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Sunday, May 29, 2005 10:25 PM CDT

NO MORE CHEMO – NO MORE CHEMO – NO MORE CHEMO

Dear Friends and Family,

Can you believe we are finished? We are thrilled but it was definitely a bittersweet ending to 10 long months of treatment. Since last July, we have met and bonded with so many wonderful people at Medical City. We absolutely LOVE our doctors at Texas Oncology, (Dr. Goldman, Dr. Lenarsky, Dr. Weinthal). We admire them and have the utmost respect for them. They have been incredibly kind and compassionate to James and our family. We also fell in love with our nurses both at the clinic and on the 6th floor where we spent many, many hours. They have all been amazing. You know they have done an outstanding job when the patient wants to go back to the hospital “just to visit” and he was very sad on the day we got out. Thank you to everyone who took part in James’s treatment and getting him to where he is now.

We also want to say THANK YOU to all of you who have brought us meals. What a blessing it has been. We had a great farewell party on Saturday with more wonderful food provided by our awesome friends. Thank you so much to everyone who helped out with that. The nurses enjoyed it so much and it was a great way to say “Thank You” to all of them for everything they have done for James.

As we drove away last Sunday evening the tears were flowing, however, these were tears of joy because of where we are today. I remember driving to Medical City back in July the day James checked in and the tears were flowing that day as well but those were tears due to the fear of what we were about to be facing. We knew early on that we had to put this in God’s hands and that he was in control. We feel like God has given us the strength that we needed to get through these difficult times.

We have been so blessed to have such a wonderful support group. The outpouring of love from friends, family and total strangers has been simply amazing. We still get choked up talking about it. You all have blessed us in so many wonderful ways. I think one of the things that has touched us the most is how the children have rallied around James and done everything you can imagine to help out. Just the other day when we stopped by Brentfield to say goodbye to Mrs. Gratt and Mrs. Wright (both are leaving the school and we will miss them dearly), James was handed an envelope with money that had been raised by a group of friends selling lemonade. THANK YOU EVERYONE for all of the kind gestures that you have done for us.

You might be wondering where do we go from here? Well, so far this is what we know. James is scheduled to have a complete set of scans on June 15th. After that, if scans are all clear they may take his port out at that time (or in the next few months for sure). This will be a surgical procedure but shouldn’t take long to do. We should go to the clinic about once a month to get his counts and he should have a CT Scan every 3 months for the next 5 years.

Our summer schedule:
James and Katie will go to VBS at our church June 6 – 10th. James is planning on attending the Mavs hoop camp in June and then he goes to Camp Discovery near Kerrville in July. This is a camp that is sponsored by the American Cancer Society. This camp is a week long and he goes down on a bus with other oncology patients plus Dr. Goldman and some of his nurses from 6th floor. He is really looking forward to camp and his other summer activities. He definitely wants to have lots of play dates.
He can’t wait to get back in school with his friends in the fall. Katie will be starting Kindergarten at Brentfield this year too. What a different year it will be for all of us!

Thank you for reading and posting on James’s website. We have enjoyed hearing from each and every one of you. Your messages have really touched our hearts. We will continue to post when we have a few updates for you. Please continue to pray for clear scans for James and we need to pray for all of our friends who are still in treatment.

God Bless You All,

Mike and Lisa

Tuesday, May 17, 2005 3:37 PM CDT

Dear Friends and Family,

We want to start by saying we are so sorry for not updating for such a long time. Please forgive us!

James is doing just great! Tomorrow we go in the hospital for his 14th and FINAL ROUND of chemo. We are so excited to be reaching the end of his treatments. What a year this has been!

Last week, James went to Buddy Fun Day at his school. He had a BLAST! He can't wait to get back in school with all of his friends in the fall.

James was in the Richardson Morning News last Sunday. Our dear friend and neighbor, Michaela Farrell was featured in an article for the Reflections artwork that she did to honor James. Her work has gone to the national level. Thank you Michaela! That was such a special honor for James.

Last Sunday, James got to meet Steve Nash after the game. I'm sure you are asking "How did he get to do that?" Well, guess who.....UNCLE CHUCK! Thank you so much Uncle Chuck. James had a great time!

James has been so fortunate to go to several Mavericks games lately (thank you to The Prengler's for those great seats).

We would like to thank Mrs. Bridge's 3rd grade class for the bake sale that they held for James after school on Monday. We appreciate it so much. Thank you again to the other 3rd grade classes for the bake sales that they have had for him throughout the year. You are awesome!

Thank you so much for everything that you have done for James and our family.

Love,
Mike and Lisa

Tuesday, April 26, 2005 11:22 AM CDT

This is James. I only have two more treatments left. I go in for chemo on Wednesday. The good part is the chemo is only one day! I went to the Heroes for Children walk on Saturday morning. I met a new friend named Divine.We were the grand marshalls.We were in the pace car.We rode in a t-bird and a porsche!!!I had a great time.I went to my school P.T.A. meeting and they were talking about Reflections. This year was about a special kind of hero. Michaela Farrell did a picture of me. GUESS WHAT,it has gone to Washington, D.C. to the national competition. Our friends from Ct.sent me 1,000 cranes. If you fold 1,000 paper cranes you can make a wish and it will come true. I wanted to give you an update of the last couple of weeks


from,

James

Tuesday, April 5, 2005 9:47 PM CDT

Hi Everyone,
Sorry we haven't updated in a few weeks. James is doing great. We just wanted to do a quick update and let you know that we are going in the hospital for Round #12 on Wednesday. This will be a 5 day stay with only 2 more rounds to go after this visit........WOW! We are almost there!!!!!!

James continues to do so well. We are so grateful to have each of you praying for James and supporting our family for the past nine months. Thank you all so much for everything that you have done for us.

Love,
Mike and Lisa

Friday, March 18, 2005 1:16 PM CST

James just completed his 11th round of chemo on Wednesday. He was able to do this round as an outpatient which was great. He is finished with the chemo that he would get over 48 hours (the red one) and the other two just take about an hour. We stayed in the clinic for the day to make sure he was hydrated well but 8 hours sure beats 3 days in the hospital. We missed seeing our nurses on the 6th floor but our clinic nurses were great too.

I know we have said this before but we are so thankful for our doctors, nurses, and the staff at MCD. They have all been wonderful to James and our family. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!

James is doing very well. We are excited that we have only 3 more rounds of chemo to go. He will have 2 more in the hospital and 1 more in the clinic.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for James and our family. We appreciate everything you have done for us so much.

Love,
Mike and Lisa

Monday, March 7, 2005 5:08 PM CST

Hi, it's James.I'm doing really well I still can't believe how my Uncle Chuck got me to meet Shaq. Today I went to my cousin's spelling bee. If she won she would go to the highest spelling bee in Washington.She made it to today in the regionals which is really high.I just wanted to tell everybody about today.


LoVe,


JaMeS

Friday, February 25, 2005 9:56 PM CST

Sorry we haven't updated the journal lately. James went in the hospital yesterday for chemo (round #10). We are excited that he will have just 4 more rounds after this one. He is doing really well. This is his 5 day round so we should be finished on Monday. He is having fun with his friend, Lisette, at the hospital. They have been helping out at the nurse's station. Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

Love,
Mike and Lisa

Friday, February 4, 2005 8:22 AM CST

Hi! I'm in for another round of chemo. I did not get sick. It is pretty boring, but I'm used to it. I have somthing really cool to tell you. You know my uncle Chuck, the one with the connections. This time for Christmas I got a ticket to Mavs vs Heat game. I though I would just go and watch the the game. NO. We got media passes so we could go anywhere we wanted to go. The coolest part is when Shaq used me as a weight. (smile)

Wednesday, January 19, 2005 8:10 AM CST

I am back from chemotherapy. I had the five day chemo. I had a pretty good round. I am happy to be home! I have a check up at my doctors office on Friday. I've been playing around with Hannah. She is pretty good. I want to thank everybody for supporting our family.

Love,


James

Monday, January 3, 2005 7:52 PM CST

I had a good Christmas. I am feeling good.

I hope everybody had a great holiday,and a happy New Year.

Love,

James

Wednesday, December 22, 2004 7:22 PM CST

Today I am at the hospital getting chemotherapy.On Monday
We could not start chemo because I was not feeling good.Right now I am in the hallway at the hospital. I should get out by tomorrow night.

Monday, December 20, 2004 2:59 AM CST

James enters the hospital today for round 7 (3 days).

After this round, he'll be halfway through his chemo!

Monday, December 6, 2004 10:20 AM CST

James finished another round (6/14) on Friday. It was a little tougher this time just from the boredom factor. James had to stay in his room, due to a potential exposure to Chicken Pox. He and Katie have both been vaccinated and, thankfully, he never contracted it.

Before leaving the hospital, James pulled the winning raffle ticket for the Roger Staubach Autographed Football. Congratulations to The Lane Family of Dallas (Brentfield)! (see "Thanks for Rafflin'", above)

Thanks to Uncle Chuck for staying with James Thursday night. I had burnt that candle at both ends and the fire finally met in the middle.

Saturday, James woke at the crack of dawn and got dressed for his basketball game. He's not actually playing this season, but you wouldn't know it by how excited he was. Coach Mark saved the seat next to him for James (Team Manager this season). Coach Fred said that all the kids "perked up" when James arrived. James's team - The Pistons - won after leading the entire game. Most of these kids have played together for a few seasons now and it's great to see them starting to "gel" so early.

It was great to see the other parents and cheer on the team, but a part of me was really missing seeing James out there. That time will come soon enough.

After sleeping in on Sunday (to try to get everyone a little healthier), we put up our Christmas tree. Katie definitely reminds me of her mama at Christmas. They both just glow.

James has been doing really good at his homework (when he does it). [smile] Hopefully, he can keep pressing on it, so that he can have a few play dates before his counts get low again.

Happy Holidays!

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Wednesday, December 1, 2004 10:26 AM CST

Hi, folks! Grandma here ..... just to give you a quick update .....

James entered the hospital on Monday morning to start Chemo Treatment #6. He's doing very well; only was sick once on the first day. He'll be finishing up on Friday and coming home again that night.

Just talked to him on the phone and he is in the middle of his home-bound class for today with the teacher provided by the Richardson School District. He and Mom worked real hard yesterday getting the assigned homework done for today, and both were real proud of the progress made.

Dad is staying at the hospital at night, then going directly to work, then back to the hospital, with barely a change of clothes.

Katie, bless her heart, is still being "Little Miss Sweetheart", moving as necessary from pillar to post with a great attitude and pouring love out to everyone.

Please continue with your prayers for each of them - in spite of the wonderful progress made so far, the stress is still a challenge for everyone at times.

Thank you.

Tuesday, November 23, 2004 3:28 AM CST

I think I’m still in shock.

I knew in my mind, as I headed with James to UTD on Saturday, where I was going and why, but it never really sunk in. It probably still hasn’t. I think I was less emotionally prepared for Saturday than for James’s cancer diagnosis. As we arrived early to help setup, we found ourselves in a line of cars – all of them going to the Jammin’ for James tournament. Nearly two hundred children (around 50 teams) participated! I’m sure we had over five hundred people throughout the day.

I know that Saturday was a miracle – the work of angels, mostly right here on Earth. Everyone that I talked to spoke of the feeling they had when they entered the building and realized just how big an event this had become. I know that I will carry that feeling and remember the awesome power of the human spirit that I witnessed for all the rest of my days.

If I had one regret, it’s that I couldn’t take the microphone and tell each and every one just how much they meant to me and my family. I’m sorry. It’s not in me. I don’t know how singers and preachers do it. Every time I speak from my heart about something so powerful, I am overcome with emotion to the point that all I can do is cry, then try again, then cry again,… If I spoke to you and tried to convey my feelings, I’m sure I may have sounded guarded. Please forgive me that I could not share more than an infinitesimal amount of my true appreciation and sentiment. I think everyone in my family has already resigned to eating cold turkey this Thanksgiving. It should be a marathon blessing.

You can’t imagine how humbling an experience this has been or how deeply this experience has transformed our lives. As surely as all the doctors, nurses, medicines, and prayers; your support is saving the life of our son. From the moment that we learned of our new challenge, you were there. You REFUSED to let us fall. Taking turns, you held us up. You provided so much support that it made being scared or doubtful seem selfish.

Life is beautiful and worth fighting for. Never before, have I rejoiced so much in every day.

I know it must be hard to believe that we are still on pins and needles, especially seeing how well James is recovering (he even amazed us on Saturday – again, the power of the day). There are, however, several paths that lay before us and only time will tell which path we are meant to travel.

We pray for Our Lord’s grace and guidance as we continue to make decisions about James’s treatment.

As we enter this time of Thanksgiving, I cannot imagine feeling more in need of giving thanks than I do now.

Happy Thanksgiving!

All our love and thanks,
Mike and Lisa

Monday, November 22, 2004 9:10 AM CST

Hi,Thank you everyone for coming to my basketball tournament on Saturday. I had so much fun.My dad is going to post tonight!

Love,
James

Friday, November 19, 2004 10:06 PM CST

James is doing great. We haven’t been doing too much this week due to his low counts. We went to see his physical therapist on Thursday and she released him. He has full range of motion and good strength. This is yet another thing that we are thankful for. He has recovered so well from surgery. We are all amazed.

Tomorrow (Saturday) is the BIG DAY. It’s the Jammin’ for James Basketball Tournament at UTD from 9 – 5. James is so excited and really looking forward to it. If you have a chance, please stop by. It is going to be so much fun. Hope to see you there.

Love,
Mike and Lisa

Thank You!!!

Tuesday, November 16, 2004 7:18 PM CST

Today we went to the doctor. My counts are 600. That is low. So I can't have any friends come over. "Sorry". I have to stay home. I get three more shots to help my white blood cells come back up. Thank you Mrs. Wright’s class for the bake sale.
Love,
James

Saturday, November 13, 2004 7:38 PM CST

I am happy I’m home. Now that surgery is over I can play with my friends. I can now run. Well I’m done with another round of chemo. My incision is doing good. The best part about this month is how my school does really nice things for me. My friends have been so nice to me. There is really no way to thank them enough, especially Ms.Rubin. She has been so nice to our family. I just wanted to tell you what was going on.
Love,
James

Friday, November 5, 2004 4:37 PM CST

Update!

James is doing great and started his 5th round of chemo this morning. This is the 3-day cycle - a little harder to take than the 5-day round, so far.

