adamupdate.com

site donated by TotalWeb.biz

12/22/08 - All...Yesterday (Sunday) Jenna turned 16. She is happy to finally achieve this milestone. We had a nice gathering with the family and made the most of the day.

Doug had some co-workers over for dinner on Sunday night after Jenna's party. We were blessed to have several of his co-workers join us for dinner. 

Sunday had its tough times. The house felt still felt empty, even with all the people we had over. We also were called when Sara's great-grandmother passed away in the afternoon. We were saddened by her loss, but know that she is with Adam now. 

We are three days from Christmas. We wish we could begin hibernating now and come out after the first of the year. The days seem so much longer this week and the pain is much harder to hide this week. Holding it back till the end of the day isn't working well this week, and the week isn't close to being over yet. God grant us strength.

Praying for strength,

Doug and Sara

12/17/08 - All...We miss Adam terribly.

With tired minds, and exhausted souls, we still push forward the best we can. A second doesn't go by that we forget, no minute go by that we don't grieve, no hour goes by that we don't wonder, and no day goes by that we don't cry. For more seconds, minutes, hours, and days...we Pray to you Lord.

Our attorney forwarded a copy of the paperwork filed with the State of Michigan. Our Articles of Incorporation were accepted and we have been recognized as a Corporation in the State of Michigan. Next step...Corporate Bylaws. Then on to the US Government for a tax identification number and classification as a non-profit corporation. All this will most likely take to the middle of the summer. We can however move forward with necessary steps to begin meetings before then. Another Day Another Memory (A.D.A.M.) was officially brought to life December 11, 2008.

We did receive a very nice letter from President George Bush and his wife Laura. They thanked Sara for her letter to them and expressed their condolences for our loss of Adam. We were honored to receive this piece of mail today.

We are a week away from Christmas. We Pray for God to grant us strength. We know we will need it. We apologize in advance for our swollen eyes, increased irritability, and inability to focus on much of anything.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

12/10/08 - All...Only 21 days till January 2nd. A day that simply marks we made it through the holidays; a day that simply means we have somehow gotten stronger than we ever thought we could; another day that reminds us of the hole left in our souls.

We miss our little man.

Doug and Sara

12/07/08 - All...As Christmas approaches, so does an increased amount of heartache for all of us. Songs of holiday cheer for children bring us to tears. Songs of children in the presence of God do the same. Our eyes ache nearly as much as our hearts. Our bodies are tired, and we long for the day we can hold Adam again. May God grant us increased peace.

We put up one of the two trees we will put up for Christmas this year. The one that went up today (Sunday) was the tree we purchased while staying at Ronald McDonald House in Memphis, TN. Merely opening the box for the tree was overwhelming and left us in utter sadness. We put the tree up and decorated with ornaments that Adam had picked out during his short time with us, along we some we made in his honor since we had lost him. This tree sits in the foyer of our home, nearly across from the door to his bedroom. Finishing this one today collapsed us emotionally, leaving our second tree, the normal one we would have set up if our lives were more normal, to go up tomorrow (Monday).

We did start paperwork last week to establish Another Day Another Memory (A.D.A.M.) as a Non-Profit Business. We should be finished the paperwork for the State of Michigan early next year and the U.S. Government paperwork mid-year to the fall. This business will be primarily a grief support organization for children that lose a sibling and parents that lose a child. We hope to be able to continually share updates on our progress as time goes by. Our goal is help others, and create a legacy for Adam that we (and all of you) can be proud of.

We continue to urge everyone to better the lives of those around you. Whether that be some you know or someone you don't know, please make a difference in someone's life. You all made a difference in our lives, please don't stop there. Others still need your love and support.

May God truly bless all of us.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

11/29/08 - All...Thanksgiving Day came and went. We are sure Adam was proud of us for going to both of our families celebrations on that day. While we visited a short period at both, we did make it there, an accomplishment none the less.

We did begin our Thanksgiving Day the way we wanted to. We went to Mass at St. Mary's and then went to the cemetery. Adam's marker is in place, and we will get pictures on the web-site soon. We should get these pictures along with the tattoo pictures posted that we haven't done yet.

Doug is coping the best he can at work. Being surrounded by thousands of people each week so full of happiness and in the holiday spirit, not feeling it yourself, leaves one emotionally crashing at the end of each day. Thanks to those between work and home that have allowed him to express this emotion in person or over the telephone. 

We have got most of our holiday shopping completed and decided to take on two other children through the "Angel Tree" sponsored by the local Social Services office. We have a new understanding of life, and wanted to improve the lives of some other children. 

We have pressed the "pause" button in our lives and evaluated where we are were headed. While we can't press "rewind" to correct everything that we wish we could, we can press "stop" and change where the story was headed. We are striving to write better chapters in our stories. We encourage all to do the same.

A family friend visualized a picture the other day with Doug. He visualized Adam sitting on the lap of Jesus, free from any pain and worry. What a beautiful image. Emotional, yes, but somewhat peaceful.

Keep the Faith,

Doug and Sara

11/22/08 - All...The Holidays are upon us and seem as they are a big blur. Our heartache dominates our days and nights, and we have no real idea of how to ease our pain. Our Faith grants us some level of Peace, but Peace only takes part of the sorrow away. We miss Adam terribly.

May God grant us continued Peace; the Peace we need to understand what we do not know, and the understanding to accept that this is all part of God's plan. For this, we Pray.

A.D.A.M.

A.nother 
D.ay 
A.nother 
M.emory

We miss and love you bud.

Doug and Sara

11/19/08 - All...Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching and we wish it could just be over and done with. Only forty-two days left in the year, and counting them down each and every day. Not that next year will be any easier, but at least we don't have all the extra stuff to deal with.

Work for Doug is busy. He can't wait for his next vacation in the spring. He is very appreciative of the team that he works with. On his good days, they are there to stand behind him. On his bad days, they do an excellent job of standing in front of him, shielding him from what he doesn't need to be a part of. We are grateful for each and every one of you.

Sara is busy keeping the house together and continually defining the "new normal". Having her home is a nice change for the family, providing some stability that we hadn't had before.

Jenna and Anne are still working through their grief in their own ways, both using age appropriate means of getting through it. We wish them any form of peace they can get at their ages.

We read something at church this last weekend that we thought we would share. "Help keep Christ in Christmas". Wow, so simple, but so true. We want to keep Christmas awesome for our children, but also want them to better understand what the Holiday is truly about.

Searching for more Peace,

Doug and Sara

11/14/08 - All...One year ago today (Friday) Adam was diagnosed with the brain stem tumor that took him from this world less than two months ago. With that, you can guess how our week has gone.

Sara had a good dream about Adam last night. We again believe that Adam was letting us know that he is still with us. As he knows, we so miss holding him.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

11/12/08 - All...Work is getting busier for Doug. All the Christmas decor, toys, and Holiday music at work could all go away and Doug would be fine with it.

Sara has adjusted to Doug being gone more now that he is back to work full time. The house can get very quiet and this will continue to take some getting use to. 

We did attend another support group meeting last night (Tuesday). There was another couple there that we met for the first time. Scott and Melissa lost there son in a traffic accident earlier this year. We could feel their pain as they told us of their story. Our prayers go out to them.

We meet next week with our attorney regarding the setup of our support group as a non-profit corporation. We want to make sure we do everything right so Adam's legacy continues, without any oops.

We still hope the bases for the diamond come in soon. We want to get them in place and then share pictures with all of you. Hopefully Adam's marker will come in quickly too. We really want that in place too.

Thank you all again for the cards, email, and prayers.

Holding on to Faith,

Doug and Sara

11/05/08 - All...I want to share something from another father that lost his son. Thank you for taking the time to read this and feel free to pass it on. Doug

I have tried to make the lies, damn lies and statistics posted a bit more user-friendly:

We have all been lead to believe that childhood cancer is rare. And, when you look at the number of cases, it is. But, is the number of cases the only number we should be looking at when comparing it to other cancers? I don't think it is. I think we should also look at the total number of years of life lost (Person Years Life Lost or PYLL) for each cancer. And then compare funding based on the number of years of life lost for each cancer. Basically, a method to "level the playing field" and compare apples to apples. 

So there are two questions:
#1 - How many years of potential life are stolen by each cancer?
#2 - Are the funding dollars per life year lost fair and equitable?

For example, the average age for a new case of prostate cancer is 68 years old, and the 5 year survival rate is 99%. That means that 1% of those new cases will die within 5 years, at or before age 73. The average age of death from all causes in the US is 77. So, on average, each case of prostate cancer results in a loss of 4 years of life (PYLL). 

So then we calculate the total number of years of life lost (PYLL) for prostate cancer. In 2007 there were 186,320 new cases. The latest 5 year survival is 99%. So, of those new cases, there will be 1,863 deaths from prostate cancer within 5 years. As we said above, each case represents 4 years of life lost. So, 1,863 deaths x 4 years of life lost = 7,453 total years of life lost (PYLL). 

Then we look at funding. Prostate cancer received $15 million in 2007 from the American Cancer Society. So, $15 million divided by 7,453 years of life lost = $2,013 per year of life lost. 

Is that good or bad? Well, you have to do the calculations for each cancer and compare the answers. 

First, lets look at the number of life years lost for the 10 most prevalent adult cancers and include childhood cancer.

Childhood cancer results in the fifth highest number of life-years lost to any type of cancer. This FACT alone should eliminate any discussion of the "rareness" of cancer in children. A total of 178,750 potential life-years are lost to childhood cancer.

These are life's that NEVER get a chance to VOTE or ADVOCATE for more funding! Life's that NEVER get to DEMONSTRATE and PROTEST in front of the White House on September 13th......you in?!

Ok, so now to be fair to everyone with cancer, let's make sure the funding for each potential life year lost is equal.

Surprise, surprise, it's NOT! And guess who's at the bottom of the list? So, after "leveling the playing field" we can see that funding is simply NOT fair and equitable for all types of cancer! And childhood cancers get the lowest amount of funding per year of life lost when compared to the 10 most prevalent adult cancers. Guess who votes? Guess who advocates?

