Savannah, Jed and Livi-Mac

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Originally uploaded by buckley04@verizon.net

Jed's Camp fish!

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Originally uploaded by buckley04@verizon.net

This is Jed at camp. Katrina and Dr. Jeff sent us some pics. I will put up the link to the rest. (on the right with the Livi pics). All is ok here. I will update later!

Gamma Phi girls!

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Originally uploaded by buckley04@verizon.net

Hi all. everything is pretty calm right now....that's good! Yesterday DJ was here, he and Jed played for the afternoon. Today we went to breakfast with Grace and then LV, K-rob and Christie came from Penn State to visit. LV and K-rob graduated last year but LV is now working on her masters and K-rob was up there visiting. Christie is a THON chair for Gamma Phi. She came to the hospital before to see Jed and played cards! They all went bowling, it was great to see them. That's all for now I think, for some reason I am just really tired! Maybe it's the rain. I think I need a nap! Jed of course is playing Wii. His arm is sore from the new Mario baseball game he got!
Love Jed and Kristin

WE ARE HOME!!!!! YEA! Jed's white count jumped ( a jump for him) to .9. He has an ANC of 500 so they decided to let us go. He came home and has been playing Wii for a couple of hours now. He seems to be feeling much better. It amazed me how much it effects him when his counts are so far down. When they start to come back he turns into a different kid...the real Jed! So glad to be home! Tomorrow DJ is coming over and I have to go back to painting the basement stairwell that I was working on when we left late Friday night. Grace came over today and cleaned up everything! We left in such a hurry and I was in the middle of doing so much the house was a wreck. She spent all day here....it looks wonderful! Mom stopped by and dropped off a roasted chicken and some mashed potatoes and I put some stuff away and took a nap!!!!! Last night Jed was having a complete meltdown because the only thing in the whole world that he could eat was a sub from subway. Danny was too tired and had too much to do to come up last night, Savannah had to work so I called hop and he drove up with Jed's sub! But we are home now and all is great!
Christie, I'm sorry we didn't get to see you, we will soon. LV and K-Rob are headed here on Friday to see Jed.
Gotta go
Leve Jed and Kristin

note to christie, yes it would be great if you could come visit today!!!!!! call me before you leave in case something changes here 717 364 9416, thanks
Jed and Krisitn

Hello, yes we are still living in the bat cave. His white count today is.....yup you guessed it .4. He is going up by points! Tomorrow maybe .5!!!!Whoohoo. Dr. Neeley won't give us a magic number that will spring us from here but he said maybe Thursday or Friday. Needless to say that did not thrill Jed AT ALL! So anyway we are here. If anyone has something fun that would distract or entertain Jed feel free to come up! Right now we are in the teen lounge so he can use the computer. He is working on his birthday list, it consists of nothing but video games....surprise!
So that's all for now!
Love Jed and Kristin

Hi we are still here. we moved across the hall because they needed the other room for a transplant patient tomorrow. I got a hot spot here for a few minutes! 7261
His counts are slowly going up white count was .1 on Saturday, .2 on Sunday & .3 today. They don't want us to leave with his counts so low and his pain is pretty bad right now too.
We are working on that, they upped his morphine dose and that seems to be helping.
I'll let ya'll know what's happening.
Love J & K

Hi everyone. We are in the hospital...again! He had a fever Friday night of 105 so we did a road trip about midnight. They direct admitted us so we came right to the floor..no ER yea! He has not had a fever since we got here but he is very tired and nauseous. His blood counts are way down. We actually went to clinic Thursday for counts, Friday morning for platelets and Friday night to check in for a stay...lots of trips to Hershey this week! So as of right now he is going to get some blood and some platelets and we will see where he is tomorrow, maybe we will come home. We were in the hospital when Danny left and we will be in when he gets home tonight! I wonder if my closet will look as good after he gets home?!
Connor, Jed is sorry he missed your birthday party.
Ok, I will try to keep you all posted. I have no hotspot so it won't be often!
Love Jed and Kristin

Clearlake California

Danny sent this picture yesterday while he was out fishing. He said good bye to his Mommy and Greg today and headed to San Fransisco to meet his son. Lucky guy!

Jed is ok, we go tomorrow for counts again and to get his inhaled antibiotic. He might need platelets..we will see. I almost have my room finished! The closet is rockin' and the rest of the room is pretty nice too. But I can't seem to find a way to hide the 2 BIG amps in there. Oh well!