We're very glad that James could start back today. He'd been off the chemo long enough for his hair to start growing back! James's "Mawmaw" (Grandpa's mama) used to call James her little "peach". He really looks the part right now, with the "fuzz" growing on his head. I know it must make her smile as she helps watch over him.

I'm sure that the combination of James's successful surgery and our new concerns with the remainder of his treatment had a lot to do with me getting sick, but I'm at least able to function again - although I worry about getting too close to the rest of the family until I'm symptom-free. Nurse Lisa had her hands full last weekend, for sure. I can't overstate what an amazing woman I call my wife (occasionally, I call her my girlfriend [wink]).

Katie was also very sweet to her Daddy, checking in on me and making pictures for me. I love it when she's "clingy". She's since gone back to the manipulative winding of me around her finger, so I must be okay now.

James had visits with Dr. LaNoue and Dr. Weinthal on Wednesday and got the "go ahead" to start chemo today. Dr. LaNoue was very pleased with James's progress (as are we) and has allowed him to progress to 10 pound resistance limits. Honestly, I never imagined he would be doing this well this soon after surgery. Dr. Krueger did an excellent job with the reconstruction and James is healing nicely.

In the visit with Dr. Weinthal, we learned that the margins in the resection were so wide and so clear, and James is responding so well to chemotherapy, that they see no need for radiation therapy!

James has had a couple of physical therapy sessions and Mom is following up with some physical therapy "homework" with James. He brought home a giant rubber band and impressed everyone with what he can do. 3 more weeks and we are allowed to see what kind of "throwing arm" he has. I challenged him with a "lat pull-down" exercise (the one thing he shouldn't have been able to do at all) and he found a way. He struggled, but it's clear that he will continue to find ways to compensate. Dr. Krueger told us before the surgery how well children do at "re-learning" motor skills.

James has had a pretty exciting week socially, too. Thursday, James and I went to the Mavericks pre-season game, using some tickets he got as part of his basketball camp this spring. We had tickets next to friends Travis Groos and Kyle Zimmerman and their dads, but planned to sit in the wheelchair aisle for our section. As soon as we arrived, a very generous couple asked us to sit with them, a little closer to the court. James was pretty tired from the walk from the car, and the game was starting, so we watched the first half from about 10 rows back, in the corner behind the Dallas bench. At halftime, we decided to try to find his friends. We found them sitting in about the farthest seats from the court. It was then that we realized how lucky we had been. After debating a little bit, James decided that he really wanted to return to our closer seats and he really wanted his friends to come with him. Dads Dave and Craig either "chickened out" on sneaking down [smile] or were ready for some quiet time (or both) and we agreed to meet them in the Fan Shop after the game.

Halfway through the last quarter, the camera found James! He had been having a great time with his friends and was smiling from ear to ear. He wasn't wearing anything on his head and he couldn't have been more confident. The camera zoomed in close and James flashed that trademark smile and waved, then it widened to frame James, Travis, and Kyle. What great kids! What great friends!

After the game, we ran into another good friend - Bradley Schlesinger, sporting a cast from breaking three fingers playing baseball - and dad Coach Fred. Bradley was just the spark this group needed to get a little wild! James couldn't play along, but had a great time watching his friends run and play in the now-near-empty concourse. At one point, Bradley did something that James found so spontaneously funny that it caught him off guard and he laughed too "big". I'd never reflected on the phrase, "It only hurts when I laugh", until then. How bitter-sweet to feel such joy and pain at the same time. We took a minute to hug and get back under control, then he was okay again.

On Sunday, James and Katie went "trick or treating" with cousins Lauren, Caroline, and Rebecca. James was dressed as the "Scream" character and Katie went as Tinker Bell [aawww...] James actually scared me. I was sick in bed and he knocked on the bedroom door, then opened it slowly, paused, then swooped in quickly, right up to my face, wearing that costume! (I think I peed a little.)

After the Halloween run, we (they)celebrated Grandma's birthday (actually on Monday). Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Monday night (as you may have read in the Guestbook), Uncle Chuck took James over to SMU to see the President. Did anyone doubt that Uncle Chuck could pull this off? [smile] They started out up in the balcony, but soon found themselves on the front row! James got to meet Chuck Norris (Walker - Texas Ranger), saw Toby Keith perform about 10 feet in front of them, then shook hands with (and hugged) President Bush as he was leaving the venue. Unfortunately, someone bumped the camera out of Uncle Chuck's hand right as this happened, so we don't have a picture, but I'll be putting up some other pictures, that Uncle Chuck took, later tonight. Thanks, Uncle Chuck, for making yet another special memory!

I'm sure there's plenty of other stuff that I missed, having been "down and out" for so long, but I will resume a normal posting schedule now.

Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers.

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Tuesday, October 26, 2004 10:33 AM CDT

We're home!

James had his last drain tube removed yesterday afternoon, followed by a brief physical therapy session, then we were able to leave.

Last night was pretty laid-back. We ate dinner, then fell asleep watching a movie.

James is managing the pain remarkably well. He only asked for some pain medicine this morning, while trying to cough.

Our schedule is a little "up in the air" right now as we try to get all of our docs to agree on a date to resume the chemo. Our oncologists naturally want to start as soon as possible, but our surgeons want to wait several weeks to ensure that James's wounds have healed.

We're confident that they will work it out to everyone's mutual satisfaction, and we'll let everyone know as soon as we know something.

James is restricted from lifting or pushing anything heavier than five pounds for the next six weeks. I'm sure that will become harder and harder to enforce as the pain diminishes.

Thank you!

It happened the night before James’s surgery, so this is the first chance my mind has had to reflect on it, but we want to thank all those who participated in the Laser Tag Fundraiser. Our family would like to add a special thanks to Laser Quest and Scotty P’s for sponsoring this event, and, of course, to our "earth angels" who organized the event, spread the word, sold the tickets, etc.

As you’ve probably read, James did not require any additional blood during his surgery. We are very thankful for those who gave blood in his name. Your gift has undoubtedly already saved a life.

It’s easy to tell by looking at me that we’ve had meals delivered consistently for the last three and a half months! James has even gained 8 pounds since starting chemo! Whether you’re a chef or a chauffer, thank you. Between the meals, the treats, and the overwhelming kindness shown to James and our family, I think I’m turning into "blubbering blubber".

Thanks for the smiles, the hugs, the laughs, the poems, and the [perfect] cheers!

In this busy world, thank you for taking time to think of us, taking time to help us, and taking time to pray for us.

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Saturday, October 23, 2004 11:26 AM CDT

Friday morning, James had his chest tube removed. Later that afternoon, his epidural was taken out. At 4pm, James moved out of the PICU and into his room on "the floor".

Nurse Sandy greeted him yesterday before she got off her shift and was back this morning bright and early, giving James some much needed smiles.

He has done great at trying to move around and at doing his breathing exercises. A couple of hours ago, James got up, got dressed, and went for a short walk! He walked down the hall outside his room, then Sandy brought a wheelchair and he's been pushing himself all over the place today.

We want to clarify something. The pathology news in my last post was, without a doubt, the best possible result that we could have received, but it does not alter our course. After James recovers from surgery, he will continue his chemotherapy every three weeks for ten more rounds. We will also have a very difficult decision to make regarding radiation therapy.

I am trying to be careful not to overstate (in either direction) where we are with his treatment. We've just won a major battle and we are winning the war, but there's much fighting left to do. With the support that James and our family has received, we will be victorious!

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Thursday, October 21, 2004 4:04 PM CDT

Are you ready to do the "happy dance"?

Lisa just called. Dr. Goldman just visited the PICU to deliver the pathology results:

No Cancer cells were found in the entire resected material!

God is Great!

Thursday, October 21, 2004 10:42 AM CDT

James was not able to tolerate the pain when we tried to get him rolled over on his side late last night.

He rested most of the night, interrupted periodically by a crying baby across the hall. James would lay silently - carefully listening to the baby. It was easy to tell he was more concerned for that baby last night.

Dr. Kreuger was the first on the scene again this morning. He took another look at James's "flap" and said that it's doing great.

Dr. Abramson was by around 9 and turned James's epidural down from 4 (it was at 5 after the surgery) to 2.5. James took a little pain medicine orally, then had his catheder(?) removed. He was able to pee in the "jug" a few seconds later and said he felt much better (I'll bet). A few minutes later he mustered the courage to attempt to sit up.

Any wagering yet?

James sat up, then he "scootched" to the side of the bed under his own power, then he put one foot on the floor, then the other, then stood up!

He walked a step over to a chair beside his bed and sat down, surprising himself and his nurse.

When I left to get a bite to eat, he was sitting in the chair playing video games with Mama.

Amazing! (Can you see my chest puffed out from where you're sitting? [smile])

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 7:16 PM CDT

James had a pretty good night last night, after a little nausea around midnight (those popsicles and jello always "sound" like a good idea, huh?). Leaning up in bed to change the pad behind him brought the first sign of pain and seeing the look on my little boy's face made that pain shoot right through me, too. After just a few seconds, we had the pad changed and the bed reclined and he was fine for the rest of the night. He slept for long periods (a couple of hours at a time) and had no more discomfort.

Dr. Krueger arrived at 6:30am and examined James's "flap" (nothing's "flapping", that's just what they've been calling the section of skin and muscle that have been moved around to his right front). He also removed the dressing to check the "stitches" and I got my first look. Not bad. It looks like someone got him with a football-shaped cookie cutter. The inner portion was recessed a little, but I think that should even-out with time. I was expecting more bruising. Everything I saw looked pink and perfect. The tone of the transplanted skin matched it's surroundings, so it doesn't appear to be under any trauma.

Dr. Krueger also shared with us that his wife, Dr. Krueger, was the pathologist that made James's initial diagnosis and was doing the pathology on the resected portion from the surgery yesterday. He indicated that they were having trouble finding any tumor cells in the resected section, so far. They will be decalcifying the ribs, so that they can prepare "slices" to examine. This process usually takes a couple of days, so we may hear something of those results tomorrow or Friday.

Dr. Weinthal and Dr. LaNoue came by while I was still there this morning and reported their delight at how well the surgery went. Dr. LaNoue indicated that James might have been able to go to his room on 6 today.

Mama showed up bright and early, having left the hospital after midnight, looking like a million bucks and toting a couple of music CDs that James had requested I call her about, just a minute earlier.

She called a few hours later, saying that Dr. Abramson wanted to "turn down" the epidural a notch, with the goal of getting James "weened" off of it by Friday. As a result, he wants James to spend another night in the PICU, because they will have more options available for dealing with his pain than would be available on "the floor". We cheerfully agree.

At last report, James had been resting quietly all day in anticipation of watching the ball game tonight. I'll be on my way as soon as I finish this update to join him.

You really wouldn't have believed the sight last night. Having just finished surgery an hour earlier, James watched the Yankees-Sox game, falling asleep only briefly at periods throughout the game.

He is an amazing young man - a source of stead-fast inpiration.

As for me, I think I'm getting "love-weary" (attempting to coin a term). Lisa and I just have to laugh when we hear of or experience another amazing act of kindness directed at our family. We have been "filled" with joy and have received so much love that we are "over-flowing".

Your love has been like the sweetest violin.

Put together with a thousand other violins, we have experienced a three-month-long crescendo of strength, hope, peace, and happiness. Three months measured in moments. Every moment building on top of the one before it. Every moment filled with perfect love.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Tuesday, October 19, 2004 8:00 AM CDT

[8am]
Laurie Prengler just picked up Katie (starting her "tour"), and Miss Pat is coming over to watch Hannah.

We're off! First stop: Dr. Krueger's office for James to get "marked up" for the reconstructive part of his surgery.

[12pm]
After Dr. Krueger's office, we came over to Texas Oncology, where James had his counts taken and his port accessed. He's admitted now and playing pool and fusball in the Teen Room on 6, waiting for them to come get him for surgery.

[6:30pm]
James didn't get into the OR until 2:09. In order to avoid injury to the lat muscle, Dr. Krueger was called in early to "harvest" the lat, so that they could move it out of the way.

Dr. LaNoue indicated that he didn't see much of the tumor left at all, but the last CT scan and bone scan called for the removal of the entire 7th rib (from spine to sternum). The required margins also called for the removal of a 3 to 4 inch section of both his 6th and 8th ribs. There was no indication that the tumor had penetrated or involved the lung, so no section of the lung was removed. A Gortex patch was sewn in to protect the chest cavity and Dr. Krueger is now closing and completing the reconstructive part of the surgery. James only lost about 100cc (one third of a can of Coke) of blood during the procedure.

Dr. LaNoue (and Dr. Hermann - assisting) indicated that James did extremely well.

He should be out of surgery within an hour and will then go to recovery in the Pediatric ICU, where he will spend the night.

[8:30pm]
James is in the Pediatric ICU now, watching the ball game! He looks great, THANKS BE TO GOD! He is alert and talking. They did not have to keep him on the breathing machine and have even removed the oxygen mask. He has an epideural(?) which will be in for three days and appears to be in no pain. He has a chest tube and two little tubes for drainage. The chest tube may come out tomorrow or the next day.

Both doctors indicated that they didn't think it could go much better than it did. Thank you, Lord!

Lisa and I are going to be figuring out the shift changes for tonight and trying to "settle in", so this will be the final post for the evening.

Thank you so much for your prayers, your calls, your messages, your love and support. We are truly blessed.

With all our love and gratitude,
Mike and Lisa

Monday, October 18, 2004 11:18 AM CDT

If you're looking for the "real" writer in the family's entry, click Journal History.

I'm switching to "information only" mode, so that I can update everyone about James's condition as soon as possible. Since it is the most efficient way to notify everyone, you will want to check this site tomorrow. I will update the site everytime we know something new, even if it means leaving the floor to do so.

As of now, the surgery is not scheduled to start until 1pm tomorrow afternoon.

James has a lot of "prep" work before the surgery, though, so we plan to get an early start.

After the surgery, we "plan" on spending one night in intensive care, then we should get moved to "our" floor - where we plan to stay for about a week.

Please say a prayer for James tomorrow.

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Saturday, October 16, 2004 0:47 AM CDT

At 11:21pm tonight, the phone rang.

James is staying the night with Nana and Papaw.

Lisa and I answered the phone simultaneously. I was watching a movie on the sofa in the den and she was in our bed with Katie.

