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Journal entries from 11/27/02 - 11/11/02

11/27/02

We hope that all of you have a Happy Thanksgiving weekend and we are looking forward to our whole family being together and cherishing each others company all weekend. Jackson is still loving his 4-wheeler and getting ready for his big trip to Seattle next Monday.

11/25/02

What a weekend. Jackson got to come home Friday and that night he was given a 4-wheeler from several of our friends at Regence Blueshield. Jackson has been talking about it or on it ever since. Saturday was also a great day for all of us. It started at 10:00 at his grade school. They had a hot wheel race, Baldwin Buzz Booth ($2 hair cuts), and many other activities in the gym with kids and their parents everywhere. They raised $2000 and everyone was having a great time. Then at 6:00 Jackson got to turn on the Christmas lights at Locomotive Park to start the year, along with a band, carolers, and several hundred people. Jackson and Wyatt got to be lifted high above everyone else on a platform and everyone counted down from 10 as they hit the plunger and started the show. After that we went up to the benefit auction at the Red Lion. It was unbelievable. They estimate over 600 people attended and the auction was put on incredibly well. It took a lot of planning by a collection of people that we are truly blessed to know. The generosity and compassion that was displayed by the auction committee, the auction item donors, and the auction attendees was something that we will never forget. When asked why we live here we will always have at least 600 reasons why. They say you don't truly know who your friends are until you need them, I guess we are finding out that we have a lot of friends. I hope people don't get tired of hearing it, but we thank you all so very much.

11/21/02

So far so good on the tests in Spokane. Today Jackson has to retake the test where he has to lay perfectly still for two hours while a machine scans his entire body searching for cancer. Yesterday he did it and they said something was in his intestine but they weren't worried but needed to take it again. It ended up coming out ok today. Last night they got to stay at the McDonald house again and that made all of them very happy. We are still hoping that Jackson will get to come home for the weekend. There are so many activities that we want him to be a part of. Jackson was even asked to help the Coug's in the locker room and the field during the Apple Cup, but we had to decline for many reasons. We know how much it would have meant to him and hope for another day. As for Seattle, we got some unwanted news. The clinic let us know that Jackson will be there from 2 to 2.5 months. So we will be out a little longer than we planned, but we will find a way to be together as much as we can and have Wyatt with his mom as much as possible.

11/18/02

Jackson is still in the hospital with hopes of getting to go to the McDonald House today and possibly coming home late Wednesday or Thursday. It has been a pretty tough week for all of us emotionally. A family that has been helping us with encouragement and knowledge of our future treatments has a boy that had exactly the same cancer as Jackson: Neuroblastoma on the adrenal gland, cancer in the bone marrow, stage 4, and others. All of the symptoms were the same. This little boy had been in remission for two and a half years and Friday he had a relapse and is in the hospital with cancer again. Our hearts go out to his family and we also have some wind taken from our sail as well. We were reminded by the doctor that for the next five years, there is a 40% - 50% chance of a relapse with this type of cancer. As well as Jackson has done so far, we can't forget the possibilities of the future and take each challenge we get one at a time. Friday, a 6 year old girl from Moscow had surgery on her cancer and the surgery didn't come out well. Sunday the family was there and not expecting her to make it through the day. Her kidney's had completely shut down and very little hope for her. So when I say that emotions were low this past week you can understand why. Jackson's newspaper article was great. Jackson showed all of the nurses his article and was proud of being in the paper. The article brought back many memories that we had endured. When you go through the challenges one at a time, they don't seem so bad, but when you read about all of them at once, it made us realize how hard this is sometimes. We really can't tell all of you how much the support means to us from our immediate family, our extended family, our friends, and people in our community that we don't even know. We will never be able to properly thank you, but please know how important your role has been from the very beginning. Thank You.

11/15/02

Jackson started running a fever last night and had to go in to the hospital at 8:45 PM. The worst part for him was missing the last part of Survivor. We hope he will get back out today after he gets some fluids and medicine. We had hoped he would come home for the weekend and that doesn't look likely. Wyatt went up there with Staci yesterday. She came home for a couple hours to take care of some things and headed back up. Wyatt wanted no part of Staci staying all night in the hospital with Jackson. So Staci's mom stayed with Jackson and Staci stayed at McDonald house with Wyatt. Balancing who needs her most has been our biggest struggle from the start. I know Staci is getting pretty tired and is ready for the upcoming break we should have before Seattle. Having my wife and two boys at home when I get home from work doesn't sound bad to me either.

11/11/02

Jackson is finished with his sixth round of chemo. He got to go to the McDonald house late Saturday night and has had a fairly rough time with getting sick so far. He was sick most of Sunday, but still had good spirits in between bouts of getting sick. His color is good right now and we just need to keep the fluids going in for a few days until he feels better. It's very hard to get a six year old to eat and drink when they feel that awful. We are hoping that Jackson will get to come home in a week or so. We would like for him to be here to say hi to the people at the benefit auction. It sounds like he will also be home for Thanksgiving and then head to Seattle on Dec. 1st. We will be spending Christmas in Seattle and most likely New Years. We can handle all of that if all of the treatments are working.