Thinking of Tomas...

[SWCAdmin]

Raise a glass, take a knee, say a prayer, whatever is your m.o. Our best to Tomas and family.

Received this from SWJ member and all around fine American nichols (http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/member.php?do=getinfo&u=358). If you are in the Fredericksburg area, here's something to do this Sat night. If you're further out in the e-world or already booked, take a look at the sites.



Our son Tomas was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on the 7th of September. He is responding very good to the chemotherapy. His remission date is 14 September, we still have a long three year journey. The family is going to participate in the Light the Night walk in Fredricksburg this Saturday in honor of Tomas. Anyone that wants to join is more then welcome. the schedule is as follows:
5:30PM - Registration for all walkers opens. The festivities begin!
6:00PM - Remembrance Ceremony
6:30PM - Stage Program
7:00PM - The Light The Night Walk begins!
Return from your walk for a night of food, fun and a fundraising total!

Tomas' Light the Night webpage is located here: http://www.active.com/donate/ltnRichmo/2135_nichols63 (http://www.active.com/donate/ltnRichmo/2135_nichols63)

His care bridge webpage is here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tomasnichols (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tomasnichols)

[Stan]

Paul and Family,
I hope this finds you and young Tomas in good spirits and kicking butt !

I've often wondered who the Patron Saint of Soldiers is. Turns out, we've got quite a few :)

Tomas, before the U.S. Army gets you, these fine folks (http://www.dioceseoflincoln.org/purple/saints/saints.htm#12) will be looking after you and yours:

St. Hadrian, St. George, St. Sebastian, St. Joan of Arc, St. Martin of Tours and St. Ignatius of Loyola.

You're in good company, Pal. God Speed, Stan

[skiguy]

prayers sent and may God be with you all during this time.

Don't be afraid to ask if you need anything.

Take care,
Ken

[Culpeper]

"And he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray Thee, send me good speed this day..."

[nichols]

All;

Your prayers and thoughts are greatly appreciated. It's a helluva mission that we have been given, Tomas is up to the task.

The Light the Night coordinator has been surprised at the 3 day funding level that Tomas has achieved. They are going to do a special award for him...he's excited.

BTW, Stan, good try on the Army segue but remember, we live next to Quantico. Yesterday while he was getting his spinal tap he told me to tell the Army & Air Force doctors how to do it because I was a Marine. I'm going to have a tough time convincing him if he goes into the military that straight leg Marine Infantry is the best.

S/F

Paul

[Tom Odom]

Paul and Tomas,

Best wishes and hopes.

Tom

[slapout9]

They so music is good for the soul so here is
Sarah McLaughlin-In The Arms Of The Angels.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU1OaCglgw0

[nichols]

All;

Last nights walk was amazing, I feel sad that it took me 44 years to finally participate in one.

We ended up forming "Team Tomas" on Wednesday. At the beginning of the walk we had collected $1,682.00. The gave Tomas a Team Captain hat, a Team Banner, a Survivor T-Shirt, Stuffed Animal, and a
white balloon.

This is the happiest that we have seen him in the past month. There were people on the street saying "Go Team Tomas"

It was great!!!!

S/F

Paul

[Stan]

Sounds great, Paul !

Regretfully, I could not contact an Army recruiter today (they're all off) :D

I was checking around for a link to Team Tomas, is there one coming from your Walk ?

Kinda difficult at times for folks to come together for a cause; seems it's only the military that understands and supports her own !

[nichols]

Stan,

They're updating the site. There were 15 Walkers on Tomas' team. One of the USMC Majors from TECOM showed up with his family to show support.

The level of funding support for a 3 day fund raiser is what surprised the Leukemia Lymphoma Soceity. FYI, it was a purple joint donations, members from each branch contributed above and beyond.

I think once the smoke is clear we managed to raise close to $2,000.00 USD.

Tomas is still taking about the party.

[nichols]

Stan, I love ya but I can't let this pass brother.....


Sounds great, Paul !

Regretfully, I could not contact an Army recruiter today (they're all off) :D



Of course they're off :D

[Stan]

Stan,

They're updating the site. There were 15 Walkers on Tomas' team. One of the USMC Majors from TECOM showed up with his family to show support.

