History

Journal History

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 9:29 AM CDT

Update- June 23 - 5:00 pm

Garrett continues to do well and feel great. He got to spend a little time out of the house today and loved it.

Cassie's appointment went well yesterday also. The doctor said that her motion analysis showed excellent improvement in her movement sincer her surgery last year. She no longer has to wear the knee immobilizers at night anymore. When they told her this, she started giggling and laughing and almost started crying because she was so happy. We also went to the orthotics department and they cut away a lot of the braces so she has more flexibility when she's wearing them. The doctor said that within a couple of months and with continued physical therapy, Cassie would be able to be without her braces completely. She's worn braces since she was 18 months old, so this will be a completely different feel for her, but I don't think she will mind it. She is a little nervous, but is excited about getting to go shoe shopping.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Good morning! Garrett continues to do fabulous. He is now only taking Tylenol for pain and that's not even on a regular basis. Kids are amazing..I'm sure most adults would still be in the bed moaning and groaning. We have a check-up with his cardiologist in a few weeks, so until then our challenge will be to keep him entertained with "calm, quiet, indoor" activities. Ha, funny, right? He's itching to get outside and to play with his dogs. Maybe next week we can venture out to the movies or if the weather is cooler we can go to a Blowfish ballgame or watch his all-star team play a game.

Today it has been 1 year since Cassie's surgery on her legs. Tommy and I are taking Cassie to Greenville to Shriner's Hospital for her check-up, to get the results of her Motion Study, to see what changes will be made to the braces on her legs, and to schedule her surgery to get the plate removed from her femur. She has made so much progress in this past year. It's amazing to see the difference in the way she walks and carries herself.

I'll update later to let you know any updates. Thanks for checking on us. We continue to be blessed!

Love,

Melissa

Monday, June 20, 2011 2:44 PM CDT

Hey everyone!

Garrett is doing wonderful. We got home Saturday night and Garrett has been feeling a little better each day. When we got home on Saturday, Garrett went straight to his bed and stayed there they rest of the night. One thing that he did learn about hospitals from this trip is that he does not like the beds. He said that every time he moved the bed would roar at him. I think that bothered him more than anything else...even me asking him tons of questions.

On Sunday morning around 5, Garrett decided that he was ready to roam the house. We went on a tour around the house and then went back to bed. When I came home from church, Garrett was sitting up in the recliner watching baseball. He said he had already been out on the porch for a little while and walked upstairs and back down. He's still really sore on both sides of his incision and where the chest tube came out. He spent most of the day between the recliner and the bed. He ate a little more yesterday, but still was interested in anything other than chicken mcnuggets. Garrett has not been in any pain, but also has some really good pain meds.

Garrett's surgeon said that he would allow us to have Garrett's follow-up with our pediatrician rather than driving the 4 hours back to Durham to see him. That was another blessing. Our pediatrician is wonderful. I sent her a text when we were on our way home Saturday and she took care of the rest. We saw her this afternoon and she said everything looked great.

Now, we will just concentrate on getting Garrett's strength and energy back. We'll be doing a lot of inside activities for at least this week especially since it's going to be so hot. It's a good thing that we all enjoy watching baseball. We've been moving between watching the College World Series and movies. I'm sure later in the week Garrett may be ready for some visitors and begin wanting to be outside more.

Thank you for all of your prayers, calls, messages, and concern. Garrett has really done extremely well throughout this whole procedure and we know that it's only because of God. Garrett went into it with a great attitude and it has continued througout. We have received so many blessings this past week and I'm sure there will be more blessings to count.

Thank you again for remembering us during this time. We appreciate all of the love you have shown us.

***************Also, I am going to put some new pictures on the photo page.

Love,

Melissa

Saturday, June 18, 2011 8:46 AM CDT

UPDATE- 12:00- WE ARE GOING HOME!

I'll let u know when Garrett is ready for visitors. He's asked that right now he just get a few days to rest and get some strength back.

Love,

Melissa

--------------------------------------------------------

Garrett had a great night and excellent morning. At 6:00 this morning he and his daddy walked 3 laps around the unit. He had some labs drawn and will have another chest x-ray done later. His pain management has been great. He's feeling a little sore and tight in his chest area- all of this is expected. He's now walked another lap and he walked down to the aquarium to watch the fish for a minute. He gets tired pretty easy, but that's expected too. The best news of all is that if his chest x-ray is clear he may be going home later. That is what he is worried about most. When the doctor asked him if he had any questions, he said, "When can I go home?" We are waiting to get the results and hopefully I will writing his next update while we are in the car on the way home.

Thank you for your continued prayers for Garrett and for us. I know God has so many plans for this little man of mine. Right now, Garrett may not understand the impact he's made on his momma and daddy and the lessons that he's taught us, but I sure hope that one day we can show him. He's truly an amazing kid and my hero.

Please say a prayer for all of the other kids and families up here. Even though we've had a lot going on, there are many, many others up here that have been through and are facing worse. Hug and kiss your children, tell them you love them, and make the best of everyday. Be thankful for what you have! Whether you know it or not, you've been blessed.

Have a great day!

Love,

Melissa

Friday, June 17, 2011 4:42 AM CDT

Update - June 17 - 4:04 pm

Garrett is in his own private room now. He's in room 5331. He's made lots of progress, but get's very aggitated when we ask him lots of questions. Which is in his mind 2 or 3. They are managing his pain very well, but he is getting used to the new feelings around his chest area. Thank you again for the prayers...he's doing so well but still has a lot of healing to do. Maybe in a few days he'll be ready to talk on the phone, but right now, he's happy with me reading his messages to him on here. Thank you for those...we've gotten a few beautiful Garrett smiles out of him when we read them.

Love,

Melissa
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Update- June 17 - 12:58 pm

Garrett is now sitting up in the chair beside his bed. The chest x-ray is clear and he should be going to a regular room soon. The nurse said he is able to start eating as soon as he wants. I forsee someone excitedly making a run to get a cheeseburger for him later.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Update- June 17 - 10:10 am

4 tubes are gone, only 2 tubes (IVs) left- YIPPEE! Garrett's doing great! More updates later

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Garrett had a great night! He rested very peacefully and even gave us a few smiles. He told us, me to be precise, that I was asking him too many questions. Of course, I stopped very quickly! He felt good enough after awhile that he wanted sports center on the TV. Garrett only had a little pain twice and loves the fact that his nurse made it disappear super fast! (Mommas and Daddies really like that too) His nurses that he had yesterday after surgery and last night were fabulous.

Garrett is drinking ginger ale this morning and hopefully move to soft foods later tonight. The plan is that after the doctors make rounds they will give him some REALLY good medicine and take out the chest tube and the IV that's in his neck. They also said that if he's feeling up to it he can show off for his doctor and be sitting up in a chair when his doctor comes in this morning.

Have a great day today! Hug and kiss your children and tell them you love them. Thank you all for your continued love, prayers, concern, and support. Our (almost) 11 year old has had a great couple of days. I'm so thankful for your prayers, Garrett's faith, God's grace and blessings. We have so much to be thankful for!

Love,

Melissa and Tommy

Wednesday, June 15, 2011 8:44 PM CDT

Update June 16 - 8:05 PM

Garrett is doing fabulous. He's awake for a few minutes at a time and asking for something to drink. He's still in the PCICU (pediatric cardiac intensive care unit) but will hopefully be able to go to a regular room tomorrow. The nurses have been wonderful and have been monitoring him non-stop. They've even picked up on him shaking his foot means he's hurting. (They are smart like that!) He was able to say hey to his surgeon a little while ago and Dr. Jaquiss told him that he looked wonderful and did a great job during surgery. They did not have to give him any blood during surgery so we are pleased with that also. Now, we are trying to manage his pain and get him working on feeling better. He's been such a trooper. Thank you for all of the prayers. I could see the relief in his eyes when he woke up and realized that the surgery was over. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. The hard part is over now we have the recovery. (I guess this will be be long part.) It's all worth it to see him doing well. Thank you God for all of your blessings!

Love,

Melissa

New Update June 16 -11:45AM

We were just told that the surgery is finishing up. We are in the PCICU waiting to see him. Thank you for all of the prayers. Keep them coming. We are so blessed with two little miracles. God is so good to us!

NEW UPDATE JUNE 16- 9:00AM

We arrived at the hospital this morning to check in at 6. The anesthesiologist (don't know if I spelled that right) took Garrett back to the OR around 7:15. We got an update around 8:45 from the operating room that surgery started at 8:30. Keep praying for God's will. Will let you know something when we do.

Love,

Melissa

Hey everybody!

Thank you for putting messages on the guestbook. I hope I do good tomorrow. Momma and daddy will give you more information about how I'm doing. Momma said she's going to put a video on her facebook of me after they give me the "loopy" medicine in the morning. I got to meet my surgeon today. His name is Dr. Jaquiss...he's really cool. I took a picture with him today. This afternoon we went shopping. I got me some button up shirts and some Addidas slides to wear in the hospital. We also went to eat seafood. I ate shrimp, scallops, and crab legs. I can eat until 11:59 tonight and that is exactly what I plan on doing. We have to be at the hospital in the morning at 6:00. My surgery will start around 7:30 and I will finished by around lunch time. Momma will read me your messages when I wake up.

Thank you for your prayers. Keep praying and I'll see you soon!

Love,

Garrett

Wednesday, June 15, 2011 11:06 AM CDT

We check-in for Garrett's surgery tomorrow at 6 am. Surgery will probably be around 7:30 and we will see him again around 1ish. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Monday, June 13, 2011 8:36 PM CDT

Please keep Garrett in your prayers this week. He will be having open heart surgery on Thursday at Duke. He has what's called anomolous right coronary artery. This pretty much means that his right coronary artery is not connected where it should be. We've known about it since he was about 4 and have just been getting check-ups every few years. This year his cardiologist said if we are going to fix it, now would be the best time. So, Thursday will be the day. He has pre-op on Wednesday and we will find out the time of surgery then. I will post an update Wednesday night when we find out the time of surgery.

Garrett has a great attitude about the surgery. He wants to get behind him and is looking forward to getting back to playing baseball as soon as he can.

Please keep him in your prayers this week.

Love,

Melissa

Friday, February 1, 2008 9:58 PM CST

Hello everyone. It has been too long. A lot has changed since the last time I updated. I've added new pictures on the web page.

Garrett is doing great. He is now in 2nd grade at his daddy's school and doing wonderful. He's still the sweet, easy going little boy that he used to be. He is so tender hearted also and he worries about everyone. He will definately have ulcers when he's older from all of the worrying he does. He has kept us quite busy lately. To make a long story as short as possible....he was hit in the nose with a football at one of the Clemson games this season. Needless to say, his nose poured blood for about 3 hours. A couple of days later, he was bumped in the nose again at school and the nosebleed started again. We ended up in the ER that night. Garrett passed out in the waiting room so we didn't have to wait a long....that was one good thing. Anyway, after many blood draws in the following weeks, trips to doctors, CT scans, and breathing problems, we ended up having a biopsy done on this mass that had formed in Garrett's nostril. The ENT ended up being able to remove the whole mass and it was benign. One more answered prayer. The ENT said the mass was called a capillary hemangioma (I think that's how it's spelled). The ENT was wonderful. Once he found out about Garrett's history, he got in touch with his attending at Duke. They made sure that Garrett was well taken care of. We were quite concerned for a few weeks, but Garrett is back to his "normal" self, sweeter than ever.

Cassie is now 3 years old.....4 on February 6. She is in a 3 year old developmental delayed class at the school where I teach. She loves it. She is there half a day and goes to daycare the other part of her day. She does have some of Garrett's sweetness, but her's is short lived. She is very spunky! She loves drama. She sings, dances, and is very much drama queen. She is very vocal! She is making lots of progress with her physical disabilities. She still wears AFO's (braces) on both of her legs. She is walking pretty well with them, but still has trouble manuvering from time to time. When she slows down, she does really well, but most of the time she's moving in fast forward. Her belief is that she can do anything that anyone else is doing. That's probably why she is doing so well. She gets PT and OT at school. We go to The Shriner's Hospital in Greenville every 6 months for them to monitor her progress. She's been diagnosed with very mild cerebral palsy, so she will always have some tightness in her muscles, but she's made great progress. There are no surgeries planned in the near future. The doctor's at Shriner's say that they want to wait until she is at least 6 or 7 to she what she is going to be able to overcome on her own. It seems as though lots of stretching and her therapy is working great for now. She is our little fire ball that's for sure. We really don't worry about her being taken advantage of.

Tommy and I are doing great also. This summer we moved our family to Columbia, SC. Tommy is now Assistant Principal in a school and I am teaching 5th grade at another school. We both are enjoying being in Columbia. Garrett and Cassie like it too because we are so close to many different things. We have a membership to the zoo, so we go there quite often. We have learned lots about the different animals there. We even know some of their names. We think about so many of our friends that we've met along our trips back and forth to hospitals and during hospital stays. We talk to Garrett and Cassie about all the kids, families, and friends that we've experienced. Neither one of them remember much of the bad parts of their hospital stays..which is good. We still want them to know how blessed they are and how blessed we are to have them here with us. We feel like the luckies parents in the world. We talk to them about how good our families have been to us and how much support we've gotten from our families. We only hope that they will always remember.

Please sign the guestbook to let us know that you've been. We've been really slack in updating, but we wanted to let you know that we are doing wonderful. God has been so good to us!

Love you all!
Melissa

Sunday, December 4, 2005 10:47 PM CST

Hello everyone! It has been a very long time since we've updated. Garrett and Cassie are doing so wonderful. We stay busy, but it is a blessing.

Garrett is in 5K learning so much. He is reading and quizzing us in addition. It won't be long before he really shows us that he IS smarter than we are. Because of his wonderful teachers and his ability to read and sound out words, Tommy and I have had to result in spelling backwards the things we don't want him to know that we are talking about. You know it's that fear that I have that he will repeat exactly what I've said in front of just the right person. I'm sure it won't be long before we have to think of another way to talk in "code". Garrett played soccer this fall....and did really well. He scored a goal his very first game. He had a lot of support. He invited everyone we know to his games...and sure enough...he had a crowd show for all of them. He would have to greet all of his fans after the games. We would just laugh at him because he would be on the field waving to everyone in the bleachers. He's a very good big brother also. He takes really good care of his sister.

Cassie is going great also. She is almost 22 months old. SHe still isn't walking yet, but trying really hard. She has physical therapy and occupational therapy two times a week. She has little braces on her legs that are helping her out a lot. Her bravery has a lot to do with her progress also. When she falls, she gets right back up....she's learned the art of falling I guess you could say. She's getting the RSV shots again this summer, but they kept her out of the hospital last year, and we are praying for the same result this winter. She is a little chatter box. She will and can say anything. Garrett is her buddy and she loves playing with him. I am so blessed that they do so great together.

I am adding new pictures to the web site...please check them out.

Tommy and I are doing great also. We are both teaching in the same school, which is nice. It's a big school, so we really only see each other at lunch time, and when I take my students to use the restroom. It's been really nice working together.

It's time for me to go to bed. Have a wonderful Christmas. We love you all!

Friday, June 17, 2005 7:26 PM CDT

Hello!

Such a busy couple of weeks. We went to the ENT at Duke on the 8th of June. We have to take Garrett back on the 13th so that the doctor can check to see if he still has fluid in his ears, and for pre=op. The ENT also said that Garrett has "MIGHTY" tonsils, so they will be coming out along with his adnoids. We will be there on the 13th of July for pre-op, a check with the ENT, and for a hearing test. His last one (one the 8th) showed that he had fluid in one ear, and the other ear drum wasnt moving like they want it to. Because of the chemo and the strong antibiotics, they said he lost the ability to hear the really high pitch sounds....but we knew that from the last hearing test that he had after transplant. Anyway, the ENT didn't seem too worried. After the appointments on July 13th, Garrett will be having surgery on the 14th. He said that Garrett should only be in the hospital one night (if everything goes fine).

In the meantime, Garrett and Cassie have been keeping us busy. They have both been to the doctor in the past week. She first had pink eye, then fluid in her ear and a fever. Now, Garrett has strep throat and has been running a fever since Tuesday night. Since he still has a fever today, we called the doctor. With his history, they wanted to do labs and cultures. The labs are fine, and we haven't heard anything from the cultures. We've learned that no news from cultures is good news.

Tommy and I are both fine. We just wanted to give and update. I will try to add new pictures in the next day or so.

Love you all,

Melissa, Tommy, Garrett and Baby Cassie

Monday, May 23, 2005 9:35 AM CDT

Hello everyone~

We are all doing great! Garrett finished his first year of school. He will be in K-5 next year...he makes sure to add that to most conversations that he has with people about school. He did wonderful this school year. He has learned to sound out words and read as well as do some basic adding and subtracting. Tommy and I have had to resort to spelling backwards when we don't want him to know what we're talking about....since he can sound out words, he'll tell us what we're spelling.

We will be taking Garrett to Duke on the 8th to see the ENT about his tonsils. They are huge...we'll see what he says.

Baby Cassie is doing fine also. She is such a spunky little thing. She is pulling up on the furniture and as Tommy calls it, "surfing" around the living room. She is like a human vaccuum. She will find the tiniest speck of anything on the floor and put it straight into her mouth. You wouldn't believe what we've had to fish out of her mouth.

Please keep Nancy Washko in your prayers along with her family. Sam, her daughter, and Garrett were in the transplant unit together. Sam is doing great, but Nancy has been diagnosed with cancer. She starts her chemo soon and also has to go through radiation. She had surgery this past week to put her feeding tube in. Please remember the Washko family in your prayers along with all the other families dealing with cancer right now. It's a hard battle, but knowing that you have people praying for you makes it so much easier.

Love you all!

Melissa, Tommy, Garrett and Cassie

Sunday, January 2, 2005 7:58 PM CST

Hello everyone! We hope you all have had wonderful holidays! We definately have. We were able to spend time with family and friends, near and far. If only we had more time!

Everone in our house is doing great. Garrett had scans last week...they were all fine. He did the CT scan without any sedation. YEAH! He still has to have general anesthesia for the MIBG scan...that scan usually lasts about 1 hour and 45 minutes and he has to lay perfectly still for it. I don't think I could even lay still for that long. He is such a wonderful boy. He has grown up a lot in the past 3 weeks. He goes back to school tomorrow...I think he's excited. He does so well in school. When he brings his papers home, he wants to know, "Did I do a great, great job on these?" As long as he keeps that attitude, we won't have anything to worry about.

Cassie is doing wonderful also. She weighs about 17 pounds. She is such a pretty little girl. She is doing the commando crawl, and going pretty much wherever she wants to. She doesn't really care for baby food much. She likes vanilla custard and mashed potatoes. Or little pinches of bread off of our cheeseburgers. What can I say, she has good taste in food. She likes to pick on Garrett, especially when he's not paying her any attention. When he's talking to her, she is just beaming with joy. She grins so big that you can see all 4 of her teeth. Oh, she likes to chew on pretty much anything. Especailly your fingers.

Tommy and I are doing fine also. We are on the downside of the school year. :) We will be working really hard getting our kids ready for state testing in May.

Please sign Garrett's guestbook so that we will know that you've been here. Thank you all again for your continued support and prayers. Garrett and Cassie are two miracles from God. Prayer does work, and we have two healthy children to prove it.

Please keep Mary (a little girl in my class) in your prayers. She is battling Lupus (I think it's spelled right.) She is the sweetest girl you will meet and she never complains about anything.

We love you all!

Melissa, Tommy, Garrett, and Little Cassie

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 7:46 AM CDT

I know....it's been too long!

Everything is going really well here. We have been keeping busy. Garrett is really enjoying school. He has learned SO much. He brought us to tears when he came home one day saying "The Lord's Prayer". He knows all of the short sounds of the vowels and the sounds of the consonants. He's beginning to work on blends.... like "ne" in net and this morning he sounded out the word "mop". We are so proud of him. His handwriting is getting better each day. He likes writing his name. He writes it on everything. We're so happy that he is enjoying school. It makes things a lot easier. Garrett loves his little sister...he calls her "Baby Girl". He plays with her so carefully. He is such an amazing big brother.

Cassie is doing very well also. She will be 9 months old on the 6th of November. She weighs about 15 pounds. We have had a wonderful time watching her grow. She has her two bottom teeth and loves to chew on fingers...she's not really picky about who's fingers she's chewing on. We've learned not to let her get ours...she bites hard. She is eating some baby food. She is such a sweet little girl. She loves her big brother...she will stare at him until he looks at her and then she gives him the biggest grin. She is just so amazed with him. I'm sure he'll be teaching her lots in the near future. She and Garrett both went and got their flu shots and she also has to get the RSV shot each month through March. We're praying that this will protect both of them this winter.

Tommy and I are doing really well...we love watching Garrett and Cassie grow more every day. They are both so amazing.

We go to Duke the week after Christmas for Garrett's scans. They are also going to do a urine test on Cassie just to make sure everything is fine...more to make Cassie's momma and daddy happy. Please pray that everything will remain clear. Garrett has been in remission now for 3 years....time flies by so fast. His transplant anniversary is approaching soon...November 27...we will never forget the day.

Please remember the Hendrick's Motorsports teams in your prayers. Those ladies and men up there are so special. Every time that we have been, they have treated us just like family. The Hendrick's Marrow Program does a lot of work with bone marrow testing, and The Hendrick's teams also sponsor the families on the transplant unit at Christmas. They do a lot for the families and patients up there at Duke on the transplant unit. We know they will appreciate all of the prayer during their losses.

Thank you all for your continued support of us...we are so thankful for all of you.

Love,

Melissa, Tommy, Garrett, and Cassie

Thursday, August 5, 2004 11:08 AM CDT

Wow..time sure flies by...We are very sorry for not updating sooner. Everything has been great with Garrett and Cassie. He continues to be an awesome big brother and she is such a sweet little lady. They go back next week for shots; Cassie is getting her six months immunizations and Garrett is getting his shots so he can start school. He will be going to K4 this year and he is sooo excited.
Melissa has already started back. She gets students on Monday. I still have two weeks before I start and I get students on the 30th. Garrett's schedule is a little different from ours. He and I have the same Christmas break and he and Melissa have the same Spring Break. We'll just do whatever we need to, I guess.
Cassie will go to the same day care that Garrett went to. Those ladies are so wonderful and I'm sure Cassie will love them just as Garrett does. We'll probably start next week by going a day or two, but I'm sure everything will be fine. Please keep us in your prayers as we go through these changes.
God continues to bless us with fine medical care and we wish the same fortune for the Kristoff's and their new baby going through transplant at Duke. Please remember to love your children extra tight and be thankful for them.

May God continue to bless each of you!!

Thomas, Melissa, Garrett, and Cassie

Aug. 13, 2004
Garrett, Cassie, and I want to wish Momma (Melissa) a very Happy Birthday today!! We took her a suprise during her lunch at school! We love you, Momma!!!

Tuesday, June 8, 2004 8:05 PM CDT

UPDATE**** June 10, 2004

Happy birthday daddy! We love you! Garrett, Cassie and momma!

Garrett's scan was clear. We are so thankful. Tommy said that was the best birthday present he could have gotten. Everything went really well...we are so proud of him for being such a big boy.

UPDATED on June 8, 2004****
We are happy to report that no news is good news. Everyone in the Drew household is doing very well!

Garrett was such a big boy at his program for daycare. He played Georgie Porgie and acted out the book, Caps for Sale. You must read the book if you haven't already. It is about a peddler that goes around town carrying his caps on his head selling them. Garrett wore his Georgie Porgie out fit with a black blazer over it...he walked up and down the stage calling out, "Caps....Caps for sale....50 cents a cap!" If you know our Garrett....this is very out of character for him. Before we left for the program, we were getting him dressed and he looked at me and said, "I'm not doing the program tonight....it's tomorrow!" I knew we were in for a long 20 minute ride to the place where they were having the program. He ended up doing a wonderful job...please look at him on the picture page to see just how cute he was.

We are going to have his MIBG scan on Thursday. He will have the injection tomorrow. He doesn't seemed to be worried about it. We are praying for an uneventful trip to Durham.

Cassie went to the doctor today for her check-up and her 4 month old shots. Tommy and Garrett took her...Garrett said he was going to hold her hand so she wouldn't cry. She cried anyway, but he did a wonderful job as the big brother. She weighed 9lbs. 1 oz. and was about 20 and a half inches long. She is doing wonderful. She's smiling and getting even more curious that she has been. She just so sweet and has been a very good baby. Garrett is the best big brother. He checks on her every morning when he gets out of the bed, before he does anything else.

Tommy and I are also doing well. Tommy is keeping Garrett and Cassie during the days for me to teach summer school. He is such a good daddy and husband. I am so thankful for him.

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update....I'll add to this entry when we get test results...possibly Thursday evening. Keep us in your prayers. God has blessed us in so many ways...

We love you all!

Melissa, Tommy, Garrett and Cassie

Sunday, April 18, 2004 8:55 AM CDT

NEW PUCTUES ON THE PHOTO PAGE!
Everything is going great...Cassie and Garrett at two joyous children! We are so blessed!

WE ARE HOME....ALL 4 OF US!

We are so excited. Thursday we were told that we could "room in" on Friday and take Cassie home on Saturday. Well, we were called Friday and told that it wasn't necessary for us to room-in and whenever we were ready on Friday, we could come to the hospital for her discharge. We are so happy to haver her home with us. She is such a beautiful little baby. She weighed 5 lbs. 7 oz. (with clothes on) Friday and she was 17 3/4 in. long. She left all of her equipment at the hospital. She is not on any oxygen, monitors, or medicines. She was in the NICU exactly 70 days(10 weeks). She is still 3 weeks from her due date, but she is doing great. She eats about every 4 hours. She is just such a delight. I am taking two weeks off (the rest of my maternity leave) to stay home with Cassie. She has follow-up doctor appointments and such, so we will be pretty busy.

Garrett is doing great...he has been wonderful. He doesn't even wait for us to ask him to do something. He asks us if we want him to bring us anything. He has helped feed her, change her diaper, and even helped us give her a bath. He went with us to get her from the hospital...and the whole way home he kept saying, "we've got her home daddy." He is just so compassionate and thoughtful. We will be going back to Duke in June for Garrett's MIBG scan. We weren't able to get it when we were there last week. All of us will be going this time - God willing.

Tommy and I are doing wonderful. We finally have our whole family together. It is such a wondeful feeling. Thank you all for your prayers, calls, gifts, cards, food, and everything. It means so much to us to know that there are so many people who care about us.

We'll have new pictures on the web page soon.

Love,

Melissa, Tommy, Garrett, and Little Cassie

Saturday, April 10, 2004 9:24 PM CDT

UPDATE*** Monday, April 12, 2004

Cassie has been switched to all PO feeds.(She's taking all bottles...no OG tube feedings) YEAH! She is also off of all of her oxygen as of this afternoon at 6:00pm. SHe's making her way closer and closer to the door out!

Thank you all for checking in on her, Garrett, and us!

*Saturday*
Thank you all for the prayers this week. It has been a very long week. Monday we were at Duke most of the day. Garrett had blood work and clinic....everything was great. His blood work was all within "normal" ranges. Dr. Kreissman said he looked great. She hurt his feelings though...of course she didn't mean to. She pulled his pants down to check "eveywhere" and he got the most hurtful look on his face and started crying. Our little "modest" boy who runs around the house streaking didn't want her looking at him. After we left the clinic he said, "That was very ugly of her momma...she's not supposed to look at big boy's butts and turtles (that's what he calls it)." I think he would have been okay with it if he had known what was going to happen, but he was completely taken by surprise. After we left clinic we went to the dentist. He was a big boy again...he let the hygenist clean his teeth and then the dentist had to do a little resurfacing on the underside of one of his teeth. He thought it was really cool because she told him that she was writing his name on his tooth. He keeps asking us if his name is still there on his tooth. We came back home after we were finished at the dentist. Wednesday afternoon we went back to prepare for his CT scan on Thursday. He was such a big boy again. He layed there just as still as he could without any sedation. We were so proud of him. Dr. Kreissman said that the preliminary results were good. They will have a room full of doctors looking at them this week, but we aren't expecting any different news.

Cassie is making progress also. She is up to 4 lbs. 12.6 oz.. She is getting so big. They changed her feedings to 45 cc every 4 hours. She is doing much better with that. She took almost all of her 4 bottles today and they OG'd 2 of her feedings. She is filling out so well. She is wearing her 0-3 months old clothes. She gave us the biggest grin tonight. You could see her top and bottom gums. She looks more and more like Garrett everyday also. We hope she will be home in the next week or so. She has had some really good nurses here lately pushing her.

Garrett will get to see her for the 2nd time tomorrow. We will be taking some more pictures. I'm putting some new pictures on here from when he got to see her last week. The first thing he said was, "She's georgeous." Before we left, we let him hold her again. He held her for maybe 30 seconds and said, "OK, I'm threw with her now...I think she's getting ready to throw-up on me." He is so funny with his sayings.

Have a wonderful Easter! We love you all!

Love,

Melissa, Tommy, Garrett and LIttle Cassie

Saturday, April 3, 2004 10:54 PM CST

Hey everyone! This will be a quick update. There are new pictures on the photo page.

Garrett is great. We will be at Duke three days with him this week...please keep him, and us in your prayers. He gets to see Cassie after church tomorrow. This will be the first time that he has seen her other than in pictures. We are all very excited. Please look at the pictures on the photo page. He is showing off his spike and his new ability to snap his fingers. He is very proud of himself...especially since that is something that his momma can't even do. He told me that I have to be a big guy to do that....

Cassie is super. As you can tell from her pictues, she is getting so fat. Look reall closely and you can see her double chin. She looks completely different than she did 8 weeks ago. Even her nurses comment on how different she looks. She is doing better with her bottles. She drink at least half of both of them now...maybe in the next couple of days they will try her on more than two a day. The other 6 times that they feed her is through the OG tube right now. Maybe we can stop that altogether soon also. The nurses and Occupational therapist say that one day she will just know what she is supposed to do with the bottle and take off from there. Her oxygen is down to 26% and they are going to try to take her off of her aminophlin (SP?)...it's a stimulant for her lungs....in the next couple of days. Her weight is up to 4 lbs. 9.6 oz....and she is 42 cm long. She is growing so much. We are putting 0-3 months onesies on her..and they're not overly big on her. She looks wonderful!

Thank you all for the continued prayers. We are getting very anxious to bring her home, but we know that she still is not where she needs to be to come home yet. Hopefully in the next two weeks or so she will be home. Please keep Garrett and us in your prayers this week as we are at Duke for scans to make sure he is still in remission.

Thank you Jesus for all of our blessings!

Monday, March 29, 2004 3:01 PM CST

Good afternoon! We are all doing great in the Drew household. It's been a while since we've updated. Busy, Busy, Busy!

Garrett is such a big guy. He just loves all of the attention he's getting. He and I went yesterday to get our hair cut and he sat in one chair while I sat in the other and he told the lady exactly what he wanted done to his hair....a spike. He has so much personality...and he's starting to let it come out around other people. He likes it that he gets to stay at home with other people while we go to the hospital. He gives us chores to do while we are there....he tells us where to kiss his baby sisiter...he likes us to kiss her on top of her head and on her nose.
He's so sweet...everywhere we go, he finds something for her. Hopefully he will get to see her on Sunday. The RSV season "ban" will be lifted from the children's section of the hospital. He's excited just as much as we are. Next week Garrett will be having his scans at Duke. We will be up there Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Please keep all of us in your prayers during that time.

Cassie is doing great. She weighs 4 lbs. 1.4oz. She gains about an ounce a day. She is down to 29xygen and they are trying to turn it down every 6 hours. She is being fed 36cc every 3 hours. Two of her feedings a day are given to her with the bottle, and the rest are through the OG tube. She doesn't quite get the hang of sucking her bottle, but she does a really good job for a baby that is still 6 weeks early. We really appreciate all of the prayers and support that you all are giving us. We know that we are loved by so many.

Thank you again....

Love,

Melissa, Tommy, Garrett, and Little Cassie

Thursday, March 18, 2004 6:38 AM CST

THE NEW PICS HAVE BEEN ADDED!...FINALLY!

