saw our good friends the Charltons and made plans for the afternoon. We then went to the Marriot and packed up and checked in at the RMH. Steven got the computor and phones set up while I unloaded the suitcases. Ate a late lunch and then went to the Peabody to play put put golf. Steven, Robert and Jeff(Robert's dad) went to a movie, while us girls went to Beale St. and had something to eat at Hard Rock Cafe.

So here we are again spending time in a room that seems to familar. We are on the second floor this time and have to catch ourselves from not going to the old room.

Thank you all for keeping in touch and reading about our days. Please leave a note on the page when you come to check us out.

Pray for Steven as he has surgery tomorrow and that all goes well. We also ask that you would pray for Robert and his family as they have some decisions to make. Pray for the guys as they hope to put in some long days harvesting and that things would go smoothly.

God Bless

Peggy and Steven

PS Our new phone # is 901-312-7411
You can send mail to St Judes or to the Ronald McDonald House in care of Steven.

Thursday, October 03, 2002 at 09:51 PM (CDT)

Good evening,

Lyle says I need to update this web page. I'm not quite as good as our friend Kathy who updates her page everyday.

Tuesday Steven had a spinal tap done. He was supposed to lay down the rest of the day. He did'nt actually lay down, but he did sit still while he watched a movie on the computor. I worked on some sewing and read a little. We ordered chinese for supper and watched baseball that evening. Thank goodness Steven did not get any headaches from the spinal tap.

Wednesday he met with his tutor LuAnn for a couple of hours. We then were going to have the botox done on Steven's eye, but when the eye doctor found out that we were having surgery on Monday she made a couple of phone calls and found out that she could do it on Monday. No reason to put him out twice if they can do it at the same time. So, we looked up Kathy and Robert and told them we were free for the afternoon. Robert was thrilled, so we went down to the Peabody Place and they went to Jillians and played games, then on to glow ball miniature golf. Kathy & I did some window shopping while the boys played. Think we may have wore Robert out. Steven & I walked down the street and ate supper and watched baseball again. His team won that night.

Thursday (today) we had no appointments at the hospital. We just kind of layed around. Steven worked on homework and I did some more sewing. We went over to Kathy and Roberts for a little while so Robert could beat Steven at football. We then went out to supper with Nancy and Matt since they are leaving in the morning. Nancy's friends Jess and Judy Jenkins joined us for supper. We had a great time.

Have appointments all morning tomorrow and time with the tutor after lunch. We are then heading down to Oxford, MS to see Bridget play volleyball. We're then going on to Alabama to spend the night and Saturday with Bridget.

Steven continues to put weight on and is feeling good. A little silly at times, loves to push all the buttons on the elevator, including the bell. And for those that don't know it, yes Steven and his buddies do have a CD out.

Continue to pray that surgery and treatments will go smoothly.

God is so good and we feel his presence all the time.

Love,
Peggy & Steven

Tuesday, October 01, 2002 at 08:46 AM (CDT)

Hello family & friends,

Friday was a relaxing day. We didn't have to be to the hospital until 1:00 to meet with Steven's tutor. Then he had an MRI of the spine done. While we were at the hospital our good friends Nancy & Matt from Maine arrived. Matt also had to have an MRI done. We decided to meet up later and go out to dinner. We went down to Beale st. and had a nice evening with friends.

Saturday was another pretty lazy day. I did a couple loads of laundry and did some exercising. The Marriot has a wonderful exercise room. Treadmills, bicycles, steppers and weights. We watched football & golf. Nancy's parents came to visit and we all went out to dinner at the Peabody Place. Her parents are fun to be around.

Sunday we attended church at Lindenwood Christian Church where Steven got to try out his new musicians ear plugs. During the sermon a young lady named Jessica spoke about her battle with cancer. She is 14 and was diagnosed with leukemia at age 9. Has a powerful testimony and I think everyone in the audience had tears in their eyes. God is using her in a mighty way. Pray for her as she has some heart problems do to part of her treatment. Ate lunch in the room and then had visitors. LaVon's cousin, I believe John Barnes from California and his wife, plus her sister and husband from Michigan. They came to see Graceland and take in some of the sights. We had briefly met them when they came through Clay Center in September. Had a nice visit and John gave Steven a 1937 silver dollar that he's carried in his pocket since he was 18. You would never know it was a silver dollar as it is worn smooth. Said he's lived a good life and wanted Steven to have it. We were really touched by his kindness. We then went over to the Target House to visit Kathy & Robert. The boys watched some football, racing and played games. Robert has a neat remote control airplane, so we went outside and he showed us how it works. Was a beautiful day to be outside. We grabbed something to eat and turned in early.

Monday to the hospital by 7:30 for an MRI of the brain. We saw Dr. Gajjar in the hall and he said Steven's MRI of the spine was fine. Steven then had hearing tests done and his hearing has not worsened any. Physical theraphy assessed him and said they would probably schedule to see him twice a week. We had another eye appointment. The doctors are talking about putting botox on the inside muscle of Steven's left eye to see if that might help his double vision. Would only be temporary for 2 months. We need to talk about this together and with Dr. Gajjar and decide if this is necessary. We crashed for a while in the room and then I went to Krogers to get some fruit and snacks. Ate supper in the Hotel and then Matt & Steven watched a movie.

Pray for Lyle & Michelle as they adjust to being by themselves. Pray for Lyle & Scot and those that are harvesting right now. For safety and good weather. Pray for us as we continue with tests and appointments and making decisions. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We love you all and thank God for how he provides for us.

God Bless
Peggy & Steven

Saturday, September 28, 2002 at 09:13 AM (CDT)

Good morning,

As Lyle said we made it to Memphis fine. Arrived at the airport around 12:00p.m. Found our van that a friend had left for us. We then went to the hospital to get meal vouchers, eat lunch and go to an eye appt. that did'nt happen. We then looked up Kathy and Robert in the Medicine room and visited with them. They are the friends from Florida. Steven went to the Target house with them and I came to the Marriot to check in and relax a little bit. Visited some more with our friends and then crashed for the night.
Thursday we met with Dr. Gajjar only to find out the an emergency had come up in Bone Marrow Transplant and they had to delay Steven's treatment by a week. We still have other appt. to keep us busy such as MRI's, hearing checks, PT, spinal tap, etc. So Steven will not start his first cycle of chemo until Oct. 11th. We took our little electric grill over to Kathy and Roberts and we grilled pork chops and ate a meal with our friends. So nice of them to let us hang out with them.
Friday back to the hospital, but not until after lunch. Nancy and Matt our friends from Maine showed up. They are here for a week, so we have someone else to hang out with. We went down to Beale St. to try out the new restaurant (Pat O'Malleys), great cajun food and had a great outside dining area. The weather is beautiful here. Low 80's. Matt and Steven went swimming later in the evening.
We'll probably just bum for the weekend. Maybe even catch part of the big red game. GO Huskers!! Thank you all for checking in and sending us messages. Please keep us all in your prayers as we adjust again to being away from our family and for safety as they continue harvest back home.
Love and God Bless
Peggy & Steven

Thursday, September 26, 2002 at 07:42 AM (CDT)

A quick note to let you know that Steven and Peggy arrived safely yesterday afternoon. No appointment with the optometrist. The doctor is out on wednesdays. Seems they would maybe update the staff not to schedule appointments on doctors days out of the office. Oh well. They got settled and spent some time with Robert and Kathy Charlton and will be able to get to this mornings appointments after a good nights rest. Will post of Steven's Make - a - Wish when I get time to post some pictures. Have a good day.

Later

Lyle

Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 07:03 AM (CDT)

Well, They're Off, All good things must come to an end. These 5 weeks have been good. With much to talk about. Steven and Peggy are on their way to Omaha to catch a 10:30 flight to Memphis. Kevin and Monica graciously offered to drop them off on their way to Willow Creek to attend a workshop on small groups. John and Adam rose early to see them off and offer prayers on their behalf. Thanks John.

We are now 4 days short of 4 months since Steven's
dx. With roughly 4 months to go now with the 4 cyles of Chemotherapy and Autologous Stem Cell Transplants. Steven will start right away with an appointment with the optometrist today, to document any changes with the left eye. This week will also include MRI's, triage, two minor surgeries, one for bone marrow harvest and one for the 2 line hickman port use for the transfusions and chemotherapy.

On thursday of next week. I will fly down to be there for Steven's first round of Chemotherapy and Stem Cell Transplant. If all goes according to plan he will be released on the following wednesday. We have decided to try to acquire an apartment via the National Children's Cancer Association. It appears doubtful that we will qualify for Financial Assistance with these expenses but hopefully they will still assist in makeing the arrangements if it is something we can afford to do. Jeff Charleton, Robert's dad flew home this morning and left the Van at the airport for Peggy and Steven.

Steven had a big weekend last weekend when the "Make a Wish Foundation granted his Wish. More on that later. Got to get MJ to marching band. Will try to add more later.

Keep us in your prayers as we enter this next phase of Steven's Treatment. Thanks for everything and Give God Praise for answered prayers.

