Super Grant's Page

Absolute Remission!

2010-10-02T17:35:00.002-04:00

So.....

I has been forever since I blogged. Facebook is just so much easier! Emily is... and only a sentence. This blogging stuff makes me think too much. However, this news requires a formal press release.

The final high resolution tests have been done. The port has been removed. Oral meds have ceased. We are in absolute remission! Done!

I can't say that life feels a lot different. We have a check-up this Friday, so the trips to Chapel Hill haven't stopped.

But, I will tell you this. Last Friday (not yesterday, but the one before).... that was the first day that I felt almost normal since April of 2007. All three of the sweet children were at school. I washed dishes. I folded clothes. I made a sandwich for lunch. I read a little.... Nothing extraordinary happened. In fact, nothing happened! A day with nothing..... It was nice! And I felt normal..... as normal as a Southern, stay at home mother of 3, Mormon Bishop's wife, Democrat, musician can feel! :)

So not really "normal".......but OK! I'll take it!

The Carteret County News-Times article

2010-05-15T15:15:00.003-04:00

Here's a link to a fabulous article all about Grant, and this weekends festivities in support of Relay For Life.

*please copy and paste... linking feature is messing up
http://www.carteretnewstimes.com/articles/2010/05/14/news-times/news/doc4bed8442c3382900760010.txt

And the article text, just in case anyone has trouble accessing the link.

"Youth plays on despite cancer"

Chemotherapy and spinal tap in the morning.

Going 3-for-3 at the plate in the afternoon.

No big deal.

It’s just another day in the life of Grant Nelson.

The Otway Little Leaguer doesn’t sweat the small stuff like a fastball on the inside corner of the plate.

Not after battling leukemia for the past three years.

“I don’t like sitting at home after I have my treatments,” said Grant, who turns 8 years old today. “It’s boring. I’d rather come out here and play baseball. I play basketball and soccer, too. But baseball is my favorite.”

On the morning of Tuesday, April 27, Grant, along with his mother Emily Nelson, made his monthly trip to the North Carolina Children’s Hospital at Chapel Hill.

There he received chemotherapy, both through a port in his left chest and delivered directly to his spine, and a spinal tap. Later that evening he was in Smyrna playing third base for his Down East Stingrays and going 3-for-3 at the plate in a 10-5 victory over the Shorebirds.

Three days later, on Friday, April 29, he scored the go-ahead run and tagged a runner out at third base to end the game in a 10-9 victory over the rival Pirates.

That's an outstanding week for an average Little Leaguer, much less one with cancer.

“A lot of people think he is finished with his treatments, because he looks like a healthy kid,” said Mrs. Nelson, 34. “But he is still receiving chemo. It just isn't hard chemo like during his induction phase. This is the maintenance phase of his treatment.”

Since January 2008, Grant's treatment has followed a repetitive 28-day cycle. He goes to Chapel Hill once every 28 days and receives chemotherapy, as well as a spinal tap every third trip, and for the first five days of those 28 he takes steroids.

“And he has medicines that he takes everyday as well,” said Mrs. Nelson. “Wednesday is our heavy medicine night. He normally takes 16-18 pills that night.”

Grant played T-ball three years ago, and has played Little League the past two years. He has played at various times with his hair falling out, skinny and pale, and swollen from steroids. In fact, his experience with steroids gave him a connection to a former Major League Baseball player.

“I used to say that Barry Bonds was my favorite player because we took a lot of pills to play baseball,” said Grant, proving that three years of chemotherapy has had no ill effect on his wicked sense of humor.

That wasn't exactly the baseball hero his father, Kevin, 33, was hoping for his son.

“We were having a conversation one day about Barry Bonds and I was telling him why we shouldn't root for him, because he takes steroids,” said Mr. Nelson. “But when he heard 'steroids,' he said that made Bonds his favorite player.”

Today he roots for the St. Louis Cardinals and his favorite player is first baseman Albert Pujols.

Grant, described as “hilarious” by his parents, has needed a sense of humor to see him through the past three years.

He was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on April 26, 2007, just two weeks shy of his fifth birthday. He had been sick most of the winter, getting several ear infections, colds and coughs, strep throat, stomach bugs and fevers.

Those illnesses, and a family history of leukemia, caused Mrs. Nelson to ask for a full blood panel when she took Grant to Dr. John Knelson for his kindergarten physical.

“I had a cousin whose daughter died from leukemia and my dad had a brother who died from leukemia when he was a little boy,” said Mrs. Nelson.

“Growing up, whenever we got sick my aunts would always say, 'You take that young'un to get some blood work, they look like they’ve got leukemia.' I told Dr. Knelson I thought Grant might have leukemia and he told me no one in their right mind would say such a thing. So I told him that story and told him it was something my family always discussed.”

Grant and his mother had just left kindergarten registration later that day when they received the call from Dr. Knelson.

“He said, 'Mrs. Nelson, it looks like you were right, we are going to need you to go to Carolina right now,” she said. “I was just so stunned. Totally stunned. Everyone I had ever known with leukemia had died. The worst part of it all was having to tell our families and all of the people who we knew loved us so much and would worry about us so much. I remember having to call my sisters. It was just horrible. I wouldn't want to relive that day again.”

By midnight, the family was in Chapel Hill where Grant received X-rays and blood work to determine the exact kind of cancer. He was properly diagnosed at 3 a.m. and immediately began chemotherapy.

And while it was a harrowing few days for his parents, Grant showed superhuman resiliency, as children often do in such situations, and took it all in stride.

“I remember I said, 'this is the best day of my life!' he said. “I got a portable DVD player on the way up there and at the hospital it was just like I was Curious George.”

Grant's favorite book at the time was, Curious George Goes to the Hospital. In the book, George swallows a piece of a jigsaw puzzle and is taken to the hospital where he receives X-rays and has his vital signs checked.

He spent 11 days in the N.C. Children’s Hospital and went into full remission after his first 28 days of chemotherapy. He missed the first half of kindergarten while he continued to receive heavy doses of chemotherapy on a weekly basis.

That course of treatment ended in January 2008 and he soon began to attend school on a modified schedule. By the end of the year his ability to fight infection had improved enough for him to attend school on a full-time basis.

Since then, Grant and his family, which includes sister Eden, 10, and brother Jacob, 5, have been on quite an adventure in their battle versus leukemia.

They have become well-versed in medical jargon, routinely discussing terms like IT methotrexate, vincristine, propofol, prednisone, dexamethazone and absolute neutrophil counts (ANC).

There have been countless shots, scans, blood transfusions and fevers. Grant's parents can't count the trips they've taken to the Carteret General Hospital emergency room due to fevers, sometimes approaching 105 degrees Fahrenheit, including one midnight trip that resulted in an early morning run to Chapel Hill. He has been hospitalized three times for high fevers.

The family has also learned just how pervasive childhood cancers are, often having to face long lines at the children’s hospital when they go for treatment. Throughout their journey, the Nelsons have become close with those children and their families and have experienced their highs and lows, as well.

“The other kids have been a great blessing in our lives,” said Mrs. Nelson. “Even the children who we have grown to love and then had to lose have brought such joy to our hearts. And their families are now forever intertwined with ours.”

At the moment, Grant's friend William Bunn, 9, is fighting hard to make it. The Raleigh native has received a bone marrow transplant and has now relapsed. His scans revealed Wednesday that his treatment protocol is not working this time around.

In October 2007, the family had to say goodbye to their new friend Matthew McKinney. The Croatan High School student lost his battle with leukemia at the age of 14.

“That, by far, is the hardest loss we have had to deal with,” said Mrs. Nelson. “Grant never really asked about dying until Michael passed away. And it was hard on him to face the fact that leukemia was something that could kill him, too. It’s hard. Most second-graders don't have to be so acquainted with grief.”

The Nelson's were part of McKinney's Relay For Life team, The Purple Rubber Monkey Ducks, last year and hope to be this year, as well. Relay starts 5 p.m. this evening at West Carteret High School and continues overnight through noon Saturday.

Due to Mrs. Nelson's family history with cancer, and Mr. Nelson's (his father, Fred, died from melanoma in 1999), the family has long been a part of Relay For Life.

Dubbed the signature fundraising event for the American Cancer Society, each year Relay for Life attracts teams from businesses, churches, schools and private citizens to help raise money for research and programs.

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

In 2006, the family was part of a huge Relay effort on behalf of their friend Tracy Ballou, who later died from colon cancer, and also helped organize a benefit concert at Relay For Life in honor of Mrs. Nelson's former East Carteret chorus teacher Ellen Piner. She died from cancer in 2004.

Then in 2007, they took part in Relay For Life's cancer survivors' lap for Grant, just a few weeks after his diagnosis.

An accomplished artist who's also quite adept at building things with Legos – a regular “Lego maniac,” according to Mr. Nelson – Grant is looking forward to a trip to Victory Junction this summer.

Located in Randleman, Victory Junction is a camp for children with terminal and chronic illnesses. The camp is built on 84 acres donated by NASCAR’s famed Petty family and is part of the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps.

Grant and his family visited Walt Disney World in October 2008 thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

However, he's most looking forward to this August when his three-year course of treatments comes to a jubilant end.

“He really wants to take taekwondo (a Korean martial art), but we have to wait until he gets through with chemo because the chemo destroys his bone marrow and his bones are very brittle,” said Mrs. Nelson. “He is really looking forward to that. More importantly, he can't wait to be a normal little boy again, and no longer a cancer patient.”

Sweet William

2010-02-17T10:36:00.003-05:00

Our dear friend William had his normal three month scans earlier this week. We were so devastated to hear that he has been scheduled to have several suspicious places biopsied.

Please keep William, his parents Amy & Mark, and his Sissy in your hearts as we all hope and pray for a miracle.

Thursday Morning Update: William has relapsed. His doctors are meeting today to decide what to do next.

I don't even know what to say. You can visit his Caringbridge site by clicking on the William Bunn link on the far right column.

Nickel'd and dime'd to death!

2010-02-05T13:26:00.004-05:00

January can carry a pretty hefty financial load.

Everyone is still reeling from the Christmas spending extravaganza, baseball and softball registration begins, basketball games are in full swing, the tax man cometh, etc....

And right in the middle of it all.....the fundraising begins. Relay for Life really starts to kick-off its efforts, Jump Rope for Heart leads its way into Valentine's Day, and this year, we also got little cardboard boxes for Pennies for Patients, a division of The Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

I overheard one of my friends the other day lamenting to another mom that she was being nickle'd and dime'd to death!

Offensive - no. Thought provoking - yes.

I come from a large family. I remember at times it was difficult financially. My sisters and I often didn't have/wear/drive what the other kids did. My brothers were the youngest, and thankfully, the Hancock family economic climate had changed quite a bit by the time they were old enough to even remember the pre-Farm Bureau life! (Farm Bureau rocks, btw!)

That being said, I know very few people in my everyday circle of friends who can't spare an animal cracker box full of loose change. In fact, I think even in the Atlantic Veneer stage of life that my parents would have gladly filled up a box with spare change to send in to the school. They most probably would have sent in not 1 or 2.... but 6 such boxes! They surely would have even taken the opportunity in doing so to have a conversation with their children about the blessings of financial independence and the blessings of having healthy children. Having been touched by leukemia (my father lost a brother to childhood leukemia), they may have even talked to us about what cancer was and that it was an epidemic. They would have used the little cardboard box as a teaching tool.

There are plenty of things they might have done....but exclaiming that they were being nickle'd and dime'd to death wouldn't have been one of them! I count that among one of the reasons why they are and were the best parents in the world!

Before Grant's diagnosis, I must tell you that I never really even noticed what those little quarter collection displays at the check-out counter at Rite Aid were for! The kids loved to fill up the little quarter slots, but that was about all I knew. However, after April of '07, I became personally connected with The Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

Of all of the cancer related research, support, advocacy groups out there...very few offer any assistance to people/families who are battling cancer. Most fund research and research is critical. But at diagnosis, financial assistance is critical, as well. The Leukemia Lymphoma Society has a Patient Assistance program that will reimburse medical expenses of $500 for up to two years. Read back to summer 2007 and you will see that we visited the hospital every week. This schedule lasted for nine months. Needless to say, it didn't take long to tally up $500 worth of receipts for reimbursement! Each visit to the clinic cost somewhere in the vicinity of $5000. Thankfully, our insurance was in-network for UNC and we have wonderful support from our families, but spending the night in a hotel once a week can take its toll.

In response to the nickel and dime statement, I would characterize that the better part of 2007 as being $500'd to death! And for the parents of leukemia patients, they are doing so in the face of real death! DEATH! They are spending every waking moment wondering if this will be the day that they will hear the news that their kid isn't going to make it, or they will walk into the clinic and find that the 7 year old who was playing lego's last Tuesday died the day before while recovering from his bone marrow transplant, or the 15 year old who sat in the lobby doing Algebra homework last Tuesday died of pneumonia on Thursday!

And I hope that none of you ever, ever, ever have to experience that! Take my word for it, you do not want to go to there! I'm a little nauseous just thinking about it.

So - why the soap box today?

My friend Teri (Teri Freeman for you locals) is doing something amazing! She is running a marathon....yes, a marathon.... a 26 mile race! I can't even drive 26 miles without stopping for a Dr. P. But, Teri is running a MARATHON to raise money and awareness for The Leukemia Lymphoma Society!

And she is doing it to honor my little boy!

How about that?

I can't tell you how honored I am that Teri has chosen to do this.

AND - here's the kicker - we are going to help her do it!

How, you may ask!?

By clicking on this nifty little link and donating some nickels and dimes and even tens and twenties to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society!

Now.... go do it!

I did!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ri/rnr10/Teri12

Christmas Card 2009

2009-12-23T13:36:00.001-05:00

Giving Thanks

2009-11-16T08:16:00.003-05:00

So, Thanksgiving is right around the corner -already! I realize that my posts are getting shorter and shorter and fewer and fewer..... Its not that I don't have anything to say. I simply find it so hard to find time to say it!

Grant finished a chemo week round of steroids yesterday. We are always so grateful to be finished with steroids. We started a new cycle this past Tuesday with a spinal tap and IT Methotrexate. We were happy to be able to visit with Jane and to see William and his family for a few moments as we were leaving. William was in for a round of scans to monitor his remission from Neuroblastoma. Evidently, everything was not exactly at it should be, so he is in again today for an MRI. We are praying for clean scans today!

To catch everyone up, our life in synopsis.....

