We're very proud to announce that Nate finished treatment for cancer on July 19th, 2006. Thank you for supporting us this whole time.

- Greg & Christa

Latest Journal Entries

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Tue, 22 Jan 2008

4 years ago today
It was four years ago today that life changed drastically for us. And not in a good way. We were in a pretty happy place at the time, having found out a week before that Christa was pregnant with our third child, and just wondering how we'd handle and cope with three small children. But it was four years ago today that Nate was diagnosed with cancer.

Now here we are 4 years later. Nate is having fun in school, is currently practicing for his part in the school play, he's taking electric guitar lessons and is just signed up for his third season of little league. He has become an avid reader, a big sports fan, a video game addict, and a pal to his brother and sister. I know I'm so overdue to post pictures and updates. But life has been good.

Here is my journal entry for January 22nd, 2004. And here is my message announcing our bad news, that I sent to family and friends, that night 4 years ago.

We're so thankful for how well Nate was done. And we're so proud of our family, and how well we've pulled through the whole ordeal. And we're happy that cancer is no longer the first thing we think of every day. 18 months off treatment. And counting...

- Greg

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Thu, 26 Jul 2007

1 year off treatment and all is well
I wanted to mention that Nate had his 1 year off treatment anniversary last week. And Tuesday he had his last LP (lumbar puncture) to check for cancer cells in his spinal fluid. The results were clear, so that is very good news. Unless something comes up, he won't have any more of those. Also, his checkups and blood work now moves out to every other month. We saw his friend Catherine at the hospital. She was having a procedure the same day, for her end-of-treatment LP & BMA. We got to have lunch with her and her family after recovery. We're so happy for Catherine! And, now she gets to have ice cream before bedtime, since she's no longer taking her chemo (6MP was the troublemaker there). Funny how the little things matter so much.

We've had some flu come through the house. Becca started running a fever last weekend, and it looks like it's finally letting up. Oh, of course, Nate started running a fever late Tuesday, the same day he had his procedure. So... per discharge instructions, we put a call into the hospital. His counts were good, so they said unless he exhibits other signs that it could be an infection from the procedure, let's proceed like he caught the bug from his sister. He was sniffly on Wednesday, so he most likely just caught the same thing she has. And now Christa has some sniffles.

Last weekend was our 13th wedding anniversary. Christa and I managed to sneak off for a bit to San Francisco. Nana & Papa watched the kids (including Becca with her fever), and we got to stay over in the city. Saturday night we went to a cocktail party at the Asian Art Museum with some coworkers, smoozing with other game execs and VCs. It was to celebrate the Tezuka exhibit (here we are with Astro Boy). Kind of fun. Just being out was worth a lot. We came home Sunday afternoon, and we can't thank my parents enough for their help, especially with the long night they had with the kids.

On a sad note, I'm going to point you to a story about a boy we met at Give Kids The World during Nate's Make-A-Wish trip last December. His name is Dana Gauthier, and unfortunately he lost his battle with brain cancer last weekend. Christa had worked with his mom, Cathy, at LSI Logic before Nate was born. It just so happened that we ran into them at GKTW in Florida, while Dana was on his MAW trip. Our hearts are with the Gauthier family.

So... off to bed now. I have to get my rest and keep from getting sick.

- Greg

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Tue, 17 Jul 2007

Time flies when you're busy!

I've added a bunch of photos to the site... Check out the monthly albums under 2007. As usual, I need to beg forgiveness for not updating. I put a buch of photos up, so hopefully you'll enjoy those.

So many things have happened since last update... a couple of birthdays (Christa and I), Nate's school play, Little League, Easter, a visit from Grandpa Neal, a quick trip away for Christa, school ended, doctors visits, selling plums, a job change, swim lessons, and so much more. I'm writing this from my feeble memory, so hopefully I haven't forgotten too much.

Nate was in the school play, he was an elf. He seems to enjoy being part of the plays. Christa helped out again, working in the green room. As usual, the play was a huge, spectacular production. Two complete casts (of scores of children), magnificent stage sets, superb performances and singing by the kids. It's a joy to see. Along with the play, Little League started and Nate had a great coach and team, and really enjoyed himself this season. Last year between the rain and weeks of time in the hospital, he sure didn't play much t-ball. He was in farm this year and enjoyed it. He's a lot faster now, he learned a lot about hitting (no tees in this league), and sure seemed to enjoy it. He even did quite a bit of practicing at home, wanting to get better. It's interesting to see him develop more on the athletic side.

