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Friday, October 15, 2010 10:02 PM CDT
Hello i just wanted to drop in and let everyone know we are hanging in there it has now been 6 months since we lost our dear angel Meguire and although we miss him like crazy we know that God has him in great hands until we see him again someday. I also wanted to let everyone know that today would have been Meguire's 10th birthday and so we spent the day in memory of him we even baked a cake and decorated it in happy birthday for him and put the 10 candles on it for him and just kept him in our memory for all the happy moments that he made in our life for the short time he was here with us. He is in our hearts forever and will never be forgotten.
Thank you to all the friends and family for being so supportive of our family and thank you everyone for all the prayers. i will try to give updates on our family now and again but today was his special day so i had to share.
The Smiths
Sunday, August 15, 2010 6:49 AM CDT
Well I know it's been a while since my last update but i needed some time it has been 4 months now since Guire passed away and we are doing ok we are getting ready to go to on a Royal Caribbean Cruise on the 22nd and this is our cruise in honor of Meguire we will be going to Labadee Haiti ,St Martin Jamaica and San Juan Puerto rico we are so excited to do something as a family and Dominick is excited to be going on his first Cruise ever. Our family is doing ok as we Miss Meguire very much but we know that we will see him again someday and he will be waiting with open arms. Well i just wanted to update on how we were doing since it had been so long. Also Josh and I just celebrated our 11 year wedding Anniversary Yesterday.
Sunday, August 15, 2010 6:49 AM CDT
Well I know it's been a while since my last update but i needed some time it has been 4 months now since Guire passed away and we are doing ok we are getting ready to go to on a Royal Caribbean Cruise on the 22nd and this is our cruise in honor of Meguire we will be going to Labadee Haiti ,St Martin Jamaica and San Juan Puerto rico we are so excited to do something as a family and Dominick is excited to be going on his first Cruise ever. Our family is doing ok as we Miss Meguire very much but we know that we will see him again someday and he will be waiting with open arms. Well i just wanted to update on how we were doing since it had been so long.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 6:40 AM CDT
Well We are Sadly letting everyone know Meguire has Passed away last night at about 12:40 am. He was battling some SEVERE seizures that started around 12:30-1:00 that were just not good at all they just wouldn't let us kept getting worse on he had was about an hour.We had Hospice come over right away & they began there magic with phone calls & getting us all set up with home meds. The hospice Nurse finally got him calm & relaxed about 11:30 & after that he fell into a deep sleep with no pain & didnt wake up. We didnt think it would go this quick but I think he just knew & let his body go. Thank you to Hospice for helping us Keep Meguie here at home & not in a hospital, Thank you all for your support & we will let u all know about the arrangements of his service.So far it looks like a Church Service is going to be on Saturday the 24th maybe We have to talk with our pastor & find out if thats ok, You all are the best of friends a family could have your support your loving thoughts & wishes Your gifts all just made us know you really care.
thank you!
Josh Christie Dominick & Meguire
Saturday, April 10, 2010 5:14 AM CDT
Sorry the last journal was so long ago but we dont have good news to share here. Meguire got pretty sick the week before Easter so we just kept him home with fluids but on Easter we called the Oncologist , we took him to the ER for a CT scan Easter night which revealed two more masses in his brain, After a MRI we found out he has two more tumors , we got with the Dr in North Carolina it took them about a week but yesterday on 4-10-2010 The Dr called & Told us the news we didnt want to hear. He said hes very sorry but in his professional Opinion that there is nothing else there going to be able to do. The Tumors have spread to much. The treatment that he was on was the best treatment for this type of tumor. We could go back in & remove them but its only going to put Meguire through more pain & actually make things worse for him. So he pretty much told us spend as much time with him as you can. We have a clinic appt this Monday to talk with our local Oncologist to maybe let us know how much time we have left with Meguire.
We would like to let you know we are doing ok yes its going to be hard but time heals. We cant be selfish & hold onto him we need to let him go to a better place & we understand that. We thank everyone of you for all the kind thoughts & prayers over the years But the Good lord wants His Angel back. Its Ok we are preparing & with Friends & Family I know we will be ok. Meguire will live on in everyone of us forever & thats a blessing all in its own. He has touched so many lives , he never had a mean bone is his body & loved everyone one even his brother lol. thank you all again & we will keep this updated as the days go by.
Thank you all for all your kind thoughts, words & deeds over the years some new some old. IM very sorry to have to post this I never wanted to but the time is near. We are not telling him as of now & not sure if we should.
Anyway thank you all again.
The Smiths
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Sunday, February 21, 2010 5:39 AM CST
Well time for another update he had to had his port removed & a new one put in on Wednesday & hes Doing much better now , He was Very Sore Wednesday & Thursday & slept most of the day. Right after they put the new port in he had to go over & get Chemo that same day so he was just done.
On Fridat we got some bad news. We got in with the Nero Surgeon & he read his MRI that he had done last week & it looks as if the Tumor is Back , Very heart breaking for the family needless to say. So we called the Dr in North Carolina & sent him over the MRI report & we got a CD of all the pictures to send him also, he really wasn't to concerned he said to just keep doing what were doing for now until he can read everything & we will go from there.
They may be Going back in & taking it out again not sure though. If they do we will be putting in some Chemo Wafers in the spot where the tumor was as. these will disintegrate but as they do they release Chemo Directly into where the tumor was at over a 1 week period , they are slow release. Or We may just finish out the 8 more week cycle then have another MRI done & go from there.
So were Hoping this second time around we can get rid of this darn thing. It took 2 times when he had Leukemia so the Second time is a Charm & thats what were praying for.
Thank you all again for your Loving support it means the world to us. Meguire will be at bowling & you know him hes always in good spirit. Everyone have a great day & thank you again.
Please leave him Messages in his Journal as we read them to him he loves the messages people leave for him.
Thursday, January 28, 2010 4:27 PM CST
Hello and so sorry it has been a while since my last update Meguire has almost made it through his first round of 9 weeks of chemo he for the most part is doing ok except the dang Diarrhea he did have severe nausea from the first 2 weeks of chemo that he had but the kid is tough as nails he never stops he just keeps going as my boss calls him the energizer bunny he just keeps going and going lol. He has been in school for the most part except every 2 weeks he gets chemo in the clinic and oh more news is he has a stress fracture in his left knee so they sent us to an Ortho Dr and she sent him over to and orthotics place where they ordered him a fancy knee brace which he absolutly hates but he wears it because he knows that he needs it to make his knee better but he goes in next Friday the 5th of February for another xray to see if it is better. He continues to be a joy for everyone and he is finally starting to get hair everywhere except his spot where he had the radiation but there is little bits and pieces growing in there too but he don't want us to cut it he says i want it to grow. He will have his first Mri since November on February 8th so i am very nervous to see the results of that. well I guess we are finally up to date I will update more later after the MRI.
Christie (mom)
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 6:40 PM CST
Well another update on Meguire's new treatment he has finally finished as of tonight his first round of Chemo WOOO HOOO. He is doing pretty good except he just keeps feeling nauseated and Diarrhea which sucks poor kid we have been keeping him on Zofran and Imodium to help with the nausea and Diarrhea but it doesn't help much I am gonna talk with the Dr about something else maybe stronger so we shall see Monday when we go in for his next Dose of IV chemo hopefully things get a little better or this could be a long 18 months. He tries to be so brave but geese how much can a 9 year old take sorry kinda venting on here but I feel so bad for him.
On a Happy Note both boys had a great Xmas, of course Guire got cars and some new games and new clothes and jammies which he needed so badly oh and i forgot his meemaw bought him his very own digital camera he was so excited. Also there Bichelle took both boys the Saturday after Xmas to see the new Squeakwell the Alvin and the Chipmunks new movie and Meguire absolutely loved it. I can't wait to see it myself.
Well I guess were up to date now I will try to update as much as I can.
Sunday, December 20, 2009 7:06 AM CST
Im going to try to make this quick but I have to say it was the most stressfull trip in our lives but 100% worth it. Its kind of long sorry but a CRAZY STORY IF YOU have a min.
So we left Thursday right after work was on the rd at 12:30 pm Christie Trailblazer did AWESOME for a truck we got like 20-21MPG`s almost 325 miles to a tank of gas which we didn't think was to bad for a SUV. So we got to the hotel about 11:30 grabbed a midnight snack went to the hotel & the room that was reserved for us they gave it away & we got stuck with a SMOKING room , which when your a non smoker JUST WREAKED of smoke it was so nasty anyway we got about 5-6 hours of sleep got up & made our way to Duke hospital which was about 10 min away. We went in got some paper work done then the good news Dr came in.
Meguire has been accepted into The treatment plan that we went there for. The Dr was VERY confident in this plan that has been used world wide , with AWESOME results. I cant tell you enough how confident the DR was , The new drugs again have had great success in adults & children. So we will be starting the new plan Monday morning, Meguire also got his H1N1 shot down there the Dr recommended it. So that's the great news & all treatments will be done here in Toledo at St V`s , Also as of right now we do not have to open his head back up for anything the Dr said why go back in there if we really dont have to. We were talking with him about some Chemo wafers that go in where the tumor is at & he said nope we don't need them the new drugs will take care of all the Fluid up there the tumor & stop it from re growing. Also we will be able to get him off the Steroids, YAAAAAAAA!!!!
OK so now the Drive back Story!!! So we left the Hospital & got on the Hwy about 12:30 perfect time we would have been back here in Toledo by 10-11 untill ALL HELL BROKE LOSE!! Are you ready for this, lol. So we get about i dont know 60-70 miles & start getting some snow were like awww man the storm wasent supposed to be there till like 6 pm YAAAA right. Anyway we get up to st rt 81N and the roads are just turning to crap we need to get onto 77N & go through the mountains & tunnels well we get to the split & by this time we have went about 130 miles since 12:30 & its now about 4-5 pm, we get into traffic jam 77N is Shut down due to a couple jack knifed trucks & trucks cant get up the mountains, we sat there for about 2 hours , luckily I had my CB in the truck that's a life saver, I seen a Motel 6 off the hwy so I told Christie lets go there & just stay the night & try again tomorrow, so we get out of line & have to go down the Hwy about 3-4 miles get off & do a flip to go back to the hotel , well instead we seen a cop & asked him how to go around the accident , so he tells us go up this st rt 52 to this 717 back to 77 we said ok. OHHH MYYYY GOSH LOL it was like driving on the back KY roads by sonnys cabin times 2 its now Pitch BLACK cause its like 7 pm the snow was sooo had about 5% visibility were doing like 5-10 MPH , long story short of part one we made it back to 77n got on & I swear we was the only car on the HWY no south bound traffic no North it was like the twilight zone we was like are we supposed to be here? we just thought hey we made it around the accident & are in front of everyone woo hoo.
So we were doing about 20 mph there's no hwy just tracks to drive in made it through 2 tunnels over a couple mountains we got about 200 miles from the Hospital & the nightmare began there, we thought we were home free until another back up long story short here, we sat in the Truck for 6 hours waiting for tucks to get up the mountain.At his point Christies truck has been running for 14 hours & 6 hours later of waiting in the back up with 20 min cat naps , a fireman was going from car to car waking people up its now about 2:30 am he told us to get up to exit 9 get off the HWY was closed until tomorrow. So we get off EVERY HOTEL was booked SOLID even the lobbies, lol we went to a Army Recruiting center Emergency shelter, its now about 3-3:30 am & we slept on the Concrete floor , well if you can say sleep , It was really sad so many people about 30 plus people in there , people were calling 911 saying were running out of gas on the hwy waiting & have kids in the car , we dont have food no water it was bad. Luckily we had snacks , Water, Pop Blankets on the hwy. SO I roll over about 5:45 ask christie what time it was & I said I really think we should try & get going right now before all the hotels empty out & all the truck drivers get up.
So about 6:30 am We got back on the rd and started to get the heck out of the mountains, when we got on the HWY we were the only car it was CRAZY!! There were trucks everywhere in the ditches , abandoned cars everywhere the South bound side was still shut down 10-20 mile back ups over there , those poor people didn't get off the hwy Fri night. The nation guard was called in to take people Food water , Gas . Thank God he cleared the North bound side for us to drive home at this time there was about 15-20 inches of snow on the ground there were Ruts to drive in , one lane , Ive never driven in worse conditions in my life. They said this was the second worse storm in WV 30 year history. The after math was amazing we even saw a 40-50 ft tree that fell off the mountain onto a Truck lol , people were making snow men on the side of the hwy , again thank God we were going north so anyway we had 456 miles to go driving on about 4 in of ice then snow on top of that ruts that were so deep it was kicking the truck all over no way any small cars made it out of there, All said & done we spent 34 hours in Christies Truck slept a total of 6 1/2 hours in 3 days & made it home at 4:15 Saturday evening, it was one trip we will never forget but still 100% worth it. I think if we would have waiting longer to leave sat morning we would still be there. Ill be adding some pictures here in a few after they up load.
Thank you all for your concerns all the Text`s , the thoughts and prayers we really appreciate it all is good we made it home, all I can say is THANK GOD for 4X4 & experience driving in winter conditions. Meguire did so good I kept asking him are you ok & he would say yep mi fine ide say are you sure & he would say yep , hes so calm & cool , I myself & Christie were just SICK to our stomachs it was so scary to be stranded in the middle of the mountains , no where to go , no hotels just amazing. When we got home we also looked up the Army recruiting center on the internet called there & asked if the officer that was there last night is there & the guy said that's me , HE NEVER LEFT in 2 days he went & bought food for everyone , water juice , pop , lunch meats everything , anyway we told him this is the family from Toledo with Meguire & he remembered us we told him we made it home & he said he was sooo glad & was wondering about us we told him he was a godsend & thank you so much he said NO problem he wanted to help people when they needed it. SO A BIG HUGE THANK YOU TO THE Army Recruiting center in Princeton WV !!!
So thats our amazing adventure , it was a long crazy trip but again 100% worth it.
The Smiths!!
Friday, December 11, 2009 11:57 AM CST
Sorry took forever to do an update. Things have been a little crazy lately trying to figure out what to do for the fluid in Meguire's head. See update Below GREAT NEWS FOR US!
Well since the last hospital stay when he had the fluid removed from the spot where the tumor was at we have been figuring out where were going to go next. When he had a MRI after the surgery there was enhancement around the tumor area which means the tumor was reforming so there saying it is a relapse. Our Dr was going to put him on a new treatment study but long story short we were having a problem finding a open spot. Now for the last 2 weeks we have been trying to get ahold of Duke Hospital which has the number 1 dr`s in the world for children with brain tumors. So again long story short they agreed to see Meguire on there day off.
So next Thursday when Josh gets off work we are heading to Durham North Carolina to Duke hospital to meet with the Brain Tumor team & hopefully get Meguire on a better study thats going to beat this tumor.So wish us luck we have a 10 hour drive both ways , but we really dont care we would drive to the end of the world for our son.
We know alot of people are following Meguire & we just wanted to keep you all updated , were very excited that Duke wants to see him were taking this as a Omen that we couldnt get on the first study & Duke came to the rescue & said we want to see him , everything happens for a reason. So next Friday 10 am he meets with the worlds number 1 brain tumor team that is just AWESOME!!
Friday, November 20, 2009 6:25 PM CST
Hello everyone just a quick update Meguire is back up at St Vincents hospital as he started having bad headaches again yesterday so they decided to get him in ASAP for another MRI so we did the MRI today and it showed a small shift in the area where the Tumor was but only like 1 millimeter so Dr says nothing major but Dr J is going to talk with the Neurosurgeon to try to see if he will just go in and drain the fluid to try to stop the Edema which is what is causing all the headache crap so we shall wait and see. The Dr also said as long as they keep his headaches gone tonight that he can probably go home tomorrow. Meguire has been doing great for the most part we are just trying to get him weened off the dang steroids that he has been on since July but every time we try he gets these dang headaches so we are going to have to get rid of the fluid to get things back to normal. Oh and i forgot we went to parent teacher conferences and Meguire got straight A's and principals list can you believe this kid he is amazing. Well i think we are all caught up now i will try to update as we get anything new.
Monday, October 31, 2009 6:00 AM CDT
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!!! Pictures of MEguire in his costume coming tomorrow so please check back. Also wanted to say check out the new picture at the bottom of the page of Rib Hillis & kids wishing Meguire a Happy Halloween , so awesome .