Soccer is over.
Basketball has begun.
Christmas recital rehearsals are in full swing.
I have to write to Christmas program for church!
My mom is now a skinny person!
I wish both of my brothers lived closer to home...
Leah, too! (3 hours is still too far away)
My once beautiful landscaping needs some "welcome to Fall" assistance.
My house needs a good cleaning...
My Bishop/husband is working really hard - at work and at church!
I need a haircut and will soon need color as Aly keeps finding grey hairs intermingled with the auburn ones! Really - I'm still 33 -what's up with that?
Eden lost her last tooth, and continues to know just the thing to do to get on my last nerve!
She's almost as tall as me.
I noticed yesterday as we left for church that she looked like she was going to the prom.
She's beautiful!
Jacob is the life of the party - and enjoys throwing one every afternoon in my yard!
Grant could build a fully functioning space station with Legos...and would like to do so either in the middle of the living room or on the dining room table.
Its not easy to keep Jacob away from Grant's Lego creations, btw...
My life is so busy... but I am so blessed!
I love my husband.
I love my kids.
I love my job - the poeple I work with, the parents, and especially all of the sweet kids that I teach!
I love my Ma & Pa!
I love my sisters and their husbands.
I love my brothers and their wives.
I love all of my exceptionally beautiful and talented nieces and nephews!
I love my massive extended family and am so grateful to live out my daily life with them.
I love all of my good friends..especially Ashley, who is really more like my sister!
I love my life - its hard, it tiring, its amazingly wonderful!

8:23 pm Update.... William is all good! Scans came back clean today!

Good counts!

2009-09-23T19:19:00.001-04:00

We're home from our monthly chemo trip. We had a great day! Good counts, fun visit with Jane, and lots of mommy/Grant quality time!

Pictures

2009-09-14T11:21:00.003-04:00

New nurses station.... They didn't have one before! (just a little closet!)

Ms. Cindy checking Grant in...

It was opening day, so she wore her pearls!

Grant and his buddy William

William was doing is 1 year post transplant visit &

he is still cancer free!

Dr. Blatt checking out Super Grant

This is just too nice!

2009-08-18T08:56:00.002-04:00

So, we are are the new pediatric cancer clinic at UNC this morning. At the moment, Grant is blissfully playing with his pal William. They are opening boxes of new Transformers that have been donated for the new playroom. Owen and his dad are playing "Sorry" on a real game table. Across the hall, kids are playing "Starfall" at the 2 new computer stations! I am sitting on a beautifully uphosltered bench where I have enough room to sit.... and type..... and breathe! What's going on here?

Seriously, the waiting room at this place is bigger than the whole clinic across the street!

I didn't even wear make-up!? Who knew.... I feel like I should have on heels instead of flip-flops!

So far, counts look great. The sedation clinic (spinal tap) is a little slow to get going. They haven't started yet and I think we are #8 or #9 on the list, so we'll still be here a while. That's ok. I feel like I'm on vacation at a spa! OK - maybe that's taking it a little too far!

I took a bunch of pictures. I'll post later!

Happy 4th from the Hancocks!

2009-07-06T15:17:00.003-04:00

The Hancocks got together at Margo's for dinner on the 4th! I feel sure that I am biased, but I think this is just the finest group of folks around!

Can you say August 2010!?

2009-07-02T22:03:00.003-04:00

Ok - I know!

I am a sorry blogger!

I would make excuses..... but why?

We've been having a great summer. We've done lots of swimming in a variety of pools! We have had a couple of boat days and are looking forward to this weekend's trip to Cape Lookout! Eden was able to spend some time in Kinston with her friend Claire. We love you, Claire! Jacob has developed quite a fascination with fireworks! Should I be worried?

Our garden is growing and I have more squash and cucumbers than anyone could possibly ever eat! Jake even planted some watermelon plants and we are happy to report that we have 3 beautiful watermelons growing on our vines! The hostas are in full bloom and the grass is green! Life is good!

Grant had his monthly chemo visit yesterday. His counts are great! He has grown an inch this summer... and lost 5 lbs. He is a man child! His foot is 2 sizes bigger than it was just a few months ago! His continues to be a text book patient and we continue to feel very blessed and humbled by this experience.

So, Dr. B asks me yesterday when Grant is scheduled to come off protocol. I respond, I think we're January of 2011. She seemed to think the we were to come off a little earlier, so she checked the computer, and as far as she can tell, we will be coming off protocol in August of 2010. That is only a little over a year! Holy Cow! I can't believe that the time has flown by so fast and that our previous calendar was so "off"...... but, I'll take it!

We wish everyone a happy 4th and a wonderful summer!

Lucky 7!

2009-05-14T14:43:00.001-04:00

Happy 7th Birthday to you, Super Grant!

I was just feeling my first labor pains at this hour, seven years ago!

Relay for the Life '09

2009-05-04T16:36:00.002-04:00

Grant and I attended the Relay for Life survivor dinner yesterday. We had a great time and were so excited to visit with the McKinney extended family. They were in charge of the dinner this year and they did a fabulous job! Outback catered our meal and we were honored to hear from "Touch of Grace" - a simply divine singing group of young ladies from Harkers Island!

Grant is just finishing a round of steroids today. He did clinic on Wednesday and has had a pretty uneventful cycle thus far.... I dare to say that, because normally when I think that everything is going great is when the bottom falls out!

Recently we have been following the progress of our friend Evan who was burned in a brush fire at his home last week when a paint can exploded. He has been being treated at the burn center at UNC. We are so happy to report that Evan returned home yesterday and is making wonderful progress. Our hearts go out to him and his family. Evan's mom was the nurse who saw Grant on the day of his diagnosis. She has been a friend since Mr. Barker's chemistry class at ECHS. Remember Christine, Doug, Parker and Evan in your prayers.

This past Saturday we were also thrown another trauma when our good friend, my second mama, Marla and two of her grandchildren were injured in a car accident. Thankfully, everyone is recovering and Chandler and Brooke are being well taken care of at Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville. We feel so blessed that their injuries are healing and that they will hopefully be home soon! Our love and prayers are with the entire Lawrence clan!

Relay for Life is coming up on May 16th and 17th. We have been slack this year and have not raised money for Team Super Grant..... but we are excited to be able to help the Purple Rubber Monkey Ducks! To make a donation, use the following link....

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/mycoolsmom

Thanks for continuing to pray for Grant. Our next scheduled spinal tap is June 9th.

On the mend....

2009-04-16T18:06:00.002-04:00

Grant seems to be over the fever.... It has been a long week of low-grade temps and hacky coughs! Today he is still tired, but no fever to report!

Spring Break has been a cruel joke as the weather seems to have reverted back to mid-February! I hate cold weather!

I took the boys to a movie yesterday and Eden has spent the week with friends. She has one busy social calendar! Ball games begin again tomorrow.... and all day on Saturday, then back to the final push before school is over once again.

I'm considering beginning a full-time job for the summer so I don't have to figure out how to entertain my crew every day! Day care sounds so nice at this point! :)

Another fever today

2009-04-12T16:30:00.002-04:00

Grant has not been feeling good this week, actually, he hasn't felt good since his last chemo trip 13 days ago. He has fallen asleep often, and just has had an itchy throat and hacky cough.

Well, after dinner today, he went to sleep, and woke up with a 103 degree fever. Em and Kevin are at Carteret General right now, doing blood work to see whats going on. Preliminary check-up shows fluid behind one ear, a red throat from post nasal drip and probably a sinus infection. They are getting ready to do blood cultures and start him on iv antibiotics for precautions.

Fever is 102.6 after tylenol an hour ago. They will also check his central line port to be sure there is no infection there. We were just talking yesterday about how fortunate Grant has been not to have had an infection in his line- it is very common in the children who have ports for 3.5 years. I would not be surprised if that is what is going on. Well, I will update this as soon as I know anything.

Super Grant Summer '08

2009-04-02T22:01:00.005-04:00

While going through files and editing tonight, I found a whole folder of pics I took of Grant last summer. Here's just one to share. Isn't he a stud muffin!

Its been a week!

2009-03-29T23:16:00.003-04:00

Grant will be at UNC tomorrow for his monthly appointment. We are praying for good blood counts and to be free of whatever virus we have been dealing with for a while.... Yucky cough and low grade fevers!

We have had a good weekend. Grant played his first Little League game yesterday and got a triple! Go Super Grant!

Eden had Opening Ceremonies, but her game was rained out... She will play tomorrow night.

Jake will have Opening Ceremonies on Saturday. Did I mention that he was bitten on the face (mainly scratched, thankfully!) by a dog yesterday at the ball field. He is fine.... My nerves are shot!

We finished the flooring. Now we just have to tackle the baseboards!

Rachel (Kevin's sister) and her husband Jason welcomed a new baby boy yesterday! He is beautiful! Congratulations to Isabelle on becoming a big sister!

And....

Kevin was called as Bishop today. We are excited with his new call and for the chance we have to serve the Lord.

It's been a week.

ER

2009-03-12T21:00:00.003-04:00

N0 - we haven't had another trip to the ER..... Grant is good. No fevers. Done with steroids!

But......

Can I tell you how excited I am that the former cast members of ER will return tonight!? I am an ER junky! Have been for decades! Let me just say that if John Carter does not get a kidney, I am gonna stop the insanity and give up ER all together!

At least in a couple of weeks when it goes off the air!!!!!! ;)

It doesn't take much to get me excited these days!

Can you tell?

Can you say COLD?????

2009-03-03T17:19:00.003-05:00

We're home from our very chilly clinic visit. 18 degrees in Chapel Hill! I hate cold weather! I'd think I'd rather have it 113 degrees like last August!

Grants counts were back to normal today.... such a relief for his neurotic mommy! He hit a big milestone as he was able to sit alone to have his port accessed. Normally he sits in my lap and I have to sing and its a big show! But today he was a big boy and did it all alone.... no singing.... no tears!

Dr. Blatt says that his chest sounds clear and his ears look great and that he's a purty man!

So, we'll start steroids today and look forward to a hungry week.

In other AWESOME news, Eden will have her first official softball practice as a 10U Dirt Devil this evening. There's a whole story and much drama behind this...... but I'll save it for another post! Needless to say, she is one happy camper this afternoon!

Have a great week! We're looking forward to some warmer temps this weekend!

Fever!

2009-03-01T15:45:00.002-05:00

Grant has had a cold all week and ended up in the ER last night with a fever. His ANC was fine, so we did a bag of IV antibiotics and were able to come home. He was having some wheezing, but his chest x-ray looked fine. We've been doing nebulizer treatments all day and the fever seems to be gone. So, we are just on close watch.....

Grant is scheduled for is monthly clinic visit and spinal tap on Tuesday at UNC, so his Dr.s will have a chance to look him over then. His WBC (white blood cell) count was a little high, but Dr. Davis said that we shouldn't worry. Easier said than done, right....?! So, we're probably dealing with something viral again. Carteret General did blood cultures, so we will wait to see if anything grows.

Until then, we are taking it easy and trying to stay out of the windy, rainy, cold weather! What is up with this weather??? 70 degrees on Thursday and Friday and now this! I even heard talk of the "S" word..... I can't handle any more SNOW!

Check up!

2009-02-11T15:52:00.002-05:00

Grant had his monthly clinic visit last Friday. His counts looked great and he continues to be a text-book patient. The clinic was very busy on Friday, unfortunately with lots of new children... so it was a hard day. I plead "Forest Gump" on that topic... so that's all I feel like saying about that!

We had a great day with grandma and Jake. We did our normal visits to Target and Walmart and even stopped off at Pizza Hut for lunch.

Its bad when your day of doing chemo with your 6 year old is one of the most relaxing days of your month! - minus the stress of the actual clinic visit, which always seems to knock the breath out of me!

So - we finished off steroids yesterday. It was a pretty easy round this time. No crazy moments to speak of, just lots of eating!

We somehow avoided the stomach virus that has plagued the other Hancock homes in the area this week. I still have my fingers crossed that we don't all start with that anytime soon!

On Saturday we made another trip to Raleigh with our friends Corey and Ashely and Kevin's sister Rachel to visit the temple. My cousin Lisa's son Jordan will be leaving for his mission in March and we were so excited to travel with the rest of the family to be present for Jordan's first visit to the temple. We had a great day and enjoyed a fabulous meal at Carraba's..... yummy to my tummy!

All in all, its been a great week! American Idol is keeping me thoroughly entertained, as are Lost and Private Practice! Jacob hasn't pulled the TV over on himself or broken his nose, or anyone else's for that matter! I passed off several more songs at the Hard level on Rock Band! Did you know that I'm a drummer now....? Life is good!

In short, I am blessed beyond measure!

Now, let's see how Carolina plays tonight! ;) Go Heels!!!!!

Snow!

2009-01-21T22:28:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Jacob turned 4! He said that Heavenly Father sent him snow for his birthday! He's just too cute!

The new year is flying by! Grant continues to do well. He visited the dentist this week and is scheduled for his monthly chemo the first week of February.

Hancock Christmas!

2008-12-28T21:04:00.003-05:00

OK...

Christmas Cards will be New Year's cards this year. I did a total of 3 recitals, 1 Smyrna rehearsal, 3 Smyrna concerts, 1 benefit concert and the church Christmas program all in the week before Christmas! Needless to say......... no time...... and sore fingers!!!

However, we did get the photo while we gathered together for the Hancock Family photo shoot. We don't have ours edited yet, but here is the group shot.

I'd rather have this bunch for my family than some of the finest folks in the whole world! (They'll all get the joke! ;)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Reminder....

2008-12-19T10:46:00.003-05:00

Lids4Kids is tonight at the Swansboro Methodist Church at 7:30. We had a great dress rehearsal last night! Jenny Licko looks awesome as ever! www.sheltonmusic.com

Jacy will be singing with me! I'm very excited!

I will try to get my mess together and take a video to post!

Calling Jackie O!

2008-12-14T22:13:00.004-05:00

Ms. Jackie,

I don't know your email address, but I know you follow the blog....

The Ward Christmas Party has been changed to this coming Saturday at 6:30 pm. I'm sorry that I haven't called before now to let you know... It's late at night now and I don't want to wake you. If I don't let you know now I will certainly forget by tomorrow, so the blog will have to do! I will still try to give you a call tomorrow. I am on a field trip with Eden for most of the day!

All 6 of the Hancock kids will be in attendance. Mike flies in on Thursday! At least part of us will do a song or two! We would love to see you! I understand that you may have a conflict at work, but we hope that you can come. If you can't make it, please come and visit over Christmas! Leah will be home until the 23rd.... Everyone else will stay through to New Year's!

Merry Christmas!

Love,
Em

Lids4Kids!

2008-12-12T08:28:00.003-05:00

My fabulously talented roommate from ECU - Jennifer Licko - has graciously invited me to perform at her annual Lids4Kids Concert in Swansboro next week. Jenny lives in Brazil and is an awesome Celtic musician. You can listen to her music at www.sheltonmusic.com....

Lids4Kids helps to raise money for kids with cancer. Admission to the concert is free, however donations will be gladly accepted. Joella and I will be doing 2 songs.... I'm coming out of retirement for this concert. It should be interesting!

The concert will be at the Swansboro United Methodist Church next Friday, December 9th at 7:30pm.

In other performing news, SuperGrant and his super sister Eden along with his super cousins Jacy and Zoey will be performing in their piano recital on Sunday. They are all very excited! Joella and I will be doing our recital this year with Niki Lewis' piano students. We have loved having Niki with us at CCSA and are looking forward to our Christmas recital!

