Today we mailed $400 from you guys to John and his family. Here is the update on Cole from John.

below is the last update I sent out to the folks at work and our 'kin' ...
tell me if you want to be on the list and I'll add your name...plans are to
get a web site up and do the updates there... I'm emailing about 50 folks
every week or so and with the site we can add pics and a daily thing they
can just link to for updates...when time allows we'll get it done :-)

Again, we really appreciate all your prayers and support and the
donations... it will help them thru a already difficult task with one less
thing on their minds ...... you guys went far beyond the norm here...

the move to St. Judes and settling in and preliminary tests are done..

Cole and family are at St. Judes now. This is a research hospital and the
doctors start every patient off from scratch. So, all the tests that Cole
had at Mobile...had to be redone to establish a baseline at St. Judes. He
had more MRIs, spinal taps, blood tests, bone scans, hearing tests, vision
tests and other general poking and prodding that they thought was
necessary.. needless to say he hasn't been a very happy little boy.

Last Friday he got to 'go home' ( to the Memphis Grizzlies house, a short
term
facility for families) for the weekend. We drove up on Sunday and saw him
for a little while... and I came down with the worst cold of my life ( if
it's not the worst cold in the history of colds). I got so sick so fast
that Monday morning we drove back to B'ham... I didn't want to take a
chance on giving it to any of them. But, it was good to see him for a
short time from across the room. He was in good spirits and playing with
his Thomas the tank set... he's using his left arm more but the
coordination isn't there... and someone has to hold him up when walking...
his left leg still won't support his weight. They have him in two therapy
plans...one general , one occupational.. so we hope for improvements there.

they moved Tuesday from the Grizzlies house to Ronald McDonald house (they
are considered 'in the program' now...so that took up most of Monday
afternoon... Cole travels with a lot of baggage :-)

Finally Tuesday they were able to install the central line... everything
went as planned and other than him having a very sore chest, he's o.k..
He's been through a radiation simulation... kind of a dry run of the
radiation procedure on Tuesday and Wed morning he got his first treatment..
and he did great

He still has a problem with throwing up in the mornings... a holdover from
the steroids they gave him after surgery, and they won't sedate you if
there is a chance of throwing up...the neuro guy thinks the steroids
irritated his stomach so after the radiation today they will do an endoscopy
and have a look... he's on zantac and some other stomach soothers...
hopefully they can fix this over the weekend and he won't have to worry
about it anymore. He's tolerating the radiation well and enjoys his therapy
... he thinks it's really playtime.

The hospital doesn't allow cell phone usage in any of the treatment areas
and they are very busy dthe day and we get our calls late in the evening.

Originally I was told (in Mobile) that the treatments were once a week for 6
weeks... no so at St. Judes. He will have 13 general treatments of head
and spine and then 18 pinpoint 3 dimensional treatments of the tumor
site.. 31 in all ... Monday thru Friday for about 6 weeks. Then a month off
and a trip to home in Mobile... Back to St. Judes for 4-6 months of chemo w
here they all will stay at the Target house. It will be like a two bedroom
apartment with kitchen. The Grizzly house is more like a hotel room. Cole
will be treated as an outpatient then and just come in daily for his chemo.

So, the next 6-7 months won't be much fun... but I think once he's in a
routine it will be better on him. It's hard for a 4 year old to comprehend
all this doctor stuff, moving and sleeping in different places and being
away from home for so long... I'd be cranky too !!

Hopefully in a couple of weeks we will be able to get back up there and I
can tell you more about the hospital, treatment and all. I've talked to
dozens of folks who've been there and through it and haven't heard one
negative report at all... that in itself is amazing. Please keep him and
the family on your prayer lists. I've no doubt THAT single thing is what
has brought us this far with so few complications, problems or negative
results. Thank you all for the support, calls, cards, letters, email,
visits and especially the prayers. There's not a day goes by without
someone calling with encouragement and that really helps. I'm still trying
to fight this cold/flu/plague that I've got so if you don't hear from me
for a day or two don't think it's bad... hopefully the next few weeks will
be uneventful and he will tolerate the radiation well...

 

A few notes to those who won an auction.

1. If you won an interior kit, you need to tell me if you desire polished or satin. Shoot me an email please.

2. I got my S/S shipment in. It appears I have everything with the exception of ashtray liner screws which are part of the interior kits. I should be able to pick them up locally easy enough. If not, they will follow along later as they'll go for the cost of a regular letter.

Thanks to those who already did PayPal. I'll post an auction total soon. It seems many of you sent a few bucks extra just to test Bill and my accounting skills. Thanks, you guys are great.

If you paid already, your kit should ship out on Monday US mail.

 

well he sure sounds like hes bein a little trooper....if he can get some fun or "playtime" out of it, it makes it all that more bearable...little ones and there imaginations are a wonderful thing....
hoping for the best, Darrell


uh oh, now i sound like himmelburg

 

Last Cole auction has closed. Looks like we are very, very close to $500 total on auction donations alone.

 

Fenders, if you decide to do it again, I will sponsor again. You say the number man. I'll be there. Godspeed to Cole and The Niolon Family as well.

 

You could do worse, Darrell... you could sound like Bubba! Bwhahahahaha.

jestfully, himmelberg

 

Fenders -

I would also like to sponsor some sets. email me with what you need.

 

We can do a few more guys, but let me catch up on the shipments a little first. It may seem like a mindless little task, but it takes a bit of time to get it all sorted out, and I'm working most every day too. A few of the guys paid some big bucks for polished kits. I know they did it to be kind, but they deserve something nice IMO. Not complaining. I'm glad we did this, but there will have to be a short break.

Perhaps the first couple auctions are going to be for a Club FTE memberships, so we can help out with all this bandwidth they have so graciously allowed us to use without permission.

 

I haven't been by for awhile, my thoughts and prayers are with the Niolons! Is anyone taking straight Paypal donations? Or have I overlooked that info somewhere?

 

Renee -

Jet Jock (Bill Thornton) is taking donations directly, but I don't know if he uses PayPal, since most sent checks to him. However, Fatfenders (Dewayne) has been using PayPal for the fastenr kits he's been auctioning thru Ebay for John's family.

Call Bill or email either of them for the 411. Bill's info below:

Bill Thornton
2224 Charsley Road
Kingsport, TN 37660

Cell
423-647-6441

Thanks

 

This is the first I heard of this? My prayers go out to the family and little guy. Email me if there is anything I can do or help out with. Maybe if you guys get more info on the paypal donations, etc. That would help.
Ed

 

Ed -

Here's the link to the original thread. You can catch up.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=348092

 

Randy Jack

Thanks for jumping, I am on the road this week.

All

Mail checks to me and once a week on Fridays I conver them to a money order and sent them to John. Last week's money order was $400 and should arrice today.

If you use PayPal send it to Dewayne and he will forward.

God Bless Cole and his Family

Bill

 

Thanks Randy Jack. I missed this whole thread about John not going to Nats, never looked at it once so I knew nothing of his grandsons battle. Thanks for posting the thread for those of us out of touch. Joe

 

Thanks Randy Jack. I missed this whole thread about John not going to Nats, never looked at it once so I knew nothing of his grandsons battle. Thanks for posting the thread for those of us out of touch. Joe