Sunday, September 20, 2009 7:40 AM CDT
Ide like to share that TSBR (toledo Sport Bike Riders) Suprised Meguire last night at our BonFire/Award Cermony with a X-Box360 , $304.00 gift card to Game stop & like $80.00 in cash , All without us knowing. We are just speachless that they did this & so greatfull you have no idea. They all knew Meguire wanted one & that we were going to get him one for his B-day but Beat us to it. TSBR is the most Family orianted Motorcycle group that you could ever ride with. We are a Huge family & when ever someone ever needs anything we bond together as one & help eachother out, & they proved that last night. Meguire also on top of the 360 got to Drive a Z06 Corvette thank you Scott & I took him for a ride on a 125 dirt bike thank you Aaron & a 4 wheeler thank you Mike He had a BLAST last night . So HUGE THANK YOU TO TSBR for pulling together & making us so proud & happy (and Cry) LOL sorry we made others cry last night but we were just so greatfull. Love everyone one of you even the ones that are no longer with the Group we love & miss you guys also & know you would have helped if you would have known, so dont feel left out you know how you are. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU TIMES a BILLION!!!!!!! Meguire is Doing Awesome he was in the Hospital the other night for headaches but there back under control they were due to him being done with Radiation & we cut the steroids to fast , thank you all for your thoughts & prayers.
Monday, September 14, 2009 5:51 PM CDT
Today Meguire finished his six weeks of radiation and he is also done with his chemo for four weeks. Two days from now he will be off his steroids and he will be medication free for four whole weeks then on October 8th is the big day his first MRI since his diagnosis on July 12th we are praying everyday that there will be no sign of the Tumor left when they do the MRI. I just wanted to share with everyone because now after almost two months and 20 lbs later this poor baby is going to finally be able to get off chemo and steroids to get back to a little bit of normalcy.
Christie mom to Meguire Glioblastoma, post ALL Leukemia, and Dominick his big brother
Friday, September 4, 2009 7:12 PM CDT
Hello everyone i know it has been a long time for me to update but things have been a bit crazy here as i am back working at home since i have been taking Meguire to Radiation everyday. He has now finished 5 weeks of Radiation. He has been amazing such a trooper this whole time he has not had any real side effects until this week and not a big one just a mouth sore on his lip from the Steroids no big deal we got some Medicine and he is doing great. Although there were some challenges getting him to learn how to swallow pills since his chemo is gel tabs but he is doing it like a champ now thanks to his Aunt Barb she was the only person who taught him how to get them down in minutes when it was taking mom like a half an hour to get him to take them. But he is such a trooper as i said before. (Below is the update on him)
Just sending a short message Guire is doing great he has 5 more radiation appointments left and his radiation is all done then he will get a 4 week rest with no chemo and no radiation then he will get his MRI done then he will start chemo for just 5 days out of each month for either 6 or 12 months depending on how he does with treatment. Just wanted to send a update for everyone. I will try to update more he is having his Mri done on October 8th so everyone pray for no tumor for Meguire on that day.
Sunday, July 12, 2009 12:07 AM CDT
Well after all that above we just just hit with the worse news we could ever receive on July 11th 2009 Four & a half years post transplant of perfect health we get the news that no family should ever get . So Meguire has been having some headaches over the past few weeks & we maybe thought it was allergies so we just have him some allergy medicine here & there & it worked. Well the last week he has been having worse headaches & nausea with vomiting so we thought maybe flu, well it lasted a week so we contacted his Oncologist & she wanted him brought in right away to the ER for blood work & a CT scan, well all the blood work came back fine but the CT scan showed a mass on the right side of the brain. He then had a MRI & a MRA last night at 10 pm & found the mass to be a tumor, well they didnt waste anytime & scheduled him for surgery this morning at 8am to remove the tumor, We have since found out that tumor is Glioblastoma which is one of the most aggressive tumor you can have. The problem is this Tumor keep growing back even with treatments & removal. We really honestly don稚 know how much time we have with Meguire it could be 6 months , a year could be 5 years we really don稚 know the problem there is this tumor is mainly found in adults not children so theres no real good statictics so we have decided we are going to live & enjoy our lives one day at a time. You guys don稚 know Meguire but if you talk with anyone who has meet him they will tell you he is a angel sent from above. Meguire has touched so many lives he doesent have a mean bone is his body, He loves people & pets. Meguire wants to be a VET when he grows up he says he wants to fix animals he says. Please consider our family for one more trip to Disney were really scared this will be the last one for him, its really not fiar that our little guy beat ALL leukenia & we get this only thing we can think is Meguire is Truly a angen & God wants him back. Thank you again, Have a blessed day. Meguire said hi & thank you also.
Thursday, September 11, 2008 1:53 PM CDT
Well can you believe it were coming up on 4 years post transplant in February. Meguire is DOING AWESOME , hes full of energy & you would never even thought he went through what he did. Just wanted to give a quick update on how hes doing.He is now in 2nd grade. There has been a few side effects of the radiation & treatments. Meguire is a little behind, He has been going to special classes to get him back on track. Hes very very smart just a couple years behind, Thats a very small price to pay to have him still here with us.We can fix & improve all his fine motor skills. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.I would also like to Give prayers to Rib`s Friend Bob. Rib is on the TV show Extreme Home make over , We had a Chance to meet him Yesterday September 10th. We took Meguire down there to help & give Rib inspiration that there is hope. Bob Rib`s close friend has ALL leukemia & needs a Bone Marrow transplant Just like what Meguire went through. Meguire Made Ribs day & were are so glad we helped. We hope Rib & his Friend Bob read this site to show them Dreams do come true & to hang in there & NEVER GIVE UP!!
Wednesday, July 4, 2007 6:40 PM CDT
Hello everyone i know i know it has been 6 months since my last update but my theory is always no news is good news and Meguire is doing wonderful he is getting so big and so smart. He is going to move on to first grade with a little assistance. No big deal though he loved his teacher and he learned so much stuff this year that he didnt know he can read ad his writing has improved tremendously. We are working with him so he can learn to tie his shoes and he is slowly learning to ride his bike without the training wheels. We went for his first clinic visit since December a couple of weeks ago and all was clear and doing wonderful. He is just enjoying the summer and having fun with his big brother. I will try much harder to update more often but summer is very busy for us this year lots of camping and going places so everyone bare with me. Everyone give your kids hugs and kisses nightly your kids are precious and they are a gem so love unconditionally.
The Smith family
Sunday, January 14, 2007 6:37 PM CST
Hello everyone so sorry it has been so long since my last update crazy holiday seasons but all is good here Meguire is doing great he has learned some new stuff since my last update he has learned how to write his own name he has learned his birthday and he has kinda learned to zip up his own coat with a little assistance he has had a few cold since being in school but nothing to bad he loves his teacher and he loves school somedays others he says he hates it and hes not going I just laugh and say yes you are because mom has to go to work. We went to the auto show in Detroit,Mi today and Meguire was in heaven he got to see all the new and all the concept cars he just couldnt decide which way to go next he was in awwwh as you all know he is a car buff he loves most any cars.
Well for the good news we are off to Columbus on Feb 13 for Meguire's 2 year post transplant visit yes thats what i said 2 years can you all believe it I sure cant he is wonderful and is so brave to have come so far as my husband and i say he is our hero. I guess that is all for now i will keep all your children in my prayers and please give hugs and kisses everynight and tell your children you love them. Happy New Year to everyone.
Monday, November 13, 2006 6:27 PM CST
I wanted to take a few moments to update on Meguire he is doing ok he just is having a little digestive problems he has had diareah now for eight days so today we had to take a sample of his stool to the clinic to send out they said it could be a few different things it could be maybe roto virus or she also mentioned possible late gvhd (grafts vs host disease) so please lets pray thats not what it is that would mean that Meguire is rejecting his bonemarrow and that is not good. But they are not thinking that it is that because they said he should have other symptoms and he doesn't he just has the diareah no fever no rash nothing so it is all just a puzzle.
Onto something better we are getting ready for Christmas and the kids are so excited for the presents and everything that comes with xmas and seeing all the family and friends over the holidays. All is well with the family we are finally settled in our new home we are painting or redecorating pretty much every weekend but its fun using bright new colors. Guire is doing great in school we are going to parent teacher conferences next week so we shall see but he brings home good and stars on all his papers. Well I guess that is all for now have a great week. Give all your kids kisses and tell them how much you love them every night.
The Smith Family
Sunday, October 15, 2006 11:18 PM CDT
Hi everyone just wanted to say that Meguire is now a big boy he turned 6 on October 15 and he had such a great weekend he got so many toys and games for his vsmile which he loves and mom loves it to toys that help them learn are the best because they don't even realize it. And he got his favorite chocolate cake with Lightning Mcqueen on the top he loves cars. Meguire is now approaching his 2 year mark post transplant on Feb 2 and that is jst so amazing to me I can't even imagine that it seems like it was just yeasterday that he was being admitted to the hospital what an amazing yet scary journey this has been being that he was diagnosed when he was only 2.5 and now my baby is growing up he turned 6 and now he is going to kindergarden I sm just in awe. He loves school and he is going to be getting some OT due to some complications in fine motor skills but hopefully this will help hs teacher thinks it should because she says he trys very hard to do his best. Well I guess I am done going on and on. Please check in on Meguire on his Journey at www.caringbridge.org/oh/meguire
Also please give all those chldrens lots of loven before they go to sleep at night so that they know they are loved and god bless all those families out there going through such a traumatic time in your lives and just remember there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
The Smiths
Tuesday, August 22, 2006 10:09 PM CDT
Hello everyone so sorry it has been so long since my last update but this summer has been crazy busy we have been going to weddings birthday parties picnics etc. etc. it just has been a crazy fun summer but all is good in the home front Guire is doing great he has been enjoying the summer he even did a week of rediness for kindergarden and he had a ball he loved the kids and the teachers I hope he loves regular school as much as he loved the rediness even though it was only 3 hours a day and kindergarden will be all day I do worry wether or not he will do ok.
Guire had his clinic visit on the 9th of August and everything was good all of his labs were in the normal range we haven't seen normal numbers in like 3 years or so so that was kinda cool. He had such a fun time that day he had 2 of his friends from the clinic there and he also had there siblings and they were all boys we had like 7 boys all playing and having a great time it is so nice to watch the kids have such a good time together.
Also we got more good news today we got word from the bank today that we are getting a loan to buy a new house so cool the kids are so excited and they can't wait to sleep in there new rooms. We are hoping this will be a fresh new start for all of us. The kids are going to get to go to a new school and everything so this will be a fresh start for all of us. Well it is getting late and I have to make phone calls and everything tomorrow so I will try to update more later. Please keep all of our caringbridge children in your prayers we have a few of our friends like baby donovan and cameron at this time are ave a rough time at this time so please keep them in your prayers. And always remember to give your kids kisses and hugs before bed because they need to know they are loved also.
Christie and The Smith Family
Monday, July 3, 2006 10:31 PM CDT
Day 517
Hello again I have more news and it is so wonderful we have finally received the info on Meguire's donor and his name is Ali N. from Boston,Ma and we have been emailing each other as I have asked if he could send us a photo of himself so that we can post it on the website for everyone to see the man who saed our son's life. What an amazing gift this man has given to our family to someone he has never met and to be so giving and caring it just gets me all chocked up. Josh & I have both signed up to be donors because if we could save one childs life like Ali saved our sons life we will do it in a heartbeat. If more people could only realize what families go through day in and day out with a child who has cancer and even the families like us who go through there child relapsing it is the hardest thing ever to sit and watch your child go through so many pokes and prods from so many Dr's and nurses that you just beg God to give you there pain because you don't want to watch your baby in so much pain it is like sticking you with a knife I know it was for me to just watch this poor baby of mine but he is so brave and he took all of it and just kept on smiling that is why he is my hero and this is why I say become a Bone Marrow donor please you could save a life.
Sorry for my rant today I am just so passionate about this cancer stuff it just upsets me so much when I hear of children dieing because they couldn't find a match for them I have met so many families through Meguire's treatment and on my online support group called all-kids I feel as if these people are my extended family.
I do want to say a very special thank you to Ali for being so giving and caring of a man to give your bone marrow to our son you mean the world to our family God bless you and your family.
To my fellow CK families out there please thank god for your children and give them hugs and kisses nightly even if they drive you crazy which all children do that some days but we still love them forever. I will go for now have a wonderful 4th of July and the rest of the week.
Christie & The Smith Family
Monday, June 19, 2006 9:23 PM CDT
DAY 503
Hello everyone where to begin I know I know it has been so long since my last update but things around here have been so busy. First off Meguire is doing great he had his visit at the clinic today and he did so good he had his blood drawn for the first time in 2 months and he barely even cried my baby is growing up so fast it kinda makes me sad that he is so grown. Then when his oncologist walks in the room he crawls up on the table and she was talking to me and he looks at her and says are you gonna check me out now she was in awe she said I cannot believe how grown up he is from 3 years ago it is just amazing.
Next thing is we finally got results from his neuropsych testing and some things she said he was on a normal level other things he was on a 3 year olds level and then she said there was other things that he only seemed to be at a 1 year olds level which kinda surprises me because he talks so well and does good with things but I know he has issues remembering things but she says that she wants him to go into school first to see how he does and if he needs help then the papers she gave me gives him references for help in the future.
Also our little guy has become quite the famous child he has now been on the children's miracle network commercial, he was interviewed by the news at a St.baldricks gathering where people shave there heads to raise $ for childhood cancer and now he was put in our local newspaper 2 sundays ago he is such a ham he loves to have his picture taken. The newspaper did a article about us and how the hospital has helped us with our medical bills which St Vincent Mercy hospital has been great to us in that aspect we would be in such a bigger predictament if it weren't for the hospital having programs to help with our deductible's and copays because our insurance only pays 80f the bills.
Meguire has been having so much fun he loves being able to go outside and playing with his friends and going swimming with no port he can do that stuff. We are hoping to go camping here in a couple of weeks because Meguire has never gotten to go because I was worried about germs and being to dirty even though I am still worried about that stuff I have to let him do some things I can't hold him back forever. Josh and I took Meguire to see the movie cars last Friday and he just loved it as he is a car finatic he now wants all the cars from the movie and he already has sandles, T-shirt and a baseball hat all from cars as if he needed more cars the kid has so many cars we could donate to a whole city and still have some left but I guess if thats what makes him happy then they are cheap enough just make the kid happy already lol. I know I probably spoil him way too much but he is my baby and has gone through so much in his little life I just say give him what he wants and make him happy.
Dominick finally passed his reading test and has finally passed onto the fourth grade woohoo he had such a hard time with his reading this year but he had tutoring and I guess that worked becasue in third grade they have a reading proficiency test they have to pass to go onto the fourth grade. So daddy and I gave him $25 for passing the test and passing to the next grade of course he had to go out and spend it right away. And then 2 days ago somebody came and took Dominicks bike so now he needs a new bike so we made a deal with him if he saves half the money we will pitch in half to get him a new bike I felt so bad for him he was so upset. But we also told him that he has to be resposible for his stuff and he forgot to put his bike in the shed. Well guys I guess I have got you all cought up for now and if you I get anymore info I will update more later.
One more thing I just want to have everyone say a small prayer for the Duckworth family in florida there little guy Jacob lost his battle a week ago Sunday and he was one of a triplet and there family needs prayers to get through this sad time please check out jacob's site he was such a happy loving little guy. www.caringbridge.org/fl/jacob
Monday, May 8, 2006 10:14 PM CDT
Day 460
Hello everyone so sorry it has been so long since our last update but in my world now no news is good news Meguire is doing so great I just want to shout from the roof tops but in a quiet voice so I don't jinx myself except for a little sinus cold no big deal he is dong great its just this weather how it just keeps changing one day hot the next day very cold.
But to move on Meguire went for his first visit with his new Family practice office and he had a well visit and here is the bad news he had to start his vaccines this week and the worst part is that they only had one of the three vaccines he should have gotten so now he has to go back later this week for the other two vaccines which makes me sad because I was hoping to get them all over with. He did so good though so mom had to take him and get him a new car or should I say cars for being a good boy.
We are doing the Make a Wish walkathon in a couple weeks on May 20th and this is going to be so cool I love to do anything we can to help raise $ for Make A Wish they were so wonderful to us to send us to Disney for a week which was the most wonderful time ever. This is going to be such a wonderful but crazy summer we have so many family fun things planned.
Meguire has been riding his bike that he got from Cody's Wheels of Hope a ton daddy is hoping to get him to ride without training wheels before summer is over we shall see. He loves being able to just go outside and play with his friends since he has been so isolated for so many years of his life it is still a little scary to mom.