Good morning! Things are progressing very nicely at our house! Garrett is just wonderful. We couldn't have asked for him to be any better than he has been. The other day, he asked Tommy and me where we were going...we were going to the hospital and didn't want him to get upset, so we said, "We're going to town for a minute and we'll be back in a little while." He, in all of his wisdom said, "Well, when you get to the hospital give my baby sister a kiss for me." Can you tell he doesn't miss anything? He is so good. He keeps finding stuff for him and Cassie to share. We're hoping the enthusiasm will continue when she gets home. He has been wonderful throughout all of this. He loves it that he has some of his playmates coming to his house a couple nights a week so that we can go to the hospital together. Just keep in mind that his playmates are all adults...thank you to all of them.

Cassie is making lots of progress! She was moved to the intermediate section in the NICU on Monday and has been doing wonderful. She is filling out so well...she's drinking 30 cc (1 oz.) every 3 hours. Wednesday, they let her try sucking on a bottle. She was able to get about 3 cc down at her 12:00p feeding (they fed her the rest through her OG tube). Her nurse let me give her a bath and changer her clothes at 6:00p and then let me try her again on a bottle. She didn't do that well for me, but the nurse was able to get her to drink about 17 cc. Thursday afternoon, she drank 19 cc from her bottle when they tried her on it. That's over half of her feeding. She's getting the hang of what she's supposed to be doing. The occupational therapist said that it takes a lot of coordination for Cassie to be sucking, swallowing, and breathing in the right order....especailly when she's still not supposed to be born for another 7 weeks. We are so proud of her. She is awake now for longer periods of time and is making so many facial gestures. Her weight is up to 3 pounds 6 ounces and she is 16 1/4 inches long. We haven't heard a date for when they think she might be able to go home....they said she now has to work on growing, coming off of her oxygen, and regulating her own body temperature. Other than that she is great!

Thank you all for everything. I'll put new pictures on here later today. Keep sending the prayers!

Saturday, March 13, 2004 8:40 AM CST

Good morning! We are all doing wonderful today!

Garrett is great...he is so much fun. Sometimes we think he is smarter than we are. He proves it more and more everyday. He went to spend the night with his cousins and Aunt and Uncle last night. When he asked his Aunt if he could spend the night, our mouths just dropped. That's the first time he's gone to someone elses house to spend the night. He was fine without us, but we were lost! Anyway, he's doing great...he's already a wonderful big brother and he hasn't even seen his little sister yet. He is scheduled to have his scans the week before Easter..that's when our Spring Break is. We'll be up at Duke 3 days that week.

Cassie is great also. Last night she weighed 3lbs. 2.4oz., and is being fed 22 ml every 3 hours...that's a little over 5 ounces a day. They are going up on her feeds everyday and so far she is tolerating them really well. Maybe in a couple of weeks they will see if she can suck on a bottle. She is still being fed through her OG tube. She made Tommy really proud this morning...he called about 6:00 to check on her and her nurse told him that Cassie had pooped in her hand when she was changing her diaper. She also pulled out her IV that was in her foot. One of her doctors said that they really like when the babies tell them what needs to happen next. They aren't going to put a new IV in because she is doing so well with her feedings. She is doing so well....we're glad to see some of the tubes and attachments come off of her. Especially the IV...she was only getting clear fluids through it anyway. They had already stopped her TPN (IV nutrition) earlier in the week because of how well she was eating. Now, we are working on her being able to keep her body temperature up and keep it up. She has grown so much...she actually has a double chin and butt cheeks now. Can you tell that we are proud? She is doing so well.

Thank you all for the prayers...you can see that they are being answered. We've had so many blessings! Thank you all!

Please sign the guestbook and let us know that you've been here....we enjoy reading the entries. We read them to Garrett and tell him about all the people who love him and Little Cassie.

Sunday, March 7, 2004 11:28 PM CST

NEW PICS AGAIN...can you tell we are proud parents? We can't wait to take of picture of Cassie and Garrett together.

Ok...now for the update. We are all doing really well and had a really nice weekend. The weather here was very pretty. Latane and Parker came for a visit. They are so good...even if Garrett does have a pet now because of them. He found a little turtle in the yard, and Latane and Parker got an old aquarium out and made a terrarium for the turtle. Thanks A LOT! It really is a cute little turtle, but it's still a pet...and Garrett has been asking for a pet. Maybe now, he will forget about the dog. Garrett forgot all about us while they were here...he wanted nothing to do with us. He wanted Latane and Parker to do everything for him. That's okay...we don't mind sharing him. Thank you Latane and Parker for coming to visit and for the pet. HA HA!

I am going to try to go back to work this week so that I will have some time left to stay home with Cassie when she gets to come home. I miss school and my kids, but I will really miss spending my days at the hospital with Cassie. Tommy is great...he is such a good daddy. His eyes just gleam with love and joy when he looks at Garrett or Cassie. He seems to be in La La Land when he is holding either one of them.

Garrett is wonderful...he is so thoughtful. Everytime we go somewhere he always wants to get something for his baby sister. He is writing his name and her name on all of his pictures that he colors. He "reads" books to us, and is all the time asking us and telling us what letter different words start with. He can write "momma and daddy". It is so much fun to teach him "stuff". We are scheduled to go back to Duke for his scans in April during our spring break. We will have to see where we are at that point and decide whether we are staying up there for the week, or if we are going back and forth, or if we are rescheduling for an earlier or later time.

Cassie is doing fabulous. She is in a big girl bed now...an isolette. If you've never seen one before, it kind of looks like a plexi-glass box with holes in for you to put your arms into. This is a big step up for her. She is regulating her temperature pretty good, and is not as "critical" as she once was. She is keeping her oxygen levels up and not having many apnia spells or heart rate drops. She is being fed through an OG tube still, but they are increasing her amount of food each day. She is up to 4ml every 3 hours...WOO HOO! She weighs 2lbs. 9oz. and is 15 1/2 inches long. I'll check her measurements again Monday night...they measure her on Monday nights, and they weigh her daily. Now, that she is such a BIG girl, we also get to hold her....for long periods of time. We've decided that we are going to make a two person rockng chair/recliner, and take it to the NICU so we can hold her together. She is so sweet. When we hold her, she kind of makes these little noises....kind of like she's singing to us. It feels so good to get to hold her and love on her. After we hug and love on her, we can't wait to come home and hug and love on Garrett. He still says he going to hold her and rock her when she comes home.

Thank you all for everything. Cassie is getting better everyday...God is hearing your prayers. Keep them going! Thank you helping us in so many ways. Jeanne, we could never thank you enough...for prayers, love, food, a hospital buddy, and for keeping Garrett, and so much other stuff. You're great! Our families have helped out so much also. There are so many of you who just help us and act like we are doing you a favor....you have all been such a blessing to us...we couldn't have made it without any of you. We love you so very much!

Thank you God for everything!

Love,
Melissa, Tommy, Garrett and Lil' Cassie

Thursday, March 4, 2004 5:41 PM CST

Good evening everyone! I have to catch you all up on what's been going on since I updated last. They did take Cassie off of the vent Sunday morning, and she was doing really well with her breathing and oxygen levels, but her carbon dioxide levels kept climbing throughout the day. That night, they put her on CPAP to try to bring the levels down, but that didn't work either. So, early Monday morning, they put her back on the vent. When they were putting her back on the vent, they noticed that her airway was swollen and irritated, so they decided to give her some IV medicine to help that.

They extabated her this morning and she has done wonderful all day. Her lungs are hopefully strong enough to get her over the hump this time so she won't have to go back on the vent. They did stop her feeds today so that she can just work on her breathing, but they are giving her a passy...she is so cute with it too. She acts like she is trying to attack it when you put it in her mouth. She really likes it...especially when they dip it in a little bit of sugar water. Hopefully she will keep all of her numbers looking good throughout the night, and tomorrow they will be able to start her feeds back. She is gaining some weight. I was able to hold Cassie for the first time this afternoon...it felt so good. She was very awake and alert. She is absolutely georgeous!

She is up to 2 lbs. 8 oz....she even has a little tiny behind now. It doesn't look like legs attached to a back anymore. I've put some new pics on the photo page.

Thank you all for the continuous prayers. They mean a lot to us.

Thursday, February 26, 2004 11:15 PM CST

**UPDATE** Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004

Please say a special prayer for little Miss Cassie this morning...we think they are going to try to take her off of the vent this morning...we pray that she does well and doesn't have to go on the CPAP. Thank you all...we love you!

UPDATE!!! Saturday, Feb. 28, 2004

Cassie seems like she is feeling better today. She was opening her eyes and looking around. Her nurse is Christy today...she's wonderful. We had fun playing dress up with Cassie this afternoon also. She really tolerated it very well. She wasn't fussing at us and she kept her oxygen levels up the whole time. We had her in her first cheerleading outfit...minus the top. That will just have to wait until we get rid of some more tubes and cords. Be sure to look at the new pics on the photo page. GO TIGERS!!!

THURSDAY, Feb. 26, 2004
Good evening everyone! We are having some windy, cold, and snowy/rainy weather here today and tomorrow. It's just raining at our house right now, but all around us, it's snowing. Some of the nurses at the hospital were wondering how they were going to get home in the morning. Tommy told them to just go crawl in one of the empty beds. I don't think they appreciated his humor.

Everyone is doing pretty well. Garrett really enjoyed seeing the little bit of snow flurries that we had this morning. He's been telling us for weeks that he's ready for it to snow. I guess he got his wish. He's been such a good boy lately. He knows exactly when to be good...especially when momma and daddy need him to the most. He like trying out on us some of the new sayings that he's heard elsewhere. Tonight he told me to "just zip it." Thank goodness he was smiling and laughing when he said it...he knew it too...he gets these looks on his face like, "did I just say that outloud?" He blames these things that he says on other people of course. He is so much fun to be around...we never have a dull moment.

Cassie is doing pretty good. She was put back on the ventilator Tuesday because she kept have spells where her oxygen stats and her heart rate would drop. She's been doing really well with that. Then they had to pull her PICC line yesterday because it was causing her arm to turn red. Her lab work from her blood was off a little also, so they went ahead and started her on antibiotics to catch any infections that she may have. They drew cultures yesterday, but so far, they have not come back positive for any growth. Thank you God! She was given her big 18 cc of blood today. That should make her feel some better too. She may have to have a platelet transfusion in a day or two because those are starting to drop also. All of this, the doctors and nurses have told us, is still normal for a baby of her size. It's really interesting to us how similarly they are treating Cassie to what Garrett's treatments were in the transplant unit. Just think, Garrett had no immune system after transplant, and Cassie has no immune system. She is getting some of the same antibiotics that he got when he had a fever, or signs of infection. Please keep her in your prayers....She's been a fighter so far, and we know God is in the ring with her. She is so beautiful...and getting prettier every day.

We're very thankful that we are not "brand new" to this kind of thing. We are learning more than we already knew about doctoring and nursing, and more than we ever wanted to know, but we are very thankful for our knowledge. One of the highlights of our week was when Tommy got to hold Little Cassie while the nurse and I changed her sheets on her bed so she would have a "girly looking bed". Tommy is still smiling from ear to ear. I told Little Cassie all she's going to have to do is say, "Daddy", and she will get whatever she wants. Tommy says, "your probably right."

I've added some new pictures to the photo page also, but they aren't very good quality pictures. At least you can tell what's going on in the pictures. The second picture was taken when Little Cassie was in her oxyhood astronaut helmet). I caught her looking around and had to take a picture.

We hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week. We will try to update again sooner than what we did this time.

Please keep Little Cassie in your prayers...we know God himself and Big Cassie are looking out for her from above, along with all of the other loved ones in heaven. She has wonderful doctors, nurses, and loved ones looking out for her here on Earth. Pray for her strength and continued healing. She will be 3 weeks old Friday night. Oh, and she has gained some weight...some of it may be from the weight of the vent tubes, but she is up to 2 lbs. 4 oz.

Thank you all for the prayers...keep them up!

Thank you Jesus for our strength, and for each other. Thank you for Garrett and for Cassie. They are everything to us. Help us stay strong and sane. Thank you for all of our blessings...we have so many to be thankful for.

Thursday, February 19, 2004 10:03 PM CST

NEW PICS ON THE PHOTO PAGE

Good evening! Everyone in the Drew household is doing well. Garrett is on a more routine schedule now...not that we are back to "normal", but more like it used to be. He is understanding more about his little sister, and knows that she is in the hospital. He is so smart...and doesn't forget ANYTHING! When people ask him about Cassie he tells them that he can't go an see her yet, but that she is in the hospital getting better. He likes showing her picture to other people. We think he is going to be a wonderful big brother.

Cassie is doing well..she was taken off of the C-Pap yesterday about 12:00 noon and was only on a nasal canula. She was doing really well on it, but at about 1:00am they put her back on the C-Pap. They said that her oxygen levels were ok, but that her Carbon Dioxide levels were too high because of her not being able to take deep breaths on her own. We had an idea when we left her last night that she would need to go back on the C-Pap. She was off of it longer this time than last time, so that tells us that she is getting stronger. They also discontinued her feedings through her OG tube because of all of the air in her belly from the C-Pap. She is still getting the TPN (lipids and vitamins through her IV), so she's not going without "food". Maybe in a couple of days she will be stronger and will be able to try it off of the C-Pap again. We were assured that all of this is still "normal" for preemies.

Her new pictures that are on the web page were taken by some of her wonderful nurses. They decorated the basket and then put little Cassie in the basket and had her first photo shoot. We were so excited when they showed us the pictures becasue you can see how bright eyed she was during the whole thing. She is really not that red normally. The day that the pictures were taken, she was given blood, so that's the reason for her being so "rosey" in color. We think she's just as cute as can be.

We have been blessed so much. First we were given Garrett and now Cassie. I tell people that she just didn't want to stay inside any longer...she wanted to come out and see for herself what was going on...I guess she's going to be one of those nosey girls...that's okay...she'll learn lots!

Tommy and I are doing fine. Because of all of the wonderful people who have come to stay with us and help us, he has been able to go to school and not miss any days. That's another blessing...all of the wonderful people around us. So many have called, sent cards, flower, food, and have offered to stay here, or keep Garrett for us to go to the hospital at night. You all have made it easier on us to not to have to worry about everything. Thank you all for everything.....keep praying...we know God's listening. Please also remember the other families that are dealing with heartaches and problems. There are SO many.

Well, I'm finally going to bed. I wanted to give you all a quick update, but I just kept on writing. I'll try to give updates more often...maybe they won't be so long. Thank you all again for the prayers and for everything else. We really appreciate it.

Love,
Melissa, Tommy, Garrett, and Cassie

Sunday, February 15, 2004 7:01 PM CST

UPDATE:::Cassie is still on the C-Pap, but they are giving her feeds through her OG tube...the tube in her mouth that goes to her belly. We were teasing her nurse tonight telling her that she gave her a dose of Benadryl...she slept the whole time we were there. I guess she was just so comfortable from having a full belly FINALLY! We are very excited about this step. I think they are going to try to take her off of the C-Pap tomorrow. Thank you for all of the words of encouragement. We'll try to update again tomorrow.

Hi guys,
Today's been a nice quiet day for the Drew family. We went to see Cassie this afternoon. She's doing well. She was placed on C-Pap Saturday morning at 35xygen. During the night last night they decreased her oxgen to 30nd today it was down to 25We are just thrilled with the progress she is making. Slow and steady wins the race, and our little girl is just hanging in there! Hopefully they'll be able to get her off the C-Pap in the next couple of days, but we're in no hurry. We want her to get all the care necessary to grow big and strong, no matter how long that takes. She's had her eyes open and looking all around at us the last few days. We got some good pictures that we hope to post soon! They aren't feeding her in her stomach yet. She gets TPN through her IV, but once they teach her to breath good then they'll start feeding her!

Garrett has been busy too he's been going to school as usual. He's SO proud, telling everybody about his little sister and that he's a big brother! Cassie couldn't ask for a better big brother than Garrett. He spent the afternoon today with Latane and they had a great time in Toys R US! He even bought his sister a present, just from him! He continues to amaze us every day, as does his sister!
We are very fortunate to be parents of what we call two miracles. We've got some working to do with our little girl, but she continues to do well. Thank you for your thoughts and please continue to pray for our family.
With love,
Melissa, Tommy, Garrett and Cassie

Friday, February 13, 2004 6:04 PM CST

Good evening everyone! Cassie is doing wonderful. God has really blessed us. Cassie has made what we consider wonderful progress. She had her breathing tube taken out yesterday, and doing really well with that. She's been maintaining her oxygen really well, and was even sucking on a passy yesterday. We went today to check on her and she had a red hair bow in her hair with a ladybug on it. That's what you see in her hair on the picture page. I absolutely love it when we have nurses that really seem to care. In the next couple of days they may be able to start feeding her small amounts. Her bilirubin levels have gone down and they were able to turn the lights off that help with that. The nurses say that she's been resting better with the lights off...the one light that they would have under her looks like her own little tanning bed. Also when we were visiting her today, she had her little eyes open looking all around.....she takes after her momma...she likes to know what's going on around her...or as Tommy says...nosey!

I am doing really well. My momma and daddy came and took care of me until this past Wednesday. Then our special friend, Latane, came Wednesday to take care of the family. She has done a wonderful job.

Garrett is such a wonderful big brother. He has handled all of the excitement "confusion" really well. He still doesn't understand why he can't see "his" baby, but he likes it that he's able to go and play with so many people while we go to the hospital. He has grown up a lot within the last week. He is just so amazing...he comes up with some of the funniest stuff, and is like a sponge soaking up loads of knowledge. He's a smart little cookie, even if we do say so ourselves.

Thank you all for the prayers, calls, visits, and everything else. We don't know what we would do if we didn't have wonderful friends and family. Please continue to keep Cassie and us in your prayers.

Sunday, February 8, 2004 11:41 PM CST

Hey everybody! We are all doing fine...all 4 of us. Very unexpectedly, Garrett's little sister, Cassie, was born Friday night at 6:56 pm. She was 2lbs. 6 oz., and 13 1/2 inches long. She is 11 weeks premature, but she is already showing that she's a fighter. She was originally on 50% oxygen, but they've been decreasing her some each day, becasuse she's been breathing over the respirator, and now she only on 28% oxygen. She is doing wonderful to have been born 11 weeks early. I'm including some of her pictures on the web page, so just click on the top of the screen where it says photo page, and her pics and Garrett's will come up. She is absolutely beautiful, even if we do say so ourselves. If you want to leave us a message, please do. Just click on the "sign the guestbook" icon and follow the instructions. Please keep us in your prayers, you all know that's what's gotten us to this point. I'll try to write more tomorrow, there's only so long I can sit straight up at the computer for now. THank you for your prayers and concerns.

Love,

Tommy, Melissa, Garrett, and Cassie

Thursday, January 22, 2004 4:16 PM CST

Well, I guess it's time that we updated Garrett's web page. Everything is going great! We're all doing fine.

Garrett is wonderful. He's busy learning everything that he can at preschool. His favorite letter to write is a "G". Imagine that. He does such a good job writing also. He is so curious about things...we have to be careful. He asks all the time what letter certain things start with. I love him asking about stuff.

He likes to talk about the baby also. He tells us things that he's going to do when the baby gets here. He's already said that it's his baby, not ours. That won't last very long....he may want to sent it back where it came from. Tommy and I really think he's going to make a wonderful big brother. We still have not been able to tell what the baby is...it's modest. We have our guesses, but we know it's going to be and ACTIVE child!

Tommy and I are doing great also. We are looking forward to our family growing.

We wanted to let you all know that everything is fine with us and that we still think of you all so very often. We miss seeing our buddies from Duke, but we're glad that we don't HAVE to see you. It's good to hear about you all though. Thanks for the updates. Thank you all for your continued prayers....

We love you all!
Melissa, Tommy, and Garrett!

Monday, December 15, 2003 8:00 PM CST

Merry Christmas, Everyone!!!
Where does the time go? We have sooo much to be thankful for!!! Our Lord has given us our miracle man and now a little one on the way!! Garrett is doing super!! He is working hard at school and at play!! He loves his day-care, the great ladies and the children too. We pray that all of you are free of the flu bug or whatever...it is awful, so please take every precaution...Garrett received his second dose of the vaccine last Monday, so we're hopeful he'll stay away from trouble...

Melissa, Garrett, and I are so glad to hear good news from so many of our friends from Duke... Ryan, Sam, and Brett look so wonderful!! We thank God daily for their continued improvement..The miracles are so many.. PLEASE take some time to count your blessings...you'll never believe how much God is doing for us!!! Take care... We love you all!!!

Monday, December 15, 2003 8:00 PM CST

Monday, October 27, 2003 8:00 PM CST

Hello everyone...

We had a terrific visit last week at Duke for Garrett's six months checkup. His blood work and clinic visit was grreat..all normal!!! His scans were grreat tooo!!!We got to see several of our buddies while we were there... Susan(Noos), Laura( one of Garrett's nurses during regular chemo) and the super people on the transplant unit...It is so good to hear people say how wonderful Garrett looks. We are proud of our little miracle and we give our Lord all of the praise for his healing!!! Please don't hesitate to lift someone up to God in prayer...Melissa, Garrett, and I thank each of you for keeping us in your thoughts over the past 2 1/2 years...God bless each of you!!!

Sunday, October 5, 2003 9:55 PM CDT

Hello everyone!! I am very sorry for not updating sooner, but as the saying goes...No news is good news!! Garrett is doing soooo grrreat!!! He amazes us daily...he is like a sponge..he just soaks up everything in sight!!! He wants to know everything and we couldn't be prouder!!!

We go back to Duke for six months checkups on the 20th of this month..We have clinic/echo on Monday, dentist/MiBG injection on Wed. and CT/MiBG on Thursday. We have no reason to think we won't get a good report because he is soo happy, active , and is eating good. He loves going back to "his" Duke. We continue to give God all of the praise for working through the super, wonderful doctors and nurses there. We all really look forward to seeing our "family" when we go. We haven't been up since the end of May.

Melissa, Garrett, and I want you all to know...we are looking for a new addition to the family in May. Yes, we are expecting. Garrett says he is having a "baby boy sister", I don't quite know which one he is really looking for. We will gladly take whichever, as long as they are healthy. Please contine to keep us in your prayers as we go back for Garrett's check up and remember how great God is as you count your blessings.

Sunday, August 10, 2003 9:58 PM CDT

UPDATE! Thursday, August 14

Tommy took Garrett to the doctor Monday....of course Garrett had NO fever. Tommy asked the doctor to do bloodwork. All of his blood counts came back perfectly normal. Dr. Rao called and talked to Susan at Duke. I think they decided that Garrett just had some type of virus that was causing him to have a fever. He hasn't had a fever since then either. I personally just think he likes to get us all fired up and so that he can go to the doctor and get lots of prizes from the nurses and Dr. Rao. He just wanted a little extra attention. Thank you all for your prayers! You came through again! Thank you Jesus!

Hello everyone! We have had a wonderful summer...as you all can tell from the NEW pictures. Don't you just love his picture in the jersey? Can you tell we are getting ready for football season? Garrett is excited also. He's going to have so much fun.

Garrett got over his cough and cold...now he's battling a fever. He's going to the doctor tomorrow to see what he thinks. He act fine though....he's our little tough guy. Tommy's daddy is doing pretty well. My daddy had surgery this past week to repair a torn muscle in his shoulder and to have a biopsy taken of something on his vocal chords. He's recovering pretty well...momma's taking good care of him. He goes back to the doctor this week to find out about that. Please keep him in your prayers.

I started school this past week. It's going very well so far. I love my class. I am team teaching with another lady. I teach math and science and she teaches language arts and social studies. We are working so well together. We have 18 students in the morning and 18 students in the afternoon....they are really good classes also. It's kind of scary right now at how good they are...I'm sure it's first week jitters for them...We'll see how long they stay well behaved.

Tommy is going fine. He starts school Thursday and then his students come on the 25th. He's excited about starting also. He will be teaching 5th grade this year...while I have 4th grade.

We hope you all are doing well...Garrett thanks Jesus in his prayers for all of the people who pray for him. He's so cute when he's saying his prayers. He names everybody he can think of. I love listening to him pray. He's so sincere and honest...I learn so much from him. I think we all could learn a lot from listening to children.

Thank you all for checking in on Garrett and us. As you can tell, we've been pretty busy here lately. We'll try to do better at updating. Please keep the kids battling cancer in your prayers also. There's so many of them. There are new kids diagnosed everyday. Remember to always be thankful for what you have.

Love,

Melissa, Tommy, and Garrett

Friday, July 18, 2003 10:35 PM CDT

Everything is going well with our little man...Melissa and I want to thank everyone for their kindness and concern for Garrett...We are so proud of our "miracle". His body has battled so much and it seems he has fought off a cough and probably a cold the past couple of weeks. The immune system he has is putting in the overtime battling sickness. I guess we will always be anxious when he doesn't seem just right.
We went up to Charlotte this week to visit some of Garrett's super friends there...Latane and Courtney and the fine folks at Hendrick Motorsports. God has seen fit for us to know some of the best people around. Latane was one of Garrett's transplant nurses. Courtney is very involved with the patients and their families at the transplant unit. They(members of the race teams) work diligently to make the situation there brighter for everyone.

Please keep the prayers coming. We appreciate everyone one of them and God does answer them. Take care...

Saturday, June 28, 2003 6:22 AM CDT

Hello everyone!!! Today is Garrett's third birthday and we couldn't be any prouder of our little miracle!!! We look at him and think of all the chemo, radiation, and surgeries that he has been through and give God all the glory for blessing us with wonderful doctors and nurses at Duke. He is one tough little man!!

We couldn't have made it without your prayers and words of encouragement...God works miracles everyday!! Melissa and I learned very quickly to do what we could and leave it in God's hands...Everyone have a grrreat day and love those little ones extra tight everyday!!! God bless each of you!!

Tuesday, June 10, 2003 6:42 PM CDT

Hello everyone!!! Garrett is doing super!!! He is in great health and we praise God daily for that!!! He still doesn't do well with the drop off at school...two minutes later he is fine and he has a great time there. He loves the ladies that keep him and he is learning sooo much!!!

Melissa is teaching summer school, so Garrett and I took the day off and went to see Spirit at the movies this morning. He loved it and he has been talking about it all afternoon. Garrett will go to school three or four days a week this summer so he won't get any worse about going when regular school starts back.

We hear grreat things about baby Ryan from Connecticut. We are so proud of him doing so well. Pam, Bill, Ryan, and Katie are so strong and they are such a wonderful family. We love them and wish them the best. Keep them in your prayers!!

That's about all the news..Garrett will be THREE on the 28th, so remember miracles do happen. No matter what the situation, how terrible, God will use it for something great and wonderful!!! Thank you God for every blessing!!!

Friday, May 9, 2003 9:22 PM CDT

Hello everyone...We want to wish every mother a very Happy Mother's Day!!! Melissa and I are both very blessed to have our mothers still with us. God has given us two of the best around.

Garrett is doing great!! He has had a battle with a cough for a few days but we seem to have that under control. He is such an amazing young man. He is beginning to ask questions about some of the pictures taken during our many hospital stays. The main thing is the mask that he is wearing in many of them. We really look forward to explaining to him about the things his little body has been through. He is our miracle straight from God above and we give Him the praise and the glory.

We had a fantastic time at the Rainbow of Heroes Walk last Saturday. We got to visit with many of Garrett's doctors and nurses. We truly love each of them and it will always be great to see them. We received several blessings on that day...We got to see our buddy Samantha and give her big hugs that we weren't able to before. She is sooo beautiful, inside and out. She is an earthly angel and we are so happy for her and her family. We thank everyone who sent donations for the PBMT Family Support Program in Garrett's honor. We are so humbled by the concern people still show for him. Please continue your prayers for Garrett and for us. Remember to PUSH///Pray until something happens...

Saturday, April 19, 2003 2:17 PM CDT

Happy Easter everyone!!! This is such a special time...God sending his son to die for us on the cross...What a blessing and a privilege it is to live in the best country in the world!!!!

Garrett had his regularly scheduled scans this past Thursday and he did just FANTASTIC!!! The doctors say everything is clear and he is still in remission!!! We have had a busy week. We left Friday to visit the Schembari's and other special friends in Louisville, KY. Garrett had a super time taking over their home. He got to see plenty of airplanes and fireworks, so he had loads of fun. On our way back south, we visited with Melissa's Aunt Jan and Uncle Fred at their home close to the Tennessee line. We love each of these people so very much. However, next time we go to visit, they will have come home with us to help unload the car!!! HA!!! Garrett hit the jackpot...trucks, haulers, wagons, and lots of other stuff!! He has been busy to say the least!!! WE came back to Durham Tuesday for his dentist visit and injection for scans on Wednesday.
We know that God has special plans for Garrett. He has touched our hearts in ways that we could never expect. We appreciate the prayers more than you could ever know. Our Lord is so grrreat!!! God bless our troops and keep them safe!!!

Tuesday, April 1, 2003 7:06 PM CST

Hello everyone!!! Garrett is doing so very well!!! We couldn't imagine how good it would it be...Sunday night was two YEARS ago that we went to Duke for the first time... Tomorrow will be two years that Garrett was dignosed with neuroblastoma...God continues to watch over him and his momma and daddy!!! He keeps getting a little runny nose or cough...just like other children do...that sounds pretty good, doesn't it? He is so active and does about anything he wants to...We can't thank everyone enough for the prayers and words of encouragement.

Just a reminder..if you feel led to give to the Pediatric bone marrow transplant unit's family support program, please do so. You can make out your checks to Duke PBMT-03RH. We appreciate those of you who have sent donations already. We know first hand how much that program means to the families going through a very difficult time. Every penny is greatly appreciated!!!

Please remember to love your children extra tight and thank God for them. They are truly gifts from our Lord.
Take care and God bless...

Sunday, March 9, 2003 12:44 AM CST

Hello everyone!! We haven't been doing a good job with updates...We are very sorry!! Garrett continues to do very well...He is in his ninth week of day care and he really likes it...He gives his daddy a time about not wanting to go and he has a mini-fit when we go in but a few minutes later he is fine...Our Lord has been looking out for us this winter...no significant illnesses...a little cough and some fever spikes but nothing serious...We appreciate everyones prayers and thank God everyday for what he has done for our little man... The support we receive at Duke continues to be blessing..Garrett's doctors, nurses ,and friends that check on him...Everyone we have had contact with have been very caring and sincere in their words and actions!!!

We want to try to help those families that are facing difficult situations with their young child. Pediatric Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant(PBMT) patients and their families are in many cases, far away from home, families, and friends. Please consider giving to help those patients and their families with the financial burdens of being away from home. The Family Support Program helps with gas and phone cards, meals, and other things we take for granted. They also have many activities for the patients, parents, and in a lot of cases, other siblings. If you feel led to give, you can send us your contribution, or contact Jane Schroeder at Duke, (919) 668-1128. Please make your checks out to Duke PBMT-03RH. On May 3rd, they will have the Rainbow of Heroes walk, a walk commemorating and celebrating the work that is being done at Duke, and all the patients and their families.

Thank you for your continued encouragement and prayers. Remember to thank God everyday for good health and for all of the many blessings he gives us.

Sunday, January 26, 2003 at 09:20 PM (CST)

!!!!!!!!!UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, January 31, 2003

Garrett's scans are great...there is no change in them. I heard from Dr. Amal just a little while ago. She said that they are very happy with them. We will go back on the 9th for Garrett's clinic appointment on the 10th. He will get checked out by the doctors, and will get his labs done. Thank you all for your prayers...they mean the world to us.

We love you all!

Melissa, Tommy, and Garrett

Sunday, January 26, 2003
Hello! Sorry about the updates....something weird has been happening with our computer lately, so today is the first day that I've been able to pull up the webpage.

We've had a busy time since I last updated. Garrett has started "school"....he has a good time once he's there, but he is pitiful when he wakes up in the morning until he actually gets to school. He askes 1,000 times if he has to go to school today. He's gotten a lot better. He's been for a week and a half and has improved everyday. The ladies at the daycare say that he tells them everyday, a couple times a day, that his mommy and daddy are coming to pick him up. They tell us he's rotten, but we don't believe them.....HA! There not telling us anything we haven't know for a LONG time. He's a good rotten though. They also say that he likes to help lay out the mats for the other kids and that he likes to help pass out things to the other children. He's getting used to it, but he has really surprised us with how well he is doing....we've surprised ourselves with how well we are doing too.

Garrett is also making major accomplishment with the potty training thing...he wears REAL big boy underwear...he's worn them for about three weeks and is so proud of himself.