The Ward Christmas Program will also be on the 20th at 6:30. The Hancock girls will be singing for this one, along with the ward choir and our friends, the Bates'.

I will also accompany the Smyrna kids on their annual Christmas Caroling field trip next week. We get to visit the nursing homes Down East. Its always so much fun! This is Grant's first caroling trip as he was too sick last Decemeber to make the trip. We are very excited! Eden has aged out this year! She's a grown-up 3rd grader, you know!

Music, music everywhere!

Please remember Grant's friend William in your prayers. He had a reaction to his chemo yesterday and has been taken off of the clinical trial he was participating in. William has already done a bone marrow transplant and is now doing a new type of radiation at UNC. He is their very first patient to do this protocol, and he is quite the little trooper! His family is very devestated that he has been removed from his trial as that leaves them not knowing what medicines he will be taking now.... Its extremely complicated! Please pray for William and his parents Mark and Amy and little sister and all of the Bunn family.

Long overdue update!

2008-12-03T10:47:00.002-05:00

Grant is home from his monthly clinic visit to UNC. Kevin had to be in Raleigh on Monday for work, so he and Grant made the trip this time. Grant was so excited to be able to spend a couple of days with Aunt Leah and her family in Rollesville. He loves the Steelmans! Clinic was pretty standard..... Spinal tap, IT Methotrexate, Vincristine, and the 1st day of the dreaded Prednisone! Grant asked me this morning if he was on steroids. I told him "yes" and he responded - "well, that's why I feel so funny!" (funny as in cranky and weird, not loving and jovial!) He said that he's going to try to remember that its the medicine that makes him feel so strange and he will try to act and normal as possible! He's such a sweet kid!

Since my last post we've had a lot of fun stuff happening.

Kevin and I took a trip to DC to see the Redskins play the Steelers on Monday Night Football. We had a great trip and really enjoyed the game even though we lost miserably! We got to the stadium really early and spent a couple of hours watching the teams warm up and got to see Steve Young and Emmet Smith do the pre-game show. Fed Ex Field is amazing! It was a beautiful evening for a football game.

Earlier in the day we spent a couple of hours downtown in Washington DC. We visited the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, the Native American Museum and had lunch at the Smithsonian. Crews were already busy constructing the stage on the steps of the Capitol for the Inauguration in January! I can't imagine how exciting it would be to be on the National Mall for that historic day!

Last month I also was able to do a Twilight trip with my crazy, vampire lovin' girlfriends. We made a day trip to Jacksonville for the movie, went out to dinner and did a bunch of shopping at Sam's. We were giddy like teenagers and wore our Twilight t-shirts and took pictures in front of the theater! It was the most fun ever! I am truly a geek!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did lunch with the Hancocks and dinner with the Nelsons. We always get to eat A LOT on Thanksgiving. We were excited that Grant was feeling well this year. Last Thanksiving was our lowest of the low! Michael McKinney had recently passed away and we were really missing him. Grant was just finishing a 21 day cycle of Dexamethazone - the worst medicine that he ever had to take! He was 15 lbs heavier than normal from all of the swelling and was completely bald. I had worked myself into such a state that I ended up in the hospital for a colonoscopy to see what was going on. Turns out that stress and anxiety can actually burn ulcers right into your colon! Who knew....

This year life seems almost like normal - as normal as life can be, I guess. We are so grateful for our many blessings, especially for our family and friends. We could have never done this without all of you.

I have thought a lot recently about my Grandma. She passed away in 1997 just a few days before Thanksgiving. She had lived a full and long life and died in a tragic car accident.

My Grandma had 10 children - 7 boys and 3 girls. My dad was her baby boy. She was the happiest, least stressed out, most laid back person I've ever known. She spent her days making bread, taking care of her family, listening to music on her record player, and swinging on her front porch. She had plenty she could have been worried about or pre-occupied with. Her life was not without loss and sorrow. She lost a child to leukemia, my uncle Denny. He was buried on his 9th birthday. She lost my uncle Ralph in a boat accident just a few years before she died. She sent 4 sons to the military. They served in wars. Her husband, my grandfather, was a commercial fisherman. They lived in the most humble of circumstances in a tiny 3 bedroom home. But she was happy!

Of all of the words I could think of to describe Grandma - the best would be - happy!

I'm grateful for my grandma and the lessons she taught me. I want to be more like her!

I could go on forever, but the school just called and my chemo boy wants to come home! I'll go get him and be happy about it! Maybe I'll even make some bread today!

Pictures.....

2008-10-19T22:36:00.003-04:00

I realize that I need to post more pictures!

I'm trying!

Jacob has had a stomach flu. In the process of that barrel of fun, he also developed an inguinal hernia. (Google it.... its so much fun!) We did several trips to the Dr. this week before we figured out a diagnosis... or I should say Ann Dart figured out a diagnosis. Hats off to the mom of 5 boys!

Eden turned 9 on Friday. I made cupcakes for both of the 3rd grades and made my bid for mom of the year by taking pizza for both of the kids' lunches (with Jacob, I might add!), bringing home the girlfriends for an after school party, and then face-painting for 2 hours at the Fall Festival on Friday evening.

Saturday, Edie had a soccer game at 8 am ---- what?! ----- YES! 8 in the morning! She scored her first goal! I missed it because it was cold and rainy and the boys were miserable, so I left. I was in the parking lot when she scored!

The boys got their hair cut at Mr. Paul's later in the day, we got bar-b-q plates for lunch to help raise money for the softball league, and then went to Kevin's cousin's wedding in the evening!

Today after church I got the best nap ever!

I needed it!

I promise to post more pictures soon!

How soon........ I do not know!

I know, I know!

2008-10-12T17:36:00.004-04:00

The Nelson's at MGM

The only picture taken of me during the whole trip!

My monkeys with the Lion King monkeys!

HOME!

2008-09-28T16:53:00.002-04:00

We are home!

We are tired!

We had the best time ever.....

I will post pictures tomorrow!

Bon Voyage!

2008-09-22T14:04:00.003-04:00

The Nelson crew left earlier today on their fabulous "Make A Wish" trip to Disney World! We had quite the little going away party, with Marmie (Kevin's Mom), Aunt Rachel and Isabelle, Ashley L., Papa Joel, Aunt Leah, Aunt Joella and Zoey and Charlie.

I tried to find out what everyone was looking forward to the most. Eden and Grant both hope to ride a loopty-loop roller coaster. I think Kevin is hoping for some company on the loopty-loop roller coasters, but is not too confident that they'll actually do it. Jacob is excited to have breakfast with Donald Duck one morning. And I think Emily is just hoping they all survive in one piece.

The trip started with a limo ride to the airport. Grant was a little excited to see it pulling up!

Bags were all packed and ready to go (which was quite a feat considering that Em's sister, Aly, had a baby at 1:00 this morning, so she was at the hospital all day yesterday and didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning).

They were all excited for the fancy ride!

Almost all of them were ready to go...

Except for Emily, who realized she better clean the perishables out of the refrigerator before they left for a whole week!

They did eventually get away with smiles on everyone's faces. I know they'll have a great time!

As the old hymn says, "God be with you 'til we meet again!"

Back at school.....

2008-09-12T16:25:00.002-04:00

Grant has had a great week back at school. He loves his class mates and his new teacher Ms. Seigel. And, of course, he absolutely adores Ms. Vicky, who is his teacher's assistant and also his Primary teacher. She is our pumpkin bread guru!

We are looking forward to a great weekend. Eden has her first soccer match tomorrow, so we are excited about seeing her play! We will post pictures soon.

Home for the hurricane!

2008-09-04T10:39:00.002-04:00

We're out-a here!

See you at home!

No fever!

2008-09-03T09:31:00.004-04:00

No fever through the night!

If counts permit and the fever stays away, we may be able to come home tomorrow. (A pretty big if, but we can hope!)

Kevin is coming up this evening and I will probably head home to get some quality Jacob and Eden time!

ANC is .4 today, down from .6 yesterday........ so that may thwart our travel plans. We'll see.

We will just continue to play the waiting game for a little longer!

Grant's spinal tap yesterday was good, so that's great news!

5C05

2008-09-02T15:54:00.002-04:00

We're back on our familiar floor - and even in our regular room!

UNC Children's 5C05 - (919)966-4441

Grandma has done her daily run to Target. Grant is napping at the moment. His fever is a little high again this afternoon - 101.9, so he just had more Tylenol. He is scheduled for more antibiotics at 6 pm. Hopefully we will speak to the doctors on evening rounds and try to get some indication of what may be going on. As of right now, we are still thinking that Grant has a cold/virus that has made his counts fall - to put it in the most simple terms. So, thankfully, what we are dealing with are complications from chemotherapy and not complications from leukemia.

I will post more later!

Grant in Chapel Hill

2008-09-02T08:06:00.002-04:00

Last evening, Grant's fever and overall "feeling-bad-ness" got the gang up to Chapel Hill for further inspection of what might be ailing him. His fever got up to 104 yesterday. He was admitted to the hospital in Chapel Hill, and still with the IV bags and other meds, his fever spiked again during the night to 104.9. As of this morning, the report is that it has gone down, and he is resting, as they didn't really even get settled in till the wee small hours of the morning...

As of right now, they have done chest x-rays and ruled out pneumonia. They ran more blood cultures last night, so those results may be available today sometime. His ANC numbers are uncomfortably low, to say the least - at 0.3 (which runs the high risk of developing infection, should he be exposed to it), so the timeline for returning home is completely unknown at this point. That number will have to go up closer to 1 for him to be released.

Emily is at the hospital with him, of course, and Mama spent the night at the hotel in Chapel Hill, where they had made reservations for this mornings clinic visit, which he will not be able to go to. So, Mama will be heading back to the hospital in the next hour or so.

Grant's Room Number is 6C18, and Phone Number is 919-966-1982.
Our friend, Wendi said last week as a comment, "No need to ask" after I had asked that everyone keep the Nelsons in your prayers -so this time I'll just say - Thank you all for your prayers. :)

Twilight

2008-08-31T22:15:00.003-04:00

My girlfriends and I are crazy Twilight moms these days! Last summer I was a totally obsessed Harry Potter reader, so I figured I needed another series to fill my time with this summer - since I have nothing else to do, you know! We are very excited that the movie version of the first book will be out in November and are planning a girl's night out to mark the occasion!

Grant has been feeling somewhat better this week. He still is fighting off a cold and is running a low grade fever today, but nothing hospital worthy yet. He is scheduled for a regular chemo trip on Tuesday, so we will see Dr. Blatt then and get new blood counts and hopefully be able to do the scheduled spinal tap and medicines. We will also start a 5 day pulse of Prednisone on Tuesday! That's the fun stuff.....

We have had a crazy first week of school and are looking forward to next week.... A more normal routine would be nice, but I am beginning to think that there is no such thing anymore!

Maybe if we were only all vampires!

Thinking of Grant

2008-08-25T22:54:00.003-04:00

So I wore my Super Grant t-shirt today... Don't know why I grabbed it, but I did. Then I rode around in my mini van sporting my Team Super Grant Sticker. I know why I did that. ;) Anyway, I have had Grant on my mind a lot today. It was his first day of school today! I'm sure Emily will update soon with more details on that, but I did want to come take just a moment to post...

Grant was sick today with a pretty high fever, and ended up at Carteret General Hospital seeking treatment for a mean bug that seems to be hitting the scene pretty hard, down east. He had to be on IV's for the afternoon and evening, and tomorrow morning, the doctors will determine if he needs to head up to Chapel Hill for a hospital stay. So, please keep him and his family in your prayers. Not that illness ever comes at a "good time" but this is really the epitome of a "bad time" for a monkey wrench like this to be thrown in the picture... School schedules, piano lessons, sports, a little 3-year-old rascal, etc.

Take care, Grantski! Lee loves you!!! :)

Happy Birthday!

2008-08-17T10:50:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet husband!

Kevin and I have known each other our whole lives. I could have never imagined when we were small children and even teenagers what a remarkable husband and father he would become! He has a kind soul and a mischievous smile... and I love him!

So, happy, happy birthday!

Let's go see some Redskins Monday Night Football!

Are we there yet?

2008-08-12T11:03:00.002-04:00

This is the first week this summer that we haven't had ball practice, or dance camp, or set plans for everyday.... There's still plenty to do, but just no plans......

The kids are going nuts! Will school ever start? I can't take much more of this.

To illustrate my point, a little story.

Yesterday was Monday. Not much going on. But my house needed some serious TLC and we were having company for dinner, so I was planning on getting a lot done and being super "cleaning" mom. Well, the kids had a different idea and it didn't take too long for them to get their way. They wanted to go to the pool, so after an hour or so of whining, I finally gave in.

We got all dressed for the pool. Loaded up the floats and sunscreen and ear plugs for Grant, Mr. Ear Infection, and headed to the island. We stopped at Seaside for snacks and arrived at Aunt Wrae's pool around 11:00 am. Perfect pool time.... Nice weather, not too hot, nice shade for mommy under the big umbrella, nice book to read......... NOT NICE KIDS!

They made it 10 minutes before they decided they were bored and wanted to leave. BORED!??? In a huge pool with a slide and every type of pool toy imaginable! BORED! Yes, they were bored, and once you get past the boredom, the badness starts!

Not a good combination.

I lost my mind.

I'm hoping to get it back before I have to start teaching again next week.

Monthly Check-up!

2008-08-05T22:26:00.002-04:00

Grant will be in Chapel Hill tomorrow for his monthly chemotherapy and check up! He has had a great month with the exception of swimmer's ear a couple of times and a recent ear infection on top of swimmer's ear! OUCH.... He has quite a tan these days and is enjoying his last few weeks of summer break!

Eden has doing ball again this week. She will play another tournament this weekend. She has become quite the little ball player and enjoyed a stint at 3rd base today.

Jake is having a fun summer and enjoyed spending time with his Aunt Rachel aka "Bobo" today while I was at work. (Its High School Musical 2 week!) He has found a wonderful friend in Bobo's Boxer, Max, and seems to have met his match! They keep each other very busy and seem to have very similar personalities!

Eden and her friends seem to be enjoying dance camp! We did "I Don't Dance" today complete with baseball bats! 16 little girls with bats in a dance studio can be somewhat stressful!! Tomorrow we will tackle "All for One"......... should be fun! I will try to get some video....

Back at home.....

2008-07-20T11:08:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone!

We are finally back at home! Eden's team made a valiant effort at their final game. They ended up losing 5-3. It was a tough game with some awesome defensive plays, but our bats weren't swinging! We are very proud of Eden and her friends and are so happy to be back at home.

Grant is feeling a little low today. I think I see some "pink" in his eye, so we came home a little early from church. He is enjoying some orange juice and an episode of "Oswald" while I catch up on some computer work, ie... blog stalking! I am not much of a commenter, but I sure do like to read up on what everyone is doing!

Hopefully this week we will return to a little more normalcy, whatever that is?!

I will update soon.......

Update from Wilson

2008-07-17T13:56:00.002-04:00

Down East 5 Western Carolina 7

Tough game.... bad pitching machine...... tired girls!

