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September 7, 2001--Chance was released from the hospital a week ago. His wounds are starting to heal nicely with the help of a cortisone cream. The skin is actually rejuvenating itself and filling in the holes. We visited Chance last week only for a few hours when he was still in the hospital. He was in good spirits until the end when he was getting tired. He went to the coffee shop and had some cheese pizza with his parents, Granny & BopPa, and Dave and myself. Then we ventured outside where he was able to fly (with Dad's help) to "infinity and beyond." He even rode the escalators a 2-3 times. Currently, his family is still waiting for the bone aspirate and spinal tap. Chance's white blood cell count (WBC) is still increasing. The doctors think it's still because of this infection. But, there is a great possibility that since he hasn't been receiving chemo for the past 2 months, that the leukemia is back. The WBC is a very big indicator....and it is around 21...normal being 4-10. If this may be the case, Dr. Hum's intent is to send Chance home for good. There's nothing more that they can do. Adam suspects that when they go in on Monday, that they will start discussing the spinal tap...and setting a date to do it. I will update the page when I find out what else is going on.

November 11, 2001--It's been 2 months since I updated Chance's site. Sorry for those who do frequent often. After the attacks on Sept. 11th, my attention has been focused on worldly news, and recently, a death in the family. For the most part, everything has been going pretty good for Chance. He started a maintenance phase of chemo a few months ago. He recently had another port put in, and as far as I know that has been going good. Chance is now 3 and a half years old. Despite having some missing teeth, I have noticed during our talks on the phone that his speech is getting a lot more clear. He will sit and carry on a full conversation. I still have to get updates, but I was told prior to Halloween that Chance was going to be Buzz Lightyear. It seems that Blue is going to the wayside now between Buzz and Scooby Doo. That's hard to get accustomed to when Blue has been in the picture for SO very long! :) I plan to try and call the family in the next day or two and will update when I do. But, since nobody has called me yet....that usually means that everything is going fine :) I also added a link to another ALL patient's page on the LINKS page. You can access it here, or off the main page. Her name is Samantha Washko from North Carolina.

November 16, 2001--Talked to Adam and the boys tonight. First I talked to Tyler, and was asking him what he wanted for Xmas. Then I talked to Chance a little, but he wasn't talking like he normally would. He sounded distracted. Last, I talked to Adam. They took Chance to the clinic yesterday because he had complained that his pee-pee hurt. After further inspection from Adam, he noticed his left testicle was quite swollen. At the clinic, they basically said to keep an eye on it over the weekend, especially since his were fine and he hadn't spiked a fever. To call them on Monday. I guess Janet had a talk with Dr. Hum about the transplant in February, asking if it was still on for the 2nd. Dr. Hum said that she wanted to get him to February and then see about stopping the maintenance chemo. She said that they were going to fight the state about a second transplant, because more than likely it won't be paid for the second time around. Her fight would be that he didn't have a "full" transplant like the average person....meaning, they couldn't do full body radiation on Chance (which they needed to do) because he was too young. For a second transplant, they want to do full body radiation, especially of his testicles and his brain because that is were the leukemia cells hide. If it is a no-go with the state, their other option is to find a clinical trial and sign him up for that. Problem with a clinical trial is that his chances right now are about a 5% survival rate. How much less or more does that give him with experimental drugs? Adam said that for the past few days Chance hasn't been quite himself. He described him as "down in the dumps." He said that even going to the "pink" hospital, which he loves...he was quiet, didn't want to talk to anyone, and was giving everyone dirty looks.

January 1, 2002--Happy New Year to everyone! This last time last year, we weren't sure if we'd have another Christmas with Chance. But the Lord gave us another gift, and we will continue to take each day, one day at a time. Chance is doing good, and hopefully is looking towards another transplant. Everything changes day by day...but Dr. K is still shooting for a transplant in February last I heard. Chance got a new bike for Christmas from Granny and BoPPa. He liked it so much that his little legs started hurting because he wasn't used to using them so much. He had to take Tylenol a few nights because of it. But even though they hurt, he must have loved that bike to continue getting back on it. On Thanksgiving night, Chance's old "therapeutic dog" Heidi was hit by a car and killed. She was almost 13 years old and it hit our family hard. Heidi was the best dog we've ever and WILL have. And it made for a very hard and extremely sad Thanksgiving. With all the deaths that we've had in the past 6 months in the family, it made me more thankful to have our little Chancer with us still. He's been beating the odds for 3 and a half years now. That in itself shows you how much of a trooper he is...and I continue to pray that he will bless us with his presence in our lives. He has been a true angel that has deeply touched our lives and brought our family closer.