We will leave to go back to Duke Tuesday evening. Garrett has his injection for his MIBG scan on Wednesday, and then he has the CT and MIBG scan on Thursday under general anesthesia. Please say and extra prayer for Garrett on those days. I have some new pictures that I'm going to work with tonight and try to load them onto the webpage. We love you all! I'll update after we come home from Duke...we should know something about the scans by the weekend.

We love you all! Have a great week!

Tuesday, January 14, 2003 at 10:36 AM (CST)

Hello everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Everything is going very well. We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! Garrett is growing up so much.

Since I will be going back to work soon, Garrett will be starting daycare soon. I'm going to take him for a couple of hours tomorrow just so he can get the feel of it. I hope he likes it, because I know it is going to break our hearts when he cries for us not to leave. We've been with him constantly for the past year and a half, so it only seems right taking him everywhere with us. I think he will like it, because he has gotten to where he talks about his "friends" and playing with his friends. It's so sweet just to hear him say, "Momma, can I go play with my friends today?" He talks about his friends in Sunday School all the time. He wants to go to church everyday just to play with his friends. He's such a big boy now. He's been a whole week without having any accidents in his pants. We're so proud of him.

Tommy's daddy is doing really well. He was able to come home the Friday after Christmas. He looks great! He still has some issues and a lot of healing to do, but only prayers and time will take care of that. Thank you all for remembering him in your prayers.

Garrett has scans at the end of the month and then bloodwork and a check-up early in February. Please say a prayer for us during that time.

Thank you all for everything, and thank you Jesus for many good days with Garrett.

Love,

Melissa, Tommy, and Garrett

Saturday, December 21, 2002 at 08:19 AM (CST)

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Garrett is doing fine. His immune study came back, and he is making some antibodies, but not enough to skip some immunizations. So, Garrett has to start completely over with his immunizations. I took Garrett yesterday to get his first series. He got 5 of his immunizations, but only 4 shots. Two of them they could mix together because of his age....thank goodness. He got 2 in each thigh. Needless to say, he was pretty sore last night.

Even though he got 4 shots, he still had a good time yesterday. After we left the doctor's office, we went to kinder music and Garrett played with two other children his age, and they made sugar cookies. Of course Garrett wanted to sprinkle green sugar on his cookies. After we left kinder music, we went to the skating party that Tommy gave his 4th graders for their Christmas. Garrett wanted to be just like the othe big kids, so we got a pair of skates for him and he got right out there. At first he held our hands really tight, but towards the end, he didn't want anyone to hold on to him. I had the lady tighten the wheels so they wouldn't turn, but Garrett didn't know the difference. He even pretended to fall just like the big kids. I have some pictures that I'm adding to the web page of him skating. He had so much fun....and we did also watching him act like a big kid.

Tommy's daddy is doing some better. He was moved to a rehab facility on Thursday. He has been eating better and we just pray that he will continue to heal and get better. Thank you all for your prayers. It really means a lot to our family.

We hope and pray that you all are having a wonderful holiday season. Please keep those that have lost loved ones this year in your prayers. We know they are having many mixed emotions....happy because their loved ones are no longer suffering or in pain, but missing them so terribly much...we miss them too. Also keep those in the hospital and facing more treatment in your prayers. They need special encouragement this time of year.

Thank you all for everything! We know that we would not be here right now if it weren't for your prayers and support. Have a wondrful holiday season! Please thank God for ALL of your blessings....even the ones you don't know about.

We love you all!

Melissa, Tommy, and Garrett

Monday, December 09, 2002 at 04:29 PM (CST)

NEW PICS!!!!

Hello everyone! We are doing fine...we still haven't heard anything from Garrett's immune studies, but we will let you know when we do. He's doing great! He's getting really excited about Christmas.....but he doesn't want to be anywhere near Santa Clause! I guess that means no pictures of him sitting on Santa's lap this year. He loves all of the lights and Christmas trees. I guess we will have to go driving around looking at all of the Christmas decorations one night....I like looking at them too.

Tommy's daddy is doing better. His surgery on his intestines went fine...he stayed in SICU until Thursday of last week. As soon as they took him off of the ventilator, he wanted something to eat...or at least thought he did. Anyway, as most of you know, that just doesn't happen like that....they gave him ice chips to begin with. That would make anyone mad. He is now able to eat real food and is doing really well with it. We hope he will continue to improve and be able to come home the middle or end of the week. Thank you all for your prayers....we know we wouldn't have made it this far without them.

Please remember to look at the new pictures on the web page. Garrett is getting so big....and independent. We hope you all are having wonderful holidays. Please say a special prayer for those that have lost their loved ones this year. We know the holidays just aren't the same without them....I'm sure they would appreciate your prayers!...I'm putting a poem on here that I found on a teenagers web page...he wrote it for his parents before he got his wings. If it doesn't touch your heart, nothing will.

We love you all!

My First Christmas In Heaven

I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below
With tiny lights, like Heaven's stars, reflecting on the snow

The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away the tear
For I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear
But the sounds of music can't compare with the Christmas choir up here.

I have no words to tell you, the joy their voices bring,
For it is beyond description, to hear the angels sing.

I know how much you miss me, I see the pain inside your heart
But I am not so far away, We really aren't apart.

So be happy for me, dear ones, You know I hold you dear.
And be glad I'm spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I sent you each a special gift, from my heavenly home above.
I sent you each a memory of my undying love.

After all, love is a gift more precious than pure gold.
It was always most important in the stories Jesus told.

Please love and keep each other, as my Father said to do.
For I can't count the blessings or love he has for each of you.

So have a Merry Christmas and wipe away that tear
Remember, I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

Saturday, November 30, 2002 at 02:39 PM (CST)

Hello everyone,

First of all, Garrett is still doing fantastic!!! He continues to be an inspiration for us all...We have had a difficult time with my daddy. His recovery from the the by-pass surgery went super, however, he experienced difficulty with nausea and keeping food down..and they ran the angiotube for a couple of days without him getting any better..finally, yesterday they did a CT and discovered perforated intestines. They did surgery late last night to repair it and he is in SICU at least until Monday...My family knew there was something more and we just give God the glory for all he has done...The doctors seem confident that this will solve the problem...the next 48 to 72 hours are very critical...

He has been so strong through it all and kept his sense of humor in tact...in the prep room before they took him back. the nurse asked if he had anything to eat or drink since midnight and he said nothing since midnight...three days ago!!! God has kept him really calm and we are very blessed for that!!! Please keep us in your prayers as we get through this time...Take care and keep your family very close...everyday!!! God IS blesing each of us!!!

Sunday, November 24, 2002 at 07:24 AM (CST)

Good Morning, everyone!!! Garrett continues to amaze us...He is such a miracle from God! For such a little fella, he sure knows just what to say or do at the right time...The Lord has blessed us so very much...this Wednesday will be Garrett's ONE YEAR anniversary post-transplant!! We couldn't be prouder of him and the doctors, and nurses who exceeded our every expectation!!!

Please keep my daddy in your prayers as he had triple by-pass heart surgery last Wednesday...He did wonderfully..he got out of SICU on Thursday and is expecting to go home today or tomorrow...It is so incredible what medicine can do..it seems he had a mild heart attack 20-25 years ago and had diseased arteries from smoking 25 years ago.. God surely has had his hand upon him and our family during this ordeal..I have said many times, you just don't know what you can do until you are put into that situation..Praise God...everyday is Thanksgiving Day!!! Please take care and love one another and remember that God IS blessing us all the time!!!

Friday, November 08, 2002 at 11:23 AM (CST)

Good Afternoon everyone! I know some of you are sitting on pins and needles, so here goes..........................

GARRETT'S SCANS ARE FINE....there is no change in how they look, so he is still considered to be in remission. We were able to have the MIBG and the CT scan done yesterday, so Monday we will only have the clinic visit and blood work. Isn't God so good? Thank you all for your prayers, concern, and thoughts.

We were able to visit with some of our old friends from 5100 and 5200 and even got to meet Cameron and his family....another precious little boy battling neuroblastoma. He is post transplant and was able to be discharged from the hospital on Wednesday. His momma and daddy were so nice...we hope we get to see them again when we go back. Please keep Cameron and his family in your prayers. His web page address is caringbridge.org/nc/cameronlaugh Please visit his page...he had a tough time in transplant, and still has radiation to go through. I know his momma and daddy could us some of your wonderful words of encouragement and prayers.

We also were blessed with being able to see our buddy Brett from transplant. He looks GREAT. Garrett loved seeing him and his family....please say a special prayer for them...they were at Duke also for Brett's one year check up.

We saw many of our wonderful nurses, doctors, and friends while we were in Durham....they mean so much to us. They took care of our precious little boy and us all of those many times we were in the hospital. I don't think we will ever be able to tell or show them how much they really mean to us. We pray that they will be truly blessed for being so wonderful!

There are new pictures on the web page...I have more to put on, but they will only let me put three on at a time...I will change them in a couple of days.

We love you all and thank you again for your prayers and love.

Love,

Melissa, Tommy, and Garrett

PS: Please visit Garrett's smile quilt. The address is http://smilequilt.com/garrett.html

If you click on the link at the bottom of the quilt page, you can add a square to the quilt. Just write on the email what you want the square to say.

Tuesday, November 05, 2002 at 06:00 PM (CST)

Hello everyone!! Time has flown by like crazy since school started. I am so blessed to have such an able bodied fill in on the updates. Melissa has been so good to keep new pictures and do updates on Garrett.
As most of you all know, we go back to Duke tomorrow to begin his YEAR check up. Praise God!!! Actually the 27th will be his anniversary, but with that being around the Thanksgiving holidays I guess they wanted to get the scans completed early. We absolutely can not put into words how much the words of encouragement and the prayers have mneant to us. God only knows how much we appreciate everyone of you.
Garrett is growing up right in front of our eyes. He loves going to the football games so much..just now when we got out to go vote he said, "See Tigers play football, Daddy?" I guess he had some influence in that direction. He is no longer undefeated going to the Clemson games as we got stomped by the 'Pack. His record is now 7-1. His momma and I are so proud of him and we owe it all to our Lord. His work through the doctors and nurses gave us the opportunity to see him do so many new things everyday! Please don't underestimate the power of prayer in your life!!! Please keep us in your prayers over the next few days...we'll come home Thursday PM and go back for more tests Monday. Take care of your family and appreciate them everyday. As Garrett says, "I'm Momma and Daddy's miracle!" How true that is!!! God bless!!

Melissa will have some new pictures when we get back...

Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 02:18 PM (CDT)

Hello Everyone! NEW PICTURES ON THE WEB PAGE!

Garrett has been doing great and so have we. He keeps us busy...really busy. He is 100% boy...thank goodness. He likes jumping off of things now and leaping like a frog up our stairs. Not to mention that if he sees water...anywhere...he has to stomp in it. He went to check the mail with Tommy the other day and jumped into a puddle and fell back in into it. He ended up soaking wet all the way down his back. He also likes answering the phone now too. We have to race him to the phone so we can answer it first before he does. He thinks he's grown...I guess it only gets better, or more interesting should I say, in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.

This past weekend we went with some of our wonderful friends to Clemson's homecoming. We had a great time looking at all of the floats and doing the tailgating thing. Garrett cheered so well that Clemson even won the game. I have new pictures on the web page to show you what kind of fun Garrett has in Clemson.

We've been very busy lately...and it looks like things are going to be getting even busier with the holidays quickly approaching. Garrett has his year checkup on November 6,7, and 11. Keep Garrett and us in your prayers....we are praying for good results and for me to be able to go back to work. We're not sure if we are going to be able to find someone to stay here with Garrett or if he will be able to go back to daycare. I guess that's one of the questions that we will ask at his checkup.

Please keep signing the web page...we check it everyday! Thank you all for your concerns, prayers, and friendship. It means the world to us. We love you all!

Melissa, Tommy, and Garrett

Wednesday, October 16, 2002 at 12:45 PM (CDT)

Hello everyone! We are doing great! Garrett is growing up and has been being such a big boy. This past weekend we went to Charleston with my family to see Disney on Ice. Garrett loved it and we had such a wonderful time.

This weekend, we are going to Clemson's homecoming with some wonderful friends of ours. We are sure we will have a great time.

We do know that Garrett will have his one year checkup on November 6, 7 and 11. He will have the MIBG injection on the 6th, the scan on the 7th, and we will go back on the 11th for a CT scan, lab work, and clinic appointment. We hope to be able to visit some of our wonderful friends while we are there.

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've update. I hope to update again soon.

We love you all!

Love,
Melissa, Tommy, and Garrett

Monday, September 30, 2002 at 10:59 AM (CDT)

Hello Everyone!

Garrett is doing wonderful and is coming along nicely with the potty training. He only has one or two accidents a day. I think he is doing very well, especially for a fairly young two year old.

We did get a call from one of Garrett's doctors at Duke about his one year checkup. We will be up there November 6 and 7th for the MIBG injection and the MIBG scan and then we will go back November 11th for his clinic appointment and for his CT scan. We hope we get to see some of the wonderful families that we were in the transplant unit with. We also hope to see some of the super nurses, doctors, and other people that have taken such good care of us.

I'll have some more pictures of the web page soon, so keep checking in. I have learned that Ryan is back at home and is doing well. His leg that was broken is completely healed and they have been given the ok by the doctors to resume his physical therapy. We thank God for healing him and making him strong.

Thank you God for letting us know all of these wonderful people who have been looking out for us. Thank you also for the families, children, doctors, and nurses who have really added blessings to our lives over the past year and a half. We know we have A LOT to be thankful for and we thank God everyday for our little miracle. We couldn't imagine what life would be like without him. Thank you God for everything! Please say a special prayer for the families going through treatments, who are recovering from treatment, and those who are facing treatments.

Garrett is sending out lots of hugs and kisses. We love you all!

Love,

Melissa, Tommy, and Garrett

Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 08:23 AM (CDT)

Good Morning Everyone!

Garrett has had a very good week. We went to the Clemson game on Saturday and we all had a great time. I've put some new pictures on the web page. We were able to go onto the field after the game and meet some of the football players. Garrett liked running around on the huge tiger paw on the field the best. When it was time to leave, Garrett didn't want to go.

Garrett has been doing very well with the potty training. He's not using the potty all of the time, but he will tell me when he has to go, most of the time that is. Sometimes he waits until he's already gone and then tells us. He still has his days when he tells me, "Momma, diaper"...I guess we all have our lazy days. I think he's done very well though for someone who was scared to death of the potty to begin with.

Tommy's school year is going great. He has a good class and really enjoys them. I know that helps make the days go by a lot faster.

The little girl, Hailey, that I told you all about last time did very well with her pheresis (where they collected her stem cells). She is in the hospital now having her 3rd chemo treatment this week, so if you get a chance, please sign her web page and give her and her family some words of encouragement. She will be two in October, I think, so she's about the same age as Garrett. I remember how scary it was for us, and all of the encouragement and prayers really helped. Her web page address is:

caringbridge.org/wa/haileyanne

Last I heard Ryan was off of the oxygen and was moved to a regular room out of the PICU. If everything continued to improve, he should be able to go home later in the week or next week sometime. I will try to find out more.

We haven't heard when we are going back to Duke for Garrett's one year checkup, but we should be hearing something soon. I will let you all know when we find out. We are hoping to get to see some of our transplant buddies when we are there. A lot of us were all discharged about the same time, so our checkups are usually around the same dates. We miss them all and would love to see them. We also miss the nurses and doctors from 5100 and 5200. They are very special to us.

Thank you all for your continued prayers. This one year checkup will be a big milestone for us to get past. Garrett's chances of relapse decrease the longer he is in remission. We pray that if it's God's will, that there will be no new spots and no cancer. We know that it is in God's hands no matter what and all we can do is pray about it and leave it up to Him. He knows what's best. Thank you all for everything. Thank you God for what you've done, doing and going to do.

Please remember to check out the new pictures.

Tuesday, September 17, 2002 at 01:55 PM (CDT)

Sunday, September 15

Hey Everybody!

We had a great time at the Clemson ballgame yesterday. Garrett was wonderful! He had a lot of fun watching everything. He had plenty to watch. I have some wonderful pictures that I am including on the web page.

Please everyone remember Ryan and his family in your prayers. He is in the PICU right now. He was having some breathing problems, so they had to intibate him on Friday. I have been told that he is stable and that he should be moved to a regular floor and room on Monday. The link to his web page is at the bottom of Garrett�s. Also, the 2yr old little girl that I wrote about not long ago has a web page now. Her cousin is the one that updates it: the address is caringbrige.org/wa/haileyanne She is so cute. She is due to start pheresis next week. Please sign her guestbook if you have time and let her and her family know that you are praying for them.

Tuesday, September 17

Garrett has had a good day today. We have done a little bit of finger painting and coloring. He helped me cook him some scrambled eggs this morning. He is such a big helper. Thank you, Aunt Cathy, for the extra big boy pants and rescue hero. Garrett was so excited to get his package. He keeps the card close by and has put the stickers on it also. Thank you again. We hope you have a wonderful trip to Washington, D.C. this week.

I haven�t heard anything new about Ryan, but if I do, I will let you all know. Thank you all for your prayers. We know we wouldn�t have come this far without every single one of them.

We love you all!

Monday, September 09, 2002 at 08:45 PM (CDT)

Hello everyone!

I'm happy to say that Garrett is doing great! Boy does he add a lot of laughs and excitement to our days. He is always coming up with something to do to make us laugh. And, I have no idea where he gets his love of junk food. That may be one of the few traits that he has of mine....as you all know...he is just like his daddy.*****The new pictures will explain the part about the love of junk food*******

We wanted to let all of you know that our little buddy Cam has been discharged from the transplant unit and is doing great. We have not heard anything new from Ryan, but we will let you know when we know something. Please continue to pray for his bones to get stronger and heal. He and his family are very special to us.

We are hoping to see some of our transplant buddie when we are at Duke for Garrett's one year check-up. We are not scheduled to go back to Duke until November, and that is when his 1 year check-up will be. At that time, we will find out more about Garrett's immune system and immunizations. We will also have scans repeated to make sure that Garrett's cancer has not returned. We are already praying for good results. If it's the Lord's will, Garrett will beat this and will only have scars to show off.

We are planning on taking him to the Clemson game on Saturday. It's been awhile since he's been to one, (he wasn't able to go to any last season) so we think he will have a great time. He likes dancing to the music and loves to watch people. We will let you all know how things go. I will definately have some pictures for all of you.

Thank you Jesus for another wonderful day with Garrett. He is such a blessing to our lives. He really shows us what life is all about. Please bless those in the transplant unit and those that have been discharged, bless the nurses and doctors, and families that care for them. Thank you for all of our many, many blessings. AMEN!

We love you all!

Melissa, Tommy, and Garrett

****Remember to check out the new pics.******

Wednesday, September 04, 2002 at 10:06 PM (CDT)

Hello Everyone!

*****Please check out the new pictures on the web page*****

Garrett is doing great! The virus that we were warned of at clinic last week was very mild on us this time...thank you Jesus! Garrett seemed to have a little bit of a stuffy nose and a sore throat a couple of days, but is perfectly fine now. Maybe he has fought this one off for good. We pray that his immune system is improving with each of these small colds and viruses so that when he does get a bad virus it won't lead to the hospital.

Please say a special prayer of thanks to God tonight for taking care of our little buddy Cam. He is supposed to be discharged from the transplant unit tomorrow. Yeah, Cam....tomorrow will be his 11th day post transplant. He still has a long road ahead of him, but I know his family is glad that this part will be behind them. His web page is caringbridge.org/fl/camspage I know his family would love the encouragement and prayers if you want to visit his web page and sign his guestbook.

Add a little girl by the name of Hailey to your prayers also. I was contacted by her aunt. She has just recently been diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma and is due to start her 2nd round of chemo. They live in Washington about 3 hours away from Seattle (that's where she's being treated) and she will either be in the hospital or in the Ronald McDonald house during the entire treatment (about 9 months they were told) because of her living so far away from the hospital. I know this is hard for them on top of them having to deal with the fact that their 2 year old daughter has cancer. I know her family would really appreciate your prayers. I will give you all her wep page address once they have set one up for her.

I know you all remember baby Ryan. Please say a special prayer for him. His mom emailed me and let me know that he is doing good, but because of his disease, steroids, etc., he has very brittle bones and now has a broken left femur (leg). She said that it was probably caused by the physical therapy that he has to have. Please pray that if it's God's will that he will make Ryan's bones heal and be stronger. His family has been through so much like a lot of the transplant families. We have a link to his web page at the bottom of Garrett's. Just click on the link and it should take you there.

We want to thank all of you for your continued prayers, support, and love. All of this would have been A LOT harder if it weren't for you! We know we don't say it nearly enough, but THANK YOU! Also, please remember to thank God for your blessings...you never know what you are blessed with until you are faced with losing it. We love you all!

Thank you God for everything! Please give a special blessing to our transplant buddies....Emily, Briana, Austin, Ryan, Benjamin, Sam, Cam, Brett, Phoenix and Julie. Also be with Hailey as her family is just starting down her road of treatment. Thank you for all of the wonderful doctors, nurses, parents, and friends. Please watch over us and protect us. AMEN!

Love,
Melissa

Sunday, September 01, 2002 at 03:52 PM (CDT)

Day +277

Hello Everybody! Garrett is doing great! My parents are here visiting with us, so Garrett has somebody other than Tommy or me to play with. He is delighted. I think ALL of his toys are everywhere but in the toy box right now.

It's been very rainy here all week, so we've pretty much just stayed in. I know he misses going outside, but when he goes out, he wants to jump in the mud puddles, throw dirt, you know.....normal "boy" stuff.

Tommy has been doing really well being away from us during the day since he has had to go back to school. I think it helps that he has a good class. I think he really enjoys them. Garrett misses him during the day, but when Tommy comes home in the afternoon he wants his daddy all to himself. I think it's kind of cute.

Please continue to pray for our transplant buddies and their families. Some of them are still having some problems, but we know prayer works wonders. Thank you Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do for us.

Love,
Melissa

PS-----Look at the new pictures!

Thursday, August 29, 2002 at 06:19 PM (CDT)

Day +274...

Hello everyone...Garrett is doing good...His MiBG results were fine..it seems the line on the MIBG that the doctors saw three months ago is still there, but nothing showed up on the CT scan, so that is wonderful. The line could be scar tissue, dead tumor cells, or many other things. The doctors are very pleased with the scans and we plan to repeat scans in three months. It is so miraculous how the Lord has looked out for him and his momma and daddy!!! Melissa went back to Durham Sunday with her daddy for Garrett's CT scan on Monday...He did much better after the scan this time...dealing with the after effects...His CT came back in good shape and we just say a big AMEN!!! God's hands are still on his growing body...

Now, I am jealous that Garrett got to see Samantha and I didn't...I hear how wonderful she looks..Sam is such a super young lady and we all just love her and her family so much!!! Keep up the good work, Sam!!! I want to hear a song when I see her next, so she better be ready!!! Melissa said Brianna was doing well...Brett is handling some sickness without being admitted...so that is a MAJOR step forward for our good buddy in Georgia...Speaking of Georgia...I can only pray that my Tigers can stay close in Athens on Saturday night for the football game...We do know that miracles happen everyday!!! We pray that the rest of our young people are doing better...Austin, Julie, Brandon, Benjamin, Emily, Cam, and the others that are up there and have been discharged. Please keep Michael Allen's family in your prayers. He is along with our other precious angels in heaven now. He had his transplant before Garrett and has been at Duke since battling GvH in his stomach. He is no longer in pain. Please tell your family and your children that you love them. You can never say it too much!

Hey everybody! This is Melissa. I will put some new pictures on the web page soon. We love you all!

Tommy, Melissa, and Garrett

Tuesday, August 20, 2002 at 02:48 PM (CDT)

Day +265...Hello everyone...We are on our way to Durham for the first part of Garrett's nine months studies...He is doing great..playing, eating, and doing everything else boys his age are doing... He continues to be such a blessing to us and keeps us on our toes...

We pray the results will show that the cancer is still in remission...However, we don't know God's plan and we TRY to be prepared for anything that comes our way...The Lord is so good to us and we appreciate every prayer and word of encouragement from each of you...

Our thoughts and prayers are with each of our close friends from the unit...and with the families of Zachary and Jacob, while they deal with relapse and doing every possible thing they can to help their young one...Give us strength to follow through on whatever needs to be done...Thank you dear God for every blessing and we give you the honor and the glory...

Saturday, August 17, 2002 at 04:25 AM (CDT)

Day +262...Hello everyone...Everything is going great...Garrett is doing just about anything he wants and we are so proud of how things have gone so far...The first three days of school went well...next week is more meetings and planning...Everyone at my school is so concerned about Garrett and ask about him frequently...I am really blessed to be working with some of the best people around...

Our prayers go out to Zachary and Jacob and their families...We understand that both of those young men went through transplant within the last year or so after treatment for neuroblastoma... Now, they have relapsed and they are undergoing further treatment...This type of cancer is so aggressive and when it comes back it is difficult to get under control...God CAN handle it though and we pray for healing for the boys and strength for their families to endure...

Garrett has his nine months studies this week and we will be at Duke...He will have the MiBG (radioactive iodine injection to give a picture of any cancer cells and their location) done on Thursday...He will be out completely for that one...He'll probably have an audiogram done too... He will have a CT done a few days later...Our faith in God is strong and we know whatever lies ahead...Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through God which stregtheneth me." Continue to keep those prayers going up to heaven for each of our young people including the two families dealing with relapses...Melissa and I thank each of you so much for your support and we thank our dear Jesus for ALL of His many blessings!!!

Tuesday, August 13, 2002 at 08:45 AM (CDT)

Day +258...Hello everyone...We had a great trip to and from Durham...The dentist says everything looks good...She was complimentary of Garrett being off the bottle and brushing his teeth...Melissa and I are very proud of how he has handled changes in his life...The Lord surely has been with us...

Today is Melissa's birthday so Garrett and I have "let" her sleep in some this AM...I start school tomorrow with meetings, etc..The children start on the 26th...should be an interesting year...Our great friend and one of Garrett's many doctors, Noos (Susan)got engaged over the weekend...We are sooooo happy for her and Chris...He works with adult oncology in Florida...Garrett has already told him to watch out and that he wasn't sharing "his" Noos...sounds like a new soap opera, doesn't it?...

Thank you for keeping us and our other young people in your prayers...God does answer each one...Please continue them because they do make a difference...Thank you dear Jesus for all of our many blessings!!!

Saturday, August 10, 2002 at 07:51 AM (CDT)

Day +255..Hello everyone...We hope each of you have had a good week...Everything is great here! Garrett is growing so fast (just ask Kelly, Stacy, and the rest of the nurses)...Melissa and I can't say enough about the dedication and consideration that the nurses at Duke give each patient...God surely is blessing them daily!!!

We go back to Duke tomorrow for a dentist visit... This doctor works with the transplant team in dealing with the effects of chemo and the other drugs that damage developing teeth...Garrett does pretty good brushing them..he didn't have any cavities last time so...

There are several young people headed into transplant soon with neuroblastoma (Garrett's type of cancer) and they need everyone to be in special prayer for them...Cam, Cameron, Nathan, and Brittany...God knows every need and we pray that He will bless them as he has us!!! Also, keep our other young people is your prayers...All of them seem to be doing fine...Remission and healing is the goal they seek...Thank you Jesus for EVERYTHING you do for us!!!

PS Look out NEW pictures are here!!

Tuesday, August 06, 2002 at 12:24 PM (CDT)

DAy +251...Hello everyone...We had a great time at Keri's wedding in Flat Rock, NC...She is so special and we wish her and Patrick all the very best...Some of the other transplant nurses were there too...Garrett loved seeing them and Melissa and I certainly appreciate them more each day!!

Please lift up my momma's family in prayer...She lost her sister early this morning after a long illness...She is pain-free and singing in heaven... We appreciate each prayer and word of encouragement...God works in mysterious ways but our faith will guide us through any ordeal...

Our other young people seem to be doing pretty well...Please keep those prayers going for each of them and their families...We can't say it enough...Prayer does change things!!! Thank you dear Jesus for ALL of the many blessings!!!

Saturday, August 03, 2002 at 11:03 PM (CDT)

Day +248...Hello everyone...Garrett is doing great and we are so proud...he has fought off another cold!!! It really is a big deal because it means his immune system is at least trying to do its job!!

We are going to a very special friend's wedding tomorrow.. Keri, Garrett's primary nurse, is getting married. We wish her and Patrick the very best!! We pray that Noos (Dr. Susan)will have a safe trip back to Durham. Please keep us in your prayers...God continues to take care of every need and we are so humbled by the concern...Words could never describe our appreciation!!! Prayer does change things!!!

Please keep our other young people in your prayers...Ryan, Samantha, Brett, Phoenix, Austin, Benjamin, Julie, Brandon, Briana, Emily, Nathan, and Cam. Thank you dear Jesus for every blessing...

Thursday, August 01, 2002 at 06:01 AM (CDT)

Day +246..Hello everyone...We are very pleased that Garrett is doing well.. He seems to be over a little runny nose and a cough...no fever, however...We are so thankful for the prayers and words of concern especially since our computer difficulties, which by the way were just solved last night!!! The firetruck is going nicely until about 6:00 or so then he gets in our bed...Everything else is slowly progressing...

We are so proud that our buddy Ryan is home in CT...We know they are on cloud nine!!! He is a strong young man and we are proud to know him and his family!!! His parents and grandparents are special people and they hold a place in our hearts forever...the courage they continue to show is amazing!!! We will be checking up on the others and updating again soon...Remember to keep them in your prayers...Samantha, Brett, Emily, Austin, Benjamin, Julie, Briana, Brandon, Nathan, and Cam...Thank you dear Jesus for all of your many blessings!!!!

Sunday, July 21, 2002 at 08:45 PM (CDT)

Day +235...Hello everyone...We are sorry for not updating sooner but our computer has had problems lately...Garrett continues to do sooo very well...He has slept in his firetruck bed the past three nights...Melissa and I are so proud...next on the agenda is potty training...That probably won't go as smoothly...

We don't have any other real news except to please keep our other young people in your prayers...God is so good and we are grateful for all of the support that we have received and we thank Jesus for all the many blessings we have been given!!!!

Monday, July 15, 2002 at 06:18 PM (CDT)

Day +229...Hello everyone...We are sooo thankful for another safe trip to and from Durham...Garrett's labs were great...11.5 hemo., WBC was 6.8, and platelets were 256,000...All of his results were in normal limits...Praise God!!! He barely cried when he got his IV put in and he did good for his CT scan... It is the after effects that are awful...He has little control of his head and legs and he acts "out of it" for a while...He wants to get down and go like always but we have to walk along for support...It usually wears off and he is back to normal by the next morning....

His results from the scan were absolutely normal...no sign of the "spot" or anything else out of the ordinary...We appreciate every prayer that has been lifted up for Garrett...the Lord continues to heal him in such a mighty way....We shouldn't have to go back before the middle of August (dentist appt.) and he will have his nine months studies done in late August(MiBG and bone scans plus hearing tests)

We didn't see any of our "old" friends but we did see new ones...Cam and Nathan...Cam is about Garrett's age, Nathan is about four yrs. old and they are from Florida...they are scheduled for their transplants very soon...We talked with Cam's mother and grandmother and Nathan's mother some...trying to ease their minds and let God take control and try not to worry...Nathan hasn't got a caringbridge site yet but Cam's site is www.caringbridge.com/fl/camspage
Please write a short note of encouragement for them if you can...we are sure they will appreciate it!!!

As for the rest...Ryan, Brett, Sam, Benjamin, Julie and Phoenix are doing good... We aren't sure about Austin, Briana, or Brandon...Please keep all of them in your prayers for continued improvement and healing...Thank you dear Jesus for all of your many blessings!!!

Tuesday, July 09, 2002 at 09:27 AM (CDT)

Day +223...Hello everyone...We hope everyone had a great long weekend and returned home safely...Garrett is doing great except for the occasional bump and bruise...typical for a two year old... We continue to be in awe of what God can do...Thanks to all of you for prayers and words of encouragement...

We will be returning to Durham Sun. PM for Garrett to have a CT scan Monday AM...The doctors didn't want to wait for the nine months study to check on that "spot" on his liver...We have the same reaction everytime...Tell us what to do and we will do everything we can to do it!! God works through the fine doctors and nurses...Our appreciation for them grows as we see Garrett develop into a young man...