Barely a sound came across the receiver, before we realized it was Nana. Crying.

The range of possibilities that flushed through my mind was endless.

After a couple of words, it became apparent that she was crying with pure joy.

She told us that she and James were talking about his struggle and how the hardest part would soon be over. With that, she handed the phone to James.

We listened with amazement as he read back to us what he had just written.

There is only one way to experience this. I hope you're sitting down...

A Writing from My Heart I love the whole world.  God made our lives wonderful. If you think you can't do something, try. God will give you your best wishes. If you haven't got your wishes, it's because you are not telling Him what you want. God's told me, "You can do it, James.  I gave you powers to get rid of this cancer."
	"My peace is good." "God is my Father." "I love my children."
Climbing the mountain "Hurry up..."      "...getting close..."            "...Yes. Yes. Yes..."                      "Yes! I'm done."

Thank you, God, for this gift called James.

Peace be with you,
Mike and Lisa

Thursday, October 14, 2004 9:27 PM CDT

Okay, I've got to admit that I had no idea it was Thursday until I started this post.

This will be quick, as I haven't had any dinner yet...

James' surgery is now set for next Tuesday, the 19th (subject to change [grin]).

After hearing from what seems like everyone we know about how great Dr. Genecov is, it looks like it's just not going to happen. He and Dr. LaNoue (yes, I'm spelling it differently - hopefully right this time) could not get together on the same day until later in the month (I'd have to go back in the journal to remember when we said), and our oncologists didn't want us to wait that long.

Dr. LaNoue then referred us to Dr. Jeffrey Krueger (yes, I'm glad his first name's not Freddie, too) with whom we met today. Dr. Krueger took out a body marker and drew onto James' side and back to illustrate what was likely to happen during "the close". Upon seeing the location of Dr. LaNoue's incision from the biopsy, Dr. Krueger was hopeful that the resection will leave the upper arteries to James' right "lat" in tact and that he will be able to detach it at the lower and center end-points and "swing it around" to "fill in" the area left by the resection. He also plans to take an elliptical shape of skin - attached to the "lat" - and use this skin to replace the skin over the tumor, which will have to be removed.

Dr. Krueger also indicated that there is a chance that the resection might damage these upper arteries, taking away this preferred option.

A backup plan will be to completely detach the left "lat", bring in the microscope, and re-connect it to the arteries on the right side. As mentioned previously, he may decide also to take a skin graft (probably from an upper thigh) to close the resected skin area.

Either way, Lisa and I (and more importantly, James) left the visit feeling confident in our team.

Okay...
"Dr. Genecov: Please accept our public apologies."
A good friend just called. She had just been on the phone with Dr. Genecov, himself, who expressed that he was "VERY FAMILIAR" with our case. Apparently, Dr. Genecov's sister is a Brentfield mom, so I'm sure they've all been getting solicited since my previous post.

Dr. Genecov also expressed that if there was any way he could handle our case, he would. He added that he was familiar with Dr. Krueger and that if he, himself, couldn't do it, he would want us to have Dr. Krueger. [Music to our ears!]

We are still trying to curtail our activities until this surgery is over, so... we're going to, for a few days, "live like there IS a tomorrow, and we want to be healthy when it gets here".

I apologize to those of you who have checked the site recently, just to be disappointed that there was no entry. I have been "coding like a madman" in an attempt to get a customer project to a stable point before James' surgery. Lisa's been even busier with the kids and the hospital/ insurance logistics.

We're all doing okay, I guess. We really don't talk about the anxiety - just a hug here... a touch there... and the exchange of thankful smiles until it brings a tear of happiness.

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Wednesday, October 13, 2004 8:37 AM CDT

Just a quick update to let everyone know that James' surgery is now scheduled for next Wednesday, October 20th.

We are still in the process of pinning down all of the details.

Mike

Monday, October 11, 2004 8:41 AM CDT

I bet you can guess who we were rooting for this weekend, huh? Friday afternoon, after our visit with the thoracic surgeon, James and Uncle Chuck went over to the team's hotel and James got to meet the team and head coach Mack Brown. Every nine year old boy should have an Uncle Chuck (and every dating-age boy should have an Uncle Mark [grin], so we're covered).
	Quarterbacks Vince Young and Chance Mock signed James' cap and discussed their game strategy. Our heart-felt thanks to Mack Brown and the Texas Longhorns Football Team! Hook 'Em!

We still don't have a date for James' surgery. Our thoracic surgeon, Dr. LeNoue, just returned from a mission trip and he is trying to find a date where both he and the desired reconstructive surgeon are available. We need to get it scheduled as soon as possible, because we are already into the "good" window and we don't want to "let up" in this fight. James' cancer is much too aggressive for any major delays.

In our meeting, Dr. LeNoue examined James and described what would happen in the surgery. I think Lisa and I took our reaction cues from James, who listened to how he would lose a major portion of his right side and then asked, "Now, when I play sports, I'm going to need an extra pad on that side, right?". This kid is Tough (with a capital T), inside and out!

Here is what we know to date (keep in mind that we have not met with the reconstructive surgeon and that Dr. LeNoue expressed that a lot of what will happen will happen "on the fly" when they look "under the hood"). If the tumor has shrunk completely (one microscopic cell), then they will have to "resect" an 8 centimeter in diameter sphere around that cell (4 centimeter margin).

That doesn't mean that he will lose that large a mass. Being on his rib, a large portion of the "sphere" is outside his body.

He will, however, have to lose all of the "sections" of rib that intersect this "sphere" - most likely an 8-9 centimeter portion of the "infected" rib, a 4-5 centimeter portion of the ribs on either side of the infected rib, and perhaps a small portion of the ribs on the outside of those ribs.

Dr. LeNoue will raise the rib section to be extracted and, if the tumor is "stuck to" James' lung, then he will have to lose a portion of his lung as well.

Since the rib is so close to the skin, James will lose close to an 8 centimeter diameter ellipse of the skin over the infected rib. They will do a skin graft to replace it.

Dr. LeNoue thinks that the reconstructive surgeon might make another incision across James' back, so that he can "swing around" a muscle from his shoulder blade area to help "fill in" the area where his ribs are to be removed.

They will most likely stitch in a piece of Gortex, to serve as a protective barrier where the ribs are removed. Scar tissue will form over the Gortex and create a hardened surface to help protect his internal organs.

As hard as this is to read, trust me, it's harder to write. I am drawing on the strength of my son at this point.

It's happening.

This is the best thing for him and we are ultra-confident in our surgeons and doctors.

In the car, on the way home Friday, James smiled a mischievous smile as I told him, "...chicks dig scars".


[10:19]
Lisa just called and told me that the earliest Dr. LeNoue and the desired reconstructive surgeon, Dr. Genecov (the surgeon that worked on the Egyptian Twins) can do the surgery is October 28th. She's calling our oncologists to see if this is too far out. We'll let everyone know...

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Thursday, October 7, 2004 9:36 AM CDT

CaringBridge is having a few troubles today.
(Please note that you can use www.jamesfaulkinbury.com now, to get to James' site. I am in the process of archiving all of the CaringBridge content there.)
Originally posted at 3:30AM

As I collect my thoughts for tonight's (this morning's) journal, I realize I could sit here and type [seemingly] forever. Our lives are completely filled with joy and amazement. So much so, that I struggle, on every journal entry, with what "sliver" of our experience to share (another reason to write nightly, I know [smile]).

Our Honeymoon, ehem... Anniversary

Friday night (again, completely due to very generous friends - and Grandma babysitting), Lisa and I spent some much-needed time together.

First, we had an incredible meal at Smith and Wollensky.

We had both been going "ninety-to-nothing" all day, so we spent the first part of our dinner just "unwinding". It's funny; most days, I come home late after working my little brain to the point of exhaustion to find Lisa "full". She has spent the day "saving up" things to tell me or talk about. After fifteen years, we have learned the "art" of give and take - some nights she "stays full", some nights my little brain finds a way to "download" everything she's got to give. Friday night, we talked. There were no kids. There was no consulting project. And, for a few fleeting moments, there was no cancer. We held hands and silently comforted each other at times.

We... okay, "I"... had no business even looking up at the dessert cart when it came, but we did anyway! We ordered three little ice-cream-stuffed puffed pastries, had one each, and had to leave the last one on the plate. If I thought Lisa could manage it, I would have checked on a refrigerator dolly for her to wheel me to the car.

Instead of going home, we headed to The Omni Mandalay at Las Colinas (another generous gift). We were both surprised to find the "Rendezvous For Two" package waiting for us! This experience definitely rivaled our honeymoon bests - The Adolphus (Dallas) and The Fairmont (San Francisco). We had chocolate-dipped strawberries and chilled champagne waiting for us in the suite, which, from the 21st floor, overlooked the canal and lake - with the Dallas skyline on the distant horizon.

I'm sure that the rest of the hotel was lovely, but we didn't leave that room until the 1pm check out time the next morning [wink]. We "melted" into the softest bed in the world. In the morning, we awoke to the knock of room service and had breakfast in our robes. We talked and relaxed. Perfect.


The healing power of children



James' illness has touched the hearts of many children and they, in turn, have touched ours. I wish I could tell you of everything that they have done, but, a lot of the time, we find out about their contributions (like a lot of the contributions by adults) by coincidence.

As you may know, a "Wish-Him-Well" was setup to allow children to express their well wishes for James. Kids have drawn and painted pictures for James. They have written him letters. They have even given their allowance money.

Other kids have had a Bake Sale or a Car Wash (on their own), to raise money for James.

These kids are talking to people everywhere they go to spread the word about James. There are now several businesses (barber shops, etc.) donating a portion of their profits, as a result.

When James does get an opportunity to "visit" school, the kindness, love, and support shown by these children is incredible.

They cheer him on!


And on and on and on...

Most importantly, on their own, they pray for him.

You, children, are a prayer answered.

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Wednesday, October 6, 2004 2:56 AM CDT

(yawn...)

It's 3am as I start to write, so you know it's going to be a short update.

Please look forward to an expanded update Wednesday night. I'll leave that journal entry up until Friday night (since it will contain MUCH info), at which time I'll get back to posting regularly.

James had a doctor appointment today and his counts were back to normal (Yay!). However, we will be taking our doctor's advice and keeping him (and Katie, and ourselves) in semi-isolation. We don't want him catching ANYTHING that might delay his surgery. We meet with the Thoracic Surgeon on Friday. (Yes, I know his name. No, I'm not going to take a chance at losing my post again by Googling him for the correct spelling. [grin]). We think we might come out of that meeting with a date and time for James' surgery.

James also got his flu shot today. I glanced up at CNN today just long enough to see something about a vaccine shortage, so I hope the rest of us (all) can get one soon, too.

We were laughing at breakfast this morning about our last flu shot experience. I went first. I was getting allergy injections twice a week at the time, so I got my allergy injection in one arm and my flu vaccine injection in the other. All of this was carefully choreographed, so that Katie could see Daddy get his shots. She watched carefully. When I was done, she calmly sat in my lap, turned her head, and got her shot. NOT A PEEP! She didn't even frown!

The unexpected consequence was that her "Bubba" (who was being a great coach, but was expecting to hear a yelp) was now in the hot seat. How could he do anything but sit there as calmly as his little sis? This was perfect! Sure enough, he sat down, turned his head, and got his shot.

Uh-Oh! There's ONE person left... It was obvious that Mama was also expecting a yelp from ONE of her kids and was now in the hot seat herself. This was hilarious! Nothing like having your family taunt you during your flu shot, huh? "Awwww... Don't cry... Are you cwyin'??? Aw woo gonna cwy???" I thought James and Katie were going to pee in their pants.

Okay, I really need some sleep. Do you get the idea that I don't use the term "long-story-short" very often? [smile]

I will try to share as many of the incredible stories of recent days as possible with you tonight. Everywhere we turn, we see or hear of someone helping. We are so truly blessed.

Sleep well, my little village...

Friday, October 1, 2004 5:33 PM CDT

I'm giddy!

Tonight, thanks to some very generous friends, Lisa and I are having a "date night" and celebrating our 15th Anniversary (it was yesterday).

Grandma is staying with the kids and we're going to "paint the town" (Well, as much as our personalities will allow, anyway. Okay, as much as my personality will allow. I can hear Lisa's friends saying, "Honey, you're just slowin' that girl down!").

James has had an incredible day! He "visited" school today and then got to go on a "play date" to a friend's house. He ought to sleep great tonight.

Katie has also had a great day at school. I am so proud of her. She really is trying to take this all in stride. She is so smart and so young - a tough combination right now. I wish my hugs could do more.

Wow... 15 years...

This is a marriage made in heaven, and I don't mean that in the sense in which I've so often associated that cliché. I mean that, tonight, as I reflect on fifteen years of "life", I am thankful - so very grateful - that God brought this woman into my life.

Wednesday, September 29, 2004 7:22 AM CDT

We're home!
(actually, we've been home since Monday night)

Katie joined us Tuesday morning (from an over-nighter at Nana and Papaw's), making our family complete again.

Lisa and I pass each other at shift change when James is in the hospital and Katie is usually visiting with family the whole time, so we really do start to miss each other terribly.

James had a pretty good day yesterday. He was feeling bad during Ms. Rindler's school session and finally threw up just after she left. He felt good enough after that, that I had to tell him to "take it easy!" several times later in the day.

We're on the lookout for any other bone pain, so it's important that he not induce any, himself, with any "jarring" calisthenics.

That's all for now. I just wanted to give everyone a quick update.

We can't express enough our appreciation for all of the support we've received. We know how truly blessed we are to be surrounded by so much love.

James' nurse, on Monday, commented on our support group, too. "You guys have the most amazing support group that I have EVER seen. Whenever we see someone new coming down the hall, we know where they're headed!"

Thanks, everyone, for your support and your continued prayers for James.

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Saturday, September 25, 2004 7:32 PM CDT

Rats! I just lost my journal entry when I tried to go lookup our Thoracic Surgeon to make sure I was spelling his name correctly.

Now I'm out of time. I guess I'll take my laptop to the hospital and try to post from the room tonight.

Long story short - we got good news today! We still have a bit of a rough road ahead, and a long one at that, but James' has had a "great response" to the chemo! The tumor has been reduced by 90 percent!

God, chemo, and the powerful spirit that is James Cole Faulkinbury - talk about your "triple threats"!