In HIM,

Lyle

Saturday, September 07, 2002 at 08:15 AM (CDT)

Day 17 at home. Time Flies when you're haveing fun. Sorry we haven't updated the page very regularly. It has been nice not to think about treatments and appointments, doctors and MRI's, tests and forms and medicines for the first time since the end of May. Things are going well. Peggy made the trip to San Jose with JD with no problems and returned a week ago Thursday. Steven relaxed for a week doing homework at home and then this week has been going to school daily and observing football practice after school. His teamates have been very encouraging and supportive. Steven has set a goal to be back on the field next season. Steven's spirits are high with moments of discouragement. He finds it easier to learn in school than at home. He feels like he learns by being instructed (listening) easier than by reading. A compliment to his teachers. We may have to seek a college young person to tutor Steven in the more advanced Physics and Math when in Memphis. He has great aptitude in these areas and are his favorite subjects.

This weekend is the annual "OLD TRUSTY DAYS" antique and collectors show here in town. When as many as 10,000 people descend on this little town of 875 people to admire restored tractors, cars, engines and the like. Steven's Uncle Merle and Grandpa VonSpreckelsen have always been involved showing a tractor or two and Merle's Collection of stationary engines. Steven always enjoyed hanging out at the show and staying in Grandma's Camper or Merles Tent.

Steven' appetite is back full force. Enjoying Grandma's cooking as well as Mom's and tolerates Dad's meager microwave efforts in their abscence. Aunt Dot and Uncle Bert had us over at noon Thursday for a feast of Dot's fried Chicken, Mashed potatoes and Peach Pie for desert. It hit the spot. Steven and "NO NAME BRAND" have been making last minute preperations for their concert tomorrow night to kickoff the Youth Groups "MIDWEEK" meetings.

Peg and I are doing well. I function so much better when she is here. God has joined me with the perfect helpmate. She meets all my needs. We still struggle with this at times. Doubt we will ever have all the answers. Why do children have to struggle against cancer. Our faith has grown, yes. Yet, why does Steven have to endure the pain, discourgement, treatments, and disppointments for me to grow and mature. God will be glorified through all this. I know. Good things have happened throughout. Yet, like Christ I often plead "If there is any other way let this cup pass from us". Yes I still ask "Why....?" Pray for us.
Thanks for all of the kind gestures and support over these past weeks. Special thanks and prayers to the Noyes from Maine(Matt's family), The Dorschel's(lizzies family from Virgina Beach) for your calls notes and tears. Peggy appreciates and loves you, Nancy and Mary Alice so much. You gals always knew when she needed a shoulder or a laugh. Call her anytime. We pray for you daily. Hope all is going well.

Please pray:

1. For peace concerning remaining treatments.
2. Steven continued improvement(balance, vision, confidence)
3. Decision's regarding Memphis Lodging as we consider the advantages or disadvantages of renting an apartment.
4. Steven's education while in therapy.
5. Lyle, knowing when to stay and when to leave throughout the Harvest season
6. A safe Harvest.

Looks like Harvest may start this next week as warm temperatures and breezes continue to speed crop maturity. Next weekend many will travel to Lincoln to watch Steven's future sister-in-law (Bridgette)and the Crimson Tide of Alabama take on the Huskers and a couple of more teams in Volleyball. I know the next 18 days are going to fly by so don't be surprised if there are a lack of updates for a while. Will try to keep you posted weekly. We love you all.

In Jesus

Lyle

Friday, August 23, 2002 at 09:53 PM (CDT)

All,

Decided I needed to update the page as many of you did not get our e-mail message. Steven and Peggy had a good flight into Omaha and we arrived home about 2:00 yesterday(Thursday). Peg right away started doing laundry, sweeping the floor and changing light bulbs. She's compulsive ;-) we thought things were in good shape. Steven took Luke, I mean Luke, took steven for a quick walk. He has to be leashed for a couple of weeks due to monday's knee surgery. Luke's I mean.

Today, Friday, Peggy went shopping to restock the Fridge etc. And get JD ready for the trip to San Jose. After much negotiation. It was decided that Peggy will make the trip to San Jose with J.D. leaving Sunday afternoon And flying back Thursday afternoon. They will be taking J.D. 's Jeep without Air conditioning pulling a uhaul over 1600 miles. Keep them in your prayer's. It should be a special time for Justin and his mom. After going to college last fall and the events of this summer they haven't had much time together. Steven is worried about having to eat Dad's cooking for a couple of days.

We had a nice shower last night so irrigation is in it's final stages and Harvest preperation is now the priority.

Uncle Bert and Aunt Dorothy are making final preperations for their Auction on Monday. It has come to their attention that their auctioneer is a member of an association that has supported ST. Jude for a number of years. He starts each auction selling something and the proceeds are used to benefit St. Jude. He matches the sale price of the item up to $100. The association has donated over 3 million dollars a year the last few years in this way. When he heard about Steven he requested that Steven be there to start off the Auction with a few words. It is the least we can do after everything St. Jude has done for us.

Steven drove(for the first time since May) the old Mercedes to school today and visited his classmates, don't know if he did any school work. Then watched his teammates practice football. I'me sure that was with mixed emotions as he looks forward to the future while being faced by one more thing he will miss this year. He never said a word about it. He has had to mature so fast and has shown such strength. I know I would have held many pity parties had I had to endure the disappointments he has this summer and fall. He amazes me. A true Hero in his Dad's eyes.

Tonight we had a multitude of visitors and enjoyed them all. Eric is home so we have the whole family together for two more nights. The first time since Christmas. And probably the last till next Christmas. Plans are to go to Lincoln tomorrow afternoon and watch the football game. Peggy went to bed early and the 4 kids are in the next room watching "Lord of the Rings". Dad is just sitting here thanking God for being blessed with such a wonderful wife and kids and times together like this. Lot's of memories. Sigh.... simple pleasure's are the best. Thank you Lord for bringing us this far.

Sleep well and God Bless,

Lyle

Rest up Steven, There's Pipe to pick up.

Tuesday, August 20, 2002 at 03:13 PM (CDT)

Hello everyone,

One radiation left!! Hallelujah!! And then we are out of here. We both can't wait. Praise God Steven has done very good during radiation. Infact Amy(his dietican) said that he's done better than any teenager in a long time.

We went to WOW service Sunday morning and then Steven went to Sunday School with Paul Lawler. He teaches jr. high but wanted Steven to attend with him. We then went to Paul & Janie's home. We ate lunch with them and then vegged out on the couch and watched Tiger and a few others golf. It is always a nice break to get away from the RMH for a while. Not that its not nice, but when you get away you kind of forget about things. They have a 16 year old son and we just really enjoyed our visit.

Monday was pretty routine at St. Judes. Steven finished up with OT & PT, gave him some things to work on at home. Had another hearing test done, and said no significant changes. I gave platletts again and while I was doing this Steven got to meet Shane Battier. For those that don't know he's a basketball player for the Memphis Grizzles. Steven got an autographed picture and met the assistant general manager, who gave him his card and said to call when we come back. Would be glad to get us tickets to a game or two. Steven was thrilled to say the least. Started packing last evening as we are leaving some stuff here so it will be here when we come back. The RMH is going to let us leave our van parked here until we return.

Today we saw Dr. Gajjar and Dr. Kuhn. Both told Steven to stay away from the girls, and to enjoy his time at home. We have been so thankful for the way Dr. Gajjar has made us feel so at ease. What a great Dr. to have in charge of your care. We are going to go out for supper(Dinner as they say down here) with our good friends Matt & Nancy. Steven thinks Applebees sounds good. Haven't asked but I'm sure they will try to get another golf outing in before we leave. Steven, Matt, & Robert are going to get their pictures taken tonight with their cool shirts on. I'll try to get it put on here.

Don't know if I'll get this updated again before we leave. Have a lot of cleaning and packing to do before we fly out of here. Our flight leaves at 8:20a.m and to arrive in Omaha at 10:00a.m. Pray for a safe flight and safe travel for Lyle as he comes to pick us up. Can't wait to see those familar faces and places. Thank you for all the support.

God Bless
Peggy & Steven

Saturday, August 17, 2002 at 11:44 PM (CDT)

Hello,

Can't seem to sleep tonight. Must have slept to much this afternoon. Since I couldn't sleep, thought I would update the page. Just hope I don't wake Steven up. I'm hiding under a blanket to try and sheild the light from the screen.