The level of funding support for a 3 day fund raiser is what surprised the Leukemia Lymphoma Soceity. FYI, it was a purple joint donations, members from each branch contributed above and beyond.

I think once the smoke is clear we managed to raise close to $2,000.00 USD.

Tomas is still taking about the party.

Paul,
Trying to get a handle on this so forgive my ignorance for just a second, but are you referring to Tomas' the Light the Night Walk site (http://www.active.com/donate/ltnRichmo/2135_nichols63) ? Where the initial goal was one K ?

Was the Walk along the same lines or a different pot of contributions ?

There's a party ? Will they be serving beer :)

[Stan]

Stan, I love ya but I can't let this pass brother.....

Of course they're off :D

...don't let that go to your head, bro. There will come another time...believe me :cool:

[nichols]

Paul,
Trying to get a handle on this so forgive my ignorance for just a second, but are you referring to Tomas' the Light the Night Walk site (http://www.active.com/donate/ltnRichmo/2135_nichols63) ? Where the initial goal was one K ?

Stan,

That's the one. The site still hasn't been updated with the contributions during the walk. A retired GySgt donated 300 to make sure that everyone on the team got a T-Shirt for the walk. The Gunney doesn't think his wife will mind...

Remember, I'm left-handed and attended a Sniper school at Camp Casey.... When I found out about the event last Wednesday I stumbled through registration. Initially it was Paul's, then they corrected it to Tomas. In the process two sites were created but the Team Tomas site shows $0 because all of the donations are being placed under Tomas' site. As soon as they combine the on location & electronic donations, Tomas should have credit for collecting about 2k in 3 days.

Needless to say, the children's oncology section at Walter Reed want's Tomas to be on their team next year. They do their walk in DC with a lot of people. We had 500 and Tomas was one of the recognized. So we'll have to figureout which place to walk next June and commit then.

[Stan]

Hey Paul !

Stan,

That's the one. The site still hasn't been updated with the contributions during the walk. A retired GySgt donated 300 to make sure that everyone on the team got a T-Shirt for the walk. The Gunney doesn't think his wife will mind...

Remember, I'm left-handed and attended a Sniper school at Camp Casey.... When I found out about the event last Wednesday I stumbled through registration. Initially it was Paul's, then they corrected it to Tomas. In the process two sites were created but the Team Tomas site shows $0 because all of the donations are being placed under Tomas' site. As soon as they combine the on location & electronic donations, Tomas should have credit for collecting about 2k in 3 days.

Needless to say, the children's oncology section at Walter Reed want's Tomas to be on their team next year. They do their walk in DC with a lot of people. We had 500 and Tomas was one of the recognized. So we'll have to figureout which place to walk next June and commit then.

That's gotta be the best one I've heard yet. Damn South Paw's like me :D

Say, is the USMC making you use those plastic thingies that strategically dump M4/16 hot shell casings on your right forearm :mad:

Let me get ahold of the Delta Hotel that thought that sierra up.

Darn nice Gunny that is...won't wanna be in his shoes when mamma comes home ;)

I look forward to footage of the Walk.

Keep us posted.
Regards, Stan

[nichols]

Darn nice Gunny that is...won't wanna be in his shoes when mamma comes home ;)

That Gunny could be in deep kimchee if mamma gets mad. She grew up in an Eastern Block country where they were taught how to shoot and throw grenades in the 9th grade.

[nichols]

Here's the official email from the Leukemia Lymphoma Society:


Over**500***Fredericksburg Walkers "Light The Night"! Thank you for your participation in this year's Light The Night Walk in Fredericksburg. Hurkamp Park never looked better and was the perfect setting for a wonderful event.

Over 500 patients, survivors, and friends & family came out to support the mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to cure blood cancers and provide much needed patient services. The wonderful flag ceremony, the beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, lighting candles for those we have lost, hearing an incredibly moving story from Matt Johnston, shaking hands with the Gecko, and eating chili on an 80 degree October evening...it was all awesome! Thanks to all of your hard work and dedication, the Fredericksburg Light The Night Walk is projected to bring in over $42,000 this year!

We had a participant there on Saturday night who is supposed to be enjoying all of the new things that adventures in kindergarten bring! Instead, he is making his way through treatment for ALL. He was diagnosed on September 7th, and his dad said this, "Saturday night was the happiest that Tomas has been since he was diagnosed. He's still talking about Team Tomas"!

