/>From: Please Pray For Jeremy (Cancer Sucks)
Date: May 3, 2008 9:13 AM
http://cgi. ebay. com/ws/eBayISAPI. dll?ViewItem&Item=330233519187&Category=39577
SPARKY IS BACK!!! We just mailed out our first shipment of Sparkys this weekend!!!
CHEER UP A FRIEND OR LOVED ONE WHILE SUPPORTING THE JEREMY
SPIKES FUND WITH SPARKY the PUPPY
He is adorable, super-cuddly and sure to please! 40% of Proceeds from the sale of Sparky the Puppy will go to the Jeremy Spikes Fund.
To read Baby Jeremy's full story, continue to the end of the listing!
This adorable, cuddly companion is sure to put a smile on anyone's face.
Made of ultra-soft polyester plush with a decorative plaid fabric bow.
12"H x 8"W
For all Ages
Exclusively from Avon sold by Jen Inman at www. youravon. com/jinman
Please allow up to two weeks for delivery as they are not on hand and are being shipped from Avon directly.
Shipping will be combined for multiple Sparky orders!
If you would like to donate Sparky to the local Riley's Children's hospital where Jeremy receives treatment, please state so in your check out directions! Thanks!
Thanks everyone for your support!
Jeremy's Story (as told by his Mommy Allie)
Jeremy’s Story
Current mood: sad (Please visit Jeremy's support site at www. myspace. com/pray4jeremy
I (Allie Wilkins) met my boyfriend, Stuart Spikes in July of 2006. From the start, we had an amazing friendship. We become a couple in September. of 2006, and nothing changed, everything was still perfect. We found out we were pregnant with our first child on Feb 1, 2007. We were so excited and overjoyed. I could not wait to hold my baby. After many many many months, which seemed like years, our dream come true.
On October 11, 2007, Jeremy Scott Spikes came into this world weighing 7lbs, 13oz, and 21 inches long. We had the most perfect and precious son we could ever ask for. Jeremy was very juandice and was required to have blood tests for the first 6 days of his life. Finally, his levels went down, and everything was fine, or so we thought. Jeremy only cried twice in the first week of his life. He didn’t cry when he was hungry or upset, and he started sleeping through the night at 10 days old. We just thought we were lucky and had a very good baby. On the morning of November 2nd, when Jeremy’s was 22 days old, I noticed his head had grown a significant amount overnight. I immediately took him to the pediatrician and found out his head had grown an inch and a half in exactly seven days. His pediatrician then sent us to Riley Hospital for Children for Jeremy to get a CAT scan done, just to make sure everything was okay. I knew in the back of my head that everything wasn’t okay. By this point, Jeremy had stopped eating, and would sleep 24 hours a day if you would let him, and just by looking at him, you could tell something wasn’t right. On that day, our world came crashing down. Our 22 day old son was diagnosed with brain cancer. He had a golf ball size tumor located on the top of his brain stem. Jeremy then was taken back for an MRI for a better view of the tumor, and was then taking to emergency surgery to get a shunt placed. The tumor had blocked the ventricles in his brain from draining his spinal fluid down into his stomach. The shunt was placed behind his right ear, and a tube ran down his chest, and into this stomach to drain the spinal fluid for him. Since the spinal fluid hadn’t been draining, Jeremy had an intense amount of pressure on his head which caused him a great deal of pain, and it is also what caused his head to grow so fast.
After surgery, we got to see Jeremy in the PICU at Riley. I walked into his room, and I will never forget the site I saw. Jeremy was on a ventilator that was breathing for him, he had three IV’s, and several tubes that surrounded him. After two days, Jeremy came off the ventilator and started breathing on his own. That same day, we received devastating news. The location of the tumor makes it impossible for the doctors to diagnose the kind of cancer that Jeremy has. Therefore, Jeremy could not receive chemotherapy to get rid of the tumor. After a full body CAT scan, we learned that Jeremy’s cancer had spread down his spine, and there were two spots on his lung. That was our last hope to find out what kind of cancer our son has. Jeremy underwent his second surgery on November 6th. The doctors collapsed his lung looking for the two spots that were on the CAT scan. They turned out to be blood clots that would have dissolved. The spots that ran down his spine, were to small to biopsy. After several more tests, we were told our son had two weeks to two months to live. Jeremy was then sent home on Hospice care and living what we thought would be the last days of life.