Oh and we went for Meguire's kindergarten orientation and it was so commical to watch him as we walk into these classrooms the other children were so shy and quiet but not my son he was so outgoing trying to get the other kids to play with him and looking at all the fun stuff in the classrooms he didn't want to leave at all but I practically had to drag him out of the school it was so cute he also said when I told him he was going to school to see the classes he said mom can't you just drop me off like Dominick I said no not just yet in a couple of months and you can stay all day just like Dominick. Well I better go it is getting late I will try very hard to update more often. And please give all your childrens hugs and kisses and tell them you love them.
The Smith Family
Monday, April 3, 2006 9:04 PM CDT
DAY 425
Sorry everyone who checks inon Meguire that it has taken me so long to update but since he is only going to clinic once a month now and when he goes inon the 17th of this month he may be only going in once every 2 months which will be really strange for us.
Well 2 weekends ago was the BGSU dance marathon and we went to that and stayed for about 2 hours but Nicholas and Meguire were getting bored and they were hungry I think more than anything but Meguire did get to play with his friend ALexis who is also from our clinic who had been at the dance marathon all day. Meguire had lots of fun playing with the squirt guns and chasing the girls from BG around squirting them and Nicholas just squirted his mom KIm soaked her butt with that squirt gun she didn't like that very much but it was comical we had fun even though. Erica and KIm it is so nice to have time for us adults also to talk every once in a while even if it is just for a moment I feel as if we have made you guys as a kinda extended family Thank you guys so much for being there for me whenever I need someone to talk to.
We have had such a busy past few weeks Meguire has been riding his new bike courtesy of Cody's wheels of hope for there very generous donation of his hulk bike he just loves it everytime it is warm he says mom can you get my bike out and he rides it till dark with his friends.
Meguire is doing so great and not taking meds except for vitamins is so cool for him he just loves that. As the days pass I just can't believe that just a year ago he was going through so much crap and now he is doing so great and getting so big everyday he says things that just amaze me. I am going to be meeting with the Neuropsych Dr about his post transplant test to see how he is scored to see what she thinks we should do. Meguire is going to be having his Kindergarten screening this month sometime they said they will send me a card for the date and time of his screening I haven't received it yet I am so excited but yet scared all at once Meguire is my baby and I am scared about how he will do in school. But I am sure he will be fine he is so brave and I think he needs to interact with more children then just the neighborhood kids.
Oh not sure if I mentioned this before but Meguire has glasses now I will try to get daddy to get pictures of him up on the sight he got power ranger blue storm glasses he looks so darn cute in them they said this is probably due to the radiation that he had before transplant. I have to make him wear them though he don't like them but he is supposed to wear them all day. Hopefully he will get used to them so he can wear them all the time I know that he see's better when he wears them. Well I better go for now I will try to update more later. Have a great week everyone and give your kids big hugs and tell them you love them everynight.
The Smiths
Monday, March 20, 2006 8:28 PM CST
DAY 411
Hello everyone I want to say hurray no more medicine for Meguire as of March 14th we have been medicine free for 6 days now and we are doing just great.
We had our monthly oncologist visit today and everything was Aok and Dr is so pleased at how well he was doing his counts and all his chemistries are all wonderful we are so excited.
The last couple weeks have been kinda busy Meguire had another dentist appointment no cavities hurray and then we had his first eye exam and to our surprise Meguire needs glasses and today they called and his glasses came in and he looks so darn cute with his new power rangers glasses I will try to get dad to take his picture with them on. Then last thursday we were invited to join in a St Baldricks celebration as Meguire was a survivor of cancer so we decided to go and inspire all the people who went to shave there heads to raise money for childhood cancers and it was so cool the news interviewed me and Meguire and Meguire's big brother Dominick shaved his head for his brother as he said I thought that was so cute. I will also try to get dad to take a picture of brother with his bald head. Then on friday we had Meguire's post transplant neuropsych testing and I had a feeling that he wasn't up to where he should be for his age and the psychologist says she is recomending that he go through some occupational therapy because he cannot write a straight line and he cannot physically hold a pencil properly so we are supposed to meet with her on April 3 so we will see exactly what she thinks about this. Well this gets you up to speed for now I will try to update more later.
Monday, March 20, 2006 8:28 PM CST
DAY +411
Hello everyone I want to say hurray no more medicine for Meguire as of March 14th we have been medicine free for 6 days now and we are doing just great.
We had our monthly oncologist visit today and everything was Aok and Dr is so pleased at how well he was doing his counts and all his chemistries are all wonderful we are so excited.
The last couple weeks have been kinda busy Meguire had another dentist appointment no cavities hurray and then we had his first eye exam and to our surprise Meguire needs glasses and today they called and his glasses came in and he looks so darn cute with his new power rangers glasses I will try to get dad to take his picture with them on. Then last thursday we were invited to join in a St Baldricks celebration as Meguire was a survivor of cancer so we decided to go and inspire all the people who went to shave there heads to raise money for childhood cancers and it was so cool the news interviewed me and Meguire and Meguire's big brother Dominick shaved his head for his brother as he said I thought that was so cute. I will also try to get dad to take a picture of brother with his bald head. Then on friday we had Meguire's post transplant neuropsych testing and I had a feeling that he wasn't up to where he should be for his age and the psychologist says she is recomending that he go through some occupational therapy because he cannot write a straight line and he cannot physically hold a pencil properly so we are supposed to meet with her on April 3 so we will see exactly what she thinks about this. Well this gets you up to speed for now I will try to update more later.
Monday, March 6, 2006 9:20 PM CST
DAY +397
Hello everyone sorry so long since my last update but we are now trying to enjoy our somewhat normal life or as normal as it can be. Meguire is doing great he is 9 days away from being medicine free how exciting is that even though he is off the yucky medicine as he called the cyclosporine he is still taking diflucan (anti fungi med), Magnesium & bactrim this coming weekend is his final weekend for the bactrim though so we are just counting down the days untill he don't have to take these meds even though he is taking vitamins daily but that is it.
We are only going to the clinic monthly for now so that is a little strange since we were so used to going weekly or every other week so to go a whole month we are like this is just weird but his counts are doing great no major difficulties with anything so we are just hanging out at home. Oh by the way I just signed Meguire up for kindergarden I am excited yet scared all at once because there are so many germs in schools and Meguire will not have all his vaccines before he starts school but they said if anything come up they will inform me and just have us keep him home if something comes up that he shouldn't be around. I will be having Meguire's post transplant neuropsych testing done on March 17th so I am anxious to see how his testing will be now since he has been through radiation and other chemo's and of course the transplant itself so I will update more when we get results of those tests to see where he is developmentally. Well I will update more later just know that no news is good news at this moment. Have a great week everyone and please keep praying for all of our kiddo's that need prayer if they are not doing so well.
The Smiths
Wednesday, February 15, 2006 6:52 PM CST
DAY 378
Well we went for our 1 year post transplant testing and everything went great they took Meguire off his anti-rejection medicine and everything else he takes for one month then he is off all meds hurray for Meguire no meds and only once a month clinic visits and only once a year visits with the transplant drs so awesome for him we are just syked. His WBC is 5 his hemglobin 12.2 and anc 2400 his liver and kidney functions are great and they are still waiting for a few other tests but everything looks great oh and no more IVIG.
Meguire had a great re-birthday party he got lots of toys and he also got a teenage mutant ninja turtle bike all thanks to Cody's Wheels of Hope which is a wonderful organization who helps children with life threatening illnesses by donating bikes to bring up there spirits. The day before his party he got the flu and was vometing but by the next morning he was doing great. So we decided to go ahead with the party and he did fine.
Also it was so nice to see the people and the Dr's from Columbus that we hadn't seen since April they were amazed at how great Meguire looked. Once we were done at the hospital we drove over to the Ronald Mcdonald house and took them the pop tabs that we have been saving for about 10 months Meguire has made it his goal to save tons of pop tabs from everyone whereever he goes he asks people for there pop tabs it is so cute so we have saved 2 milk jugs full and the RMH was pleased they said that the pop tabs pay more than half of there Electric bill so that makes us feel good to contribute. So please whenever you can save pop tabs and donate to your local RMH. Everyone please have a great week and keep all of our children in your prayers there are lots of prayers needed for these children with this terrible disease.
The Smiths
Thursday, February 2, 2006 11:36 AM CST
DAY 365
Hurray it is 1 year post transplant for MEGUIRE and it is so exciting and scary all at the same time to know that he has made it so far.
Meguire is doing great and in a couple weeks we are going to Columbus for all of his 1 year post transplant testing some of his test have been done already but we will get those results when we go to Columbus.
It is so amazing the journey that we have gone through for almost 3 years now is nearing the end at least all of the meds are but in a way that is kind of scary to know that it is all coming to an end I know it will never be over for me I will always have that kind of worriedness in the back of my mind but I have to try to let Meguire move on with his life as a normal boy we can't keep him isolated forever. It just seems so strange that in June 2003 he was being diagnosed and now in Feb 2006 that he has been through transplant and chemo and so many changes that a 5 year old little boy should not have had to go through but I hope that through all this it will make him a stronger person in life. Hopefully soon we will be able to meet the man who saved our little boywith his bone marrow what a wonderful person he is to be willing to give his marrow to save my little boys life amazing.
Also wanted to let everyone who doesn't know already next month our hospital St. Vincent Mercy hospital is doing a bone marrow drive to try to get more donors out there and they have chosen us to be there spoke's family for this drive since we have been through it I am trying to get the date so that we can get as many people out there as possible.
Well I guess this is all for now Happy Rebirthday to Guire.
The Smiths
Thursday, January 19, 2006 10:19 PM CST
DAY 351
OH MY GOSH IT IS GETTING SO CLOSE ONLY 14 MORE DAYS TILL 1 YEAR I CAN'T BELIEVE IT.
Sorry it has been so long since my last update but in our world no news is good news and Guire is doing great except for his last IVIG he got on Monday he had to get poked twice because the first vein blew and it just killed his nurse Marcy to have to poke him a second time but this guy is such a trooper and he did so well that he first got a car and a stuffed kitty from Marcy and just before we left he walked up to Marcy and said Marcy can I see that chocolate doggy up there in there basket of stuffed animals so she handed it to him and he says to her thanks I think I like this one too. Marcy just looked at me and laughed and she says Guire this is the last time you will trick me out of extra gifts and he says mom lets go home now too funny I had to share that funny clinic story.
More good news we do not have to go back to the clinic untill we get back from Columus which our appointment with COlumbus is on Febuary 14 Yeah our one year appointment is on Valentine day that has to be a good thing for only good news and maybe no more meds for Guire cross your fingers everyone for that. I just cannot believe that one year has almost passed by I don't even know where the time has gone. We are hoping to be able to move on with out no meds and no restrictions because he has done so good up to this point and I am sure they will feel the same.
We are having Meguire's one year rebirthday party on Feb 4 only because his actual rebirthday is Feb 2 but that is a Thursday and you can't have a big party on a Thursday so on Saturday we are going to celebrate 1 year for our big guy now because he informed me that he is not a baby anymore he is a big boy. My baby is growing up and he is going to kindergarten this year that makes me sad that my kids are growing up so fast. I guess it has to happen at some point. Well I better go for now.
The Smiths
Sunday, January 1, 2006 9:40 PM CST
DAY 333
Happy New Year everyone!!!!
This is going to be a new and happy begining for our family as we are approaching our 1 year mark post Meguire's transplant which is only 32 days away so we are getting very excited to reach that day.
Well lets start off with Christmas Meguire had an awesome x-mas as he got what he asked for he got his Cadillac Escalade Powerwheels so he has not gotten out of that car since he got it even though he cannot ride it until it gets a bit warmer outside but he drives it in the basement and he constantly plays the stereo in it because he thinks that is the coolest thing ever. He also got lots of toys and cloths which he didn't like too much but he was a character opening all his gifts he just kept waiting for the next not really caring what was in them he just liked opening but as usual he got tons of gifts too many to list I would be here all night.
We have had a few bad weeks because in a week and a half I have been to 3 funerals first was a boy from our clinic passed after a 11 years of batteling cancer then on x-mas Josh's best friend's mom passed on christmas day and then a couple days later Josh's mom called and told us that one of his Uncle's passed so we had a showing on Thursday and then funneral and showing on Friday so this has been a rough couple of weeks. I would like to send my deepest sympathy out for the families who lost family members over this holiday season as I know it is a tough time to lose a family member even though no time is ever easy but at the christmas season it is the worst.
Now for Meguire he is doing great his counts have been staying around 1800 for his ANC and he is being weaned off of his cyclosporin still he is down to .3ml and will probably get taken down even more tomorrow if all goes ok he should be off cyclosporin in about 5 more weeks. He is being as spunky as ever he just keeps going and going like the energizer bunny. Well I guess this sums it up for now.
The Smiths
Monday, December 19, 2005 6:43 PM CST
DAY +320
Well the count down keeps getting shorter and shorter we now only have 45 days till 1 year isn't that just awesome that our little guy has made it so far he continue's to do great and he is so excited waiting for santa that he just can't stand it he keeps telling us that he asked santa for the new Cadillac Escalade so he can pimp it down the street isn't that too funny I just crack up every time he says that to me. We went for our monthly clinic visit today so Guire could get his IVIG but this month was different because his line fell out and now he has to get a pokie as he says and he didn't like it one bit but he did so well and thank goodness he got IV benedril so he slept all the way till 5 minutes before his IVIG was done so that was great because he didn't move or anything.
Well now I just want to see if everyone could please say a prayer for a friend of ours family today as we were at the clinic the mom and dad of our friend Jacob that we have met through the clinic has recently just passed and I was hoping that we could say a prayer for them as they will be going through Christmas without there little guy and it just saden's my heart to no end I just couldn't imagine losing my 14 year old child to this nasty disease we call cancer but I know in my heart that God has a plan for all of us and he must have had a plan for jacob and that he is now cancer free and without pain anymore.
Well I am going to go for now I will try to do another update sooner and not wait so long. Everyone please have a merry christmas.
The Smiths
Tuesday, November 29, 2005 10:44 PM CST
DAY 300
Hello and hurray everyone we have made yet another milestone today is my babies day 300 post his transplant and he is doing great.
I have a funny little story to tell about over the weekend on Sunday Josh and I were getting the furniture moved around and stuff to get ready to put out all of our CHristmas stuff and as we were starting to get finished with putting out all the Christmas decorations the boys were playing in the bedroom and watching a moving out comes running Dominick saying Meguire's line came out so I went running of course and out comes Meguire with his one hand holding his line and his other holding his shirt up as the blood is running down his chest i am saying what happened all Meguire could say is mommy can I take a bath with my cars now I just wanted to laugh so I get on the phone and call his oncologist and ask if there is anything I should do because by that time I already got the bleeding to stop she says to put pressure on the site and to place another drssing on it to make sure it doesn't get infected so all is done and he is doing just fine I told him if it is ok in a few days he can play in the bathtub. Well that is what my weekend was like.
I just wanted to make a special update for today since it is a special day and countdown now only 65 days more till his 1 year and we hope and pray everyday that this is the end our babies journey and he will be happy and healthy for the rest of his life. I want to say thank you to everyone for signing our guestbook and following meguire's journey as is has been a very long one have a great week everyone and keep those prayers coming.
The Smiths
!!!!!!WE WANT TO BE FAMOUS!!!!!!!
Jones soda puts pictures submitted by people on soda bottles...
Vote for Meguire , Or submit your own and We can vote to bump you up also..
GO TO THIS LINK TO VOTE FOR MEGUIRE!!!
http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/view.php?ID=522530&offset=1
Friday, November 25, 2005 9:13 PM CST
DAY 296
Hello everyone sorry about the long delay in journals but as we say in this world no news is good news. As for the spinal issues everything came back normal he probably just had a virus whew. Meguire is doing great they have lowered his cyclosporin (anti-rejection) again he is now down to only .45ml she is weaning him slowing in hopes that his GVHD will not flare up again but so far so good. We did have a bit of a scare last week because his where his line goes into his chest the whole is starting to open up some so we are just keeping an eye on it hoping that it can make it a few more months because he only has to get IVIG till his 1 year which is sneaking up on us it is in February.
As for today mommy was crazy I went shopping at 4:30 this morning of course it was to go get Guire's x-mas present because I didn't want them to get sold out I know this sounds nuts but I know that lots of you were out there too so I a not the only crazy one here.
I want to have everyone say some extra prayers for our friend Jacob in Florida he did finally get to gome home after being in the hospital for 3 weeks he is all hooked up to all kinds of drain tubes and not sure if he is still on his feeding tube or not this poor little guy is the same age as Meguire and he has had such a rough 5 years so please say an extra prayer for this little guy www.caringbridge.org/fl/jacob .
