Joey
Updated September 1, 2002

Joey is doing GREAT!   Recovery has been amazing!  Check out our update below.
   
Then....December 1999

Now....Click to view enlarged photos of Joey and his little sister!   

*** Last News Update 9/1/02 ***

Click here to check out the latest update

Joey Christensen is 8 years old.  He's a curly top, loves Pokemon and Beanie Babies, is a Disney nut like his parents, has traveled to far off places like New Jersey, Chihuahua (Mexico), California and Florida, has an extremely creative mind, and has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer known as Burkitt's Lymphoma.  This disease is also called B-Cell Leukemia, and although it's fairly common in Africa, in America, only about 100 people a year are diagnosed with it.  Of these, apparently the majority are young boys aged 2-11.

Burkitt's is one of the most agressive cancers that a person can get - apparently it can regenerate itself in less than 36 hours in some cases.  The disease is generally classified into four stages, Stage 4 being the most advanced.  Fortunately, it is also very responsive to Chemotherapy treatments.

On September 23, Joey went to the hospital with stomach pains, and a blockage was discovered in his large intestine.  The doctors were very vague about what the blockage could be, and we had originally assumed that Joey had swallowed something he shouldn't have.  As it turned out, a large malignant tumor had grown to the point where it was blocking digestion.  The surgeons removed the tumor, and inserted a special double-tube called a Hickman Catheter into Joey's chest.  This catheter has one end sticking out of his chest, and is used for administering Chemotherapy, and also for blood transfusions, IV fluids, and acquiring blood samples.  It's been a godsend - Joey will seldom be getting pricked by a needle during this treatment, since everything can go through the Hickman.

Joey's diagnosis was Stage 4 of Burkitt's Lymphoma.   Bone marrow tests revealed tumor cells, but spinal fluid tests were negative.   The disease had not yet gotten to his spine or his brain.  At some point during each Chemotherapy session, Joey has a Lumbar Tap performed, to inject chemotherapy drugs into his spinal fluid as sort of a preventive medicine.  Chemo drugs given through an IV do not easily make it into the spinal fluid.

Joey began Chemotherapy treatments on September 25, 1999.  His first stay in the hospital was 17 days, after which he was discharged, spent one night at home, and was right back in the next evening with nausea and vomiting.  Scar tissue had built up in his intestine from the first operation, and he had to have another operation to remove it.  Joey is a fighter, though, and he is in good spirits.

Joey has gotten letters of support, encouragement, love and prayer from hundreds of friends, relatives, Internet friends and his parents' co-workers.  His classmates, and all of the other classes at his school, have written him Get-Well cards, and they are working on a video to send him as well.  He's sent his friends and relatives on an all-out treasure hunt for Pokemon game cards....

As of October 20, 1999, Joey has finished his second round of Chemotherapy treatments and will remain hospitalized for several days until some of the effects of the treatment are alleviated.   The Chemo has caused him to lose his hair, and he's experienced fever, dizziness and been very sick to his stomach.  Still, he's been very talkative, has made many friends in the Pediatrics ward, and is becoming addicted to the Disney Channel. :)

Joey has a laptop computer in his room; if you would like to send him an Email, his address is Joey891@aol.com.

According to the American Cancer Society, with agressive Chemotherapy treatment, there is an 80% chance of remission within 6 months of treatment for Burkitt's Lymphoma.  In America, it is common with young boys, and often occurs either in the intestinal area.  The African version more often involves the jaw or orbital bone area.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 23, 1999 - Joey is home from the hospital!  His bedroom is set up with an IV and a small refrigerator to store all his med's.  If all goes well, he won't need to return to the hospital for about 10 days, until his third Chemo treatment is scheduled to begin.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1999 - Joey is back in the hospital after 12 wonderful days at home.  His bloodcounts were good enough to allow him to go Trick-or-Treating on Friday, October 29 over at the hospital, and again Sunday, Halloween Night, at the local mall.  He has a mountain of candy that should last into the next millennium!   Joey's been in the hospital for several outpatient visits; transfusions, check-ups, bloodwork and so on.  Today begins his third round of Chemotherapy, and he should be in the hospital for about 5 evenings.  He'll also be getting two lumbar punctures to inject chemotherapy into his spinal fluid; a bone marrow aspiration and a CT Scan to determine how the chemo is affecting the cancer so far, and his stitches from his operation 3 weeks ago will be removed!