So, don't ever be swayed by the "rareness" of childhood cancer argument. And don't ever let them tell you the funding is appropriate based on the number of cases. Those are the lies they want us to believe.

I mean if you compare the number of rifle and machine gun bullets expended in World War II, the number of atomic bombs dropped was "rare". But the effect was just the same.....

All data is directly from the following sources:

National Cancer Institute (NCI) - 2007 Fact Book and "Snapshot of Pediatric Cancer" 
Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) - SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2005 
American Cancer Society (ACS)- Cancer Facts & Figures 2008. 
CureSearch 

11/05/08 - All...The weather here has been nice the last few days. Hitting seventy degrees in November is a real milestone. We have been able to catch up on some things in the yard with the comfortable temperatures outside.

We have been slowing taking down Halloween decorations this week. This was the holiday Adam really helped us decorate for this year. We took pictures of where everything was so we know where to put it back next year.

We have run into some friends over the past few days that we haven't seen or spoken to in some time. It was nice to catch up with all of you.

The holiday season is upon us now, and work for Doug has begun to pickup somewhat already. The holiday music is quite annoying, listening to it all day long leaves you wanting to wear ear plugs...all day long.

In closing, beyond all of this, we miss our little man. Adam...we miss you bud.

Doug and Sara

11/03/08 - All...This horrible disease has caused four more children that we know of in the past three days to earn their Angel Wings. Another family, in Lansing, MI, learned of negative progression in their son's prognosis. Our hearts ache for all of these families and so many more. This causes us to continue to strive for ways to "Wake Up Washington". These are children we are losing and more research must be done. Stories of these children can be found on www.icouldbeyourchild.org. 

We caught Anne kissing our digital picture frame over and over tonight, as each picture changed, she would kiss Adam and the other family members in it. Finally she turned to us, smiling from ear to ear, and proudly let us know she was kissing Adam. She goes to bed each evening praying for Adam. We know she and Jenna miss him so much. We wish we could take some of their pain away.

Today was the first day someone totally blind-sided Doug with the "How's your son Adam doing?". It wasn't their fault, but that really sucked.

Overall, the last couple of days have been very tough. Do yourself a favor; go find someone you love and tell them. Hold them, simply because you can. 

With Hope and Faith,

Doug and Sara

11/02/08 - All...The weekend had great weather. We did our best to enjoy it. Halloween was Friday night and we all dressed up. We know Adam is proud of us for doing so. 

Saturday was a long day filled with work for Doug and getting some last minute cleanup done in the yard for Sara. 

Sunday was a full day. We had Mass in the morning, Anne's birthday party in the afternoon, and a service for "All Souls Day" back at the church in the evening. We learned that Adam was one of three children lost during the last year from our church.

We struggled with the loss of Adam all weekend, this being the first celebrated "holiday" since we lost him. We are sure Thanksgiving and Christmas will be worse, but have begun to learn to slow our lives and what we are working on down when the need arises. Slowly, and with support, we will survive.

Some pieces of the puzzle to start a support group in Jackson have already come together. We have the support of a licensed counselor and a facility that will sponsor our location to meet. After the holidays, we really want to move forward quickly with this project. We will let you all know more when we can.

Holding on to Faith,

Doug and Sara

10/28/08 - All...We are doing what we can to stay busy and cope in whatever ways we find helpful. The house, and our lives feel so empty. 

We did go to the cemetery again today. We sure wish Adam's marker comes in before the snow starts coming and covering the ground. Starting the first of November, we can put flowers and greenery back out at the cemetery. For now, we still use cut flowers for Adam.

We have joined a new organization in the fight against childhood cancer and raising the awareness of childhood cancer. The web-site is http://www.curechildhoodcancer.ning.com if anyone would like to check it out. There is also access to a petition there that we are asking everyone at least read, and of course sign the petition if you support it. Also for anyone that doesn't mind, please email those you know so we can all continue to grow awareness and support for this cure.

Anne's birthday and Halloween is Friday. We are not having her birthday party Friday, but are inviting anyone that needs a place to trick or treat to come with us. Adults are encouraged to dress up. Maybe we'll see some of you around.

Tonight (Tuesday) we are attending a support group for the first time in Ann Arbor, MI. We are nervous for some reason about going, probably just anticipation of grieving with others. 

We are still looking at organizing a new support group in Jackson, MI, in January, 2009. For anyone that lost a child, knows someone who lost a child, or somehow was affected in a different way, please share our email address with them. We will be looking for others interested in helping new families with tragedies, as well as people looking for group support. I'm sure we will need all forms of help that anyone has to offer.

Lastly, we truly hope all of you and your families are well. Remember, don't be afraid to help someone else out if you think they need it. Even if they didn't need the help, at least you know you did the right thing by offering.

Keep the Faith,

Doug and Sara

10/22/08 - All...The weather has been changing and fall is certainly here in Michigan. We miss Adam helping in the yard and playing with the leaves.

Doug finished his first partial week of work since he went back. Focusing is such a chore and he finds himself lost throughout the days. All part of searching for our new "normal".

Sara is learning to cope with the house being much quieter, especially when Doug is at work and the kids are both in school (Anne for part of the day/week). Again, searching for our new "normal".

Anne has her birthday next week. She is very excited about turning three. We want to make sure she has a great day and are trying to stay focused on assuring she does.

Jenna had a choir concert last night and sang well. We hope she gets the opportunity to keep singing and works her way up to doing solo performances.

We continue to struggle throughout parts of each day. We continue to be grateful for the support you all have provided.

Focusing on Faith,

Doug and Sara

10/20/08 - All...The lights are all set and hooked up on our memorial rock garden. As soon as the bases are done, we will set them and get pictures up so everyone can see them. Having family in the electrical business has sure paid off, the lights come on and off automatically now. The entire project give us another place to mourn our loss and remember the inspiration Adam gives us daily.

We wont make it to group counseling tomorrow on its scheduled night because Jenna has a choir concern. For anyone in the area, it starts at 7PM. Feel free to come if you need something to do for an evening. We hope she does well tomorrow and has a good time.

Anne is adjusting to preschool very well and has her favorite teacher to hang out with. She has stopped getting really upset when we drop her off. This has made it much easier to leave and reduced the amount of worry we had while she was there. 

Focusing on Faith,
Doug and Sara

10/18/08 - All...Thank you all for the positive thoughts and your continued prayers.

Doug has made much progress on the memorial baseball rock garden. He has put a total of approximately four and a half tons of rock there. We hope we will have the electrical done in the next few days. We then hope to post pictures of the rock garden in the daylight and night hours. We can tell already much time will be spent here reflecting on our thoughts.

We did go to Ann Arbor, MI, this week to meet with a support group. Of course Jackson has nothing to offer, so we are forced to go elsewhere again. On a good note, we may be deciding to start a support group in Jackson for ourselves and others that live this nightmare. We hope to decide on this after we define what our new "normal" lives will be like.

Doug did return to work at Sam's Club today (Saturday). He would describe today as one of the toughest days in his fifteen years with the company and did manage to make it home before the pain overwhelmed him. Day two comes later in the week. God grant him strength.

Struggling,

Doug and Sara

10/13/08 - All...We returned from our trip yesterday (Sunday) and Doug spent the rest of the day working on the memorial in the backyard. Monday Doug and Jenna finished the trim work and began laying stone. We hope to have the baseball memorial finished by the end of the week.

Adam's Uncle Rick got together with a family friend named Kevin on Saturday and constructed a full size bench for us to put at our baseball memorial. This was truly awesome to receive. We wanted a way to sit at the memorial and now we have the perfect way to do so. Thank you to Rick and Kevin.

Doug goes back to work on Saturday. We hope his day goes well. He is taking a couple of short weeks going back and then will step into things full tilt for the holiday season. A very long, tough season it will be.

We hope to be in some group counseling this week. We have to travel to Ann Arbor, MI, for this. We wish there was a group locally, but we unable to find one. As with Pediatric Hospice, Jackson, MI, lacks this also.

We continue to appreciate all the support we have received. While we may be slow to thank all of you, please know that we are grateful and very appreciative.

Deep in reflection,

Doug and Sara

10/11/08 - All...We took off for the weekend, landing in Mackinaw City. We are spending two nights here and then returning home on Sunday. We are sure some time away is somehow good for us, but our thoughts remain lost. We spent some time on the beach this evening listening to the waves and staring up at the sky. 

Jenna and Anne stayed in Jackson so we look forward to picking them up and returning home tomorrow. 

With heavy hearts,

Doug and Sara

10/09/08 - All...Today (Thursday) we spent much of the day cleaning out the garage and the shed. The last time we did this semi-annual chore was two years ago. While a clean garage always looks nice, the task was tough, and we found ourselves remembering all the times Adam played with his toys.

We planted the last of the flowers we needed to get done from the funeral home today. Adam would be happy that we got this done and made the yard look better. We wish he was here to help us.

Missing our little man,

Doug and Sara

10/07/08 - All...Today (Tuesday) had its ups and downs for us. We did spend some time with a Hospice Counselor and have all but decided to take part in some group counseling for grief. We have decided that grief sucks. It really, really, sucks.

Doug will be returning to work shortly and will begin the process of defining a new "normal" day. 

Anne is adjusting well to preschool and has made some new friends to play with there. We are glad to offer her some routine a few days a week.

Jenna is still trying to get over her annual cold. We hope through medicine and wearing seasonally correct clothing we can keep her cold away for the rest of the upcoming months.

We have received some more mail and email from several people we have never met. We are grateful for all the support and positive thoughts you have shared.

Keep the Faith,

Doug and Sara

10/04/08 - All...Yesterday (Friday) we finalized Adam's headstone and ordered it. The headstone should be in place in the next six to eight weeks. We hoped it wouldn't take this long, however, this is the standard time frame. As with everything else we have done thus far, we strive to honor Adam with his headstone. His headstone will honor him as a Power Ranger.

Mass with intentions for Adam was held tonight and will be held next Saturday night also. We went to Mass tonight and spent much of our time thinking about and praying for Adam. We feel close to him when we are there. 

