History

Saturday, July 7, 2007 9:47 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

We will be returning home tommorow morning. It has been a "fun" trip but very difficult. Things just seem to get harder. I think that we will be shutting this site down. Now that Nate's gone I don't really see the need. It is very difficult to continue. Thank you all for your continued prayers and the support of our family for the last few years and especially the last couple of weeks. I may periodically update we'll just have to see how things go.

Monday, June 25, 2007 5:40 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

The last 9 days have been the most difficult of my life. Going on without my little boy seems impossible most of the time. I have my other kids and for that I am so grateful but the pain is so present and so real it's almost like another person in the room. I go through the day in a fog not really feeling a whole lot other than sadness. I have moments with the girls or with Mikey and I'm able to experience joy but it's fleeting. I begin to wonder why Nate can't be there or how he would have reacted. It seems unfair to the others but at times I can't help myself.

His memorial and viewing were both beautiful. He had over 150 people show up at his memorial. I can't believe that he touched so many in such a short time. We set balloons off at the memorial and he would have loved it. There was a Nemo balloon that kept trying to "dive" into the lake. Our friends did an amazing tribute DVD and I hope that eventually I'll be able to watch it from start to finish. I just kept thinking how much he would have enjoyed himself. After the service the kids played. Someone off Shelby's soccer team brought a ball and Mikey and his friends ran around throwing pine cones at each other. Kinsey and her little friends were at the park. He would have had so much fun.

We are going to take off this week for about 10 days. We just need to get away. I will be sending out official thank you cards when we get back but I wanted to thank everyone for the support that my family had received. I'll update more when we get back.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 6:36 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

First we want to thank everyone for the amazing outpouring of support and love we have recieved in the last few days. It amazes us how many lives Nate touched in such a short time.

We will be having a viewing on Friday June 22 at 7pm at Miller-Woodlawn Funeral Home located at:

5505 Kitsap Way
Bremerton Wa 98312

There will be a Memorial Service on Sunday June 24th at 1pm at Camp McKean directions are:

Take Highway 3 to the Kitsap Way exit. Head west up the hill. You will come to W Kitsap Lake Rd. Take a left go about 1/2 mile to Camp McKean on the left. Parking is very limited please carpool when able.

We have been asked by many where they may send memorial donations and we have opened an account in Nate's name at our bank USAA. Deposits may be made in one of the following three ways:

Mail: USAA
9861 ATTN: Bank Priority Mail
USAA Fed Savings Bank
10750 McDermott Freeway
San Antonio, TX 78284-8426

Wire: Routing #314074269
Acct# 31053750

Send to us: 10105 Ashley Dr
Silverdale WA 98383

Again thank you all for everything.

Sunday, June 17, 2007 0:08 AM CDT

Nathan passed away suddenly in the arms of his family at 5:00pm Sat Jun 16. His disease had progressed into his brain where the tumors caused a bleed. He was peaceful and not in pain. We will forever miss him.

Memorial Services will be announced soon.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007 0:16 AM CDT

Hello everyone,

Well we ended up at the clinic all day today and yesterday. He needed a red cell transfusion yesterday and today he needed platlets. His white cell count is less than one so risk of infections is very high. We talked with the Dr today about his pain. He's been on a fentanyl patch where he gets 25mcg of fentanyl an hour also he has needed 5ml of oxycodone every 2hrs. This is alot of pain meds. They did an xray today to make sure that there weren't any fractures in his legs. There weren't but both of his hips are very abnormal. The bones are so deformed from the tumors that they don't fit in the socket very well. Also his knees were abnormal. They decided to start him on oxycotin because it's a longer acting med than the oxycodone which we can still give him for breakthrough pain.

I think so far that this is the hardest thing to deal with. Seeing you child live in so much pain and knowing there isn't anything you can do about it just SUCKS!! Sorry but I couldn't think of another word to describe it. He is so strong and so tough. I just love him so much and I'm so in awe of him everyday. It's definately changed me as a person. I can't imagine going through this and not changing. I thought I knew what heartbreak was but I had no idea. Watching your child suffer leaves a hole in your soul.

Sorry it's been a hard week. There was good news. Nate doesn't have to go back to clinic until Thurs. Also Mikey's baseball team is the Championship game after winning a very close game against the best team in the league tonight. Nate was there and I'm convinced he brought the boys good luck. They were behind by 5 when we got there.

Keep praying for our miracle.

Friday, June 8, 2007 6:18 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Well as I type this Nate is at the hospital with Daddy getting his stem cells infused. For those who don't know the history Nate had his stem cells harvested when we did his orginal transplant. They were able to harvest four really good bags. We only had to use one during transplant so we had three left. Well the Dr decided that since his disease is progressing and it is taking him so long for his counts to recover that we would go ahead and give him his cells. The hope is that the cells will give his marrow a jump start and that it will start producing on it's own quicker. There is some concern that the platlets which are the last of the counts to recover will still take awhile. Until they are recovered we can't start something new.

Nate has been ok. There is definately pain issues and he gets frustrated with the limits that being in pain put on him. He is so strong and I am amazed and humbled that I was the one chosen to be his Mom. Even in the midst of this war we are fighting I thank god every day that I get to be his Mom.

The other kids are good. They are excited as the end of the school year draws near. Mikey is playing in the end of the season tournament for baseball this weekend and then All Stars start. Shelby is still playing soccer and gearing up for the summer tournament season. Kinsey is begging us to let her play this summer but we're still up in the air. We aren't sure we want to start the obsession this early. I think I will sign her up for swimming though. Mike and I are busy getting them all from point A to point B.

Thank you all for checking in and please continue to pray for that miracle.

Monday, June 4, 2007 6:00 PM CDT

***Check out the new pictures***

Hello everyone,

Nate is doing ok. He had a pretty good weekend. He was able to go to his party and collect his trophy. He was very proud. His pain is getting better I think. It's hard to tell sometimes. He went to clinic yesterday and then we went back today to get platlets. He has an audiology appointment we made long ago on Weds and we will see Dr Park and get labs done again that day. Also his white count is VERY LOW this presents danger in the fact that he is prone to lots infections so we are homebound for awhile.

So basically we have to wait for his body to recover before we do anything else. The rest of the kids are good. We told them all yesterday about the progression and though they were very sad they handled it so well. I'm so lucky to get to be there mom. Please continue to pray for Nate.

Saturday, June 2, 2007 1:24 AM CDT

****I'VE ADDED NEW PICTURES TAKE A LOOK****

Hello everyone,

Well we're home. He has lymph nodes in his pelvis that are diseased. These have grown signifcantly in the last week or so. When his platlets get low these tumors start to hemmorage. Also he has lymphatic swelling. So right now his platlets are holding steady. We will go back on Sunday for a CBC where I expect he will need platlets and possible red cell transfusion. They have increased his pain meds. He is on a full Fentanyl patch instead of half also they have started him on Gabapentin which is for nueropathic or nerve pain. Unfortunately this is all we can do right now. If he doesn't start making his own platlets and stop requiring transfusions then we will give him back his stem cells.

We have a plan for after things stabilize. We will start the ABT-751 trial. Please keep praying that we can start treatment. All signs point to a rapid progression. When we got home from the hospital we noticed a bump on his head. This is very frightening because alot of times lesions on the skull will present this way.

Thanks for checking in and keep praying for Nate and the rest of our kids.

Thursday, May 31, 2007 5:51 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Nate is inpatient right now. We still aren't sure what exactly is going on othe than his disease has definately progressed. We have done some more tests and are awaiting results. I don't know exactly what to say. I could go into alot of medical stuff but it's all conjecture right now. I will post more when we have something definate. Thank you for all your prayers and please keep them coming.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007 11:18 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

This may be a little confusing for you all but Nate is not doing great. Since Friday he has had progressivly worsening pain in his legs. He has needed lots of pain meds along with the Fentanyl patch he's already on. Saturday we went out to a friends lake property and he just wasn't himself he wanted to play with the other kids and he just couldn't. Sunday morning he woke up with a bloody nose. He started to complain on pain in the groin area and the area over the lymph nodes in his pelvis was completley swollen. We tried not to freak out and knew that we had an appointment on Tues. Monday morning he again woke up and his nose had bled overnight this time it was much worse. Throughout the day I kept checking the groin area and by 1:00 it was much worse. I tooke hime to the ER at Childrens. He had very low platlets and they thought that the lymph nodes that had active disease were bleeding. So they gave him platlets and we were to follow-up in clinic in the morning.

Well this morning the pain was worse. He ended up with a blood transfusion and the Dr decided to do a CT. The end result of all of this is that his disease has once again progressed. The lymph nodes are worse and the tumors in some of his bones have gotten bigger.

Needless to say we need prayers right now. We aren't sure of the next step. We have to wait until his counts stablize. I'm sorry there isn't better news. I wanted to let you all know. We have in no way given up hope. We are vey scared and a little lost right now. Please excuse any spelling or grammar errors. I hop it all made sense. Thanks for checking in and please pray for my little boy.

Friday, May 25, 2007 1:35 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Nate has had a pretty good week. He went on Monday for counts and needed both red cells and platlets. It made for about a 12 hour day with travel but he handled it very well. Mike went back for counts with him yesterday and they were good so now we wait and do counts on Tues and see where we are. We are in the process of getting scans scheduled on June 12 and 13 to see. Other than that it is just wait and see. Which by the way is driving me crazy.

The rest of the kids are good. Mikey has had a couple of baseball games I think they won one and lost the other. He got accepted into the Achieve program in school for next year. It's a program to help students that score high on their tests but don't get the grades you would expect. His Dad calls it "Slacker U". Shelby's soccer team had their first tournament of the season and took second place behind the "A" team from the same academy. She was very excited. She is going to be changing schools because of boundary changes next year and we went to the new school for a meet and greet. I think it will be a difficult change for her but she'll do ok. Kinsey is still playing t-ball but I think she's starting to get bored. I think that I will try to get her into swim lessons this summer. She'll be changing schools also but she's very excited because one of her best friends goes there.

All in all we're good. Staying busy and trying to make it one day at a time. Thanks for checking in and keep those prayers going.

Thursday, May 17, 2007 4:32 PM CDT

Please pray for the family of the amazing Penelope London. She passed away this morning at 5:30 in the arms of her parents.

Hello everyone,

Well Nate's counts have finally started to drop. They were alot lower today but still not low enough to transfuse. Which means we wait until Monday and I have to try and keep him calm so that he doesn't fall or hit his head.

I know this is a short post but I have to run. Life never seems to slow down....

I will post more on Monday after his appointment.

Thursday, May 10, 2007 3:56 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Well Nate had two doctors appointments this week and they both showed that his counts are dropping but not so bad that he needed any transfusions or support. They don't expect them to start dropping drastically until 21 days post infusion which will be next Friday the 18th. I'm just so happy that he gets another weekend and that his counts are high enough for him to participate in one more t-ball game. He actually played an ENTIRE game last Sat. I wasn't able to be there because Shelby had a touch of the flu. I actually think that's why Nate played the whole game. When I'm there it's much easier to cuddle up on Mommy's lap then stand in the outfield :)

So the plan is to see the doctor on Monday and repeat labs every few days or so until he starts to drop. From there it will just depend on how long his immune system will take to recover. Please continue to pray that it won't take to long and that he won't need his stem cells ( I would rather have them on hand for future options that may be needed).

The rest of the kids are good. Shelby got over her virus really quickly and has her first real soccer games of the tournament season this weekend. She is so excited. Nothing like the smell of fresh cut grass and sun to bring out the "animal" in her. :) Mikey is doing really well in baseball and his team is actually doing great. Kinsey is having a ball playing t-ball and has started to have lots of sleepovers with her friend Cami. I can't believe that they are all getting as old as they are. I wonder sometimes where the time went.

Thanks for checking in and don't forget to sign the guestbook!!!!

Friday, May 4, 2007 10:08 AM CDT

Hello everyone,

Sorry that I didn't update sooner but we have been enjoying being home and with the rest of the family. We got home really late on Tues night I was able to change by flight but then it ended up getting delayed so we didn't leave San Francisco until 10 and didn't get into Seattle unitl 12. I was great to surprise the kids in the morning though definatly worth the sleep deprivation.

Nate is doing pretty good he is not himself though. The say that it shouldn't start affecting him for 21 days after the infusion but I'm not sure I believe that. He is really tired and has no evergy. I guess that could be because he was in the hospital for 6 days. We go to Childrens on Monday for labs and to see Dr Park I will be interested to see what his counts are.

We will go back to San Francisco in 6 weeks to scan and see Dr Matthay. If things have improved or are STABLE then we will do another infusion 2 weeks after that. I will keep you all updated to his progress. He will have to have his stem cells back if his nuetrophil count (white cells) stay lower than 500 for 2 weeks or he needs more than 2 platlet tranfusions for more than 2 weeks. Nate has 3 bags of stem cells left form his harvest that he had before transplant so thats good. They don't think that he will need his stem cells but with Nate you never know. It would be great if he didn't the more stem cells you have availble the better your treatment options.

The rest of the kids are good. They kept Daddy busy with all of the various activites. The girls had sleep overs on the Saturday I was gone so Mikey and Daddy had a guys night they grilled brats and watched a movie that Mom would have deemed extremely stupid and maybe even inappropriate. They handled me being gone wonderfully and I am so proud of them as always.

Thanks for checking in please continue to pray that this treatment is working and our little friend Penelope needs your prayers. She was recently on the front page of the Wall Strett Journal. If you go to google and click on Google news the search Saying No to Penelope you can read it. Her web page is www.penelopelondon.com

Monday, April 30, 2007 3:02 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

This entry will be quick Nate's upstairs taking a nap so I'm going to sit outside and read a book and get a little fresh air. Things have been pretty good. All in all this treatment has been much easier than anticipated unless you factor in being separated :(

We should be discharged tommorow and then we have a scan scheduled across town tommrow afternoon. We will spend the night at the hotel and then fly out Weds morning. Thanks for checking in and please continue to pray that this is the THING that we have been waiting for.

Monday, April 23, 2007 9:20 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Sorry that I didn't post with the results earlier but we just got the final word today. It seems that Nate's disease has progressed. The lymph node involvment is worse. Worse than that is that he now has disease in his bone marrow. He has never had disease in his marrow ever not even at his original diagnosis. This doesn't change any plans we are still leaving for San Francisco on Weds. I won't have access to a computer while I'm there so I will have to post when I get back. Hopefully they will be able to release him on Tues the 2nd of May. The address for him to recieve cards a

UCSF Children�s Hospital

Attn: Jean Addis

For Nathan McKean

505 Parnassus Box 0210

San Francisco, CA 94143-0210

Don't send any stuffed animals since we would have to leave them there. Anything soft that can't be wiped off would have to remain there.

Thanks for checking in and please continue to pray for our little boy.

Thursday, April 19, 2007 5:14 PM CDT

Nate is doing pretty good. He is doing scans this week in preparation of the treatment in San Francisco. He had a bone marrow biopsy on Tues and an MIBG scan and CT scan today. Hopefully I will get results back tommorow afternoon. I will post them when I do. He's feeling pretty good and is actually lookin forward to the plane ride to San Francisco. My Grandma and Aunts who live in Sacramento will be coming to visit while we are in the hospital. I'm going to try and get an address so that if people want to send cards they can. I will post when I get it.

The rest of the crew is good they are busy as ever. I can't believe how big they are all getting. Mikey is 13 and is already an inch taller than me. Shelby is 10 and is such a beautiful young woman. Her Daddy is in TROUBLE for those who know him it is very ironic that he has to send not one but two gorgeous daughters into the world. Kinsey is starting to really show her sassy personality she definatley got her Dads sarcastic side.

Thanks so much for checking in. Please continue to pray that this treatment will do the trick and that it isn't too hard on him. Don't forget to sign the guestbook!!!

Thursday, April 12, 2007 5:28 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

****UPDATE Sat Apr 14th Nate did great at his first t-ball game. He even hit a HOME RUN!!!*****

Sorry that I didn't post right away when we got back but we've been busy with the kids and Mike's new job. San Francisco was interesting. Dr Matthay is very knowledgable and it was a good conversation. I can't say that we learned anything that we didn't already know having dealt with this disease for 4 years now. We have decided to do the MIBG treatment which is basically internal radiation. Unfortuanately we don't have any idea if this is the RIGHT thing to do and neither do the doctors. We are going on faith and the hope that Nate will be one of the kids that "responds" to this treatment. Nate and I will leave on Weds April 25th and if all goes we'll be returning home in 5 to 7 days. We can do all follow-up at Childrens in Seattle. We will have to return to San Francisco in about 6 weeks and if the treatment goes well we would return for a second dose in 8 to 12 weeks.

