Zachary David Martin Photo Album UPDATE: 8-4-07 Where do I start? I cannot believe that Zachary has started Kindergarten! Today was his first day at school, and I took him through the carpool lane, like I have so many times before at his old Preschool. I thought - I will be just fine - no big deal, I mean, he's been going to Preschool since he was in the 3 year old class. This is no different......WRONG!!! Oh my.....Zach got out of the car, said "I love you Mommy" and off he went! I drove my car towards the end of the building to leave and burst into tears!!! I literally sobbed off and on for 2 hours after that, just not believing that my little man has grown up so much. He has come so far in his 5 1/2 little years. It's sometimes impossible to believe that this little boy is the same baby that laid in ICU for 14 days when he was 6 months old after his tumor resection when he was going through chemotherapy. It's so hard to believe that his sparkling little eyes and that devilish little laugh come from that same little innocent baby who was diagnosed cancer when he was 10 weeks old. So, I cried and cried....tears of joy and happiness and my heart swelled with pride knowing that my little man is healthy enough to attend Kindergarten. He is an inspiration every day and a testament of God's power and how He can work miracles without us even knowing it. Zachary had a hearing test just before school started and again, he has NO hearing loss at all. I can't do anything but thank Dr. George for suggesting the clinical trial for Amifostine and thank God that we were chosen by the computer for this trial. I believe with all my heart that drug, along with God of course, helped Zachary's body have the desired effect - decreased high frequency hearing loss and kidney damage. We are SO incredibly blessed that his only side effect we have seen is on his teeth. We have a great pediatric dentist, so that's taken care of, too! Backtracking a bit....we have had a wonderful summer! Zach graduated in May from Pre-K, and then in June, we had a bowling party to celebrate his FIVE YEAR OFF CHEMO ANNIVERSARY!!! Every year, we have a party to celebrate his being off chemo but this one was a biggie! Everyone had a blast, and the kids are so hilarious when bowling. In July we went to Pigeon Forge, TN and visited Dollywood, NASCAR Speed Park and Ripley's Aquarium. We had a lot of fun and it was a nice getaway for about 5 days. Other than that, not much is happening in the Martin household. We work every day, Zach goes to school every day, and every day, we are thankful for the time we are given with each other. Life is a blessing....every day should be lived as if it is your last. Tomorrow is never promised.....I am the luckiest woman I know. I have the most awesome husband and the most special little boy. I am truly blessed. Thanks for checking in on us - as always, your support and prayers mean so much to us, and have helped sustain us through Zachary's journey. Love to all - God bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary Previous update from May 4th: Well, it's already been another three months since our Survivor Clinic visit and six months since we saw Dr. George last! We had our visit with Dr. George on Wednesday this week and the results are in - chest x-rays are clear and his latest AFP is 2.15! Praise GOD! It's so hard to believe we are now going (technically) only every year even though we'll go back in 9 months to Survivor Clinic. As I suspected, we have been 'released' to them now, BUT....Dr. George has clinic on the Survivor Clinic days, so we will still see him 'pop in' during those visits too! He said we could alternate years (yes, YEARS!) with him - see Survivor Clinic one year, him the next, etc. I, of course - you would not expect any different! - asked him why Survivor Clinic did not draw an AFP and he did not know. He smiled and agreed with me that there is no reason NOT to test it annually and he would certainly approve it at my request during these visits! I do love him so much - he understands how important that number is to me and agreed it did not hurt anything to check it out. So, outside of all that great news, we had a BLAST at Walt Disney World and I promise pictures will be posted soon. We took over 2 GIG of pictures of our own , and we've ordered the Photo Pass CD from Disney of all the pics their photographers took - they are great and as soon as we get the CD in and can get some free time, I'll put some on the site for you to enjoy. Zach 'saw them all' - Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Peter Pan, Wendy, Captain Hook, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, etc. I could go on and on.....with two autograph books full, we did some serious character 'meet and greets'!! We are now gearing up for Graduation....yes, graduation from Pre-K! I'll get those pics on the site too as soon as they come in. Zach has a little white cap and gown and it breaks my heart but makes me beaming with pride to see him grow so strong and healthy. We are SO incredibly blessed with all that God has bestowed upon us. It is overwhelming to know how far he has come and how far he has yet to go....one day at at time. In the meantime, I am going to try to start living life more 'in the moment'. I think I have tended to live oncology visit to oncology visit, living for the next AFP and chest x-ray result...I know I have to let go and LIVE each day to the fullest with my wonderful husband and my special, special little miracle. He is a blessing that we thank God for each and every day. Some of my next few days will be spent planning our 'FIVE Years Off Chemo' party! June 14th marks 5 years since Zach got his last 'push' of 5FU. Time flies...so fast! We haven't decided where yet, but we're definitely going to do some serious celebrating!!!! May God bless all of you - we are so touched by your continued support and prayers. Thank you all! Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 2-23-07 The Survivor Clinic called with our lab results - good thing I did not wait on them for the AFP - I would surely have been a total basket case!!! The things they tested were: CBC/diff, Urinalysis, Basic metabolic workup, and AFP (at MY request, of course). All of these things were reported to me as being 'normal' and that they would see us in a year. That was it - no numbers given, nothing - just that he's doing great. They inquired on his audiogram and I told them what we were told and she thought that sounded like a good plan. So that is our word for the day - or for the year, actually....normal. He's NORMAL....perfectly normal......*sweet sigh of relief*..... Love to all and God bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 2-17-07 We had our visit at Survivor Clinic on Tuesday, the 13th. Zach was really funny because he informed me that 'this was NOT Survivor Clinic, it WAS Dr. George's office!' It is indeed seemingly the same place, as we go to the 4th floor and you are triaged the very same way, etc. They did do bloodwork and when I asked, they were NOT going to pull an AFP. I requested one....I can't help it, but if they are going to draw labs, I want the AFP. They did send it in, but the Survivor Clinic doctor (Dr. Karen) laughed and said 'We won't do one for LIFE, though!'. They also do NOT do chest x-rays which is so surprising to me - the very two things we have followed so closely for 5 years, they don't check for at these visits!!! My security blanket is fraying....it's calling for the trash can and yet I cannot throw it away just yet. That having been said, I 'won' and we did get an AFP and it was awesome - 1.45!!!! We will see Dr. George in May for our visit with him, but I have a very strong suspicion that he will tell me he is turning us over to Survivor Clinic. That is technically WONDERFUL, and we ARE rejoicing in this, but it is SO VERY HARD (at least for me - Shane is in such a better place with this than I am) to let it go and have our visits be annually (which is when they said we have to come back to Survivor Clinic - NEXT YEAR!!!). I will ask Dr. George why they do not do the AFP and chest x-rays in May - the curiosity will get the better of me, and I will have to know WHY!!! Other than that, we had his hearing test and it was just perfect. He had a little bit of negative pressure in his right ear which made one of the tests a little less perfect, but based on all the ear infections we've had this winter, I'm not surprised. His hearing seems to be just fine, but to be on the safe side, we're getting re-testing in 6 months. I'd rather be safe than sorry, but as of now, still NO hearing loss at all!!! Next stop for us is Walt Disney World!!! We will spend 5 CRAZY days with the Mouse and his friends - or as Zach would tell you - we are visiting Aladdin, Jasmine and Abu!!! OH - and Peter Pan, too!!! He's just a LITTLE obsessed with all of them! We will post pictures after vacation of course, and hopefully some more before then! Love to all of you - thanks for continuing to check in and pray for us! God bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 1-26-07 It's hard to believe it's 2007 already!!! We are hoping and praying that 2007 is a GREAT year for us and that Zachary continues to thrive and stay as healthy as ever! It's funny, but this winter seems to have plagued him with ear infections, but you know what? We'll take it!! Ear infections are soooooo NORMAL! We contacted AFLAC this week and we have our first appointment at the Survivor Clinic on February 13th. We are not really sure yet what all that will entail, but it's definitely a step continued in the right direction! We will still see Dr. George and get evaulated by him, but evenutally, we will only attend Survivor Clinic. Yes, it's a GOOD THING! We are waiting on an appointment for his yearly audiogram and that is pretty much it. It is totally amazing to us (and Zachary's oncologist, Dr. George) that he has NO hearing loss whatsoever - Zach just continues to defy the odds! Provided our visit with Dr. George in May goes as good as the last ones, we will be nearing our 5 year mark for being off Chemotherapy - it's amazing.....HE is amazing!!! We just keep praying, and believe that God will continue to take care of our little miracle! We all had a wonderful Christmas and Zachary was completely