OUR TRIP TO MYRTLE BEACH & THE NASCAR SPEED PARK

We were all looking forward to going to the Nascar Speed Park but unfortunately our excitement was quickly replaced by disappointment.
After paying for a day of what we thought would be great fun we realize that there are only two tracks that the little guys can ride on, one by themselves and one with us. There was only one big track that had cars that rode doubles. Then to top it off there were kids that thought it was fun to ram other riders and instead of making them leave the park they would stop the race and force everyone to leave and get back in line even though it was the same kids causing the problems! Very frustrating after spending up to 45 minutes in line on a very hot day. Let's not forget that these kids were trying to hurt others on the track some that were pretty young drivers. I can not believe that Nascar has put their name on such a horrible park that clearly is not meant for families at all!

DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!
Mommy and Caleb
Daddy and Gabe
Gabe ready to drive
Caleb wearing his race face
And they're off!

Right away Gabe decides to take a short cut!

I think Caleb is a little miffed by this obvious attempt to cheat!

Then our little guy decides to go the opposite way! He is the white car heading towards the others! Very funny!
He was completely oblivious to our screams!

Then he decides to turn the race into demolition derby. It was all very amusing to everyone watching!

They did have fun though and it was very cute to see them drive!

Daddy and Gabe on bumper boats with Mommy and Caleb chasing them.
One of the few rides for the little guys. Thank goodness they are easily amused by things that just go around.

Gabe and Caleb on one of the few rides the Nascar Speed Park had for kids under 48 inches.
Is it just me or does Gabe have Caleb doing all of the work!

Daddy and his little beans.

Does anyone know who these handsome guys are?

Love the glasses Zach!
Mike and Julie. Very cute couple!

Taylar and Paige

Kim being a goof!

Go Tay!

Gage was a such a good baby all day!
He just sat and watched all the action!

Taylar giving the climbing wall a try.
Mike trying the hard side while Elijah gives Tay a boost.

Mike gave up on the hard side and is giving the easy side a try and poor Tay lost her grip.
GOOD JOB MIKE! You are now equal to a 12 year old girl!

Elijah preparing to conquer the hard side after talking trash as usual!

Taylar giving the easy side a try.

Nick giving the wall a try.

OOPS! What happened Nick?

Uh-oh Mike time to pay up!

The conquering hero! Naturally, Elijah has to gloat!

Marty giving it a try.

Mart didn't get too far maybe Zach will have some luck! Okay I missed Zach because the little guys were about to bounce!

Our little peanut.

Gabriel was quite apprehensive about going too high.

Of course Caleb is our little dare devil and loves getting big air!

With a little help from the guy supervising the bouncers Gabe got a little air. He was not very happy at first but he did very well.

Wow! Go Caleb!

Gabe golfing. Now one of the many dissapointments at this park was their golf course! It had ripped up greens covered with debris and clearly had not been maintained in quite some time! Please don't waste your time and money on this park!
Caleb golfing

Taylar

Gage and Paige

I'm not sure what Elijah is doing.

Kim, Caleb, Gabe and Paige.
Gabe and Caleb just loved their Uncle Paige. I am sure that most do not understand how huge it is when Gabe connects with someone but I am pretty sure Uncle Paige knows how special Gabe's bond with him is.
After such a busy day it was great to get to our 3 bedroom 2 bath suite on the ocean and crash!
It was hard to get started the next morning but we had another busy day ahead!
Gage and Paige working on getting up.

Zach, Elijah, Nick and Mikey.
The view from one of the three balconies.
The gang ready for some breakfast. Hey kim,who's your friend?
Our gang plus Taylar peeking out on the end. I have been trying to teach Elijah to not pick his nose during pictures. I hope they bring our food soon he must be very hungry!
Daddy and his guys.

Gabe and Daddy doing Gabes "best smile". Daddy's little look alike!
Kim, Paige, Julie, Mike and Gage.
Daddy and Caleb sharing some food and conversation. TOO SWEET!

Unforunately this was just before Gabe lost his entire breakfast but like the hero he is Daddy swooped in to make it better and we got him cleaned up. One of the biggest obstacles we have with Gabe's Autism is how little he eats and how often he gets sick. Now it has gotten much better over the years because it used to be at every meal when he was age 1 to 51/2. He has gotten much better at handling the whole thing but it is still upsetting to see him go through it though!

Now off to the pool!

We were planning to go to Myrtle Waves water park but since our hotel had 14 pools we decided to just hang out and swim. This was one of the kiddie pools.