Thursday morning we got up bright and early because Steven had radiation at 7:30. We took Matt with us since he had treatment right after Steven. We came back and had breakfast, then back to the hospital to meet with Dr. Gajjar. Then on to east Memphis to see the mole Dr.. She said that one of the moles she removed was pre-cancerous but she got it all. Said that Steven will need to be checked out yearly by a skin Dr. Back to the RMH to rest before we took off for Nashville. Traffic was terrible getting out of Memphis, but eventually got down the road. We got to Nashville about 6:15 and stopped to ask for exact directions to the Stadium. Got down town and dropped the guys off to walk the rest of the way. Parked in a garage and then looked around downtown, eventually ended up at the riverside park where they were having a free concert. Turns out that every Thursday night in the summer they put on free concerts and this was the last one. Was a nice evening for a concert and could see the Stadium across the river and see the fireworks go off when the Titans scored a touchdown. Met up with the guys after the game and headed back to the RMH. We got in around 2:15, the guys slept all the way back, but the good Lord kept me awake and the van kept plugging away. (good thing Steven is sleeping well, I just knocked the lamp over and didn't wake him up). We slept until about 10:00 Friday as Steven didn't have to be to St. Judes until 11:30. I took a short nap in the afternoon and then we went to Matts great aunt Nancy's place. She lives in the east part of Memphis and Matts mother had invited us over for Maine lobster feast. Matt's grandpa and grandma are visiting also, his grandmother had made coleslaw and potato salad. Stevens favorite and Matt's mother had made peach pie, also Steven's favorite. We had a great meal and fun getting to know everyone. They had also invited Jess and Judy over, Jess works at St. Judes in the pathology dept. Matt's mother and Jess had worked together in Virginia. We had a great time and the lobster was wonderful. Well that brings us to Saturday. We just kind of loafed. I did a load of laundry and Steven worked on some homework. We also watched some golf. I slept for awhile. We had supper and then had the privalege of playing cards with Robert Mitchel and his dad Jeff. They taught us a new game and we taught them one too. We will worship with the Lindenwood Christian Church tomorrow and eat our noon meal with Paul Lawler and his family. He's the guy that is keeping in touch with Steven from the Stephen ministry at the church. We can't wait to get home and see everyone and sleep in our own beds for awhile. Guess I've rambled on long enough. God bless and have a blessed Sunday worshiping.

Love,
Peggy & Steve

Wednesday, August 14, 2002 at 08:01 PM (CDT)

Hello,

Well we have kept busy since our family left. Steven continues to do school work, is doing homework as I type. He has his daily radiation treatments (5 left), occupational therapy or physical therapy, visits with doctors, triage (where they draw blood, do weight, blood pressure and temp.). Steven finds it interesting that everyone knows his name but he doesn't know who half of them are. We said goodbye to our very good friends Lizzie and MaryAlice Tuesday. It sure isn't the same without them, but are glad they got to go home. Steven's big brother Eric(hairiest) and his friend Josh came by Tuesday afternoon. Eric is visiting his fiancée Bridget in Alabama, so Josh gave him a ride up to Memphis. They hung out with us at St. Jude and then came back to the RMH, where Steven and Josh played Delta Force on the computer. We then went out for supper at the Hard Rock Cafe. Eric went and got our van out of the parking garage and picked us up because it was pouring rain. Sure wish we could send some back home. Said good byes and hugged.

Steven was a little bummed because yesterday morning Sarah Hughes the Olympic gold ice skater was there, but we didn't have appointments till afternoon, so we missed seeing her. They did have extra autographed pictures of her, so we took one. But guess what? Today when he was in OT they told him that Jackie Joyner Kersee was coming. We got to meet her and have his picture taken with her. Pretty exciting.

We were able to get tickets to the Titans football game for Thursday night. So I'm taking Steven and Matt to Nashville. Needless to say we had to change their radiation appointments and we get to go to the hospital by 7:30 in the morning for treatments. Little price to pay to go have fun.

Steven got a T-shirt for his birthday from Powell's "Who needs hair with a body like this". We were able to find two more, one for Matt and one for Robert. We gave Robert his tonight, because he got out of the hospital today and is now staying in the RMH. Hope to get a picture with all three of them wearing them.

We continue to count the days down and they seem to be going by pretty fast. Thank you again for all the support you give us through prayers, notes, calls and sign ins. We love you all and miss you, but it won't be long now.

God Bless
Peggy & Steven

Monday, August 12, 2002 at 11:15 AM (CDT)

8/12/02

Hello everyone,

It has been a good weekend here in Memphis, Justin, Michelle and I decided to leave Thursday Night after JD got off work and drive all night to surprise Mom and Steven Friday morning. Mission accomplished, arrived about 7:30 at the RMH. Friday we made the rounds at St. Jude with Steven. Observed the Conformal RT treatment to Stevens posterior fossa, and got to visit and speak with the folks in the Physics department of Radiation Therapy. Interesting and impressive. Since it was one of the last treatments of the day, they had time to bring up all of Steven’s images and treatment plans. They could show us what areas were receiving what dosages and how they avoided over-treating non diseased areas. Friday night we went to Corky’s for dinner. World renowned barbecue. Wet or Dry. Chad, I prefer the Wet over the dry. We all turned in early, Many of us were running on little sleep from the drive down.

Steven’s eye is showing noticable improvement. Balance can still be a problem but Steven had little trouble navigating the crowds on Beale Street Saturday Night for the 1st Elvis 25th aniversary parade. CC’s 4th of July Parade compete’s very well if you ask me. Justin did enjoy the street musicians and the group of V-8 motorcycles were interesting. Justin also challenged Steven to rematch at the Glow Golf course following the parade. They know Steven on a first name basis there now and just hand him a putter when he walks in. We had a good time. On Sunday we went to the WOW (Wide Open Worship) Service at at Lindenwood Christian Church. It is Wide Open. We learned that the Worship Team also plays in a club on Beale Street on Saturday night following Saturday nights worship service under the name “Kevin Paige and "The amazing flea Circus” Steven says “See Dad, More than one Christian Band has a weird name”. OK. Sunday afternoon Steven, Justin and I took the Gibson Guitar factory tour. Enjoyed that as well. From there we went to the Mid South Hunting and Outdoor Expo at the Ag Center. Michelle liked the puppies,and the Gizzly Bear, Peggy met THE “Gizzly Adams”, Justin enjoyed the customized Rock Climbing Jeeps and the big Kawasaki Street Bike, Steven showed he still has his Archery Skills. And Eric, We got some great Bass fishing tips from Keith Johnson a pro on the BASS Masters Tour. Also we visited about duck and goose hunting with a pair of guides located about an hour North of here. While visiting with Steven they discovered not only a common love of duck hunting but also their love for Jesus. Before we left Steven was offered a free duck hunt at “Twin Rivers Guide Service “in Ripley, TN. In exchange, Steven offered a Spring Snow Goose hunt in Clay County NE.

Another special time we have had this visit was the opportunity for Justin and I on Friday, and Justin, Steven and I on Saturday to visit Robert Charlton. Robert has taken up the guitar. Justin enjoyed the opportunity to meet robert and give him a couple of pointers. Robert has the gift. He has “G” down. Working on “C” and “D” I believe. And he will be ready to play a tune soon. ST. Jude will have the makings of it’s own worship band if we could get them all together. We hope to see Robert and his mom, Kathy, before we leave today.

Continue to keep Steven in your prayers. Steven has 8 radiation treatments left; August 21st will be his last one. Peggy and Steven will be flying home on the 22nd departing Memphis at 8:30 a.m. The kids and I will be driving home sometime today. Eric will be arriving for the day tomorrow.

Hope it’s raining at home. And all of you are well. Our prayers and best wishes go out to Uncle Glen Berg for a speedy and full recovery from bypass surgery. Steven suggested that all of the Gangwish cousins deserve their very own guestbook.

As always, the hardest part of coming is leaving say a prayer for this Dad in particular as we count the days till we can all be back home together once again. God is faithful as always.


God bless

Lyle

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
– Philippians 4:4, New International Version



A couple of Photos from the Car Club visit to RMH Sunday.

Oh and when visiting Steven's page be sure to sign the guestbook . Steven really enjoys reading the notes. Even if it is just a hello. Or a favorite scripture. Who knows, He may write back. ;-)

Check out the other visitors to Steven's page.


Related Links:

Brief Description of Medulloblastoma Brain tumor
Preliminary results of Steven’s clinical trial
MSN Picture Gallery
No Name Brand

Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:

lylev@dtnspeed.net(Lyle)
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com(Peggy)
eric483320@hotmail.com(Eric)
jdv82@hotmail.com (Justin)
stevenv85@hotmail.com (Steven)
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com(Michelle)


Other friends in need of prayer:

Jeff, Kathy and Robert Charlton

Thursday, August 08, 2002 at 04:39 PM (CDT)

Hello,

Well Steven and Matt went to the Matinee Movie this afternoon, so gives me a chance to get on the computor. Obviously the radiation has not made him terribly tired as you can see he seems to keep busy with the teens here.

Dr. Kuhn told us to stop the nausea medicine on Tuesday, but Dr Gajjar said today to get back on it. Must have been intuition as Steven lost his lunch after Dr. Gajjar told us this. Steven will not be very happy with me sharing this but we do see a difference when he takes the medicine regularly. Even said we should take it up to 1 1/2 weeks after we return home.

Steven saw the audiologist yesterday and she fitted him for some musicians earplugs. Loud noises and music is something Steven is going to have to be careful about for the next 2 years. He has even started wearing them at the WOW service on Sunday mornings, because the music is pretty loud. The musicians earplugs will enable hime to play his bass guitar with the band and not do damage to his hearing. Has been doing his PT and OT 2-3 times a week, and stretching here at the RMH when he thinks of it.