Love Jed and Kristin

Hi everyone. All is well here. Yesterday was Olivia McKenna's baptism. I put the links up for some new pics. Not many of Jed because he was outside playing most of the time! Other people were using my camera so there are too many pics with me in them..but Livi is cute! The day went well. Jed played a lot and wore himself out. He just hits that wall & we have to leave at that exact moment so he can go to bed, so that's what we did! Today we went to Grace and Jim's for a little bit and now Jed is having school. He is ok, tired but ok. Tomorrow we go to clinic for counts. He is getting a shot every night to raise his counts so we will go back on Friday also to see if he can stop the shots.
Danny is in California. He waited to pack until the last minute hoping I would get home in time to do it for him...but I didn't. He did ok except he took 1 plaid converse shoe and 1 brown converse shoe and the brown one is Jed's! He is with his mom right now and will go to see his son later in the week.
I have been cleaning out the closet since we got home Saturday afternoon. It looks soo good, the rest of the room is trashed right now but the closet is awesome. I took 4 contractors bags of stuff out of there, 3 regular size garbage bags and a couple bags of garbage! Amazing! Sorry Dan but the Martini glass shirt has gone on to Goodwill along with the bowling pin shirt! So sad! I guess that's all the news for now.
TO my friend Denise at Hershey Med center, I wish you good luck in whatever you decide to do but I am so sad you won't be on the floor to entertain me anymore! The rooms will never be really clean again~! Who will come in everyday at 3pm and chat with me for an hour? Oh well!
Love Jed and Kristin

Hello from HOME! We got home this afternoon. He is feeling better, still having random problems with his ankle but his stomach is not effected by that! He is eating pizza right now and had a doughnut ealier. All the cultures came back negative and his counts are ok. We go back on Tuesday for counts and Friday.
Danny should be landing is Sacramento pretty soon then he is driving to his mom's. She lives on the other side of Nappa. The switchbacks to get over the mountain to Clear Lake make me car sick! He is staying in Clearlake for a few days and then heading to Orovill to see his son and granddaughters. Of course that was the plan but as soon as he lands I am sure it will all change!
So tonight Savannah is going to a friend's, just Jed and me! I already have Danny's side of the closet cleared out! That's my project for the week...our bedroom. Wish me luck. I am hoping to actually put blankets in my blanket chest (it's full of magazines) he will never noticed that I emptied it!
Gotta go, glad to be home
Love Jed and Kristin

Hi, quick update while I have a hot spot. I thought we were out of here today but nope. They are starting antibiotics because his counts a falling fast and he is still spiking fevers, 103-104. The chemo drug he was given causes fevers but these are not going away and the fact that his counts are falling faster than expected gives us worry there could be an infection of some sort. If all the cultures come back negative and the fevers stop and he is keeping fluids and food down we can leave. So to sum up it could be anywhere from tomorrow to a day to a week ! The usual. Just wait and see! He is sleeping most of the time, between poopy trips and pukey events. poor guy. Thank goodness this is his LAST dose of this drug FOREVER!!!!!! No more ARA-C!!!YEA! at least it's supposed to be....... so it better be! I haven't told him, yet that we are missing boating day tomorrow and maybe Livi-Mac's christening....Sorry A & T! :( He will NOT be a happy camper. Oh well, what can you do?
Are you watching the Olympics? go USA!
Ok, hi to all,
Love Jed and Kristin

Hi all. We are in. The Bat Cave room # 7265. Chemo just started. He has been good all day. He started to freak out a little right before they hung his chemo but now he is almost asleep. my fingers are crossed for a short uneventful stay.
See ya'll later
Love Jed and Kristin

Jed

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Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/buckleysmithslatton/