I just picked up Dominick & Meguire's x-mas picture's tonight and they turned out so darn cute I will try to have daddy add it to the site as soon as he can.
Our latest scare was our new puppy dora was real sick she kept vomiting and everything so I took her to the vet and found out that she had Parvo so we had to have her admitted to the vet hospital here in Toledo and she stayed over night on IV's and then she is on antibiotics she is now doing much better but it sure scared us. Well I guess that is all for now I will try to get better at updating.
The Smiths
Sunday, November 6, 2005 0:13 AM CST
DAY +277
Hello everyone sorry it has been so long since my last update but it has been a very trying last week in a half Meguire was complaining quite a bit about his lower back hurting so his oncologist and I decided that it would probably make both of us feel better if we did a spinal just to be sure so last friday Oct 28th he had a spinal and I had to go out to my work and some other places so I gave is Dr my cell phone # so after I was already done with my running around as soon as I got home my cell phone rang and it was his Dr she said I have good news and some not so good news. I said what she then said that Meguire had a WBC of 45 in his spinal fluid which is not a good thing it could be a sign of relapse so as you can understand I was completly falling apart at that moment but she also said she had 2 of the top radiologist read his fluid and they both said they were not cancerous cells which could mean that he just has a viral infection. So she said Christie I am just going to schedule him for another spinal on tuesday Nov 1st ok so it was a very long weekend and on Tuesday we went in for his other spinal but this one they didn't do until 3:00 so I had to wait till the next day for the results they checked for a viral infection and also for spinal menegitis but after all results came back all was clear and his WBC dropped from 45 down to 22 so that is a sure sign that he had some kind of viral bug in his system whooooooh sigh of relief.
Now for the good stuff Halloween the kids had a ball we didn't get any pics we were so caught up in getting Guire to say trick or treat that we didn't even think about it so sorry no pics of there costumes. Meguire was a kitty actually a white tiger but he calls it a kitty he just kept walking up to the doors saying I'm a kitty meeaw we were cracking up and Dominick he was a pimp as he said and after words he informs me next year he s going to be a pimp again and that he has to have a girl walk with him I said to Josh oh no he is only 9 he should not be talking like that already.
I want to say a big thank you to all of our friends on my all-kids sight that were there this weekend to help me with all of my worries with all of there comfort and all of there knowledge about this stuff without you guys and my friend Kim from our clinic he son Nicholas also has ALL she was my shoulder that I needed on Friday sorry Kim for crying over the phone to you I just needed someone at that moment to talk to and you were there Thank you. Well I guess that is everything to get you up to speed I will try to update more later.
The Smiths
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 8:26 PM CDT
DAY +266
Hello everyone just wanted to update on our little man as you can see we took lots of new picture's we went to the park last weekend and took lots of cool picture's of the kids and all of us. As for Meguire he is doing great they have reduced his Cyclosporin to .5 and they are reducing by 10% every 2 weeks hopefully he will be done with it by Christmas that would be nice to not have to give any meds. He will be done with his IVIG (immune booster) in probably february after that he will probably be done with everything.
We are trying to get everything back to a semi-normal life or as much as possible. As you can see in the picture's Meguire is getting so big he is growing out of his clothes and everything else.
I just want to say that we are sending lots of prayers out there for all of the children out there that are fighting this nasty disease and trying to just beat it I know that in my heart there is going to cure for this Cancer stuff for these kids someday and just maybe these kids won't have to worry as much. It just breaks my heart to hear about such young children loosing there battle to this terrible disease. Well I better stop rambling for now I will update more later.
The Smiths
Wednesday, October 19, 2005 11:25 AM CDT
DAY 259
Hello everyone sorry it has been so long since my last update things have been crazy around here. But the big news is that my baby isn't a baby anymore he is a big 5 year old and am so sad to see how fast he is growing up. It seems just like yesterday he was born but this poor little guy has been through so much in his short little life. When Meguire was born he was born with a low Magnesium and the doctors thought he was having seizures but after doing a spinal tap, ekg and other test they found out that it was just low magnesium which he took in his bottle and then he was also born with hydrocele and when he was 3 months old he had to have a surgery to repair the hydrocele while doing the surgery he had a hernia that they hadn't seen before so they also repaired that. Then we thought all was said and done after that he was a very happy baby and things were going great but, when he was 2 years old we got the worst news ever that Meguire was Dx'd with ALL (acute lymphoblastic Leukemia) after going through a year of chemo and spinals he was in Maintnance when he had his first 3 month spinal to our surprise we had found out that Meguire had relapsed in his Central Nervous System so then we went to Columbus hospital to find out that our little guy had to have BMT (bone marrow transplant) we were so worried and scared but on Feb 2,2005 Meguire had a unrelated BMT and today he is doing wonderful and we hope this is the end of his long journey of bad things. He is now weaning his anti-rejection medicine and doing well with it we are hoping that maybe by Christmas he will completly be off all the meds that will be so awesome.
Meguire had such a great b-day and got lots of cars as we all know he loves he got a new coat and boots for the winter and he even got a dora the explorer house with dora diego and the Jaguar. His brother took his own money and bought him a sword and a car from the store and his memaw bought him a hoppin car it is a lowrider car that hops and plays music he got a jeep from his great grandmother and he even got a kitty picture for his wall from his other great grandma. My friend and I made him a kitty birthday cake which he loved. He had his cousins aunts uncle's and even some of his friends here it was so nice to actually have a real b-day party for him he hasn't had a party in 2 years due to everything he has been through it was just awesome. Well I will go for now I will try to update more later.
The Smiths
Sunday, October 2, 2005 5:04 PM CDT
DAY 242
Hello everyone time for another update on our loving Mr Meguire he is doing great the only thing is his creatinine is still high but his Dr is going to talk to Columbus to see if they can keep his Cyclosporin level lower so that they can get his creatinine at a normal level.
Well last night was our Light the Night walk and it was just amazing all the people walking with those lighted balloon's and we also had our friends Jacob and JJ from my ALL-KIDS online support group who came out to walk with us and our friends Nicholas,his brother Zachery and there mom Kim who are from our clinic who drove all the way here from near cleveland just to walk with us. It was so awesome to see all the families and friends of survivors and even the one's who weren't able to beat this horible Cancer stuff but with love and things ike the Ligt the Night walk people are able to go on. Also at the end of the night almost all the families let there balloons go and we watched them float off in the air and it was so cool.
Meguire just can't wait until they take out his hickman line he keeps saying when they take out my line mommy can I play in the bath tub with my cars I hate that he can't take a normal bath like other kids but I learned in Columbus that if they take normal baths that is what causes line infections and we don't want that so he just stands and gets his bath and gets out untill he gets it out. Well I guess that is all for now I will try to update more later.
The Smiths
Thursday, September 8, 2005 9:25 PM CDT
DAY 218
Hello everyone just wanted to add an update on Meguire and his appointment on Wednesday went fine his Cyclosporin level and his Magnesium level are getting much better so the Dr upped his Cyclosporin to .7 ml twice daily and kept his magnesium at 6ml trice daily other than that he is doing wonderful.
On a seperate note we changed our appointment yesterday so that we could be there with allot of our clinic friends and it was also our friend Nicholas 5th birthday so we got his some cars and Kim Nicholas's mom brought cup cakes it was so cool because Little tanner and Alexis who just got a blood draw came in to see us and we also got to see our friend Kayden who we have not seen since before we went in for transplant it was so nice to see everyone and Meguire loved playing with all his little friends.
I guess I have come to the conclusion that these other families are like our secondary famiy whether they be blood or not you are all our family because we have became so close through all this turmoil that our children have been put through. Well I am going to go for now but please know that all these children will be in my thoughts and prayers all the time.
The Smiths
Monday, September 5, 2005 7:08 PM CDT
Day +215
Hello everyone just wanted to update to let you all know how Meguire is doing he is doing great he has been playing and having a great summer he just loves to ride his electric harley ike that memaw got for him 2 years ago.
As for the medical stuff last week I realized Guire's Cyclosporin level was low so I asked the Dr if 154 was too low for him and she checked his records from Columbus and they did want his levels to be between 200-300 so they increased his Cyclosporin 10% and his Magnesium was a little low also so we took that up 10% also other than that he is wonderful not having any issues. We go back in for labs tomorrow so we will see how his Cyclosporin level will be.
Well with all this hurricane Katrina stuff going on in the world and all these gas prices skyrocketing we haven't done too much because driving a SUV cost lots to fill with gas. But if things get better in the gas department hopefully we can get out again. Also this weekend on Sept 11th we are going to a Cancer Survivor's get together for Columbus hospital and we are going to that so we can see all of our friends we haven't seen since we were in Columbus. Well I guess that is all for now check back with us later.
The Smiths
Sunday, August 21, 2005 8:29 PM CDT
DAY 200
Hello everyone just wanted to update on our little guy he is doing great he has had great counts and they have all of his levels at an even keel so that is great.
I wanted to update today because we have made it to day 200 with very little issues and by the grace of God our little guy is going to make it another 70 years or so. Yesterday we went to Cedar Point and Meguire had a ball he got to go on all of the kiddy rides and I enjoyed spending the day with him and daddy and dominick rode all of the big roller coasters we had so much fun and it was such a beautiful day it rained a little in the morning but it was awesome the rest of the day. This was Meguire's first time ever and this was all thanks to Give Kids the World they gave us a pass to use at any amusement park for one year post our visit to GKTW.
This has been such a wild crazy summer and we have been so busy it seems like I don't even have time to take a breath because I am always doing something but, my kids are healthy and that is all that matters to me. Josh is going to add all our new photo's from Cedar Point soon and he even did a couple video's so he will probably add those also. Well I am going to go for now I will try to update again soon.
I just wanted to add one more thing Meguire's second cousin Doug has been sent off to Iraq today and I just wanted to ask for some extra prayers for his family to keep him safe while he is over there fighting this war he will be stationed over there for 18 months. I will be keeping them in my thoughts and prayers. Have a great week.
The Smiths
Sunday, August 21, 2005 8:29 PM CDT
DAY +200
Hello everyone just wanted to update on our little guy he is doing great he has had great counts and they have all of his levels at an even keel so that is great.
I wanted to update today because we have made it to day 200 with very little issues and by the grace of God our little guy is going to make it another 70 years or so. Yesterday we went to Cedar Point and Meguire had a ball he got to go on all of the kiddy rides and I enjoyed spending the day with him and daddy and dominick rode all of the big roller coasters we had so much fun and it was such a beautiful day it rained a little in the morning but it was awesome the rest of the day. This was Meguire's first time ever and this was all thanks to Give Kids the World they gave us a pass to use at any amusement park for one year post our visit to GKTW.
This has been such a wild crazy summer and we have been so busy it seems like I don't even have time to take a breath because I am always doing something but, my kids are healthy and that is all that matters to me. Josh is going to add all our new photo's from Cedar Point soon and he even did a couple video's so he will probably add those also. Well I am going to go for now I will try to update again soon.
The Smiths
Thursday, August 4, 2005 8:44 PM CDT
Day +183
Hello I want to start out today with GREAT NEWS EVERYONE the dr's did a type and cross along with his normal labs yesterday and the nurse came into the playroom where we were waiting to see the Dr and said his labs were great and also that he has completly grafted because his blood type has changed due to the donor being a o+ Meguire's blood type has changed from A+ to O+ now that is very exciting to finally feel like things are moving in the right direction.
Also some more news is that our hospital here in Toledo St vincent Mercy Hospital is getting together a bone marrow drive and St V's has asked us to be there spokes family since we have used the national registry and of course we are honored to do this as we also want to be on the registry anyway because if we could save someone's life like someone saved our little boys it would be an honor.
Guire is doing great still a little of his feet issues but we went to a physical therapist and she says she feels he is doing fine just to try to get him some more supportive shoes so that his feet can grow stronger. His counts are doing ok his ANC was 1160 this week his hemoglobin was 11.6 and his platlets were 159,000 so he is growing stronger and getting bigger everyday. I am sorry it has been so long since my last update but summer is crazy with weddings, graduations and so on and it doesn't get easier till all is over with but I will try my best to update more often. And I will try to get on Josh to add more picture's of Guire as he looks so darn cute with his dark auburn colored hair that is curly.
Also please say some much needed prayers for our friends Nicholas & Alexis who have just been discharged from the hospital as they both had fevers but no infections according to culture's but they have some kind of a bug that is hitting all of the ALL kids for some reason just please say a ittle prayer for them and everyone keep frog-ging (fully rely on god) and have a great weekend.
The Smiths
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 4:28 PM CDT
DAY +168
Hello everyone wanted to update you on Meguire we had his clinic visit today and everything looks to be doing ok except he has been having lots of feet and leg pain so I asked the Dr what she we do so she looked at his labs and noticed that his Potassium is pretty high so she had the nurse redraw a level to see if it would come back the same and it did so she said try to keep him away from foods high in potassium and they will redraw his level next week also she said that she wants him to have a Consult with a Physical Therapist to see if they can give me any hints on what we can do.
On another note Meguire's hair is growing so fast and is becoming curly too funny he has never had curly hair before and it is like a brown with like auburn highlights also too funny to me but he looks so precious and is so happy and lively he loves summer and loves to play and get wet but we have to be careful with his line or we will have to change the dressing and he doesn't like doing that so if he goes in the pool we wrap him all up with plastic wrap and he loves it because it's green and that is his favorite color.
Meguire got to go to the drivins with us last weekend for the first time ever and he loved it we seen War of the worlds and Wedding Crashers of course the kids didn't make it through the second movie but they loved the War of the Worlds. It was really nice getting out as a family and doing something fun. Well I will go for now and try to update more on the leg pains and what we are doing later.
The Smiths
Wednesday, July 13, 2005 4:04 PM CDT
DAY +161
Hello everyone sorry it has taken me so long to update it is really crazy around here mom trying to work with two kids fighting and going crazy I think it is the heat they have gone heat crazy and that is driving mom nuts. Guire is doing great his counts are staying pretty steady last week his ANC was 1340 his hemoglobin was 9.3 and platlets 203,000 they have finally gotten us on a schedule of only every other week one time just for visit and one time just for his IVIG which is an all day visit usually 9-2 or 3 depending on how long it takes the pharmacy to make his IVIG. But all in all he is doing great his hair is growing like crazy and it is turning cury so cute it is like a auburn color. The Dr also has him weaned down to only 3 meds Cyclosporin,Diflucan & Bactrim that is it for now. These meds he will probably take until his 1 year post transplant and then they will probably wean these meds also.
Today we went to see Meguire's little friend Nicholas at the clinic today was his first time to get axcessed since he had his new port put in a week ao friday and his mom Kim said he did so good he didn't even cry way to go nicky your so brave.
Well I am going to go for now we will try to get some new pics and maybe even new video's added as soon as we get the chance have a great week everyone.
The Smiths
Saturday, June 18, 2005 12:10 AM CDT
DAY 136
Well lets just tell you how the last week has been kinda crazy and upsetting all in one I would say well first off this is the aniversary week of Meguire's relapse and of course that in itself is upsetting and then we went to the Clinic for our usual weekly visit and I had told the Dr that Meguire has been complaining of leg and feet pain so the Dr says I don't like this and his WBC keeps jumping up and down it is never at a even place so she decided to do a Marrow on him so they scheduled him for a Marrow test on Thursday morning so of course me I am always thinking the worst one year post relapse then Dr says she wants to do a marrow test I was just kinda freaked out as most parents probably would be. So we went in for the test on Thursday morning and Dr J said it looked fine but if she got any results she would call me. Nothing on thursday from the Dr but when Meguire woke up on Friday he was just kinda laying around not doing anything so I asked him was something wrong he said his throat was hurting so I called the clinic again and they said to try giving him some tylenol to see if that would help so I got his meds ready along with his tylenol and he just was screaming to call Dr J which he never does so I called back and said I was going to ring him in he was just miserable. Well by the time we were pulling in the driveway at the clinic he says mommy we don't need to go to the hosibal (thats what he calls it) I think the red medicine is working my throat doesn't hurt anymore I said were here now we are going in so of course the Dr looks and there is no redness or anything. She also said his marrow was clear WHOO that is a big weight lifted off of my shoulders so now I can breath again. So this has been my week of you know what well enjoy the new pics on the site daddy decided to put a through the years of pics of our little guy. I will update more later.