He has 9 radiation treatments left, we are counting the days. I took time yesterday to give platlets. First time I had ever done this. Takes about 2 hours by the time you answer all of those embarassing questions. They let you select a movie to watch while you sit there. The patients here at St. Judes use more platlets than they do whole blood and they are really asking for donors. You can give platlets every 48 hours but only 24 times a year. I will try to give one more time before we head back and then when we get back I can give and designate them to go to Steven.

I was wrong about the Elvis Presley thing. Its next week and the parade is on the 16th. So this weekend should be safe to venture downtown if we feel like it.

Lyle, Justin and Michelle are heading down tomorrow for a few days. Pray for a safe journey for them. We are making plans as to what we will do while they are here. We have not seen all the sites in Memphis yet.

Thank you all for words of encourgement and your constant prayers. You never realize how special they are until you are on the receiving end. We need to thank God for each new day that he gives us. I'll leave you with a scripture.

"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct thy prayer unto thee, and will look up" (Psalm 5:3KJV)

God Bless
Peggy & Steven



A couple of Photos from the Car Club visit to RMH Sunday.

Oh and when visiting Steven's page be sure to sign the guestbook . Steven really enjoys reading the notes. Even if it is just a hello. Or a favorite scripture. Who knows, He may write back. ;-)

Check out the other visitors to Steven's page.


Related Links:

Brief Description of Medulloblastoma Brain tumor
Preliminary results of Steven’s clinical trial
MSN Picture Gallery
No Name Brand Band

Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:

lylev@dtnspeed.net(Lyle)
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com(Peggy)
eric483320@hotmail.com(Eric)
jdv82@hotmail.com (Justin)
stevenv85@hotmail.com (Steven)
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com(Michelle)


Other friends in need of prayer:

Jeff, Kathy and Robert Charlton

Tuesday, August 06, 2002 at 08:00 PM (CDT)

Hello everyone,

Boy has it been hot here. And then combine the humidity that they have here and its miserable to be out. I hear its just as hot back home and no rain. We continue to pray for rain so they can have some relief from irrigating.

We have kept very busy the last couple of days. They are starting to schedule appointments for the future. Steven had pulmunary testing done today and his lungs are great. We also met with Dr. Hale who is the Clinical Director of Stem Cell Transplant. When we come back in September Steven will have Stem Cells harvested and frozen so they can transplant them after each chemo treatment. This is to help his white blood cells recover faster. Dr. Hale also talked to us about when we would start chemo, how many days in the hospital and side effects. Gave us a book to read and told us to write down any questions we might have. Steven also saw the eye doctor today. He was very pleased with the way Steven's left eye has started to move. This means the 6th nerve is repairing itself. Hallelujah! We will see him again upon our return. Steven also gained 4 lbs yesterday. Hallelujah again!

Steven has been keeping busy with the other teenagers here. They went to a movie last Friday night, watched a movie here Sunday night, went glowball put put golfing last night and are out bowling right now. He seems to be having fun and any activities make the time go by faster.

Steven has 11 treatments left and August 21st will be his last one. Don't know for sure if we will be leaving on the 21st or 22nd. We are counting the days till we will be back home.

We have been so blessed to be in such a great facility. Both St. Judes and RMH. Have made many friends and enjoy the worship services at Lindenwood Christian Church.

I Want to share a scripture with you that someone sent to us.

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:21-23

God bless

Steven & Peggy



A couple of Photos from the Car Club visit to RMH Sunday.

Oh and when visiting Steven's page be sure to sign the guestbook . Steven really enjoys reading the notes. Even if it is just a hello. Or a favorite scripture. Who knows, He may write back. ;-)

Check out the other visitors to Steven's page.


Related Links:

Brief Description of Medulloblastoma Brain tumor
Preliminary results of Steven’s clinical trial
MSN Picture Gallery
No Name Brand Band

Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:

lylev@dtnspeed.net(Lyle)
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com(Peggy)
eric483320@hotmail.com(Eric)
jdv82@hotmail.com (Justin)
stevenv85@hotmail.com (Steven)
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com(Michelle)


Other friends in need of prayer:

Jeff, Kathy and Robert Charlton

Sunday, August 04, 2002 at 11:58 AM (CDT)

Greetings from Memphis Tenn.,

Steven & I just got back from worshiping at Lindenwood Christian Church. The pastor is doing a series on LOVE. Paul Lawler caught us after church and gave Steven a late birthday present. A cool hat that you see outdoor hikers or canoers wear. Paul is a part of the "Stephen Ministry" at Lindenwood Church and is being a mentor to Steven.

We have had a good week. Steven is tolerating the radiation well. We continue to put gel on so he won't burn and is taking medication for nausea. We are putting drops in his ear for soreness. We went to a dermatologist on Thursday and she removed 5 moles that were discolored. We didn't expect her to do it that day, but was good to get out of the way.

Mark, Patti, Hannah & Elizabeth were here from late Tuesday to Saturday morning. We really enjoyed the company and tried to show them a few of the sites. They brought sweet corn with them from home and we enjoyed a part of home. Thank you to all of you that helped LaVon & Robyn with freezing sweet corn. Steven took the girls to the glow minature golf, we went to Wolf Chase Mall, Liz and Mark went to Liberty Land Amusement Park and Mark, Patti and I went down to Beale Street one night. Saw an Elvis impersonator that wasn't that good.

Oh by the way, did you know that Elvis has been dead for 25 years. They say the city is going to be overpopulated with Elvis fans, impersonators, and who knows what else this week and next weekend. Parades, concerts, contests and lots of things going on. We might just hide out at the RMH.

Well I've rambled on long enough and apologize for not up dating more often. Thank you all for your cards, calls and e-mails. God Bless and Keep the Faith.

Love,
Peggy & Steven



Oh and when visiting Steven's page be sure to sign the guestbook . Steven really enjoys reading the notes. Even if it is just a hello. Or a favorite scripture. Who knows, He may write back. ;-)

Check out the other visiters to Steven's page.


Related Links:

Brief Description of Medulloblastoma Brain tumor
Preliminary results of Steven’s clinical trial
MSN Picture Gallery
No Name Brand Band

Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:

lylev@prairieinet.net
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com
stevenv85@hotmail.com
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com

Other friends in need of prayer:

Jeff, Kathy and Robert Charlton

Thursday, August 01, 2002 at 08:11 AM (CDT)

Thanks for Checking In.

Good Thursday Morning, Not a lot to report. Steven has experienced a couple of mild nausea episodes this week. Pray that those cease. He is working hard at gaining some weight with some success. Steven walks without the cane nearly all the time now. He is scheduled for another MRI on Friday. According to Dr. Kun everything is going very well to this point. Yesterday was Hump day, Day 16 of 31 for radiation therapy. The last scheduled radiation will be on the 21st of August. Yesterday marked 2 months to the day since Steven’s first surgery at Children’s in Omaha. An awful lot has transpired in the last 2 months. We are relieved that things now are on schedule and relatively routine.

After consulting with the Steven’s teacher at St. Jude it was decided to try to get started with schoolwork while Steven is feeling so good. We are praying that Steven feels well during the high dose chemotherapy, but we know that he will be in the Hospital at least the first 5 days of each 28-day cycle. So if he could get ahead a little it would make things easier to keep up while in Memphis. Peg’s Sister Patti, her husband Mark, and their family arrived Tuesday to spend some time with Peggy, Steven , and Michelle. Sounds like Steven is coping with little sister and the female cousins pretty well. Thank you all for your continued prayer support and concern. Peggy continues to hold up remarkably well. It will be good to get everyone home for a few weeks in August and September.

Here in Nebraska it remains hot and dry. Crops are maturing ahead of Schedule. So it will be a rush to prepare for harvest as soon as irrigation is finished.

Continue to keep Steven in your prayers. He has done so well through this adversity. With 2 months done and nearly 6 months to go before treatments are complete and we can all return home, pray for patience, strength, and peace. Most of all pray for Steven’s healing. Thank our Heavenly Father for all he has done for us and that His will be done.

Added some of the earlier e-mails to the history file. Missing some from around the 18th of June through the 2nd of July if someone has those and would like to forward them to me at lylev@prairieinet.net I would appreciate that. I probably have them in Memphis. Also changed the pictures today. Will try to keep the site more up to date. Spread the word www.caringbridge.org/ne/steven.

God Bless you all,

Lyle



Oh and when visiting Steven's page be sure to sign the guestbook . Steven really enjoys reading the notes. Even if it is just a hello. Or a favorite scripture. Who knows, He may write back. ;-)

Check out the other visiters to Steven's page.

Related Links:

Brief Description of Medulloblastoma Brain tumor
Preliminary results of Steven’s clinical trial
MSN Picture Gallery
No Name Brand Band

Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:

lylev@dtnspeed.net
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com
stevenv85@hotmail.com
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com

Other friends in need of prayer:

Jeff, Kathy and Robert Charlton

Sunday, July 28, 2002 at 09:06 AM (CDT)

Hi everybody,
Sorry we haven't had an update for awhile. We've kept pretty busy the last couple of days. Lyle, Justin & Kendra just took off for home. It was so good to see everyone. Steven had his last full spinal & cranial radiation of Friday. On Monday they will start radiating just the tumor bed. He is still feeling very good. We went to Chili's Thursday night for his birthday. Thank you all so very much for sending Steven so many Birthday wishes. Friday around 1:30 the group of kids & sponsors that had been at a CIY conference in Missouri showed up. Had sandwiches and cake & ice cream. Hung around the RMH for the afternoon and then went to the Lindenwood Christian Church's Life Center. They were gracious enough to let the group stay over night there. They have a great facility. We ate pizza, played basketball and goofed around. It was great for Steven to see his friends and I know they encouraged him. The CIY group left around 7:00a.m. Sat. and around 10:30 Bridget & Laura Vanderham showed up. Steven of course, got Alabama Volleyball gifts. Sure hope we get to take in some of those volleyball games. Had a lot of laughs & food.