I think we'll hit the movies tonight for a little r & r. Tomorrow's game is at 11.

My car is fixed.... to the tune of a cool $500.

Life is so good!

What a week I'm having!

2008-07-15T21:41:00.002-04:00

My car broke down today!

I have to go to Wilson tomorrow for heaven only knows how long......

Its an '06 - relatively new car.....

Relatively large car payment.....

Broke down.

Just stopped working..... engine light on and everything!

I had just vacuumed it out in preparation for our trip.

Maybe it went into shock!

Number 2 ain't that bad!

2008-07-13T21:02:00.003-04:00

Our girls played hard today, but were beat out by Wayne Co. After coming back and tying 8-8, they lost their first game in the bottom of the 6th (they only play 6 innings) when Wayne went ahead after a line drive down the 3rd base line scored. This loss forced another game, which we lost in 4 innings. The girls played hard, but didn't seem to be themselves.....

Its 9 o'clock in the evening now and we have figured out why...... at this point 7 of the 12 players are suffering from a really nasty stomach flu! It has yet to hit our house, so we are hopeful that we missed the bug by coming home a little early!

Regardless, we are very sad that Eden's friends are all sick! Please remember these sweet little girls and their families in your prayers tonight. They are very tired from a long tournament, very sick from the stomach crud, and very heartbroken to have lost.....

The Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center will honor the girls on Tuesday evening at the kick-off dinner for their Baseball Reunion this coming weekend. Hopefully they will be feeling better by then! I will post pictures.......

Can this be real?

2008-07-12T17:28:00.002-04:00

DownEast 4 - Pitt County 3

State Championship tomorrow at 9am.

Yet again, the final game is on Sunday, so we won't be there..... We will post as soon as we hear from Mr. Mike!

Regardless of the outcome of tomorrow's game, Down East will play in the Southeast Regional Tournament next week. Both the number 1 and number 2 teams will go. We will play against 8 other states. Lucky for us, the tournament is in Wilson, NC this year, so we don't have to travel to Florida or Alabama! Games will begin on Wednesday.

Congratulations to Eden and all of her friends! They are a wonderful group of girls and are some pretty tough ball players too! G'ville had a great team and you can tell from the score that both teams played some really hard defense. DE sealed the deal with a sweet double play in the bottom of the 6th to take the win! You just can't believe how awesome they are! I'm a not biased in any way, of course!

More later!

Another one bites the dust!

2008-07-11T14:18:00.003-04:00

Down-East 9 Johnston Co. - 5

Eden Nelson #18; 2, count them TWO!!! - THREE RUN HOME RUNS!!!

She surely has inherited her mother's athletic abilities!!!! ;)

Joella and crew made it to the game and will be staying with Leah's family tonight in Rollesville. Grandma and Pa, the remaining Nelson's, and Jacy will venture westward this evening!

Next game - Saturday 9 am vs. Pitt County (these girls are good!)

I will post more later!

High School Musical ended today - The girls did a fabulous job. I will post some pictures later!

I am a tired hip-hop "bop to the top" mama!

On a roll!

2008-07-10T15:36:00.002-04:00

Down-East 15 - South Granville 1

E. Nelson #18- Single, thrown out at 1st, and HOME RUN!!!!! (sweet line drive to left field!)

You go, Edie!

Next Game - Friday 1pm

Edie the baller

2008-07-09T15:49:00.004-04:00

These are a few pics from today's game in Henderson! The Down East All-Stars won 14-0. :)

Mi Vida Loca!

2008-07-07T20:59:00.007-04:00

Welcome to my crazy life!

Kevin is on his way to Chapel Hill tonight in preparation for Grant's 7:00 am chemotherapy appointment tomorrow morning. It should be a pretty standard day....standard to us anyway. Grant will have his monthly spinal tap and IT Methotrexate (directly to the spine), and Vincristine. He will also start this month's 5 day cycle of steroids. These are a walk in the park compared to our old steroids, but still make him a little grumpy and a lot hungry! So, I'm stocking up on sloppy joe essentials and all of the necessary ingredients for some yummy grilled cheese sandwiches.

Recently, Grant has complained of ear pain and has had a pretty nasty cough. Although these symptoms are most probably simple side effects of too much swimming and summer allergies, I still find myself relapse-paranoid and, in the most simple terms, anxiety ridden and neurotic! The pressures of life with 3 very strong-willed children, coupled with the fact that one of those wonderful children happens to be a child with cancer, can get to be a little much. Thankfully, I have kind friends and family and a most patient husband who try their best to keep me grounded in reality!

I read this essay recently while surfing.... the web, not the ocean. I tried that once... It was a bad idea!

The Strength of an Egg

by Juliet Freitag

Parents of children with cancer, or really any serious condition, are often referred to or viewed as having strength "like a rock." Albiet flattering,it isn't quite true. It is more like the strength of an egg. An egg, you ask? Yes!

If you'll think about it, you'll see my point. An egg has a polished, smooth outer appearance, with no cracks or weak spots visible. It seems almost inconceivable that the inside might not be so smooth or solid.

Most children, at some point are shown the famous egg trick. An egg set at just the right angle can withstand enormous amounts of pressure and cannot be cracked or broken. Yet the same egg, tapped gently at an ever slightly different angle, will break. The contents, once so neatly concealed, will come spilling out. The no longer perfect shell will be crushed. It looks so fragile that it seems inconceivable that it ever held any strength.

A rock, on the other hand, is solid all the way through. To break it is almost impossible. If you succeed, you will find that there is nothing inside but more rock.

It takes a lot more than pure hardness to hold the hand of hope. Parents of [medically fragile] children are not solid all the way through. We hurt, we fear, we cry, we hope. It takes a very careful balancing act to keep the shell from being shattered. "Balancing an egg" while running a household, going for doctors' visits and hospital stays, keeping the family together, and holding on to the constantly unraveling ties of your sanity can be very tricky indeed! Occasionally, the angle will be off and the shell will break, shattering hope and all the neatly secured appearances of a truly fragile existence.

Unlike Humpty Dumpty, though, parents of [medically fragile] kids will pick themselves up and put themselves back together again.

I have tried recently to explain to some of my friends how my stomach feels all the time. The best thing that I can compare it to is that feeling that you get right before you get in a car wreck.... Stomach drops, face gets hot, you want to throw up.... Yeah, I've been feeling like that pretty much constantly for the past 13 months or so.... Its hard to explain. I guess its kind of like labor, you can describe it all you want, but words just don't seem to work.

I hope it goes away one day. I'm not so sure that it will.

Enough of that......

So, tomorrow I will teach my High School Musical Show Choir Camp (just a fabulously fun camp!) and then meet Kevin in Goldsboro to switch off Eden for Grant. I'll bring chemo-boy home to rest and recover from his Propofol hangover and Kevin will take Eden on to Henderson for the State Softball Tournament. Her team has practiced so hard and is so excited! I am sorry that I will miss Wednesday and Thursday's games, but they have assured me that they are planning on winning, so I will be able to see them play on Friday!

Tonight, Jake and I are planning a little choreography for tomorrow. He thinks that its pretty funny when I dance. I agree! Tonight we're working on "Bop to the Top". He likes it!

I will report on Grant's visit tomorrow.

District Champions!

2008-06-30T10:37:00.001-04:00

Eden's softball team won the District 5 Championship this weekend in New Bern, so next week we are off to Henderson for the State Tournament!

Eden had a great tournament and hit 3 homeruns in her game on Friday night!

Congratulations to the Down East All-Stars!

I will post pictures soon! Life is so busy..........

Make A Wish!

2008-06-18T16:28:00.003-04:00

We were so excited to learn today that Grant's wish with Make A Wish has been granted and we will be heading to Disney World in September! He is just thrilled and we are so happy for him! Hopefully the September hurricanes will stay off-shore and we will have a fun trip!

We've had a busy week..... Is it only Wednesday afternoon? Anyway, the kids have been doing Camp Invention this week. The have had the best time making cool new toys and learning fun new science lessons. I have had the pleasure of teaching music in the afternoons at camp! They have learned their camp cheer and camp song and had a great time singing and dancing! Its been fun....

Eden, our All-Star has been practicing softball every afternoon still. She has a tournament this weekend in G'ville and then will have the district tournament the next week. She is having lots of fun and is making lots of progress with her hitting and throwing. She's playing in the outfield for the tournament, instead of her usual 2nd base, so it took a few practices to get used to her new position. But she's got it now!

We had our t-ball end of season party last night at our friends Rich and Carrie's home. (Many thanks for hosting the swarm of 5,6 & 7 year olds that took over your pool!) We had a great time visiting with all of our friends and watching the kids swim. The kids had a blast!

We will post ball pictures this weekend! Until then....

Grant and Jake wii-ing it out

2008-06-11T07:57:00.006-04:00

Sometimes before the Tuesday morning clinic visits, I get the pleasure of hosting a Monday night house party with the Nelsons and Grandma. If only I went so far as to have some scrumptious finger foods and punch. Not usually. ;)

Well Monday night, for our wind-down entertainment segment, we played the wii. Or should I say, Rodney, Grant, and Jakey played the wii. They boxed, they batted, they ran, and did a little wrestling (I think Jakey thought they whole evening was a wrestling match, in fact)... and the onlookers, we had just as much fun. :)

I couldn't press "publish post" without giving a shout out to my night-gown strutting sister. We (Em, Mama and I) have agreed that there's nothing better than that point in the night when its time to slip into something a little more comfortable (I have a feeling Josy and Aly would concur). We even are all guilty of wearing them into the morning when shorts and laced up tennis shoes are in order. Oh well. If that keeps us out of heaven, let it be. LOL!

So very glad I could hang with such a fabulous foursome. :)
Y'all come back now, ya hear? :)

Home from the clinic!

2008-06-10T15:33:00.002-04:00

We are home from our monthly trip to UNC. We had a short visit and were happy to see some of our old friends and make some new. It always is hard to meet people who are just beginning this journey. It takes me back.... But, I am always reminded of how far we have come and how much Grant has been able to accomplish in the past year, and I think to myself again... We really can do hard things!

We saw John today. He was diagnosed shortly after Grant and has had a really rough time. Anyway, John had low counts today so his chemo was delayed until next week, but he is starting Maintenance next week! This is so awesome! John's mom asked me - "What is Maintenance?" and I was so happy to tell her, "almost normal life!" It was wonderful to visit with them for a while. John had graduation practice this afternoon so he was going home to take a nap and get ready. That was just the best news ever!

I will update more later.... I'm off to dance dress rehearsal followed by all-star softball practice....I am a soccer mom, hear me roar!

Hello June!

2008-06-02T21:51:00.007-04:00

Wow - May was one crazy month! We have had so much going on and so little time to update! I apologize unreservedly!

We have just finished a long weekend..... Kevin's Nana Evelyn passed away last Thursday following a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. She has lived with Kevin's mom Bonnie for the last 5 years, so we have been blessed to have Nana involved in our day to day lives for most of our children's lives. They will miss her smile and her wit! She played with them like she was a kid most of the time! Evelyn was laid to rest today. We rejoice in the life she lived and in the love that she has left behind. She was a wonderful matriarch of the Chadwick clan.....

Last night following the viewing for Nana we came home and started getting ready for bed with no clue that horrible weather was on the way. We have been so busy this weekend that we haven't even watched Disney..... much less the Weather Channel. Anyway - so the lightning starts... lots of lightning.... scary lightning.... Out go the lights! In a zippy and unexpected turn of events, a transformer was struck by lighting. But the transformer evidently only carries the power to the houses on the cul de sacs and not the main road, so my neighbors have power right beside me, but not us! Then the rain and wind begin. I am thinking - is this a hurricane, or what? I know I haven't been that out of it! So, then the real fun begins.... HAIL! Lots of hail.... big nuggets of hail like I've never seen before! No power.... rain coming in the house sideways all around our side door, pounding hail hitting my sliding glass door, did I also say no power, and 3 very uneasy children! It was a fun night, to say the least.

The most fun part is when we woke up this morning to find our basketball goal blown over, holes in my siding from hail!, my freshly painted deck sandblasted by hail, my garden destroyed and all of my flowers and hostas beat to death! Not to mention the fact that the basketball goal blew into my car AND the hail beat nice little dings all over the drivers side! What a week I'm having!

In other news, my piano recital was this weekend and all of my kids did such a beautiful job! We had a wonderful recital and were so thrilled to be able to use the History Place again as our venue. They have an awesome Yamaha baby grand that I just love to play! So, the kids were all great and I got to be a lounge singer and sing a little Sara Barellies with my sweet Yvonne accompanying me on the piano. She really is an exceptional young lady and can play the mess out of a piano! So - mark the piano recital off the list!

This week is the last week of school so we have Kindergarten Graduation on Wednesday and awards day and cookouts on Thursday, ballgames on Friday evening, and an all day tournament on Saturday! Not too bad!

The Perfect Game!

2008-05-19T21:53:00.002-04:00

Joel and Lauren were at Fenway tonight to see Jon Lester pitch a no hitter! Joel called home so he could be on the phone with Pa when the last pitch was thrown! He was one excited boy!!! - and Joel was pretty happy too! ;)

Its been a great week. Grant is like a normal kid on the Prednisone... I can't tell you how blessed we feel for this change in medicine!

We will spend the rest of the week preparing for the reception on Saturday. Lots of cooking and decorating to be done! We love throwing a party.... and this is going to be a good one!

See you there!

My new sister!

2008-05-17T22:28:00.003-04:00

Joel and Lauren were married today in the Raleigh Temple. We will post wedding photos as soon as Aly gets home tomorrow..... This is our favorite from our photo shoot earlier this week at Fort Macon!

The happy couple is off to Boston for their honeymoon ---- Go Red Sox!

We will celebrate again at their reception this coming Saturday! We could not be happier! We have loved Lauren for many years and are so happy to welcome her to the family Hancock!

Relay for Life Changes

2008-05-16T09:01:00.003-04:00

Due to the weather, the Relay schedule for the weekend has changed! We will try to make it back from Raleigh as quickly as possible so we can be at the lighting of the luminaria. Bonnie is going to take the kids in and walk with Grant in the Survivor Lap! I have all of the T-shirts for team members... I will be passing them out later today! Hope to see you on Saturday!

Carteret County Relay For Life New Schedule Saturday due to Bad Weather Friday Night

Just To Make Sure we're all on the Same Schedule for Saturday:

7:00 AM - 9:00 - Kids Walk Registration

10:00 AM - Kids Walk Awards Ceremony & Opening Lap - Main Stage

10:15 AM - 12 Noon - Games & Activities at Kids Walk Tent

12 Noon - Opening Ceremony & Invocation

Survivor Walk, Caregiver Walk, Relay For Life Team Walk all Afternoon till 9:30 PM

Introduction of Planning Team, Presentation of Special Award

Food Available all day. Entertainment from 2 PM till 9 PM - Music, DJ, Dancing, Schedule Groups will perform

9:00 PM Luminary Ceremony

9:30 PM Closing Ceremony

Best Birthday Present Ever!