While at home, Jeremy’s shunt stopped working, he then went into a coma. He couldn’t have his shunt fixed, because his body was too weak to go through surgery. He dropped down below his birth weight, his body weighed 3 ½ pounds, and his head weighed 4 pounds. I knew if we got some of the spinal fluid taken off his head, there was possibility that he might come out of the coma. We then returned to the Riley ER on November 22, and Jeremy’s neurosurgeon put a needle into the shunt, and drew off several ounces of spinal fluid. We were told that night that Jeremy had 2-3 hours to live. Our world came crashing down again…my sons life now had a time on it. We then returned home, and stayed up all night with Jeremy. Amazingly, a week later, our son was still holding on…he wasn’t ready to go. I received a call from Jeremy’s oncologist saying that from the spinal fluid taken from Jeremy’s head, they were able to determine what kind of cancer Jeremy has. They were 80% sure that Jeremy had Germinoma, or "Germ Cell". The doctor said that with chemo, the tumor would melt away like an ice cube. We took him back to Riley to start chemo. That night, Jeremy had a central line placed into his chest, it is like a more permanent IV that is sewn into the skin. Two days later, Jeremy started three different kinds of chemo. Over the coarse of a month, Jeremy would receive 10 days of treatment, with three different kinds of chemo each night. On January 5th, after two rounds of chemo, Jeremy started acting different. He wasn’t responsive, he didn’t want to eat, and his head was noticeably bigger. We took him back to the ER at Riley. After a CAT scan and an X-Ray of the shunt, it was determined that Jeremy’s shunt had stopped working. Within a few hours, Jeremy was back on the operating table. His shunt was fixed, and you could immediately tell a difference in him. Two days later, Jeremy’s neurosurgeon ordered an MRI. After she ordered it, she came to check on Jeremy, she immediately had the same thought I did. That Jeremy’s shunt had failed again. This is caused by the protein in Jeremy’s spinal fluid. The protein comes from the tumor, and makes it very thick like syrup, and clogs the shunt. They like the protein level to be between 15-40, Jeremy’s level was 1,257. The protein won’t go away until the tumor is gone. Dr. Ackerman then said we could try one last valve on the shunt. It’s the biggest they have and basically the most powerful, but there was still only a 50/50 chance it would work. Surgery was scheduled for that evening, but in the mean time, Jeremy received his MRI. We were waiting for impatiently for the results. The scan would tell us how much the tumor had shrunk since the beginning of chemo. I knew in my heart it was going away-Jeremy was doing so much better! I will never forget the conversation I had with Dr. Ackerman before Jeremy went into surgery. The results showed that the tumor had not shrunk, and it was not germ cell like that thought. There was no more they could do for our little boy. My heart broke into 100 million pieces-I wish I could just take this from him. I wish God could take the pain away from him, and give it to me. I just wanted my little boy to be happy and healthy.
Jeremy went into surgery that night, and did very well. The next day, we were released from Riley. We decided not to go on Hospice because we know how to administer all his meds, change his dressings, and everything else. I then asked for Jeremy’s records to be sent down to St. Jude. It was basically our last hope. I wanted to try every option, I was not giving up. Two days after they were sent, St. Jude responded and said they would not accept him. They believe Jeremy’s has one of two kinds of cancer, both if can be removed, are still fatal. For the third time, our world came crashing down. I didn’t understand, I was mad at everyone and mad at the world. Why does Jeremy have to go through this? He doesn’t deserve it.
Jeremy came home weighing 10lbs. 3oz., and eating on his own. He also was on nutrition 24/7 called TPN. It is all the vitamins and nutrients he needs. Now, he weighs 16lbs. 8oz. and is off TPN. Clinically, Jeremy’s time is limited, but I know that’s not true. Jeremy is the strongest person I have ever met, he has been fighting since before he was born, and I know he will continue to do so.
Since Jeremy was diagnosed, I look at everything different. I have noticed that a lot of people aren’t grateful they have healthy children, they expect it. I’m so sick of children getting yelled at because they are crying in the middle of the store, drawling on the wall, wetting the bed, and screaming when they don’t get what they want. Parents don’t realize how lucky they are. I would give up everything I have to hear Jeremy’s sweet cry one more time, see him smile, or even roll over. Please don’t take your kids health for granted, instead thank God that He has blessed you. You really don’t know how lucky you are.
Thank you all for the support you have shown, and the support you will continue to show. We have a long road ahead of us, and I know you guys will all be right there cheering Jeremy on. May God Bless you & your families.
-Allie