Our other young people seem to be doing better...Ryan is improving, Brett is back home after some time in the hospital, Samantha is doing good...We haven't heard any updates on the others...Austin, Phoenix, Benjamin, Emily, Julie, Briana, Neil, and Brandon...Each one holds a special place in our hearts...Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done for us...

Thursday, July 04, 2002 at 08:48 AM (CDT)

Day +219...Hello everyone and Happy Fourth of July! We are so very proud to be home on this holiday...Garrett is doing super good and we give God ALL of the praise and glory...We have so many things to be thankful for...We want to thank each of you who take the time to check up on Garrett and we appreciate the prayers more than words could ever express!!

We want to say special happy birthday's to Kimberly, who is 18 today..(my niece that just graduated from HS), Mary (Melissa's sister-in-law) we won't mention her age!! HA!!! and to Noos (Dr. Susan) who has been so very good to us since our time at Duke...We love each of them very much and hope they have a terrific day!!! Noos(FL) and Mary(TX), be careful getting back home...

Please continue to pray for our other young people...they are true miracles of God and we pray that God will keep and comfort them...Also, pray that God will bless those families that have had loved ones go on to heaven...We will never forget the courage they show and the concern they have for others during their time of loss...We humbly...Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do for us!!!!

Saturday, June 29, 2002 at 08:17 PM (CDT)

Day +214...Hello everyone...Garrett had a wonderful birthday party today, complete with a visit from a real firetruck...Garrett and the other young ones rode in the truck around the neighborhood, blew the siren, and got stickers...He absolutely loved it!!! Melissa and I are so proud of him...for many reasons!!! We thank God for every blessing...

Garrett has one more week of the Accutane... So far, his skin doesn't look too bad...By this time it looks very dry, almost like a rash...We appreciate the benefits of using it, but...We are so thankful that there are medicines like that to help with killing cancer cells...maybe it has really done a great job with Garrett...

Please continue to remember our other young ones in your prayers...Ryan, Brett, Samantha, Austin, Briana, Brandon, Benjamin, Julie, Neil,and Emily.. They have a special place in our hearts and we pray that the Lord will continue to work miracles in their lives!!! Thank you dear God for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!

Thursday, June 27, 2002 at 12:33 PM (CDT)

Day +212...Hello everyone!!! Garrett continues to do very well...We have reached another milestone...He has slept in HIS firetruck bed the last TWO nights...We are in the process of moving upstairs so that he can sleep in his own bed...He has made a grrreat effort in all of the changes lately...no more bottles, his own bed, potty training(a few times)... We are so proud that God has given us the opportunity to see him grow up...

We want everyone to keep our buddy, Brett in your prayers...He is from Georgia and he is in the hospital in Jacksonville, FL...We are very close to him and his family...He is having a reaction to some medication and the doctors aren't sure why...I know they covet each prayer and they are so very faithful to God...Continue to keep our other young people in your prayers also...God is constantly working miracles...Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!!

PS Garrett's birthday is tomorrow...2 years old and running the show!!!

Tuesday, June 25, 2002 at 08:36 PM (CDT)

Day +210...Hello everyone...We got back safely from Durham yesterday...Everything went super...His labs were almost perfect...Hem. 11.7, WBC 6.7, and platelets were 220...All very normal, as were the other results... We are so thankful... We will go back up July 15th for a CT scan to make sure the spot on his liver doesn't show up again...We thank God for his many, many blessings...

Garrett has already had a party for his birthday...at clinic...he got a cake from Noos(Dr. Susan)and big chocolate chip cookie from Child Life (they help patients cope with treatment, etc..)Noos also helped decorate the cookie complete with a tiger paw ...Several nurses and doctors sang to him... We appreciate everything they have done for Garrett and for us!!!!

We were so glad to see Julie, Ryan's daddy, Bill and Phoenix's daddy...Julie looks so good!!! Doyle said that Phoenix was doing great!!! Bill updated us that Ryan is doing some better...God continues to work miracles...Keep Sydney's family in your prayers as God comforts them... Samantha, Brett, Austin, Briana, Brandon, and Neil(He is a good friend of ours from Duke)all need your prayers!!! Thank you dear God for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!

Friday, June 21, 2002 at 06:29 PM (CDT)

Day +206..Hello everyone...We are back from the beach and Garrett is doing great!!! We had a good time except for the rain!!! But we know it is very much needed in our area... I am sorry for the misunderstanding on Wed.'s journal, Garrett's b-day is next Friday the 28th... We are so thankful that God's blessings are so plentiful!!!

We go back to Durham Sun. PM for a check up on Monday...It should be a short visit with lab work, etc...Monday also starts his last cycle of Accutane...the dry skin was rough last time...We will be glad to end that med..Our prayer is that he continues to do well and we know that God is always with us...Please don't ever take things for granted...Appreciate your family everyday like its your last.. We hope you all will keep our other young people in prayer...Ryan, Austin, Samantha, Brett, Benjamin, Briana, Brandon, Emily, Phoenix,and Julie...Thank you God for all of your many blessings!!!

Wednesday, June 19, 2002 at 01:52 PM (CDT)

Day +204...Hello everyone... We hope all of the daddys had a great day on Sunday...I sure did!!! Garrett is doing grrrreat!!! We (my whole family) have been at the beach this week...He loves the ocean so much...I hold him up and I get wiped out...He laughs so hard...He went straight to the water like he was a fish...no fear in that boy's heart...I came home for the day and I'll go back tomorrow..I know they hit the water this afternoon... We continue to be so very thankful for God's mercy on us....

Melissa and I are so appreciative of the prayers and kind words from everyone...God willing, Garrett will be TWO on Friday... We couldn't be prouder of him and his progress...Please remember our other young people in your prayers...There are some special needs..Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!!

Sunday, June 16, 2002 at 01:52 PM (CDT)

Day +201...Hello everyone... Melissa and I are very proud that Garrett has gotten through another "100 days"...The good Lord is continuing to watch over us...I have had a very good Father's Day so far...Being Garrett's daddy is a real honor for me and I truly take pride in that job... We all hope that you other daddys have a great day...

Garrett is doing so good... No bottles for over two weeks and he has showed signs of wanting to use the potty, Yeah!!... Melissa's momma and daddy got him a firetruck bed for his birthday and he likes to play on it but its not for sleeping just yet...Ha!!! We hope it will be REAL soon!!!No other news except that we will go back to Duke for a check up and labs next Monday...

We hope you will remember our other young people and their families in your prayers...Ryan, Phoenix, Austin, Benjamin, Emily, Briana, Brandon, Julie, Brett, and Samantha. Each family is so strong in their faith...Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!!

Happy Father's Day!!!!

Thursday, June 13, 2002 at 02:36 PM (CDT)

Hey everybody...I put two new pictures in the photo album. Love, Melissa!

Day +198..Hello everyone.

We are very happy to let you all know that Garrett's bone marrow biopsy was normal...His marrow is very healthy, just as he appears to be... He continues to amaze Melissa and I with everything he is learning... He does exactly what he wants to..He looks so healthy and we are so grateful for the prayers that have been offered up to heaven for him and for his momma and daddy...God is blessing us in so many ways and we certainly give Him ALL of the glory and the praise...

We go back to Durham on the 24th for a checkup due to the Accutane he has been taking the past several months... he will take the last cycle beginning that Monday for two weeks... In about six weeks, Garrett will have more follow-up scans done to verify his remission... Only God knows how it will turn out but we can assure you that our faith and confidence is in Him to handle the situation just as He sees fit...

As we approach the second "100 days" since Garrett's transplant, we want to make sure everyone realizes how much we appreciate the efforts of our nurses and doctors that have worked with God's guiding hands... Some have extra special places in our hearts and they know who they are... Please keep Sydney's family close in prayer has they grieve over their lost little girl... Her family does remain strong and we pray that God will keep them...Remember our other young people as well...their needs remain many to get through such a heart wrenching time...Thank you dear Jesus for what you have done, doing, and going to do!!!!

Tuesday, June 11, 2002 at 04:39 PM (CDT)

Day +196...Hello everyone...We are back home safely from Durham...First of all, we want to thank each of you for your prayers and kind words...We have felt the Lord's presence this week...Garrett is doing fine...He had an MRI and an ultrasound done yesterday...Everything went smoothly with both except for the waking up...He is so wobbly after conscious sedation...He wants to get down but he can't walk straight for a while afterward or until he sleeps it off...We aren't sure how to respond to the results..it seems that NEITHER test showed any sign of the spot from the CT... Today, Garrett had a bone marrow aspirate (biopsy)done ...the preliminary report is good but we should get the final results back in a few days...Those results will determine our next course of action...

So many thoughts have raced through our minds over the past week...Is the neuroblastoma back? What do we do about it? etc... Melissa and I have tried to leave it all up to God and we know He works miracles..as Garrett is already our miracle man...We want reassurance that the spot has gone or we want to know what it is so we can treat it... Neuroblastoma is very aggressive and it spreads quickly so the doctors believe it probably is something else (not cancer)... The "not knowing" is a lot worse than the "knowing"...Please keep us in your prayers and as always our other young people from Duke...

With a very heavy heart, we understand that Sydney has lost her earthly battle and has gone on to be with Cassie, Omavi, Sarah-Morgan, Reggie, Shannon, Quentin, Charlie, and the rest of God's angels in heaven...We got to know her family during our time in Durham and they certainly are Christians and believe that God is in control... Please pray that God will bless them with strength and courage during their time of loss....Dear Jesus, we thank you for everything you have done, doing, and going to do for us!!!!

Friday, June 07, 2002 at 12:05 PM (CDT)

Day +192...Hello everyone... Garrett has run a low grade fever the past couple of days (mostly from 99.5 to 101) but he seems to have fought it off pretty good..All we have given him is Tylenol and Motrin..so we are pleased that it has gotten better before it got any worse...

Now comes the hard part, it seems that upon closer study of Garrett's CT scan, there appears to be a spot in his liver about 1cm in size...At first an ultrasound was scheduled but now we'll have an MRI done Monday AM and a BM aspirate (biopsy) done on Tuesday at Duke... There are many possibilities about what it could be but we won't know until they look at the results next week... Although we would rather be home next week, Melissa and I have the same approach to this as we did in March 2001... Let's find out what it is and do something about it... God has blessed us so richly and we know He will NEVER leave us...We continue to grow in the belief that only He can heal Garrett completely... Melissa, Garrett, and I are so blessed to have so many wonderful family and friends that have supported us during the past 14 months...

Please continue to keep our other young people in your prayers... so many fine families that have faith in God...We have grown to love each of them and we know God has special plans for each one...As always...Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!!

Wednesday, June 05, 2002 at 01:14 PM (CDT)

Day +190.. Hello everyone...Nothing new to report here except Garrett has been doing great...We have been a week without a bottle, mostly without incident and he has been sleeping better (Praise the Lord!!)...We are having VBS at church this week and he has had a big time...Melissa is working with the older children and I have the adults...We are so very proud of his progress...he is a fantastic miracle of God and we are so appreciative for every prayer and word of encouragement that has been lifted up in Garrett's name...

Please continue to remember our other young people...Brett, Samantha, Sydney, Ryan, Phoenix, Benjamin, Austin, Emily, Briana, Brandon, Brittany, and Julie...Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!

Friday, May 31, 2002 at 05:19 AM (CDT)

Day +185..Hello everyone...It's hard to believe it has been over six months since transplant...We have been blessed with having so many people lift Garrett's name up to our Lord for healing...God IS watching over us and we are so appreciative of all our blessings...We had a good week considering Garrett had to be stuck for IV and preparation for MiBG scan...His counts were outstanding:WBC is 10.5, hemoglobin 11.8, platelets are 258 and everything else is functioning normally...Monday's CT scan went great...It was clear and he recovered pretty quick from sedation...The dentist was super good and we are proud to say that Garrett hasn't had a bottle for three days!!! Yeah!!! Wednesday's injection was ok..He was upset over being held tightly more than the stick, I think..

We were most concerned about Thursday's scan though as it shows the "hot" areas for cancer cells..in other words the injection he got on Wednesday (radioactive iodine)is drawn to the bad cells in his body... naturally the iodine goes straight for the thyroid so he has to drink a drop of some nasty stuff in a cup of juice to steer the iodine away to any cancer cells...Think of how God has helped so many people with medical and technological advances like these... He had to be put under general anesthesia to get a full study... the conscious sedation only lasts about an hour for him and the scan takes about 90-100 minutes to complete... He woke up before he got to recovery from nuclear medicine so the effects didn't last as long as Tuesday's scan...Overall, he did very good handling everything and Dr. Susan (Noos) got us a fast report and the scan came back fine...

We continue to be in awe of how many super people the Lord has put in our lives..We are grateful to each one of them and we will always remember their kindness...Unless you have been to Duke, you can't imagine how good everyone is and how much they care about the children and their families... We were surely sent to the right place 14 months ago yesterday...

We got a chance to visit with Samantha, Benjamin, and their parents...It was such a blessing to talk with them... The Lord works miracles everyday...Praise God for what he has done with Ryan...He was given little hope to make it a few days ago and he is doing much better...Pam, Bill, and Katie are such a terrific family and we pray so hard for courage and strength to continue their fight... They certainly couldn't do it without your prayers and the help of fine grandparents!!! What would we do without them?

Please keep Sydney and the rest of our Duke family in your prayers... Brett's scans went great last week but we understand that he had to be admitted to the hospital in Jacksonville, FL (close to their home in GA)for stomach problems we know our Lord will watch over our buddy and he will recover quickly..We understand Julie is doing super and we hold up the others to God for special blessings...Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!!!

Tuesday, May 28, 2002 at 11:06 AM (CDT)

Day +182..Hello everyone..We are still in Durham but we do have some great news...His CT scans yesterday came back perfectly clear...We are so proud of our little man and how much God has watched over him... Today we went to the pediatric dentist here...She was recommended by our doctors...She was fantastic dealing with Garrett and she had lots of fish all over her office...stuffed, hanging from the ceiling, and the real kind, too!!! He really liked the fish and he did ok dealing with everything else... The chemo is hard on the teeth especially the young ones as they start coming in...however, his are in pretty good shape, so we are thankful for that...Tomorrow we will get his MiBG injection for the scan on Thursday...This scan shows any cancer cells that may be in his body and he'll be under general anesthesia this time so they can get a full study done...We know that the Lord is with us throughout...

We got see Samantha and Benjamin yesterday...They both look maaahvelous and they parents aren't looking too bad either, HA!!! God is working so many miracles... Samantha sang a song to us and has a head full of black hair...She is an angel!! We want to remember Ryan and Sydney in prayer...We plan to check on them later today or tomorrow...Also, keep our other young people on your list as God works through the wonderful doctors and nurses at Duke to continue the healing process.... Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!!

Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 01:50 PM (CDT)

Day +177..Hello everyone, Wow, time is flying by...Garrett is doing soooo good!!! My momma kept him on Monday and Melissa's momma was here Tuesday and Wednesday...God only knows how much we appreciate them helping us out...My niece, Kimberly, is graduating from high school tonight and Garrett and I went to the Awards Day program at school this morning...We are very proud of her! She has worked so hard and she plans to major in Education.

We plan to leave on Sunday for Duke. Garrett will have his six months scans done next week. He looks so healthy and we feel confident that the cancer is still in remission. God has kept us very close and our faith grows stronger each day... We give Him ALL the praise and glory... We look forward to seeing our "family" up there... Keri, Latane, "Noos", Michelle, and everyone else that has been so fantastic!!!We understand that Brett is there for scans this week and Samantha will be getting her checkup next week... We pray that they get good results...Sam and Brett are super young people and their families are so full of faith that God will take care of them!!! Please remember the others...Sydney, Ryan, Brandon, Julie, Phoenix, Brandon, Briana, Brittany, Austin, Benjamin, and Emily. Please keep each family on your prayer list as they approach the time for follow up scans, etc...

Things around here have been so great!!! Melissa and I both have been able to work out the school year and Garrett has been doing so well...We don't write as often but please KNOW how much we appreciate and covet your prayers for continued healing by God's mighty hand!!!! We try to let everyone we see know what God means in our lives... Be thankful everyday for what God has given you and especially grateful for your children and grandchildren's good health...We know we are not the only ones to have a serious illness affect a young child but we encourage everyone not to take anything for granted!!! Hug those little ones extra tight...Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!

Sunday, May 19, 2002 at 04:16 PM (CDT)

Day +173...Hello everyone...We got back earlier this afternoon...Garrett continues to do fantastic...We doubt there is a two year old (almost) that enjoys a plane ride any better than Garrett did.. He was sooo excited before the flight and the Lord just kept him at ease...all of the take offs and landings went very smooth except for the first take off...He tightened up a good bit but started laughing once we were airborne... He truly earned his wings...Thank you God for getting us home safely...

Garrett loved seeing Cassie's family...Anthony, Jackie, Little Anthony, and Dante...Little Anth is 21 and Dante graduated from high school on Saturday... Dante racked up plenty of awards and gave the Welcome speech at graduation...just as he stepped up to the microphone in a silent gymnasium of about 500-600 people Garrett let loose, hollering DANTE!!! Everybody knew who Garrett was after that!!! ...that is if they didn't know him before!! Ha!!!

The weather was awful for the Relay on Friday night...we walked for a little while and remembered Cassie's spirit and courage... If you aren't involved with a Relay for Life Walk...please do so because the money raised could help save one of your family members lives one day... We pray that God will continue to bless each of our young people at Duke, locally, and at home...Your prayers do work and are VERY much appreciated!!! Garrett will be having his six months scans done next week at Duke... We feel confident things are going well but we know that nothing is guaranteed...we take nothing for granted but we know God's will be done and we give him all of the praise and the glory!!! Thank you God for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!!

Wednesday, May 15, 2002 at 11:20 PM (CDT)

Day +169...Hello everyone...Our little man is doing fantastic!!! He continues to remind us of God's healing hand and of all of you that keep Garrett in your prayers... Our hearts are overwhelmed by the support that we have received...God has so many earthly angels that have looked out for us to go along with our heavenly angels watching down from above...Our gratitude couldn't be expressed in words...Thank you!!!

We will leave tomorrow afternoon out of Charlotte for Louisville... Garrett is so excited about flying on a plane... We hope he keeps that enthusiasm during the trip...We are looking forward to visiting with Cassie's family... She is still with us and we look forward to walking in her memory at the Relay for Life...Her brother Dante is also graduating from high school on Saturday...Please keep us in your prayers as we travel...

We also pray that you keep the rest of our young people close to your heart...God knows each need of healing...Our Lord works in ways we don't understand but when we leave our troubles with him...we are richly blessed...Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!

Sunday, May 12, 2002 at 09:19 PM (CDT)

Day +166..Hello everyone... We continue to be blessed with our little man doing so well!!!He does so many new things each day.. What a miracle to have with you each and every day...

Melissa went to visit her mother today so it was just the men around here today... We are so thankful that our mothers are still with us and continue to help out in any way...Mommas are so special...Our daddys aren't too bad either...Ha!!!

We are still planning to go to Louisville this weekend for the ACS Relay for Life Walk up there... The first lap is dedicated to Cassie's memory and we certainly want to be there...God has shared so many fine people (young and older)with us over the past year... Cassie continues to influence our lives with her strength and her family shows great courage and dedication to helping others fight cancer and find bone marrow donors to match with other cancer patients...

Please keep Sydney and Ryan especially close as the doctors continue to deal with them with God's help...Also, remember Phoenix, Brett, Samantha, Brandon, Julie, Briana, Austin, Benjamin, Brittany, and Emily in your prayers...Most of them are doing pretty good as far as we know... Only through God can healing take place...It takes faith and patience.... Thank you dear Jesus for all that you have done, doing, and going to do...

Please check out the new pictures of Garrett!!!

Wednesday, May 08, 2002 at 10:51 PM (CDT)

Day +162...Hello everyone...We are so happy to report that Garrett is doing super!!! Melissa and I are in awe of what God has done for our little man!!! He has absolutely loved being with his grandmas over the last two weeks... We were so glad that Aunt Jan came with Mrs. Joyce to visit... Her son and his two boys are huge Duke fans (living in Kentucky).. and we are too... We couldn't do without our parents... We are grateful for their help and support... We love them sooo much!!

Garrett has a few more dry skin areas develop over the past couple of days...but it usually goes away when he gets off of the Accutane...It doesn't bother him as much as it does us...this cycle gets us half way through... He continues to do fantastic taking all of his meds... We pray that the Lord will continue to heal him and his little body soon will be whole again!!!

We want to say another huge thank you for the cards, notes of encouragement, and the other acts of kindness... Please keep us and our other young people in your paryers... Each one of them exhibit enormous courage and strength... Their families have shown faith in God to handle each situation... We are trying hard to be examples of what a Christian should be... Thank you dear Jesus for what you have done, doing, and going to do for us!!!!

Sunday, May 05, 2002 at 03:43 PM (CDT)

Day +159...Hello everyone...Garrett is doing very well and is growing sooo fast!!! His face is a little dry from the Accutane this cycle (two weeks on and two weeks off)..it is not nearly as bad as the earlier rounds were... We are thankful for that... We pray there are no cancer cells in Garrett's body...but if there are..the med causes them to mature quickly and not be able to multiply... We do go back for his six months scans the week of May 27th...God continues to heal him and we pray that the cancer is still in remission...

We all had a great time at the Heroes Walk in Durham on Saturday... the weather was cool and rainy but it stopped long enough to make a couple of laps before it started raining again... The activities were moved inside one of Duke Medical's newest buildings, North Pavilion...it seemed everything went great and we saw many of our doctors and nurses...and many transplant patients and their families... met one young man who was on the unit SEVEN years ago and doing great!!!! God is still performing miracles... We want to thank everyone who donated to the Family Support Program as they passed their goal with a total of over $34,000... That program is amazing in what is accomplished with volunteer- based help...Those who couldn't attend that wanted to..please make arrangements to go next year...the first Saturday in May!!!! We met so many special people this weekend... Patrick, Chris, Beth, Trevor, and so on...We feel blessed to a part of such a wonderful "family"...

I will try to work three or four days this week as grandma's continue to support us... Garrett loves them so much and we know he is very well taken care of... Melissa and I knew he had energy before but since his line has come out...his level of action as increased many times over...We are so grateful...

Please continue to pray for our friends from the unit...Sydney (still in PICU), Ryan, Samantha, Brett, Brandon, Austin, Briana, Brittany, Emily, Phoenix, and Julie
These are such fine young people with great families... Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do for us!!!

Friday, May 03, 2002 at 10:13 AM (CDT)

Day +157...Hello everyone...Garrett continues to do wonderfully!!! He has really enjoyed his grandmas this week...We are sooo thankful for them coming to help us out like this...Melissa and I have great parents and all four of them are willing to help whenever they are needed... I have had a good week back at school..It has helped not having classroom responsibilities and just being here to help... Everyone welcomed me back with open arms and it meant a lot... I work with some of the best people around... We appreciate everyone being so concerned about Garrett and praying for his recovery...

We are heading back up to Durham tonight for the Heroes Walk tomorrow... We are looking forward to seeing our friends there..hopefully, the weather will cooperate and many former patients and families will be out... The Family Support Program does so much to ease some of the burdens of being away from home and helping to make the transplant patients and their families as comfortable as possible...

God is so good and we pray for our young people that we have mentioned so many times before... Please lift them up to our Lord for healing and faith... Sydney, Ryan, Brianna, Austin, Benjamin, Emily, Samantha, Brett, Brandon, Phoenix, and Brittany...God knows every need and he will provide...Also, keep Melissa's grandmother in your prayers... she is not doing well and is in the hospital in Charleston...Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!!!

Monday, April 29, 2002 at 06:00 PM (CDT)

Day +153...Hello everyone...We are back home and Garrett is doing fantastic!!! Everything went according to plan this morning...He doesn't know much difference but you can believe his momma and daddy do!!! It is so good to see his body without a tube sticking out...Garrett was completely worn out when he went to bed and he slept all night..which is a rarity...Keri (Garrett's primary nurse in the transplant unit) came by and played with him last night...She is a wonderful friend to all three of us...We want to congratulate her and another special person...Keri is getting married in August and Latane is planning a December wedding...They both are super friends and we wish them the best of everything!!!

We have been blessed beyond belief over the past 13 months... Garrett is doing great and we are so very grateful...He had labs today...his WBC is 7.1, Hemoglobin was 11.0, and platelets were 247,000!! All of those are very normal and super for a transplant patient... Garrett also visited with Dr. Susan today...She is such a great friend to all of us... We mean it when we say that we have another family in Durham!!

Melissa's momma is coming tonight to keep Garrett tomorrow and Wednesday as I go back to work...My momma will likely keep him on Thursday...We appreciate them so much as they help us finish out the school year...

Please keep us and our other young people in prayer as we seek complete recoveries...Sydney went back to PICU and Brandon is back on the unit, so please keep them and their families extra close..Ryan, Samantha, Brett, Austin, Briana, Benjamin, Emily, Julie, and we saw Phoenix with his head of hair today... God is blessing each of us...Thank you Jesus for what you have done, doing, and going to do!!!!

Saturday, April 27, 2002 at 02:02 PM (CDT)

Day +151...Hello everyone...Garrett is doing grrreat!! We had a good time at the Relay for Life walk in Moncks Corner last night!!! We heard they had raised over $180,000 for cancer research just in Berkeley County...Garrett had a ball walking (running) around and he was the youngest cancer survivor there (over 200 survivors were present)...God surely has been and continues working miracles!!!

We leave tomorrow for Durham so Garrett can get his central line out Monday morning..His surgery is scheduled for 10:30 and they keep on time pretty close...hopefully this will be the last central line he will EVER have...God is so amazing and we see it everyday through Garrett!!! He is such a blessing to us...

Please continue to keep our other young people in your prayers as they recover... Samantha, Ryan, Brett (great talking to you the other night!!)Sydney, Emily, Austin, Briana, Brandon, Benjamin, Brittany, Julie, and Phoenix...We hope to see them at the Heroes Walk in Durham next Saturday morning!!! Also, pray that everything goes well with the walk and they raise much needed funds to support families of transplant patients...If you ever are in doubt about what God can do for you, please call us or one of the other families and we'll tell you!!! Faith and patience to let Him work in your life is all it takes...It is definitely not an easy road, but God will get you through..Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!

Wednesday, April 24, 2002 at 11:02 PM (CDT)

Day +148.. Hello everyone... Garrett is having an amazing week... He is having so much fun outside playing...One of our neighbors has a small pond with fish in it and he has gone crazy over watching them... So we got him a small aquarium and four fish..three goldfish and a shubunkins...He loves feeding them best of all... they will have to fill the pet requirement for a while...We love watching him be soo excited and thank God more everyday for the miracle he has given us!!!!

We are still in good shape for getting his line out on Monday...and we also scheduled his six months studies...he will have almost full body CT, and MiBG done the week of May 26th... So please keep us in prayer... Melissa and I can't say it enough about the support we have gotten... So many people deserve angel wings for their consideration of us over the past year... Also remember my momma's family as she lost a sister this week... Aunt Margaret had been in declining health... Momma is now one of seven living children (10 overall)God has another angel in heaven...

We plan on attending the Relay for Life Walk in Moncks Corner, SC(close to Charleston)on Friday night. Melissa's aunt is also a cancer survivor and wants Garrett to walk with her and we will make every effort to be there... Then the next weekend May 4th, is the Heroes Walk in Durham for the PBMTU... Only though the grace of God are we able to attend these very worthwhile events!!!! If you haven't given to the American Cancer Society or taken part in a Relay walk, please do so... the blessings you receive will far outweigh any cost to you!!!! God is so good...

We are so glad that Samantha will get her central line out soon... We are looking for Ryan to possibly go home to Connecticut very soon!!!!We love these two families so much and we wish them the very best in these medical victories...Also remember Sydney, Julie (rec. from a fall in Florida), Austin, Benjamin, Brett (6 Month studies are very soon), Emily (home in Maryland), Briana, Brandon, Bernhard, and Brittany (from Charlotte)...Each of these are dear to our hearts and we pray that God continues to heal them!!! Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!

Sunday, April 21, 2002 at 08:29 PM (CDT)

Day +145...Hello everyone...Garrett has had a fantastic weekend!!! We went up to Durham Friday afternoon and saw Clemson beat Duke, 5-3. Garrett was all over the place... looking at the other children there and exploring the area around the field...While we were walking about, Garrett "caught" a foul ball and after the game he got several of the players to sign it!! He really had a grrreat time talking to them and they were very patient with him!!! On Saturday, Dr. Susan (Noos) came to the game to visit with Garrett and Clemson won, 4-1!!... She continues to be super good to him and us!!! We have been so blessed to have fantastic friends take care of us!!! God is so good in so many ways....

God willing, next Monday, Garrett will get his central line taken out... Except for two or three days, he has had a line in place for 13 months... No more dressing changes and checking his clamps...He'll be able to get in the water the way he wants to...Melissa and I said several months ago, we would go straight to the pool after he got it out... We will be soooo glad!!! However, it also means that he will have be stuck for blood draws etc... We just give God the praise for getting him to this point...

Please remember to keep our other young people in your prayers..We miss seeing them but always hold them close to our hearts...Ryan, Sydney, Julie (hit her head requiring several stitches), Phoenix, Benjamin, Austin, Brett, Samantha, Briana, Brittany, Emily, and Brandon all need your prayers so very much...Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!!

This is Monday's news...lab results from today are super!!! WBC 6.3, Hemoglobin is 11.0, and platelets are 249,000..WOW!! Thank you God for all of your many blessings!!!

Friday, April 19, 2002 at 11:25 AM (CDT)

Day +143...Hello everyone...Garrett is doing just great!!! He has had a ball outside enjoying the hot weather...We just put the sunscreen on real thick...We have to keep him drinking because he plays so hard!!! These last four months have flown by... we have had a great time being at home together... I'm going to try to work a few days a week until the end of school so we can keep up our insurance. Thank the Lord for grandparents!!! God has met or exceeded our every need...He truly has worked miracles beyond what words can explain!!!

We are going up to Durham tonight to see the #1 ranked Clemson Tiger baseball team play Duke tonight and tomorrow...Garrett loves to watch ballgames..We are also looking forward to seeing our buddies, so you all look out!!! We have been wanting to see Clemson play and Durham is an hour and a half closer...We are very proud to announce that the Aynor HS Beta Club Walk for Garrett raised over $1000.00 for the Bone Marrow Unit Support Program...We know Jane, Emily, Tina, and the rest will put it to very good use!!! We are so blessed to have such caring people looking out for us!!!

Please keep our young people from the unit very close to your heart in prayer!!! God knows their every need...please pray that the doctors and nurses will continue to provide wonderful medical attention...Our admiration of them grows everyday for what God did for Garrett through them...

Again, the Heroes Walk is May 4th in Durham...please let us know if you have questions..we will certainly find the answers for you...Thank you dear Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do!!!

Tuesday, April 16, 2002 at 12:31 PM (CDT)

Day +140.. Hello everyone...Things continue to go great here as Garrett keeps on running the show...He has really enjoyed getting outside more...the weather has been beautiful..today is around 82 for the high. He loves pushing his wagon and throwing balls in the street so Daddy will have to get it...He is my own personal trainer!!! Ha!!

Please continue to remember us and the other young people in your prayers as they progress...God has plans for each of them...They are all miracles done by God... Also, keep the doctors and nurses close to your hearts as they administer to each one...they are such special people... We appreciate them for their medical expertise and their friendship... We check for halos everytime we see one of them...

Another couple of reminders, the American Cancer Society is promoting so many Relays for Life, please try to attend at least one in your area...and receive a blessing... May 4th is Heroes Walk for the Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Unit (PBMTU)at Duke... please give if you feel led..but pray that they reach their goal for a terrific outreach program to help the families of the transplant patients...You can call or e-mail us about more info or to make a contribution...Please don't take your child's good health for granted...Thank God for what he has done, doing, and going to do!!!

Sunday, April 14, 2002 at 02:33 PM (CDT)

Day +138...Hello everyone... Garrett is doing great... We all were able to go to church again for the third Sunday in a row... He has really done well getting used to to being there again... God is so good!!!