The smile in this picture leads one to think Jed is in a good mood...not so much! He was sooo crabby today. One minute he was fine then he was yelling and hitting Savannah. He had a melt down over some tie-dye thing. Then he saw mini corn dogs in the freezer and got happy. He insisted that we make them but when we explained that these were meatless corn dogs he got ticked off. But as you can see he enjoyed them anyway! Then tonight he lost it because I only had 2 hot dog buns left..which should have been fine. Only Savannah and Jed were eating a hot dog. Well Jed broke his bun & he CANNOT eat a hot dog if the bun is broken. He yelled at Savannah and demanded that she trade buns with him. She had already eaten part of hers but he didn't care! She, of course said "no" So that started a screaming match. He ended up stomping up the stairs and slamming his door telling us he hated us. Then the ankle that was hurting him yesterday but hadn't been mentioned today suddenly started to hurt...so much that he "couldn't move" & was going to starve because he couldn't eat the hot dog with the broken bun and he couldn't get downstairs to look for something else. Of course he made a very dramatic trip down from his bedroom to search the fridge. After much loud moaning and crying he decided he was just going to starve himself. There was no food that he could eat in this house. I decide that was a good time to take a ride, I stopped at the tanning salon and of course stopped for new BUNS! I got home and made a new hot dog (the other had been cut in half and they don't taste good if you do that?!) he also had some cut potatoes in the broiler because the baked ones I made earlier were not hot anymore and "baked potatoes are sooo yucky if you have to warm them up"!? Well king Jed ended up with a fresh,y grilled dog on a NEW bun & some potatoes. The kid that was going to die of starvation ate less than half the dog and about 5 potato slices. But then he was happy....until he couldn't find some cord for his computer thing and started to freak out again. He was yelling, I was yelling, Savannah started to yell so Dan went and found the cord. All is calm now...except me! I want to eat cookies and hide somewhere. I even made sticky buns with icing...great for my diet. Tomorrow is weigh in day....oh yipee. It has taken me almost 5 months to lose 12lbs. I am not that dedicated I guess! I really want cookies right now. Many many cookies.
Tomorrow we head to Hershey, if his counts are good we will be admitted for a few days. we need to be out before Saturday...it's Boating Day.. you know the one I thought was 2 weeks ago?! Danny leaves Saturday morning for California....lucky him.
Welp at least I can watch Phelps swim tonight. How about that relay??!!!!!! Go USA!

oh here we go again, he can't find his ipod and "Savannah HAS to load more songs, it MUST be done by tomorrow. King Jed has spoken. Danny is looking for his Ipod. I want cookies.
Love Jed and Kristin

Jed Tie-dying

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Originally uploaded by buckley04@verizon.net

Jed slept till noon and then woke up and tie-dyed a shirt for Dan.

Hi. JED IS HOME!!! I went and picked him up this morning. We were very glad to see each other. He talked the whole ride home but he spoke in a quiet voice. He is VERY tired! He said he had a great time, really had fun but is not sure yet if he will go back next year! He loved everything except giving up his creature comforts! The girls had 10 showers and the guys had 3, the girls used up all the hot water so the guys got cold showers. The kid on the bunk above him rolled around all night, the mattress was hard and every time someone got up to go to the bathroom it woke him up. The food was ok, some days were awesome, fried chicken day, and others were not so awesome, hamburgers that were cold and tasted like "tire rubber"! We don't have any pictures right now because his disposable camera broke. He did have pictures taken and Katrina is sending him some of hers. He changed his digital photography for fishing! He said he caught 1 fish! His friend Lizzie caught the biggest fish in the pond! He paddle boated, and fished in his free time. The outdoor cooking class was fun..you eat what you make! So over all he is happy he went and he had a lot of fun but right now next year is still under consideration! They told me he got a little homesick on Friday because he was so tired, he told them "my mom might need me home now"! but he perked up in the evening.
When we got home at noon we walked 2 blocks to the Red Lion street fair for food. He got fries and a lemonade, we saw Grace, Megan and Jase & some of the Dietz gang. Then we came home and he slept until 5:30pm. Of course after a week of camp all the TVs in the house are on and he is using his computer! Oh and the pizza guy just dropped off our pizza! So all is calming down and getting back to normal.
Tomorrow we are having breakfast with Mom, Dad, and A & Jack, I think Adam, Tiersa and Livi-Mac will be there too. Later in the afternoon Mrs. Walker, Jed's 3rd grade teacher, and her son are picking Jed up to go to a York Revolution game. (they are our local team). They get to go on the field before the game and throw balls with the team, some player from the Orioles will be there and they are sitting with some important baseball person too. As you can tell I am baseball challenged but he is excited to go. The also get to do stuff after the game but he said he might call me to come get him a little early!
So that's what's up here. As soon as I have some pictures I will post them.
Ok, that's all, gotta get ready for my Baltimore homey, Phelps, to swim for the gold!!!!!
Did you watch the opening ceremonies? WOW, really awesome. I just wish they could be nice to the Dali Lama and his monks.
Love, Jed and Kristin
Oh, Hey Ralph...I forgot to tell you what a big hit your card was. This family makes damn fine snow people! Thanks!

