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Journal entries from 06/28/04 - 07/27/04

07/27/04

Jackson spent most of Thursday night to Sunday night in the Lewiston hospital. As expected from the chemo his counts went down and he started running a high fever. Our doctor gave us the choice and we decided to try our local hospital. They did a great job for being their first time with a lot of this. He got out Sunday night and was very happy to get out of there. For the next couple of days he is at his grandparents with most of his cousins and just being a kid. This weekend we plan on going camping again and then on next Monday he will start chemo again. It is rough knowing  that he will be getting sick again soon, but at least we can have a week of good health. We have found a better way to give his nightly shots. We have found that giving them on his butt is much easier on him than his leg was. This was so hard on him that together we have prayed many times for the pain to be less and sure enough now we have found a way.

07/19/04

Jackson finished his fifth and final day of chemo for this round on Saturday. He went up for chemo each day last week, but is home for a while. By mid-week his counts will start dropping and he will most likely need a blood transfusion or get a fever. His spirits have been very good again, for a while he was not too happy and it showed, but when his counts came back, so did his attitude. Last week he played two different little league games after his chemo and trip back to Lewiston. We were hesitant to let him play, but knew how much it meant to him. He did really well in both games and in the final one he went 4 - 4 and made several outs in the field. He still amazes us with his drive to do what he can. He has lost most of his hair again and seems to be taking it well. We are hoping for another camping trip when his counts rebound. He and Wyatt ask every day when we are going again.

07/12/04

We went camping for five days last week and had a great time. Much of our extended family was there at one time or another. The boys and their cousins rode 4-wheelers, caught minnows, and built forts for most of the weekend. Jackson's health was great and he had his smile going the entire trip. We got to see elk, deer, moose, snowshoe hares, a bear, and even caught enough fish for dinner. Jackson wasn't real happy about losing his hair, it started on Friday and is getting very thin now. He was going to start Chemo today, but his platelets are too low, so we will check again tomorrow. He and Staci will be in Spokane every day this week and hopefully get to come home on Saturday. We did get some good news though, his tumor is shrinking and the doctor said she can hardly feel it at all. We hope it's working on the rest of the body as well.

07/06/04

Jackson had a long weekend, but is home and doing well. Friday his counts came back and we had to go to Spokane and get a blood transfusion and then Sunday he needed to get platelets. After all of that his counts have come back well and it looks like we are heading camping for the weekend. We will take it easy with him and Wyatt both. Wyatt just got his cast off today and there are still fracture lines, so he will have a brace for a couple weeks. Jackson has got some great gifts, in fact a friend of ours got Fishing Guides from all over to give Jackson a large tackle box and it is stuffed with the best Steelhead and Salmon gear you can get. He was very excited about that. We will start chemo again Monday and go from there.

07/02/04

Jackson got to come home Wednesday night and still has an off and on fever. He is having a pretty tough time with emotions and fatigue. He has been sleeping at least 12 hours per night. We think it's because of the major battle going on right now with the chemo and the cancer. He also has to get a shot every night to build up his white blood cells and he really doesn't like that, the doctors told us that the medicine would really burn when it is given. Our plans are to have a camping trip next week and take it easy and do some 4-wheeler riding. We are hoping that his energy continues to get better. He seems to get better every day and likes being home and sleeping in his own bed. Thank you for all your support in this rough time. I know that we all hear lots of quotes, but this is one that meant more to me than the others: "The highest test of courage and integrity is to be yourself in the face of adversity -- choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience and truth over prosperity."

06/28/04

Jackson's pain has gone down for now and he is unbeaten on the 4-wheeler racing video game in his room, he even beat one of the guys from Team Atlanta that was here for the Hoop Fest in Spokane. He has had a fever all weekend and we hope he will be able to come home tomorrow. This weekend we found out the cancer has gone into his bone marrow and that is what we were praying would not happen. At this time, he has the tumor in his neck, one in his back, the cancer has shown up in his thigh bone and now his bone marrow. We are now relying on the chemo to get this under control. Staci and I are now faced with the most difficult decision of our lives, how long do we let conventional medicine fail before we try something else. We have had many of our friends and family give us information on alternative medicines, but the lack of knowledge and statistics scare us to death. We pray for wisdom.