Today ends the latest cycle of Accutane... he has some dry patches of skin on his legs and arms but it never seems to bother him and he doesn't scratch...We will get two weeks off from it and get back on it after he has his surgery to remove his central line on the 29th...We wish that all of the lines inserted worked as good as this one has... We will be a lot more normal after that...Look out swimming pool and beach, Garrett will be full steam ahead!!! We pray that we can get there without any bumps in the road.

We want to appreciate the Beta Club, Dawn, and Kathy for the Walk for Garrett on Saturday. About 30-35 walkers/runners took part. We don't have a final total but we look forward to the PBMTU getting some much needed funds for the Family Support Program. God bless each of you who gave and/or participated!!!

Melissa, Garrett, and I are so very grateful to everyone who has supported us over the past several months. The encouragement has been tremendous and we praise God for sending his people to help us. We are so humbled and we appreciate every act of kindness!!

Please keep our young people in your prayers. Sydney, Ryan, Brandon, Briana, Phoenix, Samantha, Brett, Benjamin, Julie, Austin, Emily, and Brittany Boone continue to be strong and show amazing courage. God knows their every need and our prayer is that He will heal and keep them safe. We thank you Jesus for all you have done, doing, and going to do.

Thursday, April 11, 2002 at 07:16 AM (CDT)

Day +135..Hello everyone... Garrett continues to do well, thank God!! No matter how good things seem, it is very easy to forget who is responsible... Our Lord has been with us throughout...

We want to thank each of you who lit luminaries for Garrett at the Relay last Friday night... We also want to appreciate those that have lit them in honor of Garrett at other cancer fund raising events... Maybe one day, there will be no such thing...until then lets all keep the fight going!!!
Remember each of our young friends from 5200, in Durham, to those at home... We know God is with them... also, we pray for comfort for those that have angels in heaven watching over us...We are so grateful and inspired by each patient and family we have met... Our lives have been changed forever...

The Pediatric Bone Marrow and Transplant Unit (PBMTU) is having their Heroes Walk on Saturday, May 4th. All funds will go to the Family Support Program. Melissa and I, along with many other parents can tell you how important this program is... They do everything possible to make the situation bearable during the transplant process... They organize many activities for everyone involved... For more information or questions, you can contact Jane Schroeder at (919) 668-1128.

The Beta Club at Aynor HS is having a walk in honor of Garrett this Saturday..All proceeds go to the PBMTU at Duke Children's Hospital...You can contact Kathy Richardson at the high school, (843)358-6261 for more information.

Thank you Jesus for everything you have done, doing, and going to do.

Monday, April 08, 2002 at 04:13 PM (CDT)

Day +132... Hello..We have made another successful trip to and from Durham... Garrett is still doing great...His lab results were SUPER!!! His hemoglobin was 11.3, WBC is 6.2, and platelets are 221,000...God has continued his blessings...Garrett weighed almost 13 kg (28 pounds)...which is getting better all the time... He is still on target to get his central line taken out on the 29th of April... unless something unforeseen comes up... We give God the glory for his healing hand!!

We were so glad to visit with Dr. Susan (Noos) and her parents last night... Melissa and I hope they have recovered from their wrestling matches with Garrett.. Ha!!
We also want to thank Duane and Mary again for their continued support and opening their home to us when we are in Durham...

Our good buddy Ryan looked so good today!!! His daddy seemed pleased with his progress... Great to see them both doing well.. That family has so much strength.. Ryan has been in and out of the transplant unit several times..We pray this time will be the last and home in CT will be a reality!!! Please keep them in your prayers along with Sydney, Austin, Brett, Benjamin, Samantha, Phoenix, Julie, Emily, Briana, Michael, and Brandon... Some are still in Durham, while others are at home!!

We met a special young girl and her momma today... Brittany and Melody... they are from Charlotte... Brittany is 12 and was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma back in February... She is getting treatment in Charlotte and will have her transplant at Duke in the next few months.. She should receive her own cells like Garrett... There are two younger children in the family... We will pass along her web site address when they get it set up... Please pray that God will comfort and keep them...

We try very hard not to take anything for granted... Melissa, Garrett, and I appreciate everything that people have done for us... God has met or exceeded our every need...We make every effort to help others that are facing similar circumstances and encourage them to put their faith in God... for only through Him can blessings be received...Thank you dear Jesus for all that you have done, doing, and going to do...

Check out the new pictures...

Sunday, April 07, 2002 at 12:02 PM (CDT)

Day +131..

Hello..Everything continues to go well with Garrett...The Accutane causes some dry skin but it seems to be doing much better... it seems its usually worse during the first few days of each cycle (2 weeks)...We had a great time at the Relay for Life Friday night...Garrett was the youngest survivor there and he led the first lap around... He was all over the place after that..on the fire truck blowing the horn and sounding the siren, etc...We are so very blessed by God to be there participating in a very worth while event...

We will be leaving very soon to head back to Duke for clinic tomorrow... We hope to see many of our buddies at clinic and of course Garrett's playmates need to be ready...his motor is running on all cylinders...We are so thankful for the cards and other expressions of love...God surely knows what we need to hear sometimes...We are convinced we have so many earthly angels looking out for us to go along with the ones in heaven that we miss so very much!!!

The Beta Club at Aynor HS are having a walk next Saturday in honor of Garrett. All proceeds will benefit the Family Support Program at Duke PBMTU. Melissa, Garrett, and I have had every need met during the past year and we certainly want to be witnesses for what God can do... We are also concerned with the efforts to support the families that go through the transplant process..we know first hand what Jane, Emily, and so many others do to help the families and we want to give back what we can to help others...If you can make it to the walk..great!!! If you can't, then try to give if you are asked by a student... You surely will receive a blessing!

Melissa is going to be putting some new pictures on the web page soon. She has to get the pictures scanned. We want to share some pictures of the wonderful people that we met at Hendrick Motorsport and some of the other people who have blessed our lives.

Please remember each of our young people on 5200, locally in Durham, or at home!! Also, keep the families of our heavenly angels in your hearts as they continue the fight for cures for cancer...Thank you dear Jesus for ALL the many blessings and for another day!!!

Wednesday, April 03, 2002 at 07:50 AM (CST)

Day +127...Hello...Garrett continues to do wonderfully...We are so blessed that he is eating well, taking his meds without a problem, and seems to adjust to most situations... We head back up on Sunday for Monday clinic..should be quick and painless...we have never thought of that trip as a burden... Everyone is so great to us and Garrett has had good results so it makes it alot easier...We were able to go to my school's PTO meeting last night...it was great to see so many people that I hadn't seen since November... The 5th and 6th graders performed and Garrett was glued to them...they sang and danced to songs from Grease...it was a great show... We appreciate everyone showing their support for us in so many ways...
Please keep those prayers coming for us and the others on our prayer list... in 5200, locally in Durham, and at home... Remember the doctors and nurses at Duke...God surely is blessing them... They are the very best medicine has to offer... We hope to see our play buddies while we are there...so you all better rest up...Thank you Jesus for your many blessings and for another great day!!!!

Just a Reminder: ACS Relay for Life is Friday, April 5th...begins at 7:00 PM..plenty of activities and fun...Luminary Service at 9:00 PM..at the Marion Airport on Hwy 76 between Marion and Mullins...

Monday, April 01, 2002 at 11:45 AM (CST)

Day +125... Hello..Everything continues to be going great...Is there a better way to celebrate our Jesus rising up from the dead than to be in church worshiping and giving thanks? Easter 2002 was a special one for us... all three of us were in Sunday School together for the first time since early November...We give our Lord all of the glory...
The weather allowed Garrett to participate in the egg hunt at church on Saturday... he had so much fun... Melissa and I are so proud and amazed how well he is doing... He has acted like he hasn't missed a beat at church... he goes up with his cousin, Kyle, for the children's message and sits up like a big boy...
We had concerns about how he would do but thought everything would be fine... Just another answer to prayer... Everywhere we go people are surprised at how well he wears his mask... We hope he will be able to lose that soon but we aren't rushing anything...following doctor's orders has gotten us this far and we don't want a setback now for anything...
Please continue to remember Omavi and Sarah-Morgan's families has they struggle with the loss of their children...Both of them are singing praises in heaven and looking over us...God please give them the faith and strength to face another day...Also, keep Sydney,Ryan, Austin, Brett, Samantha, Julie, Brandon, Briana, and Benjamin very close to your hearts...Remember the Relay for Life on Friday, April 5th. The Survivor Lap at 7:00 PM and Luminary Service at 9:00 PM at the Marion Airport... Please try to go..you will receive a blessing..Thank you dear Jesus for blessing us and for another day!!!

Friday, March 29, 2002 at 08:02 AM (CST)

Day +122...

Hello...We have had a great week at home... The weather has been great and Garrett has loved it...Our neighbors (the Yarboroughs) do a lot of gardening (unlike Garrett's momma and daddy)and Garrett has been helping them... They are so good at letting him destroy their hard work.. We appreciate the opportunity to be outside and enjoy what God has given us... Our little miracle is growing up so fast....
As we approach Easter Sunday, we would like to thank God for his many, many blessings and sending His son to die for our sins... Most of you already know but tomorrow is the first anniversary of our first trip to Duke... Over the past year, God has been with us through the most difficult days and the good ones... It has been a year to remember for good and bad reasons... the fact that Garrett is doing well and the cancer is in remission makes it wonderful...the fact that we lost so many young people over the year makes it hard...Reggie, Quentin, Shannon, Matthew, Morgan, Mavi, Arleth, Salama, Charlie, and our Cassie... all of these showed amazing courage... they will always be remembered... We are so sorry to hear that Sarah-Morgan lost her battle sometime yesterday... She is so sweet and we pray that her family find courage to face each day..
Thank you Jesus for every blessing and for another day!!!

Please remember that we have our local American Cancer Society Relay for Life on April 5. Cancer survivors registration and check in is at 5:30 PM. The first lap is the survivor's lap and it is at 7:00. The luminary service is at 9:00 PM. We would love for all of you to be there. If you have any questions about the Relay for Life, you can call us or call Deborah Godbolt at (843)423-2495.

Tuesday, March 26, 2002 at 09:13 PM (CST)

Day +119...

Hello everyone... We are back home safely... Thank you God for a safe journey from Durham through Charlotte...Garrett got a super report... WBC is 6.8, hemoglobin 11.2, and platelets are 221 (actually 221,000)...He continues to keep his weight up at 12.3 kg (little over 27 pounds)...We are so proud of his progress and we owe it all to prayers and our Lord...
We were so glad to visit with Ryan and his dad on Monday... and of course the super nurses that chased after him while we were there...great to see you Michelle, Lori, Jenn and the rest... Garrett also had playtime with Dr. Susan, his best buddy Amy, and Keri...He loves them sooo very much!!! Thank you to all of you ladies...We hope to see the rest of you on the 8th of April when we go back for clinic...
Today we detoured over to Charlotte to see Garrett's "adopted" family...the Hurds who work for Hendrick Motorsports and boy were we treated like royalty...Garrett had so much fun...he didn't know which way to go and what to get first...Mrs. Hurd led us through the various areas of production for NASCAR #'s 5,25,48,and 24!! Garrett was so spoiled...We got to walk through the team trailers and see just about everything there...He worked on the pit crew (working the jack and changing the tires)for #5 (Terry Labonte) and got to "drive" Jeff Gordon's #24!!!... Garrett talked about cars and trucks all the way home... We appreciate the time each person spent talking with us and for all of the goodies!!! We could never thank you all enough!!!
We are so sorry to report that Mavi has gone on to be with the Lord...He lost his battle over the weekend... We pray that his family will be strengthened by God and feel his presence during this difficult time... Please continue praying for Sarah-Morgan, Ryan, Sydney, Phoenix, Briana (Mavi's sister), Austin, Brett, Brandon, Samantha, Benjamin, Emily, and Julie (looked wonderful at clinic!!)...God is always with us and we are so blessed by his many miracles... We appreciate every prayer and act of kindness more than words can say...Thank you Jesus for a safe trip and for another day!!!!

Saturday, March 23, 2002 at 04:37 PM (CST)

Day +116... Hello everyone...Garrett continues to do well and we are sooo thankful for many, many blessings... The past two days here have been beautiful... sunny and high 60's temp... We will be going back to Durham tomorrow for Monday clinic...blood work and a quick check up... Since Garrett is almost well, we hope to see some of our young people afterwards... We probably won't be back home until Tuesday evening as we hope to visit some special folks in Charlotte.. During Christmas, Garrett was "adopted" by the Hurd family there and we want to thank them again for their support of the transplant unit patients and families... Words can't express our feelings for each one who took part in the benefit for Garrett yesterday... Aynor Elem. PTO, Aynor UMC, Pilot Club and the many other people involved... We appreciate you all so very much!!!
A note of interest... Our local ACS Relay for Life Walk is April 5th at the Marion Airport... There is a special survivor's lap to start the activities at 7:00 PM and a Luminary Service will take place at 9:00 PM... It lasts until 9:00 AM Saturday morning... There are always many events and contests to take place... We hope some of you can and will attend..If you need any more info, please let us know...

Please say a special prayer for Sarah-Morgan and Omavi. Sarah-Morgan has an infection in her lungs, and Omavi's mom has said that the doctor's have told them to say their good-byes that they can't do anything else. Please pray for their strength and God's will. We will include the links to their web page addresses. Also continue to remember the other families on the unit, the ones who are in Durham still, the ones at home, and the families who have lost their loved ones.

There are many special people who we have come in contact with over the past year. We could never name them all. Just know that we have become better christians, parents, and people because of all that we have been through and because of all the wonderful people who have touched our lives. We love you all and could never tell you THANK YOU enough for helping us through these times.

There is a new picture on Garrett's web page that we want you to look at. This is one of his girlfriend's in Durham. We think she's wonderful also. We love you Susan!

Love,

Tommy, Melissa, and Garrett

Friday, March 22, 2002 at 03:17 PM (CST)

Day +115.. Hello everyone...Garrett is doing great...He seems to be completely clear of his cold...Parents of small children get nervous anyway... well, I guess you could multiply our concerns several times over all things considered...We are thankful he got over it just fine...The Lord has blessed us with a beautiful day outside... Melissa and I were concerned that it would be too wet to get Garrett out but...The reason I say that is that the PTO at my school among so many others had a chicken bog dinner benefit for Garrett today...We wanted to show our appreciation for their efforts in some small way... He really enjoyed meeting some for the first time and others that he already knew... He was like a politician blowing kisses and shaking hands...We pray that the Lord blesses each person and we are truly honored to have so many friends take part today...
As Christians, we try so hard to do what is right... we fall short on many occasions but we continue to make every effort to praise God for his tremendous healing power... Please don't underestimate the power of prayer and what God can do in each of our lives... Please keep us in your prayers and each young person that we keep dear to our hearts...Mavi, Sarah-Morgan, Ryan, and Sydney need special healing...
Keep Austin, Benjamin, Emily, Brett, Briana, Julie, and Brandon on your list also...Thank you Jesus for wonderful friends and for another day!!!

Thursday, March 21, 2002 at 08:45 AM (CST)

Day +114...Hello..Garrett continues to get better with his cold and runny nose... Thank God the results from his RVB were negative... no infection or other signs of problems!!! He is taking the Zithromax.. just in case until tomorrow.. maybe that will clean up any stuff that is left over.. We are so thankful for everyone that continues to pray for him and his momma and daddy!!!
We do go back for clinic on Monday. He will get blood work and a check up... shouldn't be too bad...after all he loves to see all of his buddies... Dr. Susan has been so good to us.. calling to check on Garrett among other things...So many people in Durham are looking out for him...We pray that God will continue to bless them...they are earthly angels...we're sure many others (patients and family members)will agree...
The other young people are on our hearts and minds...Sydney, Mavi, Sarah-Morgan, and Ryan are in particular need...Michael Miller, Briana, Brandon, Austin, Samantha, Brett, Benjamin, and Julie all need continual prayers for recovery!!! From different parts of NC, SC, GA, CT, and FL... they all covet your prayers...also the families that have lost their battles from KY, VA, and MS...God is dealing in their lives also... We miss each of them so much... their courage and strength will always be with us...
Thank you Jesus for all of the many blessings and for another day!!!

Monday, March 18, 2002 at 06:55 PM (CST)

Day +111...Hello everyone...Thank God for another safe trip to and from Durham!!! We are so blessed... Our day has been full... As you know Garrett has had a cold and runny nose this week.. so they did a chest x-ray to make sure he had no further infection in his lungs...all clear!! He also had a RVB (Resp. Viral Battery) done to check for infection (know results later this week)... other than that bit of excitement..everything else went great...his lab results were super...hemoglobin was 11.1, WBC was 5.6, and platelets were 200!!! All very normal!!
He had a nice visit with his buddies... All the nurses and doctors in the clinic... he is so deprived of attention!!! HA!!! Everyone continues to be so wonderful to us and we appreciate them sooo much!!! God surely sent us to the right place for help...

We want to thank all of you for your continued support and prayers. All of this would have been so hard on us if we hadn't had your support and prayers. There are so many of you. We don't have enough thanks for you. Please know that you ARE appreciated. We will be sure to remind Garrett how special all of you are.

We have been so blessed to have Garrett. He is such an inspiration to us. He plays so hard and when he falls or bumps his head (it just seems to get in his way sometimes) he will cry until one of us kiss it for him. After we kiss it, he gets down and starts playing just as hard as before.

We got to see Briana today..she looked maaahvelous!!! Glad to hear Mavi is doing better... his momma and the rest of his family know what God can do!!!! Keep praying for Sarah-Morgan, Michael Miller, Sydney, and Ryan on 5200!!! We also saw Phoenix...he looked great, too!!! Remember Samantha, Brett, Brandon, Emily, Austin, Benjamin, and Julie in your prayers!! Each of these young people are true miracles!!! Thank you Jesus for all of the many blessings and for another day!!!

Please check out Garrett's photo album. Melissa has put some new pictures on there.

Saturday, March 16, 2002 at 04:58 PM (CST)

Day +109...Hello...Garrett is doing fine except for a little cold... He has no fever and acts fine but he is battling a runny nose and a cough... You can believe we have been in contact with the doctors at Duke about it too... No reason to worry... its a good thing to see if his immune system can fight it off on its own... it doesn't seem to bother him..his eating is fine and he is playing as hard as ever... Melissa and I are much more concerned about it than Garrett is...
We do go back to Durham tomorrow for our clinic visit Monday AM... We expect to get the full report on his immune studies... Hopefully, we will have a good visit...We are sooo very thankful to our Lord for watching over us... We continue to be blessed...
Please continue to keep our young people in your prayers...Sarah-Morgan, Sydney, Mavi, Ryan, Briana, Emily, Austin, Phoenix, Samantha, Brandon, Benjamin, Michael Miller, and Brett...some are facing more difficulties than others but God knows every concern and need...Thank you Jesus for another day...

Wednesday, March 13, 2002 at 12:23 PM (CST)

Day +106.. Hello.. Garrett is still doing great... He is eating very well and seems to be gaining weight... We are so very proud of him... We don't have the full report from his immune studies..but they seem to be in the normal range and he is producing antibodies... We are so thankful!!! We aren't taking anything for granted..God is so very good and we honor and praise him for our miracle... Round Two with the Accutane is going well.. Garrett doesn't seem to mind it all... Apparently there isn't much taste.. we haven't tried it as it could cause birth defects..strong stuff... it does seem to help neuroblastoma patients so... We go back to Durham Sun. night for Monday clinic...We just pray that everything continues to be fine... we certainly will go back for as long as they say and when they say...

Sarah-Morgan, Sydney, Ryan, and Mavi need special prayers as they continue to have difficulties...God, please give them strength and courage!!! Continue to remember Phoenix, Benjamin, Austin, Samantha, Brett, Brandon,Briana, Emily, Julie, and Michael Miller. God knows every need and only through him can miracles happen!!! We appreciate every act of support, especially the prayers that are offered up for Garrett.. He surely answers them! Thank you Jesus for another day!

Monday, March 11, 2002 at 08:38 AM (CST)

Day +104...Hello...Thank you God for a great weekend...We did a little visiting with family Friday night...It was so good to get out for a little while...Garrett loved it and he was asleep before we got out of the driveway...Yesterday, we went out and he drove his Power Wheels car for a while..he doesn't quite reach the gas pedal but we've adjusted it so he is in control...scary thought but he does pretty good with keeping it out of the bushes and running into trees!!!
Don't tell any of the doctors but we all went to church last night for the first time since before Thanksgiving...Melissa and I were committed to him going to church before he went to any other public place (other than the hospital)...He did so good keeping his mask on during the service... God is so good to us and we will continue to give him all of the praise and glory working through the doctors and nurses to heal him... We haven't heard from the immune studies yet... we feel that we will get good results and we can continue getting out some...He has added a few new tricks so be on the look out for those... We are so thankful for your continued prayers and words of encouragement...they mean so much to us...
We understand Sydney is out of PICU and on 5200 again...We pray for continued improvement.. Continue to remember Sarah-Morgan and Mavi (back in PICU)...also keep Austin, Benjamin, Emily, Samantha, Phoenix, Brett, Bernhard, Julie, Brandon, Ryan, Michael Miller, and Briana in your prayers... God is working in their lives and we pray for strength and courage... Thank you Jesus for another fantastic day and for everything you continue to do for us!!!

Friday, March 08, 2002 at 09:04 PM (CST)

Day +101!! We have had a fantastic day!!! Dr. Susan called to inform us that the MiBG scan showed no signs of cancer!!! We are still in remission!! Praise God!!! His immune studies won't be back until Monday or Tuesday...those results basically determine how well he can function around the public with or without a mask...
The weather cooperated with Garrett spending most of the afternoon outside..it had been a while since we were outside that long!!! He loved it!!! We are amazed at what he can do...basically anything he wants...Melissa and I continue to be blessed with our little man....
Please continue to remember us and the other young people on 5200, staying in Durham area, and at their homes... God is working on them and their families...You have to believe what God can do before anything can happen!!!! Thank you Jesus for all of the many blessings and for another day!!!

Thursday, March 07, 2002 at 07:45 PM (CST)

Day +100!!! What a great day!! 100 days post transplant!! First of all, God gets all the glory working through the doctors and nurses as they have administered to Garrett... His hands are so mighty and so great...Thank you Jesus for everything!!!
Garrett has had an interesting week...he is fine but it had been a while since he was sedated twice in a week (October)... Monday's CT scans came back CLEAR!!! No sign of cancer!!!! We are so glad that part is behind us...
He was much better going under for todays scans...This study takes about 70-80 minutes to complete...Our young man woke up at the hour mark ready to eat...he hadn't had anything since about 5:00 AM and this was 12:30..so who could blame the little fella? We'll probably get the results tomorrow some time...we feel that he is still in remission but it will nice to get the professionals opinion...
We took a cake to clinic so we could celebrate the special day with the doctors and nurses there..Everyone at Duke has been wonderful and we could never thank each of them properly...God led us there and he is seeing us through...People can live a lifetime not understanding why things happen in their lives... We know that Garrett's illness has had influence on so many people... we feel God wanted us to have contact with some of the super special people that we have met at Durham... March 30th will be ONE YEAR since we first went to Duke...time sure does fly... so many wonderful people have touched our lives and we will never let Garrett forget them..Some of the first were the staff on 5300 when they first thought it was neurological...
then 5100 after they discovered it was cancer..as Dr. V says.."you both looked worse than Garrett" she still tells us that when we see her... she was so right!!! Then the staff at Radiation Onc. helped to keep us on the right track... and then of course transplant team and 5200...Our lives have changed so much in many different ways but that November day that we entered the bone marrow unit....the 25 days we were in there forged so many lasting relationships.... families lost sons, daughters, cousins, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren... Losing Cassie was the hardest for us...we walked and talked with her everyday Garrett was inpatient... then almost everyday we were in clinic... Her strength made us and everyone around her better people... We miss her so much!!!
I did see Samantha today...they came back to clinic for some unresolved things...she looked good and sang for me but remember them in prayer..Keep Sarah-Morgan, Sydney, Ryan, Michael Miller, Austin, Brandon, Benjamin, Emily, Brett, Briana, Julie, and Mavi close to your heart as they continue to heal...These families show such amazing courage...
Only God knows how all this will end but we certainly want everyone reading this to know how much we appreciate every act of kindness shown to us...please don't hesitate to thank God for all the blessings in your lives...he surely can do all things and he is blessing each of us daily!! Thank you Jesus for another day!!!

Monday, March 04, 2002 at 07:27 PM (CST)

Day +97... Wow!! We are back from the latest round of tests...Everything is still great and we totally give God all of the praise and glory!!! His WBC is 5.3..still good...his hemoglobin is...ready for this?...10.5!!! (10.5-13.5)...Praise God!!! His platelets were 193 (150-350 is normal)...STILL great!!! We are so proud!!
Garrett had to be sedated for his CT scans today... The last time he was sedated the Nembutol really took hold quickly...but today he kind of fought it and he wore me and his momma out before he fell out...everything went fine after that...He is still a little wobbly and can't move the way he is used to but we are glad this part is over... We are headed back tomorrow for his radioactive iodine injection Wednesday...He will then have his MiBG scan and immunoglobulin (immune system)studies on Thursday... We do go back on the 18th but if we get good results..we think we may get turned loose soon...Thank you Jesus for all blessings...
We met another couple from Florida with their 18 month old son, Cameron. He was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma two months ago...he is doing his chemo treatments in Florida and then he will go back to Duke for his transplant around May or June... they were there today for aphresis (stem cell collection) and we certainly want to keep them on our prayer list...Melissa and I think seeing Garrett made them feel better about Cameron's future... He sure has made us feel wonderful... God is so good...
We saw Julie and Briana at clinic today...Julie is heading home Wednesday to Florida... she is a great young lady and we know she will do fine...Briana seemed to be doing good and we understand Mavi is doing much better and back on 5200...Ryan, Sydney ,and Sarah-Morgan weigh heavy on our hearts tonight...Ryan is some better but there are some unresolved issues that need answers... Remember Brandon, Austin, Samantha, Phoenix, Benjamin, and Brett... God is still working miracles... We can't say or do enough to prove how much our Lord has done for us...We know he has healed Garrett...and others... Please keep the prayers coming for Garrett and to the others on 5200, locally in Durham, and at their homes... Thank you Jesus for another safe trip and for another great day!!!

Saturday, March 02, 2002 at 08:16 PM (CST)

Day +95..Hello..We have had a wet day here...Garrett is doing just fine...He has diversified his eating to blueberry muffins and he loves pineapple...We have been giving him new things to try and he at least makes an effort...God is so wonderful...we can't begin to understand all of his blessings...
We are headed back to Durham tomorrow for his CT scans to be done on Monday...we'll probably come home afterwards then go back Tuesday PM...for his iodine injection for Thurs. MiBG scan..this scan is very informative to the doctors as to where any cancer cells are located...We leave it up to God... He continues to guide the doctors and nurses...They are sooo terrific...We have looked forward to these so called "100 Days" scans..for the last, oh..100 days!!! Thursday is Garrett's actual 100th day since transplant but its close enough...Please remember us this week in your prayers as we travel and for the cancer to remain in remission...
Keep Sydney, Ryan, and Sarah-Morgan close to your hearts in prayer...Continue good news with Brett, Samantha, and Benjamin at home...the others Emily, Austin, Brandon,Phoenix,Mavi, Briana,and Michael Miller...Julie is headed home this week to Florida..she is so special because this is her second round with leukemia and she has a great outlook, family and a fantastic birthday...we share June 10th...I'm a couple(Ha) of years older...she will be 15!! Keep up the great work!!!
We want to thank everyone for their continued support for us...You never know when you might face a hardship but it is great to know so many people remember to keep you in their prayers... We feel that God is just beginning with Garrett... Thank you Jesus for another great day...

Thursday, February 28, 2002 at 06:30 AM (CST)

Day +93..Hello... Everything is going great with Garrett...he is doing many new things everyday...God surely is blessing us and we are so thankful... We don't have much else to report.. it is so wonderful to be home with him watching him grow up...We don't know what next week's news will be...we certainly feel confident that the cancer is still in remission but....
We do appreciate some extra special nurses who look out for us...Lori(administered Garrett's transplant) and Michelle (one of Garrett's primary nurses)visited us in clinic on Monday...they played with Garrett while we were waiting to see Dr. Kreissman...super young ladies!!!
Their kindness is appreciated so much!!!
Please continue prayers for Sydney (still in ICU), Sarah-Morgan, Michael Miller,and Ryan...Samantha is at home for good... she is so sweet and we do wish them the best...Keep Brett, Benjamin, Emily, Austin, Brandon, Julie, Phoenix, Briana, and Mavi in your prayers for healing and strength... God still works miracles...Our faith will carry us through only if we truly believe that God is in control...
Melissa and I covet your prayers so very much...Prayer does work and we know God listens...Garrett is a true miracle and we thank God daily for his healing...Thank you Jesus for so many blessings and for another day....
Other websites to check out:
www.caringbridge.com/nc/bwhitingspage
www.caringbridge.com/fl/juliebriggs

Monday, February 25, 2002 at 08:43 PM (CST)

Day +90... Hey, we are back from Durham...everything went super good!!! Garrett's weight was good...26.4 pounds(12.0 Kg)...Hemoglobin was 9.9..up from 8.9 on the 15th...WBC is 5.8 up from 4.7... and get this...his platelets were 206 (actually 206,000)...Basically, everything but the hemoglobin is in normal range with his blood work.. His echo and EKG went fine...he watched Shrek and fussed at the tech went he got in his way of the TV..other than that he laid still the whole time..We also had an audiogram done today...his hearing hasn't changed since his last checkup in September...one of the side effects of the chemo is hearing loss so we got great news there... We are so proud of our little man...and how God has used him to bless us so much...We'll go back next Monday for CT scans, probably back home until Wed. AM...then go back and get the radioactive iodine injection Wednesday and get the MiBG scan done on Thursday...then back home... We can only love him and take care of him...we leave it (at least try to leave it) with the Almighty...As we (Christians) pray...sometimes we give him our problems but by the time we finish...we have taken them back for us to worry about...it is difficult to explain why our faith weakens sometimes during the time we need him most....
We were so glad to see Briana, Austin, Julie, and Emily today at clinic...they all seem to be doing good...Sydney's momma said she should be out of PICU by Wednesday...We need to continue prayers for these and Phoenix, Samantha, Mavi, Ryan, Brett, Benjamin, Brandon, Michael Miller, and Michael Allen...God knows each of their needs...
Thank you so very much for all the prayers and words of encouragement...it goes without saying...they mean so much to us!!! Keep the doctors and nurses in your thoughts as well... they really work hard to make life easier on the unit...and God surely has his angels here on earth.... We pray that Dr. Susan gets back safely from Orlando..we missed seeing her today!!! Thank you Jesus for another safe trip to and from Durham...and for another day!!

Saturday February 23, 2002 6:46 PM CST

Day +88...Hello...Garrett is doing so good.. He is talking and fussing up a storm...God continues to bless us in so many ways... We are so proud of his desire to read books and know what everything is he sees...
We will be leaving tomorrow PM for Durham... We'll see our regular (oncology)doctors Monday AM then he'll get an echo done in the afternoon... every group has worked so well together coordinating Garrett's treatment...We hope Dr. Susan isn't working too hard at the medical(??) conference in Orlando this week...We have seen her pretty regularly since the transplant..She sure is an angel God has sent to us...
Once again, we hope each of you will remember us in prayer as we begin these tests...God surely answers prayer...Also, keep Sarah-Morgan, Sydney, Ryan, Austin, Benjamin, Emily, Julie, Brett, Samantha, Briana, Michael Miller, Phoenix, Michael Allen, and Mavi close to your heart...Each of these young people and their families are so strong and we feel a bond that can't be explained...Speaking of special bonds....Continue to pray that Cassie's family have all the strength and faith needed during this time of loss...and keep those super, wonderful nurses and doctors on 5200 close in prayer...Thank you Jesus for another great day... We give you all the praise and the glory....

Friday February 22, 2002 7:45 AM CST

Day +87...Hello...Garrett continues to do well...He is eating so much better... We are really grateful for this because his weight was in the upper quarter before he was diagnosed... he is slowly moving up the chart though to get back where he needs to be...He amazes us daily with some of his actions...Only God knows how much of a blessing he has been to us...Please continue to pray for us as we approach scan and test time...they are called the 100 days tests (100 days since transplant) but actually these are scans will be older than that...we haven't had scans since September that show the cancer in remission... Even though there are no outward signs, the blood work is good, and the transplant seems to be a success...there are no guarantees...We are feeling a little anxious as they approach...an echo will be done Monday after our clinic visit...then the others will be done the following week...

