Call for platelet donations!!!

One of the procedures which helps Nate's body recover from chemotherapy is receiving blood platelets. Because platelets only have a shelf life of five days (they must be used within 5 days of donation), hospitals sometimes run short, especially around the holidays.

Nate (and other people in his situation) needs your platelet donations. To donate platelets, please contact the blood donor center at your nearest Kaiser Permanente. Though it is possible to donate through the Red Cross, it takes longer to reach specific patients (i.e. Nate) than donating directly to Kaiser.

Thank you for your love and support.

(An earlier version of this blog post directed you to the Red Cross for platelet donations--sorry for the confusion.)

Christmas and back into ICU

Christmas morning was a little different this year, but still good. Dad spent the night Christmas Eve with Nate and Christmas morning, Mom, Shaughan, Michael and Benjamin came down to the hospital to open gifts. Eva couldn't come as she had been sick and couldn't get close to Nate. Although Nate was really fatigued, he enjoyed opening his presents and seeing Meghan and Zane Patterson Christmas afternoon.

Unfortunately, Christmas Eve Nate started getting sick. He was up almost all night with severe body pain, high temperatures and vomiting. He slept a lot on Christmas Day, and on Friday the 26th his temperature went up to 105 degrees and stayed there. He also tested positive for a bacterial blood infection. On Friday night, they moved him to ICU and downgraded his condition to serious. But Nate continued to go downhill. He became tachycardiac, had irregular heart beats and was dehydrated. They were able to bring his temperature down, but by Sunday, they had to place a urinary catheter and put him on oxygen.

On Sunday evening, the doctor determined his kidneys were failing and dialysis would be necessary. His dialysis regimen is difficult, lasting 4 to 6 hours each day. They thought the dialysis would also help his heart symptoms, but are concerned that the chemotherapy could have caused some heart damage. We pray that isn't the case. Nate is on permanent oxygen now and is heavily sedated, so he is not always aware of his surroundings.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We all appreciate them so much.

How to Join the National Bone Marrow Registry

For months now, dear friends and family all over the world have been asking how to have their bone marrow tested to see if they are a match for Nate. The generosity you have shown has been humbling to say the least. Because of the interest expressed, we thought it would be useful to post how to join the National Bone Marrow Registry. The good news is that not only Nate but thousands in his situation could benefit from your generosity should you choose to join the registry. More good news is that testing only requires 4 swabs of your mouth. The less-than-good news is that is costs $52 a person to obtain the kit to be tested. If you are still interested, please register and buy the kit from the National Marrow Donor Program which can be found online here: http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Join_the_Donor_Registry/Join_Now/join_now.html. If you have additional questions, please post them in the comments section and we will try to answer them to the best of our ability. Thank you for your kind words, your prayers, and your willingness to help!

3rd Round of Chemo Update

Nate and his friend Justin Wilson

Tomorrow is Nate's last day of his third round of chemo, and it couldn't come too soon. This round of chemo is eight times stronger than any of his previous rounds and has been really hard on Nate. For the last few days his temperature has been around 106 degrees, but thankfully dropped to 102 today. Even though this round is intense, Nate is determined to get out of the hospital within 40 days. Please remember him in your prayers so that he can reach his goal.

As noted in the last post, last Saturday Nate's good friend Justin Wilson organized a bone marrow drive on Nate's behalf. Our local paper, The Signal, ran the following outstanding story written by a Canyon High School junior named Megan Scherich. It is so good, we thought we would post it in its entirety

Bone-marrow Drive for Local Scout

What would you do if you were an Eagle Scout?

Not only do they learn to tie complex knots and start fires without matches, but they also fight to save lives.

Justin Wilson, a local Boy Scout, chose to fight for Nate Sparks.

Wilson organized the "Nate Sparks Bone Marrow Drive" at Canyon High School on Saturday to help his longtime friend find a match and aid him in his battle with leukemia.

Wilson chose the bone- marrow drive as his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project to show people "how simple it is to get screened and save lives."

"It doesn't take much," said Ben Hopkins, a Boy Scouts leader.

