Still no news from Tuesday's tests!

I know that everyone is anxious to hear news from Tuesday's tests. We are anxious as well, but have not heard anything yet to report. We know that Dr. Blatt was out of the office in conference yesterday and that Bobbi Brooks' nephew Michael McKinney, who is also a patient of Dr. Blatt, had to start chemo again on Tuesday following his bone marrow and spinal tap. So, we are hoping that Dr. Blatt is focusing on Michael, and are patiently awaiting news from Grant's tests.

Please remember Michael and his family in your prayers. He was in remission, so the news for his family on Tuesday was not good news, to say the least. He has lost his sight and is experiencing some paralysis of his facial muscles. He is a sweet 14 year boy who had already been through several surgeries before finally being diagnosed with ALL last August, so his road has already been a very long one. Pray for Michael.

As for Grant, his swelling has gone down considerably in the past few days. He is looking much more like himself and feeling much better. He is even starting to grow a little peach fuzz on his cute little bald head!

So - I will update again when I know more.

Love to you all!

Emily

The boys are buzzed

A day or so after Super Grant got the new 'du, so did the rest... Riley was especially exited. He demanded that it be shorter than it was cut (on clipper guard #2), but unfortunately, Joella's clippers set is missing guard #1, so guard #2 had to suffice. They all love to talk about how they can tell its already growing back. :) (Front row: Grant Nelson, Riley Morris... Middle row: Jackson Steelman, Zac Dart, Mike Hancock, holding Will Dart... Back row: Joel Hancock, holding Brady Steelman, Jacob Nelson.)

Grant, Em, and Kevin are already up in Chapel Hill for their Tuesday morning appointments, which start at 7:30. Tomorrow will be a lumbar puncture and spinal tap. The findings of these tests will tell us if he is indeed in a state of remission. Then, he will be part of a clinical trial, where his later course of action will be decided, according to what is deemed best for getting him fully recovered.

Thanks again for the many, many prayers and well wishes in his behalf. He's being such a trooper, as you can tell, and looks forward to looking like himself again. Until then, he's happy making funny faces and wearing his pants really low under his bloated belly. :)

Also, there are still t-shirts for sale. If you'd like to place an order, let Joella know via email at granttshirt@yahoo.com. They are $10.

Hair today, gone tomorrow!

Hello friends and family! Well, today was the day- Grant's hair was coming out in handfuls yesterday, so Emily decided to go to Paul Wade's and buzzzz the remaining hair off of the little guy! It was a family affair, so Eden got to stay home from school to accompany her brothers to the barbershop.

Now, for those who have not grown up on Harkers Island, a trip to Paul Wade's (pronounced... paulwade- the kids think that is his first name... as in "Hey paulwade" when they see him at the grocery store) is always a wonderful occasion. Paul is as gentle as they come- he has very strong hands, and he can hold even the squirmiest little boy's head with one hand and cut his hair with the other. We love him!

So, Grant walked into my kitchen after the haircut with a smile on his face, and a superman hat on his head... quickly pulled off the hat, and there was the finest shiny head I've ever seen. It smelled just like a new haircut, and feels mighty good.

Many thanks to Paul for "keeping it cool" and getting past the moment for Em.

Right now- as I type, I have 10 grandchildren playing in my yard. They are swinging, riding, chalking, running, laughing, and having a great morning. My daughters are all here, catching up on the happenings of their favorite tv shows. The u-haul group ( Joel and Mike, Kyle and his dad- Rod) are in Kansas City, Missouri, heading east! They should be here tomorrow evening sometime.

Until later then- over and out!

Quick Tuesday update

Hey everyone- just a quick update. Grant had a very good day at the clinic. His counts were all better than last week, and he doesn't have to wear the mask everywhere! Still low counts, but better as far as infection probability. After the morning with his chemo and checkup, we left and Grant got to go to Build a Bear and he made the cutest policeman bear you've ever seen! We'll get a picture on tomorrow.

Then, Leah's house came next, and we got to wish Leah happy birthday! Brady was asleep, but we got Jackson and Leah to head to the park to feed the ducks with us for a while. Much fun!! All too soon, we headed home, got some tacos for the hungry boy, and arrived safely home without any nausea! Fabulous.