We are glad to hear Sydney is doing much better...Sarah-Morgan is still having some difficulties but fighting hard... Brett made it home to Baxley, GA...we pray for his continued progress... Keep Mavi, Briana, Austin, Samantha, Emily, Julie, Michael, and Ryan on your prayer list for healing and comfort...Also, those fine nurses and doctors need God to lead them to make proper decisions...they are everyday heroes!!! Please God we pray that Cassie's family has the courage to go on... We love you all!! Thank you Jesus for another day to praise your name!!!

Tommy, Melissa, and Garrett

Wednesday February 20, 2002 11:49 AM CST

Day +85...Hello... Garrett is doing super good... His eating is better all the time...Everything seems to be fine... Dr. Kreissman called this AM to remind us about seeing her next week...we couldn't forget that but it was good to talk with her...She is Garrett's main HemOc doctor..she is super good to us...we will begin our tests and scans on Monday with an echocardiogram...Garrett usually sits still for that..then the next week will be the CT and MiBG scans...he will be sedated for both of those..it requires him to be still for too long...can you believe that? HA!! The MiBG is a radioactive iodine injection to help locate cancer cells.. if there are any... We have been so blessed...God has given us the strength so far to handle everything..We also appreciate everyone's prayers and concern.. knowing so many are praying for Garrett is overwhelming at times.. We know the power of prayer...
Like so many others, we have had heavy hearts the past few days...Cassie will continue to live in our hearts and minds... I heard so many more wonderful things about her this past weekend...Her family is very much loved by so many...Our prayer is that God will always and forever comfort them..I was honored to share in the celebration of Cassie's life...She made a lasting impression upon us and she will always be OUR Cassie...
We need to keep others in mind for prayer...Phoenix, Briana, Mavi,Benjamin, Sydney, Samantha, Brett, Austin, Julie, Ryan, and another young man, Michael Miller...God answers prayers but not always the answer we want and not in the time we want...He certainly knows what is best for us...Thank you dear God for the nurses and doctors who administer to each one of these... they truly work miracles through your mighty hands...please continue to lift them up in your prayers....Thank you Jesus for another day...
Love, Tommy

Monday February 18, 2002 6:27 PM CST

DAY +83

Hello Everyone! This has been a pretty busy weekend....sorry there was no journal entry. Tommy was able to go to Cassie's visitation and funeral. He was welcomed with open arms and was treated like a member of the family. He was glad to see so many beautiful flowers, etc. sent from transplant families. I know Cassie's family appreciates all of the emails, cards, calls, etc. from everyone. He also got to see Omavi's and Briana's grandmother. (She's from Louisville.) He enjoyed talking to her. He was also able to harass a few of the nurses from 5200. I'm sure he would have made some of the fathers we were with on 5200 proud. Oh, and thank you to (I won't name any names) for getting him with silly sting. Sorry I wasn't there to capture the moment with a camera again. He's coming back tonight. We wish we coulld have gone, but it's just too dangerous for Garrett right now. I know her family understands. We will miss her SO much!! Please continue to pray for all of her family, we know they will miss her tremendously.

Thank you momma and daddy for coming to help while Tommy was gone. It really means a lot to have such wonderful parents. Tommy's momma and daddy are wonderful also...they help us so much. We love you all!

Garrett is doing great. We are able to stay home until the 25th of February. Wow...a whole week and a weekend! We have been so very blessed. He is completely off of his GCSF. He is making his own red cells which means he shouldn't need anymore blood transfusions...he's making his own platelets, this means he shouldn't need to get anymore platelet transfusions either. We finally feel like we are making our way out of the hospital system. We're not sure how long we will be going back for check-ups, but we really don't mind them. We like hearing that things are going fine. Garrett's 100 day tests should be coming up soon. His 100th day is March 9th. After this day, he will be having all of the bloodwork and scans all over again. This is to make sure that there are no signs of any tumors or neuroblastoma cells. The bloodwork is to check his immune system to see what antibodies he still has from the immunizations he had had prior to being diagnosed. They will then tell us what immunizations he needs and when and where he can start going out in public. Hopefully by this summer we will be able to go out in public. We thought the restrictions would be harder on us, but they haven't been. You know you do what you have to do to take care of your children. We would be complete hermits if we had to do it to protect him. He's worth every bit of it...plus a lot more.

Thank you all for your prayers, cards, emails, phone calls, etc. Everything means so much to us. We hope you all receive a blessing for being so good to us.

NEWS FROM 5200:

Sydney is still in the PICU. I think she is doing better...but I'm not really sure. Omavi is still in the PICU, but mostly for observational reasons. Baby Ryan is back in the hospital...because of a fever...Please pray that this is nothing major and that he will recover soon and be at the apartment again. Brett did not get to go home this past week because of stomach problems. We know they miss everyone at home and hope they can be with them again soon. Sarah-Morgan needs your prayers....she is having GVH again in her stomach...we hope she will beat it again and be out of the hospital again soon. Please also remember the others that are outpatient: Briana, Samantha, Emily, Benjamin, Austin, Julie...and the others who are there now. Please also remember the parents and caregivers. None of us could have done this without wonderful people to support us.

Keep praying! We know God has been the one to give us all of our blessings. Keep your faith strong and believe in Him.

Thank you all again...we love you bunches!

Friday February 15, 2002 5:31 PM CST

Day +80... Hello.. Well, we have made another safe trip to and from Durham...We are officially back with our HemOc team..Garrett got an excellent report...His WBC is 4.1..still in the normal range...hemoglobin was 8.9..still good this soon after transplant..and platelets are 150..normal also... the other studies indicate that none of the side effects have happened yet..thank God for all of the many blessings..We now have TWO weeks off from the Accutane... We appreciate evrything the transplant team did for us.. Dr.'s Driscoll, Szabolcs, Mustafa, and Martin were outstanding... NP's Tracy and Gil were great to Garrett and we will remember them always...Those nurses on 5200..words don't do justice for them...you won't find any better anywhere...
We will be back at clinic with our familiar group on the 25th...God has seen us through..and there are no indications that anything should change...Our blessings are so many....
We saw Emily at clinic today...she looked great... we think Brett went home to Georgia...We missed Samantha, Austin, Julie, Benjamin, Phoenix, Sarah-Morgan, Briana, Mavi,and Ryan...We pray for their continued progress... Sydney (ICU)and her family need our prayers at this time...and please don't forget Cassie's family this weekend as they say their earthly goodbyes... We pray for God to strengthen them...We look forward to seeing her again in heaven...
We can't ever forget to thank each of you who lift up Garrett's name to God for continued healing... Without your prayers and God's hand none of this would be possible... Thank you Jesus for another day...

Thursday February 14, 2002 11:02 AM CST

Day +79...Hello...Garrett continues to do well...He is eating eggs now...His appetite is getting better..tomorrow AM will be his last Accutane for TWO weeks..so glad to get a break from that one...we are glad that he seems to tolerate it well...this weeks clinic visit, hopefully, will conclude the same thing... the most critical areas they look at are magnesium and calcium levels, the kidney and liver studies, etc...his WBC will be a true reading with no GCSF induced levels...hopefully his reticulocytes (baby red cells) are doing fine this indicates whether or not he needs a transfusion (hemoglobin)... Even after all of this time, we are still in awe of what medicine is capable of doing... of course with God's hands...Our Lord has been with us and given us all the blessings that we could imagine regarding Garrett's health...We ask for your continued prayers..

We also ask for your prayers for Cassie's family... We do pray for God to wrap them tight in his loving arms...We know Cassie is singing with the angels in heaven.. We look forward to seeing her again!!!
Continue to remember Sarah-Morgan and her family...we have no details.. we will find out tomorrow... Also the others... Phoenix, Sydney, Mavi, Briana, Austin, Benjamin, Ryan, Samantha, Julie, and Brett...God is working miracles... the only thing we can do is trust in him... the answers aren't always the ones we want... Thank you Jesus for the nurses and doctors who administer to each patient....and for another day...

Wednesday February 13, 2002 12:01 AM CST

Day +78...Well...Garrett is doing great...Our hearts are so heavy with the news that we lost our Cassie in her battle with leukemia..She had just turned 21 years old and was from Louisville, Kentucky...We felt a special connection with Cassie practically from the day we went in the unit back in November... She took the time the color pictures for Garrett and gave him a train at Christmas just like the one he rode up and down the hall on 5200...Her determination and faith made Cassie such a great person... She overcame obstacles in her path that would have stopped others but she fought on... Our Lord called her home a little while ago but God has been dealing with her for some time now... We saw her last Friday..she wasn't feeling good but she bravely talked with us for a moment...Melissa did talk with her on the phone the other day...she called to thank us for a gift...but in fact, we are the ones that should be thanking her...thank you Cassie for being so special to us...Thank you God for another day to praise your name for all the blessings you have given us...

Please visit her website listed below....

Tuesday February 12, 2002 12:59 AM CST

Day +77...Hello..Garrett is doing so good... He seems to be eating pretty good..more variety...even ate a chocolate chip cookie (His momma was proud)...everyday brings a new blessing..a little different from the day before... Friday's clinic visit will be interesting in that has only had GCSF twice since last Wednesday (last night)..so his white count will be all his...he only takes a daily vitamin and a little collace for obvious reasons...the accutane still is a success...his dry skin is all but gone...praise the Lord... we were concerned at first that we would have to stop giving it to him... it seems to help the autologous transplant children a great deal...keep us in your prayers that the desired effects will take place...also, we will be transferred back to our HemOc doctors on Friday...the transplant team has been super to us and we appreciate each one of them so very much... God is truly working miracles...using these fine people has vessels for his work....

Cassie, Sydney, and Sarah-Morgan and their families need special prayers today...Cassie has had so many ups and downs over the past few days...good white count but the infection is taking its toll... Sydney is some better...but she is still in ICU...Sarah-Morgan is keeping up the fight... she had gotten out last Wednesday... it seems to come on fast...that is the reason behind staying locally for a period of time... God knows every need of everyone on 5200 and PICU...We pray for continued strength and courage for each family member...and God to comfort them as time goes by...

Since we began this journal back in November, we have been able to tell more people about Garrett's health and the situations that our other young people and their families are facing...We are so appreciative of the prayers for Garrett...Many of the other families have told us how much it means to them that so many people are praying and thinking about them... We thank God everyday of our lives for blessing us with nurses and doctors that have done so much for Garrett and us... Prayer works..it is never too late...Thank you Jesus for giving us another day...

Sunday February 10, 2002 12:36 AM CST

Day +75..Hello..Garrett continues to do well... He is taking the Accutane without any problems...his dry skin is clearing up...and praise God his appetite is better all the time...he is eating some vegetables and trying other things...his weight had dropped some to 11.7 KG but the medicine probably is the cause for that... He has been such a blessing to us... we feel that God has everything under control and our faith is strong for that reason.... Melissa's parents came to visit today..we are so glad to see them...they are very special people...Garrett loves them so much...
We understand that Sarah-Morgan was readmitted...we pray for a speedy recovery...her family remain strong and courageous with God's help...Cassie has cell growth...still having breathing problems... her and her family are wonderful people... keep Sydney in your prayers..she is in ICU...God knows every need... but lift these and the others to God for healing...Phoenix (line infection), Ryan, Benjamin, Samantha, Austin, Mavi, Briana, Julie, and Brett..their families are facing situations that only God can heal through the fantastic doctors and nurses at Duke... God is blessing each of us...take care...

Friday February 8, 2002 8:46 PM CST

Day +73... Hello...We are back from Durham... The trip went well and Garrett got a special valentine gift from Dr. Susan...a tiger that growls...imagine that? She is so very good to him and us...Thank you!!! Garrett got a great report!!!...We are so thankful... The doctors are very pleased with Garrett's progress... His dry skin was a little worse this morning but Dr. Driscoll said if it gets any worse to stop the Accutane...but God knows just what we need...since we left up there, it seems to have cleared up.. thank you Jesus!!! His hemoglobin was 8.6..about the same...his platelets had dropped some to 151 but normal...the test done to check his baby red cells (reticulocytes) was very good...in other words...he is making red cells too...his liver and kidney functions were both normal...We praise God for all blessings...

Brett didn't get home to Georgia... he is fighting some stomach problems ...Sarah-Morgan is doing better...We missed seeing Emily, Austin, Benjamin, Ryan, and Samantha... We pray their recoveries are continuing without incident. Please say special prayers for Sydney (from Hanahan, SC) and Cassie. Sydney is in ICU...her family have been so positive and faithful to God...I think she is a little over 2 years old... We saw Cassie for a little bit... she is having a difficult time breathing...the infection in
her lungs seemed to be little better... we actually saw her smile and laugh a little... We are so happy for her cell growth but these other obstacles are in the way.... We pray for her strength and faith in God to continue... God works miracles everyday and its up to us to expect them and believe that He can make them happen... Thank you Jesus for another safe trip to and from Durham and...for another day!!! Take care...

If you haven't done it yet...www.neuroblastomacancer.org..click on Wall of Fame...then click on a name you know...

Thursday February 7, 2002 8:46 AM CST

Day +72..Hello..The past two days have been great...Garrett is doing so well with the Accutane...the easiest way to do it is with pudding...so if it works..stick with it...Garrett has some hair coming in now...so he looks more grown each day... We will be heading back to Durham late this afternoon... We are a little anxious to find out about his liver and kidney studies...the Accutane is very hard on them...Our doctors said compared to the chemo and other drugs he has had, this isn't too bad... We just want to make sure...Garrett sure seems fine except his skin is very dry. God has us in his hands and we just give him all the praise and the glory for what he is doing in our lives...
Cassie is some better but remember her daily in your prayers... we are so excited about her cell growth but she is having some breathing difficulties...God has extra special plans for her...Ryan and Sarah-Morgan got out yesterday...Yeah!!! They will be local for a while yet//Praise God!!!
Keep Briana, Mavi, Austin, Benjamin, Emily, Brandon, Sweet Samantha, and Brett in your prayers. We think Brett got home to Georgia. They are having a big time now. The miracles are so awesome..words don't explain how far some of these young people have come in their battles with cancer, etc...Pray that Quentin's family have the courage and faith to continue on...
Please continue your prayers for us...We appreciate them so very much!!! God has seen that every need of ours has been met and exceeded..From the doctors and nurses at Duke, the DeLay's (our guardian angels) in Durham...back to our families and other churches and groups who have helped without even knowing us... we humbly say thank you and God IS blessing each of us... Thank you Jesus for the opportunity of another day...

Please go to www.neuroblastomacancer.org and click on Wall of Fame..find a name you know and click...take care

Tuesday February 5, 2002 11:01 AM CST

Sunday February 3, 2002 7:49 PM CST

Day +68...Hello...Hope everyone is doing fine...We have had two great days at home... Garrett is doing soooo good...his eating is going much better...more often and a little more variety...the Accutane "experiment" continues...how to give it to him without him being suspicious...only comes in gelcaps..he won't swallow it whole so we squeeze every drop out of it and put it on food..toast, pudding, icing, ....he's smart though, so it's hard to get it past him without him knowing. I tried putting the pill in an ice cream sandwich last night, and as soon as he looked at it........he said, "NO" and turned away. That is the first time he has ever turned down and ice cream sandwich. The medicine doesn't taste nasty (I don't guess...it's the only one I havent tried), but it is bright yellow, like the yellow of an egg. Once the medicine is in his mouth, he's ok, it's just getting it in there. Tommy teases me about tasting all of Garrett's medicines...I have to see for myself how they taste, except for this one. It could cause major birth defects in unborn children. And, NO that doesnt mean there is a baby on the way. We'll get Garrett healed and then worry about that.

I guess all of you can figure out from the time I wrote this that the boys are in the living room watching THE GAME. They are in the recliner....glued to the TV. One of the wonderful people on the transplant unit called them, Pete and RePete. He was so right. What is even scarier.....when Tommy's daddy and momma rode home with us from Durham on Friday....we had Pete, RePete, and DoItAgainPete. That is no lie...all three of them are just like each other....give or take a few years in between. Please remember to pray for Tommy's daddy. He will hear from the doctor this week about the tests that were done last week. Hopefully God will bless them with good news.

Please remember Cassie in your prayers...we havent hear anything today, but yesterday she was on 50% oxygen. She is so strong, and such a wonderful person. When we went to visit on Friday, she called me in the room to see her...and a special something she received in the mail. I loved just being in there with her. I wish I could have stayed there awhile and just talked to her. We miss her and her family so much.

We also miss the other patients, families, nurses, and doctors. We get to see some of them at clinic, but we just don't get to talk to them like we used to. We will always have a special place in our hearts for all of them. The bond that you have with people on the transplant unit is so much different than with anybody else...it's hard to describe, it's more like a really close knit family that anything else. It includes people from all over the world and all types of people. We will never forget any of them.

In your prayers also remeber Omavi, (he is still on the unit), Baby Ryan (he is recovering from having his stomach wrapped)...hopefully he will get to go to the apartment early this week, Sarah Morgan...she is supposed to be going to the apartment real soon...Sydney (she is waiting on cells to grow)...Sam (she got a weekend pass to go home home to Saulsbury, NC,....Brett, he should also be getting to go home home soon (GA)....Julie...she is doing good...also continue to remember Shannon's family...they are still dealing with the loss of Shannon. They are wonderful people also. They have so much faith and are such strong Christians.

Today, I received an email from Garrett's sponsor that he had at Christmas. She and her family did such a wonderful job at making our Christmas even more wonderful than it already was. We hope they know how much it means to us to have such wonderful people like them in our lives. Thank you again to her and her family!

I'm going to stop writing for now...I guess I had a lot to say tonight. Please thank God for all that He has blessed you with and all that He is going to bless you with. Remember all of the patients, families, nurses, and doctors on 5200 and at Duke. We have met and become close with so many wonderful people. We will get to see our "old" friends from 5100 again soon when we get transferred back to the HemOc team. We miss them now, and will miss the 5200 crowd when we are gone. We hope to stay close to all of them for many, many years to come. All of them are such wonderful people!

Thank you God for everything, we would have nothing without you!

Love,

Tommy, Melissa, and Garrett

Friday February 1, 2002 6:56 PM CST

Day +66..Hello...Thank you Jesus for another safe trip to and from Durham...Garrett's visit went super good... when we into transplant on 11-19, Garrett weighed 11.0 kilograms or a little over 24 pounds...praise God today he weighed 12.0 kilograms or over 26 pounds...we (docotrs included) were very excited about that... he actually ate part of a hamburger..finally he takes after his daddy...Ha Ha!! His weight has been a battle to keep up due to the chemo causing problems with his appetite...now after it seems we win one battle another starts with this new med (Accutane)..it seems it could affect his eating...it seems that the positives far outweigh the negatives..
His other results were great..hemoglobin was 8.6..about the same...his platelets were hangin in there at 128...down from 151 but no problem...His WBC is 14.2...we are sooo thankful for a fantastic report...We probably will be transferred back to our hemoc (hematology/oncology) team after next weeks visit... God has seen fit for us to be taken care of by the BEST nurses and doctors anywhere...the Lord works in mysterious ways..but as you all know my daddy was in Duke Med. this week getting tests run...we hope for results by next week...but they had car trouble in Durham and ended up riding back with us and their car getting towed back to Marion...we didn't want to think about what could have been if they had gotten on the road and then broken down...or worse... we certainly enjoyed the ride with them and of course Garrett had no objections!!! Please continue your prayers for them..they definitely appreciate them...
We saw Brett,Julie, and Brandon at clinic...all three seemed to be in good shape...Julie and I have the same birthday...she will be 15..I made sure to remind her to ask for whatever car she wanted (she will get it too..hopefully)...super strong young lady...Austin was doing ok, too...We missed Samantha and Emily today...We pray for their progress daily...Ryan is doing better since surgery on Monday...His momma and daddy are great people.... Keep all of them in your prayers...
We don't know why things happen the way they do...but PLEASE lift Cassie's name to God tonight that she will breathe easier and get some good news on cell growth...She is a super young lady and we love her so much...Garrett loves to look at her picture and say,"Ca"... We feel honored to know her and her family...
When you read this, try to name each of the ways God has blessed you today... I bet you can't name them all...Keep giving him the praise and the glory...Melissa and I can't tell you all how much the Lord has done for us... You prayers have meant so much that words can't describe it... Thank you Jesus for another day... Remember God IS blessing us...

Wednesday January 30, 2002 1:05 PM CST

Day +64..Good Afternoon... We have had a great day so far..Garrett's lab results are super!!! His WBC is 17.0..the doctors will probably adjust the GCSF again...Hemoglobin was 8.6..up slightly from Friday..so that is good news..(10.5-13.5 is normal)..he continues to produce platelets ..we are in the "normal" range at 151...up from 107 on Friday..Our little miracle is cooking now...Thank you Jesus!!! All of the other studies were good..kidney, liver, etc..almost normal, but good in his situation...Garrett will start a super strong med (Accutane)to get rid of any remaining neuroblastoma cells..he will take it 2x a day for two weeks then off for two weeks..continue that trend for six months...especially hard on the liver)..but we are confident he will continue to do fine... We are so blessed...God answers prayers...so please keep them coming... Continue your prayers for 5200 (nurses,doctors, and patients)and outpatients in the Durham area...Keep our Cassie in your prayers..she is such a great young lady...Mavi is a little better but not out as of yesterday...his sister Briana is doing good... Sydney (from Hanahan,SC) needs prayers for cell growth...Sarah-Morgan is progressing nicely...So many needs...but we know our Lord is STILL in the miracle working business...Thanks for all of the notes and prayers...Thank you Jesus for your blessings...take care...

Tuesday January 29, 2002 11:00 PM CST

Day +63...Hello...We hope everyone is doing fine...We have had an awesome past couple of days...Garrett and I have so much fun during the day while Momma works...He has been so good..We have so many blessings to be thankful for..where do we begin?...No medical news but tomorrow we will have lab results to report...please continue to keep us your prayers along with the rest of our extended Duke family...Cassie, Ryan (surgery went well), Sydney, sarah-Morgan...Emily, Austin, Brett, Samantha, Benjamin all are on our hearts and in our prayers...until tomorrow God willing...Thank you Jesus for another day...say a prayer for my parents while my daddy is in Duke Med. for tests...take care...

Sunday January 27, 2002 10:50 PM CST

Day +61

Hello everyone! We have been blessed with another good day. Garrett is eating more and eating different things. I cooked dinner for Tommy today...we had steaks, baked potatoes, and salad....Garrett ate cheese doodles and was dipping them in the dressing and the ketchup. I guess they tasted good, because he ate a whole bunch of them. He also ate bread, toast with butter, vanilla pudding, some pineapple, and is drinking grape juice. I guess he ate so much apple sauce and drank so much apple juice before transplant, that he won't even attempt to eat or drink anything apple now.

He is only taking one oral medicine now, along with his vitamin and is getting his GCSF every other day. We will do blood work on Wednesday to check his blood counts. Hopefully his hemoglobin is holding steady or is going up.

We thank God everyday for Garrett and what he has taught us. We are so thankful now for the little things that most people take for granted. You never know how much the little things mean until you are faced with something like cancer. When Tommy or I come home from being away from Garrett, it is so good to see him run to us and give us big hug. He gives such good hugs to be only 1 1/2 year old. He has so much love. We look at him and are amazed everyday. He knows just the right thing to do to get what he wants, and most of the time he gets it.

We want you to thank God tonight for your blessings....you have so many to be thankful for. Please also pray for the children and adults on the transplant unit and at Duke. Also remember the nurses and doctors who take care of them. Cassie will have a bone marrow aspirate done on Tuesday unless she is blessed with cells before then, Sydney's counts are back down, please remember her, Sarah-Morgan continues to get better, they may get out in a couple of weeks, Julie is out of the hospital...we hope to see her Friday at clinic along with our other transplant buddies (Brett, Sam, Austin, Benjamin, Emily, Brianna, and hopefully Omavi will be out by then). Remember Ryan...he is having surgery (stomach wrap) on Monday....pray for him.

We hope you all receive a blessing from reading about these children. Prayers do work...please say yours.

We love you all...please sign Garrett's guest book...we love reading the entries.

Love,

Tommy, Melissa, and Garrett

Saturday January 26, 2002 6:29 PM CST

Day +60...hello...today has been great..Garrett spent most of the day with his momma and I spent most of my day with my momma ...doing income taxes..busy, busy...Garrett have caught up our time since about 4:00...we walked outside for a while..he loves to walk down the street a while to the left then we come back and go to the right..God has blessed us so richly.. Garrett is a walking, talking MIRACLE straight from heaven... many of you know exactly what I'm talking about..maybe you have faced an illness yourselves or in your family...those that haven't be very thankful and praise God for that everyday just like the rest of us do...
We humbly ask that you all continue to pray for those on 5200...and in the Durham area...and of course the absolute "BESTEST" group of nurses and doctors on the planet...Please God continue to work through them... we appreciate all of the encouragement...thank you Jesus for another great day...God IS blessing us..all!!!

Please check out the new pictures in the photo album!!!!

Friday January 25, 2002 6:59 PM CST

Day +59...

Hello...Thank you Jesus for ANOTHER safe trip back from Durham... Garrett's visit went smooooth as silk, thank God!!! His WBC is 5.9...hemoglobin was 8.5, abd platelets were 107...the white count is up, the hemoglobin is about the same...platelets are a little down from Wed....however, the doctors are upbeat about his progress...in fact he was taken off of one of his oral meds (acyclovir-for viral inf.) he is still on GCSF every other day...he will begin a new med next week ... very strong to kill any remaining cancer cells... we expect to be transferred back to our "hemoc" (hematology/oncology) team soon...they work so well together coordinating treatment...we are so pleased with all of the staff...everyone has been so good to Garrett... and us too...Please pray that God will continue to give them the strength to help the young people with various illnesses...
We got to see two of Garrett's nurses from 5200 last night. He had so much fun playing with them. They really wore him out...I think he wore them out too. We love visiting everyone. We have so many good people to be thankful for. Our family has grown so big in the past 10 months.
We saw Cassie today..she is such a great young lady..we pray daily for her recovery...talked with Brett's parents..he is doing good...Remember the rest...Sarah-Morgan, Mavi, Sydney, there are so many needs...so many blessings...we leave it in God's hands, he will take care of everything.

Thank you all so much for your support, it means a lot to us.

Check Garrett's photo album...Melissa's going to try to put some new pictures on there tonight.

These are some other web pages to look at:

www.caringbridge.com/ct/oursonryan
www.caringbridge.com/fl/juliebriggs
www.caringbridge.com/nc/sarahmorgangriffin

Wednesday January 23, 2002 11:40 AM CST

Day +57...hello everyone...we have had a great week at home..Garrett is still doing super...Melissa has been working and Garrett is taking care of me...He continues to do well with his meds..we drew labs today...his WBC is 5.0..a little lower than expected but ok in his situation...his hemoglobin is 8.8..also a little below normal but fine for him..we are proudest that he is making platelets...they were 128 today..almost in the normal range of 150...We expect the doctors to make adjustments in his GCSF considering his white count..but we won't know for sure until Friday...all of his other studies were good..his liver functions are almost normal...its not unusual for transplant patients to have above normal studies...so we are blessed to have so much of chemistry to be in good shape... we truly understand what prayers and our Lord have done for Garrett...Our faith has kept Melissa and I from getting too emotional or stressed out...but without a doubt, the biggest factor in our mental health has been that Garrett has been so healthy looking and has kept active...very active...We have seen children so sick for so many days and their families stayed strong throughout... God truly knows how much we can take...NEVER puts more on us than we can bear..it might not seem that way..but God knows all and to truly believe in him will bring a calmness to face adversity... please continue your prayers for us...they are sooo appreciated... remember our other young people on 5200 and outpatients in the Durham area...Especially Cassie, Sydney, Sarah-Morgan, Julie, and Phoenix... Samantha, Brett, Benajmin, Emily, Austin, and Ryan...maybe we'll see you all Friday.. God bless each of you...Thank you Jesus for keping us safe...Take care...

Sunday January 20, 2002 8:02 PM CST

Day +54...Hello... We have had another super day...Garrett seems to be eating some better...his weight has been increasing ...We pray that his appetite will continue to improve... We know how important it is for him stay away from potential sickness, but he just looks so good and healthy... we are so proud of his improvement and we have so much appreciation for the prayers and kind words of support...We feel that God has been with us throughout and we feel assured things will turn out fine... Please continue your prayers for us and the other young people... Cassie, Sarah-Morgan, Phoenix, Sydney and Julie weigh especially on our hearts on 5200... Samantha, Brett, Emily, Benajmin, Ryan, and Austin in the Durham area seeking to get "home home" are so close to us too..Prayer does change things if we ask in the proper manner and our hearts are in the right place...Thank you Jesus for another day...God bless you all...

Saturday January 19, 2002 4:55 PM CST

DAy +53.. Hello...Garrett has had a super day... We have really been blessed... he is sitting in my lap..watching me type..we have a miracle right here with us...
we'll draw labs here on wed....so please pray that they continue to be good... Melissa and I have learned so many things over the past ten months...much of it we never cared to know...but we certainly have become more aware of how much doctors and nurses mean to us... we pray for them every day and are so thankful for God guiding them through very difficult decisions...
Continue your prayers for our young people on 5200 and in the Durham area... We can assure each of them... to get home everything you do is well worth the wait...Thank you Jesus for another day...God bless.....

Friday January 18, 2002 6:21 PM CST

Day +52... Hello...we got back home a little while ago...we had another excellent visit today... Garrett's WBC is up to 19.9!! That's a little too much (it was 2.5 on Tuesday)..so we are giving him his GCSF every other day...his hemoglobin was 8.9 (9.1 on Tuesday)...but the BEST news was that his platelets are up to 111!!! He is cooking up some platelets...very good...almost in normal range of 150-350... all of the other studies were in good shape...liver, kidneys, etc...he still does well taking his meds orally..Blessed doesn't begin to cover it..the doctors are still wary of RSV and other potential problems...so he has been limited to non-public places for a while yet except for the clinic...please continue your prayers as you all can see they certainly are working...
We saw Austin and Emily at clinic today...they are about the same...Chuck (Brett's daddy and DAWG lover, HA!!)says Brett is doing good except for some stomach pain...they got the test results and determined he had 100% donor cells present (SUPER NEWS!!!) in fact his blood type has changed (expected with a cord blood transplant)..we wish him continued success...Ryan is back to the apartment...his situation can be solved at home...we were soo glad to his parents and his sister, Katie (a living doll) today...Bill and Pam are excellent people with great faith... God is truly working in their lives.. We missed Benjamin and Samantha...hope they are doing good...Sarah-Morgan had school this week for the first time since Thanksgiving, isn't that great?... she seems to be heading in the right direction, praise God!!! Still keep Phoenix and his family in your prayers (he has neuroblastoma like Garrett)..he is not responding as well they hoped...the doctors are considering another transplant if something doesn't happen soon...we pray that it doesn't come to that...Cassie is still waiting for counts...she didn't seem like herself today...we hope tomorrow will be better...pray for her to keep walking and that improvement come soon... Sydney is at 0.1..so we need hers to get growing...the others on 5200... pray that the Zollars (from Virginia)continue to have courage and faith since the loss of their daughter, Shannon, last week...Thank you Jesus for a safe trip back to Marion and for another day...take care...Grow,Cells, Grow!!!!!!

Thursday January 17, 2002 1:55 PM CST

Day +51 .. Hello..Garrett has had a great day..he has been chasing me around the house...we will be leaving in a little while to head back to Durham..unless something changes we should be back tomorrow night.. It seems that God has met every need..we have had the best nurses and doctors...the Lord sent the DeLay's to our rescue for housing in Durham...the list goes on for cards and prayer support... Melissa, Garrett, and I just can't say it enough...Thank you for everything...thanks to God for speaking to your hearts... we are trying to live our lives as God would have us to..
Continue your prayers for our young people...we are looking to forward to seeing some of them tomorrow, God willing...keep loving those children..hug them tight... Thank you Jesus for all blessings...