More in a bit, y'all... (if my laptop doesn't get fried - they were having another water fight when I left a couple of hours ago)[grin]

Check out the new photo of the Jammin' for James team at the WOKC Fun Run!

-Mike

Friday, September 24, 2004 10:38 AM CDT

James is doing great!

I know a few people are glued to this site for updates, so I just wanted to get that out of the way up-front!

Yesterday was filled with tests. James had a CT-Scan of his chest, a whole-body bone scan, a chest x-ray, and a sonogram of his heart performed. He's scheduled to do his MRI at 10:30 this morning, but this might get pushed a little. His last MRI kept getting pushed back, due to the more urgent needs of Emergency Room patients.

James' "water level" was higher this time, so he was able to start the chemo late in the afternoon. Dr. Goldman is going to "move up" his remaining treatments (in this round) by 3 hours, so we'll be able to go home Monday night.

Once he was back in his room yesterday afternoon, James was allowed to eat, finally. He got to enjoy it until around 10pm, when he became nauseous. He felt better immediately and was so tired that he just went to sleep.

Last night was probably the best night James has had in the hospital! Not needing extra medicine for nausea, he was his usual, "punch-drunk-but-manageable" self. He woke up on his own a few times, and was easily awaken a few other times, to go "potty".

After Mom arrived this morning, I went over a couple of buildings for a health screening. When I returned, I found Mom and James huddled at the nurse's station with Dr. Goldman, attempting to take a peek at his CT-Scan results. No such luck. However, Dr. Goldman did use the term "great response" with Mom. If you know our doctors and how conservative they are, then you know this is GREAT NEWS!!!

We want to wait until we get the full debrief before saying too much. I'm sure that we'll have the full report later this afternoon.

Thank you for keeping James in your prayers!

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Thursday, September 23, 2004 11:15 AM CDT

James is back in the hospital, as scheduled, for his fourth round of chemo - his last round before the operation to remove his tumor.

I will post again tonight and share with you the adventures of James "Wild Child" Faulkinbury, but I had to take a moment now to ask for a favor:

Please pray for our son.

Pray that the tumor will have shrunk as much as possible, to reduce the extent of the surgery and its impact on his quality of life.

Pray that, regardless of the MRI result, our anxiety will be replaced with peace and strength.

Pray that James feels God's presence and is comforted, knowing God is with him.

Pray.


All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Monday, September 20, 2004 9:05 AM CDT

Eat at Chili's today! 100 percent of their profits on September 20th will go to fund cancer research.

Now on to the news...

Thursday afternoon, Lisa and I attended Allie's Memorial Service. Jenny's (Allie's mom) account is more eloquent than I could think of writing (Sept. 16th entry), so I'll leave it to you to follow the link offered. We are so grateful that this family has shared their child with the world. The world is a better place for having her in it, even if but for a moment. We will surely carry her memory until we join her.

On Thursday night, Lisa and I had the opportunity to spend some much needed time to ourselves. James and Katie spent the night at Aunt Amy's house, where they had a dance party - complete with prizes. Lisa and I had dinner at home, then enjoyed the late movie at the Studio Movie Grill. It was nice to "snuggle" in the booth at the back and escape for awhile.

James had a doctor appointment on Friday. His ANC had sky-rocketed to 31,000. We still plan on starting the fourth round of chemo this Thursday.

Saturday had to be heaven-sent. We started out early at the "Wipe Out Kids Cancer" (www.wokc.org) Fun Run in Addison, where we met up with several of James' Friends and their families (there had to be 20 or 30 total), all wearing their "Jammin' for James" T-Shirts (designed by Renee Rubin). Thanks so much to our Brentfield friends for participating in this fundraiser!

At the WOKC Fun Run, James met Stephen Rhodes, an Ambassador for WOKC from Paris (Texas). Stephen's mom, Monica, found us at the Eddie Coker concert after seeing one of his friends with their "Jammin' for James" t-shirts! We were soon introducing James to Stephen, who, just prior, was looking pretty bored. It didn't take much encouragement - James asked, "Do you want to come play?" (all of James' friends were running and chasing each other). Stephen smiled and they were "off". Every few minutes they would sit down in the grass and talk. They traded stories that only two kids going through what they are going through could trade.

Later, James, Stephen, and Stephen's older sister Savannah rode carnival rides together and had a blast! Stephen, whose hair has already grown back, let James wear his Michael-Young-signed Texas Ranger's ball cap, so that James wouldn't get sunburned. What a great new friend!

After an hour or so, we all said goodbye, but we hope to stay in touch with this family, and will pray for Stephen, for years to come.

After a brief rest, James went to see his first real Bobcats baseball game of the season! He wasted no time in assuming his position as bat boy. I was still locking the car, but I could hear, "Hi James!" and "James is here!", coming from the Bobcats dugout.

I had heard about the uniforms, but it was really quite overwhelming, especially coming from an event where a couple dozen people where sporting "Jammin' for James" t-shirts, to see an entire little league baseball team with "J.F." on their sleeves. Have I said how much I love our community?

James' friends, most of them 8 and 9 years old, inspire me on an almost daily basis. Saturday was no exception. I heard how Jason Carr wanted to call their team "The Faulkinburys" (that lettering would blow any budget!), I saw how Bradley Shlesinger, without hesitation or encouragement to do so, handed the "game ball" (that he won for best offense) to James, and I witnessed Kyle Zimmerman steal a "half-hug" - putting his arm around James' waist and tapping his forehead to James' shoulder - as he went to bat. These are just a portion of the countless displays of character that I have personally witnessed.

On Sunday, we all attended church. Pastor Ray gave a particularly timely sermon about God's Will. Since originally attending Royal Lane Baptist (as Lisa's boyfriend), I have been continually fascinated with Pastor Ray's ability to articulate complex thought and reason.

He opened his sermon, by introducing the death of a teenager. The teen had been drinking and missed a turn while driving in up-state New York. The car fell into a river and the teen was drowned.

The teen's father was approached at the funeral by a woman stating, "Well, it's just God's Will..."
The father interrupted, "Surely, the moment the car slipped below the surface of the water, God's heart was the first to break."

Pastor Ray went on to convey a sentiment over the next forty-five minutes to which I would not do justice to try to reconstruct here. It suffices to say that I know that God is with us. He offers us strength through our friends and family, and, yes, often through complete strangers.

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Thursday, September 16, 2004 7:27 AM CDT

James was running a mild fever on Tuesday, but it never broke into the "worry zone". We think that his counts may be on the rise and that he was able to fight off whatever nasty little thing was brewing. There's one more injection in the bag (for tonight), then he should be back up to "normal". That'll give him a full week to "go wild" before his next chemo round. [smile]

I wanted to... ahem... "we" wanted to share with everyone what a loving little sister Katie has been lately. It really does our hearts good to see her initiating hugs and kisses with her "Bubba".

We had a reporter and a photographer from The Dallas Morning News visit us last night. It really made me realize how much I appreciate the [Backspace] key when writing this journal.[grin] Not that we said anything that we didn't mean, but there's just so much going on in our heads that it takes a little extra organization to get it out in a "consumable" form.

I've been thinking a lot about our Jewish friends lately - reading on Sam's site and in Coach Fred's (love that man!) recent post that we have entered into the Jewish High Holidays. What wonderful mitzvahs you have all performed on our behalf!

Thanks to everyone for keeping up with James through your Guestbook entries. He really gets a kick from reading your messages!

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Monday, September 13, 2004 10:06 PM CDT

Germs, germs, go away!
Come and play another day!

Sunday, September 12, 2004 9:53 PM CDT

James has had a great weekend. It's actually been a great few days.

On Thursday, James had school. He did really good and seems to have a renewed commitment to learning.

Friday, James had a doctor's appointment to "get his counts". We expected them to be low by then, but they weren't, so he had a final play date Friday afternoon, before entering an isolation period.

He goes in on Monday to check again and we'll see then how many more injections he will need this time. I get a visual reminder of just how much he's been through every time I put another "spent" syringe into our homemade sharps box.

Several people have commented on how good James looks, and they're right - he is shattering all of my uneasy anticipations with his energy level and his charming, "happy-go-lucky" personality!

James really missed cheering on his "Bobcats" baseball team this weekend, but was happy to hear how good they are doing this year - they played to a tie on Saturday and won their game today! Go Bobcats!!

During Saturday's game, the Bobcats hosted an Ice Cream Fundraiser for James - raising almost $250 in 2 hours (I'm glad they could still get around the bases today - THAT'S A LOT OF ICE CREAM!!) Our heart-felt thanks goes out to Cold Stone Creamery for sponsoring this event, to Walt Simon and Michael Carr for volunteering during the game, and to Coach Fred for putting this event together!

Saturday night, Gretchen Zimmerman (did we mention that WE LOVE HER) joined Lisa and me and we went to a candlelight vigil for Allie. It was beautiful! There must have been a couple hundred people there - of all ages - in support of this amazing family. It was a very emotional experience to look up to the 12th floor and see a flashlight shining back down on us, letting us all know that we were "seen". The light was passed from one candle to the next until all were lit, then some people started singing. Those of you that know me know that: 1) I can't sing, and 2) I can't even talk when I'm filled with emotion, so our little group was content to just "be in the moment".

After a few minutes, Allie's mom, Jenny, said a few words, then a prayer was said, then we all blew out our candles.

It was so nice to finally "meet" so many that I felt I already knew.

Today, we didn't do much. We watched the Cowboy game and enjoyed a great dinner together.

We reflected mostly...

Sometimes, life is so beautiful... so overwhelmingly beautiful. These are those times!

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Happy Birthday, Turner!

Thursday, September 9, 2004 1:44 AM CDT

Hi friends,

James is well today, despite a small bump on the head... from a putter... that HE was holding. [sigh]

He's taking his nightly G-CSF injections WITHOUT the numbing cream, now - the last four injections, in fact. I winced over tapping an ingrown toenail on the coffee table.[grin]

Monday, James helped Dad with some repair work around the house and we just generally enjoyed what was left of the long weekend.

Yesterday, class went well and James did his school work after Mrs. Rindler left, then had an afternoon playdate, and later ate dinner at one of his favorite places: Burger House. James was very excited about the orange Burger House t-shirt he was able to get with gift certificates he has received. Hmmmm.... orange..... I think I see a little trend here.

Katie was excited to have her first day of Pre-K today.
James stayed home with Dad while Mom delivered Katie to school. Katie loves her new teachers, Mrs. Silva and Mrs. Nystrom. We are ALL (read:"When Mama's happy, everybody's happy.") excited about today. Katie will go to school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. She is definitely feeling "grown up like Bubba"!

We were reminded of just how fragile life can be again tonight upon learning that Baby Allie has discontinued her cancer-fighting medications and is moving to "comfort measures". We were introduced to the Scott family through Dana, mother to Sammy, who befriended Lisa when they were introduced by Gretchen Zimmerman (Dana and Gretchen are mothers of twins) during our first terrifying days of learning of James' condition. It turns out that Gretchen knows Kevin Bacon. (Sorry, folks. It's a defense mechanism.)

Please pray with us for Allie and her parents, Jenny and Andrew, that they might feel God's presence, love, comfort, and peace.

Lisa and I are planning to participate in the Light the Night walk (benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) to honor the courage of both of these brave children and their families. If you'd like to join us, or just donate to their team (12 South Angels), you'll find the necessary information on their web sites.

Please say a prayer for Sammy, too. He's returned to the hospital with a serious infection.

And finally, please pray for our doctors: Carl Lenarsky, Joel Weinthal, and Stanton Goldman. Men. Great men, but men just the same. Please help them find peace, Lord, as they cope with Allie's situation.

Love

"I have found the paradox
that if I love until it hurts,

then there is no hurt,
but only more love."

- Mother Teresa

Monday, September 6, 2004 11:01 AM CDT

We're home!
James was released last night around 10:15pm.

Here's a recap of our last 3 days, in order to catch up...


Friday
James (accompanied by Mom - Dad was feeling puny) checked in at 10am, weighed in (up 3 pounds!), had his port accessed, and went to his room on the 6th floor.

Before starting chemo, James has to be properly hydrated, so most of Friday was spent waiting to get started. Not a bad deal for James, though, as he was able to get in a few games of pool with Mom.

Katie spent the day with Papaw. Nana spent the day with James. Katie spent the night with them.

Friday night at 8:30, James finally got started on his chemo.

Shift change found Amy, Liz, Uncle Chuck, and Mom entertaining a very "wound up" James. Midnight came and he was still talking, but "crashed" soon thereafter. The combination of James being "out of it" and having his IV turned up, made for a very long night as Dad had to get him up every hour or so to go "potty". He was bobbing like the loser in the final round of a heavy-weight prize fight.

Saturday
Mom arrived at 8am to a "fresh" James and an exhausted Daddy, but it turns out that Daddy had it easy.

By 8:30am, James had started what would become a marathon session of vomiting (total of 8 times). He was given Atavan for nausea (extra large dose due to so much sickness).

Nana arrived at noon, after handing off Katie to Grandma to keep for the day and overnight. Mom was comforted as much as James, having her there.

This time, "the cure was worse than the disease" - James was out of it (woozy, talking out of his head, and later in the day began having double vision)! Very scary and emotional for all of us!

Grandma and Katie stopped by to see him before going to Grandma’s (NRH). He was still having the vision problem, etc., but that finally went away around 9:00 p.m.

Dad was up every few minutes during the night to assist James with going potty, but thank goodness the sickness subsided and he didn’t need anymore nausea meds.


Sunday
Mom arrived early (feeling really good after a good night’s rest) and looking "MARVELOUS".

James had a much, much better day (did not get sick at all)! He was able to play pool several different times and Mom’s favorite new game – Foosball.

Nana came to visit today and was so happy to see her boy feeling good again. When he is doing well, we all do well. We are so grateful for all the “good” days that he is having. I think that he has had so many that, when he has a really horrible day like Saturday, it really gets to us.

Grandma and Katie came for a visit. They couldn’t believe it was the same kid from Saturday. Katie is headed to Aunt Tracey’s tonight for a sleepover with her cousins. She was really looking forward to seeing them.

We finished chemo at 10pm (right on schedule), and since James was having a good day we decided to head home.

Thanks again to all the wonderful families providing meals for us at home and during our hospital stays. It is greatly appreciated, as is your friendship and the time James spends with his friends.