Doug spent part of the day working on the memorial rock garden in the backyard. He guessed short on some of the pieces and will be searching Menards surrounding Jackson for what he needs tomorrow. In any case, progress was made and the work so far looks great.

Sara is starting to put the house back together. What a painful process this has been. Adam made an impact on every room in the house.

We also started working on Thank You cards today. With each one, we have memories of Adam. These are going much slower than we had hoped. We are going to try to get these all done this week.

We think the stress has increased this week over last. We don't really know why, but it lurks in the back of our minds, and rears itself more that we would like. 

Hoping for more Faith,

Doug and Sara

10/02/08 - All...Adam passed away eleven days ago and the pain we feel is agonizing. We feel an emptiness that has no end. Blank stares into nowhere consume parts of our days. We have given up on focusing on anything that we don't have to, simply because we can't concentrate on anything for more than a few minutes. 

We did spend some more time tonight visiting Adam at the cemetery. We should have final plans for his marker completed and ordered this week. We hope by some chance we can get it in place before snow accumulates on the ground.

The tree that Sam's Clubs in Detroit purchased us was delivered on Monday. Doug came up with the idea of building a memorial around it. He is in the process of building an eighteen foot by eighteen foot memorial surrounding the tree. We will get pictures up when it is done. 

Consumed by grief,

Doug and Sara

09/30/08 - The following is what we wished we had the strength to share with all of you at Adam’s Mass. With Faith, Doug

Adam… 

Adam Douglas…

Adam Douglas Beiswanger… was an “old soul”. My wife and I knew this but until this last week did not know the term used to describe someone with the mannerisms of Adam at such a young age. So smart, so caring, so thoughtful, and so compassionate. 

My son was born into this word in Jackson, MI, on April 7, 2003. At the time, Adam had already been blessed with an older sister, Jenna that was 11 at the time of Adam’s birth. Two years after Adam’s birth, he was blessed with a younger sister, Anne. He now had an older sister to look up to, and a younger sister to protect. Now they both look up to him and protect each other.

Adam was reborn to eternal life at the age of five. Adam taught those that knew him or learned of him several lessons throughout his life. Although Adam was so young, he still taught me several lessons. I will share five of these lessons I learned while loving and caring for him:

First, children can be ill and can be healed through science and prayer. I learned this twice when Adam had surgeries at age five weeks and at nine months. Through science and prayer, he did extremely well with both of these surgeries.

Second, there is nothing stronger than the love between a parent and their child. I love Adam indescribably. I also learned that moms are blessed with the gift of being able to smile, even at the worst moments, when their child needs it most. Sara used this gift often and Adam was a happier child because of it. Adam has the best mom.

Third, that love is meant to be shared. Adam and all of you taught me this lesson. While Adam may have been my son and we loved each other dearly, our love was meant to be shared with all of you. Adam received messages from several of you that contained words of love and encouragement for him. While your message was for Adam, I believe your messages also reminded you yourself to focus more on loving others close to you.

Fourth, share in your good fortune. Fortune does not mean great monetary wealth. Fortune represents the things you are blessed with. Adam taught us that it is ok to make or purchase a gift for someone, without any official reason such as a holiday or a birthday. Adam used his creativity and drawing to make small gifts for others. Adam would love to mail or deliver these gifts. These gifts are now priceless. Making a meal, sending a card, calling someone, or giving a gift to someone less fortunate are ways Adam taught us to share good will. Adam was always so thoughtful of others, even asking if we could have his sixth birthday party at Little Caesars so everyone can come again.

Lastly, and perhaps the most painful, children can sometimes be ill and not healed through science and prayer. I believe that millions of prayers were said for Adam. While they were all heard, we all were left to remember that sometimes our loved ones are called home to God for reasons unknown to us.

While these five lessons share so much with all of you, I remind all of us that Adam’s legacy is not just impacted by us as his parents, but rather his legacy is impacted by all of you. As you think of Adam, improve the lives of those around you. Whether for a friend or a stranger, strive to impact the lives of others. By doing this, you also keep Adam’s legacy going strong.

I pray God grants peace to our families, to our friends, and to all others that need it. 

Thank you.

09/28/08 - All...Our hearts are heavy and we miss our little man every minute of the day. We still struggle with the simplest of things. We pray that time will lessen our wounds.

We have thoughts of Adam to share later in the week, but we did want to say thank you to a few people today. 

Wetherby Funeral Home did an outstanding job with Adam and all the little things behind the scenes to make sure that we, along with our families, were taken care of. Chris and his team there were very respectful and allowed us all the time we needed with Adam each day. Thank you all.

Father Reilly at St Mary's gave Adam a remarkable service and we know Adam was proud to be a member of the Parish. Thank you Father Reilly and team.

As many boys are, Adam was a huge fan of police officers. Adam always thought it was great when Doug and his partners would stop by the house so he could see the police cars up close. As an unexpected honor, Adam received a police escort to his final resting place from the Jackson County Sheriffs Department. Thank you to the Command Staff, Sgt. Wayne Bisard, Sgt. Andy Anderson, and the others that expressed their condolences. 

May God keep us strong.

Doug and Sara

09/26/08 - All...Yesterday (Wednesday) was a very long, tough day for us. Adam had so many visitors we couldn't remember all of them. At least we will have the registry books to remind us of who could make it out of see us. 

We received so many great comments from several of you and your continued prayers are greatly appreciated. 

This morning we met with Father Reilly and planned the Mass for Adam. We think Adam will like what we planned for him. 

The afternoon and evening left was filled with visitation times at the funeral home. The evening session was extremely busy with people coming and going.

There will be no eulogy tomorrow at Mass. Doug wanted to speak about Adam but knows he wouldn't be able to make it through the speech, so we will be sharing what we wanted to express to all of you by placing it on this web-site. We should get this up in the next couple days.

Overcome with grief,

Doug and Sara

09/23/08 - All...We ran a couple errands today in the morning. We were able to go to the funeral home after that and spend some time with Adam. Even though we didn't see him yesterday, we took him some items so he knew we were there to make arrangements for him. Today we took him even more things we think he would have wanted there.

Our little man looked very sharp. 

We miss him so much.

Doug and Sara

09/22/08 - All...Our hearts ache like we cannot describe. Thank you all for the words of encouragement. Here are the basic arrangements for the services of Adam Beiswanger.

Visitation
Wetherby Funeral Home
Wednesday and Thursday
2pm - 4pm
6pm - 8pm (Rosary 7:30pm Thursday)

Funeral
St Marys Church 
Friday
10:30am

God Grant Us Peace,

Doug and Sara

09/21/08 - All...At approximately 5:30pm this evening, Adam went home to our Lord. We know that he feels no pain and suffers no more. May God bless our little man.

Adam Douglas Beiswanger
April 7, 2003 - September 21, 2008

Doug and Sara

09/21/08 - All...Adam has begun to prepare himself for his journey to everlasting life. We are doing everything that we can to keep him comfortable and let him know that we are here with him. An evaluation of him today leaves him with hours to days before he will be in the presence of God, with no more pain and no more suffering.

Concerned for Adam, we contacted his on-call nurse this morning to have Adam evaluated. The nurse let us know of Adam drastic decline in his condition.

Father Reilly came to the house today and Adam received Confirmation. Father Reilly also prayed for us and with us. Father Reilly, we are grateful.

We know that so many of you have been and are now grieving with us. We greatly appreciate ALL of the support, care, love, and prayers given to our family during these horrible and trying times. We are forever grateful.

We ask God to protect our memories and give us guidance while we hold Adam and help him along this journey. We ask God to grant us Peace and to provide us the Faith we need. We ask our family members that went before him to welcome him to everlasting life, hold him for us, and comfort him. More than all, we ask God to hold Adam in his loving arms and free him from all that ails him. For this we pray.

For all that pray...Please Pray For Adam.

Doug and Sara

09/20/08 - All...Adam has been sleeping the last 24 hours. We hope he wakes us up in the middle of the night and wants to at least drink something. God give him strength.

For this we pray,

Doug and Sara

09/19/08 - All...We send this update with tired and heavy hearts. Adam is fighting. He went yesterday seizure free. We made a quick trip to Jackson Crossing and had us decorating the house for Halloween the rest of the afternoon. 

This morning he started the day at 7:00AM with seizures. We had to use his second medication to stop them. His nurse made her scheduled appointment about noon and he had more seizures shortly after her arrival. We had to use his second medication again to stop the seizures. This was the first time we had to do use this medication twice in the same day.. This second dose, along the with seizures, left Adam drained and very tired the rest of the day. We hope these seizures were just due to him adjusting to his new medications, but are very worried none the less.

Dr. Taylor made another house call this evening to check on Adam and the rest of the family. We are grateful for his support through our situation. We discussed Adam's medications and overall quality of life to assure we are doing all that we can. 

Anne finished her first week of preschool yesterday and we think she had fun. She is adjusting to being left alone at school. She cries when left but is fine after we are actually gone. We think this structure will be good for her.

Struggling,

Doug and Sara

09/17/08 - All...Yesterday (Tuesday) we expected that Adam would have seizures due to not taking his medicine on Sunday night and all day Monday. We were right on this guess, Adam had four seizures. We were able to stop with his second medicine. We now have a different medicine that we can give him for seizure prevention if he doesn't want or can't drink his normal medicine. We also now have his steroid in a cream form that we can put on him if/when he can't drink that either. Although Adam's seizure medication is not built up in his body still today, we pray that he can go today without any of these.

We still need to make some decisions regarding the rest of Adam's medications and his chemotherapy since he hasn't been able to these in a few days also. We pray for peace of mind in making these decisions also.

Today (Wednesday), school was to start for Adam and Anne. Anne went but we want to get Adam's seizure medication under control again before taking him. We hope to be able to take Adam next week. Anne was excited to go, that is until the time actually came to do so. She was a bit nervous, as expected, but we think that she will do fine.

This week has been very tough for us, with changes in Adam and school starting for him and Anne. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We think of so many of you often and believe this is when your prayers are reaching us.