Uncle Paige, Caleb, Gabe, Jim and Gage.


Daddy and his little Bare.
Caleb and Uncle Paige hangin out in the hot tub. Uncle Paige was so good with the little ones it made us so happy to have him part of our family!

Sweet little Gage enjoying the pool.
Daddy and Gabe doing Superman.
Kim and Gage
Just chillin

The gang chilin in the huge hot tub. Nick, Zach, Caleb, Me, Elijah, Gabe, Julie, Mike and Marty.
One of the lazy rivers.
Kim and Gage in the lazy river.

Mommy and Gabe

Nick and Marty with Julie and Mike under the fountain.

Paige, Gage and Kim

After a day of fun swimming we are all ready for dinner.

Poor Gage was so tired he fell asleep sitting up eating a cracker.

Too cute!
VERY SWEET!

There was only one thing that Mike really wanted to do at Myrtle Beach, go to Dick's Last Resort Restaurant. This is a fun place where the wait staff insult the customers.

They also make these hats with insulting phrases on them. Caleb's says "boobies make me smile".

Gabe's says "my boogers taste like chicken".

Zach
Nick
Mike's says "banned from petting zoos in seven states".

Elijah's says "When I'm alone in my room I practice all the songs and dances from High School Musical".

Marty's says "life partner".

Gage's says "breast feeding champ of 2008".

Taylar's says "future Hooters reject".

Mike, Julie and Taylar

Mike and Julies hats.

All of the kids. I think Zach may have missed some BBQ sauce!

On our way back home.

Elijah thinking he can take the Mustang.

Jim pulling his punk card.

Then Mike decided to give it a go, no joy!

It was an awesome visit and so great to reconnect with family. It was as if our families have seen each other every day these past years. Jim and I adore our niece and nephews and just loved watching them with their cousins. It was also great to finally get to know Paige. He is a great person and wonderful father and it felt as if we have known him for years. Hopefully this was the first of many visits to come!

We love all of you very much!

GABE'S LOST TEETH

Caleb knocked out the first tooth by accident on July 14th.

Then Daddy made him laugh the second one out.

He now has the sweetest little smile!

UPDATE ON MADDIE

We had an exciting week, heading up to see our new home in Quantico. After our clinic visit Monday to get chemo, we got straight on the highway. Five and a half hours later, we got to check out our new place. Brandon had been there since the previous Wednesday and he had the whole house pretty much unpacked and organized. Although the base housing is significantly smaller than our last house in Jacksonville, it was brand new and the floorplan is pretty neat. Most of our stuff fits in the house and what doesn't is currently in the garage.
Maddie seemed to love it, and was practically running all over the place. This house is only one level, so it seems much easier to child-proof. We really enjoyed our week there with Brandon; it went way too fast. It is amazing how going to a different place can make you feel so different. It was like a vacation from cancer, almost, thought there really is no such thing. It was very invigorating and reassuring to me to get to imagine what life will be like when we get to live together as a family. It made me want to fast-forward to October when we think we might start actually moving up there for real.
Of course, just moving doesn't change anything; we will have chemo once a week until October 30, 2009. But the change of scenery makes it easier to pretend that things are different. I think I resolved that pretending is okay. Miss Priss will have chemo for alot longer, and the risk of relapse doesn't go away for even longer than that. But the most important thing is that Maddie enjoys every moment, so the sooner we can start pretending cancer isn't a huge part of our lives, the better. I think the move will be good to help us put a little distance between us and the very recent memories of diagnosis and the initial haze of hospitalizations. We will be just as vigilant about germs and any signs of relapse or infection, but we will do it in a new atmosphere where it feels like we are at least trying to move past this.
We have been incredibly lucky to have the best helpers in the world, my mom Bea and my stepdad Lance. They have not only opened their home to us, but have fed us, cleaned up after us, done laundry, etc. They have completely re-arranged their lives to make room for the insanity that is a baby with cancer. Living with us when Maddie is on steroids is enough to make any normal person want to go running for the hills. We will never be able to repay them for all they have done for us during this time. It will be tough to learn to live just the three of us again, because Brandon will actually have to go to work everyday and I won't have two other adults around to help me with Maddie. I know it will take a little getting used to, but we were able to do it before all this, what now seems like a very long time ago.
So our visit with Daddy was great, and now we are back to our normal routine, and if everything continues as planned, Maddie will have a spinal tap (LP) to give chemo next Monday and she will start steroids again (Arrghhh!). Then we do more oral chemo most of the rest of this month. In September, we will be hospitalized twice for hard chemo and her counts will be dangerously low again for about 6-7 weeks. But when all that is done, we hope to move up to live with Brandon.
Please keep our amazing baby in your prayers, as well as all of the other children with cancer. I swear we hear about more and more every week. This is something no child should have to go through.
Take care, Liz, Brandon, and Maddie

GABE'S PICS


These are some pics that Gabe has taken with his camera. He is always very proud of his pictures so enjoy!