So- last week of prednisone, and hopefully the swelling will begin to subside. Grant said he wasn't looking forward to being a fat, bald boy. We told him he'd still be adorable- but hair is still in place for the moment! Amazing how well he is doing with all the changes-

OK- bed time. We'll update tomorrow.

Love you all.
Susan

Many, many thanks!

Relay was wonderful! Thanks to everyone who came out to support us and to Smyrna for your awesome effort over the past couple of weeks. The whole staff and student body has been so giving of their time and their money! I would be remiss if I didn't personally thank Vicky Caulder, Lisa Pittman and Laura Damren for all of their hard work and Lillie Miller for supporting all of their ideas and for being willing to get "mommicked". One of the fundraisers this week was to get to "Mommick Ms. Miller"! From my high school geometry teacher, to my boss at Croatan, to my children's principal, Ms. Miller has always been my friend! I love you, Lillie!

So - tomorrow we head back to Chapel Hill. We are very relieved that this is Grant's last week on Prednisone! Honestly, I am tired of feeding this animal! We have a short day planned for tomorrow - just two chemo meds and then back home.

This week will be the week of the hair! We approach each morning bath very anxiously. Grant is not so cool on becoming a bald guy! At first he thought it would be exciting to get to look like Lex Luther, but as the time is passing he has decided that he would rather stay Clark Kent! So, we will hopefully pass this next hurdle quickly and with as little drama as possible. We are a little more than "done" with drama at this point.

In closing, I also need to thank my mom for being Mother Theresa! Not everyone is so blessed to be raised by a Saint. And Pa - you're a good man, Charlie Brown. Its hard being married to Mother Theresa and also financing all of her works of goodness and charity!

And poor Joella, like she didn't already have enough going on in her life! Now she has to be both of us! I was having a hard enough time just being me, but now she is being asked to be herself and me too! Yikes! Juju - you are my best friend as well as my sister. Thank you for taking such good care of me!

OK - that's enough mushy, gushy for now. Someone is tired of crying, and that person is me!

Everyone have a great week! Its beautiful outside and we live at the beach! Who could ask for more!

Love to you all!

Relay for Life

Relay for Life was Friday evening. It had been cold and blowin' a storm all day, but it got better late in the afternoon, so Grant could participate. It was a special evening. Several of the Smyrna teachers had set up a booth for their team, and all were decked out in Super Grant tee shirts. Some of our good friends were there too- Cathy Guthrie and Loretta Lawrence were in the stands- it was just one year ago that Loretta's daughter Tracy was the impetus behind our Relay team. I could see in their eyes how much they were missing Tracy. Shanna and her daughter were there too- Shanna was more like Tracy's sister than a niece. Shanna had her camera and took the pictures that I am attaching to this.

The Survivor Lap kicked off the Relay weekend. You can see Emily, Grant, Kevin, and Kevin's sister Rachel in these pictures. Rachel is now a three year survivor of her cancer. She was there with her sweet baby Isabel- remember the doctors thought her chemo and radiation would prevent her having a baby? Guess she showed them!!

Grant is still doing well- very swollen today, but only one more week of the prednisone, and then his swelling should improve. He will go again on Tuesday to the clinic for his medicine- he's actually looking forward to it. I think he's got a crush on Dr. Romano!

Smyrna's Relay team finished with almost $4000 in just three weeks. Thanks so much to Lisa and Vicki- and all the others- Laura, Fran, Ryan, Kelly, Joe, Hannah, Kim, the Paylor triplets, well, I know I'm leaving out someone, but you know who you are. Thanks for the fabulous effort.

Carteret County News Times Front Page

Young leukemia patient to join survivor's lap at Relay for Life

Emily Nelson of Otway and her 5-year-old son Grant, who was diagnosed with leukemia on April 26, hold up containers that were set up at Smyrna School to collect money for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, which starts tonight at 6 on the West Carteret High School track. (Cheryl Burke photo)

by Cheryl Burke

NEWS-TIMES

SMYRNA — When Emily Nelson became an avid supporter of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life last year, she had no idea that one year later she would be walking in the cancer survivors’ lap, which kicks off the fund-raising event for the American Cancer Society.