Wednesday January 16, 2002 10:35 PM CST

Day +50...Hello..Garrett and I had a great day at home... This "Mr. Mom" thing isn't so bad... Ha!!! I have enjoyed this week while Melissa went back to school... We feel so blessed to be able to be at home for a while...We go back to Durham tomorrow PM for Clinic on Friday... we pray for continued good reports...Continue to remember our young people on 5200 and in Durham... they are testimonials for love and patience...pray that Tony (Benjamin's daddy) gets better soon... Good news from Neil (19 year old that just finished chemo) his CT and bone scans were negative...no signs of tumor..thank you Jesus for healing him...Cassie still needs cell growth..and prayer support during this difficult waiting time...Samantha and Benjamin may be going "home home" for a few days soon...Sydney's new cells are slow in growing..Phoenix has some growth (1.6 yesterday)...Julie is looking to "escape" soon...keep little Ryan and Brandon close to your heart...God is working hard on these and other young people...if we lift up these names...Miracles are happening...Melissa and I live with one...Thank you Jesus for another day...

January 15, 2002..10:35 PM

Day +49...Hello everyone...what a busy past few days...We have had a great time being at home... Today was lab day .. his WBC is down to 2.5..so he got his GCSF to give him a boost...his hemoglobin is 9.1..but the best news of all is that his platelets are up to 98...we have been so blessed with great counts..he seems to be doing really good..learning new tricks everyday...if you don't know by now...Melissa went back to work...she says her class is doing well... so that leaves me at home with Garrett...its a tough job...but hey, somebody has to do it...HAHA!!!...I have enjoyed every second of it...God has continued his blessings.... He is growing soo fast... He is such a miracle and he is such good entertainment...Melissa and I both just watch in amazement...you need to see and hear his tricks to believe them...:) :) Everyone's prayers have made all of the difference in Garrett's healing...please continue to lift up the other young people...we understand Julie is doing better...Phoenix has WBC of 1.6...we are sooo happy for them...he's at +40... Sarah-Morgan had a good day.... Say a extra special prayers for Ryan (central line difficulties) and Brandon (is in ICU)...Cassie is still waiting ever so patiently for her cells to grow... We feel very strongly that its just a matter of time for her for her counts to soar...
We haven't had clinic since last Friday...so we don't have updates on everyone but we will try to catch up tomorrow... FYI..if any of you park in the garage across from Duke North ... beware of a DAWG that knows how to write on cars... our sources tell us ITS name is Chuck...HA!!! Tell Brett and Krisan we said Hey!! Ahhh good natured fun... People like him and many,many others help make a difficult situation bearable... You all KNOW who you are... We thank God daily for the wonderful patients, families, nurses and doctors that have been with us during the past ten months... Please keep us in your prayers and never underestimate the power of prayers...and the effects of a kind word of encouragement...God bless you all... Thank you Jesus for another day...

Saturday, January 12, 2002 at 09:48 PM (CST)

DAY 46...I THINK

Hello Everyone! We are at home today. You just don't know how good it feels to sleep in your own bed. Even if we do have to sleep with Garrett in the middle. (It's a habit all of us have gotten used to!) We are here in SC until Thursday evening, Lord willing nothing goes wrong. I plan to go to work for a few days and Garrett will babysit Tommy. ;) They will have tons of fun.

It rained here a good portion of the day, so Garrett didn't get to go outside. He had a good time playing with his toys. We don't have any medical stuff to tell you about Garrett except that he is eating really well...if you call Cheetos and Toast with butter a good diet. The doctors were happy that he had gained some weight. They said he can have anything he wants and can tolerate...the more calories the better. He weighed 11.6 kilos yesterday at clinic. That's about 25.5 pounds. We are really pleased about that. Tommy and I were talking the other day about when Garrett was first diagnosed...April 2nd, 2001....9 months old...he weighed 22 pounds then...really, really, chubby...he was at the top of the growth chart....now, whether he's just slowed down, or whether the chemo has had an affect on his growing...he's more toward the bottom of the growth chart...still normal though. He is so wonderful...

News from the floor...Cassie had a good day today...keep the prayers going for her counts to come in soon...she's such a sweetheart...say a prayer for Sarah Morgan, Pray for Shannon's family...they are such nice people...Omavi should be getting out Tuesday...he's such a cutie...we saw Austin in clinic Friday...he seems to be doing good...Benjamin gets to go "home" home for a few days soon hopefully home for good shortly after that...Sam is doing great...Emily is still having some seizures, but she is tolerating her baby brother a lot better...We havent seen Brett for awhile, but we believe he is doing good... Ryan is fighting pneumonia, so please keep him and all of the other children and families in your prayers daily. These kids can get so sick really quick...pray for all of them daily.

We thank each of you for signing Garrett's page...we love reading the notes...they help us...everyone has supported us through all of this...thank you for everything..the prayers, cards, food, and gifts...they are all GREATLY appreciated. We love each of you.

Love,
Melissa, Tommy, and Garrett

Friday, January 11, 2002 at 01:53 PM (CST)

day +45...Hello..great news..Garrett is making platelets..he is up to 68..normal is 150-350..his hemoglobin was 9.3...ok.. his WBC is 9.7...so we are in good shape there..all of his other studies are fine..liver,kidneys...etc all doing great...we will be going home this PM...to stay until next Thursday...Friday clinic...God has been so good to us...We give him all of the glory...
Please remember the other young people...Bernhard for a safe trip to Florida...Briana got out yesterday...Mavi is to get out soon...Julie may go home next week..Austin seemed fine..We didn't see Brett, Samantha, Benjamin, Ryan or Emily...Cassie was up and walking...we pray that she keeps active and those cells get busy growing...
God called Shannon home late Wed. night..Pray for comfort for Jerry and Rose..and their two daughters...they are from Virginia and are excellent people... we know Shannon is singing with the angels...her website is www.caringbridge.com/va/shannonzollars... please keep them in your prayers during this difficult time...
Please take advantage of any time you have with your children...hug them..and squeeze them..most of all love them...they are all truly blessings from God...Take care...Grow, Cells, Grow....

Thursday, January 10, 2002 at 11:00 AM (CST)

Day +44... Hello..Garrett is having a great day so far... Melissa and I can't believe how much he is learning...I told her last night that he is already smarter than me... Forgive my swollen pride...we are so proud of his strength and knowing how much everyone has prayed for his healing.. he still gets his behind swatted though... his situation makes us want EVEN more for him to be a well-adjusted young man... he is praying with us and we know God has special plans for him to do in his life...it is our responsibility to help him know what Jesus has done, is doing, and going to do for him... We go to clinic again tomorrow..so we'll have some lab results...we pray for things to continue the way they have been going...we aren't sure what the future holds but we leave it all up to our Lord..he has gotten us this far... We are sure of what God has done for us... please know that God is blessing each of us in ways we may not be aware of... please take the time to be thankful for what God has meant in your life and go to www.caringbridge.com/va/shannonzollars and read about Jerry and Rose Zollars and their faith in God...in the face of possibly losing a child.. they are fantastic people and we pray for healing..but also for God to comfort them in this most difficult time... Our thoughts and prayers are with them and the rest of OUR young people...Austin, Emily, Brett, Samantha, Bernhard, Brandon, Ryan,and Benjamin...on 5200, Briana (possibly out today), Mavi (Tuesday out), Julie (hope soon), Phoenix, and Sydney... Cassie is waiting patiently for cell growth...God knows every need for these special people..please keep prayers going and lift them up to our Lord in heaven... We appreciate everyone's support and please remember where all blessings come from...Grow,Cells,Grow!!! God is blessing each of us...take care...

Wednesday, January 09, 2002 at 10:51 AM (CST)

Day +43...Good Afternoon!!! Garrett is doing soo good...He is eating much better...he wants to at least try more things now... We have been blessed in so many ways that we couldn't count...We do want everyone to pray hard for Shannon and her family...she is not doing well...They are Christians...their faith is in God...they do need prayers and support from everyone...Continue to remember the rest of "our" young people...include Neal, 19 year old in for his last chemo treatment...pray that this will be his LAST...So many inspirational stories...God has opened our eyes to so many situations...so many wonderful families that have put their confidence in God... Remember to hold on to your children a little tighter...God bless each of you...

Tuesday, January 08, 2002 at 06:29 PM (CST)

Day +42...Hello!! Everything is still going great!!! We had a great time at home this weekend...God has answered all prayers so far...Our clinic visit went well..Garrett's hemoglobin is 10.1 (normal range is 10.5-13.5) still fine...WBC is 9.7..down a little but fine..his platelets went up to 48...so we're very pleased..still churning some out...
Tonight please remember Shannon and her family. They are facing some difficult decisions ahead so pray for God to strengthen them and give them the courage to face the future. Don't forget about Sarah-Morgan, Sydney, Quentin, Phoenix, Julie, and Cassie. Her cells haven't started up yet...so please lift up her name to our Lord. Their faith is surely being tested. We ache for her to receive some good news...
Bernhard will go home (Florida) Saturday...Yea!!!Ryan is feeling puny...he is having some congestion, etc...Emily seemed a little better today. Austin is having some GvH (his cells fighting his new cells)on his skin, so pray for them that it doesn't spread. We didn't see Brett or Samantha today..maybe we'll see them on Friday when we go back to clinic.
Please remember my parents in your prayers also. My daddy is having some tests done. We just put him in God's hands. We want to thank everyone (AGAIN) for the cards, kind words, etc...without your prayers and support there is no way Melissa and I could have done our best for Garrett. We covet your prayers for us and the other young people that mean so much to us. We need some cells to start growing, some congestion to clear up, kidneys to get back to work...so many different needs...God can handle it...PUSH for these things to occur...God bless you all...

Saturday, January 05, 2002 at 09:31 PM (CST)

Day +39... Hello...Garrett had a great checkup Friday...his platelets went up to 41.. so he is able to produce his own..slowly..we are so very thankful for that..his WBC is still over 10.0..this is very good..he needs to be in the teens consistently..we would prefer 14-15 range, though...he was cranky coming home last night..impatient..we know where he got that from...HA! ..he has been so good today though..we went out in the little bit of snow that remained here..he had a good tinme watching his uncle and cousins throw snowballs at each other..his eating is improving... the chemo has cheated him out of his appetite for good food but he is making a comeback and before too long it will be grits and eggs with us...please keep that in your prayers...that is the only thing that is not up to par...expected but not where we want it..Our Lord has taught us a lot about answering prayers in his time... God knows best and we will try hard to remember that... throughout this entire ordeal everyone of our needs have been met...we thank God for the churches, Sunday School classes, organizations, and of course the individuals that have helped with prayers and financial support...each act of kindness is appreciated greatly...we need your prayers to continue as we work toward keeping him in remission..the doctors expect to do a complete battery of tests and scans sometime around March or April...Garrett has been the greatest blessing of all..the Lord touching his little body and the prayers of so many people lifting his name up to heaven has kept us calm and assured that he is with us...
Bernhard is heading home (Florida) soon...we are so happy for him...Brett, Samantha, Benjamin, and Austin are doing fine..remember a special prayer for Emily and her family...also, the 5200 young people...Phoenix, Quentin, Briana, Mavi, Sydney, Julie, Shannon,and Cassie...she is still looking for her cells to get going...We pray that God will touch and bless her and her super family...please pray for one another...God IS blessing each of you...

Thursday, January 03, 2002 at 06:00 PM (CST)

Day +37... Hello... We hope you all enjoyed the snow back home..We have had snow all day today and it should continue until midnight...close to a foot so far..We didn't have clinic today thank goodness..we will brave it for tomorrow.. Garrett is doing super...I threw some snowballs to him while he was watching out the window...he loves it..calls it "no"... Anyhow, we look out of the window and see it snowing..it reminds us of how our Lord is in control of our lives... We have been so blessed... We just pray that 2002 is the beginning of a cancer-free year...
We plan to go home tomorrow PM or early Sat. and we don't have clinic again until Tuesday... The weather people are saying that another storm is heading our way Sunday... so it should be interesting...
Please continue the prayers for Garrett and the others...on 5200, Sarah-Morgan, Shannon, Ryan, Phoenix, Sydney, Julie, Mavi, Briana, and of course, Cassie. God is dealing with her and her family, we feel she is on the verge of getting better.. We haven't gotten any news today but we certainly will tomorrow. Also, keep Brett, Samantha, Bernhard, Benjamin, Emily, and Austin in those prayers...they mean sooo much to each. God is still in the miracle business..if you doubt that ..ask any of those parents.. Thank you God for everything and as Garrett says, 'men! (Amen)
Take care...

Wednesday, January 02, 2002 at 01:18 PM (CST)

Day +36... Hey...Our clinic visit today went smooth...Garrett's WBC is 10.3 (normal is 4-14)...Hemoglobin 11.2 (10.5-13.5)...platelets are 47 (150-350)...all good numbers...platelets take a while to get to normal range... He seems to be doing great...We appreciate your continued prayers and support...We have completed most of our journey but we still need to be strong...Continue your prayers for the others...Bernhard is doing great...Brett is having some pain...remember them in your prayers...Cassie is still showing signs of cell growth...fevers, redness of skin... just not getting her white cells to cooperate...please pray hard that she sees improvement soon...God surely knows their needs...
We understand it is snowing at home (Marion, SC) and we should get anywhere from 2-8 inches here..please be careful if you all are out and about...Grow Cells Grow!!!!!! Thank you Jesus for everything you do for us!!!

Monday, December 31, 2001 at 05:50 PM (CST)

Day +34.. Hello,,, We had a long day today... Garrett's WBC slipped to 3.3 so we gave him a double dose of the GCSF (white cell stimulator)... nothing to worry about...his hemoglobin was 7.5 so he did get a good dose of blood...we were not surprised..good news though with his platelets...only dropped to 47 today..so he is producing platelets...He had a few bad moments today but overall still a good day considering we were at clinic from 9:30 to 4:30 PM.. It wasn't so bad since Clemson won the game today...Garrett even watched some of it...he got lots of practice growling like a tiger..HA!!
We only go to clinic MWF...now unless something comes up... We saw Samantha, Brett, Bernhard, Benjamin, and Austin today...everyone seemed in good spirits and doing well..we were so thankful for their good reports...praise God for that... Cassie has a 105 fever...in most cases that means cells are growing...the doctors are unsure if its an infection..maybe they will get some news tomorrow... We certainly keep our prayers going for her and the others... Everyone seems to agree we had an extraordinary group of people in the unit with us... everyone is so caring and concerned for one another even after getting out in the world...We have appreciated them so much... their support has been great... Please don't forget about the others on 5200... We'll try to get more info about them tomorrow...Have a terrific New Year's 2002...be safe and remember to pray for one another...God bless each of you...Grow Cells Grow!!!

Sunday, December 30, 2001 at 08:32 PM (CST)

Day +33...It was great to get home this weekend... Garrett is doing great... We are so very thankful for the opportunity to be home for a while.. Our blessings have been so many... Melissa and I anticipate Garrett getting blood tomorrow..possibly platelets... his hemoglobin was 8.5 on Friday (transfuse at 8.0) and his platelets were 51 (transfuse at 20)..if he doesn't get either...it would mean his body is beginning to produce its own...that would be a grrreat thing.. however, nothing to worry about if it isn't... Our feeble minds have had to absorb so much... I am so very grateful for Melissa... she is solid at doing the medical work...I'm basically the assistant but I have done it all at least once (just once in most cases)... We make a pretty good team ...Garrett and I couldn't do it without her...
We are eager to get to clinic to check on everybody tomorrow...we feel like something special is happening..just not sure with who...maybe its Cassie...we certainly pray so... and for the others...God knows we want healing for each...
If you are traveling tomorrow(night) please be careful...In case we miss you all tomorrow...Happy New Year 2002!!! May it bring you happiness and good health!!!! God IS blessing each of you!!!

Love, Tommy, Melissa, and Garrett

Saturday, December 29, 2001 at 06:41 PM (CST)

Day +32... Good evening!! We have enjoyed another great day of being at home...Garrett has been super...he is talking so much more... he loves playing and making the animal noises with his farmhouse... Melissa and I are in complete awe of what God has done for us...We find it so hard to understand sometimes...but we are so thankful...
Please continue to remember the other young people in your prayers and communications with others... The people from South Carolina and all over the country lifting Garrett and the other names up to heaven are making all the difference in the world... The various acts of kindness shown to us will always be with us..We have kept every card and note...not for understanding but mostly for appreciation from Melissa and I and soon, Garrett. Keep the prayers going for Cassie, Sarah-Morgan, Shannon, Phoenix, Sydney, Julie, Quentin, and the others on 5200. The outpatients: Brett, Bernhard, Emily, Samantha, Austin, and Benjamin... We will go back to Durham tomorrow PM.. We have clinic on Monday...Praise the Lord for all blessings...God IS blessing each of you!!!

Friday, December 28, 2001 at 12:56 PM (CST)

DAY +31 Today Garrett is 18 months old!

Good Afternoon everybody! Today has been a good day for us. Garrett's WBC is 9.2. His hemoglobin is 8.4, so he will probably get some blood on Monday. His platelets are in the 50's, so he is holding onto them pretty good. They gave him a transfusion on Monday, so he is doing better at keeping them. Today we were at clinic for a while...Garrett had to get his Cytogam (helps his immune system) and Pentamidine (helps keep a type of pneumonia away). Garrett got both of these through his central line.. We were glad because the Pentamidine is usually given like a breathing treatment...in a plastic tent...could you imagine Garrett in a plastic tent or anywhere else being still for an hour. The Pentamidine goes in over one hour and the Cytogam is given over 2 hours. Garrett slept through about 1 hour of this.

Dr. Mustafa was in clinic today. He told us to give Garrett his GCSF tonight and then not give it to him on Saturday or Sunday. He said we will see what his WBC count is on Monday. That will tell us if he is making enough of his white blood cells to reduce the amount of GCSF. If so, he will only be getting it on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Keep the prayers going for Cassie, Shannon and Sara Morgan. Cassie's infection is still positive, so they are going to have to take her central line out and put in another one...not sure when...Shannon, I hear, is doing good...praise God...Sara Mogan is still having problems with her gut. They are giving her a lot of steroids. Say a special prayer for these three. Omavi and Brianna are doing good, they are the brother and sister who have Crabbe.(I think that's how you spell it). It's a genetic disease. Omavi has the fever and rash which hopefully means he is engrafting cells...Grow Cells Grow.. Others to remember are Sydney, Julie, Baby Ryan, Samantha, Brett, Benjamin (he pulled one of his central lines out on Sunday), Austin, and Emily. Even though some of these children are out of the hospital..it in no way mean they are completely better. We all still need plenty of prayers.

Thank you to everyone for all of the prayers, kind words, cards, food (chocolate for me :)), and gifts that we have received. Especially the noisy train from a certain special elf...Garrett REALLY likes the train sound. You all mean the world to us...you just don't know how special you all make us feel. We will never forget how much love we have been shown over the past 9 months. We have met so many special kids, parents, and have had 3 wonderful units of nurses and doctors...the ones from 5100, 5200, and the ones in the clinic. You are all GREAT!

Have a wonderful day, and thank God for all of your blessings...you have more than you know. We love you all!

Thursday, December 27, 2001 at 03:29 PM (CST)

Day +30...Hey, everyone!!! Today has been great...Garrett has been eating suckers for the past hour... He seems to be just fine... We didn't have clinic today so we don't have any lab results to share... We do go tomorrow...should be a long day...He'll get two meds that we aren't allowed to give..and possibly blood... however, we can't tell you how wonderful it was to be at home for a little while... went by to check on Cassie...she is doing ok... but she most likely will have to get still another central line (#3)due to the infection in it..bless her heart..she handles things with class..solid as a rock..thanks to God's hand...Please remember the others as well...Sarah-Morgan, Shannon, Ryan, Quentin, Phoenix, Mavi, Briana, Sydney, and Julie...Hopefully, we'll see Brett, Benjamin, Austin, Samantha, and Emily tomorrow... We pray for their continued progress...May God bless each patient, doctor, nurse, and other staff members and their families on 5200...We pray 2002 will bring healing and joy to each.. Grow Cells Grow!!!!

Wednesday, December 26, 2001 at 05:48 PM (CST)

Day +29... Hello! We hope everyone had a tremendous Christmas!!! Ours was fantastic.. All three of us were home together for the first time since Nov. 19... It was great to see our family and friends...God has seen us through and he continues to be with us...We pray that you and your families took time to thank God for sending His Son...
Our visit to clinic was great...Garrett's WBC is 7.9 and holding steady...all of the other numbers were in proper range..We are so blessed...We don't have to go tomorrow...but Friday will be a long day...He will get Cytogam (helps with his immune system) and probably another med called Pentamidine... He'll likely have some of his meds reduced by next week... We try to do exactly what the doctors tell us... after all with God's help they have been right on target with his treatment..
We saw Samantha (songbird) at clinic...she looked maahvelous!!! We are proud of her progress...We didn't see any of the other outpatients..Ryan (fom Connecticut) is up to 1.0!! We are sooo happy for them... Cassie has some cell growth but they will do more extensive tests later on...so please be in prayer for her and her terrific family...Sarah-Morgan is still in need of your prayers...Remember Phoenix, Sydney, Quentin, Shannon, and Julie( has some cell growth)...isn't that great?

We are constantly reminded of why we came here for Garrett's care...these doctors and nurses are second to none... We thank God daily for leading us here...These folks are part of our family and we intend on NEVER forgetting them... Please remember organizations that support children's hospitals and their work...American Cancer Society, Children's Miracle Network, Candlelighters (www.candlelighters.com)...there are so many ways to help... please add this to your list of resolutions for 2002... YOU will receive far more that you give... May God bless each of you!!!

Monday, December 24, 2001 at 11:25 PM (CST)

Day+27...Hello, everyone!!! The Lord has blessed us in sooo many ways...The doctors allowed us to come home for Christmas...Garrett is doing fantastic...He received platelets today at clinic before coming home...Melissa said everyone at clinic seemed to be doing well...Brett, Austin, Samantha (I want a concert when I see you next time)...Say a extra prayer for Sarah-Morgan & her family... We pray for them and Cassie so hard SArah-Morgan's cells and her new cells are fighting each other and it has made her very sick and Cassie needs cells to grow, grow, grow..We wish them the very best...Praise I came home Sun. AM for church and his aunts, Pat and Dawn stayed with Melissa last night and brought them home...We certainly appreciate them for helping us out... He had such a good time seeing his family and friends.Today was my momma's birthday and barbecue... and later we open exchanged gifts and have fireworks...Garrett was excited to see the show...He continues to impress us with his ability to wear his mask so easily...God surely knows our every need... We have to be back at clinic on Wednesday... This time at home is such a treat... Please allow God to enter your hearts and thank him for sending his only begotten Son...May God bless each of you richly and may you have the very best Christmas EVER and Happy New Year...

Saturday, December 22, 2001 at 04:53 PM (CST)

Day +25...Good Evening!!! What a day!!! Garrett is doing good...His WBC is 6.9 today.. the experts say its normal to fluctuate a little...his platelets were fine...everything is functioning normally... We can't say enough about Garrett's progress...By the grace of God he continues to learn more and more...some things most 18 month olds don't get...like giving the nurses his leg for his BP... wiping his cap (the end of his central line) with an alcohol pad in preparation for meds...The doctors have reassured us that Garrett will be at the top of their recruits for medical school in 2023!! HA!!!
We saw Samantha, Emily, Benjamin, and Cassie today...SAmantha sang a little to us...doing great...Emily seemed a little better...Benjamin got some blood..(ok otherwise)...Cassie is still a little under the weather...good news though, some test results indicate some cell growth from the first transplant (DNA can identify the difference between the first and second transplant) Please Lord help her to grow those cells...She is super...and Jackie and Big Anth aren't too bad either..HA!!!
We heard about the community feeding the families again for Christmas. WE know Santa has already made several deliveries already... When you can, please help in any way possible with children's hospitals...whether its Duke or your local...you just don't know what it means to those families...God will bless you for it...
May God bless you all and please have a safe holiday season...Thank you God for sending your Son...

Friday, December 21, 2001 at 04:08 PM (CST)

Day +24... Well, the Lord has seen fit to allow us another GREAT checkup...Garrett's WBC is 7.9...headed back up...they will cut back on the "G" (helps with making white cells) when it reaches into the teens...the liver tests are better...he is holding on to his platelets...His kidneys are working great...it seems that everything is going according to plan.. we pray that it continues..
Our visit to clinic was quick but we saw Brett, Emily, and Benajamin..Brett's visit was quick to so everything must be good..Emily is still not doing well, please keep her in your thoughts...Benjamin's mommma said he had some bleeding around his line but we think its ok now... Continue to remember the 5200 young people.. Ryan's WBC is .5 so that is good news. Cassie is waiting ever so patiently for hers to kick in...We feel this one is the one... She has just blessed our hearts sooo much... Melissa, Garrett, and I can't say enough about how awesome everyone has been...We have been inpatient on each section of pediatric floor (5th), surgery (3rd), radiology and nuclear medicine (1st), and radiation therapy...God has blessed us with having the BEST people looking out for us...
We can't imagine any group being any better... We hope each of you have a Merry Christmas... tell others about what Jesus has done in your lives...if you can't do that...tell them about what he has done in our lives...We certainly have stories to tell...May God bless each of you so very much!!!

Thursday, December 20, 2001 at 06:10 PM (CST)

Day +23...Good Evening!!! We trust everyone had a good day...Nice and cool here..mid 50's..Christmas like weather...Well, we got another great checkup...WBC is 7.4 so that was up a little...we will continue with the GCSF (Stimulates white cell growth) until it gets into the teens...hemoglobin is still good and of course his platelets are fine since he got transfused yesterday... Dr. Driscoll was pleased with his progress. The community supports Duke like crazy... people from all over bring presents for the children... We are very thankful for their ministry...
We saw Brett, Austin, Benjamin, and Emily at clinic. Brett is doing great...Austin and Benjamin looked good... Emily needs our prayers..She is having a difficult time and her family is doing all they can. Melissa and I can't tell you how valuable your prayers have been to us..and to the other families..they tell us about the notes they get from South Carolina...they are appreciated. God is working in the lives of the young people and their families. Tonight, we ask that you remember Sarah-Morgan and Cassie especially. These two families have been battling and fighting for those two. We don't understand their struggles for the past few years. We do know that our Lord Jesus Christ is with them and can touch and heal them. Please pray that God gives them the courage to keep
on.
Thanks again for your prayers..and keep doing the "Grow Cells Grow" dance and sing a song...whatever you feel like doing...for the young people of 5200!!! May God bless each of you!!!

Wednesday, December 19, 2001 at 03:37 PM (CST)

Day +22 after transplant... Good Afternoon!! We hope things are well you all... We had another great day...Garrett's WBC is 7.0, that's down a little from yesterday but not a problem...He did get platelets (19)just low enough to get a refill...it had been six days since a transfusion so he has probably begun to make some on his own...Great news!! His other results were good... the liver study numbers are better...We just praise the good Lord for all of his blessings...
Today is Brett's birthday..(he is six) we are so proud of his progress..he looks so good.. didn't get it from his daddy(right, Chuck)HA!!! Anyhow, Bernhard seemed better... We think Benjamin and Austin are doing ok... Sarah-Morgan, Phoenix, and Shannon need your continued prayers... Sydney was sleeping (transplant today?).. Remember Ryan, Briana, Mavi, Brandon, Quentin, and Julie...Neil seemed to be doing ok.. He is a fine young man...Cassie is still a little under the weather...It was great to see her... Garrett gave her two days worth of kisses...We pray so hard for her cell growth... Her family is super too... Grow Cells Grow, 5200!!!

Christmas has always been special to Melissa and I but... this year has been difficult and it has drawn us closer to God. This Christmas will be EXTRA special because we feel God has a great plan for Garrett. It is our responsibility to see that we do our part in preparing him for service to God. So take a few minutes and thank God for sending His only begotten Son. Then remind your children and grandchildren that Christ is reason for the season.
We are so grateful for our family and friends who check up on Garrett and send us encouraging words. Please remember us in your prayers as the light gets a little brighter each day at the end of the tunnel. May God continue to bless each of you...

Tuesday, December 18, 2001 at 12:45 PM (CST)

Day +21... Good afternoon!! So far, today has been great!! Garrett's WBC is 8.2 (4-14) is the range that is acceptable, so we are on track for that...He is still taking GCSF (helps to make white cells)..it runs a bout 30 minutes through his central line...He is taking his antibiotics and vitamins orally...He does a pretty good job most of the time...His liver studies were better today... They will still keep a close watch of them...He didn't have to get platelets this AM..he actually went up to 27 and they don't transfuse until they are under 20. That could be a good sign but its no problem if he does need them...The Lord just continues to bless us...
Melissa's momma and daddy came to visit playing a little Santa...he definitely enjoyed seeing them... They have been a big help and we love them so much!!!

We saw Brett, Samantha, Bernhard, and Emily at clinic today. Brett and Samantha looked and acted super...Bernhard was having some stomach problems. Emily seemed tired...We can't begin to know what goes on in their little bodies...We saw another good friend, Neil. He is 19...he is beginning his last round of chemo...hopefully, he won't need a transplant...but we do think alot of him. He had a 12 pound tumor removed from his abdomen about a year ago. Please add him to your prayer list, he is a strong fella, too. We didn't see Cassie today but Anthony and Jackie said she rested good last night. We will go by there later tonight or tomorrow. Shannon is better. Sarah-Morgan and Phoenix are about the same. Please continue prayers for Ryan, Quentin, Michael, Brandon, Sydney, Julie, Mavi, and Briana...and the others. We saw some other young people in clinic that looked great...some had been out for several months...The miracles are many and we know our Lord will keep his loving arms around all of us (them). We pray so hard that Cassie will grow cells like they have never seen before. If we all lift her up to God... Grow Cells Grow!!! My God bless you all...

Monday, December 17, 2001 at 02:28 PM (CST)

Day +20 after transplant...Good Afternoon!! We (and everyone else)continue to be amazed at how well Garrett looks and acts...His WBC is 8.1 and hemoglobin is great but his platelets are low (25)...so we'll probably get some in the morning..that certainly is nothing out of the ordinary...some kids get blood and/or platelets several times in a week...especially after transplant..They are watching his liver studies very carefully..the labs show some numbers being higher than the normal range..nothing to be worried about...just concerned..It is no wonder with all of the medication/chemo that has been put into his little body...We know the Lord will continue to keep his loving arms around him (us).... Everything else was great...so..we'll see how it goes tomorrow...

We saw Brett, Bernhard, and Sam's momma and daddy at the clinic...They all seem to be doing great.. Brett (from Georgia) is at Day +45 and Bernhard (Germany)is around +130!!! Their parents are so strong. Sam was in "school"...Nancy said she had been waiting for the third verse of Away in a Manger (we took a copy)..we look forward to hearing her sing it very soon... We went to the unit to visit our good friend, Cassie. She was in the middle of her transplant...It was truly an honor to be there while she was receiving her new life. We just feel that this one will take off and start growing cells... We know they would appreciate the continued prayers her as she faces this ordeal...again!! We are in awe of her God-given strength and positive outlook..
Garrett entertained the crowd, of course. Today he got a pig puppet that oinks...Can you imagine that? Two oinkers..HA!! We appreciate Susan for thinking of Garrett... He was zonked out by the time we got to the apartment... He slept pretty well last night but with the excitement this morning...
Please remember Shannon, Ryan, Briana, Mavi, Julie, Sydney, Quentin, Sarah-Morgan, Phoenix and Brandon. We don't know the others...but keep them in your prayers...the number of patients on the floor usually is 16...Austin got out today...we are sooo happy for them.. We pray that they don't HAVE to come back..only when they want to...
We appreciate everyone checking on Garrett's (and the others) progress. We feel blessed by knowing so many prayers have been and are still being lifted up to God for Garrett. Please keep them coming...For Cassie and the others...Grow Cells Grow!!!! May God bless you all...