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1999 - Can you say "Remission"?  :)

Joey completed a five night stay in the hospital, during which he received two lumbar punctures, a CT Scan, bone marrow aspiration, had 25 stitches removed.  For the most part, he remained very active, wandered the halls of the hospital, visited the Children's Playroom and became an expert Lego Roadway Builder on their computers.  He still isn't eating very much, his appetite is practically nil.  However, we got some extremely good news.  After 3 days of Chemotherapy treatment, Joey's bone marrow and blood samples showed NO SIGNS of the lymphoma, and his doctors have declared him to be in "full remission!"  After only 8 weeks since his diagnosis...what an incredible job these doctors have done for him!  As it turned out, at the time of his diagnosis, the cancer had reached a very dangerous point, and the only recourse was rigorous chemotherapy.  We think the doctors may have slightly sugarcoated his condition for our benefit at the time.  The first two chemotherapy sessions were very intense, according to the hospital staff....but they've worked!  At this point, we're in sort of a maintenance stage with Joey.  He'll continue Chemotherapy treatments through at least mid-January.  According to the doctors, the cancer would almost definitely come back if the chemo were stopped at this point.  There are still many risks involved with chemotherapy, including tissue damage.  Joey is getting an "ECHO" done in 2 weeks, to examine the impact of the chemotherapy drugs on his heart.  Still, the news of remission was the most wonderful thing we've ever heard, and we were quick to call, write and email everyone we could think of...   Joey is winning the battle!

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1999 - Today Joey returns to the hospital for his next round of chemotherapy treatments.  Over the past two weeks he's had several outpatient visits to the hospital to have his blood counts checked; so far he has only needed one red blood cell transfusion in all that time!   He's had some coughing spells and has been very sick to his stomach, but is otherwise in good spirits.  He's been compiling the Ultimate Christmas List... he'll probably do pretty well when the holidays come along.  During this visit he'll have the Echo and at least one lumbar puncture.  According to his doctors, at this point they're planning for another chemo session in December and one in January.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1999 - Joey has been home for about a week now.  We've been in and out of the hospital for outpatient bloodwork.  He received a platelet transfusion today, and although he had a red blood cell transfusion this past Tuesday, he'll need another one tomorrow morning.  He's been a little sick to his stomach, and he's definitely sick of hospital visits!  The hospital is having a Christmas party next Monday that we'll probably go to, and the following Saturday he is due to be readmitted for more Chemo.  The Echo he had a week ago didn't turn up anything we need to be worried about.   Saturday night we gave a speech to 600 of our co-workers thanking them for everything they've done to help Joey through his recovery; he got a huge round of applause when we mentioned that the cancer was now in remission.

Thursday, December 16, 1999 - Joey was readmitted to the hospital on the 10th with a high fever and low white blood cell count.  He's doing well, very active, playing Sega and watching movies.  Turns out he had a small infection, and was given antibiotics to combat it.  Today his counts are up, and hopefully he'll begin chemo tomorrow.  If the doctors have to wait until Monday to begin it, he may wind up at the hospital until the 24th...

Friday, December 24, 1999 - Joey was discharged from the hospital last night after 72 hours of Chemo treatment and two lumbar punctures.  He had a great roommate this time, Ray, and the two of them played Sega and Nintendo for hours and hours!  Joey continues to do very well, and this time he had no adverse effects (nausea, fever) to the chemotherapy until yesterday evening.   Just before he was discharged he was given a red blood cell transfusion followed by a syringe of Vincristine and Doxorubicin...so as you might expect, that was a lot to handle!  By yesterday evening he was feeling sick to his stomach again.  Today he seems much better, and he is VERY excited about Christmas!  A few presents have already appeared under the tree, and he has been informed that he is the only person who can actually see them; they're invisible to the rest of us.  He's been carrying invisible presents around the house ever since....   Monday we'll have bloodwork done to see if a transfusion is necessary.  His next (and FINAL!!) scheduled inpatient visit starts in mid-January.