The treatment itself isn't as hard a we had originally thought. The most difficult part will be that he will be radioactive for the first 2 to 3 days which will mean that I will have to limit my contact with him and that he will have to remain in bed since he will have a foley catheter in place to constantly empty his bladder. They say that the side effects are minimal and that usually the major side effect is suppression of bone marrow which will results in low counts which may require lots of tranfusions and maybe even some of this stem cells back.

All in all we are ready for this. It will be difficult to be separated but hopefully in the end it will be a sacrifice that was worth it. The kids are so far handling things ok. We are going on like things are normal with baseball and soccer in hopes of making the transistion easier for them.

Thanks so much for checking in on us and please continue to pray that we have chosen the right thing and that this will be the treatment we have been waiting for.

On a sad note a little boy named Kendall passed away please pray for his family especially his twin Zachary.

Thursday, April 5, 2007 11:10 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that we are going to San Fransisco on Monday the 9th. Things have actually started moving very fast. We have our consultation Monday and then return for treatment the 18th of May. We also found today that our insurance is going to cover this treatment which is also exciting. This is a more drastic treatment than the others that Nate has done since his relapse but we're hopeful that it will beat back this disease. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as we travel to speak with one of the leading experts in neuroblastoma.

The rest of the kids are good. They get to stay at our friends the Mohs family down the street while were gone and the are excited about that (especially Shelby because her nest friend McKenna is there.) Thank you all for checking in I will update when we get back.

Monday, April 2, 2007 11:17 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

We're still waiting for information about San Fransisco. We should know something soon. I'll let you all know when I find out. In the meantime we started a cycle of the same chemo he's been taking today. He did pretty good. He's pretty tired these days and he's still to skinny. He's only going to do 4 days instead of 5 in hopes of helping his counts. We'll see if it works.

The weekend was good. Shelby and I drove to Spokane for a soccer tournament. Mike and the rest of the kids stayed home for a weekend filled with baseball practice and soccer games. It was a great weekend.

Thank you all for checking in. I will update as soon as I know something. Don't forget to sign the guestbook and let us know you were here.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007 11:26 AM CDT

Hello everyone,

****UPDATE Weds Mar 28th
Talked with Dr Park and study in San Fransisco won't be availble for at least a month if not two. We are trying to get the same treatment off study but aren't sure if we will be able too. We should get more answers tommorow I'll let everyone know when a decision is made. Thanks for checking in.***

Well we are still waiting for the next step... The meeting yesterday went well and now we are trying to figure out the logistics of the next thing. We are considering a treatment in San Francisco as well as a couple of diffrent options here. Our thinking is that Nathan is strong now and if we continue to deplete his little body with these treatments that aren't working than we may miss the oppurtunity to stop this disease. Don't get me wrong the fact that this treatment is keeping this disease stable is wonderful but we feel like it's time to go BIG and give it our best shot!! Quality of life has always been a huge factor in treatment decisions for us and still is. Going to San Francisco would be hard not only on Nate but the other kids as well, they've never been apart for that long before. Unfrotunately Nate is starting to feel diffrent and is frustrated with his quality NOW so we want to do something to TRY and change that.

I want to thank everyone for checking in and keeping us in your prayers. Without my FRIENDS I don't know how I would've gotten through the last few days not to mention the last year. Please continue to pray for guidance as we try to figure out what comes next. I will post as soon as we know something concrete.

Saturday, March 24, 2007 11:30 AM CDT

Hello everyone,

We got Nate's scan results back. Everything is STABLE. Of course this is wonderful. Unfortunately we are now having to decide wether or not to stop this treatment which is so far keeping this disease in check. His bone marrow is taking a beating from the chemo and it's taking longer and longer for his counts to recover. The fear becomes that he will become transfusion dependent and that would greatly limit his treatment options in the future. We knew that this would become an issue but it doesn't make it any easier.

We are going to see Dr Park on Monday to go over some other options. It will be another one of those conversations where she says there is option A, B , and C and none of them will probably work but they all have horrible side effects go ahead and pick one. I HATE THIS DISEASE!!!! He is still feeling great and other than the fact that he is still TOO SKINNY he looks wonderful.HE is having a great time playing t-ball.

The rest of the kids are good. Busy as usual. Mike and I are trying to keep everything going with our schedule and trying to figure out what to do next for Nate. Thanks for checking in and please pray that the doctors can find the ONE THING that will destroy this disease once and for all.

Friday, March 16, 2007 10:58 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Nate just had his very first T-ball practice. He had a BLAST and did really good. I was very proud of him. He's a little bit slower than the rest of the kids and he's pretty sore tonight but he hasn't stopped smiling. Hopefully he will continue to love it.

Medically he's doing well. He received platelets yesterday and is due for scans on Tues and Weds. It will be a stressful week but we are praying for good news. If all goes well he will start his next cycle on Monday the 25th.

The rest of us a good. Thanks for checking in and don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Sunday, March 11, 2007 0:41 AM CST

Hello everyone,

*****Please read th above "essay" I would like to credit the author but it is something that has been passed from site to site so I'm not sure who the orginal author is.***

We had an uneventful week of chemo. Things went pretty much as planned. His red blood cell count started out a little lower than normal so he ended up getting a blood transfusion on Friday along with his last day of chemo. It made for a very long day but it was ok. Nate goes in tommorow to get his nuelasta shot. This is basically the same medicine that he used to get to boost his immune system but instead of 10 shots he only has to get one. The only drawback is we can't give him the shot at home we have to go into the clinic and get it and they only give the shots on Sunday or Monday mornings. With Nates chemo schedule he has to go in on Sunday. Hopefully his counts will be good enough that he won't have to go back in until Thurs and get a few days off. He is scheduled for scans on the 20th and 21st. Please keep him in your prayers as we await the results.

The rest of the kids are good. We have all been adjusting back to noraml life after our vacation. Thank you all for checking in and don't forget to sign the guestbook :)

Saturday, March 3, 2007 7:54 PM CST

Hello everyone,

WE HAD A BLAST AT DISNEYWORLD!!! Nate had so much fun. He had so much more energy than usual. I think that only doing three days of chemo instead of five really made a difference. He was such a trooper. The people that we went with had never been before so we were in the parks for about 12 hours everyday but Nate didn't complain at all.

The rest of the kids had a great time too. Shelby and Kinsey were so surprised that we were going with their best friends I think it made the trip more special for them. Mikey was great too. He treated McKenna and Taylor like two more little sisters which of course means that he tortured them relentlesly. I was worried that going with another family would mkae it hard but it was wonderful to be able to share out special time with them.

It's back to reality for us now. Nate starts chemo on Monday (we are back to 5 days) and the rest of the kids are back to school, and soccer, and wrestling. and now we get to add in baseball too. Nate is going to play t-ball for the first time this year. I hope it works out better than soccer. I think it should because there's less running.

Anyway thanks for checking in and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Please pray that next week's chemo won't be too hard on him and that the combo continues to hold the beast at bay.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007 9:41 AM CST

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update. I think we made the right decision about only doing 3 days of chemo. He went for counts yesterday and his platelets were holding steady. I know it's only been 5 days but it's still a good sign.

The rest of us are good. Mikey has started wrestling for his Junior High. He's still learning but he did really well at yesterdays meet. At first it was very hard to watch as his mom but yesterday was a little easier maybe because he sort of knows what he's doing now :)

Well we are still planning on leaving Sat unless something big happens I will update when we get back next Friday.

Friday, February 16, 2007 11:03 PM CST

Hello everyone,

Things have been good. Nate finished this round of chemo. We decided to only do 3 days instead of 5. His platelets have been slow to recover and had started out low. Also we are going to DISNEYWORLD in a week so we wanted him recovered and healthy. I know for alot of you out there it seems like we go alot and the last 2 years that has been true. It truly is a magical place and when we are there it brings out the best in our family. Unfortunatly Daddy will be reporting back to a boat on April 11. He has been on shore duty for 5 years and needs to return to sea duty. We have been fortunate enough to be assigned to a boat that won't be going out to sea for a couple of years. But it means that our week long vacations are going to have to stop, at least for awhile. So we figured we would take one more. We haven't told the kids and we are so excited. We are going with our best friends from down the street and they have never been before. I will update before we leave. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Friday, February 9, 2007 11:24 PM CST

Hello everyone,

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. There hasn't been alot to report until today. Scans results were GOOD everything is stable. We are so relieved. At this point we will take stable. He has a pretty good quality of life on this treatment and it has been relativly easy on him. So we will continue with it for now. In two months we will scan again. Thank you to everyone for their prayers I will update more at a later time. We go in for chemo on Monday and will do five days.

Everyone else is good. Thanks for checking in.

****I finally figured out how to resize pictures so there are now new pictures on the photo page. Check it out.****

Thursday, February 1, 2007 2:28 PM CST

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to add a quick update. Nate and Daddy are in Seattle right now waiting on a blood transfusion for Nate. All of his counts were low which was expected. So they have to wait a couple fo hours for the blood to get there and then it's a four hour infusion so it will be a very long day for them. I think that they are going to head over to Barnes and Noble and see if there is a book they can find for Nate to keep him busy (maybe Daddy will get one too).

Nate went to speech on Tuesday and loved it. I'm not sure how much work they got done but he was all smiles after which is the important thing. The rest of us are good. We are still in the process of getting the house ready for Grandma. She is moving in on Sat so we are getting down to the wire. Thanks for checking in and please pray for scans next week!!

Sunday, January 28, 2007 9:10 PM CST

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone know that we made it through the latest cycle of chemo. All things considered Nate did pretty good. He was pretty nauseous with this round and we had alot more stops on the side of the road on the way to the hospital. It's hard when your not feeling well to jump in the car for an hour and a half ride through Seattle traffic, first thing.Tommorow he goes in for labs and we will see where he's at. I anticipate that before the end of the week he will need a transfusion of some sort. He is starting speech at he elementary school on Tues. He is so excited! He thinks of this as his special school and he hasn't gone yet this year. We decided to let him start up again becuase he is starting to feel different than other kids. Before he just thought that he was the same as other kids he didn't know any different but now he's realizing that he is special and honestly it is pissing him off. Hopefully speech will help.

The rest of us are good. We are getting the house ready for Grandma to move in for awhile. Mike's mom is moving in next weekend so we are cleaning rooms and taking furniture apart. Shelby is going to move into Kinsey's roon with her and Nate is with us. Mikey will keep his own room and Grandma can have Shelby's room. When Grandma moves out of there then Nate can go into it. We will have to paint first since it's now PINK. Anyway thanks for checking in and keeping us in thoughts and prayers. Don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007 7:54 PM CST

Hello everyone,

Nate started his chemo on Monday as planned. His platelets were definately lower than normal but they were ok to start. The Dr thinks that his bone marrow is getting sluggish from all the chemo so he isn't producing like before. It just means more transfusions which are an inconvienence but tolerable. He will fininsh this round on Friday and then be at the clinic next week on Mon, Weds, and Fri for labs and possible transfusions. The week after we will scan to see where we are. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we go into scans.

Nate is acting pretty good his pain has greatly decreased to where he isn't needing any oxycodone for breakthrough pain. He is still on the Fentanyl patch. He is getting more nauseous with every round but we are able to control that with medication.

The other kids are good. We are busy as ever. Thanks for checking in with us and keeping us in your thoughts. Don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Saturday, January 20, 2007 9:16 PM CST

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to check in and let everyone know all is well. Nate went to the clinic on Weds and his counts were ok so they said that we didn't need to come back until Monday which has been great. Monday we start chemo if all is good with his counts. I think that everything should be fine considering how great he looks.

The rest of the kids are good. Busy as usual. Mike and I have been looking for a new chair for our livingroom which has been an adventure. :) Thanks for checking in and please keep Nate in your prayers for next weeks chemo. Don't forget to sign the guestbook!!

Monday, January 15, 2007 8:14 PM CST

Hello everyone,

Well we have had a great weekend. We have just been hanging out with the exception of some soccer games on Sunday. It's been nice to just be together not running anywhere. Nate had to go to the clinic today for labs. He ended up needing a platelet transfusion but that went really fast so they were home by two. Nate wanted Mikey to go with him so being the great big brother that he is he got up early (even though there was no school) and went with him. I truly am very lucky that I have such amazing kids. The girls are good we hung out and cooked a turkey and then had friends over for dinner.

Nate has to go back to the clinic to get labs again on Thursday and then he starts chemo on Monday if all is good. Thanks for checking in on us and keep praying that this treatment is doing the trick.

Friday, January 12, 2007 10:44 PM CST

Hello everyone,

Nate has had a pretty good week. He went to the clinic today for labs and he needed a red blood cell transfusion. It didn't get started until 3:30 which made for a very long day for Nate and Daddy. In fact they are still on their way home. He will have to go back in on Monday to check his platlets and see how his white cells are doing.

The rest of us are good. We are having the strangest winter here in the Northwest and the kids have been off school alot this week due to snow. Well thanks for checking in and don't forget to sign the guestbook. :)

Monday, January 8, 2007 11:25 PM CST

Hello everyone,
***Update Jan 9 Nate's counts were ok. His red cells were low but not low enough for transfusion. His platlets were dropping but still ok. His white cells were actually elevated but he hasn't hit bottom yet. We'll see what happens. We are scheduled to go back on Friday I will let you know what the say.

Well everyone here is good. Nate finished up last weeks chemo and is doing ok. His eating is still an issue and we're not sure how much he's lost since his last appointment. It is a struggle every day to get him to eat but I think that we can still avoid the NG Tube which is our goal. His counts were ok on Friday and we go in tomorow for counts to make sure he isn't in need of any transfusions yet. I wouldn't think he is. His energy level is good and I haven't noticed any signs of bleeding so I think that his platlets are ok. He started his GCSF shots but I'm sure that his white cell count has plummeted.

The rest of the kids are good. Kinsey had her first indoor soccer game on Sunday. Unfortunately her team lost but she scored a goal and did really well playing goalie. Shelby is great she had a really good birhtday with a few friends we all went to Build-A-Bear and I think the girls all had alot of fun. Mikey is back into the swing of school and getting ready for baseball season.

Please continue to pray for Nate. Also please pray for a very close friend of the family in fact it's Shelby's very best friend. She just found out that she has a broken vertabrae in her back and they are in the getting a plan together stage. Don't forget to sign the guestbook. :)

Tuesday, January 2, 2007 6:26 PM CST

Hello everyone,

We had a WONDERFUL time in Disneyland. It was very crowded but the Disney people once again gave Nate a front of the line pass so that helped alot. The drive went ok and we were able to see some family in Sacramento on the way. It is nice to be home but we haven't had any time to rest we got home around 9 last night and Nate had chemo this morning and the other kids had to go back to school.

Nates chemo went well his counts were good and everything was pretty uneventful. I did speak with Dr Park and she showed me both sets of scans the ones we just did and the ones we did back in the beginning of Nov. The ares that showed improvement had started to show improvement back in Nov so they aren't sure if its the chemo or the nifurtimox (the medicine that we picked up in Vermont). Either way we are going to continue what we are doing since it seems to be working.

The other kids are good they had a great Christmas. Shelby turns 10 today I can't believe how big she is. In some ways she is so mature that I forget that she is still just a little girl. Anyway thanks for checking in and don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Monday, December 25, 2006 10:39 PM CST

Hello everyone,
****Dec 26th Update, We are off to Disneyland. With the good news we just had to celebrate MCKEAN style so we will be back on the 1st I will update then.

Sorry for the delay with last minute Christmas things I have been really busy!!!

First things first, Nate's scans results were GREAT. In fact we had our own Christmas Miracle. Nate had what they called a partial response. The disease in his legs is stable and the disease in the spine and pelvic region is slightly decreased. Which is just about the best news we could have hoped for.

We had a great Christmas and the kids had a blast. They recieved entirely too many presents but don't they always. Well I will update more about the holidays later I just wanted to let you all know our Christmas Miracle!!!