spoiled....I know, not much of a surprise there!!! Oh well...we just can't help it and Santa just really managed to get EVERYTHING on Zachary's list, so that worked out nicely for him!! We stayed home for the New Year and just celebrated here like we normally do. Anyone who knows us knows we are 'boring homebodies'!! That having been said, things are pretty quiet in the Martin household - nothing much new to report. We are getting all geared up to go to Walt Disney World in April. Zachary is BESIDE himself and is so very excited. Honestly, we ALL are! We have intentionally waited to take him until he was 5 or so, just to be sure he would really be able to 'take it all in' and enjoy it! We will spend 5 glorious, jam packed, fun-filled days in the park and are staying in the park as well. Zachary is OBSESSED with Aladdin, Jasmine and Peter Pan. Hopefully with the re-release of Peter Pan in March he will make more of an appearance at the park, as right now he's not one of the 'main characters' really. Outside of that, we are just enjoying each day as it is a gift - that is how life should be lived. If nothing else, Zachary's cancer journey has taught us that - Live each day to the fullest - tomorrow is never promised. We live, laugh and play as much as we can. Zachary is such a bright, bright part of our lives - we are SO very blessed! We will post updates to our Survivor Clinic visit and the audiogram as we have the appointments and have results/information. May God continue to bless each and every one of you - thanks for continuing to check in on our little miracle! Shane, Amiee and Zachary November 20th update: YAY!!! NOVEMBER AFP IS 2.21!!! YIPPIE, YAHOO, PRAISE GOD!!! Update from November 17th visit: 2:30PM update - Quoted from Miss Erica: "Chest x-rays are FINE"!!! AFP to follow soon! Zachary has been to the 'regular' doctor lately for a cough that will NOT go away. After the second visit, we made them take x-rays and low and behold....it appears he might have a touch of pneumonia! Jeesh...we should be doctors! We've finished up our antibiotics and are doing breathing treatments now. That having been said, we were a little more nervous than usual going into this visit, but we just have to trust in God and know he will continue to take care of our little man. First results are that he's fine - Dr. George 'feels our pain' with the lung paranoia, which is what makes us love him so much! Of course, to torture us more, the radiologist had not read the x-rays by the time we left, despite waiting for Dr. George for 45 minutes! The fact is, we know he's being treated for the stuff in his lungs, and truly DON'T expect a clear chest x-ray, so we'll see. The AFP is what we will be be waiting for mostly. We'll probably have that on Monday. Exciting news is that TECHNICALLY we do not have to go back for a YEAR! I can't believe that - and was not really ready to not see them for a year!!! He laughed and said we could come as often as we wanted, so we settled on 6 more months :) We will also be going to 'Survivor Clinic' soon - it is in 3-4 months, so we'll see what that brings! Additionally, we have been contacted by the University of Minnesota to participate in a study to try to find out if there is a common factor in what causes Hepatoblastoma. That is the coolest thing EVER - how awesome would it be to have participated in finding WHY kids end up with this terrible disease, when right now we don't know what causes it!?!? We are VERY excited to participate and hope and pray the study is successful and will keep others from having to endure what our son, and so many other children, have had to endure! Until then, all we can do is pray....pray and try to get some rest. We will post updates as we have them. Hopefully, Erica will call today with a 'chest x-rays were fine' report and we will just get that AFP on Monday! Until then, God Bless you all! Thanks for checking in on us! Shane, Amiee and Zachary (Previous post) Time flies when you are having fun! Our little miracle turned FIVE on October 26th. We cannot believe how much he's doing now and how grown up he is. The party was a HUGE success - it was a Pirates of the Carribbean party and all the kids left with Pirate hats, glow in the dark swords, hook hands, telescopes, eye patches and loot boxes! We hope everyone enjoyed attending as much as we did having you there! We only had one mishap - our Pirate Cake arrived and was 'shipwrecked'! Instead of crying (which is what I wanted to do), I called and the nice people at Publix made us a new cake within 30 minutes and it was perfect! We go back to Oncology on November 17th - start your prayer engines now that all will be well - chest x-rays will be clear and the AFP will be LOW, LOW, LOW! This is our first visit on our 6-month span....Amiee's getting a little bit nervous already, but we just sit back, wait and let God do the rest! God bless you all - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 8-11-06 August Update:  Hello everyone!  There's not a lot to say really - we don't have much going on except for getting ready for school to start back!  We cannot believe it's already time for school and all the fun times that go along with it.  