Hello everyone! We are finally home! We spent yesterday and today getting together with friends and family and just enjoying being home again. Taylor is doing a little better each day. The worst is over so he should begin getting stronger, gaining weight, and having more energy. At least that's what they tell me to expect during the lighter chemo. He actually gained over two pound in the hospital in the past couple of weeks! Being on the feeding tube for 24 hours a day at 50cc per hour helped him tremendously. We have him on it most of the day at home now as well. We want to bulk him up for the surgery. Thank you all for your love, prayers, and support! We love you all, Jen

Hi everyone! Taylor had his MRI today. It's the last of the scans before surgery. He did well, but was very cranky from the anesthesia. I undressed Taylor right before they started and the radiologist looked at his leg and asked me where the incision is. He thought that he already had the surgery because his leg looked so normal with no sign of a tumor that he could find! What an amazing difference from three months ago. His counts are also great. Normal white blood cell count levels should be between 4 through 11. Taylor's is 20.4 today! He looks weak and fragile, but he is a strong little guy. We don't have to go to MSK until the day before his surgery on September 15th. Finally a break! After the MRI, Matt and I took Taylor to see some of the sights of NYC. We went to FAO Schwarz, but we think he had more fun watching the fountain outside! It was great to just spend the day like a normal family again, enjoying our son. This month marks the half way point in his treatment. It's been very hard on Taylor, and very hard on me and Matt. I used to think that giving birth was the hardest thing I ever had to do. The pain from childbirth is worthwhile because it results in a beautiful baby. I try to look at this the same way. The chemo, the surgery, the horrible 8 months that it entales will result in a healthy Taylor. At least his doctors tell us so. More importantly, the Lord has given Matt and I a peace in our hearts about it since very early on. Some people have wondered how Matt and I have been able to remain upbeat and have smiles on our faces. All I can say is that God has continued to amaze us with His grace each day! Yes...we have our moments of frustration and dwindling patience at times during the daily grind with a sick little boy, however, as a parent you muster up whatever is left within you and go on and do what it takes for your child to get well one day at a time. And pray...a lot! We love you all, Jen

Hi everyone! Taylor is feeling better and getting stronger every day. His little personality is starting to resurface too. He's been playing outside and trying to keep up with our neighbors' kids. I take him off his feeding tube for a couple of hours a day to get out and be a kid for a while. I'm keeping him on the feeding tube pretty much around the clock until his surgery. It runs on a pump and I can adjust the rate going in him. I want him to gain as much weight as possible before the big day. Please pray that he will begin to eat on his own as soon as possible. He hasn't eaten anything by mouth since August 17th! The feeding tube, which feeds him Pediasure, gives him more than enough calories than if he were to eat on his own, even on a good day. But it also fills him up and he never feels hungry. We don't want him to get too used to this tube and not eat by himself.

I also want to let you guys know what's been going on with my quest to get the word out about Rhabdo in our area. I met yet another child at MSK with it who lives in the area...that makes six! I spoke to a representative from the national cancer registry yesterday and she said that all doctors are required to report their patients with cancer to the registry. She could not give me numbers but she did say that there are indeed a large number of Rhabdo cases in Morris and Passaic counties! There is a survey going on right now in this area. She also told me that it would be next to impossible to find out what causes it since it happens during early fetal development. Unfortunately, we can't go back in time and record everything we consumed, touched, and breathed during that time that caused this chromosomal abnormality. If anything, I want to get the word out to the general public, especially to the pediatricians in this area. No bumps should be ignored! If Taylor had been diagnosed when we first had him treated for the fall, he would not have been a high risk case! His prognosis would be the same high risk or not, but it would have saved him from going through the first four rounds of massive chemo! He would have had surgery right away, then the six maintenance rounds instead. If we could save one child from that, it would be worth it. We love you all, Jen

Hi everyone! Taylor is doing great! He spent the weekend playing outside on his swing-set and enjoying being a normal kid again. We went shopping last night and he actually pushed the stroller around all by himself! This is a great feat for him considering he wouldn't get off the couch for the first few days after we came home last week. He also began eating on his own again today for the first time in weeks! We dropped him off at my parents' house this morning while we went to the third service at church and when we returned we walked into the house to find him munching away in front of a plate of snacks my mom gave him! Only a grandma could get a kid like him to eat. He also drank a huge cup of chocolate milk! Hurray for Taylor! We get excited about simple things these days.