On behalf of all our patients and their families, I would like to thank you. Your support means that we will see a cure for blood cancers. We will provide patients & their families with the support they need.

THANK YOU!

Please see below for a few post walk details and as always, let us know if you need anything.

Amy

[nichols]

All;

Thanks for the prayers, support, and postings on Tomas' Care Bridge site. We'll be initiating the 2 years consolidation treatment tomorrow at Walter Reed. I called for the results of his bone marrow aspiration and spinal tap from last week. There were no leukemic blasts present in either his marrow or central nervous system.

We hit 174% on the donations, a little short of 2k but much more then I expected.

http://www.active.com/donate/ltnRichmo/2135_nichols63

He still hasn't lost his hair yet.

S/F

Paul

[Stan]

Hey Paul,
Glad to hear things are going well for Tomas and really nice to see folks stepping up to the plate with additional donations !

Did you put together those photos, or is that on the web somewhere ?
I'd be interested in reading the text on the right.

Regards, Stan

[nichols]

Stan,

A reminder, I'm lefthanded:p

Our neighbor put that together. Here's what it says:

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The night Walk is the Nation's night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of patients battling blood cancers and to commemorate loved ones lost. Everyone carried balloons over the 2 mile walk through Old Town Fredericksburg. The red balloons were carried by friends and family, the white balloons by survivors and the gold balloons in memory. Our neighbor Tomas (age 6) was diagnosed with Pre-B Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) on September 7, 2007. The local walk raised just over $40,000 and Tomas's team raised $1200+!!

S/A, Tomas age is 5 not 6.

We're off to Walter Reed now to get our azimuth for the next stage of treatment.

S/F

Paul

[Stan]

Stan,

A reminder, I'm lefthanded:p
We're off to Walter Reed now to get our azimuth for the next stage of treatment.

S/F

Paul

Paul,
From one southpaw to another, left-handed people are generally considered smarter. There are however exceptions. The Aussies (http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22535838-5012895,00.html) have put together a brain functionality test, in order to weed out those southpaws that don't make the grade.

Most of the successful examinees typically join the Army and the marginal cases that the Air Force won't take...Well :rolleyes:

Sadly, during initial tests with Goesh (who waited for the dancer to perform a striptease), meandered into a dream state and could no longer answer the quiz. The doctors were however able to save him with a vodka drip (http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22562288-5012895,00.html) :eek:

Good luck today at Reed, Stan

[Ken White]

Being another southpaw, she first went CW, then with a blink and a will to reverse, she went CCW. I could turn her virtually in either direction easily.

Does this mean I'm bisexual?

More importantly, What Stan said on WR...

[Tom Odom]

Does this mean I'm bisexual?

Isn't it a little last to be asking that? :wry:

[Ken White]

(though SHE limits my options in that field...)

[Stan]

Being another southpaw, she first went CW, then with a blink and a will to reverse, she went CCW. I could turn her virtually in either direction easily.

Does this mean I'm bisexual?

More importantly, What Stan said on WR...

Hey Ken !
Ya know, there was a trailer to this test that the females demanded to ...shall we say...balance the scales :confused:

Menopause and brain function (http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/full/61/6/E9)


Some women say that their memory is worse after menopause.

Not real bad news actually...removes many instances of Coyote Ugly and has proven to save normal males willing to chew themselves outta relationships :rolleyes:

[Ken White]

I showed HER the dancer, I'm not about to show HER the other one. :D

[nichols]

Okay, it may be time to lock the house doors, windows, cars, bring the children in and disconnect the internet.

Let me see if I have this straight;

Stan, the ole crusty SNCO is posting about neurology and physiology.

Could Stan possibly be the SWJ Leonardo DaVinci or Savant?

or

Has someone taken the Sports Illustrated magazines out of his bathroom?

BTW, We took Tomas to Walter Reed last night. No problems, I just didn't have the warm & fuzzy when I changed his bandage before we secured his libo yesterday.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tomasnichols

[goesh]

Stan knows revenge is best served up in a deliberate manner, cold and calculated, when least expected. Vodka drip indeed!

[nichols]

Update on Tomas.