That being said, we are also gearing up for our 5th birthday party!!  It seems so unbelievable that Zachary is already turning 5 years old.  We are SO incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful little boy.  He has to be the funniest, most loving little boy EVER!  Of course, one 'might' argue we are a little biased....but oh well!  The summer has been a blast, with vacation and celebration of life after we passed our '4 year off chemo' mark in June.  We really don't EVER consider ourselves 'out of the woods', but just give thanks to God for all He has done in our lives to keep Zachary happy and healthy, and keep us together as a family.  Team-Martin is still going strong, and we plan on one HECK of a blowout party for our little miracle in October!!   God bless you all - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 5-19-06 Update from 5/12 visit:  Not a lot to tell except we have clear scans, a GREAT report from Dr. George and we are waiting on AFP results.  Hopefully we will have that on Monday, but so far, so good - PRAISE GOD!!!  We don't even have a date for our next visit as it will be SIX MONTHS from now (provided the AFP behaves correctly, of course!).  Check back next week for that all important number - for now, we are just celebrating and enjoying LIFE!!  UPDATE: 2-24-06 February AFP was 4!!!  Miss Erica called us today with the great news that it's 4 again!!!!  Woo hoo - we could not be more pleased!  Praise God we are still looking great! Update!  Zach's AFP for February is still being processed, but....our visit today was wonderful!  We started our full day off with chest x-rays and then we waited for a while for our Audiogram at 11:30.   The audiogram showed (much to my surprise and disbelief given that he doesn't seem to hear a word we say) that he has NO hearing loss at all - NONE!  We all (us, oncologist, etc.) are so amazed but grateful that he has not had any hearing loss despite having 6 rounds of Cisplatin.  We then saw Dr. George after getting bloodwork drawn (fun, fun, fun!!) and he gave him a 'he's perfect!' review!  He and Miss Pam - a new practitioner we saw today - think he's doing wonderful and his physical exam was outstanding.  We also got a 'clear scans' result when we saw them!  So, we left knowing he looks great, feels great, his lungs are clear and his hearing is perfect.  We wait for the AFP for more confirmation, but so far, so good!  Our next visit is in May.  That is our last 'three month' visit.  We hit the '4 years off chemo' milestone in June, so we will go every 6 months then!  I believe they said once we get to 5 years, we will come back YEARLY!  I can't even imagine THAT long between visits!    Thanks for checking in on us and for your continued prayers and support.  We love all of you and appreciate you going through all of this with us!   God bless all of you - Shane, Amiee and Zachary   UPDATE: 12-2-05 Update!  Zach's AFP for November is 4!!!  Miss Stephanie returned our call and they had already gotten the AFP back and it is still awesome!!!!   Praise to God for all his wonderful workings on our miracle!!! UPDATE: 11-29-05 Well, today proved to be yet another 'uneventful' visit to see Dr. George.  Thank you to all who were praying with us!!  Nothing really 'new' to report - the chest x-rays are clear (YIPPIE - thank you Miss Stephanie for the phone call!!!) and we should get the AFP in a few days.  Dr. George said he looks wonderful....simply wonderful :)  We will go back in 3 months to 'do it all again', but it doesn't matter - I'll take it!  If he told me to be there every month for 4 years for follow up, I'd do it gladly!  It's proving to be quite a 'feat' to get the bloodwork drawn as Zach knows what's coming now and he is strong, strong, strong!!!  Thank goodness Miss Brenda is quick and can get that vein with one stick even with our little miracle kicking and screaming (literally!!!).  We wished Dr. George Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and said we'd see him in 2006!!!   We'll update with the AFP as soon as we get it - thanks again for your continued prayers and support - we love you all!!!   God bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 11-8-05 As promised, here are pictures from the Spongebob Birthday Blowout!!  We had Zachary's party on October 22nd and it was so much fun!  We had a wonderful turn-out (about 45 people) and all of the kids seemed to have a really awesome time.  As you can see from the 'Home page', we had a few 'visitors' stop by - Squidward, Spongebob, Patrick and Sandy Cheeks all dropped in for some photo opportunities and the kids all got to 'hang out' with the clan from Bikini Bottom!  The characters were all compliments of our awesome family - Amiee's Uncle Van was Squidward, 'Super-Daddy' Shane was Spongebob, Grandma Carolyn was Patrick and Aunt Heather was Sandy Cheeks.  Grandma Carolyn and Aunt Heather made the Patrick and Sandy Cheeks costumes.....they really SHOULD go into business for this stuff!!   A HUGE Thank you goes out to everyone who helped us pull off this years birthday bash - we love you ALL so much and could not have done this without your love, support and assistance!   