I changed jobs in March, leaving Yahoo and going to a little startup called Twofish, Inc. My friend Lee Crawford founded the company. We're in the games industry, which is a first for me. However, I'm leading engineering developing the platform to support community, commerce, etc. for MMO games, and I have a lot of experience building platforms.. It's been a lot of fun (I sure missed the small company environment), but it's been tough building a team. The software industry is tight in the valley, with the likes of Google and lots of startups fighting for the same people. If you're a server-side Java developer, or a hot-shot web developer, give me a shout. I might be able to use your help. Check out the jobs here. We're still in stealth mode, but feel free to ask me about it.

We went up to Patty's house for Easter, and had all the kids together. We also celebrated her son Brian's birthday. I put a few pics in the album from the trip. We had lots of fun. The kids even went swimming in the much too cold pool. They all enjoyed the egg hunt. Good times with the cousins. It sure is nice to be close enough that we can get together on a regular basis.

Christa took a quick trip to Minneapolis in May, for a girls weekend with her cousin Amy. Amy lives near there, so the two of them had a nice weekend together without their kids. There's a couple photos in the album from the trip. I think they really enjoyed the time together, and the break from motherhood.

There was a sad turn of affairs for the little boy Lance I mentioned last summer in this entry. I attended his funeral (it was the weekend Christa was in MN) and it reminds me how far we are from the 100% cure we hope for in kids with cancer. The service was a celebration of his life, but the image of the tiny coffin still haunts me. Childhood cancer is the leading disease cause of death for kids in the US. Lance had relapsed last summer, had a bone marrow transplant, and had been doing really well. Apparently he took a very unexpected turn for the worse. It's truly unfair for a beautiful little 3 year old. Unfair.

Christa's Dad came and joined us for a week, and and got to spend a lot of good time with the kids. We all went up to Tahoe, and spent a day at the Renaissance fair up there. The kids had a good time and we even managed to go check out the lake while we were there. Only downside was I managed to tweak my back, and so that was annoying.

June has had a lot of activity, the end of the school year being a busy time. Christa has been very busy with all of that. She's going to be the classroom coordinator for Nate's class next year, so that will add to her workload. If anyone can handle it, it's Christa. Right after school was out, the kids went up to Folsom and stayed with Grandma Madie and Grandpa Bob. While the kids were gone, for Christa's birthday, I took her to the Gwen Stefani concert with her friend Anna and husband Dave. Everyone had a great time. I'll have to put up the picture from there. Lots of fun.

We headed to Nana and Papa's house for the 4th of July with the usual time in the sun at the lake and lots of kids playing in the water & kayaking. As usual, lots of food and hanging out. The fireworks were great but apparently not captivating enough to keep Andrew awake. He was wiped from swimming, and not really liking the loud explosions of the fireworks. I had to lug him up the hill to the car which is getting to be quite the chore with my moose of a four year old. Pretty soon he needs to start carrying me.

Last thing to tell about here is that Christa headed to Illinois with the kids to visit her Grandma B. She'll get home in a couple of days, so it's been quiet around the house here. I've been keeping busy working and doing a few minor household chores. She is going to really need a break when she get's back. Good thing it's our anniversary and we're sneaking away for a quick overnighter to San Francisco. Thanks in advance to Nana & Papa.

We're within a week of Nate's 1 year anniversary of completing his treatment for leukemia. Our life has resumed a much more normal pattern. And boy is it busy. A week from now Nate will have what we hope to be his last ever spinal tap. It's a diagnostic test to check one last time for leukemia cells in his spinal fluid. He has been doing monthly bloodwork to check also. The bloodwork will continue, but I desperately hope we're done with these. Last month we thought we'd be doing it early. Nate had been having headaches, and that can be a bad sign. So the spinal was scheduled, but the headaches seemed to go away before we got to the procedure, and so it was rescheduled to coincide with his 1 year mark. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Oh, and Nate's friend Catherine from school is about to reach her end of treatment point. Her 2.5 years of chemo are done. We're so excited for her and her family. And, on a final, yet still cancer related note, I was contacted by a family in LA who have a little boy named Nathan that is 6 months into treatent for ALL. The mom had found my journal here, and had been reading through it. The little boy has the same TEL/AML1 genetic marker that my Nate did. And, apparently, little Nathan has had a very similar hunger for sushi like my Nate did (remember Nate here?). Strange coincidence. They sound like a very nice family, maybe we'll be able to meet them in person some time. Their little boy is on a 3.5 year chemo treatment plan (the protocols have changed since we started), and is about 6 months in. We wish them all the best in their long, long journey. I love to point to my little hero, as he represents so much hope.

It's late, good night. Best wishes to all.

- Greg

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