Saturday when I was changing his bandage, the catheter insertion site didn't look right. I paged the doctor and told him that I didn't have the ole warm & fuzzy looking at Tomas. No fever or discomfort on his part, my women's intuition just didn't feel right. The good doctor said it shouldn't be a problem and to bring him up on Monday. I offered to email a picture (NOT Stan's kind) of what I was talking about, he gave the check roger.

He called after he saw the picture, said a picture is worth a thousand words and told us to go ahead and take him to Walter Reed. We arrived about 90 minutes later (We need to make an air alert bag for Tomas). By that time, he was admitted, IV & anti-biodics were started. Tomas wasn't stressed, we spent two days in the hospital.

AAR came back with he didn't have an infection but by Monday it was likely that he would have......gotta love those pre-emptive strikes. They're going to bring this picture idea up at the next staff meeting.

[marct]

Glad to hear that the pre-emptive worked!

BTW, there's been a lot of work done on "Distance medicine" using web cams and live audio feeds. You may want to mention that to your doctor as well since it would allow him to actually "look" at any possible problems. If he's passing around the picture idea at Walter Reed, they may think about putting a triage nurse online 24/7 (we've done a variant of that in Ontario).

Marc

[nichols]

We're back from Walter Reed and the weekly pm. Tomas has dropped to 52.5 lbs, this is good. During the induction phase he was looking like the Pilsbury Doe boy.

His ANC is 2400, life is good!

Now let's see if Stan can tell us what ANC means.

[Stan]

Hey Paul,
I had this feeling that Friday would come and go with yet another Marine thingy called revenge :eek:

Glad Tomas is doing well ! I was told that at that age, a little weight was OK and would eventually be burned off with activity. Mine, as you recall is 7. She'll destroy an 8 oz. steak right off the grill !!!

As for ANC, I immediately went to Acronym Finder (http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?Acronym=anc&Find=find&string=exact) :D

For those who served above the equator (that's you BTW), ANC translates to African National Congress or Why South Africa Sucks (http://southafricasucks.blogspot.com/2007/07/oh-vlok-but-what-does-this-really-mean.html) (no, I didn't know there was such a site). For the rest of us, cornbread, that translates to Army Nurse Corps :D

Actually Paul, I haven't the foggiest clue :o

[nichols]

Stan,

While Tomas was on the induction stage.... He was eating hourly

Good ANC answers:)

Here's the scoop:

Blood counts of children being treated for leukemia fluctuate wildly. White blood cell counts can go down to zero or be above normal. Red cell counts go down periodically during treatment, necessitating transfusions of packed red cells. Platelet levels also decrease, requiring platelet transfusions. Absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) are closely watched as they give the physician an idea of the child's ability to fight infection. ANCs vary from zero to in the thousands.

[Stan]

Paul, you missed your calling...you should have been a doctor :)

I be just a tad smarter :o

My best to you and yours, Stan

[nichols]

Paul, you missed your calling...you should have been a doctor :)

I think I'd be in prison by now if I were a doctor. I couldn't get a link to the anc data because I was getting the oil changed & state inspection done on my car and I only had a Blackberry with me.

Any of the wierd acronyms that I put in this thread just do the ole google search with leukemia attached:

anc leukemia:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=anc+leukemia&btnG=Google+Search

Be advised though Stan, because of my undieing love for you Army types, I may through some curve balls in there:p

Should have seen the look on the doctors (Army Major) face when after we were debriefed by him I asked him if we could switch gears, he replied yes so I asked him to provide the following:

Triage questions and answers for civilian and military people.

I explained that the company that is making the Dari game has offered to put those into the skill builder since some Soldiers from the 1st ID requested it. Of course without going out of scope on the contract. I may love dem dar Army types but I ain't gunna let da Corps get a blackeye over it.;)

[nichols]

this is what I posted on tomas' Carebridge site, I guess it's okay to post here:

I'm on my first business trip to Orlando since Tomas' dx.

Yesterday was pretty interesting, we drove down to Fredericksburg to get a desk for Tomas for his kindergarten homework that he has been doing. We thought that we would pick it up them so we took Lenka's stationwagon and my car. The intent was to drive home with Tomas and Anna in my car while Lenka and Teresa drove with the desk home. We purchased a desk that should keep him happy thru the teen years, we avoided the kiddie desks for that reason. The desk is due to be delivered on the 6th of November.

