Nate's Journey Continues……………………….

On Thursday, January 29 Nate, Mom, Dad and Jocelyn met with Nate's Oncologist and Hematologist. It was a good meeting and we are all cautiously optimistic. The good news is that Nate is in a documented remission and his bone marrow showed no cancerous cells. The Dr. explained however, that another 2 rounds of chemotherapy increase the chances of a patient staying in remission by 25 to 30%. The Dr. doesn't feel Nate is anywhere near being strong enough to with stand another round of chemotherapy right now. Of course, Nate would like to be done with the whole experience, but the Dr. says she will see him weekly and continue to monitor his blood, bone marrow, heart and kidney functions and overall health. When she feels he is strong enough round 4 will occur. Nate left the hospital 2 weeks ago at 100 pounds and was 104 last week.
On Thursday, he had gained 6 pounds and is now a whopping 110. Nate is impatient like any 17 year old to continue his normal life and activities. He also has a slight documented hearing loss is his left ear and a greater loss in his right ear. This is due to one of the many antibiotics he received when he was septic this last time. He is seeing an Audiologist and Ear Specialist to see what can be done.
Thank you all for your love, prayers and continued support and interest. We are all grateful and will keep you updated about Nate's progress.

Kicking Cancer

Nate came home on Wednesday and has been sleeping a lot to start getting his strength back. We keep thinking that we have an idea of what each round of chemo will be like be each one brings its own challenges although I think that we are now expecting the unexpected.
Nate is focused on gaining strength and if the previous rounds are any indicator as soon as his strength returns he will be focused on returning life to normal.
The next step will be a bone marrow aspiration to asses his white blood cell count. Following that we will sit down with his doctors and discuss a bone marrow transplant, more rounds of chemo and other options. We will keep you posted.

Latest Update

The week between Christmas and New Years was difficult. After Nate returned to ICU, his kidney's failed. He had surgery on Sunday, December 28 to place the dialysis catheter in his left femoral artery (last time it was in the right) and they began dialysis. Nate was pretty sedated and out of it, but slowly improved. They moved him out of ICU on Sunday, January 4 and were able to remove the dialysis catheter on Tuesday the 6th. He also had a very severe bacterial infection in the blood and therefore had fevers between 104 and 105 until a couple of days ago.

After the call went out for platelets, the response from everyone was very humbling. From Wednesday, December 30 to Sunday, January 4, he received 3 units of platelets and 3 units of blood daily and everyone was a designated donation for him. We appreciate everyone's efforts.
We also received the wonderful news this past week that The City of Hope identified a perfect bone marrow/stem cell match for Nate. Although a transplant is not in the plan for the immediate future, it is great to know we have someone if and when this is necessary. Nate's Dr. hopes he will be one of the 25% of patient's who go into complete remission from the chemotherapy and never comes out.

We are grateful for each one of you and for your love, prayers and support.

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