The Smiths
Wednesday, June 8, 2005 7:31 PM CDT
DAY 126
Hello everyone just wanted to give a little update on our little guy he is doing great the doctors are so amazed at how well he is doing he just continue's to amaze all of us his counts are starting to rise higher they are at 1440 today his hemoglobin was a little low 8.7 but his platlets are fine they were 190,000 which is great he continue's to surprise me he is like a little man he doesn't even act like a little boy he is so smart.
He is having a gret summer already he is loving that he canplay with his big brother all day since school is out now they love playing outside but, I try to keep him out of the sun because the sun can cause his GVH to come back and we don't want that because the oncologists here said she will not deal with GVH she will ship us back to columbus. We pray everyday that this will be the end of our journey.
We were so sad last friday because one of our oncologists Dr C left us he moved on to Idaho to a ew job and new kids to help with there challenges. Meguire loved Dr C because he has this thing that he likes male Dr's better for some reason but Dr C will be missed but, we do still have our other oncologists who is great she is so caring and compassionate with these CK (cancer kids) I guess partly because she is a mom herself and we love Dr J also so we know that we are in good hands. I will try to update more later have a great week and keep the prayers coming or keep frogging (fully rely on god) and things will turn out ok.
The Smiths
Wednesday, May 25, 2005 9:32 PM CDT
DAY +112
Hello everyone the results of our day 100 tests are in Meguire is doing great he is still 100% donor and seems to be healthy to me.
We had our oncology visit today and the doctor says to me that he wants to contact the Dr's from Columbus because he is unsure why Meguire's counts are dropping and he also said worst case senario is that Meguire could either be relapsing in his marrow or his graft is rejecting but he said waite till we talk to columbus before we think anything bad so of course when I get home I call the Dr in Columbus and spoke to one of the BMT nurse practicioner and she said not to worry that this is normal for some kids for counts to drop and then go right back up but of course that is always in the back of my mind being on my online support group ALL-Kids I am constantly reading about kids that have relapsed and I just worry so much about having to put my poor baby through that all over again he has been through so much and I pray everyday that this will be the end of his journey.
On a good note Meguire is doing great as far as Columbus was concerned with his Day 100 tests he is on track right where he should be and they said that they were going to have his blood tests from everysince we have been home sent to them and they will look them over but they don't seem to be very concerned so that makes me feel better. I will keep everyone informed as much as I can and thank you so much for checking in on our little guy he loves getting the messages in his guestbook I read them to him all the time.
The smiths
Friday, May 13, 2005 12:36 AM CDT
DAY 100
Hurray everyone today is the big day 100 and we are so excited to have made it through this journey and made it so far.
I can remember the day that Meguire was first diagnosed waiting in that doctors office all by myself with Meguire and the doctor saying is there someone we can call to be here with you and at that moment was the hardest day of my life and god bless Jennifer the NP that gave me the news she just stood there and cried with me because she said Meguire was her first patient she ever had to give this news to. Then we nine days at ST Vincent hospital trying to figure out which treatment to use and my husband and I decided to go with the Standard treatment hoping that would cure our son and we finally make it to maintnance and go for our very first 3 month spinal and then the shock of our life the dreaded phone call 2 hours after the spinal to say that Meguire had relapsed in his spinal fluid and that was like a smack in the face so then we start high dose chemo and a search for donor for Meguire and after 6 months of searching through the registry we found 5 matches then they req that a 26 year old male to be the donor after going through the testing he decided it did not fit into his schedule to help my son I was heart broken then when we were leaving for Disney World we had no idea if the other person was going to say yes. When we got back we got the exciting news that we had gotten a donor who had gone through the testing and said yes he would donate to our son this 31 year old male was going to save my baby's life the happiest day ever. So we were off to Columbus to start preparing for our Bone Marrow Transplant and after Radiation and more high dose chemo and then on Feb 2,2005 my baby got his new marrow and that is where we began our healing and our new life.
So now here we are 100 days out of transplant and we are now looking forward to our day 365 so that will be his 1 year of his rebirth. Please everyone keep those prayers coming that our little boy will live the rest of his life Happy and Healthy forever and never have to look back at this terrible disease and we will never have to say that nasty word Cancer again. Keep checking in we have taken more picture's and we are going to try to add them as soon as we can.
The Smiths
Wednesday, May 4, 2005 9:53 PM CDT
DAY +91
Hello everyone sorry it has been so long since I have updated but no news is good news and there was nothing new to give. We had his clinic visit today and everything is going great we are trying to get him to drink some more because with the meds he is on he needs lots of fluids so that the meds don't effect his kidney's. He has started eating more than our last update he was not hardly eating anything but, I found that he really likes those kids little bowls like chef boy r d the chicken and rice and vegetable's he has been eating 2 or 3 a day and he loves garlic bread so I have desided to just give him whatever he will eat and that seems to work for him so he has been eating ok. Now if we could just get him to drink.
On a good note his ANC was 1400 today his hemoglobin 9.2 from 8.3 last week and his platlets 166 from 128 last week he is doing great as the Dr said today oh and some BIG NEWS is next week we will be off steroids yeahhhh! They are also going to start weaning him off of the blood preasure med starting Monday they are going to cut it in half. He is getting so darn cute i just love his black hair that is just growing like a weed he looks so darn cute you just want to hug him and never let go. We are so happy to be home and things are getting back to normal finally I just the other day got our last bag unpacked I know a little late but hey at least it is done finally. Well I will try to update more next week Oh by the way May 13th is the big day that lucky DAY 100 we are getting excited. Check back later for updates and just keep those prayers coming.
The Smiths
Saturday, April 23, 2005 10:20 AM CDT
DAY 80
Hello everyone WE FINALLY ARE HOME! We made our journey 2.5 hours to get home and it was so exciting to finally pull into our driveway here in Toledo and it was so nice to finally get to sleep in our own beds i slept so good.
I would like to give my husband some major credit he worked so hard to get this house in tip top shape for us to come home and to all of our friends and family that helped to make this possible for us to come home thank you so much the house looks wonderful.
Meguire has been holding counts pretty steady his ANC has been around 3200 still his WBC was 5.5 his hemoglobin was 9.2 and his platlets were 182. He is still on his antibiotics for his line infection till Sunday but then those are done and they are still lowering his meds he is down to only 2mg of steroids once a day but they are still working on getting his cyclosporin level correct every week it is either too high or too low they said once he is off of the steroids it will probably level out. All in all things are finally looking up and we are getting close to that day 100 and we are going to have a party for him. Well I am going to stop all my rambling for now I will update more later after our clinic visit on Wednesday.
The Smiths
Tuesday, April 19, 2005 10:27 AM CDT
DAY +72
Hello everyone I just wanted to update on how our little munchkin was doing he is as i would call him my PSYCHO BABY he has so much energy i just can't keep up with this child he is getting so excited that we are going home by the end of this week yes i did say home we get to go back to Toledo we are so excited we can't hardly hold our composier. His ANC has been holding steady at 3200 something like that his hemoglobin was 9.2 his platlets were 195 he is doing great no sign of any GVHD rash anywhere so the doctors say he is doing well enough to go home.
Dad on the other hand is completely exhausted from trying o get the house ready for us he has painted the basement he has put carpet down in the basement so the kids have a play area he has put a new roof on the house built a car port for mom to park her truck under and he he even spring cleaned the house he has been a very busy guy and we love him for that so we can finally say everything at home is ready for us. Well enough of my blubbering for now I will update more when we get home. I just want to say thank you for all the prayers and just keep them coming that this will be the end of our Cancer journey and Meguire will grow to be a very old man and he says when he gets bigger he wants to be a Police so that he can where a cool badge how cute is that.
The Smiths
Tuesday, April 12, 2005 4:14 PM CDT
DAY 65
Hello everyone so excited to tell you that we were sprung yesterday around 3:30 in the afternoon. Meguire is doing great they are still lowering meds and we go back on Thursday so maybe everyone cross your fingers that we may be getting out of here and going home very soon. I am going to ask the doctors when they will be releasing us to go home because we can be seen by our oncologist in toledo and they can do the same things there that we are doing here. They hav lowered meguire's cyclosporin down to only 50 mg per day he was all the way up to 135 mg so he is doing very well they did have to put him back on his blood pressure med but he likes the taste so that is ok with him he also had a normal reading on his EKG that he had 3 weeks ago so tonight is his last dose of Keppra (seizure med) Yeahhhh. I don't know what his counts were they didn't tell me but i know he is still doing great because the doctors all say other than these dumb old line infections he is doing wonderful. Well i guess i will go for now i will try to update more on thursday when i talk with the doctors just keep those prayers coming that we can get out of here and finally make our journey towards home. Have a wonderful week and please sign Meguire's guestbook because he loves it when he gets messages.
The Smiths
Wednesday, April 6, 2005 12:18 AM CDT
Thursday April 7,2005
Update Meguire's culture's came back positive for some kind of bug/line infection no fun they have started him on a third antibiotic and hopefully they will find out which one will kill of the bug today i will keep you posted on the latest info.
Hello everyone just wanted to update you on Meguire as we are inpatient again he got another fever last night. I woke up feeling that his poor little body was just quivering and so i got up and went to take his temperature he had a temp of 102.2 so i called the on call oncologist and they sent us straight to the ER and we went their and they drew cultures to see if he might have another line infection and they did a urinalisys and blood counts his ANC is ok though it was something like 4700 and his WBC was 2.3 so he is ok in that aspect but we won't know about the culture's for 24 hours and then if he does have the line infection and it is the same one since he just stop his antibiotics last Thursday they said they may have to remove his Broviak. Which will be no un for him considering that will mean more pokies for him but,on the other hand it will probably be better because it seems ever time he has these stupid broviak ports he is constantly getting these line infections.
On a good note Meguire seems to be doing ok other than the vometing he vometed once last night and once today so maybe it is just the flu but, this still doesn't seem to be bothering him at all. He is our little trooper he just keeps on truckin. I want to say thank you to everyone who keeps praying for his full recovery and just keep those prayers coming. Have a wonderful rest of the week i hear the weather is just gorgeous outside.
The Smiths
Friday, March 25, 2005 8:46 AM CST
DAY 51
Hello everyone just wanted to do a quick update Meguire's fever is gone we are going back to the Ronald Mcdonald House today YEAH we will be out before Easter he is doing great his ANC yesterday was 4500 his Hemoglobin was 9.1 and his platlets were 160,000 he is progressing wonderfully we just had a little bump in the road so now we are going to keep on truckin.
I wanted to say thank you to everyone who watches Meguire's journal's to see how he is doing. Once again i am not sure if the RMH has the internet hooked up yet so if you email me Josh will have to let me know and he will read Meguire's Guest Book daily so that we can let Meguire know how many people watch him daily. I will stop my rambling now I will either update later or I will have dad do it talk to you soon.
Oh By the way everyone please have a Happy Easter everyone.
The Smiths
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 11:36 AM CST
DAY +49
Hello everyone just wanted to update you on Meguire we are back at the hospital he was admitted on early monday morning 12:30 a.m. to be exact because he was running a fever of 102.4 so we came into the ER and were admitted they did blood culture's, strep test because last friday Mom went to urgent care and was diagnosed with Strep so we were concerned that he caught it from me much to our surprise it wasn't that it was a darn line infection so he will be on IV Meds for 10 days but, they say since his fever has been gone since 2:00 yesterday that we may get to go back to the RMH (Ronal Mcdonald House) tomorrow but they are going to keep an eye on his culture's to make sure they are not still growing anything they did another culture today so we will see how that comes out tomarrow.
For the good news now Meguire GVH is under control they have been lowering his Prednisone weekly and he has no sign of rash at this point. The doctors say we may be able to go to our home possibly by the end of April if he continues to do so well. They have started weaning him from his blood pressure meds also because with lowering the steroids he won't need the blood pressure meds. The RMH is so beautiful and everyone is so nice we have our own suite with our own bathroom, There is a kitchen and laundry facility also but we share that with the other suite which noone is in it as of yet so we have it to ourselves right now. I will try to get some pics updated but with not having internet at the RMH i can't even update so when we get out of the hospital dad will have to update until they get the internet turned on. Well I guess that is all for now i will update more later keep those prayers coming that Meguire keeps on truckin through this whole thing.
The Smiths
Sunday, March 20, 2005 12:47 AM CST
Hello everyone this is DAD. I just wanted to update & tell everyone Meguire & Christie made the move. They are now at the New Ronald McDonald house which is beautiful.
I also want to say Christie wont have internet for another 10-15 days its still not hooked up yet so I will be receiveg her Emails until she gets back online, so if you need to get ahold of her please email & Ill let her know.
Meguire is DOING AWESOME everything is on track & the Dr`s say if he keep doing as well as he is he will get to leave the first of May & come home where the true healing will begin. Thank you all for your support everyone has been wonderful god Bless everyone of you.
MEGUIRE SAY HI & THANK YOU!!!
BIG SMILES
THE SMITHS
Tuesday, March 8, 2005 10:21 PM CST
DAY +34
Hello everyone just wanted to let you know that i talked to Meguire's doctors today and his Fish Test came back and Meguire is 100% donor Yeahhhhhhhhh. Things are looking so good all his test are good we have had a few issues like they had to increase instead of decrease his steroids because his GVHD has flared up a little no big deal this we can handle but, he has been complaining one day of headaches and the next day he is complaining his back is hurting but the doctors assure me that this is just from him being off the pain meds and his body is still grafting to just give him tylenol but, i can't help but think in the back of my head those are the symptoms he had when he relapsed and could he be relapsing this soon after Transplant i guess that is just me being a worry wort.
Meguire and mommy made there first journey out and went to have dinner with some friends here in Columbus and meguire had a ball wih our friend Dan and his wife Jill. Dan and Meguire played cars all night and momm and Jill just sat and talked and watched the boys play we had a riot. Well i guess that is all for today please keep those prayers coming that our Meguire will continue to go in the right direction and this will be our happy healthy 2005.
Christie
Saturday, March 5, 2005 3:22 PM CST
DAY +31
Hello Just want to start with i am so sorry i haven't updated in so long but. guess what WERE FREEEEEEEE Hurray we have finally been discharged from the Hospital we are now living in a Marriott Residence Inn untill the brand new Ronald Mcdonald House opens which is supposed to be on March 13th.
Now about Meguire he is doing great they are weaning him off of his steroids and just as soon as he is off of those they will start taking him off of some more of his meds. Meguire's counts are good on Thursday they were his ANC was 2945 his WBC was 3.9 his Hemoglobin was 10.5 and platlets were 134,000 which is great so it seems as if everything is starting to look up.
The reason i haven't updated in so long is because we have had the worst week ever. The first day we got out of the hospital it took me an hour to find the hotel then my car was acting up so i had to take it to a firestone tire place because i had put too much fix a flat in my tire when i had a flat the week before and it froze up so they had to dig it out and air it back up. Then on my way back i went straight on a road that you were supposed to curve around and got stuck in a ditch and had to wait 3 hours for a tow truck to pull me out which cost me $55. Then the next day i was leaving to take Meguire in for his first visit to the hospital and my car wouldn't start. So now you can understand that my week has been very hectic and we just got out of the hospital on Tuesday. I guess i will stop my rambling. But as me and Josh has said Meguire is getting healthy and that is all that matters.
I want to tell everyone thank you so much for all the support and the prayers jut keep those prayers coming and tell them cells to keep growing.Well i will update more later.
Sunday, February 27, 2005 12:31 AM CST
DAY 25
Hello everyone sorry it has been so many days since I updated but, it has been very busy around here they are weaning Meguire's meds some and yesterday they removed one of his broviacs. His ANC is over 3000 today and we are on day #3 that we haven't gotten any platlets or blood which is great he is doing so great he is even starting to get little sprouts of hair growing on his head he is also getting to be my little chubby bubby again due to steroids and even a little cranky some times don't we just love those steroids.
Now for the good news we are breaking out of here on Tuesday of course we don't get to o home but we do get to get out of this stinking isolation room. We are going to the local Marriott hotel for the remainder of our stay. But, Meguire says he is not leaving because he won't have his nurses to give him his medicine so he says he can't leave. I told him mommy needs to leave or i will go crazy he just laughed. We have met another family which is leaving the same day as we are and they are going to a hotel right by us so thats kind of cool so we can maybe even set up a play date with our kids.Well i guess i will go for now i will update more later. Please everyone keep those prayers coming and Meguire keep those cells growing as i say GROW CELLS GROW.
