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Journal entries from 10/15/02 - 09/30/02
10/15/02
We all had a nice surprise when the Doctor let Jackson come home on Friday afternoon. His CAT scan came back with good news. His tumor has been shrinking and is much smaller than before. It is still touching the aorta and kidney and surrounding the adrenal gland, but doctors sounded positive about the progress the chemo has made. Yesterday, Staci and Jackson went back up for a bone marrow test (results in a couple of days), Jackson was put out, but had no complications. Then they gave him another blood transfusion to get his blood counts where they need to be for next Wednesday's surgery. Then they are headed home and it looks like they will stay home until the surgery next week. Having them both home is very needed for all of us.

We look forward to the next week of being together and cherish the fact that we are all under the same roof. Jackson wants to try and catch another steelhead. He also wants to go hunting, but the doctor said that he can't be around any loud noises due to his hearing loss and the volatility of his hearing until the chemo is over.

There were questions of if people could see Jackson if they had recently had a flu shot. The answer is that it is no problem, if you do have a flu shot that is even better. Please make sure that you aren't sick if you would like to visit.
10/11/02
Jackson is in the McDonald house again. He is mid-way through his fifth round of chemo and his counts should be getting low soon. Then he will have to go back to the hospital for a while. Staci came home Wednesday night so she could take Wyatt to school, since it was his turn to be kid of the day. They had a great time and then headed back to Spokane on Thursday. It was good for Wyatt to have his mom come home and just be with him; he asks daily when she is coming home.

We have been in this for over one hundred days now and in some ways it seems like a week and in some ways it feels like years. Jackson should be heading to Seattle in the second half of November for his bone-marrow transplant. That is pretty scary for us, the doctors say they will give him the strongest dose of chemo yet. They say his counts will be down so far that he won't talk or move much for around three days. When the counts start to rebound is when they will start the transfusion. Jackson should be over there from 4 to 6 weeks and we aren't sure yet how we are going to manage the distance and Wyatt seeing his mom as much as possible. We are looking forward to having that trip behind us.

I have said many times that Jackson's high spirits have amazed us and given us strength. The day that he headed to Spokane for his fifth round of chemo, and we all knew hew would be throwing up in a matter of hours, he woke up that morning in a good mood and got his stuff ready and was out to the car and had his seat belt on before Staci even got out of the house. Also, before last surgery, Jackson got to ride a go-cart into the operating room. With tear filled eyes, Staci and I watched him ride away with a big smile on his face and obviously having no idea what was going to happen. Last week he asked his Grandma Nina if he was going to be able to ride the go-cart back in to the operating room for his surgery.
10/07/02
Jackson got to go back to the McDonald House on Sunday afternoon and was happy to get out of the hospital. He did fairly well this round so far, only getting sick a few times. He still has his appetite in the evenings, but the mornings are a little rough.
10/03/02
Jackson had a great trip home and even caught two steelhead his last night. One was 14 lbs and gave him all that he could handle. At one time, the fish was pulling so hard that his pole was pointing straight at the fish and he was just holding on as it took out line. Jackson's eyes were very big when we finally got it in and he was talking a mile a minute. It wasn't long and we had one on again and he caught that one while Wyatt was getting assistance on reeling in a separate one. We had a great night.

Jackson's counts weren't high enough Tuesday, so he had another blood transfusion. The counts were up on Wednesday and he was able to start his fifth round. The surgery  has been scheduled for October 23rd and they said that they will do another bone marrow test and CAT scan within the next couple of weeks. Those two tests will be very important for us. We need to know if the bone marrow still has cancer and we need to know if the tumor is off the aorta, spleen, and kidney.

Staci and I would like to say a special thank you to all of  those that have done and are doing so much for our family. We know that all of our time is so important and we thank you for all that you have given us.
09/30/02
Jackson got to come home Thursday and has had a great weekend. We weren't sure if he would be able to come home or not, so it was very special when he did. He will go for his fifth round of chemo on Tuesday. Jackson and Wyatt have rekindled their love-hate relationship and doing well. As for us, there is nothing like having everyone in their own beds and under the same roof. Small things like that mean so much now, like having two boys yell mommy, or daddy, when you walk through the door after work. Jackson got to go fishing, bowling, and even a little  golfing this weekend and is ready for one more battle of chemo before he goes in for surgery again in late October.

We did get a little bad news last week, he had a hearing test and the results came back with moderate hearing loss. This loss may or may not be permanent. The doctors said they will take another look at the doses of chemo and cut back a little.

Make-A-Wish Foundation came by the house Sunday and asked Jackson what he would like to do if he could do anything. He replied he wants a 4-wheeler or he would like to see the PBR (Pro-Bull Riding) in Las Vegas. They asked him a lot of questions and will get back to us. They did say the 4-wheeler was not an option and Jackson was OK with that.