Thanks for checking in and don't forget to sign the guestbook :)

Sunday, December 17, 2006 10:51 PM CST

Hello everyone,

Well Nate ended up getting both red cells and platlets on Thursday. They also discovered that he has a viral influenza (flu) and are hoping alot of what has made him miserable lately could be attributed to that. On Friday he was still pretty weak and fatigued but by yesterday he seemed more like his old self. Today has been even better and he is playing and eating a little more each day. his pain has gotten better and we hope the aches and pain he was experiencing last week can be attributed to the flu. He goes in tommorow to see the doctor and check his counts. Please pray that his white cells are coming back so we can stop the GCSF shots. He has scans on Weds and Thurs so please keep praying for that Christmas miracle! :)

The rest of us are good. We have been pretty busy with the kids activites and all the holiday hustle and bustle. We are trying very hard to slow down and enjoy the real meaning of the season!! Thank you all for checking in I will update on Friday when we hear from the doctor.

Don't forget Nates Giving Tree on www.lunchforlife.org he loves seeing the ornaments on his tree. Every $5 donation is an ornament. His Giving Tree code is 22237

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 1:02 PM CST

Hello everyone,

Just a quick update. Nate is doing "ok". He has lost a couple of pounds and they are a little concerned but we were able to figure out a plan of attack that at this time doesn't include an NG tube. I hope it works. He is going in tommorow for a red cell and most likely platlet transfusion which I hope will bring up his energy level. He just isn't himself these days. We scan next Weds and Thurs keep praying for that Christmas miracle :)

The rest of us are good keeping busy with Christmas activites and of course the kid's activities never seem to stop. Keep checking in and don't forget to donate to Nates Giving Tree at www.lunchforlife.org every $5 is an ornament for his tree. Use his giving code 22237 to double his ornaments.

Friday, December 8, 2006 8:38 PM CST

Hello everyone,

Well one more week of chemo is all done. Nate did not have a good day today. He has been having more and more leg pain and that makes it hard for him to sleep. Also this morning he had a pretty bad episode of nausea and vomitting which until now we have been fortunate to avoid. He is also already showing signs of low counts which means transfusions in our near future.

The rest of us are good we are going to go to downtown Seattle tommorow evening to start some shopping and ride the Christmas carosel at Westlake Center and see the big tree and the Macy's star along with all the other lights. This is a tradition we started a couple of years ago and it really gets the kids (and us) into the holiday spirit.

Speaking of holiday spirit if you are planning on a charitable contribution this season please consider giving to Lunch for Life which is an organization started by parents of NB warriors and all the funds raised go to research for a CURE. They have set up this wonderful system of Giving Trees and each child has one and on Christmas day they have a drawing and one child is picked to go to Disneyworld. Every donation of $5 is an ornament on his tree. The website is www.lunchforlife.org.

Thanks for checking and please stop by the guestbook to let us know.

Wednesday, December 6, 2006 10:07 AM CST

Hello everyone,

Just a quick update to let you all know that Nate was able to start chemo on Mon. his counts were actually really good. Most likely due to the fact that we delayed chemo a week due to the snow. So we finish up Fri and then we have to go in for counts next Mon, Wed, and Fri. Then scans the 20th and 21st. He's is holding up pretty good. He isn't eating very well but we are trying to keep him eating so we don't end up with the NG tube.

Everyone else is good. Mikey and Shelby are getting back into the swing of things after being off school for basically 7 days with conferences and snow days. Kinsey just got a new pair of black boots and thinks she is just the coolest thing on earth (which she is). Please continue to pray that the scans show improvement and that Nate will keep eating. Also continue to pray for Penelope and James as they are both having a difficult time right now. Don't forget to sign the guestbook and let us know that you stopped by.

Thursday, November 30, 2006 4:19 PM CST

Hello all,

Well we have had the wettest month in history in Western Washington. This week it came in the form of snow. We had snow on Monday then again Wednesday and really really cold tempatures. The roads have been a mess and the kids have been home all week.

We were supposed to start chemo on Monday and we couldn't get our cars out of the driveway. The doctor decided to postpone until next week which thrilled Nate beyond words. He will end up with TWO WHOLE weeks away from hospitals and needles. I don't know if postponing was the greatest idea but given the circumstances and the fact that Nate was so happy how could we not go along with the idea. So now we start chemo on Monday and his scans move to the 19th and 20th. Hopefully the results will be an early Christmas present :)

Everyone else is good we have taken advantage of the weather and the kids being home and spent the last few days with our very best friends playing in the snow and playing board games. All of us even sat down to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas together. It was wonderful! (It helps when your best friends live three houses down the street.) Anyway all in all it has been a great week and I was able to take lots of pictures in the snow. If I can ever figure out how to download them onto Nates website I will.

I'll update mre next week when it is back to doctors needles and chemo. Plese continue to pray for our Christmas miracle!!!!

Sunday, November 26, 2006 10:41 PM CST

Hello everyone,

We hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving. We had a lot of fun. THanksgiving was wonderful lots of yummy food and friends and family. We had a great weekend Daddy played in a Dodge Ball Tournament which was very funny to watch and then we had a party with lots of friends it was a fun time. Best of all Nate was feeling great. He has had 7 days with no hospital at all. He has been so happy and overall has looked good. We are supposed to go to the hospital tommorow to start chemo but, THERE IS SNOW in Silverdale. It has been snowing ALL DAY. I don't know if it will be safe to drive the hour and half to Childrens tommorow we will just have to wait and see what the morning brings.

I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and don't forget to sing the guestbook and let us know that you stopped by.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006 10:15 PM CST

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the delay in updates but we've been pretty busy lately. Nate is doing pretty great. His counts are on the way up and we were able to stop the GCSF shots on Monday which made him (and us) very happy. His platlets were still low but we hope they are on the upswing too. His appetite seems to be back which is good. The doctors were starting to worry. We are scheduled to start chemo on Monday as long as his counts are still good.

The rest of us are good. Shelby and Mikey have been on half days because of parent teacher conferences and Kinsey has been home. This has been so great for Nate having his big sister home all day to play and argue with.All of the kids are doing well in school. Mikey is in need of a little push to live up to his potential but all in all we were very pleased. We worry some times about what they are going through and when we hear good things and see them progressing so well it puts are minds at ease.

We are having friends from Eastern Wa and family over for Thanksgiving. It should be a great day. There was a time I wondered exactly what the holidays would hold for us this year and there were even times when I was very scared that we wouldn't all be here. So it makes me very THANKFUL that all of my kids are here and happy and we will all be together. I am so very lucky and I will definately be counting my blessings this year. Please continue to pray that this chemo is working and that Nate continues to do so well on it.

Also remember little Penelope London she is home from the hospital but still not doing great. www.penelopelondon.com

Wednesday, November 15, 2006 11:57 AM CST

Hello everyone,

Nate is having a pretty good week. He is a little tired but overall he seems strong. The doctor had a talk with him on Monday and told him if he didn't start eating that they would have to put an NG tube in his nose. Since then he has been eating like a champ. I'm not sure if it was the thought of the NG tube or that fact that chemo was stopped. Who knows either way I'll take it. He has counts tommorow and then again on Monday and depending on what's happening with them hopefully not again until Friday. We are scheduled to start chemo the Monday after Thanksgiving and then we will scan the week of the 11th of Dec.

The rest of the kids are good. Mikey is trying out for the Jr High basketball team and that's pretty much all he talks about. Shelby's soccer team is playing in a Turkey jamboree this weekend and she is so excited. Kinsey is loving school and is having her first sleepover on Friday. It's actually her first sleepover without her big sister so she is very excited.

Please continue to pray that the chemo and nifurtimox is doing the trick and that Nates disease is responding as we speak. Also please continue to pray for little Penelope London her parents received very difficult news and are trying to figure out the next step. www.penelopelondon.com

Friday, November 10, 2006 2:54 PM CST

Hello everyone,

Well Nate is at the hospital with Daddy getting this cycles last chemo infusion and some red blood cells too. We knew that he would need them but not so soon. Oh well at least this way we don't have to go back in until Monday. Nate also started the nifurtimox (from Vermont) he definately doesn't like to swallow them but I think that he is finally getting used to it. We won't know anything until they scan again which won't be for another month or so. I am praying so hard that this is the magic that we have been waiting for. Nate is so strong but I see him as he gets older trying to wrestle with the unfairness of it all. Before he was so young and he didn't know any better but now it makes him sad and angry when he is too sick or weak to play. Or when he knows he should be eating but he just can't. How do I as his mother explain to him when I don't understand. Going to the hospital daily has been so hard on him he wants to be home playing Power Rangers and video games instead we are constantly on the road or at the hospital. I want so much to make him happy and whole and I don't know how. Please continue to pray that this new combination works and we can start on the road to NED and a "normal" life for my little boy. Also keep Sam Hutchinson www.teamsam.com and Penelope London www.penelopelondon.com in your prayers they are both taking this new combination and hoping for the same things. I will update more later.

Saturday, November 4, 2006 1:21 PM CST

Hello everyone,

Just a quick update to let you all know the results of the latest scans. Dr Park called late last night. There is a little question if there was a partial response or just that it held everything stable. The CT showed that things were a little worse in the legs but the MIBG showed less uptake so all in all Dr Park said that it is holding things stable. Of course we would have liked to hear that things were improved but we'll take stable.

So on Monday he will start the next cycle of the chemo along with the nifurtimox that we picked up from Vermont. Please continue to pray that this is what is needed to rid Nate of this disease once and for all. I will update more next week.

Wednesday, November 1, 2006 6:39 PM CST

Hello everyone,

We went to the clinic for labs today and I am happy to report that everything is on it's way up. Which meant no further tranfusions and that he will most likely start chemo on Monday as planned. (I recently stated that chemo was starting on the 13th but I counted wrong). Nate is doing pretty good. He had his CT today along with the MIBG injection for his scan tommorow. He also had to have a flu shot which I didn't know about and didn't prepare him for. I'm thinking that was better since he only had to dread it for 5 minutes rather than 24 hours. He did ok with it other than hating the whole world for awhile. We will start the nifurtimox (the med from Vermont) along with his chemo on Monday please pray that this is the combination that works and that it will be what we've been praying for.

Halloween was great. It was about 37 degrees outside(not kidding) but the kids and the parents they dragged along braved the frigid temps for a night of fun. Nate did about 10 or 15 houses before Daddy gladly took him to our warm house. The girls stayed out for about an hour and a half with just about every friend they have. We honestly looked like a gang of witches, bunnies, brides, and soccer players. It was great fun and we had a ball. For those of you curious Mikey had decided at the ripe old age of 13 that he is too mature for things like trick or treating an stayed warm with video games while handing out candy.

Thanks for checking in and please continue prayers for Nate also include a little warrior named James Runde he recently relapsed and has started chemo again. I will update on Friday or Saturday with the results of nates scans.

Friday, October 27, 2006 9:56 AM CDT

Hello everyone,

I hope this finds everyone well. I just got back from Vermont last night. I met with Dr Sholler and picked up the meds that Nate will be taking. There isn't a whole lot of reasearch on this medicine only one other child had taken it until recently when to other little warriors with NB started taking it. They are both doing well and hopefully the nifrutimox is contributing to that. This is all very new and I am guardly optimistic. Nate will have scans next Tues and Weds and then we will start the nifurtimox. We will also continue the chemo he's been taking.

Nate had counts done yesterday his crit was 23 and his platlets were 29 both of these were low but not too low. We will go back tommorow since they are anticipating that he will need some type of transfusion. We were hoping to make it to Monday but it doesn't look like will happen. He's doing pretty good he's tired and his legs hurt from the GCSF shots that he has to have every night.

Mike and Mikey had a great time in Miami they saw the everglades and alligators. They also so South Beach and went to the Keys. They had a great time at the Dolphins game and I know they made the sort of memeories that last a lifetime. The girls are good. Going to school and playing soccer. They can't wait for Halloween Kinsey is being Dorothy and Shelby is going to be a spider queen. Mikey isn't sure what hes going as or if hes going. And Nate is going to be Mr Incredible which I think is fitting. Thank you all for checking in please pray that Nate's scans show good things and that this new medicine was worth the trip to Vermont.

Friday, October 20, 2006 11:57 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Well this cycle of chemo is OVER!!!!! Nate was so happy to hear that we wouldn't have to go to the hospital tommorow. It has been a VERY LONG week. But every time I thought of complaining I just thanked the lord that we weren't inpaitent and that we got to go home every night. All in all it was a good week Nate is tired and his appetite isn't the best but it could defiantely be worse.

On to other news I am flying to Vermont next week to meet with Dr Sholler and pick up the medicine (nifurtimox) that I wrote about earlier. Nate will start the medicine when he starts his next cycle of chemo which will be the 13th of Nov. This will give us time to scan (Nov 1st and 2nd) to see where we are at and get a good baseline. This drug seems to be working for the two little warriors that are taking it and hopefully it will be the weapon we have been waiting for. I need to remember to not be to optimistic and still be hopeful. Not an easy line to be on. Please keep us in your prayers and pray that this drug will work and maybe just maybe it could be the miracle that we have all been looking for.

I will update on Monday with Nates counts. Thanks for checking in and keeping us in you thoughts.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006 8:54 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Well Nate started his second cycle of the cyclophosphimide/topetecan yesterday. It seems to be hitting him a little harder this time or maybe it's the back and forth. We are gone 81/2 hrs 4 at the hospital and the rest driving and on the ferry. Usually we end up going straight to a soccer or football game. He's probably just tuckered out I know I am. He will continue this until Friday and then Saturday we get to start the dreaded SHOTS again which SUCKS!!! It amazes me how easily he handles everything what an amazing little man I have.

The other options we are looking into are becoming a reality. We found a doctor in Vermont who is able to give us another drug that helped a paitent she had will NB like Nates. I won't get into to many details but hopefully Nate will take this drug soon and we will all pray that it helps him fight this war. The only catch is that we have to fly to Vermont to get it. Actually only one of us and then we bring it home for Nate to take.

The rest of us are good. We had Mikey and Nates birthday party this last Sat and it was a great day. There was a ton of people here and it was a day with amazing energy and lots of fun. Thanks for checking in and please keep Nate and the rest of us in your prayers.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006 10:32 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Nate's dr appt went well. his platlets along with the rest of his counts were good so there was no transfusion which is good. We also got to stop the GCSF shots since his white count and neutrophil counts are up. He was very happy to hear that. I did speak with Dr Park and we did discuss multiple options. For right now we are sticking with the cyclophosphimide/toptecan and possibly adding a new drug that we are in the middle of trying to get. There is a Dr in Vermont who has some very interesting data on a drug used normally for a disease called Chagas disease. She had a NB patient who was treated with this drug and there was some interesting results. We aren't sure of anything yet but we will keep you all posted. We just want to make sure that we have persued every avenue and that we gave it our all.

Nate is now a baldy again. His hair started really falling out today so Mike and I decided to shave his noggin and he actually looks very cute. He still has stubbly hairs left but I'm sure it won't be long until they fall out. I guess I better start buying some warm winter hats now. We are celebrating Mikey and Nates birthdays this Sat. They are having an Incredibles birthday which Mikey who is turning 13 is very excited about. There is no end to what he will endure for his little brother. I will let you all know how it goes.

Nate starts chemo on Monday and will do 5 days. Please pray that the chemo is working and that our other options become more clear in the next few days. Pray for wisdom for both Mike and I and the doctors to choose the best course of action. Also please keep a little boy named James Chandler Runde in your prayers he is having a difficult time right now and he could use your support. Thanks for checking in.

Saturday, October 7, 2006 6:20 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Well Nate did end up needing a blood transfusion on Friday and it was amazing how pale he really was. It hit me when I watched the pink come back in his cheeks. We were there about 4 hours total. My mom (Ganny) came with us and Nate loved having her there to play with. We have to go back on Monday because his platlets were running low and they think he may end up needing a transfusion of those.

We are still waiting to hear about those other options I wrote about and when I have more information I will let you all know. We meet with Dr Park on Wednesday and hopefully we will have some news to share.

The rest of the kids are good. Mikey played quarterback for his Jr High football team. They ended up losing by 2 but he did great. Both Shelby and Kinsey's soccer teams are undefeated right now and they both are having a blast. The normal things mean so much right now and I love feeling if only for an hour or so that everything might end up ok and that we are all going to make it.

Please continue to pray that Nate's chemo is keeping the beast at bay and that the doctors that are talking about his case right now are able to pull a miracle together for him. Also throw another prayer in there for the rest of my kids they get up everyday and face the day with grace and dignity and a strength that even I envy. They are heartbroken yet they still keep going and celebrating their lives and their brother and I am eternally grateful that I get to be their mom.