Sunday, December 16, 2001 at 05:21 PM (CST)

Day +19 after transplant... Good Evening, everyone!! We hope you all had a great day... Our Lord continues to look out for us...We took Garrett to the unit for his checkup...Everything is still great... His WBC is 6.4..almost middle range for his size..Dr. Martin says that Garrett has begun to produce his own platelets..a very good sign..they help clot his blood..all of his vitals were perfect... Cassie seemed a little down..sure the chemo is taking its toll..please remember her tomorrow as she has another transplant... God is truly dealing with her and her family...Also, remember Sarah-Morgan and her family. They are facing difficult times with her cells fighting the cells she received in transplant. Benajmin and his family need extra prayers..He turned one yesterday and he and his central line are having difficulty.. Samantha got out earlier today much to our surprise. We had something for you...maybe we'll see you tomorrow at the clinic... congrats on your freedom!! HA!!! Julie looked real good today..she has radiation treatments twice a day on top of everything else..she is a fighter!! We pray for her progress toward remission...We talked with Ryan's dad and he is having some stomach problems, so remember them. They are fantastic people.. There are several new patients, but We pray for them daily. Please continue your prayers as we battle on... pray that all of the nasty bugs, viruses, and other stuff stay away...Everything is fine now, but things can quickly change... We really appreciate all of your prayers...As our pastor told me today..."You all can see the light at the end of the tunnel and almost smell the fresh air at the other end!!" We give God all of the glory working through doctors and nurses that are absolutely the BEST!! Grow Cells Grow!!!

Saturday, December 15, 2001 at 06:27 PM (CST)

Day +18 after transplant... Hello , everyone!! We went back to unit for a checkup..(only on weekends) during the week we'll go to the clinic in the Health Center..everything is super..All of his counts were great..he's actually producing RBC...His WBC is 5.3...Dr. Martin said Garrett was doing fine.. Garrett got to see Cassie for a minute...He acted all shy to her...We'll be able to visit a little longer tomorrow...Please continue your prayers for her as she has started her chemo regimen for another transplant.. God surely is working in her life...Sam was missed today. She was out on a pass..We wish her the best to get out Monday..It was great to see Ryan, also. Pam & Bill are super folks and we pray for them daily. It seemed a little wierd visiting today...It was really quiet.

I think Garrett (we do a little, ha!!) misses all of the special people from 5200. God had his mighty hand on the medical staff as they worked on Garrett. Everyone seems amazed that he was only 16 days out of transplant. Miracles don't come any better than our little man. Your prayers and words of encouragement have meant so very much. We covet them as much now as ever. We still have several weeks here and approximately three to six months before he can resume regular activities without his mask, etc... Pray for patience as we follow through on this journey to getting and keeping Garrett at home!!! Don't forget to remember the wonderful doctors and nurses, the patients and their families, on the transplant unit. We love each one and appreciate each one more than they could ever know!!! Grow Cells Grow!! Praise the Lord for all of our many blessings...

Friday, December 14, 2001 at 10:29 AM (CST)

Day +17 after transplant...Words can't describe how terrific everyone on the unit was to us yesterday when we got out. We will miss each of the young people and their families. God has more miracles in store for each one.. Garrett was so good yesterday when we got out..he just soaked everything in...Last night we rolled in the floor some but he was out by 8:30 or so..I guess Amy, Keri, and Latane wore him out Wed. night and Thurs, morning... Those young ladies (among so many others) were absolutely fantastic to us...God will surely continue to bless each of them... I know we have formed bonds and we now have a Duke family for our the rest of our lives.

We went to the clinic this AM.. His WBC is 4.6!!! Those cells are just a growin'Samantha!! Thanks for those "angelic" cheers you always gave us!! Dr. Driscoll was very pleased with all of the other lab results. Garrett gave him lots of oinks and snorts..We'll continue to draw labs daily for a while.. Please continue your prayers...they are what has gotten us this far..by the grace of our Lord...
We saw Brett and his momma and daddy...they are doing great!! Heather said Benjamin was feeling bad last night... so please say a special word for them...it is truly an emotional roller coaster...you just watch their every move..of course, he has to wear a mask out of the apartment and he is not allowed to be in public places other than clinic.
The DeLay's have been super since before we even met them. We are staying in their upstairs apartment. They seemed so happy to see Garrett doing so well. God has met our every need and are so thankful for them. Once again, our local address is:
713 Parker Street
Durham, NC 27701
Melissa's cell 843-615-7120

We plan to continue updating so please continue with your notes, etc... they are greatly appreciated...
Love,
Garrett, Melissa, and Tommy

Thursday, December 13, 2001 at 09:00 AM (CST)

Day +16 after transplant...Good Morning!! We are so blessed... God has directed the finest group of doctors and nurses in the world...the prayers of people from all around the country and world... make us one very thankful family.. Garrett is doing great...His WBC is 2.8 today and there are still great signs of continued growth... Although we are leaving here in body...our thoughts and prayers will still be here with the wonderful young people and their families...
Please remember that we will still be coming back to the children's clinic daily for a while for checkups and lab work. We need and covet your continued support and prayers through the next several weeks

Our local address is 713 Parker St.
Durham, NC 27710

and we will be updating the web site for the next several weeks as Garrett progresses. May God bless each of you...and Praise the Lord for all blessings....

Wednesday, December 12, 2001 at 09:21 AM (CST)

Day +15 after transplant... Good Morning, everyone!!! WOW!!! The past few days have gone by like crazy...God has blessed us beyond belief...Garrett's WBC is 2.4 today!! He is, however, experiencing some bone pain associated with growth of WBC. His feet and eyes are a little swollen...
They will probably take him off the TPN later today...He already is taking most of his medication orally...He will most likely have a slow heparin (keeps his line from clotting up) drip on a small pump...for when we get out TOMORROW!!! We will have to remain here in Durham for a while for outpatient treatment. We will find out more details on Friday when we come back to the clinic in the Health Center. God is so wonderful..words can't describe our gratitude to our Lord Jesus Christ. We know we still have a ways still to go, but we have placed our faith in Him.
Our feelings are a little (a lot) mixed about leaving here... So many new friends...young and old(er).. for you Ken and Big Anth...Ha!! Our lives have been forever touched by the nurses here.... Keri, Kelly, Karen, Lori (gave Garrett his transplant), Amy (admin. Garrett's last dose of chemo), Kim, Latane, Erika, Vanessa, Catherine, Jennifer(s), and Michelle(s). There are so many other wonderful people here who gave so much more than we ever expected... We want to continue prayers for Brett, Bernhard, and Emily has they continue OP treatment. We pray for God's blessings on Samantha, Shannon, Quentin, Brandon, Briana, Mavi, Austin, Benjamin, Sarah-Morgan, Phoenix, Julie, Michael, Sydney, Ryan, and Cassie. Each of these young people have touched our lives in a special way... The faith of their parents will be remembered... As you know, Cassie holds an extra special place in our hearts... She is a super fantastic young lady... God placed her here for reasons we aren't sure of, but we feel it was for us...Garrett loves her so much.. We certainly won't let him ever forget her.. When all of this is over, we will have a huge party to celebrate God's victories in our lives. Please continue to pray for each one... Benjamin, Samantha, and Brandon are real close to leaving. Others too possibly..but keep them close to your hearts in the coming weeks. Miracles are evident and God is working in this place.

We plan to continue updating on this web site for several weeks to come, so please look for progress reports on Garrett and the others. We will change the mailing address page, etc.. May God continue to bless each of you and from Melissa, Garrett, and I... Thank you!! Praise the Lord from whom ALL blessings flow...

Tuesday, December 11, 2001 at 09:02 AM (CST)

Day +14 after transplant... Good Morning!!Yesterday,it rained about all day here. The weather people talked about the "wonderful" weather.. Well, we can top that news...Garrett's WBC is 1.3!!! Our Lord is so good!!! His blessings are innumerable. Please remember that God sent his son, born in a manger... Keep Christ in Christmas...

Brett went to the "vacation" home yesterday. Julie moved in...She is a sweet girl. Brandon, Benjamin, and Sam should be out soon. The miracles are so many... Keep Sarah-Morgan, Ryan, Austin, Shannon, Briana, Mavi (transplant Sat.),Quentin, Sydney, Phoenix in ya'lls prayers!! Cassie (as most you already know) is our extra special friend. We are in awe of how God has worked in her heart. She is a remarkable young lady. We just love her so much!!! Pray that God will continue to bless her today!!!
Our blessings are so many... Nurses and other staff members that are second to none... Getting to know so many fine Christian families.. children that are so strong.. Most adults need to take notes on how to "let" God work in their lives.

We appreciate our church, school, and community friends and families for their fantastic support during the past NINE months when we first began. Please continue to remember us in your prayers. God bless each of you!!
PS.. If you have time,Go to www.carolinahurricanes.com and see the pictures of their visit to the unit last week. Conitnue to PUSH and FROG...:) :)

Monday, December 10, 2001 at 09:42 AM (CST)

TRANSPLANT DAY +13

Good morning everybody! God is so good to us. Garrett's WBC is 0.7 this AM. His platelets are 25, so they will check them again about noon. He will probably get some platelets this afternoon. His hemoglobin is 8.8, so his will probably get blood tomorrow. The doctors say that Garrett is doing great. They have taken him off of 2 of the antibiotics (Vancomyacin, and Ceftazadine) he still has Fluconazole orally, and Acyclovir through his central line. His TPN (food in a bottle) has been changed to only 18 hours a day rather than 24 hours because he is eating and drinking so well. Thank God for everything he had done for us.

Shannon gave us a scare last night. They were going to take her to PICU because of her breathing, but they didn't have too. I believe she is doing better this morning. Say a special prayer for Cassie today and tomorrow. She is supposed to find out the results of her tests. Depending on what the tests show, she may have to go through chemo and transplant again. Brett gets to go home today...pray for them. Remember the rest of the children up here as well. All of them need your prayers.

Santa came to visit the children this morning... Garrett was excited. There have been so many wonderful people bringing gifts and feeding the families. We thank all of them.

Thank all of you for writing notes to us! We love going to the family lounge to read all of your notes. Thank you for the words of encouragement. We appreciate everything.

Love,

Tommy, Melissa and Garrett

Sunday, December 09, 2001 at 04:55 PM (CST)

Day +12 after transplant... Well, folks, Garrett continues up the ladder..we are at .5 WBC!!!! God is entirely in control and believe me...we KNOW it!! The doctors are still pleased with his progress...
It felt sooo good to be at church this morning...I had missed last week with Garrett.. Our church family was so pleased with the news.. Our SS lesson was about hope and patience when things seem hopeless...Perfect timing for us.. we have to be expectant with respect to our prayers.. If we expect miracles...then...
Brett is going to the "vacation" home tomorrow. Brandon isn't far behind. Cassie, Briana, Mavi, Sarah-Morgan, Shannon, Austin, Michael, Benjamin and Quentin seem to be about the same. Samantha (songbird) is up to 1.9 WBC. Praise the Lord!!! Phoenix is still a little sick. Remember his family and the doctors as they administer to him. Sydney is a beautiful young lady (2yrs. old). They are from Charleston. Say special prayers for Ryan and his family. They face an uphill battle but they aree so strong in their faith that God will take care of them. PUSH and FROG that everyone here will be blessed by the hand of our Lord Jesus. Our nurses are remarkable..some come by on their days off.. Kim, Erika and Lori have been great the past two days. Most of our regular nurses have been off the weekend. But there are so many good ones to have.. Thanks for the prayers...keep 'um coming!!! God bless each one of you!!! Take care....

Saturday, December 08, 2001 at 09:17 AM (CST)

Day +11 after transplant...good Morning!!! Hope things are well with everyone!!! Garrett is still snoozing...He worked so hard yesterday...His WBC is still .2 so they are just taking a break and they will get back to work today (we pray).. Patience is something we are working on... God continues to work miracles.. Everyone is still pretty much the same...Keep those prayers coming...Cassie, Ryan, Benjamin, Briana, Mavi, Samantha, Brett, etc...and their families.
It seems time is flying by and Christmas will be here... if you are not already doing it...please hug your children a little tighter and you young people hug your parents, grandparents, etc...a lot tighter. Please do the Dance/singing... to make those Cells Grow, Grow, Grow... God bless each of you!! and thanks again for the prayers and words of encouragement!!!

Friday, December 07, 2001 at 01:51 PM (CST)

Day +10 after transplant... Good Afternoon!!! We are late today because we had MaMa and PaPa come to see us. They brought some awesome gifts from home..we really appreciate everything!!! We all love them so much!!Today,Garrett's WBC is .2!!! So we are very thankful for that...the ladder is being climbed and through your prayers his progress has been great!!! He is eating better and they are slowing the TPN to 18 hours from 24. Other medications are being slowed or stopped altogether. Praise the Lord from all blessings flow. Please continue to remember us and the other young people here. Cassie is still about the same. She continues to be a inspiration to us all. (especially Garrett) Brett got out for another 4 hours. His counts are doing great. Benjamin is up to 1.1 so we hope that trend continues. Sam is now running in the halls. She sings like an absolute angel. Away in a Manger is her specialty. Brianna and Mavi (brother and sister) are doing ok for now. Continue to PUSH for Ryan and his family. Phoenix is feeling poorly today due to fever and mucositis. Austin, Shannon, Brandon, Quentin, Sydney, and Michael continue to covet your prayers. God is working through this unit... Extra special thanks to Keri, Michelle, and Katie for being such good sports. Some more of our old 5100 friends came by today...Kim, Heather, and Lisa checked up on Garrett... they are all so fantastic...they all need a raise!!! HA!!!Grow Cells Grow!!! May God Bless each of you!!!!

Thursday, December 06, 2001 at 08:45 AM (CST)

Day +9 after transplant... good Morning!!!Well, Garrett has started growing some cells.. God has touched his little body and his WBC's are .1..It is a start and we feel he is on his way.. Words just don't tell the whole story of our Lord Jesus Christ has worked through us and all of the others here.
Brianna's little brother, Mavi is now on the unit. The doctors found his sickness searching for a donor match for his sister. He seems to be so healthy.. they feel blessed to catch his so early. Sydney is new to the unit. She is so cute (2 yrs.old) Today is transplant day for Phoenix. Pray a special prayer for him and his family. Cassie is still looking for cells. We pray constantly for her and her family to continue to have strength. Emily is now an outpatient and Brett was able to leave out of the unit for 4 hours yesterday. He went to their apartment and put up the Christmas tree. He should get out early next week. Benjamin and Samantha are growing some cells. Sarah-Morgan is feeling some better.
Shannon is sleeping better and her cell growth has been good.PUSH for each of these and continue to FROG that he will lay his loving hands on the others. Our nurses continue to be wonderful and they know who they are!!! God bless each one!!
We couldn't have made it this far without the prayers of each of you. We know God answers prayers in his time and we try to do our part to be ready when he does. Please add www.caringbridge.com/ct/oursonryan to your list of web pages. Pam & Bill are so strong and please remember their son, Ryan, in your prayers. God works miracles and we are seeing them daily. Serve Him with gladness..

Wednesday, December 05, 2001 at 09:08 AM (CST)

DAY +8 AFTER TRANSPLANT!

Good morning everyone! Garrett had a good afternoon yesterday and a great night. Our wonderful nurse Keri came in last night and played with him, after she woke him up...HA HA..Just joking Keri! I think he could also hear his cousins Kimberly and Jamie cheering for him all the way in SC also. He went to sleep around 12:00 and he slept until abut 9:30 this morning. As some of you know....Garrett's best quality is not his ability to sleep through the night. :) He is working hard to improve this. I am especially grateful for this...Tommy doesn't require as much sleep as I do. Anyway...they are taking Garrett off of the PCA (morphine pump) this morning...they said he hasn't used much of it in a couple of days. We have morphine on order if we think he is in pain. Garrett's WBC is still >0.1, his platelets are 60. Everything is looking good. The doctors are expecting to see some WBC around Friday. We'll keep you updated.

When the doctors came around this morning they had a doctor from Italy with them. This was nice, because his specialty is Neuroblastoma (that's what Garrett's diagnosis is). I think they are all impressed with Garrett because he is doing so good. Yesterday he was eating Fritos Corn Chips...his mouth must not be hurting him too bad.

He is learning so much. Dr. Mustafa let him listen with the stethascope the other day...he really liked that..he is saying new words everyday, and is doing so many new things. Get ready for when we come home...we're warning all of you now.

Keep up the prayers...Emily gets to go home today, Brett gets to go on a 2 hour pass today, and hopefully he gets to go home on Monday...Cassie had her bone marrow aspirate yesterday to see if her cells were growing...Sara Morgan is doing some better but is still fighting graft vs. host disease...also remember the others...Sam the princess, Shannon, Brandon, Ryan, Michael, Benjamin, Austin, Quentin, Phoenix, Brianna, and Sydney. Sydney is the newest on the unit. Thank you for everything...the prayers are working...you can see so many miracles up here...Keep up the cell dancing also...every little thing helps.
We hope God blesses you all...thank you for everything!

Love,
Melissa, Tommy, and Garrett

Tuesday, December 04, 2001 at 10:34 AM (CST)

Day +7 after transplant... Well..we are so amazed at what God can do when we believe... Garrett had a good night.. He worked so hard yesterday PM..fell out pretty early..I left him watching "Gordy".. the pig movie..He loves the farm animals talking... His hemoglobin and platelets are good today since he got transfused yesterday..
The doctors seem to think we should get some cell growth in the next few days.. So keep up with the prayers and of course your cell dancing and/or singing... do what you do best!!! Thank the Lord for these nurses and assistants ... God makes them so special... As you know by now, there are no medical personnel any better in the world!!! One of our "old" friends from 5100, Dr. Susan, works over here some and keeps a "eye" on Garrett almost everyday..He loves her sooo much!! Please continue to pray for Emily, Brandon and now Brett...his cells are up to 5.0!!! He looks good but he has the bone pain associated with a high WBC count.. they will cut back on the GCSF and that should go away soon..but praise the good Lord for events happening with him and his family..they should be headed out very soon... Cassie is such a fighter...We love her and pray so hard for her cells to start growing.. Garrett knows how great she is too..Benjamin is up to .4 so slowly but surely the ladder is being climbed.. Please don't stop the prayers for the others... they are working... We see the results!!!
To God be the glory...Grow Cells Grow!!!

Monday, December 03, 2001 at 09:22 AM (CST)

Day +6 after transplant... Hey, everybody!!! Garrett is still hanging in there. He woke up in a pretty good mood. He got blood early this morning. His hemoglobin level was 7.9 and platelets are 28, so he'll probably get platlets tonight or in the morning. It seems the mucositis is worse in the evening as last night we had to do the PhenBen combo to get him to rest. The PCA (morphine pump) works for the pain but he can't get comfortable.
We see some sores in his mouth but certainly not as expected. He doesn't like the mouth care but it is very necessary so Momma and Daddy take turns making him mad. The doctors and nurses continue to be great. We can't say enough about them. God is working through them for sure.
Please remember everyone here in your prayers. Emily and Brandon are to get out this week. They will continue treatment as outpatients for a while. Brett's WBC's are 2.6 and Benajmin's are going up too. The Cell Dance is working...so keep it up. We need Sam and Cassie to get going ASAP. They are staying positive, but keep the prayers coming. It is likely that we could see growth in Garrett by the end of the week, but we enjoy seeing the results of God's healing hand. Please know everyone here are the best cheerleaders for one another. The first words are usually about a child's counts and how they are doing.
Please PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens) and FROG (Fully Rely On God) for us and each other. Grow Cells Grow!!!

Sunday, December 02, 2001 at 08:44 AM (CST)

Day +5 after transplant..
Good Morning..Garrett is still sleeping...He started to feel bad last night and they gave him PhenBen (Phenergan and Benadryl) and that heped him rest. It should be a few more days before we realistically see cell growth, but its never too early to be doing the cell growth dance. We are thankful that his mouth sores haven't gotten too bad. He rambled some in the halls...To go along with his other tricks, he is now SAYING bye, bye and calling some of the nurses by name. God has his loving arms around him and we are so grateful.
We lost Morgan yesterday. Please continue your prayers for her family. Continue to pray for the other young people on the hall. Add Michael to the list. Cassie, Samantha, Brett, Benjamin, and Brianna are especially close to us. Miracles are still happening and we just need to do our part in praying daily. The doctors and nurses are so fantastic. We feel they are the best anywhere. Michelle, Kelly, Kari, Lori, Amy, Jennifer and all the rest have been super. Garrett loves them to pieces.
Melissa and I are appreciative for every prayer. Remember its Grow Cells Grow. God bless each of you!!!

Saturday, December 01, 2001 at 08:09 AM (CST)

DAY +4 AFTER TRANSPLANT

Hello everyone...thank you all for the, prayers, words of encouragement, and the notes. It helps us get through.

Garrett is doing okay. Tha mucousitis is getting to him. He has a sore in his mouth and I'm sure his throat is sore. He actually yelled at the nurse this morning. His platelets were down to 12 so they gave him a platelet transfusion (they transfuse below 20). He did play for a long while last night. He did a couple of laps in the hallway, and danced for a few of the parents. He has his moments.

Please keep up the prayers for the other kids and patients. I believe they are going to take Morgan off of the respirator today. Remember her family...I know this is a decision they do not want to have to make.

I put some new pictures on the web page last night so be sure to check them out.

Keep dancing the cell dance, and praying those prayers...you wouldn't believe what parents will do to get some cells to grow. HA HA :)

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY....WE LOVE YOU ALL!

Friday, November 30, 2001 at 12:45 AM (EST)

Day +3 after transplant.

Hello Everyone! Sorry it is so late today before we wrote, but I'm writing today rather than Tommy.

Garrett is doing good. He still has a low grade fever (not higher than 100.8) but all of this is expected. He is now on a morphine pump...we can push the button when we think he is in pain. He threw up a little last night, so they gave him some Phenergan and Benadryl. Needless to say, he slept until 10:30 this morning. We gave him his bath and then he was ready to go visiting in the hallway. He loves to say "hello" to everyone. He is learning all kinds of new things along with more animal noises. He is trying to talk. He has the sweetest little voice. Some of you know how much he likes music and dancing...well, he now stands on his bed and dances with the nurses.

We want to thank Samantha (she's on the unit also) for sharing her balloons with Garrett. He loves them.

Please keep praying for everyone up here...patients, parents, nurses, and doctors. We can see the good things, but right now there seems to be more bad. The doctors have told Morgan's mom that they can't do anything more for her and they want to take her off of the ventilators. Please remember Charlie and his family. He had a seizure last night and went to PICU. Say a special prayer for them today. There are a lot of miracles up here that have happened, and a lot more waiting to happen.

These are some other web pages to go to if you want to see some of the other patients on the unit.

www.caringbridge.com/ky/cassie
www.caringbridge.com/ga/bnail
www.caringbridge.com/nc/samw
www.caringbridge.com/md/emilykim
www.caringbridge.com/nc/bwhitingspage

Brianna got her transplant today...:)..I'm sure we will smell that transplant smell soon (Smells like creamed corn)...hey, that's the smell of a new beginning.

We appreciate all of your notes on the guest book. We love to read them...I believe we check them about 50 times a day. We miss all of you and hope to see you soon. Grow Cells Grow!!

Love,
Melissa, Tommy, and Garrett (Tommy Jr.)

Thursday, November 29, 2001 at 11:20 AM (CST)

Day +2 after transplant...Garrett is such a tough little fella..We are sooo proud!!!He didn't sleep well at all..tossing and turning..He got platelets early this morning and he is on GCSF (helps him make WBC's), TPN(food broken down into his fluids), and other medications that help with infection...He is still perfoming his tricks but just a little
lower..Thankful doesn't begin to cover our feelings about our situation.. God is truly working in each of the lives in this unit...
Please pray hard for the families of Reggie and Matthew as they have gone on to be with the Lord. Reggie was 15 and had been prepared to go. His mother is such an inspiration. They are from Savannah, GA. Matthew was young fella and his parents were having a tough time.
Cassie, Benjamin, Brett, Samantha, and Brianna are especially close to our hearts. Cassie is waiting patiently on cells to grow. Brett is growing some and they are ecstatic. Benjamin needs prayers for his BP. Brianna will have her transplant tomorrow. Please remember them all as God leads the doctors and nurses. PUSH for each of us and know that God has his healing hand on each of us.
Please know that your thoughts and prayers are absolutely great and very much appreciated. God bless each of you.
GROW CELLS GROW!!!

Wednesday, November 28, 2001 at 09:49 AM (CST)

DAY +1 after transplant..It is soo great to put that plus sign in front of the number. Garrett is becoming a night owl..but he is sleeping all night..He finally zonked about 11:30 and woke about 7:30..He helps the nurses out..God continues to bless us with the comfort of seeing him do well..His platelets are 29 and WBC's is .1 so they are dropping... The transplant has a distinct aroma..believe it or not...creamed corn. They say it will take a couple of days before it goes away. Melissa and I think its the best smell in the whole world. (Everyone else agrees).Pray that when the fever comes it will bring new cell growth. That is our new cheer as the unit cheerleader little Samantha says, GROW CELLS GROW!!
Please continue to remember all of the other young people and their families...Brett, Samantha, Austin, Brandon, Quentin, Sarah-Morgan, Brianna, Shannon, Emily, Charlie, Phoenix, Reggie,Ryan (having his trnsplant today), Benjamin, and Cassie (Garrett's good buddy).
Thanks again for the kind words...God is so wonderful..He has his hands on all of us..So remember its now, Grow Cells Grow!!!

Tuesday, November 27, 2001 at 08:45 AM (CST)

DAY 0-- Transplant Day!!! Good Morning!!!
Hey.. Garrett is doing great this AM...His platelets are at 45 and his WBC's are really low...but he is all ready to go for later on... Keep us in your prayers and we are confident that the Lord will continue to direct the doctors and nurses..they estimate it to be around 12:00 today... We will update the journal when we are finished with the transplant...God bless each of you...
Well...The transplant is over...everything went well..They started at 12;38 PM and was over at 1:07 PM...It is absolutely amazing to know what that small bag contains and what we hope and pray that it does for Garrett. Please continue the prayers that the new cells begin growing and he doesn't get too awfully sick. Dr. Driscoll came by to say our great he was doing now but he reminded us about the side effects...honestly, we aren't that worried because our Lord has gotten us this far and we know he will see us through whatever happens.
We have lots of pictures..hopefully Melissa will get some of those on the web site later today. Continue to PUSH for us and Bernhard, who got out yesterday. Charlie is a new little fella (4 years old) and Phoenix will be in tomorrow. We know Phoenix pretty well. He was dignosed with neuroblastoma a feww weeks after Garrett was. Thanks for ALL of the encouragement. Keep it coming...I assure you...PRAYER works!!!

Monday, November 26, 2001 at 02:52 PM (CST)

Day -1 and counting to transplant!!! WOW!! You all can't imagine how proud Melissa and I are of Garrett today!! We are blessed that he doesn't have the rashes and mouth sores that usually accompanies this chemo. (at least not yet) We know its coming...
He slept pretty good last night..His eating has slowed down some, but the TPN will probably start tomorrow. Again this was expected. Our nurse put it plainly as "pizza in a bag"...basically has everything he needs broken down and put into his fluid bag. His platelets are at 69 and dropping, which will continue to drop. Our nurses continue to be incredible..add another Michelle to our growing list. He is blowing his kisses and seems to be in great spirits..as I have said so many times before...God is blessing us in so many ways. Thank you all for the words of concern and encouragement for us. We appreciate them sooooo much and thank the Lord for each of you. Continue to PUSH for us and the other young people in the unit. Especially, Matthew and his family as he is in the PICU...praise report for Bernhard as he is an outpatient since earlier today. Samantha, Brett, Cassie and Benjamin are doing much better. Cassie gave Garrett a colored picture of a little pig and her mother gave us Porky Pig stamps...can you imagine why??? They have lots of strength but remember them in your prayers. His little "pig nose" is a favorite but..we are just overwhelmed by his strength and ability to keep us going.Maybe someday he will understand...Take care and God bless each of you!!!

Monday, November 26, 2001 at 02:52 PM (CST)

Sunday, November 25, 2001 at 05:59 PM (CST)

Day -2 and counting to transplant....Garrett's counts are starting to go down..he received blood this afternoon, platelets are still ok but his WBC's are at .3 which is to be expected.
The closer to the transplant, the doctors have prepared us for the low counts but praise the Lord he is still able to do his mouth care without a national incident. God is working hard to let things happen gradually..instead of all at once... He knows what we can take...
He was asleep (with Momma) when I got to the hospital..It was a Kodak moment to be sure... I picked him up and he whimpered a little but after he saw my face...words can't describe the look...Well, they don't sell it at Wal- Mart...Melissa and I have been blessed beyond belief...We certainly appreciate the prayers and words of encouragement...please keep them coming...
Please remember the other patients and their families. God is working through them and Bernhard is getting out tomorrow...so Thank the Lord for that..PUSH!!! Thanks for everything...

Sunday, November 25, 2001 at 05:59 PM (CST)

Saturday, November 24, 2001 at 07:53 AM (CST)

Day-3 and counting to transplant... Garrett had a good night. He just woke up a few minutes ago... playing, of course. His hemoglobin is still above 8.0, platelets are fine, but his white count is lower but that is expected. He has developed some rashes but he is still doing his mouth care without any problems. One of the main side effects is mucositis. Basically, he will be raw from one end to other with mouth sores being a big concern.
We hope each of you will pray for the other young people on the unit. Matthew was taken to peds ICU. We pray for his healing as only God can direct. Each of these families seem to be so strong but each as asked for our prayers.
This has been a fast week...the anticipation of getting into the unit coupled with getting to know fifteen other families and new nurses. They all seem to be in competition to see who can be the best at taking care of all three of us. We want to say a special thanks for them. So far, Michelle, Kari, Kelly, Amy ,and Jennifer have been great. Today, Karen joins that growing list. We feel God is working through them in a special way.
Well...we hope you all have a great Saturday (it's raining here for the first time in 38 days) and remember that God is so good, he is so good to each of us.

Friday, November 23, 2001 at 12:33 PM (CST)

Day -4 and counting to transplant..We trust everyone had a great Thanksgiving. All of us have so many things to be thankful to God for. Melissa, Garrett, and I want to thank each of you for the concern shown us during Garrett's illness.
Just a testimony to how tough he is...his stitches pulled through outside of his central line and peds surgery came to the room this AM to put new stitiches in...Well, they pulled two stitches through and he didn't fuss or cry...His daddy was sooo proud...Anyhow, he did get a little sick yesterday but not too bad and he was out in the hall playing a few minutes later. Dr. Driscoll (the doctor in charge of the transplant) said he was doing great and of course Garrett gave him a piggy nose grunt. His hemoglobin is still above 8.0 and his platelets are in good shape. It sounds odd, but we will want his counts to get low after the transplant. The doctors are encouraged by him keeping his strength and eating good. By Tuesday, he will get nutrition through TPN. Basically, its proteins, carbos, etc... broken down and put into his fluids. These doctors and nurses,with God's guidance, have made all of the right decisions with regard to Garrett and we are so very grateful. We KNOW what God has done and what he can do for each of us if we put our faith in him. We would like for everyone to pray for Reggie, Matthew, Samantha, Ryan, Austin, Bernhard, Cassie, Shannon, Briana, Brett, Quentin, Benjamin, Brandon, Emily and Sarah-Morgan and their families as they are in the middle of or preparing for their transplants. So please continue to PUSH for us and for each other. May God bless each of you.

Thursday, November 22, 2001 at 11:21 AM (CST)

Day -5 and counting to transplant..Happy Thanksgiving!!! We are sooo thankful for the prayers of each of you. God's plan included for us to be here today and we certainly pray that everyone has a safe holiday weekend.
Garrett is doing so good today!! He slept most of the night and has been as active as ever. The doctor checked him out last night and said the fact that he hasn't been sick from the chemo is a good sign but we need to be cautious. The physical therapist came by this morning to tell us to "keep him walking"...imagine that..US keeping HIM going...what a laugh!! He showed no negative signs of development and he got a great report card. His hemoglobin count is getting lower (8.3)..they will transfuse if it gets lower than 8.0. However, his platelets are good at 182 and his white count is holding steady. God has been and still is so wonderful... We humbly pray that our situation will continue to go forward...
Please continue to PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens) and give others this web site and we'll try to update his condition by the afternoon each day. May God be with each of you and remember through Him ALL things are possible!!!

Wednesday, November 21, 2001 at 12:26 PM (CST)

Garrett is 17 months old. He was diagnosed in March 2001 with Stage IV High Risk Neuroblastoma. He is currently receiving chemotherapy to prepare him for his stem cell transplant on Tuesday, November 27. So far, things are going well. Please keep us in your prayers because God is still in the miracle working business.

Click here to go back to the main page.

----End of History----