I'm just sitting here realizing how blessed we are. Our God is such a loving, kind, faithful, all-knowing, all-powerful, healer and so much more that could fill this page. Our family, friends, new and old have showed us true Christian love. I only pray that we all can continue to reach out to other poeple that are hurting and sick and need the love of Jesus also. May we all be examples of Christ to those we meet everyday.

God Bless

Peggy & Steven



Oh and when visiting Steven's page be sure to sign the guestbook . Steven really enjoys reading the notes. Even if it is just a hello. Or a favorite scripture. Who knows, He may write back. ;-)


Related Links:

Brief Description of Medulloblastoma Brain tumor
Preliminary results of Steven’s clinical trial
MSN Picture Gallery
No Name Brand Band

Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:

lylev@prairieinet.net
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com
stevenv85@hotmail.com
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com

Other friends in need of prayer:

Jeff, Kathy and Robert Charlton

Thursday, July 25, 2002 at 12:36 AM (CDT)

Hey everyone,

Sorry so slow to post. Been a couple of busy days. MJ and I left at about 6:45 on Tuesday Morning to drive to Memphis. East of Lincoln I discovered I had lost my Cell Phone. Drove on to I 29 junction and made a call home to tell folks not to worry if they couldn't reach me. Thought maybe I had lost it at a fuel stop near Aurora. Heard later that they found it. My guess is in my yard between the house and Luke the famous typing Dog's, kennel. Anyway when I made the call home was informed we had left MJ's suitcase in the driveway. What to do?? In pretty short order I decided a 3 hr. round trip back for the suitcase was probably shorter and less expensive than taking MJ to the Mall to replace missing items. Sooo Scot met us at a rest stop west of Lincoln. It was now 11:30 and was only a little over an hour away from home. Things went well from there however and arrived in Memphis at the RMH about 10:30. Peg and Steven were still awake. Quick goodnights and to bed.

Today I found Steven walking much better than when I left roughly 10 days ago. The double vision hasn't improved much yet, but trying to be patient as we trust that it will. Everyone is in very good spirits and feeling well. Peggy is missing swimming laps this summer, Deb. But she is getting her three mile walk in. We were informed today that Steven would finish Spine and Cranial Radiation this Friday and start conformal focused radiation to the tumor bed on Monday. Dr.s said that he should actually continue to feel better (sore throat, naseau, normally improves etc.) as the rest of his body wouldn't be recieving much exposure from this point on. The schedule calls for a total of 31 treatments. 1 day over 6 weeks. which will push us into about the 20th of August before Steven returns home.

Steven has made a couple of good friends here. (I requested prayer for that very thing a couple of days ago. ) A young man ,Mathew, 19 year old freshman defensive lineman from Maine. Matt is into computors as well. Currently recieving radiation for a astroblastoma brain tumor. A very positive kid. He, Steven, and another 19 year old, Kevin?(non hodgkins lymphoma) I think, took the car and went downtown tonight to an arcade/bowling/minigolf place. Had a good time. Returned and watched a movie with us in the commons area. Steven has only lost .3 lbs so far through radiation . That is very good.
We Will celebrate Steven's 17th birthday tomorrow. Probably sleep late. Open some gifts from yall. Go to the Hospital after lunch till about 4:00 then Dinner at Chili's I believe is his request. Thanks for all the Cards, Letters messages and Gifts. You folks have been so wonderful. Mrs. Lines he opened yours early. The big cookie from Eileens was very popular. Will try to report more tomorrow. But know God has taken wonderful care of my wife and son, surrounding them with wonderful people. I almost feel in the way.

Steven is aware of and looking forward to seeing the group from CC on friday. Pray that they have cool weather and a safe uneventful trip from The CIY conference in Bolivar. Talked to JD tonight and sounds like they are haveing a very good experience there. Radar looked like you folks may have recieved a shower this evening and more severe weather to the west. Pray all is well. Trusting all of you are remaining faithul in your prayers for Steven during these uneventful, good days. As we continue to look forward and fully expect Steven's full recovery and return home.

God Bless you all,

Lyle

Oh and by the way Steven. IT is now, 12:15 am. July 25th, Let me be the first to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!and many more to come. You have demonstrated to all of us that Happiness (JOY) is a choice not the result of where you are, what you get, or how you feel. Thank you for that.

Love you,

DAD

Oh and when visiting
Steven's page be sure to sign the guestbook. Steven really enjoy's reading the notes. Even if it is just a hello. Or a favorite scripture. Who knows, He may write back. ;-)

Related Links:

Brief Description of Medulloblastoma Brain tumor
Preliminary results of Steven's clinical trial
MSN Picture Gallery
No Name Brand Band

Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:
lylev@prairieinet.net
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com
stevenv85@hotmail.com
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com

Friends in Need of Prayer at Caringbridge.org

Jeff, Kathy and Robert Charlton

Monday, July 22, 2002 at 11:03 AM (CDT)

Thanks for Checking In.

Hello from a cooler wetter, Clay Co. Nebraska. We didn’t get the 3.5 inches that Sue posted of but we did receive 1 to 1.5” of welcome rain last night The first since early mid May. Thank you Father.

Since Peggy doesn’t seem to want to update this page I’ll do my best based on last nights phone call. Saturday Peggy went out to lunch with a woman from the Lindewood Christian Church’s Stephen ministry. They had an enjoyable time getting to know each other and toured the Lindenwood facility. It was impressive including an activities center with gym/excersize facilities and much more to enable effective ministery to people in the Memphis area. Steven ate lunch at the RMH, which was furnished by an outside church group. He met a 19-year-old patient, Mathew I believe. Sounds like they may become friends. Steven continues to feel well, with the exception of the hiccups, passing time playing Madden 2001 football on the computer etc.

Sunday, after worshiping at Lindenwood, Peg and Steven made the 45-minute drive to Mississippi to meet her newfound 2nd cousins for a barbecue. Sounds like they had a great time catching up. Steven was able to go swimming, and fishing. Caught a catfish, from what I heard. It appears they will see each other again. God continues to faithfully answer our prayers and care for my family in my absence. I am a slow learner, it seems.

Circumstances or Events transpire, We ask for prayer, God provides, I praise and thank HIM. Then I get anxious about the next unknown or future event. And request prayer again and the cycle continues. Yesterday once again worshiping in CC I was blessed and recharged by the fellowship and worship. In Sunday school we read:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. James 1:2-8

I would prefer not quite as much perseverance development, however God continues to display that He has everything under control. What I need to work on is vs. 6 – 8. The doubting that creeps in absolutely does paralyze and confuse you if you allow it. I pray for increased faith. Scripture teaches us that doubts and fear are not from God. That only leaves Satan and me. Pray that God places a Hedge around my family just as He did Job for many years. And that we continue to trust and submit to God’s will for Steven’s future.

Gracious Heavenly Father,

We give You Praise and thanksgiving for all You have done for us, Thank You for the many wonderful people You have sent to my family’s aid and support in this difficult time. Both in Nebraska and in Tennessee. Thank You for the medical knowledge, care, gifted and talented people and technology made available to us in Steven’ s treatment. Thank You for the blessing of moisture to relieve the stress on both crops and laborers. I pray that You continually watch over Steven and Peggy. I humbly ask for Your divine intervention in Steven’s illness. That You enable his body to heal and remain strong through remaining treatments if that is what is required. That Steven is completely healed and free of Cancer, That He is spared of any ill effects from the Radiation and Chemotherapy. That time passes quickly till we once again can return to our home as a family. That each of us remains faithful in our daily walk, and that we take every opportunity to give You Glory and Honor and to share the saving message of Jesus with those we come in contact with. Forgive me for times of weakness, for my sins, and help us to resist temptation, fear and doubt. I ask for a special blessing each day for my precious wife and children, especially Steven in these difficult days. Your will be done. Thank You for JESUS and His Church.

In His precious and Holy Name, Amen

Have a Great Day! I’m getting ready to go to Memphis!!!!

Much Love,

Lyle



Oh and when visiting Steven's page be sure to sign the guestbook. Steven really enjoys reading the notes. Even if it is just a hello. Or a favorite scripture. Who knows, He may write back. ;-)


Related Links:

Brief Description of Medulloblastoma Brain tumor
Preliminary results of Steven’s clinical trial
MSN Picture Gallery
No Name Brand Band

Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:

lylev@prairieinet.net
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com
stevenv85@hotmail.com
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com

Other friends in need of prayer:

Jeff, Kathy and Robert Charlton

Saturday, July 20, 2002 at 12:10 AM (CDT)

Thanks for Checking In.

