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	Journal entries from 07/18/02 - 07/11/02
	07/18/02
	Jackson is getting a RBC (red blood cell) transfusion today as his counts continue to drop. His spirit is still good but he is getting more tired and his hair is beginning to fall out, which is a very big concern for him. His friend Alex Boatman has decided that he wants to shave his head whenever Jackson becomes a true "baldy" to show his support. The doctor said the tumor feels a little smaller to her and we will be having a scan to check the size after the next round of chemo. It was originally 10 cm x 10 cm so we are praying for smaller measurements. We continue to be extremely overwhelmed by the generosity we have seen since this all started.
	07/16/02
	Jackson had a couple of great days last week and felt like his usual self. He got to go to dinner and even play catch at the park for a little while. Friday, he had another check-up with his doctor and they said he was doing good, but his white blood cell count was very low (they wanted a white blood count of 250 and his was 0.2). They told us to keep taking his temperature and watch him. Sure enough, on Saturday after noon, he ran a temperature of 101 and we headed for the hospital. He is there now and pretty tired. His temperature ranges back and forth from 98 to 101 and they said his white blood cell count is now 0.0, so he has absolutely no immunity at this time. The doctor said it will be up to five days before he gets it back and not to worry. They also said he hasn't done anything that they weren't anticipating. Since Jackson was brought to the hospital, he has lost 8.5 pounds. We hope to get him eating good again, but his appetite is very low right now.
	07/11/02
	We found out on June 24th during a six year checkup, that Jackson had a large tumor in his stomach. We left for Spokane the next morning and had surgery two days later with hopes of removing the tumor. It turned out to be a neuroblastoma tumor which needs to be reduced in size via chemotherapy before it can be removed. Jackson started chemo on July 5th. The plan at this time is to take five treatments of chemo, each lasting three full days and then 17 days to recover. In total, that's around four months of chemo. At that point, he will have another surgery to remove the tumor. After surgery, he will have another dose of chemo and then head to Seattle for a bone marrow transplant, which should last about a month. After the transplant, he will come back to Spokane and undergo radiation therapy for a month. At that point we will assess the progress and see what is next. The doctors expect for this entire process to take 12 - 14 months.
	We have had tremendous support from family and friends and can't thank them enough. Jackson's spirits are still high and he hasn't lost that smile that makes Jackson who he is. So far his biggest upset was missing his last two T-ball games. We hear in the last game the team hit five homeruns and said that each one was for Jackson as they crossed the plate. Jackson has become a master at Go-Fish and developed many new games out of spinning quarters on a table. We will never be able to properly thank those who have been praying for Jackson. So many have asked what they can do to help, and at this time I guess all we can do is pray and wait.