2008-05-14T19:46:00.002-04:00

I will post pictures from the birthday bash soon...... A good time was had by all! Thanks so much for all of the gifts and cards! Grant is one lucky fella!

Today, Kevin and Grant did the Chapel Hill Birthday Chemo Trip! It was quite an uneventful trip.... good blood counts, no spinal tap this time! And the best news of all....... The powers that be have decided to change the protocol for Grant's clinical trial and have dropped the Dex! NO MORE DEX! Can you hear me singing!!!!!! This is just the best news ever! We will still do steroids for 5 days a month, but will get to do Prednisone instead of Dexamethazone! Hopefully we will have a much easier go of things from now on! I can't tell you how good this news is!

I will post more birthday stuff soon!

Silly Hat Day

2008-05-07T20:39:00.003-04:00

Smyrna is just outdoing itself with its fund raising this year. This was the kick-off for Silly Hat Day! from left to right... Jacy, Madison, Grant, Harrison & Kyler We love you guys!

We had a fun weekend at the Survivor Dinner. What I thought was going to be a 15 minute session of me playing dinner music turned into a 15 minute performance! Like, it was written in the program and everything! Aaaaggghhhh! Carrie and Dave Stroud were with us and thought that this was very funny! Anyway - thanks to some wonderful help from sweet Vanessa and Natalie Chazal, we brought down the house with our tunes! It really was a good time, although my nerves are still shot a little from the whole experience!

This week is busy for us... We did the dentist with Grant and Eden today which necessitated blood work on Monday. Thankfully, Grant's blood counts were as normal as they have been in the whole last year. ANC 2.2 !!!!! Holy Cow! Hemoglobin was great and platelets were off the chart! What a relief. I still have total anxiety attacks while we wait for his numbers to come back. It only takes a few minutes, but I still find a way to nearly lose my mind in those few minutes. I need a vacation!

Not happening any time soon though!

Later this week... Father Son Camp-out of Friday night. Kevin will get the joy of sleeping in the woods with the boys while Eden and I spend the evening choreographing a 12 minute medley of music from "Hairspray" at CCSA. This hopefully will be perfectly wonderful and everyone will learn their parts because this is our one and only rehearsal and will run 5 hours! I shall die! I'm not as young as I once was!

Friday evening, Joel Jr. will also have his Economics Departmental graduation from ECU. He is very excited to be graduating with honors and at the top of his class! Smarty pants!

Saturday we will have Grant's birthday party since he will be in Chapel Hill on Wednesday - the actually day of his birthday - doing a little chemo! What could be more fun that chemo and starting a round of steroids for your birthday! Well maybe, walking in the Relay for Life 3 days into the steroids, or going to my brother's wedding 4 days into steroids!

Could life be any more confusing.....

Yes.

I'll tell you more later!

A Few Pics One Year Later

2008-04-29T10:21:00.003-04:00

These are a couple of pictures I took last night. As I was editing them, I forgot for a brief moment how sick Grant really has been because he looks so healthy and normal now. He's come a long way. He's still got a long road ahead, but hopefully, the worst is over. His mama and daddy have been troopers over the past year, too. When you deal with things like cancer and loss of loved ones, it makes everything seem so small.

Continue to pray for Grant that his recovery will continue and pray for his parents that they will have the patience to make it through everything they have to go through.

About a year ago....

One year ago today....

2008-04-26T11:54:00.002-04:00

Today is the year anniversary of Grant's diagnosis. I don't have the time this morning to write as much as I should.

Let me just say, I hope I never have another year like last year.

Thanks to everyone for your love and support and compassion.

One day, when I have the emotional energy, I'll write a good post on this subject!

Until then......... one year down, two and half more to go!

Hey, Hey Smyrna!

2008-04-23T13:45:00.003-04:00

Our friends at Smyrna Elementary kicked off their efforts for Relay for Life this week. We are so grateful for all of the help that everyone is giving!

Grant's kindergarten class sang a very sweet song for the Smyrna Morning Show this week. I thought everyone would like to read the lyrics....

To the tune of Yankee Doodle!

The American Cancer Society needs help from you and me.
We can find a cancer cure by giving generously.
Give your pennies, nickels, and dimes.
Save your coins and money.
Put them in your collection jar and make many lives more sunny!

Tomorrow the kids will all wear their Super Grant T-shirts for the show. I'll be sure to take some pictures!

Aly's Three Sons!

2008-04-21T22:22:00.002-04:00

Aly's ultrasound was this afternoon - and we are very proud to announce that grand-baby #13 is another boy! That makes 10 in all! Pa's baseball team just keeps growing and growing! Pretty soon we'll have a football team too!

Kyle is #3 boy in a family of 5 handsome Dart men! So, we have told Aly that she is destined to have her own brood of Dart boys! Looks like she's on her way!

Now, as mama says, grow baby, grow!

Relay News

2008-04-18T20:13:00.002-04:00

Thanks to everyone who has donated to our Relay for Life Team! We are so excited! A special thanks also to Smyrna Elementary for all of the great fund-raisers they have scheduled for the next couple of weeks! We love our Smyrna family!

In other Relay news, the Purple Monkeys and the Rubber Duckies - the teams dedicated to the memory of our friend Michael McKinney - will be having a family fun day tomorrow at the Newport Park. They will be having games, a silent auction, a bake sale, hot dogs and raffle items..... Too much fun! Please come out and support our friends! Eden & Jacy also have a softball game in Newport tomorrow, so that worked out just perfectly!

Colby Byrd will also be cutting the ribbon for the Survivor Lap at the Opening Ceremonies of the Columbus County Relay for Life this weekend! Colby has been battling leukemia for 5 years this month! He is a trooper and will continue to do his "hard" weekly chemo trips through the end of May. Then, another 2 years..... Please pray for Colby and his family! They are tired..... very tired....

As for Grant, today is day 4 of the steroids! One more day to go! Its been a long week! Grant has had a rough time staying at school, so he has been home most of the week. Let me just say again, its been a long week! Tomorrow night cannot come soon enough!

Home from UNC

2008-04-15T21:08:00.002-04:00

We're home from our monthly trip to UNC. Grant did his normal spinal tap, IT Methotrexate, Vincristine push, and started his 5 days of the Dex. We had a good day at the clinic and saw our friend John and his mom. There were several new kids at the clinic today, and that's always hard to see. Jane visited with us for the last time this semester. We look forward to seeing her again when school starts back up in the fall.

Grants counts were very consistent with our previous trips. His ANC was 1.3, so we still need to keep a close watch on fevers and contagious friends and family! His hemoglobin was up to 12, so he is completely normal in that respect! You can tell just by looking at him that he is feeling better and even has his tan back!

Thanks to Aunt Leah and her family for letting us stay over last night! We love to crash with the Steelmans! ----- and we love the Steelmans!

Leah, this one's for you!

2008-04-09T21:03:00.005-04:00

To answer Leah's tag.......

10 Years Ago:

April 1998 – I was in my last month at ECU. I was student teaching at Hunt High School in Wilson, and commuting from Greenville to Wilson…. This was a terrible time! I was an hour away from work and had to be at school by 7:20 am, so I had to leave Greenville at 6:20 am, which meant I had to get up at an ungodly, seminary-like, pre-dawn hour! I had very short hair, so that helped in the morning preparations. I was about 20 lbs thinner, thanks to my neurotic nervousness that accompanies my times of high stress. This was a very stressful year! (Why doesn’t that seem to work out the same way now…. I’m still plenty nervous!) I was living with Joella and Lisa Beacham at Jasmine Gardens, eating lots of Papa John’s pizza (when I ate at all), not dating anyone in particular, wondering if Kevin would want to go out with me when he got home from his mission in July, and trying to decide if I wanted to try to find a job in Greenville or Carteret County. The Croatan job was already in the back of my mind. The first part of 1998 was horrible! By the end of the year I was teaching at Croatan and married to Kevin. The end of 1998 was much better than the beginning!

5 Things on the To-Do List:

I am a big fan of to-do lists. I actually have a to-do book! It includes bill to pay, things to do around the house, a running calendar of chemo and Dr appointments, ball, dance and church events, etc…. It lives in my tote-bag and stays with me all of the time.

My list for today includes:

1) Morning routine. I have my Flylady friends to thank for this one. Every morning I try to make the beds, start a load of laundry, wipe down the kitchen with Clorox after breakfast, wipe down the hall bathroom with Clorox after little boys have been in there!, straighten the pillows on the couches, and put away the toys in the living room! Its 9 am, so I’m done with this part of the day. This routine will be repeated, minus the making the beds, several times during the day! Did I mention that I’m neurotic!

2) Its Wednesday, which means that I have choir practice at 6pm. I have been doing choir practice on Wednesday evenings just about as long as I remember. I think I was 14 when I started playing the piano for our choir the first time. With little breaks, I have been doing this for almost 2 decades!

3) Go to Morehead with Joella. She has an appointment, so Jake and I are going along for the ride. (and Riley, Zoey, and Charlie!) Fun times….

4) Pick up doughnuts for the t-ball fundraiser at 3pm. Krispy Kremes! Our team sold 54 boxes, so I have to pick them and deliver them to the different kids on the team, and then deliver the boxes that we sold, which should not be a big deal since I sold one box to our next door neighbor and 4 to me! Can you say Krispy Kreme’s for supper!

5) Keep baby Charlie this afternoon for Joella. She has to go somewhere, I can’t remember where, but I get to keep Charlie! Yeah for me!

6) Watch Idol! I love Idol!

Things I would do if I was suddenly a billionaire!

1) Picture the house at the end of the long path in "Forest Gump”. I want a house like that, a plantation house at the end of a long, tree-lined path that opens up to the water….. preferably a creek, not the sound or the ocean. I can’t take the wind. That’s #1.

2) This is making me think too hard! Save the world, cure cancer, campaign for world peace, yada yada yada! Lots of good things! Try me....

3 Bad Habits:

I don’t have any bad habits! :)

Places I have lived, in order…..

1) Greenville - born

2) Harkers Island – grew up

3) Greenville - ECU

4) Harkers Island – 1^st two years of married life

5) What way – Otway - Ward's Creek! Past 8 years….. hopefully forever. I hate moving! I'd only move further down the creek into the aforementioned dream house!

Things most people don’t know about me….

1) I am a painfully honest person…… you guys know it all!

Jobs I have had…in order...

1) Oldest sister - very demanding job that I'm stuck with forever!

2) Babysitter

3) Paper route – This was very cool! I was 12!

4) Belk – candy counter girl!

5) Lucky Ducks – the first in the line of Hancock girls to occupy this position. We all learned to make, sand, paint, and sell duck decoys with Gail and Bernie! They are our second family! We loved and still love the Corwin’s!

6) Receptionist at a law firm in college. I loved this job too! I’ve had good jobs.

7) Wedding singer! Funny stories!

8) Teacher - chorus, drama, SAT PREP - What!!!?? Yes - I had to teach SAT Prep!

9) Receptionist at another law firm…. During summer break when I was pregnant with Eden. This was a fun job too! Thanks, Margo for getting me this job!

10) The coolest…… ambulance chaser for Kellum & Jones. Lots of us had this job too! Rodney is to thank! We looked up accident reports and sent out advertisements for legal service! Very easy money….

11) MOM - my favorite by far!

12) Piano/voice teacher at CCSA … I can’t say enough about how much I love this job and my kids and the people I work with! Its just the best! If I had to pick what I could do, this would be it!

There. I did it!

Ashley, consider yourself tagged!

T-Ball, Softball, and a lovely singer...

2008-04-04T13:44:00.010-04:00

Opening Ceremonies

2008-04-02T19:08:00.006-04:00

T-ball and softball both had Opening Ceremonies last Saturday. I took some fabulous pictures, but I seem to have lost my camera somewhere between the ball field, Joella's van, and my house. I know that Joella has pictures however (mostly because I used her very fancy dancy camera to take some) and that Aly has pictures with her very fancy dancy camera too ----- so I will leave it up to them to post some photos of the blessed event!

To recap - it was blowing about 30 mph and about 40 degrees outside, so it was a miserable day. The day began with the t-ball ceremony at 9:30am, and ended with the softball ceremony and cancellation of all softball games due to the terrible weather at 4pm. Long day! The highlight of the event was when yours truly was asked to sing the National Anthem. I must say that I was just about as nervous as I have ever been and even wrote down the words so as to not make a total fool of myself..... I have had quite a fear of singing the National Anthem since high school when my sisters and I were doing our obligatory weekly performance at an East Carteret soccer game, when we found ourselves very "tickled" about something, and proceeded to laugh hysterically through the entire performance. I'm sure you understand my anxiety..... and subsequent absence from singing to old glory ever since! Anyway - it went off without a hitch, so I'm officially out of retirement! Watch out Denise Graves!!! (Did you see/hear Denise Graves sing at the Braves' season opener? Holy cow! I didn't sound very much like that!)

S0, as for the rest of the week. Grant is suffering from a little allergy cold and Eden is completely sick with a sore throat and terrible cough. I had them both to see the pediatrician today and although Eden's rapid strep test came back negative, I think that she probably did have strep and is just getting over it. We did blood work on Grant to check ANC and such, and he is still right where he should be. His ANC still hovers around 1.3 to 1.7 most of the time and his WBC stays in the 2's. This basically means that he is still really immuno-suppressed, but just where he should be in order to still be suppressing the blood enough that the leukemia won't return. So - we remain ever neurotic about germs and sickness and my house will always smell like a swimming pool (CLOROX is my friend!)..... But that's ok.

We read today that Grant's friend Isaiah is having some issues with his liver and is having to come off of chemo for a while. Grant and Isaiah were diagnosed at the same time, Isaiah in California and Grant here, and we have followed Isaiah progress online for the past year. He looks a lot like Grant and seems to enjoy all of the same things (Star Wars, superheroes, playing at the beach, and t-ball!) Please remember Isaiah in your prayers this week.

Finally, thanks so much to everyone who has joined our Relay for Life team and been so generous with donations! I have been so pleasantly surprised at how much money we have been able to raise so far! Hopefully soon we will have some SuperGrant bumper stickers to sell and raise a little more money. Its in the works......

And Wendi, I will most certainly spill the beans about the contents of my purse as soon as I have a means of documenting it, because no one would believe it without seeing it! At the moment I am "working" out of 3 bags! (One black, one brown, and one tote) All 3 remain with me at all times and you just wouldn't believe what is in there!!!! Your post made me take note, and I do bet that I may be your only friend who has both softball socks (new) , a full size wall calendar, Old Maid cards, PopTarts (in the wrapper) and fire crackers in the same purse!!!

Side note for Leah ---- And how about American Idol last night? I love Dolly Parton... She writes the best music!!!! Michael Johns is creeping up on cutie pie David as much new favorite! Its getting good! I'm an American Idol geek and I'm proud of it! I've always been a sucker for a talent show! I'll call you during the results tonight!

