Some Pictures of Jordan in the Hospital

Sleeping with his brother.


Watching TV with Mom. He doesn't get cable cartoons at home, so hosiptal TV is heaven!


Cuddling his favorite new stuffed animal.

Not much to report from yesterday and today. The doctors have decided at this point to just keep Jordan in the hospital and on IV fluids until wednesdays proceedure. His blood counts look good. The uric acid came right down when the fluids were restarted and his blast count is down to 14! He is in very good spirits and has a great appetite. Wednesday will be a big day. He will not be able to eat which will be a huge challenge. Then he will have surgery to place the port-o-cath, a bone marrow biopsy, a spinal tap and chemo infusion. Depending on when all this gets done, we will go home either wed night or thur morning. Noah has a cold so he has not been able to visit Jordan which is hard on him. Right now we are praying that the chromosomal test comes back negative today, that Noah's cold gets better soon, that Jim and I don't get Noah's cold, and that we get an early surgery time for tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers! Lara and Jim

8/29/04 Update

The good news is that the leukemia cells are responding to the chemo. His "blasts" count is down to 190. The bad news is that as the cells rupture, they product uric acid. Since he had such a large amount rupture, his uric acid levels went a little high, so we need to stay in the hospital at least until Tuesday to keep him on fluids and make sure the high levels of uric acid (which are hard on the kidneys) get flushed out.

8/28/04

Not a fun day today. Jordan had to have an injection of chemo into each of his thigh muscles. It was very painful for him and hard for us to explain to him why he needed more "pokies". He took a nap afterwards and then was in better spirits. The good news is that his blood counts are showing a good response to the chemo. The "blast count" (which is basically the cancerous cells that are circulating in his blood) is down to 800 from 30,000. They will take him off of the IV fluids today and monitor to make sure that he is eating a drinking enough then send him home tomorrow (sunday). Monday he will have an outpatient appointment to do blood work and give him a platelet transfusion so that his blood is able to clot before doing the surgery to place the central-line catheter, or port-o-cath, on wed. He is starting to develop definate food preferences from being on the steroids. He likes salty food, chicken nuggets, and fruit roll-ups. Love to you all, Lara and Jim

8/27/04 update

The spinal tap and chemo treatment went well yesterday. It was a difficult morning because Jordan cannot eat anything prior to the anesthesia. So now we have a kid who has never skipped breakfast in his life, he has been on steroids for 3 days, and he can't eat until 2pm. Needless to say it was a challenging morning. The good news is that the sedation they use has a very fast and smooth recovery period so he was able to have a normal late lunch. Today will be a quiet one. No chemo treatments or transfusions just hanging out at the hospital. Tomorrow he will receive a chemo injection in the leg muscle and then we will hopefully be able to go home for a few days. Thanks for all the comments it is really fun for us to read those. Lara and Jim

8/26/04 - Jordan Update

Jordan started his chemo yesterday - day 1 of a 3 and a half year journey. He also started taking a steroid which he will be on for the rest of the month. We've been told that side affects to the steroid are a ravenous appetite and moodiness. It will be interested to see what this does to Jordan...already a ravenous, moody 3-year old.

Today he will get another chemo treatment in his spinal column. Even though he did not have leukemia cells in his spinal column, this is a precaution to make sure the leukemia doesn't spread there during the treatments.

We had planned to have the spinal treatment yesterday, but he was not supposed to eat anything for 8 hours before the spinal tap surgery. Unfortunetly the ravenous scamp found a hidden graham cracker under a magazine and shoved it into his mouth with amazing speed. Even through we were able to scrape most of it out of his mouth - which he was not happy about - the anesthesiologist called off the procedure. We're being more careful about stray food today!

People have asked what to pray for. Right now I can think of 3 things:

1) We have a test coming back to see if Jordan has a chromosonal marker indicating that his leukemia would be more resistent to his current treatment program. It's a small percentage chance, but never the less, we're praying that the tests are negative.

2) Some kids respond negatively to some of the chemo drugs in which case we'd need to use an alternative. We're praying that his body accomodates all of the drugs he'll be taking.