We looked across at the mall and determined that it was to crowded to go to, at this point we drove back north, Lenka and Teresa in lead, Tomas, Anna, and I in trail. Lenka took us to the Stafford Regional airport, the kids were able to go up and touch the airplanes and checkout the medivac helicopter. Good call on Lenka's part, the younger kids loved the visit, Teresa hit the boredom button about 15 minutes into the visit.

Teresa wanted to do some shopping afterwards, so I kept Tomas and Anna with me. I took the lead on a road that I hadn't been down before. It is one of those country backroads that you have to be careful on, in the blink of an eye you could find yourself across the country with no clue as to how you got there. Eventually we lost contact with Lenka and Teresa. I was under the impression that the road that we were on eventually lead to Garrisonville Road so I initially wasn't worried. Tomas and Anna figured out that we had broken contact (including cell phone) with Mom so they started to get concerned that we would never see her again. After the 10 mile circle that we did and ended up at the same 1800ish church I decided to just head East and hope to find I-95 before the sun set in the west. After about 10 minutes of driving east, both Tomas and Anna shouted "turn here." I turned the car around and took the turn that they told me to figuring it would calm (they were doing the typical kids stuff of goofing off while I was trying not to panic) them down and eventually I would get some type of comms with the cell phone. As we drove down the road, Tomas pointed out to a church and said that they park schoolbuses there, I'm thinking they park a lot of schoolbuses at churches. The two continued to mess with my brain cell by saying things like "there will be a white fence coming up soon." The kept on claiming that this was the way to their school from last year. As they are telling me about the next landmarks coming up; I'm thinking to myself, no way, I've navigated all over the world both on land and water with no landmarks and there are two preschoolers in my back seat.....backseat driving. We started to get closer to civilization, a redlight was coming up (it was the first one in what felt like 3 hours), Anna announced "turn right."

We were on Garrisonville Road about 3 miles from home.

Shift gears now.

Tomas was itchy last night, I'm praying that it isn't a long night for Lenka. I ended up sleeping in the chair next to his bed with my hand on his bed to feel when he would start scratching.

On a side note, Lenka needs additional training, I drive a 2004 Mustang, she drives a 2004 Volvo V70R. She has more horsepower and her car is faster then mine.

So much for Europeans being fast drivers ;)

[Stan]

We were on Garrisonville Road about 3 miles from home.

Shift gears now.

Tomas was itchy last night, I'm praying that it isn't a long night for Lenka. I ended up sleeping in the chair next to his bed with my hand on his bed to feel when he would start scratching.

On a side note, Lenka needs additional training, I drive a 2004 Mustang, she drives a 2004 Volvo V70R. She has more horsepower and her car is faster then mine.

So much for Europeans being fast drivers ;)

Hey Paul,
I've been keeping up at the Carebridge site. Thanks for the updates.

Pardon my ignorance, but the itching part is related to ?

Is driving a European car in the States like trying to retain WAWA :confused:

I hate to say this, but the V70 is like...hmmm, how to break this to you...made like in Turkey :eek:

Did your better half make it home faster with that Volvo, or at all the same evening :)

Regards, Stan

[nichols]

Tomas lost his hair last week so I managed to misplace mine.

The Doctors are shaving their heads at a pub in Bethesda.

http://www.stbaldricks.org/events/event_info.html?EventKey=2008|316

If you want to donate, and do the most damage, Jacob W under the top fundraisers is an Air Force Captain.;)

[nichols]

We're kicking off this year's efforts to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphomia Society. We found out about the walk 5 days before the walk; 3 weeks after Tomas was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We ended up raising $1,900.00 USD in 5 days. We are shooting for $15,000.00 USD this year.

Ultimately the research may help to discover a treatment that doesn't destroy the children's immune systems. Immediate future specifically as applied to Tomas, the research may help discover ways to fix the damage that is being done to him by the chemotherapy.

If you can donate feel free to. You can also sign up as a walker for Team Tomas and hold an event and raise funds in your locality. Childhood cancer has no borders, the research also has no borders.

Team Tomas site is:

http://www.active.com/donate/ltnRichmo/2335_nichols63

The event is on 4 October.