Christie
Sunday, February 20, 2005 12:58 AM CST
DAY +18
Hello everyone just wanted to update everyone on how Meguire is doing. He is doing great except the diareah is back so his butt is sore again but his counts are rising and he is playing and is so ready to go home or at least get out of this isolation room. They have taken him off of his Fentenol because he has been dong so well. They also stopped all of his antibiotics and he is only getting his TPN for 11 hours now. Meguire's counts are rising his ANC was 240 today and they said he should start going up because his WBC (white blood counts) are rising. So it looks like they think if all goes well he maybe can get out of here by the end of this week. So everyone please keep those prayers coming that meguire's cells grow so we can get out of here. GROW CELLS GROW.
I want to thank everyone who has been keeping meguire in there thoughts and prayers because he has been a trooper through this whole thing because of those thoughts and prayers.
Christie
Wednesday, February 16, 2005 10:42 AM CST
DAY 14
Hello everyone GREAT NEWS they are going to start taking away some of Guire's antibiotics and also they are going to start weening him away from the Fentenol or (morphine) which is a great sign that he is recoving. Also his WBC was 300,000 and his ANC is 130 lets just keep praying GROW CELLS GROW everything is starting to look up in the world you can't even imagine how happy this makes me. Guire's sore raw bottom is even almost all healed up so he is feeling much better.
For the first time since his transplant he dosn't have to get platlets or blood today and that makes me so happy so that means his platlets are above 40 and his hemoglobin is above 9 i am just on cloud 9.
I just cannot believe how well he has handled everything and we are now heading towards our new happy healthy 2005. Well i will update more later keep those prayers coming they are odviosly working.
I just have to tell you one more thing at 5:00 am this morning Guire says mom i said what he said mom i think the itchy's are gone i can go home now. I said that is great but we still have to stay for a few more days. Well thats Guire's funny comment for the week.
Christie
Monday, February 14, 2005 6:14 PM CST
DAY 12
Hello everyone Happy Valentine's Day just wanted to update you on meguire he is doing pretty well exceptt he is starting to get the GVHD (Grafts vs Host Disease) so he is itchy all over it is all kinds of little red dots and it makes his skin real red and dry. So they started him on steroids and that is not a good combination for meguire. Finally his fever is broken it has ben broken now for about 24 hours and he is sitting here playing his playstation as usual but whatever makes him happy. If only his poor butt would get better he probably wuld be doing ok but, probably after 10 days of no fevers he will get taken off the antibiotics which he is on so many i can't even count them anymore.
Meguire has been Mr Cankypants today bu,what can you exspect from a child on steroids. He is still playing and everything i guess you could say nothing keeps this kid down he is hanging in there like a trooper. Well i guess i will close for now but i will update later. Oh by the way please keep those prayers coming our way.
Christie
Saturday, February 12, 2005 8:58 AM CST
DAY 10
Hello everyone sorry it has been a few days since i last updated everyone on how meguire is doing and just so you know he is still playful as ever he is playing playstation with his daddy right now and he even was up playing his Hallabaloo game which is like a version of twister but for younger kids but i guess it is for any age since me & josh were playing with him.
The new news is meguire is having some very high fevers and now is having a little urinary incontinance due to the pain medicine they have him on all the time. He also woke up this morning with blisters on his ears so we had the doctor come in and take a look she said they are going to give him a dose of lasix again to get rid of the fluid which is why he is having the blisters and stuff. His poor little bottom is getting worse so once again they are going to call the skin lady to see what else we can use because odviosly since what they have been using isn't working we need to try something new.
I have joined a support group called all-kids which has been helpful and fun since i have nothing better to do since i am stuck in this isolation room.
Also Meguire counts are starting to rise a little this is due to the early stages of grafting this can go up some and also go back down after tomorrow when he gets his last dose of Methotrexate Yeah no more Chemo. So things are starting to look up and looking forward to getting started with our new happy healthy 2005.
I also wanted to add there is a benefit for meguire happening tonight and I am not sure who is putting it on but it is some medical students who raise money for St Judes Hospital and every year they pick one family and this year they chose Meguire if anyone is interested the directions and the time are posted in Meguire's guestbook
I want to say thank you to everyone who has been saying prayers for us and just to keep those coming & Grow Cells Grow. I will update more later keep checking in for more updates & pictures as we have been taking lots of them.
Christie
Saturday, February 12, 2005 8:58 AM CST
DAY 10
Hello everyone sorry it has been a few days since i last updated everyone on how meguire is doing and just so you know he is still playful as ever he is playing playstation with his daddy right now and he even was up playing his Hallabaloo game which is like a version of twister but for younger kids but i guess it is for any age since me & josh were playing with him.
The new news is meguire is having some very high fevers and now is having a little urinary incontinance due to the pain medicine they have him on all the time. He also woke up this morning with blisters on his ears so we had the doctor come in and take a look she said they are going to give him a dose of lasix again to get rid of the fluid which is why he is having the blisters and stuff. His poor little bottom is getting worse so once again they are going to call the skin lady to see what else we can use because odviosly since what they have been using isn't working we need to try something new.
I have joined a support group called all-kids which has been helpful and fun since i have nothing better to do since i am stuck in this isolation room.
Also Meguire counts are starting to rise a little this is due to the early stages of grafting this can go up some and also go back down after tomorrow when he gets his last dose of Methotrexate Yeah no more Chemo. So things are starting to look up and looking forward to getting started with our new happy healthy 2005.
I also wanted to add there is a benefit for meguire happening tonight and I am not sure who is putting it on but it is some medical students who raise money for St Judes Hospital and every year they pick one family and this year they chose Meguire if anyone is interested the directions and the time are posted in Meguire's guestbook
I want to say thank you to everyone who has been saying prayers for us and just to keep those coming & Grow Cells Grow. I will update more later keep checking in for more updates & pictures as we have been taking lots of them.
Christie
Tuesday, February 8, 2005 7:29 PM CST
Day +6
Hello everyone here is my update for today would be still ok except meguire has been running a fever since a couple of nights ago and they just can't get it to lower than about 101 but the doctors tell me it is ok they did some cultures and they are all negative for infection so they say this could just be his body starting o graft with his new bone marrow which made me think WHOO at least it is not a bad thing he still has the butt thing and oh i forgot he started getting the yucky mouth sores but he doesn't seem to bothered by it so much he says it hurts but then he just goes on about his day like it is nothing so as i said before he is going to fly through this also his nurses just keep saying i can't believe he is doing so well by day 6 and i say that is just our guire he is such a tough little guy i guess he takes right after his daddy who is always so tough about everything.
I want to say thank you to everyone who is saying prayers for our little guy and just keep those prayers coming so that we can make a full recovery from this. It just touches my heart to know that there are such loving people in this world and they are not all bad or criminals or even people that don't care.
I will try to update you all later or as i know anything new have a great day.
Christie
Sunday, February 6, 2005 10:25 AM CST
Day 4
Hello everyone i just wanted to update on how meguire is doing well just so you know he is a little trooper the poor thing has a raw bottom and they are supposed to bringing him in a drug called fentenal which should help decrease the soreness and help with his pain. Besides the sore bottom his counts have dropped to about 48 which is a good thing they say because the faster they drop the quicker we can begin growing our brand new cells and begin our new healthy journey. They are going to continue keeping him on the TPN (which is nutrition) to help keep up his streghnth and they also said his platlets were only 23 today so he will be receiving a platlet transfusion so that his body can try to heal his butt or any other sores he might get.
We are happy to say that we are finally beginning our new life. Well i just wanted everyone to know that he is hanging in there and he is going to fly straight through this whole thing like a champ.
A special thanks to everyone who has signed meguire's journal in the last few days that really helps to know that there are so many people out there that truly do care about someone that they don't even know thank you so much and please just keep those prayers coming because without them we wouldn't know what to do. I will update more later.
Christie
Wednesday, February 2, 2005 9:58 PM CST
Hello everyone just wanted to start out with the BMT is finished and guire made it through like a champ it took about 1 1/2 for the whole thing and he had a ball playing with the 3 nurses that were in here it was a hoot watching him play with these 3 women as if they were his best buds he had one nurse blowing bubble's and popping them all over her face and then everytime he would have to get his blood pressure done he would try to rip it off and they would be like meguire you know you can't do that but we just layed here and played and watched american idol and those people make fools of themselves.
Meguire has been a champ this whole week he hasn't got any mouth sores or anything yet maybe just a touch of diareah one day but that has even stopped. They did start him on TPN because he wasn't eating and wouldn't you know the minute they started that he started eating like crazy he is constantly eating chicken noodle soup and fruit loops i think he is addicted. I guess all we can do now is wait to see how he does in the next couple of weeks because they say thats when all the bad stuff begins but i beleive in my heart that he is going to pull through this with flying colors because he has been a champ through everything he has gone through in the past almost two years i guess thats just because kids are so resiliant and they just go on as if this were normal life.
Well i guess i will go for now and stop babbaling about nothing but hey i am stuck in a isolation room what else can i do. I also ant to thank everyone for all the support and prayers it has been great to know that there is always someone else who has gone through the same thing thank you again so much and please keep us in your prayers for a couple more weeks to get us through the rough times. Also please check back as i will keep everyone updated on how he is doing.
Friday, January 28, 2005 10:16 AM CST
DAY -5
Hello everyone we are here finally starting our new journey towards our happy healthy 2005 and things are going pretty well Meguire has one more radiation treatment at 3:00 today and then he is done but then the yucky chemo starts tomorrow and then Wendsday is the big day the BMT happens then we begin to start our healing process he seems to be handling the staying in this isolation pretty well.
I never thought in my wildest dreams that it would be this way so isolated that we cant even eat in his room or use his bathroom, even the having to wear the surgical gloves all the time which i now know i will have to buy stock in lotion soon because my hands are already so dry. Back to meguire he is starting to loose what little hair he has already but it don't matter because he is so darn cute even if he is bald oh and by the way he just loves the ambulance rides he gets to take a ride to the cancer hospital for his radiation and he loves it but that will soon end since he has his last treatment in a few hours.
Meguire is excited because daddy is coming here today and he is bringing guire some little cars (aka micro machines)which he just loves. His brother can't come though and he is a little upset about that but we have to do what is best for him because we want him to get better and be able to live a happy healthy life. Yesterday i bought meguire his own pair of slippers and he has to wear them all the time because they have kitty's on them and he loves kitty's so when he woke up after radiation yesterday i handed them to him and the first thing he said was Mom thank you i was waiting for these they are my favorite how cute is that. Well i guess that is all for now i will try to update as often as possible.
Christie
Tuesday, January 11, 2005 10:00 PM CST
Hello everyone just wanted to say a very big WOW for what make a wish and give kids the world has done for our family it could not have been anymore awesome than it was the weather, the awesome treatment and everyone that was there to treat our family with the most like we were kings and queen.
It all started with when we arrived in florida and it was 81 degrees and of course i didn't pack any shorts but, the best part was there was a Walmart right at the corner of the street where Give Kids the World was so of course we had to go and buy shorts for everyone because it was hot the entire week.
The villa we stayed in was like a condo or something like that it was just beatiful then of course the best part is a ice cream parlor that was open from 7am to 9:30 pm every night and meguire and dominicks favorite was the heated swimming pool, Nicholas and Meguire also loved the merrygoround they road that several times.
Then there was the theme parks cannot say enough about how extraordinary we were treated at all the parks they seen those Give Kids the World badge and you were treated like royalty taken to the exits and put on rides first and going in the back doors to see the characters cannot say enough except just WOW what an experience that we will never forget.
Now for the not so great stuff the day after we got home on Monday Meguire started his radiation and also lots of tests they have already done two days of radiation and they have done a renal scan and also an echoekg all in two days and more to come in the next few weeks.
On a good note we did find out today that we are a go for transplant on February 2 and the donor has already signed the consent. We also found out that it is a 31 year old male woohoo things are starting to move ahead although it is a little scary just because we have to pack up and move away from our friends and family for 3 whole months maybe longer just depends on how well Meguire handle's everything. Well i guess that is all for now i will update as often as i can i am taking my laptop with me so that i can work and so i can keep all the people who are praying for our little guy up to date on his condition. I will try to update again before we leave we are being admitted to Columbus hosp on January 25 hope everyone had a great new year and for all the other parents out there battling this nasty disease hoping for a healthy 2005.
Thursday, December 30, 2004 10:04 PM CST
Hello everyone i just wanted to make a short update Meguire is doing great even though his counts are a little low but he is so very excited that we are leaving for Disney Monday Jan 3 we will return on Jan 9 so we will have new pictures and new updates when we get back. But just as soon as we return all the fun stuff starts the day after we return meguire sarts his Radiation and all the other fun tests that come along with that.
On a better note Christmas was wonderful meguire and his brother dominick got lots a presents but,there favorite was ther new trampoline that they got they can't wait till summer so they can jump on it.
Also today we received all our goodies from make a wish for our trip and that was so exciting Meguire got a big Mickey from his wish granter and a kitty of course because he loves kitties. Well that is all for now i wil do another update when we return from Disney.
Everyone have a safe and happy new year 2005 that is so hard to say.
Friday, December 17, 2004 4:36 PM CST
Hello everyone sorry it has been so long since i last updated but, things have been so hectic that i haven't had a chance to do anything. Well now for the good stuff Meguire is doing ok except for the mouth sores again that darn Methotrexate does a number on his mouth he was supposed to get his Cytoxin today but that didn't happen with the sores so we will try again next Wednesday to see if they are any better.
We are off to Disney on January 3-9 and we are so excited, we just received our invite from Mayor Clayton of the Give Kids The World and Meguire thought that was so cool. The best part about this whole disney trip is we also get to go with our friend Nicholas who also is from our clinic so both of our families get to spend this experience together and that is awesome.
Now for the transplant update Meguire will be starting his cranial radiation the day after we come home from Disney then he is has to have all these tests done like a Dexascan, a CT of the Sinus an EEG and the best is a Neuropsych test that takes 3 hours yuck!!! and after all that we then will go to Columbus on January 25 for the pre-transplant stuff like 3 days of full body Radiation twice daily. Then transplant is scheduled for February 1 as long as the donor is willing.
Well i guess that is all for now we will update as soon as we can.
Friday, December 3, 2004 11:07 PM CST
Hello everyone sorry it has been a while since i last updated but things have been so hectic meguire only has 3 more weeks of intensivacation to go then we start our prep for transplant. On a better note we get to go on our make a wish trip on January 3-9 yeah!!! we are so excited and the best part is that we get to go with our little friend nicholas from the clinic we are both so excited about that Meguire just says i want to see lilo and stitch he can't wait.
Now for the news on Meguire's transplant as soon as we get back from Disney World actually the day after we get back Meguire starts his cranial radiation for 7 days then we have to go to Columbus for an over night stay so that we can have a consult with the radiologist at the OSU for Meguire's full body radiation then we come back from there on the 19th and on the 20th Meguire goes in for surgery to have his medi port removed and have two hickman ports placed then we are off for transplant on the 25th. They did call us to let us know that they found a little bit better candidate for meguire's transplant and he is a 26 year old male and they have contacted him to start his testing.
As for meguire he is doing pretty well right now except he has very low count right now his ANC was only 20 so no visiters please and he says his mouth hurts but i think he might be getting one of his back teeth other than that he still is just normal guire.
For anyone who doesn't know Meguire is the featured child of the month for www.makeachildsmile.com which is a website for all children with life threatening illnesses and he has his own po box which we check every couple of days for mail it is fun for him. Well i guess that is all for now i will update more later.
Saturday, November 27, 2004 7:06 AM CST
Well Turkey day is over & Christmas is near . Meguire & Dominick are looking forward to Santa coming to town . Meguire has been asking us for Cars , Cars & more CARS , Oh he also asks for playstation games , kitty cats & DVD movies , LOL . We are going to be decorating the house this weekend since Meguire will be home for Christmas Thank god .
I would like to also say it was a pleasure to finally meet Tony which is Alexis`s dad at the Make a wish Christmas party it seemed like we had allot in common , Alexis it was also a pleasure seeing you again you were looking adorable as usual & don't forget MOM & Alexis brother hang in their buddy your help will not go un noticed . We also seen Tanner , Brendan & all the other wonderful Make a wish kids God Bless everyone of you!
Meguire is doing great at the present moment he has a few mouth sores from the Chemo treatments but not as bad as last time , those mouth sores can get very bad with Chemo .
I also wanted to add Thank you to everyone who has supported us through this ride we are truly grateful for everyone one of you .
<<<<<<<<<<<<
We are reading some sites from the www.makeachildsmile .com web site & ran across Christopher . Christopher is now an Angel but what I read really touched our hearts please read this quote from his mother right before Christopher passed & visit his site & pass your blessings to his family. Heres the quote & his site!