GABE & TAYLAR

UPDATE ON MADDIE

Yesterday was the day that Brandon moved to Quantico and our fun family time together came to a close. So he will be driving a ton and hopefully we will do some too to help alleviate the burden on him, and so we can see our new home. Today the movers are delivering our stuff, so wish him luck.

Maddie, my sister Kathryn, my mom and I had a very pleasant lunch yesterday at California Pizza Kitchen at Southpark. Maddie not only sat in her high chair (that rarely happens) but she even ate quite a bit of solid food (other than chips). So it seems her appetite is coming back. I had called the clinic on our way to see if we had any lab results back from either the Parvo test or her MLL gene test, which tests to see if there is any lingering leukemia in her bone marrow. While at lunch, I missed a call from our nurse Kristen. When I called her back she said that the Genetics Lab had a preliminary report on Maddie’s MLL test and that they were faxing it over. She said either she or Dr. McMahon would call when they got it. That scared the living daylights out of me for a number of reasons. Anytime she says the doc may call, that means bad news that she cannot give me herself. Also, these genetic results have taken 2 to 3 weeks to get back to us each time. The only time we have gotten a result in 9 days is when she was first diagnosed and the result was positive for cloned leukemia in her marrow. So I am freaking out as we drive home from the mall, making mental plans as to what things I will need to take with us to the hospital. Thinking I will have to tell Brandon to turn around and drive straight back. Any of you who know me know how crazy I can be, and days when we are getting test results are not good in our house. I try very hard to remind myself that worrying does not help anyone, and that I cannot change the outcome of any of this. Unfortunately, my head just doesn’t always get that.

So we get home and I get her down for a nap, all the while thinking that it has been forever since I talked to the nurse and so something must really be wrong because otherwise they would have called by now. Anytime we have to wait long, I dream up scenarios about how our oncologist is mentally preparing himself for the speech he will have to give us. It has been over an hour (to receive a fax?) and I call again to check and she doesn’t answer. I also know Kristen knows my number when she sees it on caller ID, and the fact that she doesn’t further reinforces my fears that they are avoiding talking to me because something is wrong.

Just as I have looked up old results in my book of her labwork, and seen that there was a time where the result came back in 9 days (and the result was good), my phone rings. Kristen let me know that the result was normal. There was no evidence of MLL rearranged leukemia in her marrow. I have even gotten my fax with the results to file away in my book and they look just like the last ones.

So now that you all know how mentally deranged I am, we can celebrate the fact that Maddie was officially in remission July 14th when she had her Bone Marrow Aspirate done! While I believe strongly that she is going to survive this, I sometimes need medical data to reinforce it. There are many other parents who believe in God, who pray fervently for their children every waking moment, and who believe that God has a special plan for their child. All of the children that I know who have had this disease are loved and cherished by their families and friends. Many have powerful circles of prayer that speak to God on their behalf daily. But almost half die anyway. This disease is incredibly cruel. Please pray for a cure so that no child has to go through this!

Love to everyone,
Liz, Maddie, and Brandon

I just want to clarify some things I have said earlier today on this page. Despite my questioning whether or not my daughter will come through this, I am not in any way questioning my faith. On the contrary, my faith is stronger than it has ever been. I just know that God’s plans for my baby may not be the same as MY plans for my beautiful girl. I would love to think that His plans line up with mine, but I cannot say that His plans have been revealed to me as of yet. My precious daughter and this experience has taught me so much, and I certainly will appreciate every moment of my life in a much more real way than I ever could have without going through this.

Some of the most faithful people I have met along this journey so far have lost their children to cancer. They too believe in all of the same things I do, but nonetheless, they are left grieving and hoping they can come to terms with their loss. There are certainly times where I question the fairness of making a completely innocent baby go through this, but I just try to squash those thoughts and remain focused.

I just want to clarify that I am not doubting my faith. I just know that I do not get to make this choice, and unfortunately, we have a long way to go before we get to know the end result of this. My goal along the way is to enjoy every moment with Madeline and do everything I can to make every moment of her life full of joy.

