January 3, 2005

Kole had a long weekend off. He did not go to the hospital Sat., Sun., or Mon. On Saturday, Kole just wanted to hang around the Ronald McDonald House and play with his toys. His only interest that day was to go to David, Monica, and Ansley's house for a taco New Year's Eve party. Earlier in the day Steve went to the University of Memphis basketball practice to get the team to sign a couple of basketballs. Nancy, Steve's Mom, sought out the coaches several days earlier when we ate breakfast with the team at the same restaurant. They were very friendly and more than happy to sign a ball and they said that if they won Kole could come down into the dressing room after the game. Steve called the assistant coach to see when the best time was for a ball signing and he suggested that Steve and possibly Kole come to the Sat. afternoon practice. Steve went over and talked to the coaches and then the head coach, John Calipari, asked Steve to explain to the team Kole's situation. The staff's generosity continued by giving Kole a couple of team T-shirts and a pair of practice shorts. The T-shirts were a good fit but the shorts were slightly large and looked more like a pair of pants. Nonetheless, Kole wanted to wear the new outfit to the New Year's Eve gathering. On Saturday morning we had another answered prayer when Kole woke up and Steve and Janni immediately noticed that the swelling behind his head had greatly subsided. If the swelling did not go down then they would first try draining it and if that did not work they would have to put a shunt in his head to drain the excess fluid.

The grandparents had an early morning awakening -- 3 a.m. -- after some partier pulled the fire alarm at our hotel. We were on the 8th floor and all four of us exited the hotel via the stairs. As you can expect there were a lot of unhappy hotel guests.

On Sunday we all attended the early church service. The eight of us ate a quick lunch after church at a local Burger King. There Kole climbed into the Van by himself for the first time. His walking and the use of his right hand continues to improve for which we all are very thankful and give God the credit. The grandparents departed and started the long drive back to Ohio. The trip took,with all the stops, approximately 11 hours.

Monday Steve, Janni, Kole, and Jaelle attended the University of Memphis/Texas U. game. Unfortunately for Memphis, they lost the game. Nonetheless Kole had a good time at the game. Tuesday will be a big day at the hospital for Kole for it will be a full day -- 8 to 5. He is scheduled for speech therapy, neurological testing, occupational therapy, and of course, his one and half hours of radiation treatment.
We again wish to thank all of you for your support -- prayers, gifts, comments, cards, etc. Please keep kole in your daily prayers -- keep him safe from the harmful effects of radiation, continued restoration of all his abilities, for Kole's inner peace, and for all their safe keeping. Kole has had a real interest in his medical care. He has a doll that he likes to work on. He bandages it up and likes to provide IV injections. The hospital provides him the supplies.

Phil