Thursday, January 13, 2000 - Joey had a wonderful Christmas and a pretty exciting New Year's Eve!  He got a mountain of Christmas gifts; some of them he STILL hasn't gotten a chance to play with yet.  For the New Year, we spent the evening at a nice Suites hotel in mid-town, had dinner at the Hungry Hunter Steakhouse (it's his favorite restaurant - he had prime rib), watched Star Wars Episode I on the hotel's SpectraVision system, celebrated the New Year at 10pm when the ball dropped in New York, (we're on Mountain time) and at midnight in the hotel's atrium with other excited guests.  We'd been watching the new year festivities all day long on CNN, so we didn't expect many Y2K glitches.

Joey has been doing very well lately.  In the past couple of weeks, he hasn't run a fever, he hasn't thrown up, and he's been in pretty good physical shape, though he has complained of pain in his elbow and shoulder joints.  Our doctors are attributing that to Vincristine, a powerful Chemotherapy drug which can have all sorts of side effects.   On January 12, Joey had another lumbar puncture, and a bone marrow aspiration.   Both samples are still negative, no cancer cells in the marrow or spinal fluid.   Today he underwent an Echo, which is an ultrasound of the heart, and also a CT Scan, which is similar to a CAT Scan, but it's of his chest, to look at the internal organs and the area where the tumor had been.  He's already ready to go home.   Still to come, four more doses of chemotherapy between tonight and Saturday afternoon.  He should be able to come home Sunday morning, and hopefully, this will be his last inpatient visit!  If he runs a fever or has other complications, he'll be back in, but hopefully from here on it'll just be a long series of outpatient visits for Vincristine, blood transfusions and checkups.

Friday, January 14, 2000

A setback :(....Joey's CT Scan reveals dark spots on his liver...Three doctors came in to explain what the situation appears to be.   Several dark spots were discovered on his liver as a result of the CT Scan yesterday.  The doctors want to wait a few weeks, to see if Chemotherapy alone will make these areas disappear, but if not, they'll have to do a biopsy to determine what the spots actually are.  They could be scar tissue, in which case it's not a big deal.   However, they likely are groups of tumor cells - if this is the case, Chemotherapy will have to continue, with stronger doses.  If this happens, the Chemo will be strong enough to kill Joey's bone marrow cells.  To replace them he'll need either a stem cell or bone marrow transplant...  Today Joey was in some pain, his legs were giving him some joint pain, and his stomach hurt a little.  He received two more doses of Methotrexate and Cytabarine (Cytoxan) and is still hoping to go home Sunday.

Monday, January 31, 2000 - Home again... Joey spent the last six nights in the hospital, first with low blood counts, and then with very low blood pressure (69/45).  Despite that, he remained very active and bouncy.  He built a city of Lego's on his bed, and he and Dad dive-bombed it with Lego Star Wars vehicles, then headed out into the hospital hallways with the X-Wing fighters to explore space :).  Saturday might qualify as the most boring day of our lives, as the family sat through SEVEN straight movies...  We told Joey we'd plan for a Super Bowl party in his hospital room, and things went really well.  Today he's home.  Thursday he goes back in to have a blood draw, and Friday is the big day.... Friday at 9am is the next CT Scan, from which we should be able to tell if the spots on his liver need further attention.  Everyone is crossing their fingers and holding their breath for him.   In the meantime, Joey is going nuts over his upcoming Disney World trip; it's only 13 days away! 