Called Peggy a couple of times today. Sounds like except the hiccups or (hiccoughs), Things continue to go well. Dr. Kun thinks maybe that the radiation is irritating or swelling the Hiccup nerve on Steven's brain stem where there was tumor involvement. Since the Thorazine didn't help much, he prescribed Decadron. Decadron is a steroid that reduces brain swelling. It has some not too great side effects if used for very long. Puffiness or swelling along with excessive weight gain. Peg thought that Dr. Gajjar seemed to be uncertain about the prescription but said to see how the weekend went. Steven has completed 8 treatments now with approximately 22 to go before He returns home for a much-deserved break.

Peggy said that Steven is trying to be less dependent on His Cane so balance must be getting better slowly. She e-mailed ME for the first time tonight. How Romantic ;-). Looking forward to seeing Her and Steven next week. They had a surprise visit from Josh, Bridget and Eric’s friend from Alabama. He works for Youth for Christ and is headed toward Denver today. Steven really enjoyed Josh's company. tomorrow Peggy and Steven are going to a barbecue in nearby Mississippi, Her first Cousins from Wyoming originally have kids whom live there now. About 45 minutes away from Memphis. The Gangwish clan, you can run but you can't hide. Scattered from California to Mississippi at least.

We (Michelle, Justin, and I. Aunts Uncles cousins Grandparents and multiple friends) went to the American Cancer Society Walk for Life event in Clay Center tonight. It will continue till 7:00 am tomorrow morning. Quite a crowd. My first experience with it. I never really thought much about cancer or what cancer does to a family until about 6 weeks ago. I certainly never thought about it in the context of watching one of my children have to battle the disease. It is by far the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with as a Dad. Without God's Grace, and all of your support and prayers it would be impossible for this Dad to function. Our hearts and prayers go out to all of you who have found yourselves in very similar situations both in the past and yet to come. May God grant you Peace, Hope and many blessings. Many thanks to the Tessman's for organizing a team for tonight’s event in honor of Steven. It was a very emotional evening for us. We look forward to many future "walk for life" events with Steven as a Cancer Survivor, Lord Willing.

The drought continues in South Central Nebraska. No rain in sight and 103 degrees today. The driest June and July on record according to some reports. Maintaining, Running, and Repairing Irrigation systems is hard work, but without them we would not have a harvest this year. So my family, Scot,Merle,Dad, Uncle Bert, and new right hand man, Gary Johnson, with occasional help from friends and neighbors continue to work relentlessly and tirelessly to pick up the slack, enabling me to focus on my family. You are all so amazing. I pray it will rain soon to give all of you a much-needed break. We will never be able to thank you enough. From the bottom of our hearts we love you so much. It is late, I promised myself I would get to bed before Midnight as I told Andrew P. and Bryson S. to be ready to pick up Pipe at 7:00 am. It's 11:58. won't make it.

Sorry for the rambling Nature. It's late and I’m tired, physically, and emotionally. Good Night.

May God hold you in the Cradle of His Arm.

Much Love,

Lyle and Peggy



Oh and when visiting Steven's page be sure to sign the guestbook . Steven really enjoy's reading the notes. Even if it is just a hello. Or a favorite scripture. Who knows, He may write back. ;-)


Related Links:

Brief Description of Medulloblastoma Brain tumor
Preliminary results of Steven's clinical trial
MSN Picture Gallery
No Name Brand Band

Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:

lylev@prairieinet.net
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com
stevenv85@hotmail.com
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com

Other friends in need of prayer:

Jeff, Kathy and Robert Charlton

Thursday, July 18, 2002 at 08:10 PM (CDT)

Thanks for Checking In.

Spoke with Peg this evening, Things continue to go pretty well. The Occupational Therapist reported noticeable improvement in his left hand. although not comfortable without it Steven, Is walking to the Dining area without his Cane occasionally. Tonight Peggy and Steven were invited to play bingo at the "Target House" by another family they met at the Hospital. They seemed to be enjoying that while I was talking to Peg on her Cell. Good thing they didn't invite him to play Cards.

A couple of concerns of mine. One, the hiccups seem to be flaring back up again. Dr. Kun would like Steven to try the Thorazine once again, for relief. Steven really prefers not to, as it makes him feel doped up and drowsy. The other concern, probably not legitimate according to Steven, I am praying that God brings a Christian young person to Steven while he is staying down at Memphis. One with the same interests and who he can relate to naturally. He will need to make an effort not to isolate himself in the coming weeks and months as he is away from his schoolmates, teammates, family and friends. Agree with me in prayer on those concerns if you would.

You have all been such great encouragers, friends, and ministered to us in real and genuine ways. A wonderful e-mail came to me today from a good friend, whom I have just really gotten to know in the last 10 or 12 months. He related very well to me right now, haveing gone through a similar experience with his son (then in college) several years ago. Darren is now Cancer free praise God. He shared this scripture with me.

"The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of troubled; and He knows those who trust in Him." Nahum 138 1:7

I seems many of you are led with great encouragements for steven, and the rest of us from God's word. Thank you for sharing those with us.

If you haven't read the posts in the guestbook lately you really are missing out. I thought I had the Dog kenneled. Unless???. Dan S. was in town today working on wireless internet opportunitiess. Nahhhh. Oh and when visiting Steven's page be sure to sign the guestbook . Steven really enjoy's reading the notes. Even if it is just a hello. Or a favorite scripture. Who knows, He may write back. ;-)

Love you all, Have a good night and a blessed day tomorrow.

Love

Lyle for Peg, and Steven

Related Links:

Brief Description of Medulloblastoma Brain tumor
Preliminary results of Steven's clinical trial
MSN Picture Gallery
No Name Brand Band

Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:

lylev@prairieinet.net
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com
stevenv85@hotmail.com
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com

Other friends in need of prayer:

Jeff, Kathy and Robert Charlton

Tuesday, July 16, 2002 at 10:31 PM (CDT)

Welcome, and thanks for checking in with us.
Just got off of the phone. With Peg, sounds like they had a good day...until I woke them up with a phone call. They grilled pork chops for supper. Then had to give out numbers for the other residents to use the coals when they were done. Everyone likes to grill but no one likes to start fires. Steven had to select some things he wanted to work on with the OT Occupational Therapy. He selected typing, Playing his guitar, and shuffling cards. My wife says I knew that last week. Radiation therapy countdown moves to 5 done and 25 to go. They had a surprise visit once again from Nancy, Marybeth Fast's sister from Missouri. She brought them fresh cantelope and watermelon. Peggy also met a Mom from York,Ne. today. She also new Paula and Lonnie originally from our home Church now in Blair. She was there with her son that was treated 13 years ago for Medulloblastoma, for a checkup. Peggy heard her comment on how she would love to send some of that rain to Nebraska and struck up a conversation. It's so cool how God is providing supportive people for Peggy and Steven while we are away. When I think about all the little things that have taken place this past month and a half. I continue to be amazed at how "HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT".

Your prayers continue to be effective. It's about time for another sermonette. but not tonight. Just continue to keep Steven in your prayers. Pray that time passes quickly and that treatments are effective and tolerated well. All of your supportive kindnesses have meant so much to us. It appears steven will have to make a trip through Texas to not only visit family, but to visit the army of prayer warriors that Dee and Len Fate have recruited for Steven. Thanks so much to all the believers in Texas.

Oh and when visiting Steven's page be sure to sign the guestbook . Steven really enjoy's reading the notes. Even if it is just a hello. Or a favorite scripture. Who knows, He may write back. ;-)Don't let the Texas posts outnumber the Nebraska posts. GO BIG RED!!!

Love you all

Have a good night and a blessed day tomorrow

Love

Lyle for Peg, and Steven

By the way good friend and Neigbor Ken Spray wins the prize once again. 1st to sign the guestbook, Shortest Post, and the 1000 visitor to Steven's Page. Wonder if he was the 991, 992, 993... ;-) . Have seen him drive that silver pickup around just to watch the odometer turn over.

Related Links:

Brief Description of Medulloblastoma Brain tumor
Preliminary results of Steven's clinical trial
MSN Picture Gallery
No Name Brand Band

Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:

lylev@prairieinet.net
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com
stevenv85@hotmail.com
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com

Other friends in need of prayer:

Jeff, Kathy and Robert Charlton

Monday, July 15, 2002 at 10:27 PM (CDT)

Thanks for Checking in. Counter should top 1000 tonight or tomorrow. Not bad for the site only being up a week.

Thought a change in scenery might be nice. Not alot of news to report. Thats a good thing. Boring is just fine for awhile. Anyway, talked to Peg and Steven tonight. They had a good day again today. Sounds like they are getting into a routine. Peggy mentioned this morning that Steven slept through the night last night. Not even a poddy break. That is a first for a long long time. Hallelujah.

Thank goodness for phones and e-mail. Too bad they aren't free. Don't know how long will be able to stay away. By the way Steven's birthday is on the 25th of July if you would like to drop a line to him. Or give him a call.