Relay for Life

2008-03-26T17:51:00.000-04:00

Relay for Life Kickoff!

We have finally registered our Relay Team for 2008 - Team Super Grant.

Please visit our site and join our team! Relay is the weekend that Joel gets married, but we can make a good showing on Friday night for the team lap and survivor lap!

Click on the following link to go to our team page!

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?pg=team&fr_id=8654&team_id
=269793

Thanks!

Em

The best Easter Bunny ever!!

2008-03-24T13:27:00.004-04:00

Mike agreed to be the Easter Bunny for the children at the Easter Egg Hunt this past Saturday. You would have really loved him doing the bunny hop with 70 little kids! They loved him.

Grant was feeling pretty good considering it was day 5 of his monthly steroids. He had a couple of "breakdown" moments, but all in all, it was a fine day. (Should I say he ate 5 hot dogs without even breathing?)

We hope all of our friends had a beautiful Easter. Our family is so grateful for all of the blessings of this past year. There are several friends who lost there loved one this past year, and Easter took on a whole new dimension for them. We think of them often, and pray that they know that our dear Savior died for us all, that we may be able to once again know and love those who have gone on before us.

Thank you all for checking on Grant. He continues to do well- he has adjusted well to his daily chemo at home, and the Nelson clan is just fine! Love to you all.

Hair!

2008-03-20T08:57:00.004-04:00

I promised pictures, so here we go!

Grant has a head full of hair! I decided after his bath last night to document it for all to see! You will notice that his trademark "swoosh" on the back of his neck has even returned! (His mom has the same trademark swoosh!.... Makes having short haircuts very challenging!)

Third is a photo of Grant at the art show. He was not so thrilled about posing for a pic, but pacified his mom with a quick shot. Notice his monster truck.... He is very proud of it!

Last is a pic from our clinic visit in February. Grant was having a good time with the building blocks. This past Tuesday we didn't take any photos because there was no room to move, much less pose! Some Tuesdays are worse than others, and this past Tuesday was a doozy! Kevin and I spent most of the day in the hall sitting on the stools that the nurses use when they access the kid's ports. We sat until someone else needed to get stuck, then we turned over our stools until they were done..... Nurse Mary thought we were really funny! Grant enjoyed playing in the playroom with his Pal Jane. The college assigns pre-med student volunteers to each patient. Grant's Pal is Jane. She is a very sweet girl from Roanoke Rapids who keeps Grant completely occupied during most of our visits! We love Jane and thank her for her help! It is priceless.....

We visited with William and Colby and had a monthly spinal tap with Methotrexate. Grant requested muffins for the post-op room. He ate 2 huge muffins from the cafe at the hospital. The kids have to fast before spinal taps, so they are all very hungry when they wake up. Most of the time you can find anything from Cheeto's to macaroni and cheese being passed out in post-op. By post-op, I mean a pretty average sized room filled with rolling recliners that they use as mobile hospital beds as the kids are waking up from sedation. Its a confusing place.... lots of blood pressure cuffs and pulse-ox cables!

Grant has had a great week so far with his steroids. Today is day 3 and we haven't had any adverse side-effects so far! I can't tell you what a relief it is that he doesn't cry for the whole 5 days anymore! Life is livable!

Today is Easter Egg hunt day at school. Grant and Eden both have their hunts and cook-outs at the same time, but in separate locations (one at school and the other at the park a couple of miles away), so I will do my best to split myself in half and be present for both events! Jake is very excited at the thought of running around like a crazy kid and collecting candy - two of his most favorite past-times! We'll see how it goes!

After school I will do my Thursday piano and voice lessons, and then Easter Break will officially begin for us! The kids only have a half day of school tomorrow, so I don't even count that! I am looking forward to a quiet week and lots of time working in my yard. My plant beds suffered from some serious neglect last year as I spent the whole spring and summer in Chapel Hill, so I have some major pruning and weeding to do! I can't wait....

Happy Easter to all! I will post more pics soon! FYI the church Easter Egg Hunt will be on Saturday and they will be having a special guest bunny visiting..... I can't tell you who it is, but he is 6'4 and my baby brother! I can't wait to publish pictures of his stint as the world's most famous bunny! Should be hillarious!

Art Show

2008-03-15T14:39:00.002-04:00

I have been meaning to download photos, but my life is just too crazy these days, so I will update minus pictures..... Please forgive me!

We were very excited to learn that Grant would have art work in the Carteret County Schools Student Art Exhibition during February! Grant had a drawing of a monster truck displayed. It looked remarkably like the one his Uncle James used to have when we were in high school! So, we had a great time one Friday evening visiting the show and taking pictures of Grant with his art! Although having Jacob at an art gallery was a little more than nerve racking, we managed to survive and then even had a nice family dinner at Pizza Hut.

Grant seems to be nearly back to his old self these days. Dr. Blatt had told us that over time he would acclimate to his daily chemo and he has. Even his normal Thursday nausea after his Methotrexate on Wednesday nights has subsided. He is doing great at school and even visited the dentist in Greenville last week. Thankfully he only had one cavity, his first one ever. I cannot say the same thing for his sister, who has terribly soft and chalky teeth and usually has 7 or 8 cavities at each visit. She outdid herself this time with 6 new cavities and nerve damage under 2 of her previous capped teeth! I may just have a nervous breakdown!

Aside from our visits to the dentist, we have had a pretty normal life recently. Ball has begun again. Kevin is coaching Grant's t-ball team this year since Uncle Shawn has moved up to baseball with Noah. Our team this year includes Zac, Riley, Grant, our neighbor Matthew, our friend Seth and lots of kids of our friends from high school. We are excited about this season, and are looking forward to Grant being able to play again. Last year he only made it to 1 or 2 games. He was diagnosed between Opening Ceremonies and the season actually starting, so we made it to as many games as possible when chemo and counts would allow.

Eden is still playing 8 & Under fast pitch softball. It is her 3rd year with basically the same team, so we are looking forward to a league championship year! Edie is a good little ball player, and seems like an old pro already. We have to figure out how to do dance and ball at the same time, always a challenge, but that's ok! She loves them both, so we will just do what we have to do....... Yet another reason for a nervous breakdown.

Pa and Joel and Mike returned from their week long Spring Training Extravaganza yesterday. They spent the week in Florida watching the Red Sox training camp and seeing a bunch of other games. We have a good Pa! Maybe soon he'll take his girls for a Broadway week!;)

Charlie is spending the afternoon with me while Joella shops with our girls for matching Easter dresses. I got the better end of this deal, believe me! I think we'll go for a walk down to the water and enjoy this beautiful day.......

A Mighty Handsome Little Man

2008-03-10T08:45:00.004-04:00

I wanted everyone to see how studly Grant is looking these days. I told him a few days ago that I thought he needed a haircut. He said that his mama told him he never had to have another haircut if he didn't want one. I told him that was fair enough.

Funny Eden!

2008-03-04T21:24:00.002-05:00

So, last week Eden and I were on the way home from dance class, and she wanted to stop at Subway for dinner. Well, it was Tuesday - 2 for Tuesday - to be exact, and the line was too long!! So, I bargained with Eden that I had to go to the grocery store and told her that she could get whatever she wanted for supper!

This is when the fun starts!

The conversation goes like this....

So Eden, what is your favorite thing to eat?

Clams....

Well honey, they don't have clams at the grocery store. What else?

Oysters.....

Well, the only oysters at the grocery store are in a can, and that's not really what you're thinking about! What else?

Shrimp!

OK, Eden. The shrimp at the grocery store are not that great and Mr. Eddie's shop has already closed so we can't get any fresh shrimp tonight. What do you want that I can actually buy at the grocery store!

I don't know..... Fried flounder!?

AAAGGGGHHHHH

Welcome to my life!

Our trip to Chapel Hill

2008-02-24T20:54:00.002-05:00

Hi, everyone!

We are home from our monthly trip to Chapel Hill, and done with day 5 of our monthly steroids. Grant had a very quick visit at the clinic. He did Vincristine and his monthly blood work. His counts still seem to be low to be in Maintenance - simply put, his medicines are working a little too well! We will do labs again in 2 weeks and possibly lower his dosage of his daily chemo. His ANC was .9, which means that he is pretty susceptible to infection and needs to steer clear of "sick people", not such an easy task when you are in Kindergarten!

This round of Dex was our easiest yet. Grant has actually been more hyper than sad this time. I can live with hyper! The crying for 5 days straight was a little too much - but I can do hyper! (After all, have you met Jacob! He does hyper all the time!) Grant has developed a fondness for meatball subs during this round. He even had one before church this morning! Gross and disgusting....... but he was happy, so what do you do?

We had a very fine trip this week! After the clinic we visited with our new friend Susan, Grant's Make-a-Wish coordinator. We had a fun lunch at Applebee's and Grant got to make his wish! He has decided that he would like to visit Disney World and learn to draw cartoons with the Disney cartoon artists. Cool, huh? Many thanks to Susan for her awesome gift and for her help in making Grant's wish come true!

After lunch, we saw Aunt Leah and her sweet boys and then headed to Greenville to visit Uncle Joel and Uncle Mike. We hung out with the Hancock men at the bachelor pad and visited with my friend Wendi and her adorable kids! Many thanks for the gifts, Wendi. Grant took his Spiderman bag to school for show and tell on Thursday! The other kids were also very impressed that you remembered them! Jacob is sporting Spiderman tatoos today!

We are looking forward to a calm week this week. I am hoping to paint my bedroom and get some things done around the house. I love to paint, and would redo my whole house every season, if possible! I painted the living room and dining room a couple of weeks ago and am in love with my new red wall! I haven't done my room in a good 2 years, and have been waiting just about as long to change it! I finally broke bad and bought the paint on Saturday. Grant had a good time running around Ace Hardware doing his best Spiderman impersonation while we waited for the paint. This was nearly as much fun as his Spiderman impersonation at Food Lion while I got groceries!!!

I will post pics when I'm done! I'm going from dark green to a lighter eucalyptus color with a dark brown accent wall! Yeah! I'm very excited! It doesn't take much......

Until then....

Update! Long time coming.......

2008-02-11T08:56:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the delay in updating! I have actually tried on numerous occasions to write a post, but have been foiled in my attempts by the demands of my crazy life!

Where to begin....

We have a cat! A very sweet little black kitty took up residence on my mother-in-law's back porch about a month ago. My kids very quickly fell in love with the black kitty, and it came home to live with us a little over a week ago. It has been a very sweet cat - and aside from not appreciating visiting the vet very much, has basically been hanging out on our back porch! Jacob is a very "hands-on" kitty-daddy and is keeping the poor thing on his toes! We call the kitty "Coal" (many thanks to Joella for the cool name) - however, Jake is still calling him "Boy". Maybe "Coal Boy" is a good name!

Eden has had a big week. She was recognized on Saturday as one of the 20 county winners in a young writer's competition. Jacy also won the competition for the kindergarten. They received certificates at The History Place in a very nice little ceremony. Smyrna Elementary was very well represented, as they had 5 winners in the county! And in even bigger news, Jacy Malene won the competition for the state of North Carolina! Yeah, Jacy! Of the 20 county winners, 9 from Carteret County won State, so we are very proud of all of the kids!

Grant continues to do very well in school and has almost a full head of hair these days. He celebrated 100 days of kindergarten last week! (He has been there at least 50 of those!) His class had a very nice 100 Days Activity Day complete with projects from each student. Grant's project was to make a house out of 100 Legos. He loves Legos!

Aside from a little joint pain, Grant is getting more active and like himself with each passing day. We feel so blessed that he is doing so well, and send our prayers to our many friends who are still struggling in the early stages of treatment. Please remember of new friend William Bunn who was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in December and is already preparing for a stem cell transplant at Duke later this month.

We love you all and appreciate your continued prayers and support!

Done with the Dex!

2008-01-27T21:57:00.000-05:00

Its Sunday and we are done with this round of Dexamethazone. Yeah for us! Grant actually did a lot better this time as we gave the Dex in combination with some other meds to try to keep his moods under control! We are hopeful that this combination will continue to work for Grant and that we have overcome the curse of the Dex!!!

Grant will try school again tomorrow. His ANC was up to 1.2 last week, so he should be OK to be around other kids! We are nervous about cold and flu season, but what do you do?

We are all looking for to a quiet week. Jacob has a dentist appointment in Greenville on Thursday, but that is our only scheduled Dr. appointment. I think that we may set a new record - only one visit for a whole week! What will I do with my time? Maybe 20 loads of laundry.......

So, goodnight to one and all. I will post again soon!

In loving memory of Dr. John Knelson

2008-01-25T15:26:00.000-05:00

Our family pediatrician passed away last night. Dr. Knelson was diagnosed with throat and esophageal cancer shortly after he diagnosed Grant last spring. He fought a valiant fight and will be sorely missed. Grant referred to Dr. K as "his favorite".

The following is the front page article from today's Carteret County News Times.

Pediatrician remembered for loving care of children

Pediatrician Dr. John Knelson checks a patient, Zachary Masiak of Newport , in February 2005. Dr. Knelson, 73, died Thursday. (Cheryl Burke photo)

by Cheryl Burke

NEWS-TIMES

MOREHEAD CITY — “His profession, love and hobby was working with kids. He was so dedicated to them and that was his fulfillment. He was so compassionate and made sure that medical care was available to everybody,” said Dr. Stanley Rule, Morehead City pediatrician, of Dr. John Knelson, a popular Morehead City pediatrician who died Thursday evening from cancer at age 73.

“His legacy will not only be the practice he leaves behind, but the part of himself that he instilled in all of us that we will impart to others as we practice medicine.”

Dr. Knelson, or “Dr. K,” as he was affectionately known by his colleagues, employees and thousands of children and parents, moved to Morehead City in 1978 and was the first pediatrician in Carteret County . He later founded Carteret Clinic for Adolescents and Children in Morehead City , which will continue to serve patients.

His impact on the county’s medical community is such that many medical practices, including Carteret General Hospital and those in Medical Park , are flying their flags at half-staff today in honor of the beloved pediatrician.

“He was the very top citizen in Carteret County ,” said Leonard Safrit, owner of Safrit Building Supply in Beaufort who met Dr. Knelson when he took his children to him. “He was civic minded and spiritually minded. He went to such great lengths to look after all of our children.”

While his life was dedicated to helping children, he was also known for his deep faith in God, according to those who were close to him.

“He was a man of great faith and was my spiritual mentor,” said Laurie Partusch-Whitt, who has served as office manager for Dr. Knelson for 15 years. “That’s my biggest blessing and most precious memory I will carry.”

Ms. Partusch-Whitt said his employees, most who have stayed with him for years, referred to him as “Papa Bear.”

“We had a sign made for his parking space that says ‘Papa Bear parking.’ Since he’s been sick, no one parks in that space.”

Ms. Partusch-Whitt said Dr. Knelson continued to come to work even after he was diagnosed with cancer last year, and finally quit coming in October when he was unable to do so.

“But he never retired,” she said, “He would never want to be referred to as retired.”