Friday, February 4 - GREAT NEWS!!!  Joey's CT Scan today was negative, his liver is fine!   Joey braved the latest CT Scan; he had to drink 16 oz of this horrible liquid (mixed with Kool-Aid) before they could do the scan.  He handled it really well.  One of his oncologists called at 3pm today to let us know everything turned out ok.  The doctors gave him clearance for his Florida trip next weekend, and he is EXCITED!  Thank you all who have been asking about Joey and have kept him in your thoughts and prayers.  Next week he has a routine blood draw, and after that, his visits to the hospital will become MONTHLY instead of 2X a week!  We couldn't be happier.

Tuesday, February 22 - Back from the Florida Trip!
We're back from Orlando after a long, exciting week! Joey was on Cloud Nine most of the week with the wonderful treatment he received from Make-A-Wish and Give Kids the World. A limousine picked us up Monday morning and brought us to the airport. Joey had never been in one before; he loved watching television and kept looking for something to put in the empty champagne glasses. At the airport, we met up with our 'fairy godmothers', Trish and Terri, from Make-A-Wish. They gave us everything we'd need for the trip, along with a neat storybook they had prepared for Joey, detailing his trip plans. Our plane flight seemed awfully short, actually it was 2 hours to Dallas, then 2 1/2 hours to Orlando.

When we arrived in Orlando, we met up with a rep. from Give Kids the World. She got us our rental car and gave us directions to where we would be staying. Give Kids the World is a special resort just for children with life-threatening illnesses, and it's amazing!  The village consists of 96 villas, all of which are beautiful 2-story homes, which accomodate 2 families each. Also there is a large lake for fishing, a pirate ship, a train that goes around the main areas of the village, a tram that circles the entire village, a gingerbread house-shaped restaurant that serves free pizza, hotdogs and pancakes; an ice cream shop that offers all you can eat for free, a castle with a video arcade, a character meeting area and a forest for kids to play in; a train station that offers remote-controlled powerboat racing among other things, a movie theatre featuring kids' films (it opens next month), and a large welcome center. When we checked in, Joey was given a stuffed Mickey Mouse, and his sister was given a stuffed Kanga (from Winnie the Pooh). At our orientation meeting that evening, GKTW gave us passes for Sea World, Universal Studios, and Disneyworld. They arranged for us to have free parking, free stroller and wheelchair rental, and (for the most part), to be skipped ahead in every line so we could get right onto the rides. The people at GKTW were absolutely wonderful. They're all very dedicated to the happiness of the children who stay there. They took over the wish from the moment we had stepped off the plane. They had Joey put his name on a gold star, which they put up on the castle ceiling along with the stars of the other children who have stayed there since 1993, when it opened. The castle also featured a merry-go-round, which we all loved. 

Monday night we hung out at GKTW and explored the village. Tuesday we visited Sea World, and got to pet bottlenose dolphins. After the Shamu show, Joey went to ask a trainer a question, and she invited him to come down to meet Shamu... he wasn't up for it -- maybe next time. Joey wore his Give Kids the World button (as instructed) all week long, and employees at all of the parks got to know him and did special things for him. At Sea World, we were given extra fish to feed the dolphins and sea lions, and he got to ride the Journey to Atlantis water ride an extra time (he soaked us on this ride!). Tuesday night we visited DisneyQuest, a virtual-reality Disney 'park' all inside a 5-story building near Pleasure Island. We freed Aladdin's Genie, took a virtual Jungle Cruise, built our own roller coaster and then actually rode on it in a motion machine, helped Hercules defeat Hades, took a ride on Buzz Lightyear's AstroBlaster, and had pizza. Wednesday we  visited Universal Studios and its companion park, Islands of Adventure. They have one area totally dedicated to the books of Dr. Seuss, which Joey's sister really enjoyed. We rode through the Cat in the Hat book, and had green eggs and ham sandwiches. Joey dragged us on more drenching water rides, Jurassic Park and Dudley Do-Right's adventures. Joey had a wonderful time, he was smiling ear to ear. We had complimentary dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, then wandered into the second Universal theme park to try out the Terminator 2, Hanna Barbera (Yogi Bear) and Twister rides. I can't believe how much we managed to squeeze into each day. GKTW gave us one free dinner show, so Wednesday evening we saw a fancy pirate-themed show in downtown Orlando. Joey loved it; he wanted to go again Thursday night!