He had Occupational and Physical Therapy today along with his treatment. So they are keeping busy. tomorrow they will do 3 hour psycological evaluation. I will be interested in those results, Big Guy.;-) Praise God, Steven's biggest complaint so far about the treatments is the awful odor or flavor when "the blue light" passes over his head. Tried a listerine strip today but didn't last long enough.

His radiation treatments will continue, (26+/-) to go till around the 2Oth of August. after which he will get 4 to 6 weeks off. Probably closer to 4. As he will have to return a little early for the Stem Cell harvest. This is usually done prior to radiation. Do to the meningitis and need for a 2nd resection (surgery) this was not possible in Steven's case. Stem cells are white blood cells which will be removed from his Blood or Marrow stored and then transplanted a few days following each Chemo cycle. It usually takes 14 or 15 days for the cells to graft. Since they are his own cells there are no graft vs. host disease. This process allows a higher dose of Chemo drugs to be administered over a shorter period of time. 16 weeks vs. 48 weeks. The total dose of drugs administered is much less therefore. Hopefully reducing long term side effects and issues. If all goes well Steven's treatments should be completed by the end of January. Then a few months to gain back his strength. Pray that by the End of March He will be cancer free and feeling pretty much normal again.

He is one tough kid. Right now Steven's biggest fear is that his dad is going to sign him up for Spanish II in his abscence.

Still haven't got the mailing list transfered to this computor. Man you get alot of mail in 3 weeks. Hadn't worn my irrigation boots all summer till Saturday. Haven't had them off since. Pray for Rain while we pray for Steven's Health, Spirits, and Healing.

May God bless you all. And a special blessing for Steven, and Peggy.

Love Lyle

Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:
lylev@prairieinet.net
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com
stevenv85@hotmail.com
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com
www.nonamebrandmusic.com
www.caringbridge.org/ne/steven

Monday, July 15, 2002 at 11:57 AM (CDT)

Hello,

Sorry I haven't written back. Our internet was down over the weekend. We had a really good time with Eric, Briget & a friend of Bridget's named Josh. We went the Movie "Men In Black II" and ate at Chili's on Friday night. Saturday we went down to the Peabody Hotel to see the ducks that everyone talks about. The ducks weren't that impressive, but the Hotel was quiet impressive. We rode on the trolley from the Marriot Hotel. Steven loves to play cards so we taught Josh how to play pitch. No one down here seems to know what pitch is. Steven won. Bridget & Josh left around 5:00 and then we went to the new dinning room to have supper (which they call dinner). A family called the Pittmans grilled chicken and burgers, also had baked beans and wonderful fruits & cakes for desert. Around 7:00 they put on a worship service in the chapel. It was very moving for me. Steven wasn't to sure as he was the only teenager their. Towards the end we sang "Hallelujah" and then "He's My Healer" then we inserted children's names like "He's Steven's Healer", it was quiet moving and brought tears to many eyes. God is so present. Sunday I took Eric to the airport around 8:00 and then Steven and I went to the Lindenwood Christian Church for their WOW service. A contemporary service. Found out that I need to give Steven his nausae medicine all the time as he lost his dinner. We just loafed most of the day. He stayed in bed late today, but for the first time since we've been here, he slept all night. Praise God! Someone brought fresh tomatoes, so we are going to have BLT's today. Thank you agian for your prayers, cards & calls, we are truely blessed, and we pray that God will bless you also.

Love,
Peggy & Steven---

Friday, July 12, 2002 at 11:03 PM (CDT)

All,

Put up some Pics of the Steven and his buddies that John took this spring for their band. Memories of pleasant days that we remember and look forward to once again.

Lyle, Michelle, and LaVon, are all home safely. Temps were surprisingly comfortable when we arrived in NE. Had a nice visit with Scot and Robyn and son JD. It is nice to be at home. Looking forward to the latter part of August when we can all be home together again. Talked to peggy briefly this evening. Sounds like our prayers continue to be answered as Steven has now completed 3 of approximately 30 treatments and doing well. He and His brother Eric, future sister in law bridget and freind Josh took in a movie dinner out tonight. Will have a hard time deciding what to do first here at home. MJ was not eager to leave. but was eager to get home. Once home however couldn't wait to find her friends at the Clay County fair. Short visit and then back home. Hope all of you rest well. We will. My love to those in Memphis. I am so proud of each of you. Especially you Steven and my precious wife Peggy. May God keep you in the Cradle of his arms until we are once again together. Say Hi to Jeff and prayers for Robert Mitchel, and don't forget Lizzy. get me her e-mail if she has one.

Love,

Lyle, for all of us. Thanks and may God bless all of you.

Thanks for checking in and keep posting on the Guestbook. I can't wait to read all the new posts several times a day. You are all so special.

Thursday, July 11, 2002 at 10:55 PM (CDT)

Check updated site: http://www.caringbridge.org/ne/steven

All,

A good day today, Steven, had to go through staging again.(repositioning and marking for the Radiation therapy) The mask or face support they were using was causing a potential under treated narrow area. So they went to a different style of mask/support to eliminate that possibility. His 2nd treatment was at 1:30. Eric, Michelle, and Grandma got to watch. Steven' only noticeable response to the radiation so far has been a very unpleasant taste in his mouth during the short time his head is being treated. They also did quite a bit of Audio/brain and hearing testing today. Results were positive and baselines were set. So that any impact from the therapies could be measured and considered. Some minor hearing loss was noted. I told him the bands music was too loud. That or the goose hunting and/or deer rifles.

Bridget and a good friend drove in today to spend a couple of days with Eric, Peggy and Steven. We all ate grilled hamburgers and went miniature golfing later. Rented a car about 10:00 tonight. Michelle, Grandma and I hope to leave around 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Had to get the good byes out of the way tonight. As Steven wants to sleep in tomorrow.

This will be the first time that I will not be near my wife and son in this experience since the diagnosis. It is difficult, yet I have an inexplainable peace, It seems that I should be mourning yet I don't. Steven is feeling good. The doctors are particular and detail minded, Steven and Bridget are here with Peg and Steven. We have accepted that God is in control of Steven's outcome regardless of what we have to face to get there. I think , I know, we can do this. "I can do all things through HIM who gives me strength." Really looking forward to seeing JD, and all the rest of you, getting things tied up at home. Getting a nice rain and returning to Memphis, Lord willing.

The RMHouse is working out pretty well. It is located so conveniently to the hospital. The other families are very supportive of each other. If they would just turn up the thermostat!!

Unbelievable the concern y'all er showin frr Steven. (Meager effort at a Tennessee drawl) The web sight has been up about 4 days. 640 visits. the last I checked. Posts and e-mails and calls, confirm prayers for Steven from 8 countries, Finland, England, China, Japan, Scotland, the Phillipines, USA, and Switzerland soon, several college campuses, umteen churches, Dr.'s, Nurses. The Church of Jesus is so diverse yet so one. Jesus prayed for us(you and me) in John 17.. His desire for his disciples and Us (those who would believe as a result of the disciples) was that we be united. One thing I appreciate and know is that all of us believe in a God that answers prayer and still has the power to heal. Physically, Emotionally, Mentally, and most importantly Spiritually. Give praise and thanksgiving for the all answered prayers. Many that you may not have witnessed, but that we certainly have.

Pray for Steven's Physicians and their families.
For continued improvement in - balance, Left side, eyes, and hiccoughs
For effective destruction of the cancer cells
For minimal side effects from the Radiation
For God's protection for Steven and Peggy. That he place a hedge around them that the enemy cannot penetrate.
For safe travel for all. Us returning to NE, Ray and Dad picking us up in Lincoln.
For Rain in Clay County NE

We love and miss you all.

Lyle, Peggy ,Steven , Michelle, Eric, Bridget and LaVon.

Probably my last update from Memphis for a while. Hopefully Steven or Peggy will be able to update us tomorrow or until I get re-established at home. Keep posting on the guestbook at www.caringbridge.org/ne/seven Peg and Steven really enjoy your posts. As do I.


Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:
lylev@prairieinet.net
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com
stevenv85@hotmail.com
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com
www.nonamebrandmusic.com
www.caringbridge.org/ne/seven

Wednesday, July 10, 2002 at 10:22 PM (CDT)

Check updated site: http://www.caringbridge.org/ne/steven

Evening everyone,

Wanted to report that everything went according to plan today. Eric arrived on schedule, Steven received his first radiation treatment with no nausea. Praise God.Also met with the surgeons today. Incision healing well. Staples were removed and Cultures on the CSF remain negative for bacteria.
The RMH (Ronald McDonald House) threw a pizza party for the July birthdays tonight. Steven turning 17 on the 25th and Nick turning 16 were the honorees. Cake, Ice cream and everything. After that we played 6 handed pollock pitch till about 9:30 when MJ and Grandma retired to the Marriot and the rest of us went to room 6 RMH. Getting close to a couple of families here now. Jeff and Kathy and their son 11 received a bone marrow transplant for relapsed lukemia today. Keep them in your prayers as well. And an adorable little girl lizzie 11 from Virginia beach va. (germanoma brain tumor) such a great sense of humor. Remind me to tell you the joke about the impatient cow. Steven will have to be re staged at 10:00 tomorrow. They want to reposition him slightly for the radiation and then radiation treatment at 1:00 and Audio testing in the afternoon. Bridget and a friend to arrive tomorrow night sometime. I will arrange to rent a car sometime tomorrow for 8:00 Friday departure for Nebraska with mom and michelle. hopefully arriving at AVIS in Lincoln by 8:00 pm or 9:00 pm. Will be contacting one of you folks for a ride home more than likely. Papers are signed. Steven is feeling better, We are settled in what will remain our residence for the next 6 weeks. And will begin a more routine schedule now. Peggy will actually have less to do once the rest of us clear out in terms of laundry, meals, and shopping. I will probably go back and forth some now till Steven comes home for his break following radiation. Lord Willing. And then will regroup when the time comes for Stem Cell harvest, Chemotherapy and Stem Cell transplant.