News from camp!..... his ANC is only 480 and they have to be 750 for chemo so Jed gets to stay at camp until the end! I didn't find out until almost 4pm today but Denise (Jed's nurse) said that Jed knew earlier! So he will get to shoot his rocket off tomorrow with the other rocket builders and do whatever they do the last night of camp. This is all the news I have. I have not spoken to Jed since I dropped him off on Sunday! I guess that's a good thing. I can't wait to see his pictures. He took a camera with him and he also signed up for digital photography and there is a professional photographer there to take portraits of each child.... free!
Savannah, Grace and I got pedicures today!!!! whoo-hoo..go us! I sat here the other morning waiting for Jed to get up so we could go someplace...needless to say I waited for a while before I realized ..oh yeah, he's not here! oops!
So anyway I will pick him up on Saturday and Tuesday we go back to clinic to see if his counts are up. If they are, he goes in for a few days of chemo. I hope they are not high enough because I have an appointment Thursday at 6pm that I have changed 4 times! Oh well. But I don't want to go in the hospital the following week because Dan will be in California and I wanted to clean out the closet while he is gone ( I can't do that while he is here, he keeps EVERYTHING)!
I'll be back when I have more news!
Love J & K

Jed and Katrina

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Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/buckleysmithslatton/

Well, Jed is at camp! As soon as we got there we saw Katrina. She is our childlife expert on the 7th floor. She stayed with us and got Jed all registered. We met 3 or 4 counselor guys that will be in his cabin. After hanging around for a little bit the counselors said "come on guys lets go check out our cabins. Jed said goodbye and off they went! He is going to have a blast. The guys we met were awesome. One is a cancer survivor from Texas and one was a past THON dancer, and morale captain. No I did not cry!!! I only got a little upset when the nurse asked me for his meds. I wasn't sure if I should let go of the bag! But I did. She said "I'm a nurse, I do meds all the time and we have been doing camp for a very long time" so I guess she was qualified. One of our 7th floor nurses was there. Jen, she is a cancer survivor, she has had 2 bone marrow transplants and is now a peds oncology nurse. She met her husband at this camp. He has also had 2 bone marrow transplants and is all gown up and healthy! I wish I could watch how much fun Jed is having on a hidden camera! He just marched off with his pillow and sweatshirt right on up the hill. I could see his little orange hat through the trees! Ok so now what do I do? I need to go get a case of Mike's Lemonade! I won't update again until I hear something from Jed. I will either pick him up Friday morning to be admitted for chemo or Saturday afternoon to come home! They will do his counts there wed or thurs,
Alrighty I will be back in a few days with Camp News!
Love Jed and Kristin

Jed and Mommy

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Originally uploaded by buckley04@verizon.net

Jed and Danny

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Originally uploaded by buckley04@verizon.net

Howdy. I can't believe it's August already. Well, for weeks now we have been planning to go to Boating Day on the river today. I got up this morning and for some reason I looked at the 4 Diamonds website and guess what??? Boating day is on the 16th! Go me..again. Sometimes I wonder how I make it through a week with no major scheduling disasters. At least I realized it before we drove down there! Besides the weather is not great and Jed needs to sleep. He has been feeling kinda yucky the last couple of days. He slept on and off all day yesterday. Danny won't be able to go with us on the 16th because he leaves for California early that morning. I think he is going to rent a car one way to the air port because now I can't take him. I don't know if I would make it back in time for Boating Day. The Susquehanna Yacht Club holds this event every year. They have 4 Diamond's families down to the river, have a cook out, give out prizes, and then each family gets on a boat and goes out on the river for a few hours. We always go with our friend Dave. He works maintenance on 3rd shift at Harley. He has the biggest boat on the river and he lets Jed drive it! Jed loves it! He really looks forward to it. The kids can fish, tube, swim or just cruise. Jed can't get into the water and he gets bored fishing so he likes to drive & Dave lets him! Well now he just gets to wait a couple more weeks to go.
He does leave tomorrow for camp. He packed yesterday. We followed his list and got it all packed. I hope he feels better. He will have blood counts done at camp on Wed. or Thurs. If they are good I will go get him on Friday afternoon and he will be admitted for chemo. He is hoping his counts are still low so he won't miss the last night of camp! He is very excited about it. I just hope he feels ok & I hope he has a good time.
Oh, A big congrats to my cousin Michael and his wife Catherine and their son Will, they have added a member to their family..baby Cate has arrived and all is well. Congrats to you guys!
I guess that's all for now. Everyone went back to sleep very quickly when I gave them the news about Boating Day! I'm awake though. Yipee.
Love Jed and Kristin