May God Bless Us All,

Doug and Sara

09/15/08 - All...Adam didn't make it out of the house this weekend. With the weather from hurricane Ike coming to town and him being so worn out we left shopping up to him. He didn't want to go shopping. 

Adam did get some craft projects completed this weekend, primarily having us do most of the work for him. He is struggling with coloring as he once did and has some more weakness in his arms and neck. We pray for him to regain strength.

We are pretty sure we made it through the weekend without any seizures. Even without these, Adam is more tired than the past weeks.

We had a nice surprise on Sunday. Adam's Great-Grandmother Nancy delivered dinner for us so we didn't have to cook. A great meal and we didn't have to do a thing. Thank you.

Adam struggled with taking his medications Sunday night. We hope he has an easier time today (Monday). 

Praying for more Hope, Faith, and Understanding.

Doug and Sara

09/12/08 - All...Thursday Adam remained worn out most of the day. He took a couple of naps to catch up on some energy. The day did go seizure free. For this we are grateful. Thank you to all that prayed for him to stop having seizures.

Today (Friday) Adam remained seizure free. Adam still seems worn out. He is eating some meals much better than others. We continue to feed him whatever he wants to eat, trying to keep his weight and protein up.

We hope we can end the week tomorrow on a good note. We hope Adam is up to leaving the house so we can take him shopping somewhere. He hasn't been out of the house in week and we hope some fresh air will be good for him. 

Jenna and Anne are doing good. Jenna is glad to be back in school and being entertained by all it has to offer. Anne is still "crazy Anne", running all over the house and letting her imagination run wild. On our most stressful days, these two can still make us smile.

We are tired, worried, and just plain worn out. We hope maybe the weekend can provide us some time to catch up physically and mentally.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

09/10/08 - All...Tuesday Adam spent much of the day recovering from the medicine we had to give him to stop his seizures from Monday. The seizures also take a physical toll on him. He was in good spirits most of the day but didn't eat real well due to being so worn out. He looked very tired. He did go Tuesday seizure free though.

We saw Zak (Sam's Club Jackson) and his wife Heather this afternoon at the our house. We had a good time visiting. Thanks for stopping out to the house.

Grandpa Jim and Grandma Jerry brought over dinner tonight. A great meal and we didn't have to make it. Thank you. Adam slept through dinner and woke up as we were cleaning up. We were hoping he would have a good appetite to compensate for his light lunch. 

Unfortunately, Adam had three seizures and we had to give him his other medicine that pretty much knocks him out. This really sucks for him. His stomach will growl all night now. Our hope is that he will wake up in the middle of the night and want to eat. We will gladly make him whatever he wants.

Worried,

Doug and Sara

09/08/08 - All...We received the answer to our concerns from the weekend. Adam had four seizures today. We stopped them using his second seizure medicine. After meeting with his Hospice nurses and conversing with Dr Taylor, we have increased his seizure medicine one again. We pray this increase in medicine resolves the issue and doesn't bother Adam.

Stressed,

Doug and Sara

09/07/08 - All...Adam had a good weekend. Saturday he saw some family here at the house. Sunday, he attended the baptism of his cousin Alex and the birthday party of his cousin Jonah. Both of these events went well. Congratulations to Alex and Happy Birthday to Jonah.

We are concerned with the strength of Adam's arms. He seems weaker in the arms and his dexterity seems to have worsened. He wasn't able to color as well as he has in the past or write his name today. 

Adam also had about three times during the weekend when we are not sure if he was just upset, or if he may of had small seizures. We are still trying to figure this one out.

We should get Adam's blood test results tomorrow some time. We hope with him being off his chemotherapy for most of last week that these numbers are better. He should be starting chemotherapy again Tuesday night for a period of three weeks. We pray for him to have strength and benefit from this round of chemotherapy.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

09/02/08 - All...Adam is still stable. We did receive his blood work results from last Friday and were pleased to learn that his numbers improved. Adam doesn't seem as worn out this week either. 

We made our decision regarding Adam and school this year. When we first discussed kindergarten with Adam, he became upset and withdrawn. This is where our initial concerns came from. After speaking with Jackson County ISD, we have decided that Adam will be attending the preschool at Jackson Area Career Center again this year. When we took this news to Adam, he became very excited and emotional. With all that is going on, we feel this is the best decision to support Adam's positive atmosphere and quality of life. We thank the Jackson County ISD and the Career Center Child Development Staff for helping us with this tough decision.

Adam has been busy this week working on his arts and crafts projects. We have ordered some more online due to having completed all that is available at the retailers in town. 

Jenna goes back to school tomorrow. We are glad that she will be back on a routine to occupy her time. School, sports, and work should be good for her this year.

Focused with Faith,

Doug and Sara

08/29/08 - All...Adam has remained stable and seizure free this week. He has continued to spend much of his time on painting and artwork. We now have a need to put up more shelving to show off all of his work. 

Adam had blood work again today. We hope his numbers got better again this week. He had chemotherapy until Tuesday and then has a week off it. We hope and pray that the off week will give his body some time to get better also.

This week has been very tough and emotional for us. The week before school is to start and we have some tough decisions to make. Adam points out what he wants to buy in the ads for school but shuts down when we talk about going to kindergarten. We want him to go, but not if it is going to make him depressed. We spoke with the school district and they are willing to do whatever they can, wherever they can. We are very thankful for this. We will make a final choice of what is best for him on Monday morning. We think we know what we are going to do, but we pray for peace of mind in our decision.

Sara went to get a tattoo two weeks ago. Doug went this week. Sara picked one of Adam's artwork pieces and had it put on her ankle with her signature. Doug had Adam portrait put on his arm, along with some wording. We will get pictures of these up on the web soon.

This weekend will be our seventh wedding anniversary. With all that is going on, we don't have anything planned, but do hope to have a peaceful day with the kids. Maybe some take-out so we don't have to cook. Maybe a bottle of wine to go with it. Maybe a simple wish that it could all be the way we want it to be. Maybe.

With all our Faith,

Doug and Sara

08/24/08 - All...Adam had a good week. While we couldn't be around too many other people, we passed the time working on all kinds of special projects. We painted what we built and will have them on display around the house soon.

We should hear back on Adam's lab work tomorrow. We hope his numbers come back higher than the previous weeks. In any case, Adam had high spirits most of the week and we were glad for that.

Jenna, some of her friends, and Doug returned today from Columbus, OH. A quick overnight trip to go to the Jonas Brothers concert. This was a nice chance for Jenna to get away and the girls had a blast. Doug was fortunate enough to be entertained by Adam's Aunt Sara and her man Greg that drove over from Dayton, OH, and a couple of friends he worked with in Columbus, OH. An early start this morning had them home about lunch time. 

We hope to have another calm and uneventful week. 

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

08/19/08 - All...Adam's blood work came back worse than the previous week. Based on these numbers, he is currently vulnerable to viral infections, so we have locked him in the house and visitors can only see us through the windows and doors. We hope we can gets these numbers to improve this week. More blood work on Friday.

On a brighter note, Adam has a loose tooth. At first this worried us, thinking it was related to his chemotherapy or radiation. After gathering our wits, we noticed a new tooth coming in under the loose one. We relaxed and realized this was all normal. Yea...A visit very soon from the Tooth Fairy.

Our Hospice team has been great, checking in on Adam three or four times a week right now. We also had a visit from the Hospice Chaplin last week. A great team of support they are for us.

Father Reilly from St. Mary's here in Jackson came to the house today to spend some time with Adam and the family. It was truly great to have him come to the house.

Celebrating Jenna's 16th birthday early, she and some friends will be going to a Jonas Brothers concert Saturday night. We hope she has a great time.

Keep the Faith,

Doug and Sara

08/17/08 - All...It has been a busy week. Fortunately, Adam has been stable all week. He had some issues with a lack of bathroom breaks, but we have helped him work all that out. He made a few trips to some stores, for household supplies and of course some toys.

Adam's blood work last Friday showed his protein was a little low. We are now trying to add protein powder to some of what Adam eats or drinks. Adam must have the best taste buds out there because he can normally tell if we altered his food with anything. We hope that his blood work from this Friday will look better.

Jenna and Uncle Rick traveled Thursday to Kansas City to represent our family at the worldwide meeting for Sam's Club. They did a great job appreciating Sam's Club for all they have done for our family. We are extremely fortunate that Doug works for such a caring company. Zak Martin, Jackson's Sam's Club Manager, was recognized for spear-heading the efforts of the company to help us out. Thanks Zak.

Jenna and Uncle Rick did get to spend some time with Executives of the company and Managers all over the country that are thinking and praying for Adam. Again, we are grateful for all the thoughts, prayers, and support. We would also like to appreciate Sharon Orlopp from the Sam's Club People Division for sharing the story of Adam, Zak, and the communities overall supporting us.

Sara's friend Shannon from Wilmington, NC, came to visit for a few days. This will be great for Sara and Shannon to catch up and give us a little extra help in the house while she is here. Sara has another friend, named Sarah, that will also be coming to Jackson from Columbus, OH, to catch up with us.

Adam's uncle Mike has moved back to Jackson to be closer to the family. We all welcome the opportunity to see him and his family more often now. His oldest daughter Jasmine might be attending the same school as Jenna this year. A little older than Jenna, Jasmine will graduate this year. 

We did get some pictures to our web-site helper last week. There should be several more pictures for you all to view soon. 

Sorry about being slow on the updates this week. I know several of you were probably wondering what was going on. We lose track of days now and forget some of the simplest things we need to do.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

08/10/08 - All...Adam has been so brave taking all the medicine when we need him to take it. He has the option of taking some as a liquid or a pill. We try to let him pick which one he wants to take so he has some control. 

Adam still isn't walking but we work on it daily. We do some stretches, work on his balance, and then help him take some steps. He does good with the stretching and the balance, but complains of his legs being tired when we work on taking steps. We are hoping to keep his muscle mass and circulation in good shape.

Adam has still been spending most of his time drawing, coloring, and doing crafts. Our bedroom walls are getting covered by all of the art he has made for us. We have spent a lot of time decorating things from Michaels and other discount stores. We will be borrowing Grandpa Jim's laminating machine so we can get everything we have laminated.