Wednesday the 26th I think we will have a small, family affair at Chuck E. Cheese for the Z-man's 'actual' birthday.  We just want him to know how loved he is and how much he has come through.  He is our miracle, our hope, our inspiration for everything we do.      God bless everyone - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 9-17-05 Yippie - Labs are in!!!  SEPTEMBER AFP IS 4 !!!!!   We went to our regularly scheduled visit today with Amiee a complete 'basketcase',  but after the scare in June/July, it's just the 'Mommy' in her!  Nothing special to report so far - the chest X-rays WERE read before we left, and Dr. George was happy to report that they were (in his words) 'Perfect'!  We like 'Perfect' a LOT!  The radiologist said that they didn't see anything at all from what they saw in June, so for now, we just take it one day at a time, one month at at time and go back to visit again December 6th!  It was nice to leave wishing Dr. George "Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving - see you before Christmas!".  He in turn also wished the Z-man a happy 4th birthday, which is coming up, just around the corner - we can't believe it!   Of course, we will post that ever-needed AFP as soon as we have it, but thank you to everyone who still checks in on us and still prays for us - it means the world to us here at the Martin household!   God bless all of you - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 8-25-05 No doctor report for now - just thought we'd put an update out on how we were all doing!   Things have been very busy lately!  As you can see from the pictures, Zachary started Pre-school at Blackshear Place Baptist Church on August 15th.  He goes three days a week and is having a good time from what we can tell so far :)   His teachers are so very nice and I hope it will be a great year for him!   I think a lot of it will be review for him in the beginning as he already knows his colors, numbers, shapes and ABC's, but mostly it's a good experience for him to get used to a 'school' environment.  We LOVE our sitter, and she's done such a great job with him, but the whole school atmosphere is something new for him and he will HAVE to get used to it!!  So, for now, we're just getting in the routine of going three days a week for 4 hours a day and settling in.   That's about it for now.  Not much is going on, which is nice.  Boring is nice..we like boring a lot!  Our next Oncology visit is Sepetmber 6th (right after Labor Day holiday!), so we'll post our results from that visit after we have them.  Until then, we hope everyone is doing wonderful and thank you for all your prayers and support!  You can NEVER have too many prayers!!!     God bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 7-1-05 The follow-up bloodwork is scheduled for July 5th, and the CT scan is on July 8th. We will update the site with the results as soon as we have them. Thank you for your prayers and continued support! UPDATE: 6-6-05 Doctor visit from June 3rd: Everyone: Well, things have been sort scary around here lately....actually, VERY scary. We had our latest visit at Dr. George's office on June 3rd (our 10 year wedding anniversary :). We had the usual chest x-rays, bloodwork and office visit. All seemed to be just fine - perfect per Dr. George's examination. The chest x-rays had not been read by the time we saw Dr. George, but I had not seen anything that startled me on the x-rays so we figured all was well. I guess sometimes you just need a little 'jab' to make you realize how lucky you are to have such a beautiful little boy, but we could do without the drama, that is for sure! At pretty much exactly the time of our anniversary (4:23 pm), Dr. George called. I knew it could not be good news, as they usually don't have the AFP results back yet, and only call if there is room for concern. That was indeed the nature of the call. There is apparently some 'shading' around the edge of his right lung that made Dr. George nervous. The only saving grace that kept us sort of sane, was that Dr. George did not feel like it looked like tumor. He was not sure WHAT it was, but it didn't look like tumor and the bloodwork (AFP) would give us more indication of what was going on regarding the possibility of the cancer recurring. He ordered a CT scan for Thursday, June 9th to see if we can determine what is going on. Zach currently has had a cough, so maybe this is just God's way of making us aware that it's something more than 'just a summer cold'. Only time will tell and we will update this as soon as we have results from the scan. After MANY, MANY tears and prayers, we got the AFP first thing Monday morning (June 6th). It was 5, which is so AWESOME! Praise God!!! We are all so incredibly relieved as this gives us a LOT more hope that Dr. George is right - it's not a tumor - and that the cancer has not spread to his lungs. After the CT scan we should have a better handle on what is going on. Thank you to everyone who didn't mind us calling late on Friday night to pray for us, and for holding us up through this incredibly tough weekend. We still have some results to get back, but at least now we can breathe a little easier knowing that the AFP is such a strong marker for his type of cancer. God bless all of you - we will update again soon. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Take care and God Bless! Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 3-21-05 Everyone: More good news to report after 3 more months - Zach's chest x-rays were still clear and his AFP was 7! Dr. George is so amazed at how much Zach has grown and how great he is doing. He so very pleased. We still go every 3 months until he's been off chemo for 4 years, but that is just fine with us. It allows all to keep a close watch on him and get his bloodwork checked to make sure things are all in good order! Things around the Martin household have been really pretty normal. Shane and I go to work, Zach goes to his sitter and then we all have family time in the evenings and on weekends. Zach is a typical 3 1/2 year old - so smart and into everything! He never ceases to amaze us with what he knows, says and does! It's all so enjoyable to see him grow and flourish into such a happy, healthy little boy. So hard to believe, but we registered him for pre-school for this fall already! It's just going by so fast....a bittersweet time for all - so glad to see him get older and stay healthy, yet hate to see him grow up so fast! We hope all is well with each one of you and we appreciate all of the prayers you have continued to supply us with - it means so very much to all of us! Take care and God Bless! Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 12-10-04 Doctor visit from December 7th: Everyone: Hi again - we are back with another 3 month update and wonderful news! We went to visit Dr. George on Dec. 7th and had the usual - chest x-ray, blood work and a physical examination. Everything checked out just perfect, and Zach seems to be on a roll - his AFP was 5 again! That's 3 times in a row - hey, we're NOT complaining! Outside of that, things are pretty much normal. We took Zachary to see "The Wiggles" around his birthday in October, "Finding Nemo on Ice" in November, and just yesterday (Dec. 8th) we went to see "Blue's Clues Live! Blues Birthday Party!" Zachary really seemed to enjoy them all, but even as he gets older, his favorites are still....Greg, Murray, Anthony and Jeff - The Wiggles!!! We hope this finds you happy and healthy during this holiday season. May God bless all of you and we hope you all have a VERY Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Take care and God Bless! Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 12-5-04 We are going to the Oncologist this coming Tuesday. Between now and then, just please pray for a great visit - we will update our page on Tuesday when we have that information, and again once the AFP comes back. Thank you so much for your prayers and concerns - God bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 9-17-04 LATEST DOCTOR VISIT REPORT BELOW: ZACH'S AFP IS 5 again!!!!! Doctor visit from September 7th: Everyone: Back again - so fast the time passes! We went to visit Dr. George on the 7th and one again God has blessed us with an excellent visit! The chest x-rays were clear, AFP was 5 and all of the other bloodwork was normal, too. Dr. George was VERY pleased with Zachary's progress. We have a little over 2 years off therapy 'under our belt', and Dr. George said he was very happy, but would be MORE happy with 2 more years off therapy! We'll take what we can get - every day is a blessing and our little miracle just keeps on making us laugh and smile! We are already on the verge of our THIRD birthday - can you believe it??? October is goung to be a busy month - we will visit the dentist for the first time on October 19th, go back to the pediatrician for our 3 year check up AND have our BLUES CLUES Birthday party!! Check back throughout the month of October to see the new pictures of all the 'goings on'! Thanks for visiting the site and for your continued prayers and support - we couldn't do it without all of you pulling for us! Take care and God Bless! Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 6-10-04 LATEST DOCTOR VISIT REPORT BELOW: ZACH'S AFP IS 5 !!!!!! Doctor visit from June 4th: Everyone: Already 3 months have passed and it was time to go back to see the doctors again! This was a really neat visit, though, because the AFLAC Cancer and Blood Disorders 'corner' is now an entire floor! They have a beautiful new floor in the same building at Children's Healthcare. It's absolutely HUGE compared to the amount of space they were working in before. So very deserving for all of those children who need it and the people that work there who 'make it all happen for the kids'! So, we did the usual - went to have x-rays and then up to the new floor for bloodwork and a doctor visit. Zachary did pretty good all in all. He is definitely 2 1/2 now and pitched two fits in the waiting room because we are still learning to 'share and take turns' with the new games that were available to play with!! He cried harder from having to 'share' than he did when they did the bloodwork! After that, we went to one of the