"The one thing that will stick in my mind is that when Christopher was in the PICU unit and on the Bi-pap machine, he asked me "Mom, do you believe in GOD?" I answered, "Well of course I do, why do you ask me that?", and he let me know that GOD was in his room, and he asked me to move my body, as I was in the way of his view of Him... I asked Christopher what he had to say to him, and he said that GOD said nothing to him, all he did was wink! Then he was gone, and the room was filled with people he did not know... I figured them to be his Angels, as my Aunt had made him a website with her daughter, and many other Angels on it. He studied this website quite a lot before he got sicker... So now I have peace as to where he is, I had not a question in my mind as to where he was going, I knew he was on his way to Heaven...
I still talk to him daily and I think of him daily. He was my best friend... I have now dedicated myself to the Team in Training, as he was an Honor Patient with them for many years. I will be doing my annual Marathon each December in Honolulu, doing a 26.2 mile Marathon to try and help find a cure for Leukemia and other blood related diseases... He was a blessing in my life, and I am so thankful that I got to have him with me for almost 12 years. He is my HERO!
I love and miss you my dear son...
Love forever, your mom and best friend,
Cathy"
http://www.makeachildsmile.org/2001/prev_2001_aug3.shtml
Well that our update for now please check back sorry it took so long to add the other dinner pictures had to get them scanned in the computer GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!
Meguire & Family
Sunday, November 14, 2004 9:42 AM CST
Well its over all the prizes are gone church is cleaned up & were done thank GAWD!! We had a great time organizing this event .
We had a great turn out we counted 275 people & made $5000.00 at the dinner alone , that puts about $8000.00 in Meguires account unbelievable you guys have no Idea how that makes us feel. Thank you to Every one who donated & just the moral support has been great & is worth the money alone!!
Trackoholics thank you , Trackoholics got Meguire his own Playstation 2 not only for his bedroom here but for the hospital room also in Columbus & the hotel when were their that will be a god send , Meguire plays Playstation about 2-6 hours a day this kid is a playstation fanatic , so he will LOVE IT!!!!
Big Winners include .
1) The Pocket bike went to Mike Veith jr
2) The Pocket Chopper went to Kelly & Tom Fowler
3)The 4 tickets to the Pistons vs the bulls December 7 at the Palace seats ON THE FLOOR $1300.00 value each tickets has a face value of $325.00 went to Mark Urban
those were the big prizes the list goes on for another 60 plus prizes & Im not writing them all down , LOL sorry you understand!!
Thank you to EVERYONE who helped at the dinner including
Wanda & Lewis Rost (Christies Mom & Dad )
Michelle & Dave Fowler ( Josh`s mom & husband )
Keith Smith ( Josh`s Dad)
Jacob smith ( Josh`s brother)
Louie Rost jr ( Christies Brother )
Jennifer Rost ( Christies Sister)
Mildred Rost ( Grandma)
Lynn Loss ( aunt)
Bob (Lynn loss`s boyfriend)
Doug & Holly Loss (cousins )
Kenny & Nichole Lutz Brother & sister ( cousins )
Mary & Kim Detlef Mother & daughter ( cousins)
Matt & Pat Theis & Friend that came not sure name sorry ( Nicole Lutz`s foster parents )
Stacey (Nichole Lutz friend )
Linda Schulte & Taylor Mother & daughter (Michelle fowlers friend )
Cheryl Hochradel (Michelle Fowler`s Friend)
Jessica Fowler (Dave Fowlers niece)
Great turn out overall the Spaghetti was awesome & tasted great ,everything went perfect We could not have asked for a better night . We were going to Donate to the church & come to find out the Pastor made a announcement that since September they have been saving .10 cents per meal & gave us a $300.00 donation just awesome , well that's about it to everyone who didn`t win sorry , You all are winners in our hearts & you will all NEVER be forgotten .
We will be going through all the prizes & making the calls to all who were not present .I will leave messages to all the winners if your not home.
Another Very special to thank you to EVERYONE who donated gifts & sold tickets for us, my gosh we thank you with all of our hearts without all of you this would have never been possible .
We are looking at January for transplant , the Doctors want Meguire to finish his intensification stage before the Transplant so some time after Christmas , We may get to do our Disney trip through Make a wish before the transplant, were not sure yet so we will keep you posted .
Thank you again to everyone you all are a God send .
God Bless everyone one of you .
Josh , Christie , Dominick & Meguire
Friday, November 12, 2004 5:40 AM CST
Hello everyone we just wanted to say again Thank you for all your kind donations with out all of you none of this would be possible.
Well Saturday is the day of the dinner were looking forward to it . We are doing all the set up today & start cooking the 80 lbs of hamburger . Please if you live in the area come out we are having Salad , Spaghetti , dinner rolls Pepsi products , & Free deserts that people are bringing. For those of you that bought tickets the raffle will begin at 6:00 pm.
Ok now for Meguires Update , we have kind of bad news were not going to the transplant until around January they want him to finish this cycle that he is in first . We may be doing the Make a Wish trip now though just have to try & get a date set . He is doing great he's still the happy little guy he always is even with sores in his mouth . I will be adding new pictures of the Spaghetti dinner sunday so check back!!
Well that's about it , this is Dad updating the journal so I may have left a few thing out sorry , LOL Chat with you all soon thank you again.
The Smiths
Saturday, October 30, 2004 9:51 AM CDT
Hello everyone just wanted to update how Meguire is doing well we have had some issues this week due to Meguire's brother came home on Wednesday with the chickenpox yuck! so i had to have my mom take Dominick for the week and i had to take Meguire to the er for a shot so that hopefully he will not get the pox. So on friday we went to clinic but due to Meguire's mouth sores he could not has his chemo so we are going to try again on tuesday or wednesday next week so we will see. His poor mouth is bleeding and everything and he is in such pain that he doesn't want to eat but he is drinking so i guess that is all that matters.
Also things are getting so close to Meguire's benefit and it has been a little hectic we are trying to get everything taking care of, It has been so wonderfull all the things that have been donated for his benefit raffle i am so glad that people are so giving. Well i am going to go for now i will update next week on how things ar going with his chemo and his benefit.
We would also like to add that the Raffle tickets are printed off & ready to go.
$10.00 tickets
You could win your choice
1st a mini Gas pocket rocket motorcyle
2nd a Mini Gas Flaming Fatty style motorcycleas seen in the pic these are HAND BUILT very custom !!
3rd a 2 night stay at a bed & breakfast
4th a 2 night stay at a bed & Breakfast
5th$100.00 gift certificate to Ziebart thank you Keith Tucker
6th$100.00 gift certificate to Ziebart thank you Keith Tucker
7th$100.00 gift certificate to Ziebart thank you Keith Tucker
8th 2 rooms of carpet cleaning each additional room is $18.00 CHeap!!
Both motorcycles are valued at over $600.00 a piece. Bed & Breakfast is $150.00 value each its at a beautiful house out by Maumee bay state park .
$1.00 Raffle tickets
$1.00 for one or $5.00 for 6
Prizes include :
$25.00 to J Alexanders
$25.00 to the Whitehouse INN
2 tickets to the Movies
$100.00 coca cola Tin with a bunch of Coke merchandise
Blow up chair
Max & Ermas Gift Basket
$25.00 to red lobster
3 - $10.00 certificates to frickers
2-$10.00 certificates to Bob evans
Lotion Basket
Mini 1.3 Cubic feet dorm room freezer
2 $20.00 certificates to Value City
$20.00 to hirzel brothers florist
Sonic jewerley cleaner
2 $10.00 certificates to Ponderosa
5 - $10.00 sunoco Gas cards
3- Free oil changes to Moon & Sons
3 Tripple A road atlas`s
13 piece screwdriver set
Laroes Holiday Dinner & theater performance $62.00 value
free sitting & a 11x14 picture at Eternity of memories Photo studio
MANY MORE GIFTS STILL COMING IN PLEASE CHECK BACK!!
PLEASE CALL US TO GET YOUR TICKETS , if your out of state I can mail you raffle tickets & we can work out shipping of the Motorcycle if you win , shipping would be about $100.00 We accpet Cash Checks & Credit cards using www.paypal.com . Dont wait to long only a limited number of tickets are being sold so HURRY & BUY NOW!! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who has donated prizes to us without you this wouldnt be possible .
Home (419) 693-4982
Josh`s Cell (419) 466-9830
Christie`s cell (419)392-2006
The Smiths
For paypal Donations using your credit cards please click this link , you may also buy tickets through paypal also thank you!!! PayPAl is a free & secrue site its a great way to make online purchases , Paypal is owned & operated by Ebay Ive been a paypal member for about 5 years with no problems so SIGN UP ITS FREE & EASY!!!! PLease make donations using my PayPal user ID thesmiths24@buckeye-express.com >PayPal容Bay's service to make fast, easy, and secure payments for your eBay purchases! 
Tuesday, October 19, 2004 5:59 PM CDT
Hello everyone just wanted to update on Meguire he did not make his counts/ANC today he needed to be 500 he was only 345 so once again he is delayed again we will try again on friday so we will see. We were so pleased to hear the news that there are five people who are willing to donate there marrow to our little angel. So we are probably going for transplant mid November we are happy and also a little scared at the same time.
I also would like to so a very big thank you to Trackoholics and CK Diggs who are going to help us get through our rough times that we are going to endure through the next few months/years thank you so much. Also i would like to thank everyone who has been there for us and will be there for us through everything. I want to say how much we appreciate all the donations we have received for meguire's raffle and to everyone who is helping with his benefit we love you and please don't stop praying for our family.
We would also like to add that the Raffle tickets are printed off & ready to go.
$10.00 tickets
You could win your choice
1st a mini Gas pocket rocket motorcyle
2nd a Mini Gas Flaming Fatty style motorcycleas seen in the pic these are HAND BUILT very custom !!
3rd a 2 night stay at a bed & breakfast
4th a 2 night stay at a bed & Breakfast
5th$100.00 gift certificate to Ziebart thank you Keith Tucker
6th$100.00 gift certificate to Ziebart thank you Keith Tucker
7th$100.00 gift certificate to Ziebart thank you Keith Tucker
8th 2 rooms of carpet cleaning each additional room is $18.00 CHeap!!
Both motorcycles are valued at over $600.00 a piece. Bed & Breakfast is $150.00 value each its at a beautiful house out by Maumee bay state park .
$1.00 Raffle tickets
$1.00 for one or $5.00 for 6
Prizes include :
$25.00 to J Alexanders
$25.00 to the Whitehouse INN
2 tickets to the Movies
$100.00 coca cola Tin with a bunch of Coke merchandise
Blow up chair
Max & Ermas Gift Basket
$25.00 to red lobster
3 - $10.00 certificates to frickers
2-$10.00 certificates to Bob evans
Lotion Basket
Mini 1.3 Cubic feet dorm room freezer
2 $20.00 certificates to Value City
$20.00 to hirzel brothers florist
Sonic jewerley cleaner
2 $10.00 certificates to Ponderosa
5 - $10.00 sunoco Gas cards
3- Free oil changes to Moon & Sons
3 Tripple A road atlas`s
13 piece screwdriver set
Laroes Holiday Dinner & theater performance $62.00 value
free sitting & a 11x14 picture at Eternity of memories Photo studio
MANY MORE GIFTS STILL COMING IN PLEASE CHECK BACK!!
PLEASE CALL US TO GET YOUR TICKETS , if your out of state I can mail you raffle tickets & we can work out shipping of the Motorcycle if you win , shipping would be about $100.00 We accpet Cash Checks & Credit cards using www.paypal.com . Dont wait to long only a limited number of tickets are being sold so HURRY & BUY NOW!! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who has donated prizes to us without you this wouldnt be possible .
Home (419) 693-4982
Josh`s Cell (419) 466-9830
Christie`s cell (419)392-2006
The Smiths
For paypal Donations using your credit cards please click this link , you may also buy tickets through paypal also thank you!!! PayPAl is a free & secrue site its a great way to make online purchases , Paypal is owned & operated by Ebay Ive been a paypal member for about 5 years with no problems so SIGN UP ITS FREE & EASY!!!! PLease make donations using my PayPal user ID thesmiths24@buckeye-express.com >PayPal容Bay's service to make fast, easy, and secure payments for your eBay purchases!
Friday, October 15, 2004 2:45 PM CDT
FIRST BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEGUIRE TODAY HE IS THE BIG 4.
Hello everyone just wanted to update on meguire's condition the worst part is that he has to spend his b-day in the hospital he went in for counts today and found out that he needed blood. But he is doing fine he is sitting here in the playroom at the hospital as usual playing games and such. I just can't believe my baby is growing up so fast it seems like just yesterday he was born and now he is four and is getting so big and handle's everything so well.
I also talked to the people from Columbus Childrens a couple af days ago and they have found five people who are being tested to see if they are good matches for Meguire they already have 1 person who is a 5/6 match for him which they said that is fine for him. So it looks like we are going to be going to columbus after Meguire's benefit so we are going sooner than we thought. But that is ok with me the sooner the better we can get this little guy healthy again i know it will be a long road but whatever it takes. The worst thing they told me was that after all this meguire will be sterile and will never be able to have children that upset me alot. Well that is about it for now i will update more in a couple of days. A big thank you to everyone who is praying for us.
We would also like to add that the Raffle tickets are printed off & ready to go.
$10.00 tickets
You could win your choice
1st a mini Gas pocket rocket motorcyle
2nd a Mini Gas Flaming Fatty style motorcycleas seen in the pic these are HAND BUILT very custom !!
3rd a 2 night stay at a bed & breakfast
4th a 2 night stay at a bed & Breakfast
5th$100.00 gift certificate to Ziebart thank you Keith Tucker
6th$100.00 gift certificate to Ziebart thank you Keith Tucker
7th$100.00 gift certificate to Ziebart thank you Keith Tucker
8th 3 rooms of carpet cleaning
Both motorcycles are valued at over $600.00 a piece. Bed & Breakfast is $150.00 value each its at a beautiful house out by Maumee bay state park .
$1.00 Raffle tickets
$1.00 for one or $5.00 for 6
Prizes include :
$25.00 to J Alexanders
$25.00 to the Whitehouse INN
2 tickets to the Movies
$100.00 coca cola Tin with a bunch of Coke merchandise
Blow up chair
Max & Ermas Gift Basket
$25.00 to red lobster
3 - $10.00 certificates to frickers
2-$10.00 certificates to Bob evans
Lotion Basket
Mini 1.3 Cubic feet dorm room freezer
2 $20.00 certificates to Value City
$20.00 to hirzel brothers florist
Sonic jewerley cleaner
2 $10.00 certificates to Ponderosa
5 - $10.00 sunoco Gas cards
3- Free oil changes to Moon & Sons
3 Tripple A road atlas`s
13 piece screwdriver set
Laroes Holiday Dinner & theater performance $62.00 value
free sitting & a 11x14 picture at Eternity of memories Photo studio
MANY MORE GIFTS STILL COMING IN PLEASE CHECK BACK!!
PLEASE CALL US TO GET YOUR TICKETS , if your out of state I can mail you raffle tickets & we can work out shipping of the Motorcycle if you win , shipping would be about $100.00 We accpet Cash Checks & Credit cards using www.paypal.com . Dont wait to long only a limited number of tickets are being sold so HURRY & BUY NOW!! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who has donated prizes to us without you this wouldnt be possible .
Home (419) 693-4982
Josh`s Cell (419) 466-9830
Christie`s cell (419)392-2006
The Smiths
For paypal Donations using your credit cards please click this link , you may also buy tickets through paypal also thank you!!! PayPAl is a free & secrue site its a great way to make online purchases , Paypal is owned & operated by Ebay Ive been a paypal member for about 5 years with no problems so SIGN UP ITS FREE & EASY!!!! PLease make donations using my PayPal user ID thesmiths24@buckeye-express.com >PayPal容Bay's service to make fast, easy, and secure payments for your eBay purchases!
Tuesday, October 12, 2004 5:36 PM CDT
Hello Everyone just wanted to update today so far so good with the dinner were slowley getting everything together I have added a list of the prizes below. Meguire is doing ok hes kind of grouchy this week with his counts being so low , he wasent able to go in for his 3 days of high dose of methotrexate because again of his counts being low , so hes is in LOCK DONW IN THE HOUSE , well thats about it please check back we will be updating the prize list & pictures thank you to everyone who has helped get all these wonderful prizes !!!
We would also like to add that the Raffle tickets are printed off & ready to go.
$10.00 tickets
You could win your choice
1st a mini Gas pocket rocket motorcyle
2nd a Mini Gas Flaming Fatty style motorcycleas seen in the pic these are HAND BUILT very custom !!