Although membership in the National Bone Marrow Registry is a long-term commitment, it is an easy way to help those in need of a match, like local cancer victims such as Sparks and Bob Corrales as well as diagnosed Americans nationwide.

Many of those who attended the Sparks screening wanted to give their support any way possible.

"The Eagle Scouts showed us how easy it is to get screened: four swabs you swirl in your mouth," volunteer Clarence Scherich said. "If that's all it takes to help somebody, it's certainly a sacrifice any of us can make."

Stacey Ranhofer, who has no connection to Sparks, heard about the drive and decided to participate.

"It touched me," Ranhofer said. "God bless them. I hope they find a cure."

The drive drew a great number of supporters, and Vivian Abernathy of City of Hope proclaimed it to be an "amazing turnout."

In only the first hour, more than 100 donors took four generous swabs of saliva each.

"Santa Clarita comes out stronger [for bone-marrow drives] than any other community I have seen," Abernathy said.

Such benevolent support from the Santa Clarita Valley is a great inspiration and hope for Sparks and his family. "I think they will find a match, I really do," said Nate's father, Jerry Sparks.

During the screening, Sparks visited with family, friends and participants, laughing and joking as usual. Throughout Sparks' treatment, despite the difficult journey, he has maintained an optimistic attitude and is living as normal a life as possible.

"What amazes me is that Nate is still doing his schoolwork," said Lisa Hillquist, a family friend.

Nate looked pointedly at his mom and said, "Wonder why?"

Marilyn Sparks, Nate's mother, shared her favorite "treatment story" about Nate.

While delirious he talked "about driving down Sand Canyon in a red convertible with his dog, Buddy, whose head was sticking out the window."

Through difficult times, the Sparks family preserves its lifestyle, filled will optimism, love and laughter.
"Nate has inspired me with his positive attitude, even throughout painful treatments," Jerry Sparks said.

Nate's outlook on life and his situation has inspired his family, Justin Wilson, the Eagle Scouts and the Santa Clarita community.

"I thank everybody for everything they have done," Marilyn Sparks said. "But most of all, thank you to everybody for your faith and prayers."

"Words cannot express our gratitude," Jerry Sparks said.

Megan Scherich is a Canyon High School junior.

Generous volunteers swabbing their mouths so that their bone marrow can be tested to see if they are a match for Nate

Bone Marrow Drive Last Weekend: Thank you Justin!

There was a Bone Marrow Drive last weekend at Canyon High in support of Nate. It was organized by Nate's friend Justin Wilson for his Eagle Scout project. The day of the drive this article was published in the Signal newspaper.

http://www.the-signal.com/news/article/6661/

A few days latter a follow up article was published that spoke to the turnout of the drive and the link is here.

http://www.the-signal.com/news/article/6785/

Attached are some photos of the day. We would like to thank Justin and the Wilson family for their efforts. The level of support for Nate has been overwhelming and we appreciate it. We would also like to thank all of those that were tested as this could help not only Nate but all of those fighting this disease.

Nate was re-admitted to the hospital to start his third round of chemo this Monday. It is a much more intensive round than he has previously received. We will keep you posted on as to his status.

Nate & Justin

Nate's sister Shaughanie making a poster

Donors signing up to help

Donors swabbing their mouths

Thanksgiving

Nate had a great Thanksgiving with his Mom, Dad, Shaughanie, Michael, Eva, Benji, and Jocelyn and Zack who came from DC to celebrate. Nate ate lots of delicious food, hung out with his friends, played Guitar Hero, watched movies, showed everyone his favorite youtube videos and played UNO. Actually, while playing Uno, sweet Nate didn't want to give any of his Draw Four cards to his sister Jocelyn. He kept them as long as he could and usually got stuck with them in the end. Lest you think that his kindness hurt him, please know that Nate won the game. Moral of the story--being nice to your sister pays off. More than anything, Nate is just trying to be a normal teenager when not in the hospital. Right now he's just trying to put on weight and get stronger before his next round of chemo which will start next week and will be 8Xs stronger than previous rounds. Please keep him in your prayers. This Thanksgiving Nate is grateful for life, and his family is grateful for Nate in their lives.

Playing UNO with Zack

Nate showing Eva how to rock Guitar Hero