We will shift back into our home routine until we go for our next round of chemo on or about the 23rd of September (barring any injuries or illnesses). Thanks for your continued prayers, love, and support.

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Thursday, September 2, 2004 7:42 AM CDT

Wednesday, James (as you may have read in the Guestbook) had a great golf outing with Mrs. Johnson (our neighbor across the street). He got to drive a golf cart, he hit the ball over 100 yards (with an iron), worked with the golf pro Larry on swing, stance, etc., then ate lunch there. They had a BLAST!

James' Great Grandfather, James Jones, was a pretty good amateur golfer, but, judging by Dad's play, it must have skipped a few generations. [grin]

At 3:30, James had tutoring with Mrs Hamilton. They played math games on the computer and had a great first session. James has never been as inspired about school work as he is this year. It is really great to see!

Right before bed, James and Dad were reading in James' bed. I was stroking his forehead and noticed that my fingertips became filled with his tiny, "razor-stubble" hairs. We went to the bathroom and, using a wash cloth, rubbed off most of the remaining stubble on his head like so much stubborn dirt.

This was actually great to see - a good confirmation that the meds are still working in his body a couple of weeks after treatment. Quite a balancing act!

Please continue to pray for James and his family as we continue down our path.

As a bonus, here's something that Lisa forwarded yesterday that I thought everyone might enjoy:

Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, yet more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly; laugh too little, drive too fast; get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and
pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life.

We've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.

We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.

We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait.

We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

These are the days of two incomes but more divorce; fancier houses, but broken homes.

These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.

Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

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

-George Carlin

Wednesday, September 1, 2004 10:11 AM CDT

James had a good doctor visit on Monday. His counts are up - ANC is 1700 (over 1500 is good). Mom asked about the next MRI and apparently he won't have it done until the fourth round (last round prior to surgical resection). We're all a little anxious about the MRI as the results will directly affect the scope of the resection and the reconstructive surgery. The ranges imaginable are wide.

James played at home with a friend in the afternoon, then went to Baseball Practice! He's not allowed to play competitively, but his coaches have made sure that he's "on the team". James smiles with pride everytime he tells someone that he's the season batboy! The biggest smiles were exchanged between Dad and Coach Fred after James got a hit off of the 43 MPH pitching machine (last season he batted against a 35 MPH machine). Coach Fred ran to first base to give James a "high five". Both of them were "beaming"!

Tuesday, James had a good "day" at "school". Mrs. Rindler gave him extra work because he might not feel up to doing so much over the weekend with chemo.

Mom, James, and Katie ran errands in the afternoon, then Mrs. Wright came at 3:30 to do the reading assessment.

James worked hard last night on assignments, so he can go hit some golf balls with Mrs. Johnson this morning!

Coming Soon! Nightly updates! (really)[grin]

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Monday, August 30, 2004 9:49 AM CDT

Uncle Chuck made sure that Friday morning got started off the right way by taking James and Katie to breakfast at The Waffle Iron. James pointed out that they were the only kids there (a "perk" of home schooling).

James had another opportunity to be with his friends at school on Friday afternoon. At 2pm, they had their Class Constitution celebration and James was named the Friendship Lifeskill Winner!

Mrs. Rindler came Friday afternoon for a short lesson.

James took it easy Saturday, so that he would have enough stamina for a "Rangers Game" (thanks to The Texas Rangers [and Uncle Chuck] for the tickets). Mom, Dad, and Katie got to go to this game, but didn't get the "V.I.P." treatment.[grin]

Before going to the game, we dropped by to check in on our niece, Rebecca. We were surprised to see her bounce out the door to greet us! We only had a hint that she was recovering from surgery when she needed to go potty (and even then, she put on a brave face for her visiting cousins).

Lisa enjoyed being with her Sunday School class and we ALL enjoyed being back in church as a family on Sunday. Christine Gonzalez presented us with "LIVESTRONG" bracelets, which we put on immediately and will continue to wear with pride.

I can't begin to put into words the pride that I felt as James led the church procession at the beginning of the service. Walking tall, eyes fixed, carrying the cross with white gloves - he really looked more like a Marine in an Honor Guard, than a nine year old boy.

After church, we met Grandpa and GrandAnn at The Black-Eyed Pea for lunch. We didn't get to spend much time with them as they had already driven three hours to get here and still had a two hour round trip to see Rebecca, before making the three hour journey home, but we're thankful that they were able to come.

Aunt Amy took James out on a "date" for his birthday last night. They went to Mi Cocina for dinner, then caught the movie "Benjie: Off the Leash". When they got back, Aunt Amy indulged Katie for a couple of "performances".

Thank you, God, for Aunt Amy! We have known Amy since before we were married. She has celebrated every major holiday as a guest at our table. She was there during the births of our children. She was there when we lost our first pregnancy. She has reflected our light when we shone and helped to light the way when times were darkest. She was there for Lisa when I could not (or would not) be. Her life has become intertwined with ours and we are the better for it.

All our love,
Mike [and Lisa]

Thursday, August 26, 2004 11:43 PM CDT

Yesterday was a roller coaster!

James started really missing his friends and his school and had a "melt down" Wednesday morning when he was told that he could not go to school.

Mom went into action - quickly shifting into "maximum comfort" mode! She picked up the "bat phone" and Nana and Papaw were on their way over.

Comfort is the first item on the menu at The Burger House, so James and family headed there for lunch.

After lunch, James went up to Campbell Green [Rec Center] and he got to play basketball. He had a great time and found out that they were trying to start a program for the home schooled kids in the neighborhood.

After they finished school, a couple of James' good friends came over and, by the time Dad walked in the door, they had set up a goal and were playing soccer... IN THE DEN!

Later that night, James took a shower and quietly watched the Olympics with Dad, before going to bed.

Before going to sleep, he told Mom that he had had the best day of his life, since getting Cancer.

God, thank you for giving James and Katie the best Mommy in the world! Honey, I worry about you and sometimes get frustrated by the self-imposed anguish caused by your softest-of-soft hearts, but I can't imagine our kids without your selfless, loving touch.

Today was a better day (comparing low points), but I think we're all in need of some "R&R" (maybe a "four-in-a-bed" movie marathon?). We're all wearing a little thin from the stress of the situation. Friends, please pray for us that we might all find additional peace, strength, comfort, and understanding.

We are especially thankful that our beautiful niece, Rebecca, (James' cousin) is recovering in her hospital room after a successful surgery this evening. We pray that Rebecca will have a good night and will be well enough to join her sisters - Lauren and Caroline - at home tomorrow night.

All our love,
Mike [and Lisa]

Wednesday, August 25, 2004 1:20 AM CDT

Today was James' first day of Home Bound school. He really likes his teacher, Mrs. Rindler. She came over to our house at 9am. They met and got to know each other, then started to work!

Mrs. Hamilton will be tutoring James, also, so, between these two excellent teachers and his parents, we should be able to keep James on track until he returns to school (probably next school year).

James had a good doctor's appointment Tuesday - his white count is back up, so that he may have visitors again. His energy level is still a little low, so we probably will stick to the "one at a time" philosophy on visits.

We'll see the doctor again next Monday, just to check his blood and make sure everything is still okay, then he'll start the third round of chemo next Friday. The next round will be the same meds as the first - two "quickies" pushed in over an hour, then a 48 hour "drip" of "the red stuff" (doxorubicin - most kids come to dread the red stuff as it has some of the worst side effects, mostly nausea).

Thanks to everyone that has left James messages in his guestbook! He loves hearing from you.

Love,
Mike and Lisa

Tuesday, August 24, 2004 7:58 AM CDT

I've decided to write all future posts "offline", then connect to CaringBridge to copy and paste the day's journal entry - every night before *I* go to bed (could be pretty late).

It has been incredibly difficult to try to recreate the lost journals. My brain just doesn't work that way. As soon as I get my thoughts out onto [electronic] paper, they become very difficult to recall. I've been told before that I have "emotion-based memory". Maybe that has something to do with it? To say that writing James' Journal is an emotional experience is an understatement.

In any case, let's see if we can't catch up.

Thursday was James' first day of school. Actually, it was his first hour and a half. He's not allowed to alternate between attending school (when he feels up to it) and receiving Home Bound services. It was, however, a great chance to see his friends, to meet his teacher, and to feel "connected".

For those in the area, you may recall that Thursday morning brought quite a down pour right as school was starting. I'm not sure why we drove, as the traffic backed up all the way to our house. It's funny how rain and traffic don't seem to bother us much these days.

James loved meeting his classmates (most of them old friends). The kids in his class were allowed to wear their "Bobcats" hats in the classroom, and James "fit right in". It was very comforting to see that his biggest anxiety was initiating conversation with the girls in his class. What great young people! Parents, be proud!

Thanks to James' [Secret] Fundraising Committee for coming up with and implementing the "Bobcats" hats idea (spearheaded by Renee Rubin) - the proceeds of which have gone to James' Donation Fund! These neighbors and this school are incredible! It's funny - we only hear "whispers" that they are planning something, then we are overwhelmed at their results! They "sold out" the original THIRTEEN DOZEN hats on the very first day, then turned right around and ordered TEN DOZEN more!

Thanks also to Principal (and great friend) Fran Gratt for allowing the hats to be sold during the school supply sale!

Our thanks also go to Grandma's neighbor, who was apparently appalled (while hearing of Grandma and Aunt Tracey's Extreme Backyard Makeover) that they actually "purchased" banana trees! "I've got banana trees growing like weeds in my backyard!", he exclaimed. By noon the next day, he had unearthed SEVEN banana trees (including a couple of 12-15 footers), wrapped them in burlap, and loaded Grandma's truck! She couldn't resist picking up a couple of palm trees on the way, so now our beautiful backyard is starting to resemble the tropics! What a beautiful gift!

James' doctor's appointment was moved up to today, only because we have run through our supply of G-CSF and need to check his numbers today to see if we need to continue his nightly injections.

James surprised us last night by asking to receive his injection without the numbing cream. He did great! He is amazing - constantly exhibiting strength and bravery!

Katie has returned from her "tour" and is adjusting to boring "home life". [grin] We hope to soon have a "web version" of the HILARIOUS "My Visit to the Cichock's House" book that she brought home with her. Priceless!

I have undoubtedly left some of my original post out, as this is approximately half the content. I will add these thoughts to the running posts as they cross my mind.

Please continue to keep James and his family in your prayers.

Love,
Mike and Lisa

Sunday, August 22, 2004 1:20 PM CDT

Hi friends,

James is okay.

We've just been struggling with technical difficulties. I tried to post Friday night and the author section of CaringBridge went down after I hit "submit".

This morning, I was just about to hit submit when my computer decided to go "out".

;-(

I'll try again later today.

Friday, August 20, 2004 1:38 PM CDT

Howdy!

James is resting at home today.

We had a good doctor's visit, but his counts are at that "threshold" where we can't have visitors until at least Wednesday (when we check again).

We'll update the Journal tonight. The CaringBridge site was down when we tried to update it previously, so I'm spending a little time now, trying to make sure we've archived all of the content (and trying to do billable work, too).

Mike

Wednesday, August 18, 2004 12:14 AM CDT

James is at home now and trying to "take it easy".

James had a "triple 'P'" (simultaneous pee, poop, puke) right before leaving the hospital, so we want him to relax a bit before doing too much. Mom had the honors this time - juggling the IV pole, the pee jug, and the puke bucket. Makes you want to sign up for chemo, huh?

Just to clear up a couple of things in my mom's sweet post yesterday - It was seventeen years ago when Lisa and I met (we'll be married fifteen years in September), and, although we have our moms to thank for bringing us together (a story in itself), it was the man that James is named after, my Papaw, that told me, "Mike, you can look the rest of your life and never find a better girl than Lisa." I had loved her since we met, but it was THESE words that moved me to action.

We also think we know what "bananas" James was mumbling about (see yesterday's journal). I didn't recall it at the time, but James and I were talking about our new banana tree right before he went to bed. "What banana tree?", you ask? Well, it seems that Aunt Tracey is a big fan of those "Extreme Makeover" shows! While James was in the hospital, Aunt Tracey and Grandma conducted a landscape assault mission on our backyard! It's beautiful!

We thank God for our parents and siblings! There is no measure to which they all will not go for us. Nana and Grandma have worked tirelessly to help keep our household in order - Nana hobbling with a bad knee and Grandma driving back and forth to North Richland Hills. James' Papaw has never needed an excuse to visit Braums, but nowadays the "Shake Shuttle" is in overdrive! James' Grandpa (a Cancer survivor, himself) has stayed close to our hearts - even though he's far away - with his daily messages of encouragement for James.

Above all else, my deepest hope is that James and Katie can be there for each other the way that our siblings have been there for us. Uncle Chuck and Aunt Tracey have "raised the bar" for you, kids! We are so grateful for them.

Seeing James and Katie together yesterday, exchanging gifts and hugs, it's easy to imagine that they will share their loving relationship forever.

Finally, we say a special prayer for James' cousin (Aunt Tracey's daughter) Rebecca. She's the beauty next to James in the bottom photo in the photos section. Rebecca will have surgery next Thursday, August 26, at Children's Medical Center in Dallas to correct a urinary tract problem that was diagnosed a few months ago after she had her third urinary tract infection. "God, please be with Rebecca and our family during this procedure and during her recovery. Please be with her surgeons and doctors as their hands do your work. Amen."

All our love,
Mike and Lisa

Tuesday, August 17, 2004 2:21 AM CDT

James just had his last infusion of MESNA at 1am. He's officially done with round 2! He'll sleep throughout the night, then we'll see the doctor, pickup our "G" injections (to be given at home), pack up and GO HOME!

We had the option to do this treatment as an outpatient in the clinic two floors down and it has been a bit of a strain on our family being apart, but I think James has had an easier time of it being in the hospital. We really worry about our ability to keep James hydrated in an outpatient scenario and James loves being "on the floor" (every king needs a domain, huh?).