Thursday morning, Mickey and Minnie Mouse made an appearance at the castle at GKTW; we were up early to meet them. We got a nice 8X10 photo with our favorite mice. Later in the morning, we made our first Disneyworld trip, visiting Disney/MGM Studios. The kids loved the MuppetVision ride and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Joey rode 5 times!), and we nearly lost our lunches on their new "Rock N Roller Coaster", which goes upside down and corkscrews as it takes you from 0-60mph in 3 seconds. Joey was overjoyed that the doctors gave him clearance to ride anything - the one thing they didn't want him doing was swimming, so we missed out on the large pool at GKTW. We had to be back at GKTW early, because Santa Claus and his wife were at the castle that evening, giving presents to the kids and decorating a tree. Joey wound up with a stuffed bear, which he gave to his sister, who had been eying it for hours.

GKTW really does try to give kids all it can; each morning they would show up at the door to our villa with gifts for the kids; one morning it was an electric football set, one morning it was valentine candy, another morning it was toy trolls and Legos. Our villa had a large living room and two bedrooms, along with a fully stocked kitchen. The kids' bedroom had its own bathroom, which was larger than our kitchen at home! It also had a jacuzzi tub and an oversized shower. We had our own washer and dryer, VCR and cable TV.

Friday we finally made it out to the Magic Kingdom at Disneyworld. We were expecting to be there until the park closed at 7, but Disney changed the closing time to 8pm, and then we were told we'd be allowed to stay in the park until 11pm along with guests of some of the Disney resorts, as part of a special 'Disney Magic Evening'. That was a nice surprise! We had lunch with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet, and got all their autographs. After a day of riding everything we could get to, we saw the Main Street Electrical Parade (my highlight of the trip) at 7pm. We raced to Toontown to try to meet Mickey Mouse...although the park stayed open until midnight, Adventureland, Fantasyland and Toontown closed down at 8pm. We made it to Mickey's area just in time, and when the Disney employees (cast members) saw Joey's GKTW button, they asked us to wait a few moments. Before we knew what was happening, they had brought Minnie Mouse and Pluto in to see us as well! Meeting Mickey and Minnie together at Disneyworld is almost unheard of, apparently. The kids were SO excited; it was a good 15-20 minutes before we finally got them out of there. The characters were wonderful, they played games with the children, they gave Joey a stuffed Pluto doll and his sister a Minnie Mouse doll, and Mickey signed Joey's Mickey Mouse doll. It now has "mickey mouse" written across its red shorts. The cast members even invited Joey into a store in Toontown and let him pick out a toy! We were amazed. We rode Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Space Spin, Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain until 11pm.

Saturday morning we checked out of GKTW, thanked them profusely, and headed back for one last day at Disneyworld -- we managed to spend about 5 hours at EPCOT. Joey especially enjoyed the dinosaur ride at Universe of Energy, and the GM Test Track ride. We took a tour of all the countries in EPCOT's "World Showcase", saw their new Millennium pavilion (25 countries represented), and visited shops in Japan, Germany and the UK. We raced to meet our plane on time, and were back in Tucson before we knew it. Everyone we dealt with, from the rental car people to the airport employees, were incredibly wonderful. On the plane, Joey got to watch a movie on our laptop computer - he was the envy of many a bored passenger on the tiny MD80.  At 11:30, we landed and met up with our fairy godmothers again; we took pictures with them and Joey gave them each a big hug. Finally, we climbed back into another limousine for the ride home. This will be a week Joey will never forget. Despite the wonderful wish he saw granted this past week, our greatest wish, that he would defeat the cancer, is already coming true as well.

