Our Precious Ethan April 2005 (before his bone marrow transplant)
Ethan earned his wings on Sunday October 7, 2007, 6:30 a.m. October 29, 1998 - October 7, 2007
ETHAN means 'STRONG' ZACHARY means 'GOD HAS REMEMBERED'
We miss you our precious child! Love Mommy & Daddy!
WELCOME AND THANK YOU FOR VISITNG ETHAN'S PAGE
PLEASE LET US KNOW YOU WERE VISITNG US BY SIGNING ETHAN'S GUESTBOOK.
IN LOVING MEMORY of our niece and Ethan's cousin, Bianca Jade Miller, they are together in HEAVEN playing! Bianca Jade Miller April 12, 1997 - June 8, 2005 Our little "JuJu Bee" Angel's Jade and Ethan June 2001 at Disneyland WE MISS both of YOU! (please see her beautiful picture in Ethan's photos)
Journal
Sunday, March 15, 2009 2:06 PM CDT
It’s that time again! The Grace Foundation Annual Golf Tournament!
It will be held Monday April 27th at Northgate Country Club here in Houston. It starts at 10:00 am. Please see http://www.hisgracefoundation.org for more information.
Last year we had such a good time playing and volunteering that we want to increase the joy by having a second LIVE EZ Orange Team. Praise God, we have two teams this year. The team cost is $900 for four players. It includes lunch, dinner and golf. Please help us keep Ethan’s legacy alive and join us by playing or by donating.
His Grace Foundation is a wonderful cause and they are near and dear to our heart. They provided us with much spiritual and financial support among a few things while we were at Texas Children’s Hospital Bone Marrow Transplant Unit with Ethan from January of 2005 until October of 2007. They are a wonderful Christian organization. Donations are tax deductable. For more information on them please visit http://www.hisgracefoundation.org .
Look for pictures of the first Live EZ team on their website. There is also tournament information and information on becoming a bone marrow donor.
Thank you and God Bless,
The Hoffman’s Henry, Sharon and Ethan
Please see past journal entries for Ethan's progression from diagnosis in October 2003, this paged was started on 3/27/04
You may also view more pictures of Ethan at: http:www.carepages.com page name:ETHANZACHARY
ETHAN was two years POST Bone Marrow Transplant in April 2007, he was LEUKEMIA FREE, NO ABNORMAL CELLS AND HAD 100 PERCENT DONOR CELLS.Thank you Jesus for giving our son life for the 2nd time! Thank you to our Donor Jutta for giving us 2-1/2 more years OF LIFE with our son Ethan here on Earth before his passing on October 7th 2007!
CONDITIONS April 2005 to October 2007: Ethan had chronic graft versus host (GVH) that appeared within a month or two after transplant. His GVH has affected his skin, mouth and GI.Graft vs. Host is when the donor (Graft) cells attack the Host (Ethan's) cells and see them as foreign, similar to a white cell attacking a germ. GVH of the skin causes redness and dry scaly peeling skin and, dark patches and spots in some cases. In the mouth it causes sores (like canker) and inflamed gums, making it hard to eat. In the GI it can cause diarrhea or very loose to loose stools. There is no way of knowing if and when it will stop. It just has to burn itself out! The cells have to calm down in their new host. We continued to pray that it would so that he can get off of immune suppresing medications, cyclosporine, and cell cept. Ethan's hemoglobin and platelet counts had been in the normal range since shortly after his transplant. He received unrelated donor bone marrow from a 39 year old female from Germany. God Bless this wonderful woman. On May 9th 2005 Ethan's donor cells are grafted at 100 percent and continued to be 100 percent with no abnormal cells for the rest of his life. Praise God! ETHAN'S HISTORY: At three years old (December 2002) Ethan was diagnosed w/ Chronic Thrombocytopenia (Low Platelets). Jan'03 signs of Myelodysplasia in the bone marrow. We are told that it may develop into Leukemia. Diagnosed with JMML on 27 Oct'2003, he was 5 years old. Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia is rare, less than 1f childhood leukemia's diagnosed. It is hard to treat & has a poor prognosis & cure rate. For more informaiton about JMML please visit: http://www.jmmlfoundation.org. CHEMO HISTGORY: Nov'03 Gleevic. Dec'03 & Jan'04 Two rounds of Fludarabine w/AraC. March'04 DOCTER DOCTER (4 Drugs & a steroid)no results. May'04 2 rounds Clofarabine. June'04 Phase1 Decitabine w/Valproic Acid. FINALLY his blasts down to 2normal range!)but this was short lived. Aug'04 Cladrabine w/no results. Ethan's large spleen was removed August 30,2004, A VERY RISKY SURGERY as he had only 1 thousand platelets! Sep'04 Mylotarg, w/no results. A Naturopathic in Conroe started him on herbs & vitamins in late Sept'04. At this time Ethan had 75irculating cancer blast cells in his. Oct 21 he had zero cancer cells in his. Nov'04 we were told that there was no other chemo to get marrow blasts down and a transplant would not be done. THE TURNING POINT: Jan'05 Texas Children's Hospital will do a transplant! We cut back on the vitamins at this time & in Feb'05 leukemia cells found in lymph nodes,lung tissue sample & the skin lesions on his abdomen. Feb'05 Ara-C injections & Hydrea to control the leukemia & get white cells down for transplant. Feb 28th 1st.Round of Vidaza. March 21st 2nd round Vidaza. We continued nutrition to build him up for transplant. April 17, 2005 Ethan starts 7 days of chemo prior to his 4/25/05 transplant of non-related donor cells. God bless our donor Jutta!
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