Tuesday, October 3, 2006 6:05 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Nate went to clinic today and his counts weren't great but expected. His HCT was 23 which isn't great it should really be around 30. They don't tranfuse until it's 20 so they did the cross match and we signed consent forms and then we go back Friday when they expect he'll need a tranfusion. His platlets weren't great either but they aren't sure if he will need a transfusion of those. He is really tired but other than that ok. He reecieved his first GCSF shot last night. He wasn't happy about it but he handled it well. Mommy felt guilty so I went and bought him the Mr Incredible coustume he's been wanting. He looks so ADORABLE I guess I should say tough.

We have some feelers out to other doctors and there are some new things we may be able to try. There is still HOPE and that's enough for now. Thanks for checking in and please continue to pray for Nate and for Mike and I to make the right decision for him.

Monday, October 2, 2006 10:37 AM CDT

Hello everyone,

Nate has finished his first cycle of cyclophosphimide/topetecan. He is doing pretty good all things considered. His appetite isn't the greatest but he is eating. So far no vommitting (knock on wood). They expect his counts to go to 0 which means he will be very tired and could end up inpatient with a fever. Please pray that he doesn't it does him and the rest of the kids good tohave him at home. He will be losing that beautiful red hair which will break my heart. In the scheme of things thought its nothing. he was a great looking baldy.

We have decided to try and contact Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center in New York. They have NB protocols there that they don't offer anywhere else. We have always considered going there but we had options just as good close to home. Well it seems like those options have run out. So we are going to try and get a consult there and see if they can offer us something. We are still doing the cyclo/topo and may evenstill to the PZA I'm not sure. I will keep you all updated.

Thank you all for checking in and keeping us in your prayers. Please pray that Nates counts recover quickly and without and admissions. Also we start the GCSF shots tonight pray that that goes well.

Friday, September 29, 2006 1:23 AM CDT

Hello everyone,

Just a quick update. Nate has had two days of the new chemo (cyclophosphimide/toptecan) and so far so good. He has little side effects (knock wood) but it's still early. They expect his counts to go very low and that always comes with it's own set of problems. Everyone else is ok we are all just trying to keep going and live one day at a time.

We had a blast in Disneyworld. I think it was exactly what we all needed. I told Mike we need to just move there. He said the commute was too long.

Please continue to pray that the new plan works and that Nate continues to feel well. The doctor did tell us on Wednesday that if this dosen't work then we have to talk about hospice and keeping him comfortable. i am pretty much in denial so let's just pray this works. Thanks for checking in.

Thursday, September 21, 2006 5:56 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

This is a difficult entry to write. The doctor called this morning and the scan results aren't good. There has been what she calls a massive progression. He now has lesions on both of his arms and his skull. The lesions on his legs are worse and the one in the hip is the same. He also has lymph node involvement in the pelvis and abdomen. We are devastated.

We are starting high dose chemo on Wednesday in hopes of doing a new study using PZA and a stem cell rescue. So being the family that we are we immediately got on the computer and we are leaving for DISNEYWORLD tonight!!!!! We have a flight out at 11:00 and we will return Tuesday evening. Please pray for our little warrior. The road ahead is going to be difficult but I know that with his family behind him we will beat this!!!!! I will update when we return.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006 11:42 AM CDT

Hello everyone,

Just a quick prayer request. Mike and Nate just left for his CT scan and Nuclear scan injection. He will have the MIBG scan tommorow. Please pray that we have been able to keep the beast at bay and that the chome/radation did the trick. Unfortuanetly we are a little worried since Nate has been complaining of abdominal pain the last few days. His first tumor was in his abdomen. I will update as soon as we hear any results. Thank you for checking in.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006 9:54 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Well Nate's chemo went off without a hitch today. His counts were low but ok which is actually better than expected. He also gained a little bit of weight whcih is great to hear. He has had a pretty good week he is getting used toe veryone going back to school and Daddy going to work more. He wakes up pretty late these days so usaully Kinsey is home within an hour or so.

Everyone else is good we are all pretty busy with soccer and football not to mention school. Kinsey and I leave for Disneyland tommorow morning in honor of our birthdays (Sept 17 & 20). Kinsey is so little and I know that she understands some of what's going on but she still seems to get the short end of the stick alot so Daddy and I thought that this tripp would be a great reminder to her how special she is. Plus Mommy gets to go to Disneyland so it sounded great to me.

Thanks for checking in. We scan next week please pray that the chemo and radiation is working and that this disease is being help at bay.

Please also pray for a warrior I have told you about before. Christi Thomas is having a very difficult time and her family is facing some very tough decisions. You can read about Christi at christithomas.com

Thursday, September 7, 2006 9:22 AM CDT

Hello everyone,

This update will be quick since I have to get the girls on the bus for school. Nate had his chemo yesterday. his counts weren't great but they were ok. Most of the day he was fine but he did end up getting sick last night and his appetite wasn't very good. Hopefully today will be better. He lost about a pound but the doctors aren't to concerned yet. We just need to keep "encouraging" him to eat. He goes back next Tues to get his chemo and see the doctor.

The rest of us are good. We are all trying to get back into the swing of the morning school schedule and then getting home and going right to practice and then homework and we have to try to do dinner in there somewhere. Kinsey's first day went very well. I was there to put her on the bus and Daddy was home to greet her when she got off. They even went to a special lunch to celebrate. Thanks for checking in and please continue to keep Nate in your prayers. Also Christi Thomas an amazing young lady is having a very difficult time right now and her family could use your prayers. www.christithomas.com

Monday, September 4, 2006 10:08 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Well everything has been pretty good. Nate is doing ok. He still has pain throughout the day but not as bad as it had been. His chemo last week went well little to no side effects (knock wood). He isn't eating great but hopefully that will change and we won't have to visit the idea of the NG tube. Actually reasoning with him and telling him that if he doesn't eat that he ma have to get one makes him eat a little more. We try not to use it as a "threat" but it does make him eat a little more. He has chemo on Wednesday if his counts are good but I'm not sure they will be.

The rest of the kids are great. They start school tommorow and they all seem excited, especially Kinsey who will start Kindergarten and get to ride the school bus with her sister. Thank you all for checking in and please keep Nate and all of us in your prayers.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006 1:02 AM CDT

Helo everyone,

As promised I am updating alot sooner. Nate is doing pretty well all things considering. We had a busy weekend filled with soccer(of course)and friends. His pain seemed a little better which was good. We aren't sure if thats the pain meds or radiation/chemo working. Either way we'll take it. Tommorow is his last day of radiation and we are all very happy about that. He had his chemo today and everything went well. Dr Park was pleased with the way that he looked and said that we don't have to see her again until next Tues, which means that we get 7 whole days without Dr appointments.

Everyone else is good. School starts next week and the kids (and mom) can't wait. Thank you all for checking. Please keep Nate and all the other NB warriors in your prayers.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006 11:46 AM CDT

Hello everyone,

Sorry about the lack of updates. There hasn't been any good news to report. Nate had an allergic reaction to the methadone so they decided to put him on oxycotin with oxcodone for breakthrough pain. That didn't work he was needing to much and it still wasn't keeping his pain in check. Now he is on a Fentanal Patch and oxycodone. It seems to be helping but he's having alot of difficulty walking still. They did a CT to make sure there wasn't anything new that could be causing the pain and the tumor on his hip is worse and makes it so that his hip doesn't work right which is why the most painful steps for him are when he first stands and starts to walk. Once he takes a couple of steps he's ok.

He is still doing the radiation for the rest of this week and Mon and Tues of next week. He didn't start this weeks chemo yesterday because his counts were too low. So we will check them Thurs and do chemo on Monday again. They have decided to do scans the week of Sept 17th and depending on what they show either continue with this treatment or change to a new chemo. We have all been pretty down we stay busy with all of the kids activities but even the kids are down. It is so hard to watch him try to play and be in pain. He does play through mcuh of the time which is inspirational in itself. I tell the kids (and myself) that we can't stop living Nate isn't. Thank you all for checking in and I promise that I will try to update more. Please pray that the doctors will keep Nates pain in check and that the radiation and chemo is working.

Monday, August 7, 2006 7:23 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Sorry about the lack of updates I know that you are all concerned about Nate. The news since my last update hasn't been great. He started having pretty consistent pain on Weds that got worse on Thurs. By Friday he wasn't able to walk without wincing and crying. We took him to Childrens and they ended up putting him on round the clock Methadone and Oxycodone for breakthrough pain. They also started his chemo Fri instead of Mon in hopes that it would start working. We also start radiation on Weds which should help.

The weekend went ok. He was a little sleepy at first but not in near as much pain. By Sunday he was actually able to play and today is even better. So now that we have his pain "managed" we can focus on fighting this monster. So far he has had no visible side effects from the chemo (knock on wood). He is due for his next treatment on Friday unless they decide to go back to a Monday schedule which would be fine with us. Either way I will update next week and let you all know how he's doing unless something drastic happens.

The rest of the kids are handling things ok. Shelby had soccer and Mikey starts football this week and Kinsey is trying to keep up with everyone's schedule. Thanks for checking in and please keep Nate in prayers and help the doctors keep his pain under control.

Wednesday, August 2, 2006 3:20 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to give everyone an update. Nate is doing ok since his stressful time in the hospital. He sure gave us a scare, but in true Nathan style he recovered quickly and kept the ICU nurses on their toes. Since returning home he is having more and more difficulty walking. This morning was the worst. He is limping alot and asked for medicine which is a sure sign that he is hurting since he hates to take medicine. Fortunately the medicine is effective and he seems to be more confortable.

Well we had our meeting with Dr Julie (Nate calls her that) and we have a plan. She presented us with some options most of which were Phase 1 clinical trials and we decided that we weren't there yet since the ones she showed us are pretty new and there isn't a whole lot of data about how effective they are. So we have decided to go off study. We have chosen a chemotherapy called Navelbene which hasn't been used alot in Nueroblastoma but in labs has showed some promise. We are also adding radiation for the tumors in his legs. The hope is that the radiation will shrink the tumor and his pain will decrease and become more tolerable. We meet with the radiation doctor tommorow and will most likely start next week. The chemo is given outpaitent in the clinic with a 10 min infusion once a week for three weeks. I'm not sure how much radiation they will give him but Dr Julie thought it would be 21 days. Either way we have a very busy month ahead of us. Please keep Nate in your prayers, it has been a long time since he has been on chemo like this and I hope the side effects aren't too bad. Most of all pray that this treatment plan will be effective.

The rest of the kids are good. We have been spending lots of family time together playing games and watching movies. We are also blessed to have lots of close friends and family to spend time with and make the days a little brighter. As always thank you for checking in and keeping us in thoughts and prayers. Please also remember the rest of the little warriors fighting this beast.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006 11:20 PM CDT

Just a quick update about the new antibody treatment. Nathan had his infusion yesterday. At first things weren't as bad as we expected. He had a little pain and needed morphine and a little benedryl for the itching. After the infusion ended however the problems started. His blood pressure fell very low and they ended up moving him to the ICU. He was on dopamine until just a couple of hours ago and now everything seems stable. Unfortunately they have decided not to continue the treatment. The reaction he had was pretty severe and they don't want to take the chance of it or something worse happening. So we meet with Dr Park tommorow to discuss our next treatment. Hopefully Nate will be at a place where they can let him go home since tommorow is his daddy's birthday. Thank you all for checking in and please pray for guidance while the doctors and Mike and I decide our next step.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006 11:32 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Well we are back. We had a BLAST at Disneyworld!!!!!!The kids all had so much fun (Mom and Dad too). The man who sold us our Disney Vacation Club Timeshare knew about Nathan and they had set up so much wonderful things for us. The kids recevied a Mickey bag full of things and then we got to our room and there was balloons and signed pictures and a new PAL Mickey. They also arranged VIP Seating for the FIreworks and Parades at all the parks and best of all a front of the line pass. That definately made things easier. It was a wonderful time full of so many great memories.

The drive was pretty great too. The kids were wonderful and enjoyed the scenery. We were able to stop at Mount Rushmore and the Dakota Badlands and Devil's tower in Wyoming. It was defiantly worth the time in the car.

Well back to reality. Nate had a CT scan, Xray, and EKG/Echo yesterday and Bone Marrow biopsy today. Everything came back stable and we are set for the new study starting Monday. Nate should be in the hospital for 4/5 days. I will email as soon as I can with updates and please keep him in your prayers that not only does the treatment work but that it isn't too hard on his little body.

Monday, July 3, 2006 8:48 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Well we leave for Disneyworld in two days. The kids are very excited even though we have decided to drive. Nate had a little check up at the doctor today and she told him to have a great time. I will update when we get back and if I can figure out the computer I will post pictures. Please pray that Nate will have a blast and that he won't experience any pain while were gone.

Thursday, June 29, 2006 10:20 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Well Nate has had a busy week. we had an appointment Monday and scans on Tues, Weds, and Thurs. Unfortunately there has been no response to the chemo. The spot in his right hip is more prominent and the spot in the right knee is also and now there is a spot on his left knee. So we stopped the chemo today and scheduled the tests needed for the next treatment. We are going to do the hu14.18 antibody study. In very basic terms it is a new non chemo approach. It is supposed to be pretty intense with pain, fevers, hives and blood pressure and fluid problems. He will be inpatient for 4 days when he will get an infusion over 4 hours. They say that after the 4 days life goes back to "normal" with little to no side effects. We chose this because it is a treatment that Nates body has never "seen" before. Please pray that there will be a response and that the side effects will be tolerable.

We are still going to Disneyworld a week of FUN is definantly in order. We have decided to drive so we will be gone a total of 13 days. We will return to Drs. appointments and tests with treatment starting on the 24th of July. Thank you for checking in.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006 9:36 AM CDT

Hello everyone,

Nate had his weekly doctors appointment yesterday and everything looked good. His counts were better than expected and the doctor seemed pleased with everything. He is scheduled to have scans at the end of next week to see how the tumors are respondling to the new chemo. Please pray that the treatment is working and keeping the disease stable. He has been doing pretty good his appetite is down and he gets tired easier but other than that he is great.

We have decided to go to DISNEYWORLD on July 9th. We were going to go in September but when Nate started to have pretty regular leg pain we moved the date up. We want to go when he is feeling good and can enjoy himself. We have been to Disneyland alot but never Disneyworld and the kids are so excited. It should be a great trip.

We are off to Oregon the next two weekends for soccer tournaments for Shelby. It should be lots of fun she has gotten pretty close with her team and we all are staying at the same hotel. The kids are all doing good Mikey and Shelby get out of school tommorow and Kinsey and Nate can't wait until they are home all day. As always thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Please say an extra prayer for scans next week and I will post as soon as we hear anything.

Monday, June 12, 2006 10:40 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Just a quick update. Nate is on his 5th day of the new chemo and so far so good. He tolerated the infusion of Zometa great. It took just about 20mins and it was a breeze. He takes the oral cyclophosphimide easily enough and has had little side effects (knock on wood). He experienced a little fever and some pain this weekend. We aren't sure if it was from the zometa or from the tumor either way he seems to be handling it ok now. The doctor today said that we will just keep eye on it.

We had friends in town this weekend and just hung-out. It was a great time and the kids had a blast. Mikey is almost done with baseball and both him and Shelby are almost out of school. I actually can't wait to have them home all day. Thank you all for checking in on Nate and keeping him in your thoughts and prayers. Don't forget to sign the guestbook and let us know you stopped by.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 6:20 PM CDT

Hello everyone:

Just a quick update. So far everything is in order to start the new treatment next Wednesday. Today Nate had surgery to replace his central line. It took a little longer than normal because of all the scar tissue from previous surgeries and he's pretty sore but all in all it was a good day. I hate seeing him in pain but I know in the long run this new line should make life easier.

Everyone else is good. Shelby had her first summer soccer tournament this weekend. It was a local tournament and her team did pretty good. She had a great time. Mikey and Kinsey both have one more game of baseball and then they are done for the season. I am looking forward to a little relaxation after school instead of constantly running from one activity to another. Thanks for checking in and please keep Nate in your prayers as he starts this new chemo.

Thursday, May 25, 2006 10:07 AM CDT

Hello everyone:

Well we have met with all the doctors and were presented with a few options. We have decided to do antoher NANT (New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy) study. This study uses Zometa and Cyclophosphimde. Zometa in theory should stop destruction of the bone from the tumor which should stop it's growth and then the cyclophosphimide should attack and HOPEFULLY eliminate the tumor. Honestly the chances of this therapy actually ridding his body of disease is very minimal. Unfortunately so are all the other options we were given. With this study he is outpatient barring any infections and it is relatively easy on his body. It shouldn't drop his counts too much and I have been told that there is little to no side effects. Best of all for us the family can stay together. We will continue to treat at Childrens Hospital in Seattle with Dr Park who is just amazing and Nate loves her. Yesterday I was pretty discouraged I was really hoping the doctors had a magic bullet but there isn't one in the world of relapsed Neuroblastoma. I already knew this of course, but I was still hoping. I HATE this disease and what it has done to Nate and my other kids. I do have to remember that it has taught them all about compassion and living life to the fullest in a way I never could. I just wish the lesson didn't come at such a high cost. As always thanks for checking in on us. Please pray that this new study is effective and that Nate tolerates it well. While your at it you could pray for some peace for Mikey, Shelby and Kinsey. Thank you for all the encouraging guestbook posts we appreciate it more than you can know.

