One of our friends- Colby Byrd

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.