Spring 2022

 Wow… 

Almost 4 years since the last update. 

Jack is a freshman in highschool, and is enjoying his time with classmates and (marching) band friends. 

He’s also picked up snowboarding, so that provides us with a nice outdoor activity during the winter months. 

This might be thelast post for a while, Jack is old enough now where he likes to keep his privacy, and I can’t say I blame him. But we’ll see. 

I’m still grateful, for a lot of things, but I’ll mention these in particular:

For his big brother, who gives us the best ideas (like to try snowboarding) and teaches Jack all sorts of brotherly things.

For good health and medical science during these past couple of years. 

For family and friends who help us get through tough times. Stay safe, see you around.

Spring 2018

Ok, 

Jack continues to do well, and is racking up karate belts. 

He is also playing drums at school band. Technically, percussion, which includes bells, triangle and anything else one can bang on. 

We love seeing him get excited for these things. 

Spring should be coming any day now, and he is getting ready to ride his electric motorcycle or bicycle to school. 

As far as the weight goes, it's moving up. He's around 55-56 lbs now. (I'm mostly putting this up for myself so I can keep track.) And he is eating good. No complaints there. 

Today I'm grateful for:

- Sharing a motorcycle ride (It was a bit cold outside today, and I had a beer in a mug already poured in (but not started!) but who am I to say no?)

- Playing ping-pong at the Y, after karate, and goofing around. (It gets late, but he always really wants to play, and who am I to say no?)

- Playing Mario Odyssey video game together. Reminds me of all of our Minecraft quality time. And he reads plenty, and stays up late reading, so who am I to say no?

Halloween/Fall 2017

It looks like the post from the beginning of 5th grade didn't get uploaded, so it's a 2 post kinda day today.

5th grade is continuing to treat Jack well. He does ocassionally call for some tylenol, and has had to come home early once or twice due to stomach cramping, but by and large, he's at school full time.

He started the school band, and does percussion. Playing on bells now and working his way up to drums. Once a week he also has karaoke club, and loves to sing with his friends.

Twice a week he has karate at the local YMCA and has earned his second belt there. His reward for that were real throwing ninja stars. (Shuriken.)

And hitting life full throttle, on most mornings he bundles up and rides his electric bike to school.

On Thursday, he did have a small procedure, a botox injection in one of the BM muscles, to calm it down and reduce the cramps. I think next time, in a few months we'll go with a permanent solution where they disconnect the muscle that is causing his cramps. But we'll see how long this injection lasts.
Oh, and he also got the G-button removed from his stomach. He says he feels much better without it.

For Halloween he rocked a spiked green hairstyle to school and wore his karate outfit for trick-or-treating.

In his free time he likes to disregard his homework, but does work with crafts, a 3D printing pen, and reads comic books or encyclopedias before bedtime.

He's also a movie connoisseur, we watched Dunkirk, Thor, and Murder on the Orient Express recently. He sure likes the new reclining chairs at the theatre. 

Still at 51lbs, I guess it's a small gain from the start of the year, but he is getting taller.

He's happy and active, and doing well, so we're all grateful for that :)

Rocket and Gonzo are still as close as ever, too :)

Fifth Grade Is Upon Us!

Ok, we are super excited for fifth grade, and 2nd week in, there have been no calls from nurse's office!

So that's a nice start. No tummy cramps or numerous trips to the bathroom.

Jack is riding his electric scooter to school and really likes that independence and a taste of freedom. 

We are also getting ready for a quick vacation to Quakecon, a videogaming convention in Texas. Yeah, we're still video games. 

Oh yeah, we also got a couple of kitties! Rocket and Gonzo are two brothers and they are inseparable. 

Jack adores them, and they love curling up next to him and napping. 

Summer Break!

Allright, grade 4 is in the books!

Jack is in full summer mode, riding his scooter up and down the block and taking karate and swimming lessons at the YMCA. 

He is slowly gaining weight, he's finally over 50lbs. 

He's still a movie buff, we caught Alien Covenant recently and compared it to all of the other Alien (and Predator) movies. 

Summer should be fun, we have a cabin camping vacation planned, camp COHOLO (ran by Children's hospital) and a trip to Dallas for a videogame convention. 

We hope everyone has a fun and safe summer!

Today I'm grateful for:

- all of Jack's friends and cousins. They all have a blast playing together. 

- playing at the pool with him. We spent 3 hours together one night this week. 

- watching movies at the theatre with him. 

- his electric scooter, which he was too weak and affraid to ride for a couple of years. 

- awesome staff at Campbell Elementary that support him and look out for him at school.

We Come From A Land Down Under

Well, we're back from Australia!

Yep, Make-A-Wish flew all four of us to Australia, as that was Jack's wish. 

It was a week full of adventure, surfing, airplane flights, limo rides, meeting cool Make-A-Wish people on two continents, penguins, kangaroos, Dory fish, and even koalas!

Needless to say, we had a magical time exploring Sydney and nearby attractions. 

Back home, Jack is still loving karate at the Y, and is starting to swim again, and has learned to ride the bicycle. 

Here are a few pictures from our incredible Aussie adventure:

Incredibly grateful to Make-A-Wish for giving us this gift of worry free family time.

A bit over a year post treatment

This December was one year since Jack's treatment was finished. So far, so good!

He did end up with a bacterial overgrowth in his colon, probably a result of the illiostomy, but that is now being treated with antibiotics. 

Little dude is enjoying school and friends, and finding excuses for not doing homework :)

He is slowly gaining weight, so it's good to see that. And when I say slowly, I mean slowly... he's still pretty twiggy. 

But, he is taking karate lessons at the Y, and LOVES it. 

So... going good and wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year!