We will try to take some pictures of Adam's artwork and get it online so others can see what a great artist Adam is. He is really creative and at time looks around the room and then just starts drawing or coloring something in the room. 

Holding on to Faith,

Doug and Sara

08/05/06 - All...The last two days have been seizure free for Adam. We will be picking up some of the seizure medicine in a pill form tomorrow. Adam is taking some medicine by pill form now. Picking up these pills will mean much less liquids for him to take. We hope this cheers Adam up some about taking his medicines.

Next Friday a story about Adam and Sam's Club will be shown at a national meeting in Kansas City, KS. As of a month ago, Doug and Jenna were going to the meeting to represent the family. With all that is going on, Doug's brother Rick and Jenna will be flying in for that portion of the meeting to represent our family. We pray for them to have a safe trip.

Jenna got her first job. She has joined tax-paying society as a bagger for the a grocery store. We are proud of her for getting a job and look forward to her buying some of her own stuff now.

God Bless,

Doug and Sara

08/03/08 - All...Saturday and Sunday morning went okay. Adam didn't have any seizures. He is starting to not enjoy taking all the medicine so often throughout the day. He has found them easier to take while sitting upon Doug's lap while Sara gives them to him.

We did make it back to Relay-For-Life for a short spell on Saturday afternoon. Adam wanted to go back to get some more tattoos. We agreed since it gave us the opportunity to thank all the team members. We don't have a final amount that the team raised, but we do know that enough Sam's Club Associates volunteered over the minimum numbers hours needed so the team will receive a $3000.00 grant from the Sam's' Club Foundation to the American Cancer Society. 

We send a special thank you to "Adam's Angels" and Sam's Club Jackson. We arrived at the event Friday night and were overwhelmed at the sight of all those "Adam's Angels" shirts. We would never want anyone (including us) to be at Relay-For-Life under the circumstances we are this year, but are grateful for all the support you all gave to help us get through the event. Thank you.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

08/01/08 - All...Sara and I woke up early and basically stared at Adam until he woke up, worried about what awaited us. Adam woke up and didn't have any seizures. After watching him for a couple of hours, we relaxed a little bit and went about with the day.

Adam had to get blood work done today. This should be our last trip up to the Allegiance (Foote) Hospital Lab. His lab work will primarily be done now by his Hospice Nurse and then they take it to the lab for us. The medical support and the miscellaneous services they offer has already brought some comfort.

After doing a great job at the blood lab, Adam went to the Pet Station and picked out a couple of new fish. The fish look good is his aquarium and are getting along well with their new friends.

We did make it to the kickoff of Relay-For-Life this evening. We were welcomed by the Adam's Angels team at the Sam's Club booth. A huge turnout of supporters for the team. We stayed about three hours since Adam was enjoying the time outdoors and then made our way home for the rest of his medications and bedtime. 

We thank everyone that showed up for us. We do know that Adam is not the only soldier in this war. We know that some that showed up also did so for others that suffered or are suffering from this awful disease. Thank you all for supporting them also. 

While we tuck Adam into bed, we know and remember that some of you are still at the Relay. Several people will keep the light shining throughout the night for us and others. Thank you.

Adam wants to go back to Relay-For-Life tomorrow, so if the weather cooperates, we will briefly go back to the park tomorrow. We think maybe he wants some more tattoos from a competing team.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

07/31/08 - All...Adam slept well through the night. He woke up thirsty about 5:00AM. Within a few minutes, he began to have seizures. We were able to stop them with one of his new medicines. We really hope this improves soon for him (and us).

Adam went back to sleep after receiving the medicine and woke up again a couple of hours later. The medicine wore off earlier than on Wednesday since he took it earlier. After dinner, Adam was able to bring us a few smiles and do some things like coloring with us. 

We received a lot of communication today inquiring as to whether or not we still planned to attend the American Cancer Society Relay for Life tomorrow (Friday) evening. Yes, God willing, we plan on attending opening ceremonies at Cascades Park, 6:00PM. We will be meeting up with the "Adam's Angels" team. 

Anyone interested in walking with us is still encouraged to come. The SAM'S Club site at the Relay is closer to the High Street end of the loop and this is where we will most likely be found.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

07/30/08 - All...With Adam being given some relaxing medicine for the ride home yesterday, he slept peacefully through the night. We spent most of the night checking on him and were very glad he had a good night sleep.

Adam woke about 8:00AM again and within a few minutes had a seizure. We got one of his new medicines that is to stop these after they start and were able to give it to him between his second and third one. The medicine worked quickly and they stopped. For this we were grateful. 

The tradeoff is that this left Adam very drowsy till early afternoon. So then we had a irritable and starving (from the steroids) five year old that was very mad that he was too drowsy to eat. We did what we could to keep him calm until he was able to eat something.

To stir up positive energy with Adam, he did some online shopping today with Build-A-Bear. We have a couple new outfits coming for his animals. This shopping was definitely the highlight of his day.

We did get several calls, text messages, and email today. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. 

Touched by your Faith,

Doug and Sara

07/29/08 - All...Today was a very bad day.

Adam woke up at 8:00AM and began to act different, locking up his body and not breathing when he did it. After about half a minute, he would relax for about a minute and then have an identical episode. We immediately called Doug's mom (Nurse Var) to come to the house.

These problems were getting worse, so we made the decision to call 911. Adam was taken by Rescue and Ambulance to the hospital. After spending the day at the hospital, we learned that Adam either had better than 30 small seizures or 1 seizure that kept coming back for about 40 minutes. We have added seizure medicine to Adam's daily regiment to try to prevent these seizures.

We were able to take Adam back home after receiving some seizure medicine at the hospital. Hospice also met us at the hospital and then again at the house this evening. Oxygen was delivered to the house in case we needed it, along with some other supplies. Adam will see his nurse at the house three days a week and his social worker one day a week for right now. 

Dr. Taylor also made a house call this evening. We thought it was nice of him to check in on Adam and the family, especially at our home. Very much appreciated Doc.

As we said in the beginning, a very bad day. Please pray for Adam to receive the miracle he needs now more than ever.

Holding on to Faith,

Doug and Sara

07/27/08 - All...Adam is the same. We did make it to Mass at St Mary's last night and were truly blessed by the presence of so many of you. We thank you all for taking time away from your lives to pray for Adam.

A friend of mine described Adam as the bravest man he has ever met. When I looked back at everything Adam has gone through, most of which still haunts me, my friend couldn't of been more right. Thanks for this good moment.

July is coming to a close. August will be a busy month for us. We should be moving forward with Hospice checking on Adam's basic vitals weekly. With him needing weekly lab work, we hope this might be able to be done at our home since Adam is so timid in public.

Keep the Faith,

Doug

07/25/08 - All...Adam and the rest of the kids are doing okay. Adam had blood work this morning and we received the results this afternoon. His new chemotherapy hasn't dropped his blood counts into any danger zones.

Adam and mom have been working daily on walking. Adam walked holding Sara's hands from the bathroom to the family room. This was his longest walk so far. Great job Adam. 

Jenna passed drivers educations (segment one) and has a permit to drive. Finally, a personal driver for the rest of us. More like a really scary roller coaster ride, but kind of like having a personal driver. Anyways, nice job Jenna.

Anne is still wild Anne. She has discovered how much fun it is to hang out with her big sister, doing her hair and listening to music in the bathroom for hours. We think maybe she is going to be a hip-hop fan based on her dancing. Hopefully we will still have some time to convert her to country. We shall see.

We all made it to Nomad Bookhouse in downtown Jackson this evening. Santa Claus was making a special appearance there and of course we had to touch base with him. Santa was very excited to see the kids. We even found a cool book to buy while we were there. If you haven't been to Nomad, we encourage you to go check them out.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) there is a Mass with intentions for Adam at 5:15PM, at St Mary's in downtown Jackson. Everyone is welcome to attend. Whether attending or not, please say a few extra prayers for Adam when you can. Thank you.

Holding on to Faith,

Doug and Sara

07/21/08 - All...Adam is the same. His steroids had been cut from 8mg/day to 6mg/day and we didn't see much of a change. This is a good thing. The goal is to get him to as small amount of steroids as possible.

Adam and family have been treated to a delivered dinner a couple time in the past weeks. We first enjoyed baked spaghetti from Grandma Var. Second, we enjoyed Swiss Steak from Grandpa Jim and Grandma Jerry. Lastly, we enjoyed dinner from Subway from Grandpa Jeff and Grandma Rosie. Thank you all for the great food, it was much appreciated.

Adam's prescriptions totaling three didn't sound so bad until we added it up and came to the conclusion that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we give medicine to him ten times per day. The rest of the days, we get to give him a break and he only has to take medicine eight times per day. Adam isn't enjoying this at all. Please pray for him to have the courage to take this medicine that he needs.

We are also looking at some other herbal medicine that has helped other children in Adam's situation. This may be additional medicine for Adam. We will have to cross that bridge when we get to it.

Some of you may know, but for those that do not, Sam's Club did a "story" about Adam and those that came forward to help him (us) within the Sam's Club family. Obviously, there is no way to recognize everyone individually that helped us out. We have done our best to thank as many people as we could in person. For anyone that we missed, please accept our apologizes for missing you individually. This story will be shared at a Sam's Club national meeting in Kansas City, Kansas, the middle of August. If Adam is doing much better, he may make the trip. If he is not, it will likely be Doug and Jenna, or other family members representing us at the presentation.

Other than that, the days are long and the nights are short. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

07/17/08 - All...We made our final decision regarding Adam's new chemotherapy. His new chemotherapy is the one that his specialist at St. Jude recommended for him. This chemotherapy is less aggressive that his last one, but of course we pray that it will work better than his last one. This chemotherapy is also less intrusive into his quality of life. 

There are of course some side effects of this chemotherapy too. Most of the side effects are the same as his previous chemotherapy. The biggest difference is that Adam will most like lose all of his hair with this one. A small price to pay if it works better, but the girls are sure going to miss his long eye lashes.