Yesterday, I learned that a former student of mine from Eastern Christian was killed by a speeding car while crossing the street just two weeks ago. You have all been so kind to pray for us in our time of struggle. Matt and I would like for you all to please say a prayer for the Gorder family as they have now lost their precious daughter. She was such a sweet young girl. Please also remember in prayer all of her friends and fellow students at EC as well. Thanks. We love you all, Jen

Hi everyone! Taylor is wonderful! I would say that he is about 90% back to his old self again! He is running, playing, happy, and acting like he feels great. He is no longer napping anymore. That stopped when we began three months ago. Even without a nap, he is still running all over the place by night time! We think he's just making up for lost time. It is awesome! We feel like we have our Taylor back again. We missed him very much! He didn't talk very much during the big rounds either. Now...he is talking very well and all day long! He learned to count from 1 to 10 literally overnight. Now that he's feeling good again, he is wanting to learn to do new things. We are just waiting for his surgery now, which is next Tuesday. Thanks for praying for him everyone.

Matt and I have a request for you. Our neighbors, Karen Iannuzzi and Linda Barker, were so kind to have arranged Taylor's car wash fund drive in July. The money that was raised helped us tremendously in regards to the daily costs of Taylor's treatment. However, now that school and after school activities have begun, Karen and Linda have a lot going on with their children and work. We are in need of another fund raiser soon. If anyone is interested in arranging and running a fund drive for Taylor, please let us know as soon as possible by emailing us at family@themarmets.com !! We have some willing contacts as far as place for them to be held. We would appreciate it greatly! We love you all, Jen

Hello everyone! Taylor is still doing just great! He must have gained at least 3 pounds in the past 2 weeks from the feeding tube. He will be weighed on Monday. His face is getting nice and round and chubby again. He has a belly again as well! He looks much different now, even from a few weeks ago. He has a healthy, pink glow and he's really filling out nicely! We will put up a picture of him soon. All of your prayers are continually working!

We also wanted to let you know that we found out that Taylor has used at least some, if not all of everyone's blood and platelets who donated! The hospital, and Karen, both provide us with a list of all of you who have gone in and if you were able to donate. Your names are not on the units that Taylor receives. For privacy purposes, it just says "direct donor". However, Karen has been informing us as to who has gone in and when so that we are able to know who's blood and platelets he has received. There are some of you who recently donated. Your blood and platelets will be used during his recovery from surgery and afterwards. We cannot thank you all enough for what you have done for us...for Taylor! We love you all, Jen

Hello Everyone! TAYLOR'S TUMOR IS GONE!!! Praise the Lord!!! Thank you all for your fervent prayers! He is doing just awesome! The surgery began at 7:30 am and ended at 5:30 pm! Yes, it was a 10 hour surgery! He has three incisions. Dr. La Quaglia, his surgeon, said that everything went very well and he is confident that everything is out. The tumor was the size of my thumb and it came out beautifully. He said that it was encapsulated and it was removed completely. The incision runs up and down the back of his leg. The other two incisions were made to remove the local lymph nodes that were affected. He said the nodes were mostly clean (dead of cancer) after the chemo, however they were very tiny and better to get them out than to leave them. He also had inter-operative radiation right into his body while he was open! This ensures that any cells left behind are killed. Dr. Wexler just told us that he is very confident that after radiation and maintenance chemo, there will be no trace of any cancer cells left in him, if there are any in him at this time at all! We will know if there are any cells left after the pathology report comes back next week. The doctors say that he is doing great now post surgery as well. He is a little scary to look at right now because he's very bloated from the extra fluid they gave him during surgery. He has an epidural in from the surgery and it will stay in for a few more days to give him pain relief. This child has tubes coming out of every orifice of his little body, but to me and Matt, he looks great! The tumor is out. So he is beautiful to us. He is in the I.C.U. at MSK and we will be here for a few days. He will be moved out onto the regular inpatient floor after he improves. We should be home next week sometime. Just watching our brave little boy go through this major surgery (and everything else he's been through), gives me and Matt the strength to face the days of recovery that lie before us. He is so brave and strong and only 2 years old! He amazes us!

Yesterday was a very long day. I felt such a peace all day. Matt and I thank you for praying us all right through it. We just don't know how we could go through all of this without the Lord and the peace, strength, and hope He gives us every day. I had a lot of time to reflect on the past few months yesterday while Taylor was in surgery. I just started putting my thoughts on paper. I decided to call it, "How a Mother Copes". It's on the main page of Taylor's web page for anyone who would like to read it.

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!! I will try to keep you posted daily!

We love you all, Jen

Hi All. Just a quick update. Jen and Taylor are still in the hospital. It looks like they could come home either on Sat. or at the latest on Sun. The epidural is out and he is on a very low dose of pain killer. Even that is only in case he cries for it. He is up walking around and only complains that his back is a little sore from where the epidural was. He is doing fantastic. He is just about all "drained" out. His "puffyness" is almost all gone.

I have spoken to some of you personnally and can not thank all of you enough for the continual prayer that we have been receiving. This little guy is a direct result of how God answers prayers and how powerful he is. I know that I would not be able to go through what Taylor has be in such good spirits. I want to be like him when I grow up (if I ever do). He is such inspiration to us.