3) He'll have another bone marrow test 7 days, 14 days, and 28 days from now. We want to see no leukemia cells at these tests. This will mean that he is responding well. If there are cells present, it means we'd need more intense treatment plans.

Jim and Lara

Chemo begins today

Today we begin the long road to recovery. The first phase of treatment is called induction. It will last for 28 days and is designed to put Jordan into remission. He will be started on oral steroids twice daily which will have the side effects of a ravenous appetite and moodiness. He will also recieve a dose of chemo into his spinal cord today while sedated. He will receive weekly IV chemo and will have bone marrow biopsies on day 7, 14, and 28. His blood counts are good right now following multiple transfusions and if they remain high enough he may be able to come home for a few days this weekend. Now let me try to address the many questions people have been asking:
Should we donate blood? For now the answer is no. The quantities required for children is very small and the doctors are very confident in the safety of the blood they use. Hopefully Jordan will never need a bone marrow transplant but if does the bone marrow needs to be blood cells that his body has never seen before. Once this is over, we will definately become a huge advocates of blood donation and we are so thankful to the anonymous donors that have given to Jordan.
Can we visit? Yes! since Jordan has no immune system right now we ask that no children and no adults with any cold symptoms vist. Otherwise we LOVE company. Our days are really very boring and we love the encouraging words and hugs of our friends and family. We are in room 3270 and you don't even need to call first.
How is Jordan doing? He is doing great. He loves riding the halls of the ward on a tricycle called the "Green Machine" with mom or dad racing behind with his IV stand. We had to get longer IV tubing because he has turned his room into his own personal jungle gym! Noah came to visit yesterday and they were kicking eachother and laughing like normal. He also loves the guy with the snack cart.
That's all I can think of for now. We love you all and we are so appreciative of all the prayers! Lara and Jim

Thank You and Update

We just want to thank you tremendously for the outpouring and support from our friends and family. It's been the joy of otherwise very dark days.

We've learned a little more about Jordan's type of leukemia. It's called pre-B cell ALL. It is the most common and most successfully cured form of leukemia. Over 90% of the patients within Jordan's age group are cured. We'll be in the hospital at least 7 days from the time chemo starts (either the 24th or 25). From there on, it will be primarily an out patient proceedure. How Jordan responds to the drugs over the next month will tell us a lot, and we'll keep you posted to his progress.

Today's update

After receiving a few transfusions, Jordan has more energy today than in months. He is surrounded by balloons and new stuffed animals and has adapted really well to his new "bedroom". Results from tests indicate that he has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; the most common in children. Before starting treatment, his doctors are trying to get his blood healthier so that he will tolerate the chemo well. He will start chemotherapy Tuesday or Wednesday at which point he will stay at Children's for about one more week. Chemo treatments after that will be on an outpatient basis, continuing for several years. The good news is that he's feeling well and enjoying all the time with family.

Update on Jordan

Paul, Jim and Lara were with Jordan Saturday night. Amy came to visit today. Cathy at the Kreyenhagen's house watching Noah. Tomorrow Jordan will have a bone marrow sample taken as well as a spinal tap to assess the type of Lukemia he has. He will either be in the hospital for a week or for months depending on the type of Lukemia he has. He will need regression treatments for a number of years. Thank you all so much for your support and prayers. We are very optimistic and faithful that Jordan will have a full recovery.

Jordan Diagnosed with Leukemia

Jordan was admitted to Children's Hospital after a camping trip where he was in a lot of pain and had very pale skin. Preliminary tests indicate Leukemia. We'll know more in the next few days.

Movie of Jordan watching Monsters Inc

Movie: Jordan Watches Monster's Inc.

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Make sure to turn up your volume loud! :-)

Description: Digging back through some video footage this year I ran across a gem. The 4 boys were having movie time before heading home. The video of choice was Monsters... one of Thomas' favorites. Bryce got the kids psyched up about the Monster coming at the beginning of the movie... you can hear him in the clip. Watch Jordan act out the scared 3 year old who shouldn't be watching scary movies. :-)