One of the nurses, Joanna, confided in Lisa that she has developed a crush on James (hope her boyfriend isn't reading this). We visited a little tonight and apparently there was a bit of a spat when Belinda, his day nurse, referred to James as HER boyfriend during shift change. To top that off, Miss Lauren came up from the lab tonight to check on James (who was sleeping). "What's this?" Joanna has threatened not to come running when James calls... [grin]

Okay, I admit it! I've had plenty of opportunity (since I'm not sleeping) to tell you several of the wonderful stories of the last few days and share with you our gratitude of those close to us. I'll have to do that later. Right now, I'm content to watch my baby boy dream a happy dream. I noticed a slight smile on his face right after he fell asleep and it has slowly built to a laugh. I have no idea why he's laughing, but I'm sitting here laughing, too. We got up to use the bathroom a little while ago and he smiled at me (like he was tickled) while I was tucking him back in and asked, "I wonder what those bananas taste like?" Now, I know there's nothing funny about that statement, but we both giggled like it was the funniest thing on earth!

James has got one of the most infectious laughs of anyone I've ever met. I'm going to have to come up with a way to combat it when it comes time for discipline. His easiest audience (as was mine) is his mother. She can be at the end of her rope, literally ready to strangle him, and he'll give her that "look" - the "I know you'd really rather be laughing" look - the "I'm too cute for you to be that upset" look - you know the look. When she TRIES... she lasts about three seconds. Then she gets upset at herself for not remaining serious. Guess what he does? Yep, smile torpedo number two... AWAY! He's relentless. How many times can a mother say, "JAMES, REALLY, I'M SERIOUS." (then start laughing again)?

We used to turn our heads to keep from laughing out loud in these instances, but it's even tougher to "keep it serious" when the other parent quickly turns away, then coughs and runs out of the room!

I'm ready to have my family back together for a couple of weeks. I miss my wife and daughter.

Hope you girls are having a few giggles, too!

The boys

Monday, August 16, 2004 1:06 PM CDT

Just a quick update to let everyone know that James is doing great.

Dr. Lenarsky was in to see James around 11am and said that James' counts still look great! Other than the nausea (and he was quick to listen to his body yesterday and asked for medicine before it became a problem), James has not shown any of the side effects to date (other than some hair loss).

James had a good night sleep last night, aside from being awaken every hour and a half to see if he needed to go to the bathroom (or, more appropriately, have it come to him).

We'll add some additional comments tonight. Please check back.

Love,
Mike and Lisa

Sunday, August 15, 2004 9:25 AM CDT

James has done great since Friday, with only minor nausea in the mornings. He's even kept his appetite - eating substantial amounts at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

He's "digesting" his third day of chemo now and will start the fourth day's meds around 3pm.

Dr. Lenarsky was by to do his morning rounds a minute ago and said that James' blood work from this morning (4am) looks normal. It's interesting - Dr. Lenarsky's clothes are one of my only clues as to what day of the week it is (only casual on the weekends).

James has had a great time with some of his friends and family playing pool (we've confirmed that there really is an "order" on file to call Security and open the Teen Room anytime he wants to play) and Nintendo.

James was also presented the "game ball", by Coach Andy, from James' "Superstar" baseball performance this spring. Out of all the balls that James has received, this one is the most special to Dad, because I immediately imprinted, onto the ball, all of my vivid memories of that game. He had had good showings (and a few disappointments) before and after that game, but, on THAT day, he SHINED - getting a hit, tagging the runner out at home, and most memorably catching a fly ball way out in left center field! I recall the immense pride I felt as MY SON played like a CHAMP! The other parents were as excited for him as I was - looking at me as wide-eyed as I returned the look, then exchanging "high fives" when we realized it wasn't an illusion.

We have more to add, but Mom has arrived (looking FABULOUS, I might add) and we're off to church!

Please continue to pray for James and his family.

Love,
Mike and Lisa

Thursday, August 12, 2004 11:50 PM CDT

Okay, this is the first journal created "inside" James' hospital room and I have to say, "Dial-up stinks!". This is the "accelerated" package? [spoiled grin]

James checked in this morning after having his "port accessed" (this is where they insert a needle through his skin and into a device that was surgically implanted at the same time that the biopsy was performed, just after they looked at a frozen section and knew it was Cancer).

Although it may sound a little scary, it is really a marvelous device. Once his port is "accessed", he can receive his chemo through it (immediately dispersing strong medicine that would otherwise burn his veins if given through a normal I.V.) and he can have his blood drawn from it rather than getting "poked" every morning.

He is amazing to watch - a real soldier. He asks a few questions to ensure he understands (and approves) of what is about to happen to him, prepares himself mentally, then indicates that he's ready to proceed. There's not a bit of this that's easy, but he's so mentally and physically strong that he seems to "take it in stride". Who would have thought HE'D end up being MY hero?

Once on the floor, it was straight to the Teen Room for a game of pool! He met a very nice 6th grade boy named Jordan and they played a game or two, then it was time to challenge Mom and Grandma! They came close - both games were decided by a single ball, but James (or Minnesota) prevailed. "It's gotta be the cue!" (Mars Blackmon pun... never mind.)

James needed to be properly hydrated before beginning the chemo, so they didn't start the first med until about 6pm. The second med started about 7:30pm and James was feeling fine! "Bring on the Wendy's cheesburger!", he cried. Well... he cried that a little too soon. Mom handled the first round of nausea and Dad handled the second round, right as I arrived for the shift change! Of course, Mom made it sound like I missed the "big" one! [grin]

We just need to repeat, then repeat, then repeat, then repeat what we did today and it'll be time to go home (and collapse)!

A special thanks to all of James' friends (boys and girls from church, school, neighborhood, sports teams... where ever) tonight! You all are a significant factor in James entering into this round of chemo so strong. James has enjoyed your calls, your messages, your visits, and your well wishes. It will be the memories created during his "good" weeks, upon which he can reflect during his "bad" weeks, that will sustain him during this trial. You are all good medicine! You are all little gifts from God and a constant reminder of God's love and grace. We love you!

Love,
Mike and Lisa

Thursday, August 12, 2004 2:21 AM CDT

Late-night update
A picture really is worth a thousand words, isn't it?

We're still not quite sure how he managed this, but Uncle Chuck's weary explanation did include the words "commissioner" and "agent". [grin]

That baseball in James' hand is the "Yankees baseball" that Coach Fred and friend Bradley gave to James last week, that now bears the autograph of Mr. Derek Jeter!

To the "Hank Blalock" baseball, that Aunt Tracey presented last week, were added the autographs of Mark Teixeira (James was wearing HIS shirt!), David Dellucci, Alfonso Soriano, Eric Young, Rod Barajas, and Jorge Posada (Yankees)!!!

James also received a new ball, signed, "To James, Best Wishes! Michael Young".

Uncle Chuck was still a little "giddy" as he told us of their "romp around the Ballpark" (James crashed as soon as he walked in the door). James got to sit in the Ranger's dugout and visit the Ranger's locker room (Chuck got a picture of James sitting in Alfonso Soriano's high-back leather chair at his locker. What happened to benches?). He got to work one of the cameras and even got to meet the former General Manager and current "voice" of the Texas Rangers, Tom Grieve!

After the birthday announcements on the JumboTron, they watched the remainder of the game from the Press Box! Phew!!

I think that if they check for adrenalin and endorphins in James' blood work tomorrow, we may have some serious questions to answer...

God, thank you for today! Thank you for our family! Thank you for our friends, old and new! THANK YOU!

Wednesday, August 11, 2004 1:21 PM CDT

It's been pretty busy around the Faulkinbury house over the last few days (all good). Thanks, Aunt Amy, for the "gentle reminder" on the journal. [grin]

After the doctor appointment on Monday, Dad and James took Katie to her dance class. James' friend Rachel (and Rachel's college-aged sister, Rebecca, who made James blush a couple times, but that's another story) was there for her class and James had a good time peeking into Rachel's class to try to make her laugh (not a very hard task).

Later, when I kidded him about all of the girls being interested in the dude with the cool "doo rag", James smiled and called it his "secret weapon"!

Tuesday, we met with the Home Bound "committee" to discuss some of the particulars of James' school schedule for the coming school year. We met with James' assigned teacher (sworn to secrecy until all the parents are notified) who will be working with the Home Bound teacher to ensure that James is progressing with the rest of his class. The Home Bound teacher will meet with James twice a week for 2 hours each visit (this sounded pretty light until we thought about the intensity of a one-on-one session - no use in hoping you won't be called upon to answer a question).

James got a chance to try out his new pool cue, playing Mr. Clements (Sarah's dad) on a regulation pool table. He's really getting pretty good (those other hospital kids better not bring their lunch money to the Teen Room)!

Several friends have come over to play and see James (thanks to all for your patience, as we can only see one at a time) and I think it has averaged out at about 30 seconds for the child to get over their [understandable] apprehension, evaluate how much James can do, and get on with having a good time. What great young people!

James is pretty psyched about going to the Rangers/Yankees Game tonight with Uncle Chuck. Look for them if a ball gets hit over the center field wall! We don't think it will be televised, but Aunt Tracey has also arranged for James to be on the "JumboTron" (Happy Birthday) during the middle of 4th inning. Hopefully Uncle Chuck can snap a picture so that we can share this experience.

Dad's diet plans are officially "shot"! We have had so many great meals provided by our friends and family and so many "treats" delivered that no amount of "will power" could overcome. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! This has truly been a blessing.

On my last trip to Houston, I sat next to a couple of young women FROM Houston and heard, for 55 minutes, about how the people in Dallas only care for themselves; how they step over each other, etc. I'm sure you have probably heard the same (even if you venture to Fort Worth). Well, friend, the next time someone tells you that, YOU GIVE THEM MY NUMBER! I don't know about YOUR Dallas, but MY Dallas makes Mayberry look unfriendly! Several people have commented on how "strong" we looked. It's not very hard to look strong when you have family, friends, and an entire community holding you up! It is very humbling to have a personal, emotional debt that you cannot begin to repay.

Please continue to keep James and his family in your thoughts and prayers as we start the second round of chemo tomorrow!

Love,
Mike and Lisa

Monday, August 9, 2004 8:28 AM CDT

Okay, we're a little late due to a computer malfunction (Dad couldn't read a Product Key - needed Mom's "young" eyes to assist this morning).

For the record, Jake Manning was the last friend to see James' "old" hair and Kyle Zimmerman was the first friend to see James' "new" look. They had a great time laughing at a "Little Rascals" (the new one) video and even ran a few "passing routes" in the front yard.

In case you were wondering, Dad's hair is still the same (very short). James decided that he wanted Dad to grow his hair back.

Mrs. (and Mr.) Gratt stopped by for a visit and to discuss James' "Home Bound" program. I think James may have intimidated his pool rival by showing her his new pool cue (although he most likely won't get in any practice until his next hospital visit).

Mom's life-long friend, Debbie Nix, swung by to visit on her way from California to Ohio. It was great to see her again.

UPDATE (because we ran out of the house this morning before posting this journal entry)
-----------------------
James' counts are all at normal levels! Yay!!!

He's gained almost 3 pounds back (of the 6 lost since first hospitalized)! Yay!!!

When Dr. Weinthal first met James, three weeks ago today, we could see a 3"x2"x0.5" 'protrusion' of the tumor on the outside of James' ribs (the largest part is on the inside of the ribs). Well, today, when Dr. Goldman examined James, he confirmed what Mom and Dad thought they felt... NO DETECTABLE PROTRUSION!! YAY!!! We won't know until the next "scan" exactly how much the tumor has been reduced, but the "tip of the iceberg" has vanished!

Our plan is to check-in on Thursday morning to start the 5-day second round of chemo.

Thanks for your continued prayers! They are working!

Love,
Mike and Lisa

Saturday, August 7, 2004 10:20 PM CDT

Somehow I knew as soon as I said something about the hair... Well, today was the day! We found about a dozen hairs on James' pillow the night before last and about 50 on his pillow last night, though it wasn't obvious where those 50 came from.

James was playing around - rubbing his head - around noon, when he noticed about a hundred hairs had fallen out. He got into the shower and apparently got a little over zealous with washing his hair. By the time I saw him again, his hair reminded me of a picture Grandma shows from time to time of me and Tracey when we were 4 and 2, respectively, after just playing barber with the "grown up" scissors.

We collectively decided that we might save a lot of effort and agony if we just went ahead and shaved his head. 30 minutes and a box of razors later, James had the look he'll wear for the duration. It's funny... without the hair as a distraction, he's left with just his [ahem, inherited] good looks. Stunning! (...hardly a surprise with a "double movie star" for a father. [[family joke. sorry friends.]])

Late this afternoon, some of our family got together to have the third segment of James' Birthday Party. He was a little apprehensive about his new look, but about 30 minutes into it, he decided (on his own) to take off his "Doo Rag" and let everybody see his new look. It was warmly received as you can imagine.

When it came time for the presents, James was hoping for a pool table (where he thought we could put it, we don't know), but got as big a surprise: Grandma, Nana, and Papaw had chipped in and bought him a TV for his room (forcing Mom to eat her "you'll never have a TV in your room" words)!! Uncle Chuck got him a DVD player to go with it and Mom and Dad have promised a satellite receiver (can you say, "spoiled"?).

Uncle Chuck also produced 2 tickets to this Wednesday's Rangers Game against the Yankees and Aunt Tracey presented James with a Major League baseball signed by Hank Blalock!

All in all, it was an awesome birthday for James. It is so amazing to see how this kid sees the glass as half full on everything. Today while getting his head shaved, he said, "At least I don't have to shampoo my hair anymore".

On the medical side, James' last steri-strips came off and his incisions are healiing nicely. We go to the doctor's office for blood work on Monday morning to see where his counts are at and plan to start the next round of chemo Thursday.

So... assuming that James has a good check-up on Monday, he can see [healthy] visitors until he starts chemo on Thursday. Please call before dropping by as we may try to get him out of the house during this time, too.

We are so very thankful for today. Please continue to keep James and his family in your thoughts and prayers!!

We are also endeavoring to update this journal nightly from this point forward. Thanks for your patience and your support.

Love,
Mike and Lisa

Friday, August 6, 2004 9:54 AM CDT

Yesterday was another great day! James was eating and playing so much that it's hard for us to believe what his body is dealing with right now. He just woke up a few minutes ago after going to bed late (hmmm... home school from 9pm to midnight...).

Dad got the printer issues resolved and Grandma resumed printing James' Journal (lots of reading practice before school starts).

We (Mike and Lisa) have been weighing the option of doing James' next round of chemo as an out-patient (doing the chemo in the Texas Oncology clinic, then sleeping at home every night), but have decided against it for this round. It will be two new drugs with new side effects and we're a couple of scaredy cats¹. Courses 2 and 4 are the same, so if all goes well, we'll have a chance to try the out-patient route then.