new rooms and saw Miss Melissa. She is one of Dr. George's nurse practitioners. I was hoping we'd see Dr. George himself since it had been 5 months since we had seen him, but alas....he is now the Medical Director there and is a little busier these days! What a surprise to us, but we are very happy for him and know he will do great things for the AFLAC center. Miss Stephanie took us on a tour of the entire floor after our visit, and then we were 'outta there' for a while! So, the AFP was 5, chest x-rays were clear, and we don't go back for another 3 months! Remember, even though his AFP went up from 2 to 5, it's still fine. This count will fluctuate for all of us from day to day, so as long as it's in the normal range (0-15), we are thrilled!!! We will go for a hearing test sometime soon - still waiting to get a callback for an appt. date, but otherwise, we are all doing just great!!! Take care and God Bless! Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 3-08-04 LATEST DOCTOR VISIT REPORT BELOW: ZACH'S AFP IS 2 - THE LOWEST IT'S EVER BEEN!!!! Doctor visit from March 5th: Everyone: Well, as time passes and things get to a more 'normal' status, I guess we are allowed to have complete memory loss. Amiee decided to do this last Friday when she drove into work, and realized when she looked at her calendar that Zachary had DOCTOR APPOINTMENTS THAT DAY!!! What a whirlwind it became from that point on. What you might need to know is that we both work about 45-50 minutes from home, and live about 45 minutes in another direction from the doctor's offices!!! So, off Amiee went, BACK to get Zachary (who's Aunt Heather so graciously met her in Buford rather than her having to drive all the way back to their house) and made it down to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta in the nick of time to not be late to our appointments! Jeesh.....what a DAY!! Usually we get chest x-rays done before the bloodwork and oncology visit, but not so on Friday. Nonetheless, we visited Nurse Terry, as Dr. George was doing rounds in the hospital that week, and she was very please with Zachary's growth and that he seemed to be just perfect! He was a true angel during all the tests - usually we have a battle getting a blood pressure reading (he just does NOT like that!), but he sat there and played with the bubbles and laughed and everything went really smoothly. Despite him having a little stomach bug earlier in the week, he's been the picture of health! The chest x-rays were clear, and as you probably read above, his AFP was 2! Thanks for checking back on our little miracle, and we hope all of you are doing well!! Take care and God Bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 1-10-04 Doctor visit from January 5th: Everyone: Like most of the updates as of late, this is also a short update, but all with EXCELLENT news!!! We went to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and saw Dr. George on January 5th. We had all the usual tests done again - x-rays, lab work, physical exam. Zachary is sitll doing awesome - the chest x-rays were clear and the bloodwork was all normal - the AFP is 6 again this time!!! We don't go back until March 5th, but we are getting used to the visits being every-other month apart now. It was hard at first - we got so comfortable knowing EVERY month what Zach's AFP was, but it's all a step in the right direction. He is growing incredibly - every day brings something new. A "Hey Momma, Hey Dada" just brings a huge smile to both of our faces and we know that God has truly blessed us!!! Take care and God Bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 11-26-03 Doctor visit from October 28th: Everyone: Again, there's a short and sweet update. We had a very busy day on October 28th as we had appointments everywhere - Pediatrician, Oncologist and then....The Wiggles!!! First, we visited Linda Remlinger (if you have not see her, she is on the Doctors and Nurses page) and she simply could not believe how he had grown! He's doing great - got a flu shot (we all three did) and then we left there. Next stop - X-rays at Children's Healthcare. Those went well and then we went to see Dr. George. There we had the usual tests done again - lab work, physical exam. Zachary seems to be looking great - the chest x-rays were clear and the bloodwork was all normal - the AFP is 6!!! The pediatrician asked us to check with Dr. George to see if he could have a new type of vaccine (not sure how to spell it - Numavax??) and he could, so they went ahead and gave him that in his other leg!!! A lunch stop at the Varsity and an hour later, we were at the Civic Center waiting to see Zachary's favorite - The Wiggles!!! He had not had a nap at all, seen doctors all morning and had two shots, so he was not exactly as 'perky' as we'd have hoped, but we still think he had a great time! Take care and God Bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 9-16-03 Doctor visit from August 18th: Everyone: We have been completely remiss in updating the site, and for this we do apologize completely! Things have been so hectic lately - we've been planning Zach's second birthday party - can you believe