But tonight, Emily and her 5-year-old son Grant, who was diagnosed with leukemia April 26, will be among the many cancer survivors making the inaugural lap around the West Carteret High School track at 6 p.m.

Dubbed the signature fundraising event for the nonprofit organization, the annual Relay for Life attracts teams from businesses, churches, schools and private citizens to help raise money for research and programs.

The relay event sees teams of 10-15 people who agree that one member of the team will remain on the track throughout the event. Each team member is asked to donate at least $100 each.

Mrs. Nelson last year helped organize a Relay for Life benefit concert in honor of the late Ellen Piner, a much loved East Carteret High School choral director and Board of Education member who died of cancer. Mrs. Nelson also participated in a Relay for Life team with her church.

She had hoped to organize another benefit concert for this year’s Relay for Life, but when her son started having a series of illnesses after Christmas, she had to give up on this year’s concert.

“We had started planning the concert this year and had booked the hall. But Grant kept getting sick. I finally had to cancel,” she said.

Mrs. Nelson and her son have still managed to ignite a major fundraising effort at Smyrna School , where Grant will attend kindergarten this fall.

Smyrna second-grade teacher Lisa Pittman said the school had not planned to enter a Relay for Life team this year, but after Grant was diagnosed with leukemia, the school in the last three weeks has not only put a team together, but has raised more than $1,600 for cancer research through various events.

“Grant was diagnosed with leukemia the same day he registered for kindergarten,” said Ms. Pittman.

“Emily had brought him in for registration and he was very sick. She had taken him in for testing that morning. Within two hours after she had registered him she got the phone call that he had leukemia and they were on their way to UNC-Chapel Hill (hospital).”

That was on a Thursday. By Monday, April 30, a major Relay for Life fundraising effort was under way at the school.

When Ms. Pittman and kindergarten teacher Vickie Caulder, who is also related to Mrs. Nelson, got the word on April 26 about Grant, they contacted the family to find out what they could do to help.

“Since they were so involved in Relay for Life last year, we decided we’d form a team here at Smyrna ,” said Ms. Caulder.

By April 30 the two had contacted Relay for Life organizers and began putting together a team and other fundraising events. They set out containers to collect money around the school. Seven days later they had raised $1,600.

One group of students, on their own, set up a lemonade stand to raise money for the family.

“The family might have insurance, but it still might cost a lot of money for gas and food and stuff like that,” said Smyrna sixth-grader Hailey Pruitt, who helped with the lemonade stand.

Mrs. Nelson said Grant has already begun chemotherapy.

“He has a good prognosis due to the research efforts done on childhood leukemia,” she said. “He has a very intensive first six months, and then three years of follow-up treatment.

“I love Relay for Life because it raises the awareness of the need for cancer research,” she continued. “Awareness equals money. Money equals research. And research equals a cure or many cures.”

Ms. Pittman said since starting the fundraising at the school, she has discovered there are several students who have family members with cancer.

“One of the student’s parents died last weekend from cancer,” she said. “We didn’t realize how many of our students are affected by cancer.”

Mrs. Nelson, who comes from a large supportive family in the Down East area, said the outpouring of support has overwhelmed her.

“We have been so overwhelmed by how kind everybody has been,” she said. “We feel really blessed to be here.”

She said her two brothers plan to shave their heads when Grant loses his hair from chemo, and several of the other boys in the family are going to get buzz cuts.

The small Down East school has also created a supportive family environment for Mrs. Nelson, who has a daughter in first grade at the school.

Since one of Grant’s favorite things is super heroes, the school’s fundraiser on Wednesday was students dressing up as their favorite super heroes.

Another event involved teachers providing childcare so parents could have a night out. Mrs. Nelson and her husband Kevin took advantage of that evening for a few hours for themselves.

Because there’s been such an interest in Grant’s progress, Mrs. Nelson has created a blog. Those interested can go to www.grantnelson.blogspot.com.

Grant's Birthday

It's already Wednesday- Grant had a fine day in Chapel Hill yesterday. The doctors were very pleased with his "numbers" and he tolerated the chemo very well. He did not need additional platelets or a blood transfusion this week! So, it was a pretty gentle day in the clinic.