If you notice that the tone of my updates have changed a little bit lately, it is because of the place where we are in treatment. We are into the part of her treatment where relapse is most likely. This means that for the next nine months to a year(sort of a make believe cutoff date I have in my head), Maddie’s chance of relapse is the highest it will ever be. Her chances of surviving a relapse are basically in the single digits. So every time we have her blood checked, the results are basically life and death to me. I try to confine my worrying to the period of time between when they take the blood and when they give me the results (30 min to 2 hours). So yesterday’s marrow result worrying was a little more than usual, but only because the nurse warned me I was about to get a result. I truly try to leave all of it out of my mind when I am with my baby the rest of each week. As soon as we pull up to the clinic to get her counts checked I get sick to my stomach with the worry, but it only lasts until we get her results. I know worrying is completely unproductive, but since I am a worrywart by nature and always have been, I feel I should be allowed to worry for at least that small portion of my week.
Sorry I am so darned long winded,
Liz

More by Matthew West

Please keep the Carlson family in your prayers! Their baby Elijah lost his battle with leukemia on May 20. Please ask for God to provide them the strength and comfort to continue each day!

PRAYER REQUEST

My nephew Mike left for a 15 month deployment to Afghanistan on Sunday. With increasing violence over there I am asking for everyone to please pray for his safe return home and strength to get through these next 15 months.

As always please keep all of our military and their families in your prayers!

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS!

http://www.flashdemo.net/gallery/wake/index.htm

MY BIRTHDAY & ELIJAH'S ACCIDENT

My birthday was filled with what started out as a nightmare and ended as a blessing!

On Thursday night Elijah and his friends decided to light a bottle rocket and used a seemingly empty oil jug to sit the rocket in. When Elijah bent down to light it the spark from the lighter ignited the oil fumes and it exploded in his face. His friends brought him right home and Jim called the nurse hot line right away. After we got him to take his face out of the sink long enough for us to see we headed for the ER. Now his face and neck were red but his lips had started to swell so even though I thought that it was not too bad just to be safe off we went.

We got to the ER within 20 minutes!

Now we have never gotten seen at the ER, even on a slow night, in less than 3 or 4 hours. So when we walked in and told them what happened and they took him right back we were shocked. There were 5 people swarming around him within seconds! Now his face and neck were bright red but we still thought it was not serious. That is until this young petite female doctor comes to talk to us and tells us that they will be sedating him so that they could intubate him and he would likely stay on the respirator for 3 days! She told us they were concerned about his airway being compromised by swelling and they needed to have him intubated to air lift him to a burn center.

Now I am not sure that she fully understood how she had turned my whole world upside down! I felt like I was watching someone else because this could not be happening to my child!

Now I had to hold it together for them to explain to Elijah what was going to happen! He took it all in stride like a champ! I kissed him and told him how much I love him then we were made to leave for them to intubate! I made it to the hallway and lost it! Naturally Jim was there to help me pull it together and assure me that he would be okay! This is why we work so well together he is always calm when I am a huge mess! So about an hour later they come get us to go back with Elijah.

It felt as though I had hit a wall when I walked through that curtain! There was my baby with tubes coming out of him and a machine breathing for him! His stomach tube that would normally be inserted through his nose was also put in his throat because his nose was too swollen shut for them to get the tube in. He had blood around his nose and blood on the floor. I have never seen anything so heart wrenching! I broke down and almost walked out of the room when an Ensign (Navy nurse) came over to me and rubbed my back and told me that it would be okay! He told me how he had a 10 year old son also named Elijah and he could not imagine having him lying there! We were very blessed with some awesome people caring for not only Elijah but me as well! Now we were waiting for them to find a hospital with a burn center that could take him and transport him. This ended up being no easy task since their first 4 choices were unable to transport him or had a full burn center. There was also some concern about the weather and flying. So for 3 hours I had to sit and watch my child go into a full panic, almost like convulsing, every 20 minutes when his sedation started to wear off. He would rear up and grab at the tubes while still slightly sedated. Thankfully he never fully awoke and they pushed his pump for more medicine very quickly but those few minutes were an eternity to me! It felt as though I was being suffocated! Again thank God that Jim was there because when Elijah would flail, fight and gag a lot I could not get out of the room fast enough! We also had Anna get to the hospital shortly after he was intubated so between her and Jim he had someone to comfort him when it got too much for me to watch! We also had to see them suctioning fluid from his lungs so to say I was a terrified mess is a huge understatement!