The steroid Adam is currently taking appears to be doing some good with relieving the swelling he is experiencing. Adam has perked up, and with some help, has even taken some small steps walking. At limited times his voice has been easier to understand and he has been eating better. His drooling is better, but hasn't totally gone away yet. 

Joe, a friend of Doug's from Battle Creek, MI, volunteered himself and his wife Breeze to come to Jackson and take family pictures for us. We spent some time in the park doing this today and are very grateful of their professional services. We agreed that taking family portraits in a park with our dog was a nice change from the regular family pictures. Adam also enjoyed having the dog with him. 

As we may have said before, we have been in contact with Hospice for Adam. The purpose of Adam receiving Hospice is to get a set of medically trained eyes on him every week and to gather basic vitals that need to be reported back to his doctor at St. Jude. This was quite on ordeal for us to figure out. There is not pediatric Hospice in Jackson, MI. With some help, we found out that Arbor Hospice from Ann Arbor, MI, actually covers our area for pediatric cases. We haven't figured it all out yet, but hope to get this going by next week.

Lastly, some friends of the family are sponsoring The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, For the intentions of Adam Beiswanger. This mass will be held on Saturday, July 26, 2008, 5:15PM, at St. Mary Star of the Sea, in downtown Jackson, MI. Practicing of the Catholic faith is not required or necessary. We welcome anyone that wants to join our family and friends in attendance and prayer for Adam. Please feel free to contact us directly with any questions that you may have regarding this Mass.

Holding on to Faith,

Doug and Sara

07/14/08 - All...Adam's spirit has peaks and valleys. We are working on getting him focused on things he can do and have fun taking part in. 

Adam's overall weakness continues to hinder his mobility. We are working on helping to keep him stretched out and willing to work on his walking.

We did take a trip to Target today for some more coloring books. We had most of the old ones all used up over the last three weeks. Coloring books, a movie, and some Sponge Bob pajamas, we were on our way back home.

Jenna and Anne are doing well. Anne is still running around wild. Jenna is currently taking drivers training. We just need to teach Jenna to put the drivers seat back after she is done driving so Doug can get back into the car. It's hard to go from a 4'9" driver to a 6'4" driver.

Still praying,

Doug and Sara

07/12/08 - All...We are all home. Adam has been on steroids for a few days now. The first day we saw a spark from him in the evening. We have only seen a few sparks over the past few days. We think maybe the steroids are causing him some stomach discomfort. We are trying to work through this. 

Adam's speech is still extremely hard to understand. This has left us pulling our hair out in frustration because we aren't able to understand what he is trying to tell us. We have utilized some sign language that Adam learned a couple of years ago, but this has only worked on a couple of things.

We ask God to give us strength and to guide us in the decisions we must make over the next couple of days.

We are exhausted. Thank you to all those praying for us and checking on us. Thank you for your understanding of our dazed looks and lost thoughts.

Sara's sister Amanda and her husband Jeremy gave birth today to a beautiful baby boy named Alex. Congratulations to you both.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara 

07/11/08 - All...A very tough day. Adam's MRI shows his tumor is growing. We don't know the exact amount, but we (and his doctors) are extremely concerned. 

Adam's current chemotherapy has been stopped due to it not working. We will be choosing a new chemotherapy over the next couple of days. We are focusing on the best chemotherapy for him with the least amount of impact on his quality of life. 

We are leaning toward a chemotherapy that is not part of current research study that will still allow us to administer it at home, but his MRI's will be able to occur in Michigan, further improving his quality of life.

We are continuing Adam's steroid treatments to relieve the swelling that is already occurring. We think we have seen improvements already in his speech and drooling. The hope is that these will improve his ability to walk, his bladder irregularity, and his overall weakness.

We appreciate the support that we have received this week. So many people that we haven't heard from lately have made contact with us, assuring us that Adam is still within their thoughts and prayers. Thank you.

The last couple of days have been very tough for our family. We all will share what we can as our abilities allow us to do so.

Doug and Sara

07/09/08 - All...It is bad. An unscheduled CAT scan today show swelling and bleeding around Adam's tumor. An MRI tomorrow will provide us more information. Please pray for us.

Doug and Sara

07/08/08 - All...We arrived to St. Jude safely this afternoon. Ninety-four degrees and sunny in Memphis, TN. Hot. Very hot. Very, very hot. 

Adam still has some drooling issues and he hasn't been walking much today. He did eat a good dinner of his favorite pizza and cheezy bread. He also colored several pictures with Sara this afternoon.

Our day starts tomorrow about 9:00am. Adam's MRI isn't until Thursday, but we do have a visit with his doctor tomorrow mid-day. We're not real sure if we will learn anything tomorrow that we don't already suspect today. 

Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers.

Holding on to Faith,

Doug and Sara

07/07/08 - All...We arrived in Effingham, IL, this evening. This leaves us about five hours from St Jude. A short drive in to Memphis, TN, tomorrow and then a long two days of doctor visits and tests.

Adam's speech continues to be our biggest obstacle. We struggle with understanding half of what Adam says now, and those not close to Adam struggle on a regular basis to understand what he is saying. We are going to inquire on this weeks visits the option of picking his speech therapy back up; primarily for muscle strengthening in his mouth.

"Calling All Angels"...We could really use some extra prayers for Adam over the next couple of days. For those that pray, please pray for Adam. 

Deep in prayer,

Doug and Sara

07/05/08 - All...We think Adam is over the bug that he had. Our previous concerns regarding him still exist. As much as we are looking forward to traveling to St. Jude this week to hopefully get some answers, we remain very worried about what we may learn. God be with us.

We leave Monday, Adam has appointments the middle of the week, and we will be back home the end of the week. We pray for the conclusion of bringing Adam home with good news.

Thank you all for the notes, thoughts, and prayers this week. Please continue to pray for Adam to be granted the miracle that he needs.

With Hope and Faith,

Doug and Sara

06/30/08 - All...Adam has a bug. The bug made it throughout the family and Adam wasn't skipped over. He has been laying around most of today. We think it will be a couple of days before he starts feeling any better.

We have spoke with St Jude multiple times over the last week or so. We have decided that since Adam's changes are not progressively worsening, we will wait until his appointment July 9th to have him there. Adam's specialist was not going to be in town the week prior. We would prefer Adam to see his specialist rather than a different doctor. If anything worsens with Adam, we will be calling them back to change our plans again.

Doug's speech went well. Doug's brother Rick went with him so he didn't have to make the drive alone. They had a good trip and spent a little time together too. We know Doug needed this. Thanks to Rick.

The last week or so has been very long, and very rough on both of us. A special thank you to those whom have allowed us to vent upon you. Bending your ear is much appreciated.

We leave for St Jude in a week. The last week or so before these trips escalates our stress. We apologize in advance to those close to us and those that we work with. We may be edgy, sorry.

Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

06/25/08 - All...Adam is about the same. We have discussed our concerns about Adam with St Jude over the last few days. We are tired, our minds are drained, and we are awaiting some final word tomorrow on whether we are looking at the first week of July or sooner. 

Adam has spent a lot of time relaxing working on his crafts. Crafts remain one of his favorite things to do. Crafts also help him work his hand muscles well. 

Adam does enjoy his new shoes we had ordered from Step One on Wildwood Avenue here in Jackson, MI. His new shoes allow his leg/foot brace to fit in them. Chad at Step One really did us right helping us find the right shoes for Adam in a color scheme that entices him to put his shoes on each day. Thanks Chad for all that you did.

Adam has joined the Sam's Club Team for the American Cancer Society Relay-For-Life. Sam's Club has named their team "Adam's Angels". Anyone seeking a team to belong to can email Doug and he will send you the link to join our team. The Relay is held the first weekend in August at the Cascades Park. You don't have to attend the event to belong to our team. If anyone has questions, email or call Doug.

Doug is speaking again the end of this week to a group from the Masonic Order. The Masonic Order has a state convention in Alma, MI. Doug will speak to the group about what it is like to be a Ronald McDonald House family. He keeps telling himself to just picture the 400 people naked so he can get through it.

During the past week or so, we can feel the prayers that so many of you are sending. Thank you so much and please continue to pray for Adam. Pray for his healing and for God to grant him his miracle.

With Faith and Hope,

Doug and Sara

06/22/08 - All...Adam is the same. We haven't seen any real changes. We will be contacting St Jude tomorrow ourselves to discuss our concerns.

Adam went to the awards for baseball on Saturday and received his trophy. His was very excited to get this. Adam made the All-Star Team for baseball this season. Adam was listed on the roster but chose to not play. 

Adam still has good spirits and is excited to play with some new toys we were able to pickup for the kids this week.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

May God Bless Us All,

Doug and Sara

06/18/08 - All...We were actually five weeks out from traveling back to St. Jude. We are now three weeks away. We will be in Memphis July 9 and July 10. Here is what we can share with you now:

A little over a week ago Adam began to display some things that we were not comfortable with. First, Adam's balance seemed to worse. He was stumbling more and walking less. Second, he seemed to be having some drool appearing occasionally. Third, his speech seemed more mumbled. 

Yesterday we took Adam to Dr. Taylor here in Jackson for an evaluation.

Adam's balance may be affected by his new leg/foot brace. We will continue to monitor this very closely.

Adam's drooling may be caused by seasonal allergies (he has these). We have started Adam on allergy medicine to address this. If it goes away, it was allergies. If it doesn't go away, it is being caused by something else.

Adam's speech may be affected by excess saliva in is mouth, by simply speaking lazy, or by something else. If his drool/saliva clears up and it gets better, good. If it doesn't, it is being caused by something else.

We don't pretend to not know what something else probably means. That is why we are going back to St. Jude at an earlier date than originally planned.

We haven't really asked for a lot of extra prayers from anyone in a while. Now we are. Please take a moment yourself and ask others to do the same. Please pray for Adam. God be with us.

With faith,

Doug and Sara

06/15/08 - All...Adam is well. He had a good weekend to finish off vacation. Saturday and Sunday he spent time with much of his extended family. 