Dr. Romano brought her husband over to meet Grant. He's a cardiologist, and he was so sweet to Grant. She even went over to the hospital and got Grant a piece of pizza to eat while he had his chemo- he is really really hungry because of the steroids. How special Dr. Romano is, as well as all of the other doctors. Grant is in good hands... and we are so very thankful for how well Grant has adjusted to this new life.

Joel and Mike leave Friday to fly to Denver, the occasion is Kyle's graduation from law school!! Then Aly will fly home in a week with Zac and Will, and Kyle, Rod, Joel, and Mike will drive cross-country one more time.

The News-Times interviewed Emily and Grant today for a story that will run in the paper on Friday. It is Relay for Life weekend, and Smyrna Elementary has done an outstanding job in a very short time to raise money for cancer research. Thank you so much, Lisa and Vicki, and all of the staff and children at the school. It has really meant the world to the Nelson's. Love you all.

T-shirts Are Coming

Hello all!

The t-shirts will be picked up tomorrow. We have about 90 pre-ordered, and we have about 50 extras, with the most extras being in the child sizes. For those who have ordered one, we will have the shirts at the Relay (at West Carteret) on Friday night to be picked up. We'll also have the extras there that can be purchased. If you aren't going to be there, email me at granttshirt@yahoo.com to let me know if you can come by my house to pick it up, or if we need to figure out another way to get the shirt to you. We will be dropping off some at Smyrna School for those who ordered one from there.

If you haven't paid yet, you can pay when you pick up the shirt, or you can drop off the money at my house or Mama's. It would be easiest if checks were made out to "cash."

Thanks!
-Joella

Birthday!

Good morning from the Nelson house. We are gearing up for a fabulous 5th birthday! Because of Grant's low immunity, we aren't having a party, but we are planning something fun for later in the summer when he is feeling better.

Grant and Jacob are excited to help their dad build a seesaw today! Notice that Grant is wearing his construction tool belt!

I am posting a couple of pictures from the week. Grant got to go see Spiderman 3 this week with Uncle Mike. He wore his new black Spidey costume and was thrilled to get to go to El's Drive-In for hotdogs before the show.

We also had a fun Saturday at the ball field. Grant decided that he wasn't going to play, so we were hanging out in the outfield watching. Then, near the end of the game he told me that he thought it was a lot more fun to play than to watch! So - here's a picture of his awesome hit - right in the sweet spot between 3rd and short!

Thanks again for all of your love and support. We are doing great and are looking forward to getting more blood work done tomorrow so we will know more of how he is responding to the chemo.

Until then - Happy Birthday Super Grant!

Happy Birthday Grant!

Today is Grant's fifth birthday. Happy birthday to my oldest grandson.

Grant will return to Chapel Hill tomorrow for a scheduled chemotherapy. He continues to be a very good patient. His appetite is huge- the prednisone is mostly responsible for that, and his sleeping schedule is not so great. Fortunately, Grant is being a good boy, and trying to rest when his mama and daddy think it's time.

I remember well the day Grant was born! The doctors had told Emily that a little boy was in the "oven" and we were all so so excited about this little one- Eden and Jacy were the only other grandchildren at this time, although Leah and Aly were also expecting their first baby too. Emily had an easy labor, and Grant was just a beautiful little boy!

Love you Grant. You are a super grandson.

Dolphins!

Grant and crew showed up at the house today just as Mike and I were about to pull out with the boat for a day on the water. We decided to let the Nelson boys (Kevin, Grant, and Jacob) come along for a bit. We launched the boat at the bridge (which had just one parking spot left!), and rode around the island for a while. Before we dropped off the Nelsons at the dock at the end of our road we saw a couple of different schools of dolphins that made the two young ones very happy! We circled around for a few minutes and Grant turned down Kevin's offer to throw him in to swim with the dolphins, but I think Jacob would have taken him up on it.

A Visit with Spiderman

Grant came over to Grandma's for a little while yesterday. He and Mike went to see Spiderman 3 this week (1:00 Wednesday show, in case you ever want to see a movie with no one else in the theater!) He liked the sandmonster- He wore a black spiderman outfit to the movie, complete with mask... I think Em has a picture I will try to put on later.