His Caring Bridge site is:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tomasnichols

Thanks.

[nichols]

Okay guys,

Today Jacobs ASG donated $1,000.00 USD to Team Tomas. He's shooting for 15k by October, your geographical location is irrelevant. The company that you work for can sign up to help raise these funds for Team Tomas.

http://www.active.com/donate/ltnRichmo/2335_nichols63

The leukemia & lymphoma society (LLS) funds research and assistance for blood cancers.

Tomas' system is being carpet bombed, we don't have a JDAM for leukemia. There are multiple problems for him in the future from cognitive to physical...these funds will the LLS find ways to correct the damage that is being done to these children.

If you can give, much appreciated, if you can pray for these children, very much appreciated.

Thanks

S/F

[nichols]

We're up to $1810.00 USD.

68 days until the walk.

[nichols]

63 days until Tomas leads his team.

We're sitting at 17% of his goal, looking good.

[nichols]

I promise...no more posts on this subject after this one ;-)

The Leukemia Lymphoma Society (LLS) is giving out gas cards; $15.00 for raising $250.00 on line and $50.00 for every $500.00 raised during the months of July & August. While driving home from the clinic yesterday we determined that all gas cards that Team Tomas would get will be turned over to the clinic to pass out to families that need help.

We would be getting two birds with one donation, funding to help research for a cure and gas cards that would help families in need.

I checked with the LLS rep and the clinic head nurse, both gave the okay for distributing the gas cards.

If you can donate please go to:

http://www.active.com/donate/ltnRichmo/2335_nichols63

Info on how Tomas is doing:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tomasnichols

Prayers for Tomas and all children going through this life threatening battle are especially welcomed.

Thank you.

S/F

Paul

[SWCAdmin]

I promise...no more posts on this subject after this one ;-)
BS. Carry on. Go Tomas.

[nichols]

BS. Carry on. Go Tomas.


Okay...you called that right.

Long day at Walter Reed today. He was getting a Renal Lasix done to check on his kidneys. We also found out that his ANC crashed to 318, he can not fight off a common cold. ER runs for sniffles are the current battle drill. His bilirubin counts are still too high, possible liver problems and now because of the low ANC.....he's off chemotherapy. He's patroling with no weapon or body armor.

This is exactly why we are trying to raise funds. We need to stop carpet bombing these kids in order to kill the cancer. funds are needed to discover a JDAM for childhood cancer.

His spirits are rock bottom right now, had to cancel his sisters birthday party.

[Ron Humphrey]

Okay...you called that right.

Long day at Walter Reed today. He was getting a Renal Lasix done to check on his kidneys. We also found out that his ANC crashed to 318, he can not fight off a common cold. ER runs for sniffles are the current battle drill. His bilirubin counts are still too high, possible liver problems and now because of the low ANC.....he's off chemotherapy. He's patroling with no weapon or body armor.

This is exactly why we are trying to raise funds. We need to stop carpet bombing these kids in order to kill the cancer. funds are needed to discover a JDAM for childhood cancer.

His spirits are rock bottom right now, had to cancel his sisters birthday party.

who says the calender couldn't accidently slip back at a later date?

[BayonetBrant]

Update from elsewhere on the web:

http://www.wargamer.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=296668

FYI, over there, "nichols" is "smuckatelli"
It's a bit long, but the payoff is well worth it.

[nichols]

One more day left in August, last chance to donate for research and gas cards for needy servicemembers families that are fighting this fight.

The Leukemia Lymphoma Society (LLS) is giving out gas cards; $15.00 for raising $250.00 on line and $50.00 for every $500.00 raised during the months of July & August. While driving home from the clinic yesterday we determined that all gas cards that Team Tomas would get will be turned over to the clinic to pass out to families that need help.

We would be getting two birds with one donation, funding to help research for a cure and gas cards that would help families in need.

I checked with the LLS rep and the clinic head nurse, both gave the okay for distributing the gas cards.

If you can donate please go to:

http://www.active.com/donate/ltnRichmo/2335_nichols63

Info on how Tomas is doing:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tomasnichols

[SWCAdmin]

Thanks for the reminder. Go team Tomas.

[nichols]

28 days left before Tomas leads the walk. We're sitting at 21% of the goal. I probably shouldn't have let him set such a high goal but 4 months ago it seemed do-able.