Adam's last baseball game for the year is on Tuesday night at 6:00pm. We hope to end the season with another win. We hope to celebrate another win at the Bone Island Grill in Vandercook Lake after the game. 

We are about four weeks out from our next trip to St. Jude. God be with us.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

06/12/08 - All...Adam is good. We cut our trip short at the lake house due to poor weather and some allergy problems. Adam did enjoy the time we spent there and fishing on the lake. 

We stopped back in Jackson for a day to drop off Junior (the dog) to Uncle Rick and then we left for Frankenmuth. Frankenmuth was a great place to go. Plenty to do under a roof so no heat or sun problems. Adam had a blast playing video games and miniature golfing. The food was good and the kids had a blast in the hotel.

We hope to pick up some more fishing this weekend on Grandpa Jim's boat out to Round Lake and Michigan Center Lake. Uncle Rick and our friend Jim have been catching big bass this spring. Adam and Doug might have to show up and really show them how to get it done.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

06/05/08 - All...Adam is well. He had another baseball game tonight. He had a lot of fun and celebrated the game at the famous Bone Island Grill in Vandercook Lake. 

Adam did get to look at some new shoes to fit his leg brace on Tuesday. His new shoes shoes should be in on Friday. We thank Step One on Wildwood for helping us select what he needs.

Tomorrow is the big day. We leave for the lake house up north and Adam can hardly wait. He has started planning his days out and looks forward to a great deal of fun. 

We may be without internet service up north unless we find free network somewhere. So...there may not be any updates for longer than normal. We will update everyone when we can.

Traveling with Faith,

Doug and Sara

06/01/08 - All...Adam is doing well. He had a fun today at his friend Ethan's house playing, eating dinner, and eating s'mores. Thanks Ethan, Eric, and Kristi.

We have five days until vacation starts. Adam can hardly wait. He and mom have already starting packing supplies for the week. 

Adam has an appointment tomorrow to pick up his new foot/ankle brace. This brace is supposed to help position his foot better, reducing the likelihood of his tripping as much. We hope this works and hope Adam cooperates with wearing it when he is active.

Another week or so and his glove should be in. This glove will help with the physical therapy of his hand and wrist. Adam already uses one of these at physical therapy. He has learned it to be his "Superman Glove". 

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

05/29/08 - All...Adam is doing good. He had baseball again tonight. On his first hit, he took a fall midway to first base. This got him upset and we had to take a short timeout to reassure him that he was okay. He mostly seemed to calm down when we played it off as a slide into first base. Adam ended the day with two hits. From what we understand, this is better than Uncle Rick has fared out.

We have eight days until vacation. Adam is going on and on about going to the cabin. We don't think he can hardly wait to get there, be outdoors, and go fishing. We can hardly wait to grant this request of his and make sure he has a great time.

Preschool is over for the year. Adam really did have a great time and the entire staff at the Career Center (Faculty and Students) did a great job with him. We are extremely grateful for all the help and support that they offered us during our entire ordeal this school year. We are very pleased to be able to speak so highly of all of you. Again, thank you all.

God Bless and Keep the Faith,

Doug and Sara

05/27/08 - All...Adam had a great holiday weekend. He spent time helping dad grill and saw some of his extended family. He also spent time outside digging holes and planting. He worked hard, played hard, and slept hard all weekend. 

We are hoping to hear something good today regarding the outcome of Adam's EKG. The anticipation of what to come has weighed heavily on our minds. God be with us.

Adam (the family) is going on vacation in ten days. Adam can hardly wait. He has been "practicing" with his new fishing pole and has repeated many stories of last years trip. We hope to help him land a monster bass on this years trip.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

05/24/08 - All...Adam is well. We did receive a call from St Jude on our way home letting us know that they wanted to repeat Adam's EKG that was done the previous day there. We we planning to get this taken care of on Tuesday, but St Jude wanted it done before then. We went to Foote Hospital this morning to get it done. We don't know what they wanted another look at from the first one, but we do know that there is a negative side effect of the chemotherapy that affects the heart. We hope and pray that the chemotherapy is not causing other problems for Adam.

Doug did have good birthday. After just returning from St Jude Thursday evening, spending his birthday on Friday with the family at home was nice. He returned to work today (Saturday).

Adam is looking forward to our vacation the middle of June. We are heading to the cabin in the woods up north for some quite time with nature. Adam and Anne have their new fishing rods and reels all ready to go. We hope to be able to convince Jenna to get in on the fishing action.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

05/22/08 - All...Just a quick note to let everyone we made it home safely. Thank you all the the thoughts and prayers.

Doug and Sara

05/21/08 - All...We learned yesterday that another family with a child on Adam's course of treatment knows the chemotherapy is not working and a new course of treatment is required. Our hearts and prayers go out to their family. This left us with a mostly sleepless night.

Adam had his MRI today. Shortly thereafter, we had the results. Adam's tumor is still there. The tumor is stable and there are no new concerns. This is a win.

Adam's doctors think he looks well and were pleased to hear of all the improvements he has made with his physical therapy and anxiety. Thank you to all who have helped him through these issues.

We still probably don't have any idea of how big Adam's prayer group is. Maybe all of you could mail us a picture of your church, your family, etc., so we have a better idea. What we do know is that the power of all your prayers has blessed our son Adam. For this, we are eternally grateful.

Keep the faith,

Doug and Sara

05/20/08 - All...Adam traveled the remainder of the way to Memphis, TN, well. He watched Sponge Bob Christmas and we all sang along to the tunes within the show.

The heat was quick to bother Adam so he picked lunch as Jillians instead. Jillians has great food, and about 1000 games for kids to play. Several games and tickets later, he chose the prize of the day to return to our room with. A short statue of a green dragon.

Passing on the hospital chow, we found ourselves downtown for dinner. Oddly, Adam and Sara have never eaten at a Hooters. We obviously couldn't let this continue. Adam had a better time then Sara, but in any case, they can both say that they have eaten at a Hooters now.

A local carriage company offer free rides around downtown Memphis, TN, to St Jude patients. Adam wanted to go for a horse ride, so we took a very peaceful ride through downtown Memphis, TN. So peaceful that with a pillow and a blanket we may have been able to catch up on some sleep.

We received our schedule for tomorrow. We have an early start and end around 4:00pm. All going well, we will begin our journey home after we are done with Adam's appointments tomorrow. 

We hope to be able to share what news we can tomorrow evening. We know there are so many supporters thinking about and praying for Adam. May God truly bless you all.

With Faith and Hope,

Doug and Sara 

05/20/08 - All...Adam traveled well today. A short nap and a few shows of Sponge Bob later, we have arrived in Mt. Vernon, IL. Adam is excited about staying in a hotel again.

We were fortunate and found no meetings with the Indiana State Police on the way down. We saw them several times, but were able to outrun them with the power and aerodynamic advantage of our mini-van.

A seven hour drive provides one with much time to think about life. We thank God for what we have received and been helped through, especially in the last six months. 

An early start in the morning may provide enough time for Adam to go to the Memphis Zoo in the afternoon. We hope to reward our hero with a much deserved trip back to the zoo.

God Bless,

Doug and Sara

05/19/08 - All...Today is the day. We leave again for St Jude mid-day. Our nerves are shot and the stress has turned to fatigue. We are going to drive most of the way today and finish the rest tomorrow. 

We continue to thank everyone for all of the prayers and positive thoughts. We continue to thank all the businesses and families that have continued to support us.

For Doug's teammates, thank you. Thank you for allowing Doug to work with that dazed look on his face this last week. Thank you for supporting him when he is away from home.

For anyone that gets a chance, we'll take a prayer for a safe trip down, a positive visit, and safe return home.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

05/14/08 - All...Adam is doing well. Adam was fitted for his leg/foot brace this week. After some coaxing, he participated with the appointment. The brace should help him run better. He was very excited about picking three colors of different parts on it.

Adam had a big day in baseball tonight. He got his first hit . He singled and them made his way around the bases on his teammates hits and scored a run for the team.

We are six days out from traveling again. After seeing gas prices today, we are thinking about trying to figure out a way to mount solar panels to the roof of the van. 

Doug's dad turns 70 tomorrow. Happy Birthday Pops!

With Faith and Hope,

Doug and Sara

05/11/08 - All...Adam had a good weekend. The Tiger game was a success. Bundled up well, we stayed for the whole game. For anyone that didn't see the game, the Tigers almost didn't pull it out. They managed to hang on for the win. Nice job guys.

We went over early and took Adam to Hockeytown Cafe for a pre-game meal. We thought it was cool to eat upstairs and have so many televisions to watch. 

Adam enjoyed spending some time at home and celebrating Mothers Day with mom. We did all make it the Knights of Columbus breakfast after church this morning and had a good meal with the parish and some family.

For all you mothers out there, Happy Mothers Day. We hope you were able to spend some time with your families and loved ones. 

We have eight more days until we travel again. We continue to ask St Jude and all the Holy Saints to pray for Adam. We continue to ask all of you to pray for Adam. With prayers come miracles.

Holding on to Faith,

Doug and Sara

05/08/08 - All...Adam is still doing well. He has had a good week at school, physical therapy, and baseball. He has been excited about all of these things this week.

We will be attempting to have Adam fitted for a ankle/foot brace the first of the week. The purpose of the brace is to help keep him from dragging his toe when he walks/runs. We hope he will participate with this plan. Basically, the brace doesn't always have to be worn, but will primarily help him keep those toes up when he runs or moves around a lot.

Tomorrow is Friday and what better way to spend a Friday night than go to a Detroit Tigers game. We are heading over early to grab some dinner at Hockeytown Cafe before the game and then go to batting practice. Hopefully we will be able to snag a ball for the big guy.

Quite a few graduations this week. Doug finally completed graduation paperwork so he got his degree in Criminal Justice. Doug's sister Sara completed her program and passed her state boards to be a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). She already works for Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, OH. Doug's brother in law Jeremy graduated this week also, with a degree in Ultrasound. We all hope U of M Hospital snatches him up quickly. Congratulations to all of you.