His passion and compassion for children took him into many arenas of life, according to Dr. Rule, who not only practiced with Dr. Knelson for many years but was also his student when Dr. Knelson taught as a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

“He did a lot of research on lead pollution and how it affected children when he worked for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),” said Dr. Rule. “He was one of the first people to do that.”

While living in the Research-Triangle area years ago, Dr. Knelson was chief of the Clinical Studies Branch, EPA, as well as director of the Human Studies Laboratory. He went on to become a senior research official with the Office of Research and Development, EPA, Research Triangle Park .

But his love for children was a magnet that drew him back to family practice.

“He came to realize he missed seeing the kids, so he came back to his first love,” said Dr. Rule.

Dr. Knelson’s love for children also lead him to start Carteret Academy, a Christian-based private school that served middle school children from September 1995 to July 2003.

“He had a special place in his heart for any age child,” said Vicky Bishop, who served as headmaster of Carteret Academy and now serves as principal of Gramercy Christian School in Newport. “He will certainly be missed.”

Dr. Knelson also helped start Project Graduation, which is a drug- and alcohol-free party that has been offered to county graduates following commencement exercises for several years.

His love for children and God carried him onto the mission field in Rwanda. He and his wife Brenda served as medical missionaries to Rwanda in 2001, 2003 and 2004.

The Rev. John Grayson, assistant rector of All Saints Anglican Church in Morehead City, which Dr. Knelson helped found, said, “He has certainly been an inspiration not only as a good medical doctor, but as a Godly man in the community. He was not only a great teacher, but a great learner. I learned a whole lot from him and I will probably miss him as much as anybody in this community.”

But of all those who will be impacted by Dr. Knelson’s passing, it’s probably the children who will miss him most.

“Last night we had junior choir practice at the church, and one of the boys said, ‘We need to pray for Dr. Knelson,’” said Pat Davis, administrative assistant and junior choir director at All Saints Church. “That was yesterday evening, and we were probably praying about the time he passed.”

His funeral will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church with Rev. Grayson officiating. Burial is at 1 p.m. Monday at Ashley Heights Baptist Church Cemetery of Ashley Heights in Hoke County.

My baby is 3!

2008-01-20T13:28:00.001-05:00

Today is Jacob Kent's 3rd birthday! He is very excited to have his family and friends over for Spiderman cake this evening. When Kevin asked him what he wanted for his birthday, his response was a "cheese sandwich"! Good enough! Maybe he'll like the bike.... If not, a cheese sandwich is never more than a few minutes away!

Charlie James has just arrived home from the hospital. We are all at Grandma's having spaghetti for lunch. Charlie is having a good rest in Pa's lap. Life is good.... We are very blessed!

New Pictures!

2008-01-19T13:46:00.001-05:00

Aly Dart Photography did a very special in-hospital photo session yesterday! Enjoy!

Charlie James Morris!

2008-01-18T07:56:00.001-05:00

Charlie made a very grand entrance this morning at 12:30 am. Joella was scheduled to be induced today, but started having contractions last night around 9:00 pm. She was already dilated to 6 cm when she arrived at the hospital, and Charlie decided that once the clock struck midnight and it was actually our Aunt El's birthday that he would come join our family.

Charlie looks a lot like his mom. He has a head full of dark hair, is 21 inches long, and weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs. 12 oz! She knew he was a big boy!

Joella Dee is named after our Aunt Ella Dee. Aunt El passed away due injuries sustained in a car accident three Christmases ago. She was very fond of her babies, to say the least, and loved to rock and "dink" all of her grandkids, nieces and nephews, and great-nieces and great-nephews! We have been joking all along that Aunt El wouldn't let this baby go until her birthday! So, we talked all day yesterday about how she and Grandma and Uncle Mike and his Charlie were having one last day laying lots of kisses on our new little man!

So - Charlie James Morris is here! Happy Birthday Aunt El!

Penguins!

2008-01-15T19:21:00.000-05:00

So - I still haven't downloaded my pictures, but Grant's teaher, Ms. Vicky has posted some great pictures from penguin day! Enjoy! I just love the one where he is in the background posing!

FYI - still no Morris baby! Induction is scheduled for Friday!

Frustrated!

2008-01-11T10:29:00.000-05:00

I just wrote a huge entry and lost it! I think I'll go cry.....

I will post again later after I have recovered!

The gist of it.....

Grant is good - likes school - is dressed up like a penguin today!

Jake is wild - has 3 cavities!

Eden loves to go home with girlfriends - hangs out with Pa a lot!

No Morris baby yet! Charlie James is due today and we are ready for him to join this crazy family!

OK - much less eloquent than before, but basically the same!

I think I'll go drink a Mt. Dew!

Playing the waiting game!

2008-01-11T10:14:00.000-05:00

Hi!

Just updating to let everyone know that we are still waiting for a Morris baby! Joella is due today - and we are all growing very anxious for the arrival of baby Charlie James Morris, none more anxious than the mom-to-be! Joella has very big babies - and is a tiny, little person - so everyday poses the challenge of several more ounces being added to the weight of this little fella!

I will update as soon as anything happens!

In other news, Grant has been having a great time at school. He has stayed for the entire school day every day since school resumed last Thursday! Yeah for me!

Jake and I have had a great time hanging out and getting stuff done around the house. We even made a trip to Greenville to see the Pediatric Dentist! Even more fun..... Jake was a good boy and only has a couple of cavities - so we get to go back again soon!

Today was penguin day in Kindergarten, so Grant has gone to school dressed in full penguin attire! All of the other kids just went for black and white, but that was not sufficient for Grant. He was looking very cute! I will post a picture as soon as I find the cable for my camera!

Eden has spent the week being a social animal! She tries to find a different friend to go home with every day. I'm beginning to think she doesn't like our house! She is planning on a weekend of quality "Pa" time this weekend. She loves to hang out with Pa, and he enjoys having a constant companion. They are busy training Maggie, Pa's new boxer, these days. She can roll and sit and shake and do bunches of cool tricks! I wish they could try their training techniques out on Jacob!

That's about all for this morning! I'm going to try to find the floor in the boy's bedroom!

Happy Days!

2007-12-30T17:04:00.000-05:00

Happy 9th Anniversary to Emily and Kevin! May the next 9 years be as fun as the first!

Happy ~th Birthday to Emily! Your birthday present is coming...

Home from the clinic!

2007-12-27T16:54:00.000-05:00

So, its been quite a day, but we are home at last! We spent the night with Leah in Raleigh last night, and got to the clinic around 8:00 am. Grant is always a little queezy when we go to the clinic - his nervous stomach often gets the best of him. I can't imagine where he gets this tendency from;) So, after some anti-nausea meds and a very fun-filled sedation for a spinal tap and IT Methotrexate, we hung out for a while in the recovery room and got a little more anti-nausea meds and some Vincristine. We got a chance to visit our friend Colby and his mom and our friend John from Garner. We spent most of the day passing out Christmas gifts to our nurses and doctors.

The good news of the day is that Grant has been cleared to start school again next week, another baby step back to normalcy! His counts still continue to look good and he remains a textbook patient.

We had an OK trip home, until we hit Walmart to get prescriptions filled. This is when the nausea got the best of my little man! Fortunately, we were already back in the car AND we were at Walmart, so new clothes were only one swipe of Grandma's credit card away. You just can't script this stuff!

So, we are back at home now. My sweet husband has taken down my oh-so-dead Christmas tree for me! He's a good boy! Maybe tomorrow I'll get all of the Christmas toys to the proper bedrooms, and my house will begin to look a little more normal! And hopefully soon, life will return to a little more normal too.

Our next clinic visit will be January 22. We will continue to do daily chemo (steroids, mercaptopurine, anti-biotics, etc...) at home. Some of his meds will be do everyday for the next 3 years! Popping pills has become second nature for Grant, so he doesn't mind.

So, if I don't get a chance to post again soon, Happy New Year to one and all! May 2008 kick the pants off of 2007!!!!!

Merry Christmas from the Nelsons

2007-12-19T18:57:00.001-05:00

Dear Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas from the Nelsons. We hope this letter finds you happy,healthy, and well. 2007 has been quite a year for our family! We thank our Heavenly Father for all of our many blessings and for the great love we have felt from our many friends this year.

As most of you know, Grant was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in late April, just two weeks shy of his 5th birthday. As you may imagine, we were completely devastated! However, Grant responded very quickly to treatment and was in a technical remission in a week, and a full remission at the end of this first 28 days of chemotherapy. Since April he has undergone weekly chemotherapy at UNC Children’s hospital in Chapel Hill. After Christmas we will begin a more relaxed monthly schedule that will continue for the next 3 years. Grant has been a model patient and has an excellent prognosis for a full recovery. We are so grateful to the physicians, nurses, and staff who have helped to save his life and who have guided us through this tedious process. We also send our love to our many new friends we have made at the cancer clinic and remember our dear friends whom we have lost this year.
We express our deep appreciation to all of our many friends for all of the sweet acts of kindness you have shown to us. We love you all and could not have done this without you!

The other kids are doing well. Eden is in 2nd grade and loves Sudoku puzzles and spending time with her friends. She was baptized this past October by her father and was simply beautiful in her new white dress. Jacob will be 3 in January, and is in love with two things - his Grandma Susan and his Uncle Joel’s dog, Skully. He is quite a handful and keeps his mom busy, to say the least. Kevin continues to serve as the First Counselor in the Ward Bishopric and will celebrate his 8th Anniversary with Ecolab on January 1st. As for me, I am still teaching private music lessons at the Crystal Coast School of the Arts in Morehead City and keeping busy as a stay-on-the-run-mom!

We keep Grant’s blog updated almost weekly with news and photos. Please visit his website at http://www.grantnelson.blogspot.com/ so please check in! We love hearing from our friends and family!

We pray for another good year and for the Lord’s blessings to be with us and with each of you.

With love,Emily, Kevin, Eden, Grant & Jacob

Blankets!

2007-12-06T09:59:00.000-05:00

Good morning! We are home from our weekly clinic visit. Grant's ANC was up to 1.2 yesterday, so we are breathing a little sigh of relief and are excited to be mask-free for the week.

The highlight of our trip was delivering the blankets that the sweet sisters of the Relief Society of our church had made for the kids. We felt like real life Santa's as we got the joy of passing out the beautiful blankets! Several of the kids wrapped up in their blankets right then and there! Special thanks go to all of our friends from church, led by my "Mama Marla", who gave so lovingly of their time to make this possible.

We also were able to visit with Colby yesterday. It was the first time that we had actually seen Colby since July. He has the shadow of hair growing back, and is doing great! Colby's grandparent's house was burned by an arsonist last month, so please say a special prayer for his family. The arsonist also set fire to the Fire and Rescue building in their home town, so life is more than a little stressful for his family right now.

The rest of the week looks pretty normal. We still have shopping to do! My piano recitals are next week, so I am looking forward to some wonderful performances from my sweet students. We had a great studio class yesterday. Its always so much fun when they're all together! We are also spending lots of time getting the Christmas Program ready for church and planning our family Christmas extravaganza!

Life is good! We are thankful for all of our blessings and our wonderful friends and family!

One of our friends- Colby Byrd

2007-11-28T11:04:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone-
Yesterday went well in Chapel Hill. Grant did just fine with the chemo, and we were in and out in two hours! Grant was sleepy on the way home, so the coming home was easier than usual too.

With this part of the schedule, the chemo is especially hard on his neutrophil counts - yesterday it was .4, that is getting to the dangerously low lever. Dr. Blatt thinks that he will "crash" with his counts this weekend, which will keep him homebound with special precautions of being around anyone with the slightest illness. She also warned Emily that any fever is pretty much a trip to Chapel Hill for a hospital stay. So- we are going to be very particular with Grant's activities, and pray for a non-event weekend.

The article below is about one of Grant's friends- Colby Byrd. He is a true hero- after completing 3.5 years of chemo, Colby relapsed after having been off of chemo only one month. He has begun the whole process over- he is such a sweet little guy- so if you have a moment, say a special prayer for Colby- we love him and his family. When Grant was in the hospital in August, Colby had been in the hospital for a month with his counts at .0- without the ability to ward off any type of infection. He was supposed to be at the clinic yesterday at 11:00, but we finished early and missed seeing him.

Grant will go back to Chapel Hill on Wednesday next week- Dr. Blatt, we hope you are wrong, and he'll make it through the weekend without a fever!!

Thanks for checking in. Love you all.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- For terminally ill children, their hospital stay can be seen as a time of weakness and pain, but a program called Flashes of Hope is showing them in a new light.

Colby Byrd, 6, was surrounded by support as a photographer takes his picture. He's been battling leukemia for about four years.

"This stay, we've been here for three weeks. He had some side effects from one of the chemo drugs," said his mom, Melissa Byrd.

But at this moment, chemo is far from Colby's mind.

"This is wonderful. It's amazing. It gives the kids a chance to be funny, free," Byrd continued.

It's all part of a national program called Flashes of Hope. It partners with photographers, turning hospitals into studios, and patients into stars.

[The Byrd family gets their picture taken.]
The Byrd family gets their picture taken.
"Flashes of Hope is devoted to bringing out the beauty in children who are having a difficult time in their life," said Nancy Padgett, with Flashes of Hope.

The program also brings in makeup artists for an uplifting experience for weary parents.

"After about three weeks of not having makeup, to come in and just have people pamper you a little bit and make you feel special," added Byrd.

Each family receives free portraits, and Colby already has a plan for his pictures.

"Put them on the wall," he said.

For all the children who are photographed, these are lasting reminders of their strength through the hardships and the laughter that sustained them.

"We can go back years later and show him and talk about what was happening," said Byrd.

UNC-Chapel Hill Head Football Coach Butch Davis donated the money that started the Triangle chapter of Flashes of Hope. Davis gave the money at a national fundraiser before he was ever named head coach at Carolina.

A relaxing bath!

2007-11-26T07:50:00.000-05:00

This afternoon is a travel day to Chapel Hill for Grant. He will have an early appointment tomorrow morning at the clinic. Last week went very smoothly- he was accessed by home health on Monday, then to Chapel Hill for the Tuesday routine. Grant is such a fine little patient! He had his spinal, lumbar puncture and six hours of iv's. The clinic was once again very full, so I took a short trip to a mall during the rush hour on the second floor of the clinic.

Each trip there are new faces and new stories. The hardest part of this trip was meeting a young couple with a 3 month old little boy who is very sick. He had to have his chest catheter cleaned and reworked- the little feller cried for about half an hour while his mama and daddy stood beside him trying to comfort him. The nurses had to hold him down, and they came out of the room crying because of the compassion they felt for this young family in crisis.

We know the staff at the clinic very well now. Never a finer group of doctors, nurses and staff could be found. We are so grateful for their skills and for their sweet dispositions.

A couple of weeks ago Grant was feeling a bit grouchy. He was achy, so I told him I thought he could enjoy a whirlpool bath in my bathtub. Wow. We struck gold! He loved the rushing water around his swollen knees and sore back! I had to get a couple of pictures of the event.