Will try to post once more before I leave for home. Continue to pray that Steven stays healthy avoiding colds and other illness while in this communal type setting. As well as responding well to the Radiotherapy.
Look forward to your posts and e-mails daily. Many of you including encouraging thoughts, messages and scriptures. They mean so much to all of us. We may have to take up a collection though to help pay Clara for postage. Or get her online. ;-)

Praise God. The 1st treatment completed, The countdown begins.

Your continued petitions to our Heavenly Father for Steven's healing and on our behalf mean so much. Thank you and rejoice in the important part you are playing in Steven's recovery.

We love and miss you all.

Lyle, Peggy ,Steven , Michelle, Eric, and LaVon.


Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:
lylev@prairieinet.net
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com
stevenv85@hotmail.com
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com
www.nonamebrandmusic.com
www.caringbridge.org/ne/steven

Wednesday, July 10, 2002 at 10:30 AM (CDT)

All,

Another muggy day in Memphis, and Hot and dry in Nebraska I understand. Final preparations were completed at St. Jude yesterday for Radiation. 1st treatment today. a little over 2 weeks later than we anticipated when we arrived. Steven had eye tests. Occupational Therapy and Speech therapy baselines taken yesterday. He also had his PIC line removed. The target marks were touched up and release papers signed. Praise God, CSF fluid remains clear of cancer cells and Steven will be treated as average risk Medulloblastoma. 23.4cg spine and cranium and 55cg boost to the tumor site. roughly 6 weeks of radiotherapy. Steven will spend most of his time at St. Jude in the D (solid tumor) clinic for the next 6 weeks. Only about 30 to 45 minutes a day. The treatments only take about 15 minutes. He will also be receiving Physical Therapy, and other triage monitoring of weight etc. So a couple of hours at the Hospital a day probably. The eye exams showed that he still has better than normal vision at 20/15 in each eye. The left eye is still suffering from some pressure or injury to the 6th nerve. not allowing it to move side to side fully. So Steven continues to wear a patch to eliminate double vision and aid in balance. Optomologist suggested this is common from this type of surgery and should improve in the coming weeks and months. We naturally are praying for days or weeks.

God sent us a huge encourager yesterday in the waiting room of D clinic. She was there for a 18 month post therapy checkup. A 19 year old Memphis girl who completed the same Protocol Steven is on in January of 2001. She was a beautiful girl who bubbled with joy and happiness. You wouldn't know by looking or talking to her that a little more than a year ago she had to completely re learn to walk and write. We will be visiting with her again. In fact. HI JOY welcome to Stevens list. A freshman in college now on her way to becoming a Nureo surgeon to help other children . Her name . Get this. Joy Michelle Johnson. Most of you know Steven has a sister named Michelle Joy.

God continues to provide all we need. Even in ways that we don't realize we have needs. Will pick up Eric at 11:30 today at the airport and hope to get to st. Jude in time to be there when Steven gets out of his first treatment. Mom is doing well. and sounds like Bridget may be here Thursday evening as well. Steven wishes JD and the demo derbiers luck and safety at the big Clay County fair this weekend. Wish he could be there. Tentative plans are for MJ, Mom and I to rent a car to return to CC on Friday morning.

Continue to keep us in your prayers. especially that Steven suffers a minimum of side effects from Radiation and that the therapy is successful in killing remaining cancer sells and residual tumor tissues.

Love you all,

Lyle , Peggy, MJ, Steven and LaVon

Hope to get past e-mails up on the history portion of the web sight for all of you that have joined the list more recently


Contact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:
lylev@prairieinet.net
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com
stevenv85@hotmail.com
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com
www.nonamebrandmusic.com
www.caringbridge.org/ne/steven

Tuesday, July 09, 2002 at 08:38 AM (CDT)

All,

Yesterday went well, Steven continues to gain strength, No real surprises, Steven made it throught all the proceedures with very little discomfort. Hiccups come and go. Still praying for those to end. Don't seem to last as long. Continue to meet other parents and families. Some with stories as amazing as ours. Some who have had much longer and more difficult treatments without near as good of prognosis. We count our blessings. We all enjoyed Grandmas cooking for supper last night. Then I (Lyle) stayed and did dishes, Yes, Really, While peg, Steven , Michelle and Grandma went to the Peabody Place to watch the Scooby Doo Movie. While they were gone. I had a long conversation with a part time college basketball coach from palm beach florida. There son is 11 and recieveing a bone marrow transplant because of relapse of Lukemia. We shared our faith and trust in God. Claiming God's promises together. I'me sure that we will develop a closer relationship for the few days I remain here. Together we hope to solicit a broadband wireless internet solution for the House.

Today Steven will recieve Physical and Occupational Therapy, an Optometry visit. and sign releases and finalize the treatment protocol for steven. We will recieve the results of yesterday's LP (lumbar puncture). CT scan, etc. His treatments are scheduled to start on Wednesday. He also hopes to have the staples removed then.

Eric called yesterday. He was really excited. He had hoped to drive down from Joplin for a day or two. between CIY conferences. The director cornered him yesterday, however and informed him that he would be leaving wednesday. Eric could not understand why he had to leave to set up two days early for next weeks conference. Afraid that would eliminate his opportunity to see Steven. However his director went on to explain he would be catching a plane for memphis on wednesday. Praise God for his Church. He provides for all our needs.

Overwelmed by the cards, gifts, flowers and Calls, the e-mails and response to the new Web page. We feel surrounded by all of your love, and God's love as a result. Continue to pray for Steven, and the rest of the kids as well. Michelle is struggling with having to leave Mom, and anxious about the next few months.

God is good.

Love you All

Lyle, Peggy, Steven, and Michelle oh yeah and Mom says HI too

PS. Gerry and Elmer, Promise we will answer the phone someday. ;-)


Conntact Information:

Phone 901-312-7406

Ronald McDonald House
Steven VonSpreckelsen
Room #6
535 Alabama Ave.
Memphis TN 38105

Steven VonSpreckelsen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale
Memphis TN 38105-2794

E-mail:
lylev@prairieinet.net
lylev57@hotmail.com
peggyv58@hotmail.com
stevenv85@hotmail.com
mj_moe_6@hotmail.com
www.nonamebrandmusic.com
www.caringbridge.org/ne/steven

Monday, July 8th, 2002

Once again we try a new format to contact all of the many people who are praying for Steven. I will continue to use e-mail as well but give this a try and see if it works any better. It only allows 3 pictures at a time and I still need to aquire some editing software to make the image size more manageable.

It has been a while since I have updated you. and I know it seems we aren't by the phone much. All results of the fact that Steven is much more active since leaving the hospital last tuesday. He sleeps much better here. And we have been getting out and seeing some Memphis sites over the weekend priort to His Radiation staging and treatments to begin today

Steven will start out at 8:45 this morning and is scheduled till nearly 5:00. With preperations for His treatments to begin Tuesday or Wednesday. Pray that the spinal fluid taken today is free of bacteria and clear of cancer. This will allow treatments to begin very soon.

Had a big day yesterday and Saturday as well here at the McDonald House. Saturday a contemporay Christian Band came and played for the families and provided grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. It really wakened Steven's music interests again for the first time in several weeks. As he exchanged a copy of "no name brands" demo cd with "First Stone". They really ministered to Steven. Later we played cards and had pizza before bed. Had been concerned by Steven's potential loss of weight prior to this critical period. He is aleviating those concerns however, putting on 5 pounds in the first 48 hours since being released and adding to that daily.

Sunday we worshiped at Lindenwood Christian Church. It was good to be together worshipping. But sure missed everyone at CCCC. After lunch we waited on the front porch for the Studnicka Van and Grandma V to arrive. about 2:45 they rolled in. Amazing. That van must have wings as they left Salt Lake City at 2:30 the previous afternoon. It was a special time for all of us to see familiar faces for the first time in over 4 weeks. Then, 30 minutes later The "Green" Cadillac pulls up. It is actually formerly Clara's Blue Cadillac that the Greens now drive. John has to have set a record for the longest pastoral visit. 800 miles one way. Adam and Steven caught up and made plans for the future as we truly cherished this time with our friends. Well I need to get ready to leave with Steven. So got to go. Will update you more later hopefully.

Pray that all goes well for Steven today and that test results remain positive.

God Bless you all,

Lyle Peggy MJ Steven.

7/04/02