We are 11 days out from our trip. We think the visit will go good and hope we can start heading home quickly. Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

05/04/08 - All,  Adam had a great time participating in opening day at the ball fields. The league tried something new this year and did personal introductions of every player in the entire league. While time consuming it was, the kids enjoyed it.

This was our only Saturday game. The rest of the games will be on Tuesday and Thursday nights. The teams are larger than last year and this was the first game, so Adam only was able to bat twice. He went 0 for 2. I told him not to worry, Ordonez from the Detroit Tigers went 0 for 4 the night before. 

Adam's uncle Rick hosted a gathering after the game. Thanks uncle Rick. Adam had a great afternoon to follow up his game and he fell asleep a little bit earlier than normal and caught up on some much deserved rest.

We did take a some time to stop and show our support at the St. Jude Trike-A-Thon that was held at Michigan Center H.S. Track. The volunteers did a great job with the weather they were presented with. We really appreciate all those people for taking time out of their schedules to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Hopefully the weather will be somewhat nicer next time.

We are about two weeks out from our next departure to the south for Adam's appointment. Thank you all for the notes, cards, and email that we have continued to receive. We really feel blessed to have such a large support network.

Lastly, we know of a family friend in Dayton, OH, that is in need of some extra prayers. "KT" has been praying for Adam and our family since the beginning of our situation. Thank you. It is now time for her to lean on the rest of us. When you pray, please ask God to give "KT" Peace in her time of need.

Keep the Faith and may God Bless Us All,

Doug and Sara

04/30/08 - All...Adam is doing well. He went to kindergarten roundup this last week and is starting to loosen up to the idea of attending a different school. We hope to work on this all summer long to prepare him for all day school in the fall. We really do hope for a smooth transition in the fall.

We learned of an event aimed at benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (www.stjude.org/trike). The event is a Trike-A-Thon actually being held here in Jackson, MI. We contacted the business to see what we could do to help and have committed to attending the event to help answer questions that others may about St Jude. We consider it a true honor to be able to share what St. Jude mean to us and so many others. Before our situation, we had no idea of how much this hospital helps kids not only from Michigan, but from around the world.

For anyone wanting to participate in the event or simply learn more about St Jude, here are the details:

Trike-A-Thon
Saturday, May 3rd
3:00PM-5:00PM
Michigan Center High School Track

Adam's first baseball game is this Saturday. He can hardly wait and looks forward to it each day. It makes us happy to see him so excited playing baseball. 

God Bless,

Doug and Sara

04/25/08 - All...Adam is well. He is practicing very hard for baseball season. His first game is on May 3rd, at 1:00PM in the afternoon. For those traveling in, the field are located on the corner of Floyd and Draper Roads. We will be on one of the fields that border the Draper Road side of the park.

Jenna saw her Sports Medicine Doctor today. Believe it or not, she is growing! Her injury is on the growth plates in her hip and will heal naturally, assisted by some increased stretching and icing sessions. She hopes to return to track in about two weeks, pending a follow up appointment at the doctors.

A quick update on Anne. Anne is still wild and does her best to keep Sara improving her times in the 40 yard dash to catch her. 

We are starting to prepare for our next trip down south with the window until our departure closing rapidly. Junior (the dog) has his reservation made at uncle Rick's house and is looking forward to being pampered.

For anyone that is looking, the bracelets we mentioned some time ago did finally make it to Sam's Club. They are also still available at Nomad Bookhouse. Thank you all for the support you have provided our family.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

04/22/08 - All...Adam is well. He had his local doctors appointment today with Dr. James Taylor. Dr. Taylor said Adam looks good and he had no concerns. Adam will still have to do his scheduled blood work tomorrow but we don't anticipate any surprises from that. Thanks "Doc" for keeping Adam's spirits high.

We had to get new a new hose for the yard this year due to Jenna's driving with the garden tractor last year. Adam very much enjoys the fire hose sprayer we were able to get him for the hose.

Jenna's track season might be done already. She had an appointment today with Dr. Nancy Taylor who has referred her to a sports medicine doctor. Dr. Taylor thinks Jenna may have some tendon damage in her thigh. On a lighter note, at least she will be able to car pool with Adam to physical therapy.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

04/19/08 - All...Adam had a blast at baseball Thursday and Friday. His fielding is good, but we are going to have to continue to work on his hitting. He was smiling and happy. That's all that really matters.

Adam has been impressed with both the Detroit Tigers and Red Wings this week. He too is now convinced that Jim Leland can hear Sara when she yells at the television. 

We are happy with the weather breaking this weekend and staying nice outside. Adam spent a great deal of time outside playing. 

Doug accepted the opportunity to speak today at a luncheon of approximately 100 members and families of the Rainbow Girls, one of the Masonic Organizations. The Rainbow Girls selected Ronald McDonald Homes as its statewide charity to support for 2007-2008. We were grateful for the opportunity to share our story of how the Ronald McDonald House in Memphis, TN, helped get us through our situation while away from home. They were there to house and feed us, allowing us to focus all of our energy on Adam while he was being treated at St Jude Children's Research Hospital. Thank you Rainbow Girls for choosing to support this charity.

With Faith and Hope,

Doug and Sara

04/17/08 - All...Adam had a good weekend. With the weather changing, we hope to get him outside more. He is quite bored when he is cooped up inside. He will play and do his crafts, but eventually he just gets bored. Outside yesterday, he did play some basketball with his new Sponge Bob ball and also sent a great deal of time jumping on the trampoline. 

Baseball was to start last week but with poor weather it was postponed. By the looks of the weather today, we should be able to get on the field today. Adam is excited about baseball so we hope he has a great time. For anyone that needs it, our first game is on May 3, 2008. This is his only Saturday game. His games will then be on Tuesday and Thursday nights. 

Adam was happy to see the Detroit Tigers stopped playing like the Detroit Lions this week. He hopes they continue to grow on their .500 record.

Adam is also pulling for the Detroit Red Wings, hoping to see them win another Stanley Cup.

We are all feeling some extra peace this week, knowing that this would have been the week that we would have been traveling to St. Jude if we had to go. Being able to check in with Dr. Taylor here in Jackson, MI, is very nice. We anticipate a good visit and we will let you know how it goes. We do know that our next trip to St. Jude is the week of May 19, 2008.

Take care and God Bless us all,

Doug and Sara

04/13/08 - All...Adam is well. He had a birthday party yesterday and there was a great turnout. Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to see him. Adam had a great time seeing all of you.

Adam and family also found some time yesterday to take a game of bowling. We think Adam beat everyone but Travis. We think Travis cheated though, something about not informing the rest of us about his lesson and league experience. Oddly enough, he had a few gutter balls when his turn came and he had walked away for a few minutes.

Sara and Doug even found some time to play cards late last night with some old friends we don't get to see too often anymore. We had a great time and we learned who to not pick as your partner.

Adam is registered for kindergarten next year. We are slowing introducing him to the fact that he won't have his great staff from JACC Child Development Pre-School next year. We think it may be sinking in a little.

For anyone that didn't see Jenna mentioned in the newspaper, track season has started for her. For those of us that have tried to catch her, we know how fast she is. For those of you that haven't, we'll try to save you a seat at the state finals in May. Good luck Jenna.

With Faith and Hope,

Doug and Sara

04/09/08 - All...Adam is well. We spent some time this morning at Trinity Lutheran School. As we mentioned before, Elizabeth (a student) did a fund raiser for Adam. We were able to thank her personally, along with her mom, the students, and the staff of the school. We were blessed to meet so many great people. Thank you all for your positive thoughts and prayers.

Adam spent time today looking for some baseball cleats and pants. We came up empty handed today but the search is on again tomorrow. We look forward to baseball practice tomorrow.

Adam also find some time for Ethan to come over for a spell and play. They both had a great time.

Doug attended an American Cancer Society Relay for Life meeting tonight. If anyone is interested in walking with our team in Jackson, you may e-mail us directly and we will send you the online link to join our team. Our email address are listed on the "contact us" link of this web-site. 

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

04/07/08 - Adam, 

Happy Birthday buddy. You are now the big 5! We hope you had a wonderful day in Ann Arbor and a wonderful evening with the family. We also hope you enjoy your new aquarium and fish.

You have done such an amazing job with all that we have asked you to do. We are so proud of you. 

We continue to ask God to protect you and keep you safe with us.

We love you,

Mom and Dad

04/06/08 - All...A few more hours and Adam will be 5. He waits patiently for his birthday to come. The "high five" is beginning to take on an additional meaning.

Adam had a busy weekend playing. He even fired up his four wheeler (electric). He had a blast riding this toy. He has to park it for the winter but sees it every day, just waiting for spring to he can get it out again. 

Adam was glad the Detroit Red Wings are sitting good heading into the playoffs but thinks the Detroit Tigers might need some more spring training. We tend to agree with him.

Spring break has come to an end for Adam and probably for almost all of you. We hope you all had an opportunity to spend some extra time with your kids.

With Faith,

Doug and Sara

04/05/08 - All...Adam is enjoying the spring weather we are had today. He spent a lot of time outside and even took a trip to Cascades Park with his cousin Jonah. He was a little overwhelmed by all of the other kids there at first but settled in nicely after a short wait.

Adam is very excited about his birthday in two days and has been quite busy helping plan for the big event. Anne is doing her part in slowing down the entire process as usual. That girl is a wild child.

We did receive a copy of the article in Chrysler Times regarding Adam from a new friend. We don't have any copies ourselves but will try to get some for our local friends and family to see. We will check and see if they have an online link or e-file that we can share with everyone else.

Good night and God Bless,

Doug and Sara

04/03/08 - All...Adam is still doing well. Spring break has kept him busy this week. He has spent some added time playing with his siblings and has very much enjoyed his time at Physical Therapy. We think maybe he has his eyes on new intern that works with him. 

Baseball starts up next week and Adam is on the same team. We are looking forward to getting Adam back involved with this sport. Adam has focused some of physical therapy on swinging a bat and running to simulated bases. He is very excited about playing ball again.

Adam's birthday is on April 7th. Our gift is still a secret but we hope to be able to pull it off. If it all works out, we will get pictures up when it is all put together.