Jim and Anna agreed that when he was better he would want to see pictures so they used their phone to get this image. I did not really feel it was appropriate but I was quickly reminded that when he was in the ER getting his chin stitched he made me get pictures of the gash before they stitched it closed. So knowing my boy i allowed them to take the picture!

Finally at about 12am they told us that he would be transported to Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem.

FOUR HOURS AWAY!

After some discussion we decided, since it would be at least another hour and a half before they would be able to get him, Anna and I would start the long drive and Jim would stay at the Naval Hospital and watch over our boy!

I have to admit as much as I did not want to leave him, just in case, it was a relief to not have to watch the trauma every 20 minutes! Jim shared with me the following day that he knew he needed to get me out of there before I had a total break down!

So we were off on what seemed like a 12 hour drive! Jim called me to let me know that he was being transported to Ellis Airport to be flown in a fixed wing medical plane to Winston Salem. It was a 45 minute flight so we were less than an hour behind Elijah. Jim asked a flight nurse if she would call him when they landed so that he could call me to let me know he arrived safely. My honey was on his toes the whole time! I prayed the whole way there that God would provide some way for them to have him off the respirator by the time we got there. I knew I would be in trouble having to face this alone without my best friend as a buffer so I had a talk with God during the trip and asked him to either provide a way for Elijah to be off the ventilator or give me the strength that I needed to be there and be able to help Elijah.

We finally get to Winston Salem within an hour of Elijah arriving and I am allowed back to see him. Nervously I walk back alone because they would not allow Both Anna and I back. As I get through the curtain I see my baby sitting up off the ventilator!

GOD IS GOOD!

He was talking and complaining so I knew he was okay! He felt badly and vomited all day but many, many hours later I am finally given the okay to bring him home! On an aside, I would not send my dog to this hospital the incompetence amazed me! We did however have a wonderful nurse for the first couple of hours and an awesome burn nurse! The burn nurse cleaned his burn and explained to us how to care for him and that his burn would likely worsen for up to 4 days so we were prepared. Thank God he was not more serious because the rest of his care was terrible!!! It took 4 hours just to get his anti-nausea medicine. So I watched him suffer even more vomiting with a swollen, blistered face and lips!

So after more than 36 hours with hardly no sleep we make the 4 hour trip home! On the drive home my friend Fay calls me and I tell her of the ordeal. I then tell her that this had to have been my worst birthday and she says I guess so. Then I look over at my baby asleep in my car going home and tell her you know what I am wrong this is my best birthday!

MY BOY WAS OKAY AND I WAS TAKING HIM HOME!!!

So we get home late Friday get showered, have something to eat and some cake and go to bed!

Here he is the next morning not feeling so great but not nearly as swollen!

Last night doing okay.

Then this morning the burn is looking a little worse!

He will be seeing a plastic surgeon in a week so we will know more then but he is doing very well considering what was expected. Keep him in your prayers for an easy recovery and thanks for all the calls about Elijah. Also, I really do appreciate all of the calls and emails for my birthday!

Anna and Elijah.

I have to mention that I felt very blessed and grateful to have Anna at the hospital with me. She took such good care of him and allowed me to get some much needed rest. She also kept me awake as well as distracted during the long drive there. Thanks Anna! Love ya!

Please check below for an update on Maddie and remember her and her parents in your prayers! I can not imagine watching my child fight for their life as they have had to do! Their strength amazes me!

MADDIE UPDATE

We just wanted to let everyone know that we will be going in Monday for a procedure. Maddie will have a bone marrow aspirate (her first in a long time) where we will find out if she is still in remission. We believe she is, but please pray for her marrow to be clear of leukemia. Maddie will also get a lumbar puncture where 3 types of chemo are inserted in her spinal fluid. She will also receive IV chemotherapy at the clinic after she has been released from the recovery area of the hospital. This makes for a long rough day for her because she is not allowed to eat in preparation for it all. Following this she will be on steroids for 5 days and then the week after we begin daily oral chemotherapy at home in addition to weekly visits for IV chemo. Maddie had a lot of tough chemo over the last 6 weeks, but she is finally seeming to shake off the effects it had on her and get back to her old self. The nausea seems to be gone or at least diminished and she is beginning to have an appetite again. She is very close to walking and takes 15-20 steps at times. She is still a little clingy and likes to be held alot, but that I don't mind. She actually took all of her oral meds this evening without us having to jam them down her throat, and that is a major improvement which makes our job as parents much easier. Thanks again for all of the nice comments and support for Maddie. She still has a very long road ahead, please keep her in your prayers. Love, Liz, Brandon, and Maddie