3rd a 2 night stay at a bed & breakfast
4th a 2 night stay at a bed & Breakfast
5th$100.00 gift certificate to Ziebart thank you Keith Tucker
6th$100.00 gift certificate to Ziebart thank you Keith Tucker
7th$100.00 gift certificate to Ziebart thank you Keith Tucker
8th 3 rooms of carpet cleaning
Both motorcycles are valued at over $600.00 a piece. Bed & Breakfast is $150.00 value each its at a beautiful house out by Maumee bay state park .
$1.00 Raffle tickets
$1.00 for one or $5.00 for 6
Prizes include :
$25.00 to J Alexanders
$25.00 to the Whitehouse INN
2 tickets to the Movies
$100.00 coca cola Tin with a bunch of Coke merchandise
Blow up chair
Max & Ermas Gift Basket
$25.00 to red lobster
3 - $10.00 certificates to frickers
2-$10.00 certificates to Bob evans
Lotion Basket
Mini 1.3 Cubic feet dorm room freezer
2 $20.00 certificates to Value City
$20.00 to hirzel brothers florist
Sonic jewerley cleaner
2 $10.00 certificates to Ponderosa
5 - $10.00 sunoco Gas cards
3- Free oil changes to Moon & Sons
3 Tripple A road atlas`s
13 piece screwdriver set
Laroes Holiday Dinner & theater performance $62.00 value
free sitting & a 11x14 picture at Eternity of memories Photo studio
MANY MORE GIFTS STILL COMING IN PLEASE CHECK BACK!!
PLEASE CALL US TO GET YOUR TICKETS , if your out of state I can mail you raffle tickets & we can work out shipping of the Motorcycle if you win , shipping would be about $100.00 We accpet Cash Checks & Credit cards using www.paypal.com . Dont wait to long only a limited number of tickets are being sold so HURRY & BUY NOW!! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who has donated prizes to us without you this wouldnt be possible .
Home (419) 693-4982
Josh`s Cell (419) 466-9830
Christie`s cell (419)392-2006
The Smiths
For paypal Donations using your credit cards please click this link , you may also buy tickets through paypal also thank you!!! PayPAl is a free & secrue site its a great way to make online purchases , Paypal is owned & operated by Ebay Ive been a paypal member for about 5 years with no problems so SIGN UP ITS FREE & EASY!!!! PLease make donations using my PayPal user ID thesmiths24@buckeye-express.com >PayPal容Bay's service to make fast, easy, and secure payments for your eBay purchases!
Wednesday, October 6, 2004 8:32 PM CDT
Hello Everyone just wanted to update today so far so good with the dinner were slowley getting everything together I have added a list of the prizes below. Meguire is doing ok hes kind of grouchy this week with his counts being so low , he wasent able to go in for his 3 days of high dose of methotrexate because again of his counts being low , so hes is in LOCK DONW IN THE HOUSE , well thats about it please check back we will be updating the prize list & pictures thank you to everyone who has helped get all these wonderful prizes !!!
We would also like to add that the Raffle tickets are printed off & ready to go.
$10.00 tickets
You could win your choice
1st a mini Gas pocket rocket motorcyle
2nd a Mini Gas Flamming Fatty style motorcycleas seen in the pic these are HAND BUILT very custom !!
3rd a 2 night stay at a bed & breakfast
4th a 2 night stay at a bed & Breakfast
5th $100.00 gift certificate to Zebart thank you Keith Tucker
6th$100.00 gift certificate to Zebart thank you Keith Tucker
7th$100.00 gift certificate to Zebart thank you Keith Tucker
8th 3 rooms of carpet cleaning
Both motorcycles are valued at over $600.00 a peice. Bed & Breakfast is $150.00 value each its at a beautiful house out by Maumee bay state park .
$1.00 Raffle tickets
$1.00 for one or $5.00 for 6
Prizes include :
$25.00 to Jalexanders
$25.00 to the Whitehouse INN
2 tickets to the Movies
$100.00 coca cola Tin with a bunch of Coke merchandise
Blow up chair
Max & Ermas Gift Basket
$25.00 to red lobster
3 - $10.00 certificates to frickers
2-$10.00 certificates to Bob evans
Lotion Basket
Mini 1.3 Cubic feet dorm room freezer
2 $20.00 certificates to Value City
$20.00 to hirzel brothers florist
Sonic jewerley cleaner
2 $10.00 certificates to Ponderosa
5 - $10.00 sunoco Gas cards
3- Free oil changes to Moon & Sons
3 Tripple A road atlas`s
13 peice screwdriver set
Laroes Holiday Dinner & theater performance $62.00 value
free sitting & a 11x14 picture at Eternity of memories Photo studio
MANY MORE GIFTS STILL COMMING IN PLEASE CHECK BACK!!
PLEASE CALL US TO GET YOUR TICKETS , if your out of state I can mail you raffle tickets & we can work out shipping of the Motorcycle if you win , shipping would be about $100.00 We accpet Cash Checks & Credit cards using www.paypal.com . Dont wait to long only a limited number of tickets are being sold so HURRY & BUY NOW!! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who has donated prizes to us without you this wouldnt be possible .
Home (419) 693-4982
Josh`s Cell (419) 466-9830
Christie`s cell (419)392-2006
The Smiths
For paypal Donations using your credit cards please click this link , you may also buy tickets through paypal also thank you!!! PayPAl is a free & secrue site its a great way to make online purchases , Paypal is owned & operated by Ebay Ive been a paypal member for about 5 years with no problems so SIGN UP ITS FREE & EASY!!!! PLease make donations using my PayPal user ID thesmiths24@buckeye-express.com PayPal容Bay's service to make fast, easy, and secure payments for your eBay purchases!
Wednesday, September 29, 2004 11:30 AM CDT
Hello everyone just wanted to update on Meguire for today we are back at ST V's we were supposed to be coming here for a few hours for some chemo but, when we had his counts checked they said Meguire needed some blood also his hemoglobin was very low. So now i guess this means this will be an all day stay but, of course he is doing great still he doesn't mind the stay as long as he can play one of the game systems here in the playroom.
Meguire always has a great attitude about everything he even calls his nurse ellie his girlfriend she is so great with him. Even though they have to do all this terrible stuff to them they don't seem to care because these kids are treated so well it is like they treat them as is they are there own children. I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has been there through this whole ordeal and to our family and friends who help and pray for us daily. Meguire sends his hugs and kisses to everyone.
We would also like to add that the Raffle tickets are printed off & ready to go.
$10.00 tickets
You could win your choice
1st a mini Gas pocket rocket motorcyle
2nd a Mini Gas Chopper style motorcycle
3rd a 2 night stay at a bed & breakfast
4th a 2 night stay at a bed & Breakfast
Both motorcycles are valued at over $600.00 a peice. Bed & Breakfast is $150.00 value each its at a beautiful house out by Maumee bay state park .
$1.00 Raffle tickets
$1.00 for one or $5.00 for 6
Prizes include just a bunch of resturant & local store gift cards along with a beautiful coca cola basket with a bunch of different merchandise in it .over 20 prizes I belive for the $1.00 raffle.
PLEASE CALL US TO GET YOUR TICKETS , if your out of state I can mail you raffle tickets & we can work out shipping of the Motorcycle if you win , shipping would be about $100.00. We accpet Cash Checks & Credit cards using www.paypal.com . Dont wait to long only a limited number of tickets are being sold so HURRY & BUY NOW!! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who has donated prizes to us without you this wouldnt be possible .
Home (419) 693-4982
Josh`s Cell (419) 466-9830
Christie`s cell (419)392-2006
The Smiths
For paypal Donations using your credit cards please click this link , you may also buy tickets through paypal also thank you!!! PayPAl is a free & secrue site its a great way to make online purchases , Paypal is owned & operated by Ebay Ive been a paypal member for about 5 years with no problems so SIGN UP ITS FREE & EASY!!!! PLease make donations using my PayPal user ID thesmiths24@buckeye-express.com PayPal容Bay's service to make fast, easy, and secure payments for your eBay purchases!
Sunday, September 26, 2004 9:26 PM CDT
Hello just wanted to update everyone on Meguire we are home. We left St.V's thursday night about 9:30p.m. we had to wait for his Methotrexate level to come back and it had to be below .3 and when it came back he was a .12 so he was great to come home. Things have been so crazy with trying to plan his benefit it seems like it is coming up so fast. We ordered the pocket rocket this weekend for the drawing and we are hoping that someone will donate the electric scooter but we will have to see.
Meguire is experiencing mouth sores from the Methotrexate which sucks for him since it is so hard for him to eat with those darn sores he wants to eat but,when he takes a couple of bites he says they hurt so i will be calling the clinic in the morning. Other than that he is still as playful as can be you would probably never know anything was wrong except his bald baby head but, i think it is so cute but who knows i'm just his mom of course he's cute to me.
Meguire is supposed to have more chemo on tuesday but i think it depends on counts i will find out more tomorrow. I will keep everyone posted i will try to get new photo's put on we took some new one's at the hospital.Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers and god bless you all.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004 10:12 AM CDT
As you can see we have added Meguire's benefit flier to his site,As you see we are having a spaghetti dinner for Meguire's transplant as we are going to be going to columbus possibly in December or as soon as they find a donor for Meguire. Also we are back at St V's for another round of chemo yuck high dose Methotrexate. But, we are supposed to be able to go home on Thursday he is doing very well we are playing in the playroom and everything. I will update more next week.
If anyone would like to make any donations Meguire also has his own account at Great Lakes Credit Union and it is in his name Meguire Smith. Thank you to everyone for your thought and prayers we will try to add more picture's this week.
Monday, September 13, 2004 1:29 PM CDT
Hello everyone Well here is out First update , we had a wonderful Week , Meguire has been doing great all week he has been his HAPPY normal self , as you can see we have updated his pictures these were all taken within the last week . We went for blood counts today & he has the sniffles come to find out another ear infection darn it , but no big deal just gave him some more medicine should be cleared up soon.
We also have some very big news here we have decided that we will be doing a fund raiser for Meguire before he goes to Columbus for his bone marrow transplant we are planning on the bone marrow transplant around December , Josh & Dominick will be staying home & driving up & staying on the weekends we cant afford Josh to be off work for 3 months so the money will be used for transportation costs , Hotel for Josh & Dominick , Josh said he would sleep in his Pick up truck in the parking garage if needed what a DAD,LOL It will also be used for Food , supplies for Christie Playstation Games to keep Meguire Happy & any other costs that may come up.
So the fund raiser will be a all you can eat Spaghetti dinner probably $5.00 a plate here in Toledo Ohio at Martin Luther Lutheran church on Navada street in East Toledo, We will also be Raffling off a Pocket Rocket which is a mini Motorcycle LOTS OF FUN just like the one that Meguire is sitting on in the pictures were trying to get one donated form a local store also trying to get a Scooter one of the small ones battery operated , those tickets will be $10.00 a piece we are setting up a bank account for all donations if you would like a ticket out of state we can mail you your ticket , I can also accept Paypal at www.paypal.com all major credit cards accepted here , & we will also be raffling off 2 , 2 night bed & breakfast stays here in Toledo Ohio out by Maumee bay state park very very nice place those tickets will be $1.00 a piece its a $300.00 value. We will keep everyone updated when the Raffle will start , the raffle will run for 1 month only & the winner will be drawn by Meguire at the spaghetti dinner .
Thank you for all you comments & love we appreciate it by for now!!!
Sunday, September 5, 2004 7:16 PM CDT
Meguire was diagnosed on June 4,2003 with Acute lymphoblastic Leukemia or known as "ALL". As you all know this was a huge shock to the whole family & all of our friends , I have to tell you the support has been tremendous & we really appreciate it.
Meguire went through treatment and he had so much to go through as he was in and out of the hospital days at a time. When he was first diagnosed he had a Hickman port put in which is normal and he had so many problems with that port, He had several blood infections which ended us in the hospital days at a time, He had that port in for 6 months then one day when I was doing his cleaning of his line which was a pain in the butt, For those of you that have had to clean these you know what we mean, we had to clean it every other day, then one day while normal cleaning the port fell out so we then decided to have that one totally removed & the port put in that is put under the skin, which is called the(medi-port), and that has been a blessing since he has had this medi-port put in back in November,2003 he has not had any blood infections since the new port has been in .So then things started getting a little bit better he finally made it to maintenance and we thought we were home free , We had Make a Wish foundation come out & took Maguire's wish , which was going to be a Disney Cruise , we had everything set up to go on the cruise July 31 2004 our bags were packed we went out & bought all new vacation cloths for the entire family, We were so Excited we as a family have never been on a vacation so this was going to be great.
Then on June 14,2004 we had our first spinal tap in the maintenance faze when 2 hours later after the normal spinal tap , Meguire's doctor called and talked to Josh and had told us the worst news that we could have taken Meguire had relapsed in his Spinal fluid and we were going to have to start new treatment and Radiation and possible bone marrow transplant. The relapse means that the Leukemia cells have went into Meguires spinal fluid this was the first time Meguire has had the leukemia cells in his spinal fluid & a Early Relapse is not good . So now as you can Imagine this very upsetting for us knowing what Meguire was going to have to go through again but worse. We meet with the doctors & they explained that treatments were going to be much more intense & they wont stop the drugs he needs even if he does get sick , So we then started having weekly spinal taps and very heavy chemo as we still are , We then had to go through a faze of twice a month getting a chemo called ARC for 3 days straight in the hospital so we had the first set of ARC given & he got really high fever's & was real sleepy.Then 2 weeks later had to go in again when this time his fever on day 2 shot up to 104 and they tried Tylenol no luck , When I was helping the nurse to get his blood pressure he then started having seizure's and of course we were very scared at this point because seizures run in Christies family at young ages .So with his fevers sky high & no medications bringing it down the Immediately stopped the ARC chemo & put him on a Cooling blanket this is a Rubber mat they lay under you that's hooked to a portable air conditioner which runs VERY VERY cold water through it , needless to say his poor little teeth were just chattering away , His fever finally broke about 10:30 pm & he did have one more seizure in this time frame.Now the next day after the fever broke Meguire was back to his ornery self he was up playing , teasing the nurses , watching movies , talking on the phone & beating up he brother , So the next day Because of the seizures we had to meet with a child neurologist and he put Meguire on Keppra which is a Epilepsy medicine. They did a MRI scan of his brain & A EEG , thank GOD everything came back normal now he is still on the Keppra just as a precaution , hes also on a shot called neupogen , We have to give him this daily in his leg or arm we let him decide to keep his blood counts up due to the ARC which is a very strong drug with allot of different side affects .Well this brings us to our current status & just 2 weeks after all this ARC problems he's back up & running around. I`m telling you what this whole time Meguire has been on Nemours drugs & in & out of the hospital , through the steroids HE HAS NEVER BEEN DOWN he is the happiest kid EVER if you get the chance to meet our Meguire he will put a smile on your face from ear to ear , he is the most caring thoughtful , ORNERY , funny , playful kid ever he is ALWAYS HAPPY & LAUGHING , its amazing what these children can take if it were any of us adults I just couldn't imagine.
The biggest thanks has to go out to the Hematology/Oncology clinic and Dr's C & J for all that they have done for us and Meguire especially, we will be forever greatful,They are always there when we need them no matter day or night.We would also like to say a very special thank you to St Vincent Mercy Medical Center here in Toledo Ohio , our medical insurance has change 3 times due to Josh`s union contract with work , the latest insurance is now 90/10 & St Vincent Hospital is a out of network , we called our insurance trying to get waivers & they turned us down so you`ll never guess what St V`s did they stepped up knowing this was a prior condition & we cant change doctors in the middle of treatments they accepted whatever our insurance pays them & will write off the rest HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THAT , we also had an outstanding balance with them & they also wrote that off , YOU HAVE NO IDEA how much this took off our shoulders , So to ST V`s thank you from the bottom of our hearts your a GODSEND TO OUR FAMILY, We would also like to say Thank you to all of our friends and family who have been here through everything to help us with.
We are now awaiting the bone marrow transplant we are a go & we will be doing this around December, This is going to be VERY hard on us because Meguire & Christie we be staying in Columbus 2 1/2 hours away for 3 months. Josh will come down every weekend & stay Friday night through Sunday afternoon then back home to be to work on Monday , We cant afford for Josh to take off work which upsets him not to be with Meguire every day but he understands.
Please sign our gust book so we can visit your page thank you very much for stopping by , Meguire says Hi!!
We will also be updating pictures weekly or as often as we can.
Click here to go back to the main page.
----End of History----
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