We'll post an update later this week. Grant has a couple of weeks left of delayed intensification before reaching the "Maintenance" phase. He'll be accessed this morning by home health, and will keep his port accessed until Friday again to have additional chemo at home. He did this last week, and by Friday he was ready to "get the needle out" as he says. The Ara-C chemo from last week took his Fuzzy Wuzzy hair out in less than 24 hours, so Grant is sporting the Yul Brenner bald-is-beautiful head. Doesn't seem to bother him at all!

Thanks again for your love and support. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did, and our prayers always give thanks that Grant is making continued progress.

For Leanne!

2007-11-16T10:06:00.000-05:00

My friend Leanne called yesterday and said that she had been waiting patiently for pictures from my trip to San Diego. I am sorry for the delay!! It seems like forever since my trip, but I will try to recall some of the details.

Nina and I flew out of New Bern on Thursday morning at 5:30am, which meant we had to be there at 4:30 am, which meant we had to leave Otway at 3:30 am, which meant that Nina had to leave Cedar Island at 2:45 am! We had an early start on the day, to say the least. Our flight from New Bern to Charlotte was a quick one, but our plane was quite small, and our seats were beside the propellers, so it was a loud hour! We had a short layover in Charlotte - just enough time to eat breakfast, and then we headed for Pheonix. We got there just in time for another breakfast, and then flew our final hour to San Diego. It was only 11:30 pacific time when we arrived, so we still had a long day ahead of us. We shuttled to our hotel, and got a sandwich at the hotel restaurant - the best $15 BLT I've ever had - and met up with Kelly for a little while. We said hello to the crew from Cedar Island, and then headed to our room and took a much needed nap.

Thursday evening was the rehearsal. Kelly picked us up at the hotel and we made our way to the Naval Base at San Diego Harbor. It was such a beautiful evening and although we were a little chilly, we had a great time.

The rehearsal dinner was at a lovely house that Kelly's mom had rented for the week. We were so tired by the time the dinner started, but enjoyed visiting with all of our friends who were in town for the wedding. I was thrilled to see my good friend Michael Paul Goodwin, who is stationed in Alaska right now. He was preparing for a deployment to Iraq, so we were so happy to get to visit before he left. We also visited with Corey Patton, who I haven't seen in at least 10 years. He is all grown up and quite a sophisticated fellow! We always knew that Corey would grow up to be a wonderful man! We had a great time with Aunt Fran and her family. I felt very safe during my trip knowing that Uncle Paul was there to take care of me if I needed anything. *** As a side note, Fran is my Aunt Drexell's sister, which means that she is not "legally" my aunt, but that doesn't really matter. She and her sweet husband, Paul have always treated me like their own!***

So, Friday was the big day. We got up early and watched some cartoons with Courtney and her son Garret and Adron's little one Samantha. They headed out for a day at the harbor and Courtney, Nina and I walked a couple of blocks to get a fast food breakfast. Kelly picked us up around 10 am, and we went back to the "big house" and started preparations for the ceremony. Kelly had done an awesome job of organizing everything herself, but that also meant that she had lots to do on the day of the ceremony. So, we spent the day taking care of details and then headed back over the to Harbor to do pictures and prepare for the wedding. The ceremony was beautiful and simple and perfect and just like Kelly!

We danced the night away at the receptionl. Samantha was my dance partner for most of the evening. She was a real trooper and lasted almost all night. The picture of her sleeping was taken at about 11:30 pm when she could take it no more.

Our flight on Saturday morning left at 7:00 am which meant we had another very early morning! Our flights all ran on time, but it was a long day. We had a 3 hour layover in Charlotte, so we at dinner at Chili's and rested for a while.

We arrived home around midnight, very tired, and very happy to be home!

We've got the week off!

2007-11-13T08:38:00.001-05:00

Grant was count dependent this week, so we did lab work yesterday. His ANC needed to be up to .75 before he could continue with more chemo, and we weighed in at .6, so we get the week off!

I am actually relieved that we get another couple of days before we start our 2 weeks of Ara-C. Grant is just starting to act like himself, post steroids, and we could use a little normalcy before starting again. The Ara-C is the only chemo that actually makes Grant sick. We will do it for 4 days in a row for two weeks starting next Tuesday. This will be our last big punch of chemo before Maintenance is scheduled to begin. On our current schedule, and barring any unforeseen hospital stays for fever or infection, Maintenance will start on December 18th. The best Christmas present ever!

As for today, Grant will go on his first field trip with his Kindergarten class. We missed his first trip because he was at UNC doing Peg shots! So, today he will get to go to the Beaufort Historic Grounds and learn about making butter, and milking cows, and early Thanksgivings in North Carolina. Kevin will do the bus ride with him and I will meet them in town. Grant is very excited to ride the bus. I am not so excited about him riding the bus, but he has agreed to wear a mask, so a compromise has been reached!

We will post pictures later.

Have a wonderful Fall day!

Before & After

2007-11-05T20:57:00.001-05:00

We are so excited to report that we are finished with steroids! I can't express to you how totally miserable this experience has been! When Grant was first diagnosed, and we met our friend Colby, his mom, Hope, told me that if we could handle steroids, we could handle anything! Well, let me just say, "Amen!" Ahhhhghh! We hate Dexamethasone! I thought that nothing could be worse than the Prednisone, but I was wrong!

In other news, we were thrilled that Eden was baptized last Sunday by her dad. She was a beautiful little princess and we had a great time with all of our friends and family at her dinner. Eden is a big help to her very tired mama and has been such a trooper through all of our trips and Dr's visits with Grant. Even if she does refuse to do her part in the Primary program next Sunday, she's still a good girl!

We have the week off from chemo this week and are count dependent next week, so we are enjoying a little break. Hopefully Grant will come down off this steroid high and return to normal by the end of the week. Cross your fingers!

Hungry!

2007-10-26T17:09:00.000-04:00

So, we are at day 11 of steroids and the hunger has begun! Today has been an all-day eating marathon and its barely dinner time! I think that we are on the 4th bowl of grits for the day. We've also made pumpkin pies, had chicken tenders and potato wedges from Outer Island, snacked on popcorn and downed at least a gallon of chocolate milk!

I had a great time on my trip to San Diego. It was a quick trip and I am still suffering from sleep deprivation, but I had the best time with Nina and Aunt Fran's crew! I was able to visit with lots of friends from high school and was really happy to see Kelly and her new husband, Eric. We had no idea that San Diego was burning while we were there! Kelly lives in the heart of downtown, so I am confident that her apartment is out of danger. She is in Bali this week on her honeymoon, so she is safe and sound!!!

We have been enjoying a week of rain. The mums and lawn are loving it, but my Halloween lights keep shorting themselves out! Frustrating.....

We had a fine trip to the clinic this week. We left around 6:00 am and made our way home around 9:00 pm. Jacob went along for the ride and made life "interesting" to say the least. By the time we made it to Goldsboro he had already dumped a full chocolate milk out on himself, so we made a stop by Leah's house for him to change clothes. Leah was a brave soul and kept Jake for the rest of the day, so the 3 hour stay at the clinic was not nearly as hairy as it could have been. It was a very busy day, as Dr. Gold had been out of town for a week, so the 3o minutes worth of chemo ended up taking quite a bit longer. You just never know!

We are scheduled for clinic next week on Wednesday - Halloween! Grant is planning on dressing up for the day and wearing his Redskins football uniform. The "craft lady" is planning a Halloween party for the kids, so he is OK with missing his school stuff. We probably are done with school for the next couple of weeks, anyway. We will start home-schooling next week. Hopefully by January we will have good enough counts to start at Smyrna again. Grant loves his teachers and classmates and is not so thrilled about not getting to see everyone daily.

The exciting news of the week is that Eden Elizabeth will be getting baptized on Sunday after church. In our faith, children are baptized and become official members of the church when they turn 8 years old. Eden is very excited! Pa and Grandma have bought her the most beautiful new white dress and she looks like an angel in it! Kevin will perform the baptism and her friends from Primary will be singing. We are also planning a family "spread dinner" afterwards, and are really excited about spending time with our extended family and friends.

I will post pictures soon!

Delayed Intensification begins

2007-10-17T21:12:00.000-04:00

Hello friends and family.

I figured it was past time for an update on Grant. It has been a bit more hectic than usual, and Emily has been so very sad about Michael McKinney's passing. We know that each child has a different road to travel and all will have very different outcomes. Yet, these special children become a part of your life almost the moment you meet them, and there is a bond between the parents of the sick children that you can almost feel when you are in their presence.

To further add to the reality of it all, when Emily was up in Chapel Hill this week with Grant, she asked about a sweet little 8 year old guy- Bryson Parry from Wilmington, who we met in May after he relapsed from his leukemia after 3 years of treatment. After a relapse, a bone marrow transplant becomes the best treatment to save the life of the child, but you have to get the patient back into remission before the doctors will transplant. Well, after a grueling summer of chemo, Bryson got his transplant in mid-September and had been in the hospital since then. After trying to find out what room he was in up on the fifth floor of Children's hospital, Em found out that Bryson died two weeks ago, and so it was another very sad day.

But, we continue to be encouraged by all of Grant's numbers. He had an ear infection last week and had complained with headache and back pain, so Em took him to Dr. Knelson in Morehead and they went on and ran a blood panel on him just to be safe. His counts were alright, although his hemoglobin was 7.8, close to needing another blood transfusion. But Dr. Blatt felt like his numbers would improve over the weekend and Grant would be ready to begin this phase of treatment on schedule.

Home health came Monday, and his numbers were high enough to begin delayed intensification. Kevin, Em, and Grant left Monday evening for an early Tuesday appointment in Chapel Hill. He received the first meds of this protocol, along with a spinal tap, bone marrow aspirate, flu shot, and echocardiogram to be sure that the last phase had not damaged his heart and liver too much. Everything checked out normal, and the Nelson's got home yesterday evening.

Today is Eden's 8th birthday. She is such a joy to our family, and the oldest grandchild. Happy birthday Edie Pie. Emily took Eden and 7 little girls to Pizza Inn this evening for a little party. We will have a family party and dinner after Eden's baptism next Sunday.

Grant will have to return to Chapel Hill on Friday this week for the dreaded PEG shots in the legs. Then back to the clinic next week for more meds. The steroids also began again yesterday, so we are expecting the swelling and balding Grant to reappear after a few lean months. Thankfully, Grant should finish this stage right before Christmas, and then will head into the stage which is designed to kill any remaining leukemia cells which can hide in the central nervous system or other places for a number of years. This final stage- called "Maintenance" will continue for 3 more years. It will not be as rigorous as right now, and life will be more normal for the most part.

Our family is so very grateful for all of the blessings that Grant has received, and for the successful way that his body has responded to the drugs. Mean as they are, they are doing what they are supposed to do. Grant will need alot of patience for the next few weeks, he feels pretty rotten right now, and is crying for extended periods of time for no apparent reason. Well- yes, it is apparent- he's taking enough medicine to keep most of us in the bed all day.

OK- I think I will wrap this up for now. God bless Grant and all of the children fighting to beat this disease. It's pretty ruthless, we've come to understand too well this week. Please know how your support buoys up the Nelson crew. It's gonna be ok.

Our Friend Michael

2007-10-07T20:50:00.001-04:00

Our dear friend Michael McKinney passed away last night due to complications from his leukemia. We are so saddened by his passing and express our deepest sympathies to his extended family and especially his mom and dad and his two younger brothers.

Today has been quite a reminder of the intensity of this battle we are fighting against leukemia. It has been a hard day, but also a day filled with gratitude for all of the blessings we have been given.

When Kevin told Grant this morning he immediately came to the kitchen table and started writing a letter for Ms. Kristi, Michael's mom. He asked me to help him spell the words, but he wrote the text as follows,

"I am sorry Michael died. I know he feels better up in heaven. Love, Grant"

I guess that just about says it all.

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

2007-09-28T10:17:00.001-04:00

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. This is a link to a video created by parents of children with cancer. It makes reference to www.curesearch.org. This is a search engine that gives the best information on childhood cancer and is the home of the Children's Oncology Group. They are the sponsor of the clinical trial that Grant is involved in.

If you visit curesearch.org, you can click on a link to send your state representatives a letter urging them to pass the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act. It is a very simple process, and if you chose you can use a form letter and simply sign your name.

Thanks for helping.

Homework!

2007-09-25T21:32:00.001-04:00

Hi, everyone! We are back and home and enjoying life as normal at the moment. Our trip to the clinic was a rough one last week. Grant evidently is a hard kid to get "under" without full sedation! He had as much Fentanyl as possible, but still never went to sleep. So, we did the procedure awake!!! AAAHHHGGG! He actually did great - not nearly as bad as Eden at the dentist!

Unfortunately, the Fentanyl left him "hung over" for several days, so it was a long weekend. Finally, on Sunday, he took a 5 hour nap, and still went to bed at 10 pm, so he felt a lot better on Monday!

This picture was taken Monday afternoon while doing homework. Grant was teaching his classroom pet, Care Cat how to color! They had a great time!

We will visit the clinic again next Tuesday for our last visit in Interim Maintenance. Delayed Intensification is our next hurdle! The steroids will return for a while - as will a preoccupation with tacos and grilled cheese sandwiches, I'm afraid! A small price to pay, I guess!

Please remember our friend Michael McKinney this week. He is finishing radiation and beginning another round of chemotherapy. Michael is really sick right now. Please pray for him and his family. They will be having a fundraiser on October 20th and are currently selling t-shirts to help with hospital expenses. Click on Michael's link on our page for more information. I will post more as the fundraiser gets closer!

The coolest news of the week is that Mother Teresa and her benefactor (aka my ma and pa) purchased me a ticket to fly to San Diego for my friend Kelly's wedding in October! I will be flying out with another friend, Nina, and am just so excited!!!! We will only be gone for a couple of days, but I am looking forward to a little vacation! Kelly is a faithful watcher of Grant's blog and one of my and Kevin's very best friends, so I am thrilled to be with her on her very special day! I will be sure to post pictures!

That's about all for tonight! I'll post again soon!

Is it already Thursday?

2007-09-20T08:22:00.000-04:00

Wow! Life is passing by "speedy quick" these days! I can't believe that it is already time for another UNC trip. We will leave this evening after I finish piano lessons. Grant will do a spinal and bone marrow in clinic tomorrow morning, and then we will head back home!

Grant has had a good week at school. He has stayed for the whole day several times, and is beginning to get into the routine of things! He is at home today so we can do his blood work and get counts before clinic. Grandma is going to Chapel Hill with us this week and he is looking forward to some quality time with his personal Santa Clause!

Jacob has had an ear infection this week. He doesn't seem to mind, however. It hasn't slowed him down very much by any means!

Eden is looking forward to cheerleading today! They are learning their dance routine this week and she is all excited about being a hip-hop dancer! She cracks me up!

I will post more after our trip! We should get our calendar for Delayed Intensification tomorrow. The end (of the weekly trips) is in sight...........