Friday, May 19, 2006 10:08 AM CDT

Hello everyone:

Well we have had a busy week. Daddy decided to suprise me and the kids with an awesome Mother's Day present, a trip to Disneyland!!!! We left last Friday and returned on Tuesday in time for Nate's scans. It was great the kids had a blast. Nate was able to ride alot more rides this time because he is finally 40 inches. It was neat to see Mikey seeing all the rides through Nate's eyes it was almost like he was experiencing them for the first time. Needless to say Dad has been the hero for the last week.

Now on to reality. We receieved the results form Nates latest scans. The MIBG which is the nuclear medicine scan that lights up when there is neuroblastoma showed that the spot that was in his right hip is brighter (larger) and that there is a new spot on his left leg above the knee. This is of course not what we wanted to hear. It is prgression of the disease and that the chemo he is on is no longer working. We will have to switch to something else and unfortunately I think it will probably be something that isn't as low dose. Which will probably mean more hospitals and appointments. I am trying to be positive but I am so ANGRY right now. He is doing so well on the outside you wouldn't be able to guess that his little body is waging this war on a daily basis. I don't know how much more he can take. He is such a strong little guy but there has to be a limit. I guess I'm just discouraged right now.

We meet with the doctors on Monday to discuss our next step and I will let you all know what comes next. Thanks for checking in and please pray for us and Nate.

Monday, May 8, 2006 2:42 PM CDT

Hello everyone,

Nate's doctor appointment today went very well. We were a little concerned because he has been so congested and has developed a cough but they think it is just allergies. He has had problems with allergies in the past so I am sure that is what it is. His counts were low but not too low so he started his second week of chemo on schedule. We are getting a little anxious with scans next week. It is always hard as they get closer. Nate has been full of energy and busy watching his brother and sisters play baseball and soccer. He loves being outside and the weather here has been beautiful which is always a plus. I probably won't post again until we get the results of his scans (in two weeks) unless something comes up. Thanks for checking in and keeping us all in your thoughts. Please pray that the scans hold good news.

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 10:34 PM CDT

Hello everybody:

Well sorry for the lack of updates. Everything here is good. Nates has started his 8th cycle of chemo and so far so good. His counts were pretty strong to start and he is doing great swallowing the pills which makes it much easier. His scans are scheduled for the 16th and 17th of May. Dr Park will be out of town so we won't get results until the next Monday (22nd). We are of course hoping to hear that it is gone or at least that it has shrunk. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that week.

The rest of us are good still very busy but happily so. Thanks for checking in and as alway sthanks for keeping us in your thoughts.

Friday, April 28, 2006 3:14 PM CDT

Hi everyone:

Sorry for the lack of updates. We have been so busy I never seem to have any time. In fact right now I should be cleaning my house. Anyway all is well. Nate is still doing great he is a little tired lately but were keeping him pretty busy. I will post more later when I have time.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006 12:00 AM CDT

I hope that everyone had a Happy Easter. We had a great time. The kids were so excited all day (maybe it was the sugar high). We went over to Auntie Ketti's house and spent the day with family.

Nates appointment yesterday went well. His counts were low but not too low so he is doing his second week of chemo for this cycle. He is scheduled to do scans the third week of May. I am getting pretty anxious this is the longest we have gone without scans since he relapsed in Nov. I will be very curious to see exactly how the lesion is responding. He hasn't had any episodes of pain and his energy level has been great. I am just praying that we will hear that everything is gone and once again he is NED (no evidence of disease).

Everyone else is good. Mikey is very busy with school, track and baseball, but I think that he loves every minute of it. Shelby is still doing soccer I think she's a little obsessed. Kinsey is really liking tee-ball and it looks like she may join the same soccer club that Shelby's in. All in all we are great and enjoying what has become the new "normal" for us. There really are days that we sort of forget the war that we are all fighting. Those are the good days. Thanks for checking in and keeping us in your thoughts. Don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006 5:57 PM CDT

Happy Easter everyone!!

Nate is doing great. He started his chemo on Monday as planned and so far so good. He is now swallowing his temozolimide like a pro, so no more of mixing it in applesauce. I doubt that he will ever want to eat applesauce again. He still hates taking the ironotecan but he does it. We are actually pretty lucky with the way he takes his meds as long as he knows he has to he just does it. He is maintaing his weight and has tons of energy. We are so BLESSED.

Everyone else is good. The kids had spring break last week and we had friends in town. It was a great week but very tiring. We are still taking the kids to all their various activities and enjoying every minute of it.

Thank you all so much for checking in on us and keeping Nate in your prayers. You can never know what it means to us. Don't forget to sign the guestbook to let us know you stopped by.

Wednesday, April 5, 2006 0:24 AM CDT

Hello everyone:

Nate is still doing great. His counts were wonderful yesterday so we don't need to go back in on Friday and will start the 7th cycle of chemo on Monday as planned. BEST OF ALL NO SHOTS!!!!!!!!!!!This is huge becuase it really was awful. I know in the big scheme of things it probably doesn't seem huge but I hated seeing him so scared, anyway none for now. If you had asked me in November if we would be starting the 7th cycle of chemo with an excellent quality of life and little to no side effects I wouldn't have believed you. We have been so blessed and even though it is still a struggle and I still have days where I wonder what will happen next I am so thankful for every good day and so very blessed to have this beautiful gift that is my little man. (and the other 3 gifts I am so lucky to have in my life everyday). I guess what I'm saying is enjoy good day and be thankful for all your little gifts. Please remember all the warriors fighting this beast and especially those who have lost the battle.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 10:21 AM CST

Hello everyone:
******The world has lost another NB warrior today Nick Snow an amazing young man has gained his wings. Please include his family in your prayers.***
Nate's most recent doctor's appointment went great. His counts were good so they started the next phase of this cycle of chemo. He is doing wonderful running around driving all of us crazy which is as it should be. He has another appointment on Friday. Please pray that his counts stay high enough that we don't have to do the dreaded SHOTS!

Everyone else is good Shebly and Mikey are busy with school and sports. Kinsey has started READING and thinks she is just about the coolest person on the planet.

Please also keep Mike's mom Joyce in you thoughts and prayers, she is going through open heart surgery today and has a long recovery in front of her. Thanks for checking in and keeping us in your thoughts.

Monday, March 20, 2006 9:08 PM CST

Hi Everyone:

I just wanted to send out a quick update. Nate had his doctor's appt. this morning and everything is good. His counts were up and he was able to start the 6th cycle of chemo. It was an absolutely beautiful day in Seattle so we had an impromptu picnic at the park. The girls were both with us and it was wonderful. Nate is doing great eating and playing and just driving us all crazy, which is as it should be.

Everyone else is good. Mikey and Kinsey have started baseball and Nate keeps asking when it is his turn. Shelby is still playing soccer and loving every minute of it (well almost every minute). Mike and I are of course acting as chauffers, first aid, and all around errand people. We wouldn't have it any other way!! :)

Thanks for checking in and as always for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Monday, March 13, 2006 3:19 PM CST

Hello everyone:

Nates Dr appointment went well. His ANC is 17,000 way over the 2000 minimum they wanted to stop the shots so happily NO MORE SHOTS for now!!!!! He handled the two he had to have this weekend like a tropper I was very proud of him. In the end I think it was harder on Daddy and I then him (I bet he would argue that). He has an appointment on Fri to double check counts and then Monday we go to Seattle to start the 6th cycle of chemo. I am so pleased with the way things have been responding and grateful that he is able to do this "low-dose" option rather than having to deal with all the side effects of the "high-dose" chemo. Please pray that it continues to work and maybe just maybe we can beat this and hear No Evidence Of Disease again:)

Kinsey and Shelby are both down with some type of yucky bug today. I know that there has been some sort of stomach thing going around at Shelby's school so I'm pretty sure that's what we have going on. Kinsey has a pretty bad cold which she probably caught from her Daddy. Mikey is great he can't wait to start baseball.

Thanks for checking on us and keeping us in your thoughts. I will post Friday and let you all know how the Dr's appointment goes.

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 12:10 AM CST

Nates Dr's appointment went well. His counts are dropping but still hanging in there. He has a pretty bad cold and cough and he's pretty tired but all in all he's well. They are still set on doing the shots starting Sat. I think after the first one maybe we'll take him to a movie or something. I don't want to start a trend or anything but I already feel bad and it's 5 days away.

We had a great weekend the friends I wrote about were here and it was wonderful. It's been a long time but it was like we had been together last week. The kids had a blast and it was great to have my best friend back to talk to.

Nates free until next Monday when we go into do counts. I will post after his shot to tell you all what a trooper he was. Thanks for checking in. Please pray that his counts recover fast and that this chemo is still beating the beast.

Friday, March 3, 2006 2:10 PM CST

We have had a wonderful week. Nate sailed through this first week of chemo and now gets two days off. It seemed a little more difficult to get down this time but we started giving him the anti-nausea pill again and that seemed to do the trick. The little scrape on his face is slowly getting better. He is eating a little less but hopefully he'll make up for it this weekend.

The rest of us are good. The friend I wrote about recently whom I hadn't spoken to in along time is coming over this weekend and everyone is very excited. She's bringing the family and we can't wait to see them all. We are looking forward to a busy weekend with family and friends. NORMAL is wonderful. I'll post after Nates doctors appointment on Monday. Thank you for checking on us and keeping Nate and the family in your prayers.

Monday, February 27, 2006 3:43 PM CST

Hi everyone I hope that your weekend was good. Well thanks to everyone who prayed for Nates counts to come up IT WORKED. Nate started his 5th cycle of irnotecan/temazolimide today and so far so good. He did end up vomitting but not right away so we're not sure if that's the chemo or something else. We will start giving him some anti-nausea meds before just in case. They have decided since his counts dropped so much this time that with this cycle we have to do the GCSF. That is the shot I wrote about earlier. Anyway the plan is to start giving him one shot a day right after his last day of chemo to boost his white blood cells so we won't have to delay again. This means at least 3 shots and I am not at all looking foward to telling him. Giving those shots is by far one of the worst things that we have had to do but I guess its necessary. On to happier things Nate has been great. He has tons of energy, eats like a horse, and loves to annoy his sisters. He had a small accident this weekend and fell face first onto the sidewalk and now has a huge scrape down the middle of his face. He was racing Dad and tripped over his own two feet. He then went into his brothers baseball tryouts and promptly got hit in the face with a ball. Luckily since the tryouts were inside it was a softball but it still hurt really bad. Needless to say Nate got to pick where to go for lunch. The rest of us are good. Mikey and Kinsey can't wait for baseball to start and Shelby is still obsessed with soccer, as is her mother. Well I will update later with how Nate is tolerating the chemo and his sisters. Thank you for checking in and please continue to pray that the chemo is working and that his counts recover very quickly so we can keep the shots at a minimum.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006 11:22 PM CST

Hey everyone. Well Nate wasn't able to start chemo once again. His counts were too low. They decided not to do the shots I wrote about last time becuase he is starting to come up on his own. The plan now is to wait and start Monday if his counts will let us. I worry that he is going so long between cycles but what can you do? He is still feeling really good which is the most important thing. I am just so scared of this awful disease because one day your great and honestly the next day it just takes over. It is a reality that we have to live with everyday and it is harder some days then others and I guess this is one of those days when it just STINKS.
The rest of us are good. I am still on my journey to find my faith and I think that god may have answered me this week. I received an email from a very good friend that I haven't spoken with in five years. I think he may have brought her back to help me deal with all of this. Anyway enough of my inner drama. Thanks for checking in and keep praying that Nate will get those counts up so we can start attacking this beast again. Don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006 4:36 PM CST

Hi all. We are all doing well. Nate is still on his IV antibiotics and is doing ok with that. He wasn't able to start the 5th cycle of chemo becuase his counts are too low. They aren't sure if they are low because of the chemo or if it is because of the antibiotics. We are going to do counts on Tues and then decide if we are staring chemo then or if he has to start the GCSF which boosts production of the white blood cells. Nate hates this because it is given in a shot nightly and it HURTS. I hate it because I have to give it to him. I am just hoping that the low counts is antibiotic related and not chemo related because then his counts should be fine when we stop the antibiotic on Saturday. Otherwise he is doing great. He is growing so fast its amazing most days you wouldn't even know he was sick.

The rest of us are good. Mikey is playing basketball and trying to survive 7th grade and the drama that, that entails. Shelby is still playing soccer and loving school. Kinsey is growing up way too fast she was so excited for her first school valentines day party, she had lots of fun. Mike and I are busy playing taxi and watching all their activities which is our favorite thing in the world. Thank you all for checking in and please continue to pray that this chemo will keep working and that his counts will recover on Tues so we don't have to do the dreaded SHOTS!!! I will post on Tues with and update.

Friday, February 10, 2006 11:31 PM CST

Hello everyone. Well we have had an interesting couple of days. Nate had his scans on Tues, Weds, and Thurs as planned but we got to have an overnight stay on Thurs which was most definately not planned. As most of you know Nate has recently had a line infection, well they did a blood culture on Tues to make sure that it was gone and guess what on Thurs it grew which meant that it either wasn't gone or a new one was forming. At any rate it got us a stay in the luxurious 4th floor of beautiful Madigan Army Medical Center. To make a long story short we are home and again on IV antibiotics three times a day. Hopefully this will take care of it once and for all. On to the next thing, his scan results. I am happy to report that once again it looks like we are holding the beast at bay. Everything is STABLE which I explained last time is the best we can get at this point. So that means we start the next cylce of chemo on Monday. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts. I am finding that I am getting back to God in all of this and that my faith is strengthed a little everyday. Especially when I look in the eyes of my children and see how they are handling this tragedy on a day to day basis and the strength and dignity with which they do it. Keeping checking in and please keep praying that somehow we beat this monster once and for all.

Monday, February 6, 2006 10:21 AM CST

Hello all Just a quick request. Please pray that Nates scans show that this chemo is working or at least holding the disease stable. We just found out that the study we have been planning in the event that this stops working has been suspended. Which means our only option is high dose chemo which means hospital stays, fevers, and the yucky side effects. It just so much harder for the kids and Nate. Anyway I have been praying alot which I know that some of you know is new for me. Please add yours to mine and hopefully we can delay this again.

Sunday, January 29, 2006 11:59 PM CST

**********PLEASE PRAY FOR ANOTHER LITTLE SUPERHERO IN THE NB WORLD. CHRISTI THOMAS. HER DISEASE IS PROGRESSING VERY RAPIDLY AND HER PARENTS ARE VERY SCARED. WWW.CHRISTITHOMAS.COM*****Quick post. Shelby and I returned from a wonderful trip in Disneyland to find our little superhero in the hospital. nate was admitted Saturday for a line infection. They still aren't sure exactly what the bacteria is and are currently giving him strong IV antibiotics. He is doing great it doesn't even look like he's sick. He plays videogames and watches movies all day. I will post more when I have more time. Thank you all for checking in please pray that this infection will soon pass and that Nate will be home soon.****************Update Nate is home he is doing the rest of his antibiotics at home. They still haven't figured out exactly what bacteria it was but he is doing great. On to the next thing Nates scans have been scheduled for Tues, Weds, and Thurs of next week. They are going to do them at madigan so we should have something to report late Thurs or early Fri. I will update then unless something else comes up. Please pray that the scans will show improvement or at least that it is holding the disease stable. Until Fri...

