Visits warm the hearts....

The beautiful fountain outside the Target House

Gina was able to visit!! What fun they had!!!!

A note from Jeni...

"Those pics were of Jude's no mo chemo party in the med room and in the hospital room. He Loved the confetti, of course. His immune system is 0, and we are waiting for it to come up. Meanwhile, today is the first day he actually feels good enough to walk to all his apointments in the hospital. He has been feeling really yucky, and has been having burning pain from the acid in his stomach and the tears in the mucosa lining that the chemo caused. Basicly the mucus lining from his nose down to his gut is raw. The doctors put him on Protonics to help heal that, and gave me IV meds for him so he wouldn't have to take so much by mouth. Thank goodness it has helped, because neither him or me has got more than 3 hours sleep at a time for a while!! He is doing good and looking forward to going home. Hopefully that will motivate him to eat when the time comes. Talk to y'all soon!! XXXOOO's!!!"

Finally!!! Last chemo treatment for Judeeee!!!! Yipee!

It has been a long haul for little Jude since he was diagnosed last April with Anaplastic Medulloblastoma. He had surgery to remove the biggest tumor the very next day after diagnosis. There were 50 other smaller tumors. Jeni had to make the important yet difficult decision to accept treatment in the form of radiation and chemotherapy at St. Jude Hospital in Memphis, TN. But this was the best choice for him. Jeni loves her little boy so much and has been there every step of the way. Jude is also blessed to have a daddy who loves and cares for him too and has made himself available to be there for the treatment. It has not been easy for them as parents. They were out there in the beginning of May and had 31 radiation treatments. Then they came home for a few weeks and flew back in August for the chemotherapy. 4 doses. These were very difficult and certainly unpleasant. His life has been very different these past 6 months. He has missed his family and friends back here in California. It was a privilege for me to be able to visit them twice during this journey. I went the first time at the end of May during his radiation. I stayed for a week. This was when his posterior fossa syndrome was still fairly severe and he was not even walking. It was during that trip that Jude also got his shunt put in. If you have read the posts from that time, I had to leave when they were in the ER still. It was a very emotional time for me. But what an appreciation for life, love and health I gained from this experience. I feel that I grew as a person and am thankful to my special friend for letting me come. I know she enjoyed the visit as well. She has had several visits from others...family and friends. These have been so very important to her and she has cherished every one.

I was also able to visit last month for a weekend. That, too, was a wonderful experience for me. I hold these memories close to my heart. Jeni and I laugh a lot...which I love!!! When I was there and had to leave (which I did not want to do) I joked with my husband about what would happen if I...say...."accidentally" missed my flight. Jude, sitting next to me, chimed in and said "Miss your flight". That was a highlight of my trip actually. To have this litle guy want me to stay!!! While talking to another mother there with her son who has leukemia, I expressed sincerely how much I personally had gained from witnessing first hand what has become routine for Jeni and Jude and other patients/families there. It is a big process every day for everything they do. I was in amazement to be honest. I watched Jeni take care of the TPN every night which is how Jude gets his nourishment. She has become a pro! It is different to be able to see the daily process rather than just hear about it. However, as I told the other mother as well.....this appreciation is still only as a bystander. I can not begin to imagine what the experience would be if it was my own child. Wow. I am very happy to be writing this since Jude received his FINAL chemotherapy treatment. He now waits for his counts to go up and to be eating....and hopefully come home next month!!!

He's done!!!! It's time to celebrate!

Jude getting his last chemo treatment in the med room. You can see his shunt behind his left ear.

Everybody sing...NO MO CHEMO!!!!!

Update from Jeni.... Last chemo is done!!!!!

"All in all, his chemo went much better than last month. He was throwing up blood on Monday, but he didn't throw up nearly as much as before. Tues and Wed, Thurs and today went very smooth with little or no vomiting! Wahoo! So now, our objectives are to recover from this chemo cycle as fast as we can, get back to eating, take a final MRI scan, and go home! His counts still have to bottom out to zero, which they will in about 4 more days, then, as usual, they will go back up when the stem cells engraph, which takes about 10 days after the docs infuse them. We are excited and looking forward to coming home soon....hopefully in about a month. Miss you all so much and thank you again for your thoughts and prayers!!"

A little silliness never hurt anyone right?

My visit to Tennessee!!! FUN FUN FUN!

The beautiful walls of the hospital!!!

Everything is a mural....
One home of MANY we saw that we loved...and the trees are amazing!

Departure night. Waaaaaa.... I did NOT want to leave!

Me and the nurse Ron had a ball. He is a wonderful person!!!!

Mural in the Assembly Hall!!!

A little Pac Man action. Jude is hiding under me. He is not too keen on pictures.

The playground outside the Target House. The place truly has everything!!!

Jude LOVES the Pink Palace. He loves to go there and get rocks for his collection!

Jude's adorable Make A Wish list. How cute is this simple little list????

Ron peeked through the curtain and Jeni let out a blood curdling SCREAM!!! hahahaha It was soooo funny. Then Ron AND Jude kept trying to scare her!!! haha

A little TPN preparation. This takes about 20 minutes. She is a pro now. But..man I was impressed. This is a detailed process. He is hooked up for 12 hours. This is how he gets his nutrition since he is not eating.

Yeehaw!!! We had fun. Notice even little Jude got his rodeo hand up! haha

In the music room. With the piano. Jude had fun on this!

Jude hid alot when I was taking pics. But that's ok. The fact that he was smiling and having fun with me was golden!!!! I love that boy!

Jude and the trees I brought from home for him. He had requests!

The play room in the Target House. Very cool!!!

The lobby area...and the Foozball table that Jude loves to play!!!

There are some things that remain the same. Starbucks!!!! Requirement!!!

The day I got there. Jude hides.... but he was a little chatterbox! hehe.

The kitchen in the apartment. So nice to have this!!!!

The living room area. Look at that cool desk!

The front of the Target House. Gorgeous building!

The entrance sign.