Thanks again for all your prayers, Matt

Hello everyone! We are home! Only 4 days after major surgery and he is able to go home! He's amazing. God is amazing! We got some great news before we left too. Dr. LaQuaglia (his surgeon) came in to see us and he told us that the preliminary lab report on the tumor came in and it concluded that it was completely dead! Praise God! Taylor is doing really well also. He is walking, but not very well. The more he walks each day, the better he will be on his feet as time goes by. He actually walked from the I.C.U. to our new room on the regular PEDS floor when we were moved there on Thursday, just 2 days after surgery! Tomorrow we will be going back into the city to have the drain removed from his leg, and his bandages taken off as well. He is very happy and seems to be in no pain, believe it or not. He hasn't complained about his leg hurting since Friday night. We give him Tylenol a few times a day just in case he's not telling us he's uncomfortable. His stomach is still a little distended (full and raised) from the trama of the surgery so we have not started him back on his feeding tube yet at home. He is drinking his Pediasure though and eating a little for the first time in over a month! We will probably start him back on his tube feeding tomorrow afternoon.

Thank you all for your continued prayers for our little angel! We love you all, Jen

Hi everyone! Taylor and I went into the city to have his drain removed and bandages taken off. The surgical team said physically, he looks terrific. His incisions look very good as well. The one that runs up and down the back of his leg where the tumor was removed is about 7 inches long! When it heals it will look like a subtle white line. The two other incisions are only 2-3 inches long and should heal beautifully as well. Taylor is walking all over the place! He wobbles a little, but his stride is normal (his leg doesn't turn in or out, and does not drag)! He's not running a marathon yet, but he's on his way to being an active 2 year old again. Dr. Laquaglia said he will be able to play football someday if he wishes. Praise God. He begins his first round of light, maintanence chemo on Monday. Radiation will begin in October. Thank you all for praying for him! We love you all, Jen

Hello everyone! Taylor is doing great! He's walking almost completely normal, just a little slower than normal. He was actually out on the deck playing hockey with his little stick and puck last night! He has a little swelling, but his surgeon said that it's nothing unusual. We are taking him to the Bronx Zoo for the day tomorrow. It will be his last time out (beside MSK) before he begins his last 6 rounds of maintanence chemo and month of radiation. We really need to keep him away from public places until he is all done in January. Please pray for his health over the months to come. Amazingly, even with all the stress we've been under, Matt and I have been in perfect health since before we began in late May! That's just another answer to prayer. We love you all, Jen

Hi everyone! Taylor is doing better and better every day! He is active and happy most of the day. He had a wonderful time at the Bronx Zoo on Friday! He loved the monkey house most of all! He's been obsessed with monkeys since we can remember. He is continuing to gain weight every day. Everything on his little body is plumping out more and more every day thanks to his feeding tube! I don't know what we're going to do when the tube is removed for good in a few months. We'll have to deal with that when the time comes. It's so nice not having to worry about his weight and nutrition during all of this, especially since he doesn't eat at all! Two year olds are normally picky eaters, so this G-tube has been a literal God-sent. Taylor is talking a lot now and verbalizing more and better every day. It's so great to have our son back...new and improved! Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow is the first day of his 5th round, which is his first light round of chemo. It's Monday through Friday from 7am until 6pm! We will then have two weeks off before round 6. We will do this schedule for the duration of his last 6 rounds and we will be finished all together in January. We will have to go in every day for several weeks in October for radiation also. Please pray for him as we begin his maintenance chemo tomorrow. It's a long day (and week) for both of us! I will try to update daily. Thank you for your prayers and support everyone. We love you all, Jen

Hello everyone! Taylor just finished his first two days of the lighter chemo. He has three more days to go before he completes round 5. He did well both days and he has an enormous amount of energy! We spent most of the day today walking the floor, dragging his IV pole behind us. One of the other parents asked if the surgeon had put a titanium joint in that leg of his. I told him no, but I think he put some energizer batteries in there. Taylor has gained back the weight he lost after surgery, and then some. He weighed only 23 pounds on August 18th and was in the 3rd percentile for his age. Today he weighed in at 28 pounds, which is well over the 50th percentile for his age!

Today was not an easy day for me. I've made a lot of friends with other parents there. We're like a family in a strange sort of way. Getting to know these other families and their children is both a blessing and a heartache. Today, I learned that two children with neuroblastoma are not doing well at all and their long term outlook is not good. Both children are 4 years old. These children have not yet begun to live... and they are already dying. One of the hardest parts about being at MSK is how overwhelming it can often be there watching everyone's child go through cancer treatments and getting emotionally involved in everyone's story. It's truly shocking what these little souls have to go through! The thing I have to remember is that everyone's story is different and most of them are good! I need to pray for those we meet, and then focus on Taylor and the hope and peace God has granted me. Please pray for little Matthew and Julia. Thanks everyone.

We love you all, Jen