He's doing pretty good this week. A little fever yesterday had Emily a bit worried, but it went away. Grant is changing in his appearance some too- face is getting the "full cheeks" look, and probably by next week this time, you will see a pretty vacant head of hair! However, we are preparing ourselves and trying not to let the moment overwhelm the finished outcome.

So- it's gonna be fine. The getting to the "fine" part will involve some yucky stuff. It is still critical that Grant stays away from any one not feeling good, especially children. He has no white blood cells to fight infection- zero. So we wash our hands every 10 minutes, and put a squirt of hand sanitizer on more often than that. Emily actually bathed Jacob 4 times yesterday to keep him clean! Plain Jane's cleaning is coming to shampoo rugs today. Thanks for all of your prayers once again. I know they are helping not only Grant, but the whole family. We love you all.

Great News from Monday's test!

Just got off the phone with Em- Dr. Romano called and said, "Good news, Grant's leukemia count is below 5%!" To better sum up- that is the best news that they could have heard. The BEST!!

The goal of this initial induction phase is to kill all of the leukemia- that hardly ever happens, so therefore the 3.5 years of chemo. But for statistical purposes, if you can get the counts below 5% in the first 14 days of chemo, the chances for cure are very very very good. (Some sites say over 92% success rate of remission over 5 years- that's considered cured)

Today has been an unwinding day- last night was trying- Grant got sick on the way home due to the chemo and cheese pizza combination, and then their electrical box at home shorted out so they had no electricity and no water when they arrived right at dusky dark. Fortunately, we have lots of beds at our house now and the Nelson's came and spent the night. Loved having them all here...

I have been running into friends everywhere- thank you for your concern and love. We are truly encouraged- the doctor said no need for a bone marrow and spinal tap next week, so just the chemo! Hurray!

Reminder about "SUPER G" T-shirts

The order has been placed, and the shirts will be done and ready for pickup next Thursday (May 17). We didn't place a very big order this time, because we don't want to end up with a box-full of unwanted t-shirts, so please go ahead and claim yours by e-mailing Joella at granttshirt@yahoo.com. If needs be, we'll be glad to order more, but having them in time for the Relay event on Saturday, the 19th would be extra special, I'm sure. Just FYI, the t-shirt will be royal blue, and have the "G" in Superman fashion on the front. The writing on top of the "G" will read "Team Super Grant."

Oh, and as for payment - the shirts will be $10. They run in sizes from kids x-small, all the way to Adult 3x. Payment can be made to mama, checks preferably, and made out to "cash." Thanks so much!

Goodnight from the Days Inn!

Goodnight from the Days Inn!

We are up in Chapel Hill and bedded down in the Days Inn. Grant has had a bath and is listening to his daddy read to him from The Friend.

We have a clinic appointment tomorrow at 8am. Grant will get 2 of his chemo meds at the clinic and then we will head over to surgery for another lumbar puncture and bone marrow test. He will get his 3rd medicine straight into his spinal fluid as part of his surgery. This is the only medicine that he hasn't had yet, so we are hoping he responds as well to this one as the others and we don't have to contend with a nauseous little man on the way home!

Eden and Jake are with Grandma and Pa. We are so grateful for Mr. and Mrs. Mother Theresa! They have made this week so much easier and have made us feel so much more content!

Grant slept for over 2 hours on our trip up, so we will have a late night tonight. He is looking forward to seeing Dr. Romano - his very favorite - tomorrow! As he was eating breakfast this morning, which was 5 scrambled eggs by the way!!! - he said, "Mom - Theresa O-mano is a funny name!" and giggled! He thinks she will like his new haircut!

Good-night to all! We will report more tomorrow!