The docs told us to expect James to lose his hair this week, but so far it's only grown longer. James has plans to get a burnt orange mohawk with the Longhorns logo in the back (do you think he has a favorite team?)!!!

Please continue to pray for James and his family. We are so grateful for your support!!!

Love,
Mike and Lisa

1. This does not supercede our most well-known alias: "The Cryers" (remember Doug and Wendy Whiner from SNL?). In fact, when we went to kneel at the altar to pray in the hospital chapel, Lisa said, "It's the cryers, Lord...". [grin] I think it's the sign of a blessed life to recall that the most tears we've shed to this point have been tears of joy while reflecting on the births of our children. God is good!!!

Wednesday, August 4, 2004 1:34 PM CDT

Late-night addition - 12am
I love sharing stuff like this.

While sitting in my study trying to catch up on some project work, I looked out the door and into the hallway (something had caught my eye).

James has about 15 helium balloons pinned to the top of our 12' vaulted ceiling in the den. All the rest are still there, but one.

One balloon has become neutrally buoyant - floating steadily at about 3 feet off the ground. It drifted from our den, through the entry, into the short hallway that connects James' bedroom and bathroom and my study to the entry. It stopped just outside his bedroom door and twisted around to reveal the message: "Get Well Soon!", then drifted back into the den. The whole thing took about 5 minutes and I could do nothing but watch it.

The scientist in me has reasoned through the physics, but it felt like a warm wish from an old friend.
- Mike



Earlier post
As the clock struck midnight Tuesday morning, James was standing with one foot on the ground and one foot up on Dad's pull-out chair/bed - rapping to an Outkast CD that was playing on Dad's laptop, "...and I know y'all runnin' that 808, can ya feel that B-A-S-S bass!" (yes, we're cringing at the potential lack of parental responsibilty here). When I wished James "Happy Birthday", he marked the moment by switching to his Jason Mraz CD, and sat in Daddy's lap while listening to "The Remedy" a couple of times before calling it a night.

Tuesday morning came and we were expecting James' ANC level (white count) to be up over 750 (from 500 on Monday) in order to be released from the hospital.

Once again, James amazed us by having an ANC of just under 5000! Yes, Dad and the nurses checked their math several times, but Dr. Weinthal assured us that this was accurate and somewhat expected due to James' healthy bone marrow and its response to the nightly G-CSF injections.

The day was starting off great, but it would get better even before we left the hospital. One of the Child Life nurses brought James a "Happy Birthday James!" poster and a gift, then a huge chocolate-chip, chocolate cake arrived! It was very appreciated, but at 9am we could only take a few bites. We left the rest for the 6th floor nurses.

After another convertible ride (this time with Uncle Chuck), James was greeting sister Katie and lovable Hannah. Mom and Grandma had quickly decorated the house with banners and streamers and our church had sent a huge "balloon bouquet".

We spent the day rather quietly and just had a few family members over for pizza and Nana's chocolate mousse cake last night. While we can't get up the courage to have a "kid party" this year, James will have more family (including kids) over for a little larger birthday celebration this Saturday.

While his white count seems to be on the rise, James' platelets (the little guys that make his blood clot) are getting lower, so now we're on the lookout for cuts and nose bleeds that won't stop on their own.

His red blood count (energy) seems to be slowly dropping, too, so James needs periods of rest throughout the day to feel normal.

James says to say, "Hi and thanks for all of your messages and jokes."

Thanks for all of your continued support! Please keep James and our family in your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks also to Aunt Tracey (Mike's sister) for finding and setting up this web page for James. Tracey has done a wonderful job with the journal (especially during the days when we could not do it). While she and her family were on vacation, we (Mike and Lisa) have found it to be very therapeutic to take time out to reflect on the day's events and give thanks for the gifts in our lives.

With love,
Mike and Lisa

Monday, August 2, 2004 6:30 PM CDT

We would usually wait until late tonight or early tomorrow to update the journal, but this news won't keep!

We got some very hopeful news today: the chest x-ray that they did to check for pneumonia seems to indicate a 50% reduction in the tumor after the very first round of chemo!
(and no pneumonia, either)

Dr. Weinthal (in our Friday appointment) and James had both noticed that the lump was "softening up", but we think the doctors were "impressed" by the x-ray comparison.

Hardly a minute passes that we don't feel the impact of your prayers! Sometimes subtle. Sometimes dramatic. Thank you for keeping James and our family in your thoughts!

Unless something changes, James will be back home tomorrow for his birthday. We expect to spend tomorrow very quietly with no visitors in the hope that James can return to normal counts by the weekend.

It's been something to watch Hannah over the last 24 hours. She started being very gentle in her movements around James right before we had to take him to the hospital and throughout the day today, she could be found "cuddling" with those things that smelled like James.

Monday, August 2, 2004 1:43 PM CDT

This just in....Mom and James are playing UNO! (Exciting, huh?) Dad just left to try to get some work done at home and catch a few winks before he goes back to the hospital tonight.

They are now in the bigger room next door to his "old room" at the hospital. However, now that they have the bigger room, they cannot have any guests!!

James's ANC (some complicated formula based on his white blood cell count) is at 500. The minimum they like for it to be is 1000, but the doctor did not seem too worried. He said they really start to worry if it gets to 250. He can't have any of his daily injections until it gets back up to 750 (which they hope will be tonight). The doctor gave him the option of getting the injection through his port or the regular way like at home. I think James was thinking was "DUH!!! Do I look stupid to you??"

More later...

Monday, August 2, 2004 11:42 AM CDT

Hi Everyone,
I wanted to give you a quick update. Last night about 10:30 James spiked a 101.7 fever and we called the doctor. He decided to bring him in and start some antibiotics (just to be safe)..

We checked in the hospital last night around 11:30 or so and they accessed his port, started fluids, took some blood, etc.

This morning he has already been down for a chest x-ray, don't have results yet...Unfortunately, due to his low white count at this time, we cannot have any visitors..

Please check back later in the day and we will try to get an updated journal entry posted..Thanks for your continued support, prayers and love...More later......
Lisa

Sunday, August 1, 2004 12:19 PM CDT

Saturday was pretty uneventful. We took it easy and just ate and slept most of the day.

James was running another fever last night, but it didn't cross the "go to the hospital" threshold.

Now's a good time to share some news from days past.

First, we had a very interesting coincidence (?). When James first checked into the hospital, the Follis Family stopped by to see him and brought James a poster which read, "Success is a journey, not a destination." Upon being released, one of James' food requests was Pei Wei. When he picked a fortune cookie from among six, his fortune read, "Success is a journey, not a destination. Stop running."

Shortly after receiving James' diagnosis of Ewing's Sarcoma, we learned that a popular song (maybe you've heard of it), The Remedy [I won't worry my life away] by Jason Mraz (off his debut album: Waiting for my rocket to come), was written for his friend Charlie, who was also diagnosed with Ewing's. Check it out here. Note: we have not reviewed any other links on Jason's site.

Charlie has since finished his treatment and all of his post treatment scans to date have not shown a relapse. He has moved out to L.A. and begun a new career in the music industry.

We thought we'd leave you today with some of Charlie's inspirational words from a segment on VH1's True Spin:

"I said, okay Charlie, you can go this way and say, 'why me', or you can go this way and accept it with a smile almost and say, 'bring it on!'"

"'I won't worry my life away' - as cliche and cheesy as that is, it's THE TRUTH. You know, I say it to myself every day. I'm not worried about anything. I'm fine... FOREVER!"

God bless you Charlie and Jason! Friends, please take these words to heart! Don't spend a second worrying today! Rejoice! God is good!

Saturday, July 31, 2004 10:45 AM CDT

When it came time to go to our doctor's appointment, James wanted to take Grandma's convertible and put the top down. Mama had the only hair that would blow in the wind!

The blood counts were as expected - low and heading toward the bottom. The physical exam found that James had some thrush in his mouth, so the doctor prescribed some mouth wash. When the doctor examined James' lump, he found that it was starting to "soften up" (a good sign that the chemo seems to be working).

In typical James fashion, he stumped the doc by asking, "What is the recess for home school?". The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

We also found that James had lost 6 pounds - down to 74 from 80 when he checked in to the hospital a week and a half ago. We were less worried yesterday afternoon, when James ordered and ate a foot long hotdog from Sonic (AFTER eating a big lunch). He "special ordered" a Wendy's cheeseburger and fries for dinner and left little evidence of a meal.

Around 5pm, we started to notice a fever developing. We packed our bag and called the doctor at 10pm when the fever had reached 100.2. Dr. Goldman called us back immediately (we love ours docs), asked a few questions about how James was feeling and let us know that it was likely nothing to worry about.

Sure enough, the fever had peaked at 100.2 and gradually went back down throughout the night.

This morning, "King" James was back - requesting that one slice of his french toast be cut into the shape of Texas and the other into the shape of the Longhorns logo.

We expect James' counts to be bottoming out this weekend and the first part of next week. As a result, we'll be taking it easy and seeing no visitors.

Please continue to pray for James and our family. We love you all dearly!

Friday, July 30, 2004 7:50 AM CDT

What a great day James had yesterday!

First, James received a package in the mail from the Dallas Mavericks (M.C. on the return address). The box was filled with all sorts of cool stuff - a T-shirt, pencil, sticker, book, and best of all an autographed picture of Dirk Nowitski in the midst of a power dunk! Awesome, dude!

Later, UPS delivered a box for James from Austin, TX. Guess what it was???? An autographed Longhorn Football from Head Coach Mack Brown - "Dear James, Hook 'Em". Wow! (Uncle Chuck has some serious connections!) Coach Mark - I bet you are digging this one! (Sorry Ms. H., but please share this exciting news with Bob.)

James also received a gigantic birthday card from our Royal Lane Church Family, which had to be hand delivered (too big to mail). We had a great time reading all of the messages inside. Thanks to all!

Papaw also gets a gold star today for tracking down the beloved Mr. Rodgers (our former mailman for the past 5 years). He stopped by to visit James and really made his day! He has promised many more visits in the future. They have such a bond! James smiled and yelled, "Hi!", when he was Katie's age and they have been best friends ever since. They used to walk together almost every day - Mr. Rodgers would beep his truck horn as he passed the house and James would fly out of the house faster than if the Ice Cream Man were outside. James would give him candy, water, etc. each day. If we missed him for the day, we always had to drive the streets of his route to find him and say, "Hi". Even today, substitute mailmen will say, "You must be James! Sarge (Mr. Rodgers is in the Army Reserve) said to tell you hello!".

We enjoyed another great meal provided by our special friends. James actually sat at the table and ate with us last night. We are so thrilled that he had such a great day! Thank you once again to everyone who has brought us meals! That is a godsend!

James had his 4th injection last night and did great! He squeezed Mom's hand and Dad did the rest. Thank God for Dad being in town now!

This morning, we're going to the doctors office to get James' counts. This will tell us how he is responding to chemo and help us measure the cycle of low resistance that James will go through after each round of chemo.

Thanks again for your continued prayers!

Thursday, July 29, 2004 8:21 AM CDT

Sorry for the delayed update, but in this case "no news is good news"!

James had a great day yesterday! His appetite, while not back to "normal", is back. He was able to eat and drink enough that Mom and Dad are very happy.

We are VERY thankful that he was able to take a shower yesterday! The thoracic surgeon said it would be another week before he can take a bath or (gulp) get in the pool.

Mom says the showers have made his foot rubs tolerable, especially since his favorite is "between the toes".

After showering, he had his third "G" injection, played a couple of games of NCAA Football on the Playstation, and was off to bed for a good night sleep.

At bedtime he had a slight fever. This morning he had a slight nose bleed. Both of which the doctors had warned us to expect.

We are anticipating another good day. We have an appointment to see the doctor tomorrow morning to check his levels.

Thanks for your continued prayers!

Tuesday, July 27, 2004 11:53 PM CDT

We're Home!

Monday night was much better than Sunday and James was feeling rested, but a little weak this morning.

After an early bout with a scrambled egg, and some additional medicine, James is slowly getting his appetite back.

Nana sent his favorite breakfast as a backup: Sister Shubert's Sausage Biscuits. Dad helped, so it was hard to get an accurate count of just how much James ate.

He also had some chocolate milk, so that was enough for the doctors to release him. We also learned that James' white cell count was sharply up overnight - an indication that he responded well to the first injection of G-CSF (see yesterday's journal).

We picked up our "bag o' gold" (in the form of a week's worth of injections) from the pharmacy and then headed home.

Bubba (Katie's name for James [until she recently outgrew it]) was very happy to see a banner that Katie and some friends made for him hanging in the entry.

With all of the members of our little family under the same roof for the first time in over a week, it was NAP TIME! Mom even slept for a while (not a big napper).

James did great when it came time for his second injection. The needles provided for the "home" injections are thankfully smaller than the one we used in the hospital (can you imagine the fuss if it was the other way around?).

This is also the first time that Mom and Dad have been together at night since our impromptu vacation and perhaps the first time we've collaborated on the journal entry, so it's a fitting occasion to tell everyone how truly overwhelmed we have been by the outpouring of love, support, and prayers that James and his family have received over the last week and a half.

We are so grateful for our family and many special friends. Words cannot describe the gratitude in our hearts. We are truly blessed.

Please continue to pray for James and send him your messages. We read him the new messages several times a day and his Grandma is collecting everything in a special binder called "James' Journal".

Monday, July 26, 2004 10:28 PM CDT

First, some news from Sunday that didn't make that edition: James and Mrs. Gratt played pool yesterday, and James won! He was ecstatic! His Dad labeled it a "mini-cool-duel"!

Sunday evening was James' last chemo treatment for this cycle, and he was pretty tired all day today. Didn't eat or drink much today, but that's not so bad when you still have an IV running into your medi-port - Sure not meat and potatoes, but it does the trick!

Dad got a "butch" haircut today, just like James' - and he says, to quote Will Smith in "Men in Black", "I make this look GOOOOOD!" ;>)

Dad also had another first tonight - he gave James his first injection of "G" - medication which helps stimulate the white blood cells so that their numbers grow. This medication helps to "raise the floor" that the white count drops to, and shortens the length of time for the low white blood count. One shot a day for a week in each cycle, and I think we can count on Dad to become the expert here. Mom says she thinks she could give a shot to herself, but not to her boy! Dad says, "the first scream came from James; the second, louder scream was from me when James got to squeeze my hand in retribution".