Wednesday, January 25, 2006 0:14 AM CST

Hey everyone hope that you are all doing well. We had a good weekend Shelby had soccer and we of course watched the football games. Nate had his doctors appointment in Seattle yesterday and started his 4th cycle of the ironotecan/temozolimde. He is still doing great with very little side effects (knock wood). His counts were good and all in all they were pleased. He has started to complain about some backaches which is a little worrisome. When he first relapsed before the scans he was complaining about back pain and when they realized he had tumor on the hip it maybe explained it since a child this young can't distinguish between hip and back. Anyway hopefully it's nothing and when we scan the week of Feb 6th it will show that this chemo is still holding him stable. The rest of us are good. Shelby and I leave for our trip on Thursday and we can't wait. Mikey is doing well he has his first basketball game tommorow night. Kinsey started to spell simple words today at school and came home to try and teach Nate. Nate had a very good day at speech and the teacher said that he is doing great. Thanks for checking in and if you have a moment remember Nate in your prayers come scan time. Don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:58 PM CST

Hey everyone. Just a quick update. Nate had his weekly doctors visit today and everything went well. They are still so impressed with how well hes handling everything (knock wood). He is going to Seattle to see Dr Park on Monday and will start the 4th cycle of chemo. He had an audiology(hearing) appointment and he has profound, serious high frequency hearing loss. They say that this shouldn't affect him too bad other that when he is somewhere where there is alot of background noise (like a house with 6 people in it) that he won't be able to hear as well. Hearing aids don't help with this type of loss and we not sure how much he will be affected. Chemo the gift that keeps giving. I guess I shouldn't say that since it saved his life. It's hard that he keeps having these obstacles that he has to overcome in his life. Anyway everyone else is good Mikey has started basketball and Shelby is still doing soccer. Kinsey is doing great in school I think that she'll be reading soon. Mike and I are good we celebrated or 15th anniversary on DEC 28th. I can't believe I've been married almost half my life. I wouldn't have it any other way. Shelby and I will be going to disneyland on the 26th and staying for 3 days. I think it will do her good to get away and have things focused on her alone for awhile. Nates illness has been very hard on her. Anyway it will be fun and believe it or not the rest of the kids are looking foward to time alone with Dad. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Monday, January 9, 2006 6:51 PM CST

Hey everyone. Hope that the new year is going good for you so far. Nate has started his third cycle of chemo and is so far doing really well. He had his weekly doctors appointment today and everything was good. His counts were a little low but nothing to worry about. The plan is to finish this cycle then do the fourth and then scan. That should put us at about the first week of Feb. Everything else is good. Shelby had two birthday parties one for family and one for friends. They all had a really good time. I can't believe she is nine years old they are all growing up so fast. Mike and I are good we are still trying to figure out where to put all the christmas presents and have finally started putting all the decorations away. Thank you all for checking in and make sure to sign the guestbook so we know that you were here.

Thursday, December 29, 2005 5:36 PM CST

Hey there everyone. We hope that all is well and that everyone is enjoying what is left of the holiday season. Well Nate had his scans over the last two days. We just heard from the doctor and her words were everything looked very STABLE. Believe or not this is just about the best news we could get. In short it means that nothing new is there and what was there isn't any worse. Of course we would have loved to hear that it was gone all together but we knew that was very unlikely. What this means is that we will do three more cycles of the ironotecan and temazolimide and then scan again. Nate is still tolerating the chemos very well and has had virtually no side effects (knock wood). It has been relitively easy on the rest of the family since we are all home together so all in all we are very pleased. I know this may sound stange to some of you but the fact that he is be bopping around happy as a clam is so amazing to us... Anyway have a very happy New Year and heres hoping that evryone has a HEALTHY year filled with lots of love and laughter.

Sunday, December 25, 2005 10:51 PM CST

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!! We hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas. Everything was great at the McKean house. The kids got everything that they wanted and a couple of things they didn't know they wanted. We had a great dinner with lots of family and at this time are very exhausted. I just wnated to thank everyone for thinking about us. I especially wanted to take a minute to thank Nates chemo angels. Chemo angels is an organization of people all volunteers that send little packages of love and faith (and toys) to people that are going through treatment. Nate has three diffrent families that are his chemo angels and he recieved lots of goodies from them this holiday. Thank you all so very much, the smiles you brought to Nates and his brother and sisters faces are priceless. Nate has scans on Weds and Thurs next week I will post with results on Fri. Please keep him in your prayers. Again Merry Christmas and we appreciate you all more than you could ever know.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005 11:35 PM CST

Hello everyone. Just a quick update before the holiday. Nate went to see Dr Faucette on Monday and his counts were great. He is maintaining his weight and all in all is doing great. He had an audiology (hearing) exam today and has profound high frequency hearing loss. Hearing aids wouldn't help and there isn't much that they can do and they aren't sure exactly how this will effect him. We knew this was something that could occur and we are grateful that it isn't worse. We have heard of kids on the same chemo that have ended up with severe hearing loss and needing hearing aids. Nate goes to speech therapy once a week and thats seems to be helping. The rest of the kids are good and very excited about Christmas. Shelby had her first soccer tournament with her new team and they took second place. They were beaten by the "A" team from the same soccer academy so FC Crush took first and second it was pretty awesome. Shelby scored an awesome goal in the first game and played great defense the rest of the time. Well have a great holiday and give your kids lots of kisses and hugs. Cherish family and friends. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts.

Sunday, December 18, 2005 6:50 PM CST

Hello all. It's been awhile since my last update but with Christmas and all that goes with it we have been very busy. Nate is continuing to amaze us every day. His counts have hung in there and he is still tolerating the chemo very well. We gave him a very SHORT haircut because we noticed some thinning and it's easier for us not to watch it thin everyday. Daddy also got a very short haircut so that they could be twins. He goes back to the doctor on Monday to check in and get his counts done. He has a hearing test on Wednesday and then we are clear until the Tuesday after Christmas when we have to do scans. Please pray that this chemo is working and that his disease hasn't progressed and that it may even have shrank a small bit. It would be great to start the new year off with good news. The rest of the family is great. Mikey has started basketball and is busy being a 7th grader. Shelby still has soccer two times a week and chorus and life as a 3rd grader. Kinsey is doing wonderful in school and she loves to drive her brothers and sisters crazy. Mike and I have been busy shopping for Christmas and taking the kids from point a to point b. I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who donated to LUNCH FOR LIFE in Nate's honor. He loves seeing the ornaments on his tree. For those of you haven't seen his tree go to www.lunchforlife.org and click on giving trees and then click on Nate McKean. His giving code is 15096. Thanks for checking in. I will try to post after Christmas and let you all know what a wonderful holiday we had.

Friday, December 9, 2005 11:45 AM CST

Happy holidays everyone. We are all doing good. Nate had two good doctor appointments again this week. He is fianlly showing some side effects of the chemo, his white blood cell counts are down and his ANC is way down. This may delay his next round of chemo we will just have to wait until Monday and find out if they have gone any lower. Other than that he is doing great. They have started a fundraising effort at www.lunchforlife.org. It is called the giving tree and for every $5 donation made in Nate's name he will get an ornament on his tree. If you put in his giving code 15096 he gets double ornaments. On Christmas Eve they will hold a drawing for a trip to Disney World for one little Neuroblastoma warrior. If you have time please go make a donation, Nate loves to see the ornaments on his tree. The rest of the kids are doing well. Shelby had her Christmas chorus concert last night and she was wonderful. Mikey is starting basketball next week and Kinsey is busy with school and the new little friend that she made in the neighborhood. Mike and I are running around getting ready for Christmas as I'm sure most of you are. We are probably going a little overboard this year but we are both so grateful that we have these beautiful heathly (for now) kids that we can't help it. You know that's my wish for all of you, spoil your kids this year, and NEVER take for granted even for one minute how lucky we all are that we have them.

Saturday, December 3, 2005 5:04 PM CST

Hey everyone. Well we have had a good week. Nates two appointments went well. The doctors are really pleased with Nates reaction or lack thereof to the medicines. He hasn't had any of the dreaded diarreha, nausea, or vomitting (knock on wood). His counts are holding on,the only drop we've seen is in his white blood cell counts and his nuetrophils oth of which was expected, but even those counts aren't horrible. Well on to the fun stuff. We had snow this week in Washington not a whole lot but enough to play in. The kids were outside for about three hours with their friends at the park having a snow ball fight. The next day school was running on a two hour delay so we all got to sleep in except Dad(ha-ha). We went to get our tree today and the Christmas tree farm that we went to still had snow so the kids got to have a snowball fight and the tree we cut down still had snow on the branches. It was kind of cool definately felt like Christmas. Nate has 10 days off and then starts his next cycle the 12th of Dec. Please pray that he will still tolerate it so well and that above all it's working. We'll update soon and don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005 5:25 PM CST

Hey there all. Well we had a great Thanksgiving weekend relaxing and visiting with family. I hope that everyone had just as fun a holiday. Well we woke up to the smallest dusting of snow this morning but the kids were excited anyway. There wasn't enough to play in but just the sight of it put them all in the mood for Christmas. Nate is still doing great. He's taking his meds like a champ and only gets upset because he has to take them on an empty stomach and he hates waiting for breakfast so the mornings are a challenge. He still hasn't had any nausea or vommiting(knock on wood) and his hair is hanging on. His white blood cell count has gone down but not too bad and the rest of his counts are holding steady which is good. He's a little tired but that could be because he's a crazy little 4yr old and they are like the energizer bunny they keep going and going and going. The rest of the kids are ok. They are dealing with this all in the own way along with everything else that comes their way. I worry about them but in the end they are so very strong and I know that everything will work out. Our family keeps having to deal with huge things and I wonder sometimes why? But then I look at my four beautiful children and my wonderful husband and realize who am I to question we will keep going and together this family will beat this because we have too.....

Thursday, November 24, 2005 0:41 AM CST

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!! Hello everyone hope that everyone is surrounded by family and lots of fun this holiday. Well Nate started treatment on Monday and he is doing great (knock on wood). He hasn't been sick at all and his energy level is still about the same. He doesn't like the meds (YUCK) but he takes them like a champ. I am so proud of him I know that I would'nt be able to stomach half the things that he does. Anyway the plan is to finish this cycle and then another one and then rescan to see how it's going the week after Christmas. Hopefully it will at least stabilize his disease and I guess that we can all wish for a Christmas miracle that it will shrink it. Anyway have a great holiday I know that I have so very much to be thankful for because tonight as my children went to bed they were fat, healthy, happy and alive....

Wednesday, November 16, 2005 10:22 PM CST

***** Quick update we just heard from the Docs and it looks like a go. We are doing the trial I have written about starting Monday and it should be covered under insurance because we are doing alot of thigs at Madigan. Including getting some of the meds. I will post Monday to let you know how it went. Keep Nate in your prayers that this new treatment wiil be tolerable and that above all it will work.***** Hello everyone hope that all is well. Nate had his Hickman (central line) placed on Tuesday and as you can imagine he is very sore. They also did a bone marrow biopsy at the same time. The entire procedure took about two and a half hours. It brought back all sorts of memories. We just can't believe that we are back in this place of being scared for him all the time. We were always afraid that the cancer may come back it was always in the back of our minds and now that it has you would think that it be easier to deal with in some way but if anything it is that much harder because we know what he has to go through. We saw Dr Park in Seattle and the plan is to still do the Phase I study that they are doing there. It will take two chemotherapies at home orally called ironitecan and temodar. He will have to be on an antibiotic all the time because the ironitecan cause such bad diarreha. He will most likely lose his hair and they say the nausea and vomitting shouldn't be that bad. They also hope that his counts won't drop that much which would mean that his immune system will be stronger. He will do 5 days of both drugs then have two days off then do 5 days of just the ironitecan. Then he will have 10 days of nothing bu the antibiotic. Anyway thats the plan for now unless insurance says no and then we will decide what to do instead. The rest of the kids are doing ok. They are trying to go on with there everyday lives but they are incredibly sad. We try to reassure them but its hard when we don't know what will happen. Thank you all for checking and keeping us in your thoughts. I will post when there is something new to report.

Wednesday, November 9, 2005 9:28 AM CST

I hope that everyone is well. We met with both Dr Park in Seattle and Dr Faucette at Madigan and it looks like we are going to try to get into a phase 1 study of oral chemo drugs if our insurance will pay. If they won't then there are some other thigns that we can do. The oral chemos can be done outaptient which is really what we want because being in the hospital is hard on Nate and the rest of the kids. The other chemo we can do would have to be inpatient. Either way we at least have a plan. We go on Tuesday to get a central line put in. It is a small outpatient procedure but it means going to sleep for Nate. At this point they aren't hoping for a cure they are just hoping to stabilize the disease until some new study comes aong that is more promising. That doesn't mean that the chemo he takes can't cure him it would just take a miracle. So everyone one who reads this please start praying for that miracle. I can't stand to thnk that all his pain suffering and sadness was in vain. I will update when there has been a final decision. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts,

Friday, November 4, 2005 10:08 AM CST

Hello everyone. We got the results back from Nates latest scans. He had the PET which showed a spot in his right femur right at the hip joint. They did an Xray and the same spot showed on it. To be safe they then did an MIGB scan which is very specific to Neuroblastoma and that has confirmed the same spot as the other scans. With all three scans showing the same thing at this point they are saying that the cancer is back. They want to biopsy but the location makes it difficult. At this point they aren't sure whats next. Nate is having a small amount of back pain other than that he is fine. I will let you all know as soon as I find out the next step. Please keep Nate in your prayers.

**** Update We have an appointment with Dr Park at Childrens in Seattle on Tues morning. She was Nates Dr after transplant and she is an expert in Neuroblastoma. We will go over all the options and decide which treatment to proceed with. They have decided against a biopsy because they feel he just doesn't need one with all the scans they are sure its back so there is no need to put him through the biopsy. I will post and let you all know what we decide. Thanks again for checking on Nate and keeping him in your prayers.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 9:28 PM CDT

Hello everyone. Just a quick post to let everyone in on some very exciting news. The results of the scan came back and the spot on the brain is gone. At the very least it means that it is so small that it isn't showing up at all and at the best it is entirely gone. The spot on the liver is still hanging on but it is still very light uptake which means that they aren't positive what it is and it isn't big enough to biopsy. We are needless to say estatic and Nate is absolutely totally normal. Unfortunatly we will have to scan again in 3 months to monitor that liver spot but thats ok. I won't be posting for awhile we are just to busy but I will keep checking the guestbook and letting Nate know about all the people who love and think about him. Thank you all so much for keeping us in your thoughts. You can never know what it means to us.

Thursday, October 20, 2005 12:36 AM CDT

Hi everyone. Nate had his PET scan yesterday. Everything went great and we were on our way home around 4. The staff and the hospital were very nice and Nate seemed to feel very comfortable. I wasn't too sure because he is so used to the doctors and nurses at Madigan. Anyway we should find out the results within the next few days, definately by Monday. I will let you all know as soon as we find out anything. Nate and Mikey have their birthday party this weekend and they are both very excited. They are having a Batman theme. Mikey is probably getting a little old to have a party with Nate but he seems ok with it. The girls are good. Kinsey just finished her soccer season and she loved it and can't wait for next year. Shelby is playing with a Select team and is having fun but it is very hard work. She is playing 6 days a week right now. Thank you for checking in and keeping us in your thoughts. I will post as soon as we find out anything.

Monday, September 26, 2005 10:12 PM CDT

Hi everyone. Well Mike and I had a wonderful, much needed vacation in Vegas. We had an absolute blast. We were very happy and very tired when we got home and the kids covered us with hugs and kisses. It was nice to know we were missed. Nate is still doing awesome, he gets bigger everyday. He is totally potty trained and he refuses to let anyone help him get dressed. He even wanted to clean his room by himself today. We are getting his scans done on Oct 19th at OHSU in Portland. We won't get any results until the next Monday most likely. I am hoping to find out something definitive this time so we can just get on with whatever comes next. The rest of the kids are great. Mikey's team won their first football game on Wednesday and Shelby's soccer team got their first win ever on Saturday. Kinsey gets better every time she plays and Nate can't wait until its his turn. I will post again to let everyone know how the scans went. Until then thanks for keeping us in your thoughts.

Sunday, September 18, 2005 8:50 PM CDT

Hi everybody. Well we have had a great couple of weeks. Nate was evaluated at the preschool screening the school district does here for people who have developmental concerns. The occupational therapist said that he is doing great. There is still some left sided weakness and a little trouble balancing but she figured that would go away with time. He is going to start speech therapy soon with the school district. He is very excited because it will be at the same school that Shelby goes to. Kinsey had her birthday party this weekend and it was so fun. The theme was Care Bears and we were all surounded by family and close friends and partied until well into the evening. Mike and I are going to Las Vegas tommorow. We will be back on Friday. We haven't ever left the kids that long but we could really use a vacation. Ganny is staying with the kids and they are really excited. We should find out some dates for Nates next scan when we get back we have the approved consult for the PET scan in Portland so we just have to get an appointment now. As always thank you so much for checking in and keeping Nate and all of us in your thoughts.