Em

A Flood of Memories and a Depth of Gratitude

This is from Aly's blogspot- I thought you would enjoy her trip down memory lane-

On Wednesday Kyle and the boys and I drove over to Utah from Colorado to spend a few days with his family before we move home to NC. The boys were so good and watched several movies during the nine hour trip, so Kyle and I were able to spend several hours talking. It was so nice.We discussed everything on this road trip from baseball to houses and from religion to politics. Of course, our conversation landed upon Grant, Emily, Kevin, and their entire family. As we spoke of our gratitude for technology, brilliant doctors, and miraculous treatments, I couldn't help but think about my Uncle Denny, and my grandparents, Charlie William and Margarette. Much like Grant, Denny was a vibrant and strong little boy; and much like Emily and Kevin, grandma and granddaddy were loving and attentive parents. Denny was a little older than Grant when he was diagnosed with leukemia, but there was one huge difference-time. I am so thankful that in this day and age, doctors have been inspired and guided to find treatments that not only fight symptoms, but heal little boys and girls of this terrible disease. I am so sad that my uncle, Denny, wasn't able to receive these treatments and that my grandparents had to suffer losing a son at 9 years old.

I admire my grandparents for their strength and long-suffering and I am in awe of my sister and her husband for the way they have chosen to react to this obstacle placed before them. It would be so easy to get mad and say why me, but it is through these trials that Heavenly Father proves who we really are, and they have definitely proven themselves to be strong and faithful parents. I am so thankful for their example.As Kyle and I discussed my grandparents, I began to have a flood of memories from my childhood. My grandma was the epitomy of what a grandmother should be. In my mind's eye she was always cooking or baking something, usually light bread or bread pudding, but always something. She always wore a house coat and cloth shoes from Roses or Maxway. Most of the time her hair was messed up from where she's taken a nap earlier that day. She loved The Young and the Restless and The Price is Right and watched both religiously.

She had the most contagious laugh (which will never die as long as Leah's around). She wore clip on ear rings and she had beaded necklaces in every color. She had a white house with a white picket fence that granddaddy built. She had the best swing ever on her front porch and a few rocking chairs that all had black paint chipping off of them. Right by the front steps there was a bright pink hydreanga bush that she absolutely loved. Around the corner of the house were those little pink flowers that had clover-like leaves. She had the best tree ever in her front yard that he nearly every grandchild's name carved in it. I've climbed to the top more times than I can count, much to granddaddy's chagrin. He was scared to death we were gonna "get killed." Luckily, none of us ever did.

There was a honeysuckle in the back yard that smelled heavenly. There was a gigantic heater in the kitchen that I still can't quite comprehend why it was so big! In the winter, she'd always block the front of the house off with an accordian door so they didn't have to heat the front two rooms, therefore in my memories, those two rooms were always cold. She al'ways had Coca Cola in the glass bottle in the fridge for granddaddy, but we'd always drink them as soon as we walked in the door. We almost got a good old fashioned switching one night after emptying grandma's fridge, but luckily our pre-switching screams were so loud, our neighbor came over to see what the fuss was all about! (We had been forewarned to stay out of the kitchen!)

I have such vivid memories of swinging on the porch and watching it rain. The smell is still so vivid in my mind. We would sit on that porch for hours and count the cars passing by. We'd all pick a color and at the end, the person whose color had passed my most won the game. We'd run circles around her house over and over again. We'd play Red-Rover in the front yard, but, as we all know, no one would ever send me right over! I'm still scarred by that! We'd play the egg game on the front steps where you'd approach the person on the front step and say, "Do you have any eggs," and they'd reply, "What color." Then you would begin saying colors and when you said their color, they'd take off running and you had to catch them. It sounds pretty stupid thinking about it now, but boy was it fun back then.We'd go to the landing and play in the water. We'd pick up shells and bottles and torment Uncle Mike's crabs. I was nearly decapitated once on a bike ride down to the landing, but I lived to tell about it, so I guess it wasn't as bad as I remember! I also almost had my hand blown off by a firework down there one Fourth of July, but I don't have any scars from that either.I could go on for days, but I won't. I loved that house and I love the two people who lived there. Soon after granddaddy died, so did the house, but in my mind it's still there. I am still 6 years old and grandma is still swinging on the porch while granddaddy waits at the landing for Uncle Mike to come back in. I am so thankful for memories. I am so lucky to have so many good ones.

Quiet Weekend

Saturday evening has almost past. The weekend has been uneventful, thankfully. Emily, Kevin and Grant arrived home about 6:30 pm yesterday. They were very glad to be home, and Grant had a good time showing his brother and sister his toys and games from the week at the hospital.