Wednesday,March 15, 2000 - Sorry it's taken so long to update Joey's page and add those photos from Disneyworld...they're coming this week!  Joey is doing SO well!!!  His hair is growing back in, it looks a little darker than it was before.  Joey turned down a last minute chance to get a tattoo on his head...(kidding).  He's off all medications!  He does still  have the Hickman Catheter in his chest, so it has to be flushed daily with salene and heparin.   He's been very active, he chased his little sister around a Blockbuster Video store the other night.  He saw Snow Day and The Tigger Movie this week.  His next appointment isn't until March 27, for another blood draw.  Those will continue monthly, and eventually the doctors will (hopefully) recommend that he have the catheter removed.  In the meantime, he's going to finish out the school year at home, and his homebound education is going really well!  We're hoping he'll be able to start a regular 4th grade class in August.

Friday, April 7, 2000 - Florida Pictures are finally here!!
Joey's doing really well - last weekend he rode a double loop roller coaster in Phoenix!
Had another chest (CT) Scan on Wednesday; assuming it's negative the doctors will set a date to remove his central line (Hickman catheter).  Click a thumbnail below to check out his photos from the big Make-A-Wish Florida trip!

Wednesday, May 10, 2000 - Things are still going really well!  Joey just returned from a few days up in New Jersey visiting his Aunts for Easter.  His hair has grown back!  It's almost an inch long and very straight...it used to be REALLY curly.  He looks great!  More importantly, he FEELS great!  Monday Joey has a blood draw, then on Thursday he'll be getting his Central Line taken out, after which he'll be able to go swimming, take normal baths, and it'll almost be like having some CLOSURE to this whole ordeal.  We're all very excited!  Joey loves reading all the email he has received -- we print out and keep every letter.  He's finishing up Homebound education - we pressed the school system to put him in 4th grade in the fall; Joey will likely be taking at least some summer school classes.

Friday, May 26, 2000 - Joey’s Hickman catheter was removed last Thursday, without much fanfare. We were in and out of the pediatric ambulatory care unit within a couple of hours. We playfully asked the doctors about letting Joey keep the catheter; he wanted to hang it on his bedroom wall like a trophy… No more syringes, heparin, salene, dressing kits, no more IV poles! From this point on, Joey will visit the hospital or the local children’s clinic about once every other month for bloodwork….he’s terrified about actually getting pricked next time, but he’s been through a lot worse! He’s feeling good, he can go swimming and take normal baths and showers now, and he’ll be starting summer school in June, to get caught up for the fall. A big thank you to EVERYONE who has expressed their love and support for Joey; it’s been a huge help in his recovery!

Saturday, September 9, 2000 - Joey's doing really well!  His hair is all curly, to the point of getting hard to control -time for a haircut!  On August 15 Joey  celebrated his 9th birthday and had quite a pool party, maybe we can get some pictures posted online soon.  He is now back in school, trying to catch up to the rest of his fourth grade class. He had some tutoring and home schooling this past year, but not really enough to make up the whole 3rd grade year. Still, we're hoping with some more tutoring he can get up to speed. He's learning to play the trumpet and making a WHOLE lot of noise around the house doing so :).  We visited Sea World earlier this summer and met several of this year's Olympic athletes at a special show they held there.  The doctors say this type of cancer has a low recurrence rate in children, so hopefully he's finally in the clear!

Wednesday, December 20, 2000 - Joey's latest blood draws came up clear, and his last checkup was perfect - he's doing GREAT!!!   Looking forward to a big Christmas and a trip to New Jersey next week to see family friends.  He's been in great shape, and is working on getting caught up to the rest of his 4th grade class.  That hasn't been easy, so he's participating in afterschool education twice a week at Sylvan Learning Centers; they promise a grade level of improvement after a certain number of hours of instruction.  Hope they come through!   Joey has his own computer now and is working on answering his own emails and learning to type faster.  He loves getting email, so if you like, send some our way!