Monday, September 12, 2005 11:32 AM CDT

Hello everyone we hope that all is well. Everything here is wonderful. The kids have all started school and we have soccer and football. We are just busy and very happy and NORMAL. Anyway some great news about Nate he is offically potty trained YEAH!!!! We waited awhile because of treatment and everything and there were days I wondered if it would ever happen but it finally did. I can't believe how big he is and grown up he's getting. I thank god everyday for the miracle he is and how lucky we all are that we get to experience our own personal miracle all the time. I know that things could have gone alot diffrently and I'm not sure why Nate has made it through virtually unscathed I mean he doesn't seem to remember any of it. I can only think that he is meant for great things and the experiences he has gone through will help him in some way. We thank you for checking in and keeping us in your thoughts.

Sunday, August 28, 2005 10:10 PM CDT

Hey everyone just a quick post to say hi. We just got back from Sacramento. We had so much fun just hanging out and visiting family. The kids spent everyday in the pool and playing with their cousins. It was much hotter than they are used to but we survived. Mike and Mikey had a great time in Chigago they saw two Cubs games and a Brewers game. I think that it was their idea of heaven being in Wrigley field on a sunny afternoon in the bleachers anyway they had fun. It is great to be home and all together. We now have to focus on geting ready for school and soccer practices. We got the results back from Nates HMA/VMA test (urine) and it was lower which is very good news so now we are going to wait and do scans the end of Sept or beginning of Oct. We will let you know when we find out. Thanks for checking in. Don't forget to sign Nates guestbook.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005 4:28 PM CDT

Hello everyone. Things are good here. We went to Nate's checkup on Monday and everything was great. They did a complete check and also did a urine test. When they get the results of that they will schedule his next set of scans. We are thinking it will be the end of Sept. beginning of Oct. Everyone else is good Daddy took the girls to a Mariners game today and they just called and sounded like they were having a blast. Mike and Mikey are going to Chigago next week and the rest of the kids and I are going to visit family in Sacramento. One last little vacation before school starts. Shelby starts soccer practice this week and is very excited. Kinsey is supposed to play but they haven't found her a coach yet. We will have to wait and see what happens. Just wanted to keep everyone up to date thanks for checking in.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005 11:14 PM CDT

Hey everyone. Everything here is great we have been really busy sorry that we haven't posted in awhile. The kids are all good they discovered lighthouses on our trip to the Oregon Coast so we have been exploring the many lighthouses here in Washington. It is great that they are all so interested in it they don't even relize that they are actually learning something in the process. Nate is doing good he is still growing like a weed and having a great summer. He has a check up on Monday. I will let you all know how that goes. We are all just grateful for every normal day we have together and trying to focus on the here and now instead of what might be coming in the future. Thanks for checking in and keeping us in your thoughts.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005 6:20 PM CDT

Hey guys hope that all is well. Just a quick post to say hi and let you all know that all is good. We just got back from vacation we went to the Redwoods in CA and then drove home up the Oregon Coast it was a blast. Nate and the other kids had so much fun. I took lots of pictures and will post them soon. Thanks for checking in.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005 3:55 PM CDT

***I'VE ADDED NEW PICTURES CHECK THEM OUT** Hi everyone. Just a quick post to let you know the latest. We went for the MRI today and bone marrow biopsy. Everything went fine we won't find out the results for a couple of days. We did find out that the CT did not show anything that was big enough to biopsy. They are pretty sure that the MRI will be the same way. What all of that means is that we will have to rescan in a couple of months. Dr Faucette is thinking that he is relapsing but until we find something that we can biopsy we just have to wait. Now Dr Faucette will be the first to say that he could be wrong and we will hope that he is. I will let you know what the MRI shows if anything. On a happier note we went to the beach this weekend and the kids had a blast. It was your typical Washington overcast day and it even rained a little the kids still braved the water in their swinsuits no less. We had a a great time. I think that we are going to go away for a couple of days we just can't decide where. Thanks for checking in and don't forget to sign the guestbook even though I rarely if ever get to email people we read every entry and they are wonderful.

Wednesday, July 6, 2005 10:36 PM CDT

Hi everyone. Just a quick post to let everyone know the latest. They have decided against the PET scan and are going to do a CT and an MRI. Dr Faucette our Dr at Madigan contacted Dr Park who was our Dr at Childrens, she is also a neuroblastoma specialist and she thought that a PET would be repeitive at this point. They also concluded that the spots that they saw on MIBG were larger than the spots they saw in April. This is not good news because anything else that it could have been would not have gotten larger which leads us to assume that it is neuroblastoma. So they are hoping to find something significant enough to biopsy so that we can know for sure. If they can't they will do this whole dance again in a couple of months. They are hoping to schedule the CT and MRI in the next week or so. I will let you all know what it shows. Keep your fingers and toes crossed and thanks for checking in. Don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005 7:07 PM CDT

Hello everyone sorry that I haven't posted but I was hoping for some more news. Anyway Nate had his scan and the final word at this point is they don't know. They saw basically the same things that they saw last time. There is a spot lighting up in the head and one on the liver. Neither of these are bright enough to say for sure that they are neuroblastoma. Unfortunately they are worrisome enough not to be able to rule it out either. There isn't anything significant enough to biopsy so once agin we are waiting. They want to do a PET scan which they think might show whatever is or isn't there a little better. They don't have one of these machines at Madigan so we have to get scehduled through a civilian hospital which takes a little more time hopefully we will be able to do the scan in a few weeks. Unfortunatley I have a feeling which by the way is shared by his doctor that the PET scan won't be able to answer any of our questions with any certainty. That will mean that we will be rescaning in a couple of months. None of this means that he is relapsing but non of it means that he isn't. I wish that we could know for certain so that we could fight this horrible monster once and for all. On a happier note Nate is doing great he is your everyday happy go lucky obnoxious 3yr old and that is wonderful. July ninth marks a year since his transplant at Childrens and the fact that he is running around and playing is a miracle in itself. Thank you for checking in and keep good thoughts I will post as soon as Iknow something.

Sunday, June 19, 2005 6:30 PM CDT

Hello everyone. Well we had a very busy week. Nate had to go to the hospital because he had CHICKEN POX. It was just precautionary but he had to stay two days. We were back at Madigan and it was nice to see everyone. We are pretty sure he got them when Kinsey had the shingles a few weeks ago. He is fine now they gave him IV Acyclovir and he ended up not getting very many pox and they have already crusted over. While Nate and I were at the hospital daddy threw out his back and has been in bed ever since. The older kids and grandma took care of him and when I got home we went to the Er. They gave him some medicine and hopefully he will be better soon. I wanted to update everyone and say hi. Nate has scans next Wednesday and Thursday I will let everyone know what happens. Thank you for checking in and please sign the guestbook Nate loves to hear from everyone and lately we haven't had very many posts.

Saturday, June 11, 2005 10:39 PM CDT

Hello everyone sorry that I haven't posted in awhile we've been busy. Everything is good. Kinsey (Nates 4yr old sister) had surgery on the 9th to remove her tonsils, adenoids, and to put tubes in her ears. she is doing good but she still feels pretty yucky. She has enjoyed all the ice cream and pudding though. Nate is good he has been having a hard time watching Kinsey get all the attention and presents since she is the sick one for once. She does share her ice cream with him though because as she said "he shared his sickness food with me". He is running around and having a great time being home. He can actually hop off the ground with both feet for the first time ever and he looks normal when he runs. He was having a difficult time with that because he had some left sided weakness from being in bed for so long and not being active. I can't believe how far he has come in the months that he has been off treatment I am so proud of the little man he is today knowing how hard it was for him to get here. Mikey and Shelby are both at the end of their baseball/softball seasons and there is alot of playoff games and end of season parties. Mike and I are just serving as coach/chauffers and loving every minute of it. Thanks for checking in on us and don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Tuesday, May 31, 2005 0:19 AM CDT

Hi everyone. I am so sorry that I haven't posted in awhile but all is well at the McKean house. Nate is doing great we had his cousins Kaleob and Kyle for a week while their mom was in Hawaii and he was in heaven. Nate absolutely loves his cousins and they love him and that had a blast. The rest of the kids are good Mikey and Shelby are nearing the end of the school year and are excited about the summer. Mikey is especially excited since this is last year in elementry school. Thats right he will be in jr high next year Mike and I are in denial there is no way that we are old enough (or mature enough) for this. Kinsey has had her last day of preschool and will be getting surgery on June 9th to remove her tonsils, adnoids, and to have tubes put in her ears. We are hoping the this will improve her hearing and her snoring and just help her feel better since she always seems to be stuffed up. Mike is great working and doing stuff around the house. We are doing some yard stuff and are going to start remodeling our downstairs bathroom. I still haven't gotten those pictures downloaded from our vacation. Our computer is acting up and I am afraid to add all that memory. I am working on it though. I promise to post again soon. Thanks for checking in on us.

Friday, May 6, 2005 8:01 PM CDT

Hello everyone. Sorry that I haven't posted in awhile but I have been sick with pnuemonia. I went to the doctor last week and was diagnosed with walking pnuemonia and have been in bed for a week. I am finally starting to feel a little better so I figured I would let you all know that we are fine. Nate is doing awesome he went to the speech pathlogist on Monday and they want him to begin speech therapy. They aren't sure if this is because of his illness and basically losing a year of development because he was in the hospital all the time or if there is some residual hearing loss from some of the chemo he got. It's possible that it is a combination of both and either way we will get him some therapy and he will be fine. The other kids are great going to school and all their activities keep them (and us) busy. Mike and Mikey are leaving for Philadelphia on Sun for a week. Mike has a school there and he is taking Mikey along to go to a Phillies game and see all the sites. They are both really excited. Well that is the news on our end everything normal and busy in our little corner of the world. We hope that all is well with all of you and thank you so much for checking up on us and Nate. Don't forget to stop by the guestbook and let us know you were here. Oh yeah we are still working on getting those pictures from Disneyland posted soon.

Sunday, April 24, 2005 9:27 PM CDT

Hey everyone we hope that all is well and that you are enjoying the longer days and (hopefully) warmer weather. Things are going good here. The weather has been great and we have been out enjoying it watching Mikey and Shelby play baseball and softball. Nate is good he is growing up so fast. We recently starting looking after Kaleob and Kyle who are our nephews Kaleob is 9 and Kyle is 6. Nate is in heaven. He loves playing with Kyle who is in kindergarten and they get to be alone together for about 2 hours before the other kids start to get home. Kinsey is really taking off in school and gets more grown up everyday which doesn't mean that she won't throw the occasional trantrum which is followed up by the occasional nap. Mike and I are good. Riding this rollercoaster we have been stuck on for the last 18 or so months. Not that we would trade it for the world but it is exhasuting at times. Love to everyone and we will post later and I promise the pictures from Disneyland will be up soon.

Thursday, April 14, 2005 9:49 PM CDT

Hi to all!!! We got the best news possible today and we can't wait to share. Nate had his CT and MRI today and they were both crystal clear. They are at this point assuming that the MIBG scan was a false positive. We are of course very happy and relieved. Nate was a trooper during the testing and Dr Faucette was very happy to tell us the good news. We are going to do another MIGB scan in two to three months. This means that we have no doctor appointments for SIX whole weeks. Now that you all know the good news I can share a little about our wonderful vacation. We had a great time visiting family in California and enjoying the sunshine. We were in Sacramento for 5 days which is where Mike and I grew up. We still have a ton of realtives there and it was fun to see everyone. We went to LA on Thursday and got to Disneyland that evening. The kids were so excited. We had a room at the Grand Californian with a room overlooking the California Adventure theme park. Nate and the kids had a blast for three days. It was very crowded but Disney gave us a front of the line pass so we sailed right through. Nate's favorite ride was Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters we went on it 9 times. He was also picked to be a volunteer at the Playhouse Disney Live on Stage show. Shelby and Mikey both love the Indiana Jones ride and the Hollywood Tower of Terror. Kinseys favorite ride was a tie between Splash Mountain and Soarin Over California. We had the best time just being together with everyone healthy and happy. We created memories that will last forever. We took 500 pictures with our new digital camera but we haven't had a chance to download them yet we will post them soon. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers the last two weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions and it helped knowing that we had friends and family out there rooting for us. We love you all and we will post later.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005 10:18 AM CST

Hey everyone I debated putting up the latest news but realized some of you would be waiting. The results from his scans were not what we had hoped. On the nuclear medicine scan which is a scan specifically for neuroblastoma there were 3 cocnerning spots. There was one on the skull one on the right femur and one on the brain itself. Now none of these were big enough to say for sure that it is NB but they were all concerning enough to warrant more scans. Unfortunately what we have to do now is wait until whatever it is in the head goes away or gets bigger. We had already planned a vacation to Sac CA over spring break which for us starts Mon we are still doing that and now we have extended our stay and we are going to DISNEYLAND. We will get back on the 12th and at that point we will get a CAT scan of the head to see what that shows. If the CT confirms what the other scan showed they will then assume it is NB and treat as such. If the CT shows nothing we will hope that its nothing and rescan in a couple of months unfortunately if its too samll to show we will just have to wait. You can't easily biopsy when the brain is involved so we just have to pray at this point. It is times like this that I wish that I had a stronger faith in god. At best I was always a wishy-washy believer and after Nate got sick sometimes I wasn't sure if I wanted to believe in a god that would do this to my little boy. When he got better I of course was very grateful for whatever made that happen. I guess what I am saying is if you are a believer please pray for my family and my little boy. I am trying so hard to be positive but I can't even imagine what the nex year will be like if these results are real. I won't be posting while we are on vacation I think what we need right now is a heathly dose of denial. I will of course post we we get back with pictures and wonderful stories of our trip.

Friday, March 25, 2005 9:14 AM CST

Hi everyone we hope that all is well and that you are enjoying the wonders of the upcoming spring season. Nate had his MIGB scans this week and he came through with flying colors. We won't find out any results until he does his CT scan next Tuesday. He handled the anesthia like a pro which I guess he is and even giggled when they put the IV in and told the nurse it didn't hurt. I think the worst part of it for him was not being able to eat but we survived. Everybody else is great we started baseball and softball so we are keeping busy. The kitchen is finally done and we just got our new carpet so we are feeling great. Thanks again for keeping Nathan in your thoughts and checking on us from time to time sign the guestbook so that we know your were here.

Monday, March 14, 2005 11:23 AM CST

Hello everybody. Just a quick note to say hi and that we hope that you are all doing well. Nate had some sort of yucky bug last week. He had a low grade fever and a little bit of a sore throat for a few days and of course mom was freaking out but he is doing great now. I wonder if I will ever be able to chill out when it comes to him. I was ready to rush off to the emergency room at the first sign of fever. Luckily we have wonderful docs and I paged them and they very calmly told me that it was most likely a virus and just to watch him. We are in the middle of painting our kitchen cabinets and replacing the flooring. I haven't had a kitchen for a few days and it is driving me crazy. I know the end result will make it all worth it but when you in the middle of it you wonder why you ever started. Anyway I thank you all for visiting the site and keeping Nate in your thoughts please sign the guestbbok so that we know you were here.

Tuesday, March 8, 2005 9:59 AM CST

Hello everyone. We just wanted to give everyone an update after yesterdays doctors appointment. Nate is doing wonderful. He had his normal checkup which he passed with flying colors and he did his blood draw without even crying. His Ct scan is scheduled for Mar 29th and his MIGB which is a nuclear medicine scan is a two day scan on the 23rd and 24th. These will of course show that he has no evidence of disease and there will be dancing in the streets. We can't believe that he is doing so great when we think of where he was a year ago it is truly amazing. Everyone else is great just school work and remodeling the kitchen. I will post after we get the results of his scans. Don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Wednesday, March 2, 2005 9:45 PM CST

Hi everyone. Everything is still going great and we are still very busy with the NORMAL life of a family of six. Nate is almost done with his three week break from doctor appointments. He has an appointment on the 7th of Mar which is when he will start his very last course of Accutane. This is very exciting because it means that he is officially off treatment which is great but also kind of scary. He has scans again at the end of March and of course we are expecting everything to be fine I will let you all know how everything turns out. Something else that I would like to share with you is that I am coordinating a Wheels for Life Bike-a-thon for St Judes on May 7th. I am still in the early planning stages but I am very excited. I will keep you all up to date on this also in upcoming posts. Thank you all for checking in on us. I know that we do not post as much as we used to but that is becuase we are so blissfully busy and very happy. Dont forget to sign the guestbook so that we know that you were here.