Here's tomorrow's forecast: When James shows that he can eat and drink something, he can go home. The current plan is to start the next cycle in approximately 3 weeks. Friday morning this week, he has a Doctor's appointment to check his blood levels.

James may not be feeling very good for the next several days, so until everybody gets used to the schedule, and we develop confidence in it, Mike and Lisa are asking that visits are by invitation only, please.

Stay tuned to this site for reports of James' homecoming!

Monday, July 26, 2004 7:51 AM CDT

The update will be a little later this morning, folks. Probably just after Noon. James was awake most of the night, and he and Dad need their beauty sleep. As soon as we get yesterday's news, we'll put it right out there. Thank you, and keep sending those prayers and messages to James.

Saturday, July 24, 2004 11:52 PM CDT

Well, James is a little bit past the half way mark on his first round of chemo and doing fine. He's gotten sick a couple of times, but otherwise taking it in stride. The medicine that he takes to prevent nausea causes him to get sleepy, so he's got a lot of energy to burn off at this hour (sitting with me while writing this).

Maybe it was the free movie passes Uncle Chuck gave the nurses, but I'm betting that the nurses just have a soft spot for "Sweet James" - he conned, er, I mean, 'talked' them into opening up the teen room (with the big pool table) for him any time of night. When he asked how long he had a free pass they told him he could come back when he was forty-five (then they looked at Uncle Chuck and worried about what they had just promised ).

Overall, James and "Charlie" - the name he gave his chemo pole - are getting to be good friends.

Our family would like to thank you for your continued support and prayers. We are already seeing them answered!

And now without further adieu, here's the little man himself with a few words:

"I'm blessed that eveybody's praying for me. During the biopsy, I was having a hard day. I'm happy people can come to see me on the website. I hope everybody is having a good summer. Thank you everybody for sending me messages. They make me really happy!"

Saturday, July 24, 2004 11:57 PM CDT

We just noticed that James' web page has been visited almost 2,000 times in the five days it has existed. Does that say something about this wonderful, charming, special boy, or what?

Today was James' second day of chemotherapy. He has had some nausea, and when he has medicine for the nausea, it makes him sleepy, so he's getting some good rest.

When he's not resting, however, he's slowly but surely taking over the entire hospital floor. As soon as he feels pretty good, he wants to go to the "pool hall" - that's his term for the Teen recreation room. (Yes, we know --- he's only 9 (almost) - not a teen, but just keep reading!) It has a foozball table, a regulation pool table and all the audio/visual capabilities anyone could want.

James is really working on his pool playing. His grandad Faulkinbury was here today from Texarkana, and taught him how to hold the cue stick in order to control it better. With a little practice, he's gonna' start playing for money, we're afraid, so if he asks for a game, be vewy, vewy careful!

One of the night nurses was talking to him last night about his pool playing, and told him that if he was awake in the middle of the night, and felt like playing pool, just to let them know, and they would call Security to come open up the room for him. Did we mention that this kid is charming?

There was a "popsicle party" in his room this afternoon - relatives had come in from Texarkana and Austin, and his Uncle Chuck was there - the nurse was trying to get him to have a little something to eat - when he turned that down, she mentioned a popsicle, which sounded good to him, so he said "yes" - immediately every male member of the family in the room (and Katie, his little sister) joined in with a request for their own popsicle. The nurse ended up bringing the entire box in!

We really want each of you who have sent James a greeting to know how very much we appreciate your extending to James your prayers, your good wishes, your support and your humor. Please continue. We've started a "Journal" for him which includes a printed copy of each and every message he's received. We want him - when he conquers this thing - to look back and see how SO many people cared SO much for him. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Friday, July 23 2004 10:00 PM CDT

Well, today James learned he had cancer. As we have experienced with everything so far, he took it very well. He is now learning all about things kids should really not have to learn about so young, like "chemotherapy," "radiation therapy," etc.

He was a little shocked to hear that his hair would be falling out, but was reassured to learn that it would grow back. To ease the transition, Dad took him to the barbershop at the hospital, and James told the barber how he wanted it cut really short. Again, it was good timing that he had just met Kaylee, who is going through what he'll be going through and is now bald, and Jillian, the “much older woman”, who went through it a year ago, and whose hair has grown back down to her shoulders.

James was ecstatic to learn this morning from the Doctor that he could see his beloved Hannah --his 6 lb Yorkie mix, who, in her “Guard Dog” mode, thinks she is the biggest, baddest dog in Dallas County, if not in Texas!

Since Hannah couldn’t come to his room, James was allowed to go to the exit door of the hospital for the visit. Hannah was transported down to the hospital about noon, and waited expectantly at the car window for “her boy.” When James came through the door, it was hard to tell which was most excited about seeing the other.

Sister Katie has been on a week-long “social tour” of friends’ and relatives’ homes, and she seems to be really enjoying seeing everyone and playing SO hard. Tonight when she got to her family home to stay with Grandma in attendance, she was so play-stimulated, she was jumping around like a cricket.

James started his chemotherapy this evening and so far so good!

The whole family is so grateful for your prayers, gifts and visits. Please understand that during the chemotherapy, James may not be feeling so well, so his parents are asking that visitors be limited. Thank you.

Thursday, July 22, 2004 8:29 PM CDT

Lots of good news to share today!

The bone marrow biopsy results finally came back and they were all clear and the CT scan of James’ head was also all clear! We are all breathing a lot easier today.

They will begin the chemotherapy tomorrow after they meet with the doctor and James to explain to him what is going on. So far, he has not been told he has cancer. The reason for this was to get all of the tests back so they would have all of the really important answers ready because I’m sure he’s going to have a lot of questions! He is a really smart kid and he will want to know everything.

James’ next door neighbor is a little girl a couple of years older than him. She also has cancer and has lost all of her hair. James was in the playroom yesterday and the Child Life Specialist asked James if he was curious why she was bald. He said no, but he probably really was. The little girl, Kayla, came over and explained to him why she didn’t have any hair and why she was in the hospital. James thought she was really cool.

But, Mike said he looked head-over-heels about Jillian, a 15-year-old (I guess he likes older women!) whom he met today. She also had been diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma and was celebrating the one year anniversary of her last treatment. She was granted a wish from the Make A Wish Foundation and got a horse and is now a competitive rider. Her visit could not have come at a better time for Mike and Lisa. It was very reassuring for them to meet someone else who had the same disease as James and whose story was so successful!

It is so fortunate that James has had the opportunity to meet two such charming young ladies who can share their stories with him and be such positive role models for him. It is especially good that he met them and thinks so well of them before he hears the details of his cancer. This way, he will know that it doesn’t have to mean horrible, sad endings.

They also did an MRI of James’ tumor to use as a benchmark for comparing to another MRI in a month or two after the first round or two of chemo. They will decide tomorrow whether to do the routine protocol or an accelerated protocol. Regardless of what they choose, it is evident that James is in the best hands possible, getting the best treatment available. And we couldn’t ask for better friends (new and old) who are praying constantly for James’ healing.

Your prayers and ours are being answered already!

Wednesday, July 21, 2004 9:35 PM CDT

Thank you to so many people who have visited James' website and left such sweet messages and offers of help! Mike and Lisa really appreciate the outpouring of love they have felt for James and their whole family.

Here is the latest:

The oncologists visited with Mike and Lisa today and they were able to confirm that the cancer that James has is called Ewing's sarcoma. Yesterday, they said they felt it was either between this or another cancer with a really long name. Although they have confirmed it is definitely cancer, there is some good news to tell you about. First of all, they have given it a name, which at least they can now "put on their boxing gloves" and begin to fight it. This particular type of tumor does not have a staging aspect to it the way some do. Mike and Lisa pressed the docs on this though, and asked them to rate it anyway and give them some idea of if it WERE to be staged, what would it be. They said probably a Stage II. (I is least serious, IV is most serious)

Secondly, the bone scan and CT scans of the neck, abdomen and pelvis were all normal. They are still waiting on the final report from the bone marrow biopsy, but the fluid from the bone marrow aspiration showed normal. From these results, they think that it is a localized tumor and has not metastasized to anywhere else in his body (which is REALLY good news!!)

They are going to do a CT scan of his head in the next day or so to rule out any connection with his headaches and this cancer.

They are meeting with the doctors again tomorrow to begin planning the protocol for his treatment.
Although the tests do show any spread of the cancer cells, the tests can only pick up something once it is the size of a BB. So, in order to make sure they take care of anything smaller than that, they may begin his first chemotherapy treatment tomorrow or Friday at the latest.

The other reason for beginning the chemo now is to try to shrink the tumor as much as possible so there won't have to be as much damage to his ribcage when they remove it.

They will also probably do radiation therapy directly to the tumor as well at some point.

Right now, he is going to be in hospital for at least another week while they begin his chemo.

Although he has loved all of the attention from the visitors, because he is going to be beginning his chemo Thursday or Friday, they have asked for visitors to be kept to a minimum until they know how he (and they) deal with it. Also, he is on a "no flowers or plants" floor, so please don't send any live plants or flowers. I think they are going to need to expand into the next room with all of the toys and balloons he has received. He is eating up all of this although he admitted on one of his "cruises" around the wing that he is a little bored.

We definitely think that by the end of the week, he will know everyone on his floor and their stories as well as everyone knowing his story. He has already made friends with his next door neighbor and some other kids in the playroom. Before he went to the hospital on Monday, James went around to all of his neighbors at home and told them about having to have surgery. He told his friend Daniel that he didn't think it was Daniel's fault that he was having to have surgery (they had been roughhousing).

We don't think it was Daniel's fault either, but we do think it was divine intervention of some kind that Daniel was involved. If they had not been roughhousing and James didn't get his side hurt, this might have gone on for weeks or months before it was discovered and the situation could be much, much worse. Thank you Daniel! You can add "lifesaver" to your resume! :-)

I am thrilled to say that James is in MUCH better spirits today than on Monday or Tuesday. I think he was very nervous on Monday and just out of it yesterday. He was smiling and goofing like his normal self again tonight.

More tomorrow after they discuss the protocol for treatment..keep up the prayers!!

Tuesday, July 20, 2004 1:59 PM CDT

James is out of surgery now and he did really well. The surgeon was able to get to the mass through the front to get the biopsy rather than having to go through the back. This will make his recovery much easier.

They were also able to put in a "medi-port" near his left collar bone. This port will allow them to administer medications and possibly chemotherapy if needed without having to poke him again. The port goes straight into a big artery which helps disperse the drugs quickly, which is good because they are very strong.

We still don't know any more about the biopsy results. It will be tomorrow afternoon at best. However, the oncologist did say that it is "typical" of what they usually see in children (the small blue cells). According to a friend of Lisa's who is a breast cancer survivor, we should view this news as good news. It is much better that they are viewing this as "typical" rather than "atypical", "rare" or "unexpected". At least they have seen this before and will know how to treat it.

More as soon as we hear something...

Tuesday, July 20, 2004 12:49 AM CDT

James is still in surgery, but the oncologist just came out to tell us that the preliminary report from the frozen section shows that it is a small blue cell tumor. Basically, this means that under the microscope the cells look small and blue. Really technical, right?

They did the bone marrow biopsy first from his hip and those results won't be available until tomorrow.

They are also going to analyze the biopsy from the mass more before they can tell us the name of whatever this is that he has and what the treatment and prognosis will be.

Thank you for your continued prayers. More updates as soon as we have them.

Monday, July 19, 2004 2:25 PM CDT

I am going to try to recap all that has happened in the past week. It has all happened so fast and it is pretty complicated, but I will try to keep it simple.

James started having migraine headaches a couple of months ago and went to the doctor last week. They said just to try some Excedrin Migraine to see if that helped.

Later in the week, he started complaining about his side hurting. His dad was out of town on business and his mom was watching him to see if it continued to hurt or got worse. He was very restless at night and was not sleeping well at all. Each day, he went to vacation bible school and felt fine, but he was complaining more about the pain in the evenings.

On Wednesday night, James was lying on the floor with his arm above his head and Lisa noticed a lump on his side. The next day, she took James to the pediatrician and the doctor was very concerned and sent them to have a chest x-ray right away. The chest x-ray showed a mass in his chest, but they could not tell very much about it. They decided to get a CT scan the next day.

The CT scan results were not good. They said that most likely it is a tumor of some kind that seemed to be embedded in his rib cage. They immediately made an appointment with a pediatric oncologist for this morning.
They are still unsure if the headaches are related at this point, but they are looking into it.

At the oncologist appointment this morning, they decided to admit James into the hospital (Medical City Dallas) to do some further testing before they do a biopsy tomorrow. Today they are going to do more CT scans (neck, abdomen and pelvis), bloodwork, U/A and a bone scan.

Tomorrow they are going to do a full surgical biopsy so they can do a frozen section to check if it is benign or malignant. They will then determine whether or not to remove the mass at that time. Also, they are going to do a bone marrow biopsy and look at his hipbone as well. The mass appears to be eroding his rib bone.

Although the doctors feel that most likely it is a tumor, there is a remote possibility that it could be a fungus of some type that is being caused by an infectious disease of some sort. He doesn't really know all the details of what is going on with him, other than he is having surgery.

James took the news that he was going to have surgery pretty well for an 8-year-old. He was mad at first, but it was mostly primarily due to their big vacation to Branson/Silver Dollar City being cancelled. To help make up for the vacation, once Mike got home from his business trip, they loaded up the car and drove up to Lake Murray in Oklahoma for the weekend.

They had a really great time. They rented a boat and James got to drive it by himself (his mom did not know about this, or she would have had a fit!) He also got to ride around a corral on a horse for a few minutes. They also went to the Arbuckle Wilderness and he a really cool close-up view of an emu. A little TOO close for him, actually, because his dad had rolled down James' window and it almost stuck its head right in the window!

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. Please continue to pray for James and his family. If you have a prayer chain or group at your church, please pass along a request for prayers to them as well.

Mike and Lisa have requested that everyone keep their calls to them to a minimum--just emergencies--if possible. This website was created to keep all of their friends and family up-to-date with James' condition. They appreciate your concern, but it has become too emotionally and physically draining to be constantly repeating the same story over and over. They hope you understand.

Please be sure and sign the guestbook. James would love to hear from you!

Monday, July 19, 2004 2:24 PM CDT

Monday, July 19, 2004 1:11 PM CDT

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