Today Grant went to the ball field to watch his team play. He did some swinging (on a swing!) and had a good time. He sure felt better than he did a week ago, and if it was not for worrying about him catching a cold or some infection from someone, he could really enjoy playing with all of his buddies! This evening Andrew and Logan (his neighbor friends) came over and played in the driveway for a while. Grant was just really enjoying being outside and throwing a frisby disk.

Tomorrow Em, Kevin, and Grant will go back up to Chapel Hill. He has chemo on Monday morning at the outpatient clinic, and then he'll go over to the hospital at noon and have another lumbar puncture (spinal tap) and bone marrow extraction. They will lay him asleep again for this, so it is his third surgery in a week. Grant will be able to come home after he wakes up and remains under observation for a short while, so they should all be home by Monday evening.

This phase of treatment is called induction. It will take about 4 weeks of intensive chemo, and at the end of this phase, he will hopefully be in remission. That's a good word.

Well, time to head to bed! The news remains very good at this point, and we will continue to hope and pray for things to keep going in this direction. Thanks for your love once again.

Mama Susan

A video of Grant's stay at UNC - Chapel Hill

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

T-shirts

We are trying to guesstimate how many shirts we should order. They are going to be blue with the SuperGrant symbol on them, and will be $10. If you are interested, email me at granttshirt@yahoo.com . Let me know what size(s) you will need. The printers need to know by tomorrow in order to get them here in time for Relay, so if you want to be sure that you get one, please try to let me know by Friday afternoon. We will order some extras, so if you don't get to me by Friday, you may still be able to get one.

Thanks,
Joella

They're heading home on FRIDAY!

I'll copy and paste what Emily just posted this afternoon on our myfamily.com site.

****************************************************************

We are coming home!

I don't have time to write much. This is the first chance we have had to get to a computer. Life has been unbelievably busy up here. However, Grant is doing great and just received his last chemo treatment for the week. We will be home sometime tomorrow and will come back on Monday for some more meds and another spinal and bone marrow test.

I can't express my great love and gratitude that Kevin and I feel. This week has been overwhelming to say the least. At night as I am trying to sleep I sing to myself the words of the primary song "I feel my Savior's love in all the world around me......." Indeed we feel His love and the love that so many family and friends have expressed to us this week.

The road will be long and hard. But like we always say.... we can do hard things! We are glad to be over this initial hurdle and are so happy to be coming home.

See you there!
~Emily

Oh Happy Day!

It's 9:30 on Wednesday evening. I saw Grant, Kevin and Emily this evening- they sure looked fine! The surgery to insert his "port" was successful and Grant was fully awake and looking much stronger than yesterday.

A couple of sweet things to report- Grant has received a number of beautiful gift baskets full of things to make a little boy quite happy. In one of the packages, there was a small pirate treasure chest about the size of a 3 x 5 note card. It is just the kind of thing that Grant loves. Well, as fate would have it, as Papa Joel left on Sunday evening, Emily went down to his car to get some cd books on tape for Kevin to listen to- and Pa said he didn't have much cash on him, but he did have a roll of gold Sacagawea dollar coins... do you think you know where the gold coins are?? He's laying in bed with the treasure chest in his hand, just as excited as can be.

Another thing- Grant has really been a special young man up on the fifth floor this week. His doctors think he's mighty fine and they are genuinely enamored by him. When I looked over his heart to see where the port had been inserted, I couldn't help but smile when I saw that one of his surgeons had cut a bandage in the shape of a duck for him... yep, a very nice duck at that! He thought that was super.

It is being discussed that Grant may be able to go home on Friday if he has a good reaction to his chemo tomorrow, and then come back up here on Monday for the next treatment and another bone marrow test. That would be heavenly. It is beyond my capacity to express my love to each of you, family and friends, who have stopped your busy schedules and lives to pray and ask our Father in Heaven to heal Grant so he may live a long and wonderful life. Thank you for those prayers, and for your faith that he will recover.

I think that Jacob and I will go home tomorrow if the Friday scenerio seems to be still probable. Leah and Rodney have been wonderful to Jake and me- but I sure miss my honey. He has to worry about us all when he's at home by himself!