Wednesday, April 18, 2001 -  It's been a while, and Joey continues to do very well physically.  He is experiencing some problems with his motor skills and hand-eye coordination due to the spinal taps he received.  The chemo kills brain cells and can impair learning abilities.  The good thing is, Joey can overcome the mental problems and relearn what he needs to.  We had a neuropsychologist work with him and evaluate the areas he needs to work on.  It's hard to believe he's the same kid who went through the whole ordeal 18 months ago.  He looks great, his hair is curly again and in need of a haircut, and he's more concerned with mastering his GameBoy Pokemon games than anything else!  Again, we really appreciate all the email; Joey loves receiving it, and his typing skills are improving!

Saturday, May 5, 2001 - Joey continues to do well.  We thought he might need some platelets this week; he had a blood draw this past week after some bruising on his legs without a known cause, but the doctors tell us everything is A-OK!  School is about to end, and Joey is looking forward to a LONG summer vacation.

Sunday, August 12, 2001 - JOEY'S 10TH BIRTHDAY IS COMING UP!!
It has been a joyous week for us all.   Joey's hitting the big 1-0 on Wednesday!  His birthday wish list is about a mile long already....there's a party planned, with invitees including his friends from school, his friends from University Medical Center, and a LOT of family!  Joey continues to do very well; he'll have another appointment for a blood draw and a visit to a neurologist this Fall, but everything is going GREAT!  School begins in just 8 days - Joey seems to be looking forward to seeing old friends again.

Sunday, April 14, 2002 - School's out!  Almost...
Things are going SO well!  It's now been more than 2 years since Joey first went into remission, and there has been no sign of relapse whatsoever.  He still gets blood draws about once every 6 months, but is otherwise hospital-free!  Even his scar is fading...maybe he won't be able to impress the girls with it after all!  :)  His attitude is great, and although he doesn't like talking about his time in the hospital, he is very grateful to everyone that helped him out, and very excited about 4th grade finishing up in May!  He attended the second baseball game of the year for the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 2, and came away with a replica of their World Series Championship ring.  He's become a big fan of the STARCRAFT computer game and is hunting for the action figures.  His health has been great.  Every time he is sick to his stomach, the calls are made to his doctors...so far, it's been a common cold and a case of the flu.  Things are good!  I will begin volunteering with the Make A Wish Foundation of Central and Southern Arizona as a Wish-Granter at the end of April.  I think it will be very fulfilling, and a wonderful way to give back, for all the Foundation was able to do for Joey. 

Arizona had 600 eligible Wish Children in 2001.  Make-A-Wish was able to grant over 140 wishes in 2001, but they need volunteer and donor assistance to be able to do more.  Please consider supporting this worthy charity.  Visit Make-A-Wish on the Web. 

Sunday, September 1, 2002

Joey continues to do VERY well, and he's the top kid in his 5th grade class!  He's really enjoying being back at school.  His 11th birthday party at Golf N Stuff went well - he also spent a few days in San Diego, where he spent WAY too much time on the beach and looked like a lobster for about a week.  No blood draws scheduled for the rest of the year!   In the meantime, I've begun working with my third Wish Child...volunteering as a Wish Granter has been WONDERFUL so far.

Joey's Corner (Where we let Joey take over the keyboard!)

8/12/01 HELLO!!!!!    Wednsday is my birthday!!!!  I am going to be ten.  I liked Jurassic Park 3 and I want to see Osmosis Jones! 
Thank you everrybody for thinking of me

4/12/02 Hi there this is Joey.  Thank you for reading my story.  I am feeling great.  I can't think of anything else to say

8/31/02 I am playing Yuri's Revenge and I just finished Starcraft Brood War.  I am back in school and getting As on my papers.

J o e y

More of Joey's Photo Gallery:

Joey and Jenna at Disneyland and at the Grand Canyon, 2001-2002
Click HERE for more Grand Canyon photos!

          Visit http://www.burkitts.org/ for more information on this disease.

Visit the National Children's Cancer Society Web site

Please visit the Make-A-Wish Foundation's National Web Site

Visit the Southern Arizona Make-A-Wish Foundation's Web Site - these wonderful people put together an incredible wish for Joey last year!