Kohl's is planning on a $500.00 donation this week. We ran an add in the local newspaper on Friday (attached bmp)......not too much coming out of that, probably wasn't a good expediture of family money.

Sorry for sounding like a broken record, Tomas' motivation really goes up when he sees donations in his name.

http://www.active.com/donate/ltnRichmo/2335_nichols63

[nichols]

Bad expenditure of limited funds on the newspaper add. No donations came out of it. :confused:

We're sitting at 26% of Tomas' goal, I wise he wouldn't have picked such a high number.

http://www.active.com/donate/ltnRichmo/2335_nichols63

[nichols]

We're sitting at 34% with only 7 days left. I wish that Tomas hadn't picked 15k as a goal but now it appears that this is a good amount tied in with the 2015 goal of have one "JDAM" pill that kills the cancer and not the child.

If you're leaning towards donating, now's the time.

http://www.active.com/donate/ltnRichmo/2335_nichols63

Please keep the prayers going for Tomas & all other children that are fighting this battle.

[nichols]

About 23 hours until the walk, looks like Tomas will be leading 60-70 Walkers.....he's pretty happy.:)

[nichols]

Today is the day.

It looks like there will be 70-80 walkers on Team Tomas. He didn't make the 15k goal but he did really good, it should be a little over 7500.

I did a blood draw on him yesterday, his ANC came in at 1020, liver enzymes are a little elevated but not enough to stop the chemo.

While I was dressing him this morning he asked if it was payday...I told him yes it was last week, he comes back with "you have to put a thousand dollars to the walk." I told him that it was family money to buy things for the family. His answer was "what's more important, toys and things or better medicine for the kids fighting leukemia?"

I wish that we could commit that thousand dollars for the cause.

He's pretty happy.

[nichols]

As of today Team Tomas managed to raise $7,758.75, Kohls is submitting a $500.00 grant for the walk. Team Tomas may get credited for this, if so, Tomas will finish out at $8258.75. Team Tomas didn’t reach the goal of $15,000.00 but a lot was learned in the process of raising funds. I don’t think Tomas’ goal was out of reach, we should have broken the fund raising into three segments.

There were a total of 73 walkers that formed the Team Tomas walking team. Tomas was directly responsible for getting the following support in addition to funds:

Kohls supplied 6 workers to manage accounting.

Best Buy supplied a photographer and an additional walker.

Comfort Inn supplied rooms for out of town walkers at a substantial discount.

Walmart and Giant Foods supplied gift cards for walk supplies

Home Depot supplied a tarp and tent.

Tomas’ uncle and nephews helped set up the walk site and mark the route.
The walk went very smooth, there were four children that had various forms of childhood cancer that were honored at the beginning of the event. Following the opening ceremony there was a candle lighting for friends and family that had lost the battle against cancer.

The Leukemia Lymphoma Society representatives designated Tomas to kick off and lead the walk. Tomas was extremely happy to do this but it happened so quickly that Team Tomas was spread out in groups throughout the crowd. Someday I’ll tell Tomas that one of the reasons that he was the lead was because they thought that he would set a good pace for all of the other walkers. There wasn’t a lot of time between the ceremony ending and the walk beginning so the various teams didn’t get a chance to form up before stepping off. While Tomas did start off with a nice easy pace, because people were still getting their teams together, the walk had the caterpillar effect. The police estimated that there were 600-700 walkers so the line was pretty long.

Overall this year’s walk, from Tomas’ perspective, exceeded last year. The relatives from out of state and country, the amount of funds donated, and the realization by Tomas as to what these funds were for made for a very special night for him.

Two days after the walk he told me that he hopes the Leukemia Lymphoma Society makes a liquid medicine that taste like honey so that other kids don’t have to throw up a lot.

[Stan]

Awesome pics and some great walkers.

I had images of Tomas performing military cadence with some righteous Jodie Calls :cool:


Jody, Jody six feet four
Jody never had his ass kicked before.
I'm gonna take a three-day pass
And really slap a beating on Jody's ass!


My best to you and yours, Stan

[SWCAdmin]

Excellent. Thanks for the sitrep.

My daughters attempt to handle our finances with the same initiative, though for much less worthy purposes.