Nite nite.
Susan

Thanks, update, and T-shirts

First of all, I want to thank all of you for your support so far. It means so much to us how willing you are to help. We have already had many acts of service that we really appreciate. It makes coping a lot easier when there are so many people rooting and praying for you.

There is not a lot of new news to report. The chest x-ray last night showed that the swelling is going down in his chest, so hopefully at 2:00 today they are going to be able to put in the port. Mama said that Grant seemed more tired yesterday, which is to be expected after chemo. Emily said he hasn't complained at all about where they did the spinal tap or took marrow from his hip. He's a tough boy! We'll update again tonight.

We're looking into getting T-shirts made with the very cool Super-G symbol on it (like is on the front page). Leah's husband, Rodney, made that symbol yesterday, and I think he did a super super job! So I will post more information about that later.

Thanks again!

Pics of our favorite Super Grant

Pics from my visit over to the hospital on Monday night (April 31, 2007)

Deep in artistic thought


Wolverine working on his scary creature masterpiece



My friend Adrienne posing with us, who immediately fell in love with this handsome fella


The happy crew


Mommy and Aunty Leah asking him to pose for yet another picture

Tuesday night update

Jackson & I spent a few hours with Grant, Emmy and Kevin this afternoon. I am so pleased to report that everything is still going well for him.

Unfortunately, Grant has to wear a surgical mask (that covers the nose and mouth) when other kids are around him. I mentioned this to Jackson on the way over, more to prepare him than anything else. He asked why, and I explained to him that the two of them didn't need to be sharing germs, and it would keep Grant from getting sicker. He thought about it for a minute, and then he had a light bulb moment. He immediately told me of his idea. "What if I don't wear a mask, and some of my "healthy boy" germs travel to him, and that would make him all better." I told him it was a GREAT idea, and I'd talk to the doctor about it when we got there, to see if it would work. ;)

When we first got there, Jackson, Grant, Kevin & I spent a little while in the kid's play room up on the 7th floor, while Em spoke to a nurse about some meds down in their room. The play area was full of puzzles, blocks, gadgets, slides, running ramps, and everything that a little boy or girl could desire. Grant even ran around a little bit, and especially enjoyed running down the slide. :)

The rest of our stay was in Grant's room, where he has a nice assortment of superheros, pirate stuff, coloring books, and every marker and crayon known to man. All these things, of course, are right up his alley. In the 5 or so hours total that I've spent with him since he got to Chapel Hill, he's been drawing and coloring for about 4.

As for "news," they are still satisfied with what they are seeing. He had an x-ray tonight, to see if the swelling in his chest has gone down enough to put the port in tomorrow. His white cell count is very low, and that is exactly what we want to see. The chemo is doing its work. Because of this low number, however, his resistance to outside infection is low. Because of this low resistance, they've decided to put off putting in a catheter, though which they'd start running the chemo. The outlook for a return home is still unsure. There will continue to be a number of chemo treatments, blood transfusions, platelets via iv, etc., and we ask for your faith and prayers that these events will all continue to be well received by his little body.

Mama and Jakey are sitting here next to me in my home in Raleigh, and they'll be staying here for a good part of the week. Jakey was some kinda thrilled to get to the room this afternoon (at the hospital.) His squeal got a good laugh out of the desk full of nurses right behind him. ;)

Thank you to all who have continued to be praying for Grant and the family. Emily and Kevin could use the prayers too. They were both mighty tired this afternoon and evening, even with all the good that has transpired.

Goodnight from Raleigh...
Leah

More good news...

Yesterday was day 1 of Grant's chemo treatments. It hasn't made him feel bad like chemo can do. For some reason, kids usually don't get as sick as adults do. He will have treatments on days 1, 4, and 8 (or something like that). The Dr. said that maybe, perhaps, if he's lucky, he might be able to come home for a few days between days 4 and 8. Emily will have to be very cautious with him. One of the things that chemo does is kill the white blood cells, which means he is very prone to other sicknesses. So, in other words, he may be home but won't really be able to see lots of visitors. :o( That's ok, though. We'll do whatever it takes to get the little man healthy again!

Grant's mailing address

Grant's mailing address is:

UNC Hospitals - Children's Hospital
Room 5C01
Grant Nelson
101 Manning Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27514