Sunday, February 20, 2005 7:13 PM CST

Hello everyone we hope that you are all doing well. We are doing great. Nates last set of labs came back normal so we actually get to go an entire THREE whole weeks without seeing a doctor. Isn't that amazing. Sometimes its hard because going to the doctor once every two weeks has become so normal and seeing those good lab reports has been comforting. I guess I'm sort of waiting for the next shoe to drop but I am making it one day at a time. The rest of the kids are doing good. We are just about finished with basketball and about to start baseball and softball. Kinsey is loving school and can't wait to play soccer like her big sister. Nate loves to go to all of Mikey and Shelbys sporting events and I know that one day we will see him out there playing which makes me so very happy. I promise that we will post new pictures soon till next time....

Monday, February 7, 2005 10:49 PM CST

Hi everyone we hope everyone is doing great. This is just a quick journal to let you all know that absolutely everything is wonderful. Nate is doing fabulous and we are amazed every day that we have been granted this second chance and we are loving it. The other kids are also doing good our days are filled with basketball, soccer, playdates, sleepovers, and even poker parties for mom and dad. Everything is blissfully normal and we couldn't be happier. Keep checking back. Thanks again for taking time to check in on us it means more than you will ever know.

Monday, January 31, 2005 5:20 PM CST

Hello everyone. We hope that all is well. We went to Madigan Army Medical center today for Nates appointment and it went very well. It was a little surreal walking through those doors after 6 months. It felt strange walking through those doors with a heathly little boy when so many times I was carrying a very sick little boy. It was great to see Dr Faucette and the nurses there. They were amazed at how well Nate looked and they called him their miracle boy. We met the new Dr and he was very nice he is very knowledgble about neuroblastoma which makes us feel good and Nate seemed to like him which is of course the most important thing. They are planning on continuing with the Accutane at home and scans every three months so things really haven't changed that much. It feels like we have crossed this huge milestone with leaving Seattle and Childrens hospital. Nate is feeling wonderful and the rest of the family is getting back to normal which feels great. I will write more later and thank you again for checking on Nate and the rest of us. Don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Monday, January 24, 2005 9:55 PM CST

Hi everyone sorry that we haven't posted anything lately. We have been blissfully busy with our very NORMAL lives. Everyone is doing wonderful. We have basketball just about every day of the week with Mikey and Shelby playing. It's fun but very time consuming. Kinsey is just growing up way to fast which I guess is a good thing but also kind of sad. Nate had a doctor appointment today along with a CT scan and Bone scan. First off let me say that everything is completely beautifully clear. This is the absolutely best news we could recieve we are estatic. We have concluded our treatment at Childrens hospital and will return to Madigan where Nate started treatment. This is a milestone in itself there were times in August of this year that I wondered if that would happen. We are of course sad to leave Childrens the doctors and nurses there are wonderful caring human beings. We have made alot of friends some of them I know that we will have for life. Nate had to continue on the Accutane that he takes at home for the next two months then we will again do scans. He will have to have scans done every three months for the next year and then every 6 months for the next five years. We realize how blessed we are. We have unfortunatly known way to many families that have lost the battle. For that reason alone I wake up every morning kiss my kids and realize how very lucky we are. Thanks for checking in I will keep posting as long as you read it. Now go kiss your kids and give them a big hug. :)

Monday, January 10, 2005 5:39 PM CST

Hi everyone. Just a quick update. Daddy took Nate to the doctor today and he is doing WONDERFUL!!!!!! He has gained an amazing 2 pounds and his lab tests were great. He starts his next cycle of the Accutane today and that always upsets his tummy at first but we will get through we always do. I just can't believe how stong he is with every day that passes we start to believe even more that we are beating this thing that in the end he will be fine. Sunday marked a year since his diagnosis. We had snow in Washington and we were outside at the park playing with neighbors it was snowing and Nate was walking around making snowballs and throwing them at his brother and sisters when I realized what day it was. It istantly brought tears to my eyes because last year we had snow at Christmas and Nate wouldn't play because he was into much pain. Watching him outside in the snow playing like any other 3 year old is such a gift and it is definatly something that we will not take for granted. We want to thank you all for your support and prayers this last year. It has been the most incredibly hard, heart breaking year of our lives but it has also been the most rewarding. It brought us closer together, showed us just how strong our children are and in the end we got our amazing precious Nathan back healthy and better than ever. Thank you all again.

Thursday, January 6, 2005 1:31 PM CST

Hi all. We hope that everyone is well and recovered from the holiday season. Nathan is doing wonderful. He amazes us everyday with his ability to continue on like the last year never happened. His hair is doing this funny thing where it sticks straight up in the air. He still doesn't have alot but it is very very soft. His strength is slowly improving as is his ability to deal with everyday life. He doesn't throw quite so many tantrums when he doesn't get his way and he is learning that he has to eat when the rest of us eat instead of on his own schedule. The rest of the kida are doing well Shelby just turned 8 on the 2nd we can't believe how fast they grow. Mikey is well into his 6th grade year he is playing basketball and is convinced he will play in the NBA one day. Kinsey is finally settled into school and is doing wonderful. Mike and I are trying to get back to normal everyday life without doctors appointments and hospital stays. Nates next appointment is on the 10th I will let you all know how it goes. Talk to you soon.

Wednesday, December 29, 2004 6:45 PM CST

It is official no more tubies. For those of you unaware of our new vocabulary that means central line. Nate went in for surgery this morning at 10:30 he came out at 11:30 with nothing sticking out of his little chest. This is huge he has had something hanging out of his chest for almost a year now. Of course we are much more excited about this than Nate. I guess that speaks to the fact that he really didn't notice in the first place. I am not sure if this is a good thing or not the fact that all of this is the norm to him shows how much he has been through. Anyway his big reaction to this wonderful day was saying "oh" when I told him his tubies were gone. This of course was a little anti-climatic but I'm hoping that in the coming days when he realizes this means no more nightly cleaning and flushing, no more ouchy sticky tape when he takes a bath and best of all no more weekly screamfests when we have to change the bandage that he will realize the significance. Until then I will have to settle for that fact that I know and that the tears in my eyes were tears of joy for once and that we are starting this year out on a happy note "tubie free." Nate has restaging scans on the 24th we will post and let you know how he is doing. I hope that you all won't be bored reading about our everyday lives but speaking for us we can't wait to be boring again. Thanks again for caring and don't forget to sign the guestbook.

Sunday, December 26, 2004 1:53 AM CST

Merry Christmas everyone. It is very late on Christmas night. We just put the kids including Nate to bed. We all had a wonderful day.The kids all got everything they asked for and some things they didn't even know they wanted. Nate had a wonderful time. He was so sick last year and we didn't yet know that this horrible disease was going to enter our lives. When we think back to last Christmas we are astonished that he was able to join in as much as he did. It reminds us once again that we have an amazing and strong little man. It is that strength that has carried him through and made it possible for this wonderful day. We are all so very lucky to have him to remind us of what is important and to show us the true meaning of family and love and strength and a love of life that carries him through hell and back. Again Merry Christmas and if you haven't yet go hug your kids (if you have hug them again).

Monday, December 20, 2004 1:22 AM CST

Hello everyone. We had a great day today(with a few exceptions). We took the 3 almost 4 hr trek to Leavenworth which for those of you who don't live in Wa is a little bavarian village set in the mountains that they decorate every year and basically deck out for christmas. On the way we have to go over Stevens Pass which is a ski resort and we stopped to play in the snow. Nate and all the kids had a blast. It was really cold and there wasn't much soft snow but they made due and had a snow ball fight and even made a snow alien. This was made even more special by the fact that last year when it snowed Nate was not interested because he was sick. This of course put a damper on things for everyone but this year definately made up for it. Nate is scheduled to get his central line out the morning of the 29th and I will keep everyone posted. Please have a very Merry Christmas. Thanks for checking on us and signing the guestbook. When Nate is older it will be very special for him to read how much everyone cares.

Monday, December 13, 2004 6:12 PM CST

Hello everyone I hope that you are all well. Nate had his appointment today and it went really well. He has gained a pound and a half in two weeks. For those unaware that is amazing. They are going to go ahead and schedule him to get his central line pulled within the next two weeks. This is something else that is totally amazing. It will be extremely freeing for him to not have to get it flushed every night or get his bandage changed once a week and too be able to take a bath anytime he wants. It also is just one more baby step towards normalcy. When I told Mikey and Shelby about it they both cheered as loud as they could and Nathan thought that was great. We know the possibilty of relapse is always there but we are choosing to ignore that and focus on the good things like being heathly happy and together for the holidays. Don't forget to sign the guestbook and remember that the holidays are about family and friends and send a little thank you to whoever is your higher power for the miracle that he has given us in our little boy and have a very happy holiday season.

Wednesday, December 8, 2004 11:30 PM CST

Hello everyone hope that all is well and everyone is ready for the busy hustle and bustle of the holidays. Nate is doing wonderful he is almost done with his course of IV antibiotics. Daddy and I can't wait we have to get up at 5am everyday to start his doses. He is eating very well and seems to gain a little weight everyday. We have an appointment Monday where we will get his next cycle of Accutane. We will also get a date to take out the hated central line (hopefully). Daddy leaves on Sunday for Dallas he is going for work. This of course comes at an awful time with everything going on for Christmas oh well his going away means there is a homecoming and we all love that. The rest of the kids are doing well I think that everyone is finally over strep and the stomach crud they were passing around. Just wanted to let you all know that all is blissfully normal and even a little boring (knock wood). I will write after Nates appt. Until then cherish all those holiday moments with family and friends and take nothing for granted.

Thursday, December 2, 2004 11:18 PM CST

Hi everyone we hope that all is well and that everyone is taking time to enjoy family and friends during this busy holiday season. Nate just returned home after a 4 day stay in the hospital. He had yet another bacterial blood infection. He gets them quite often due the central line in which he recieved chemo among other things. They are wonderful things because they save the kids from having to get stuck all the time but they do put them at risk for infections and are just basically a pain in the butt. He had a cat scan while we were there and everything is still clear YEAH!!! They are going to remove his central line after he recieves his whole course of antibiotics which we are doing at home. This is a great thing just one more step back to normalcy. It is hard to relax and just let Nate be a kid but we are trying and we know how very lucky we are and this Christmas season we will all make sure and enjoy every minute that we have together doing those things that we all take for granted. We love you all and will write more later. Don't forget to sign the guestbook Nate and all the kids love to hear from everybody.

Sunday, November 28, 2004 6:00 PM CST

Hello everyone we hope that all is well. Nate made the papers. I always new he was a celebrity now everyone else will. You can go and see the papers over the web. The first one is www.centralkitsapreporter.com he is on the front page a very cute picture of him and daddy and an article. The second one is www.thesunlink.com you have to click on Neighbors and its only a picture. Nate is doing really well we had to visit the er last night he has strep throat of all things. I guess its not surprising Mikey had it and so did Kinsey. We have an appointment tommorow and we will post more later.

Friday, November 26, 2004 11:37 PM CST

Hello everyone. We hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was wonderful filled with lots of love laughter and family. Nate had a wonderful time with all of his cousins and his new playroom. I don't think that we are ever going to get him out of there. He is doing really well we just wish that he would eat more. He has an appointment on Monday so we will let you know what they say. The rest of the kids are great they can't wait for Christmas. We have alot to be thankful for this year. Almost a year ago we were in a very dark and desperate place but out little boy fought harder than any of us even imagined he could and he came back to us better than ever. His smile lights up the room and we see it more and more these days. What more could any parents ask for. Thank you all for your love and support. We will write soon.

Thursday, November 25, 2004 0:04 AM CST

Hey everyone hope that all is well. Nate had a wonderful evening yesterday. For those unaware the Make a Wish Foundation has made our unfinished basement into a playroom for Nate. They had murals painted and installed carpets and stuff like that. Anyway they had the unveiling yesterday and we had a party like no other. There was close to 50 people. Friends, family, even a couple of Nates nurses from Childrens Hospital. Nate was outside in the freezing cold along with everyone else when the local fire dept rolled up with a ladder truck, and aid vehicle. The lights were flashing and around 20 firefighters including the chief treated Nathan to a little tour and gave him his very own authentic firefighter helmet with his name on it. They also gave him his very own coin that only firefighters get to carry. Then he was taken down to the basement where he saw the spiderman mural along with everything else for the first time. We all feasted on pizza donated by local establishments and cake. We watched the kids play and visited. It was wonderful to watch our son bask in the love of his community. We always knew that Nate was special now everyone else does. We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and we will write again soon.

Sunday, November 21, 2004 3:35 PM CST

Hi everyone. Hope that all is well and that your all heathly and happy. Nate has a big week coming up. The Make a Wish Foundation is done with his playroom. They turned our basement into a playroom complete with a Spiderman mural and everything. So on Tues there is going to be a party to unveil it (nate has no idea). The fire dept will be there and the newspaper is coming. There are so many people that love Nate that I think that we are going to end up with close to 50 people. Anyway I will try to post pictures if I can ever figure out how it works. Nate is doing awesome. He is eating playing and basically being a spoiled 3 yr old. Which is as it should be.

Monday, November 15, 2004 9:02 PM CST

Hi everyone we hope that you had a good weekend. We had a great weekend. Shelby had her last soccer game and pizza party and everyone had a blast. It was cold but it wasn't raining which in western Washington this time of year is amazing. We are anxiously awaiting Dads return He is supposed to be home tonight but as the hours pass I'm not sure if that will happen. We went to see the Dr today and we are happy to report that nothing is wrong. Nathan is maintaining his weight which means that he will not need to go back on the TPN (Iv nutrional support). This is very good news. He also starts his second round of Accutane therapy. This also means that for the first time in months we will not have to see the doctor next week. We get to do bi-weekly appts. This is huge. We have scans scheduled the week of Dec 3rd we will keep you all posted. Please remember to sign the guestbook. Nate and all the kids love to hear the entries and it really brightens their day. Thanks again for all your wonderful thoughts.

Friday, November 12, 2004 11:41 PM CST

Hi everyone. I just recently found the best website. Its www.lunchforlife.org. The idea behind it is that everyone could donate the cost of one lunch and the proceeds go to the childhood neuroblastoma foundation. They also have hats t-shirts and buttons for sale. I thought that this was an inexpensive and easy way to help You should all check it out. Nate is still doing great. Hes missing Dad who is out to sea but other than that couldn't be happier. Don't forget to sign the guestbook thanks. There is a link at the bottom of this page to both lunch for life and the Childrens Neuroblastoma foundation.

Thursday, November 11, 2004 4:43 PM CST

Hi everybody thanks somuch for signing the guestbook I read all of the entries to Nate and it always makes him smile. He is doing great since hes been home. His appetite is slowly returning and he is getting less and less crabby. Not that he isn't crabby he is a 3 yr old after all. We have been taking it easy. We went and saw the Incredibles we highly reccomend it. Just wnated to drop a quick line and let everyone know that we are doind good. Thanks again and keep checking back.

Monday, November 8, 2004 10:19 PM CST

GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!! We saw the doctor today and she said that what they took out showed basically no evidence of malignancy and that the cells were doing exactly what we want them to do. Which means that we continue the maintenence therapy which we can do at home and pray that it stays away. They do not call it remission for five years and they will name it (no evidence of disease or NED) after the maintenence is done. We are of course optimistic but guarded I guess in a way we always will be. When you come close to losing something you guard it all that much more. Thank you all for your support and good thoughts they mean more than you will ever know. We will keep posting to this site and trying to add more pictures soon.

Sunday, November 7, 2004 10:19 PM CST

Nate is an obviously adorable 3 year old. He was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma in Jan of 2004. He has had 6 cycles of chemotherapy along with 2 surgeries ,stem cell transplant and radiation. He has 2 sisters, Shelby who is 7 (almost8) and Kinsey who is 4. He also has an older brother (whom he worships) Mikey who is 11. Nate continues to amaze us everyday with his ability to overcome even the worst of obstacles with such optimism and love of life. It really is impossible to dwell on the negatives of having a child with cancer when you look at that huge grin. He recently had a second surgery to go after some supicious looking spots on CT. We found out that 50f what they took out was dead and that of the rest most was matured but they did find immature Neuroblastoma cells. We aren't exactly sure what comes next but we do know that we will face it head on and we will win there is no other option. We created this site to keep our friends and family up to date on Nate and to honor our little superhero who should be on the world wide web anyway. Keep checking back we go to the doctor tommorow and will update as soon as we know anything new.

Sunday, November 7, 2004 10:27 AM CST

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