it?? It's no excuse for not letting you know how our 'peanut' is doing and we will do better in the future...we promise! FORTUNATELY....there's a short and sweet update. We went to see Dr. George again on the 18th of August and we had the whole gammet of tests done again - chest x-rays, lab work, physical exam. God has truly blessed us, as Zachary seems to be growing perfectly and everything still looks great - no masses visible in the x-rays, and his bloodwork all looks normal - the AFP is 8 and Dr. George could not be happier. The visits are pretty short nowadays - we don't see Dr. George for very long, but that's OK - we know he needs to spend longer periods of time with other patients, and we've certainly had our share of his attention in the past! This also means, there's just not much for thim to 'check out'!!!! Our next visit is October 28th - we will see the Pediatrician for our 2 year checkup and later that day....we will be taking Zach to see....THE WIGGLES!!! We'll update the site with results from the doctor visits and Wiggles pictures after that! Hope all is well with everyone - we will be putting new pictures of Zachary out on the site soon - you won't believe how he's grown! Take care and God Bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 6-23-03 LATEST DOCTOR VISIT REPORT BELOW: ZACH'S AFP IS 5!!!! Doctor visit from June 17th: Everyone: We had our latest visit on June 17th - what a busy day it was! First, we had chest x-rays done, then we went and had a hearing test. After that, it was off to have labwork and then to see Dr. George! We had not seen him in a while - several months, at least. The official x-ray results were not back yet, but we all agreed that if there had been a problem, they would have called right away. We still have not heard anything (two days later), for this - no news is good news!!. The hearing test went good - Zach's hearing is within the normal range, so the Amifostine seems to have done what it was supposed to do so far! Initial labwork looked great - Dr. George was very pleased with the results and how Zachary is growing. He thinks he looks great, and doesn't need to see us for two more months! Next trip - sometime in August! Thanks for your continued prayers - we appreciate every time we are asked, "How's Zach doing?". It lets us know everyone is still thinking of us and keeping him in their thoughts - for that, we thank you. As soon as we have AFP results, we'll let you know. It was 3 in April - hopefully it will continue to stay in the single digit range! The report is in - Zach's AFP is 5 for this visit! Take care and God Bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 4-11-03 We went back on April 3rd for our latest visit. We had chest x-rays done and the usual bloodwork drawn. The chest x-rays showed notthing at all except clear lungs for Mr. Zachary! He has progressed so far in his follow up visits that we are now on an every two-months basis! It is a huge step - we are very used to going every month, but the doctors felt it was time to start spreading the visits out some. That having been said, we are not scheduled to go back until June - the month of our "one year off therapy anniversary"!!! We waited on pins and needles for the AFP to come back this month since it was a little higher than usual last month, but everything's still great - it's back down to 3 this month! He's growing so fast, but thanks to God and modern medicine, we are allowed to see his progress every day. Thanks to all of you who are still keeping us in your prayers - we appreciate it very much. It's nice to know so many people are standing beside you during the good times and the bad! May God Bless each and every one of you! Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 3-13-03 We had our visit on the 13th and everything was normal. No chest x-rays this month - we'll do those next time. The doctor said Zach was fine - he looked perfect and was very pleased with him. The AFP resutls came back, and even though they are not a single digit, 14 is still within the normal range of 0-15. We ALL prefer something lower, but the doctors are not concerned and the feeling is that if the AFP was going to elevate, it would REALLY jump up - in the thousands. Dr. George had told us before that it could bounce around a little, and it has been 11 and 13 before and then back down to 6 and 7. So, just say an extra prayer or two if you don't mind. We go back on April 3rd for another visit. We'll do X-rays and the bloodwork, so hopefully the AFP will be back down to single digits again. Take care and God Bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 1-13-03 Hi - We just wanted to share our great news with you for 'our spot' on your websites - things are looking so great for our little miracle! Thank you for continuing to pray for Zach and for allowing us to be part of your sites. So many people have found us through your sites, we appreciate your connection with them, and hope we have been able to help them as much as they have helped us. Thanks again - God bless you and yours! Shane, Amiee and Zach Update for January 13, 2003: The results are in from our latest visit - Zach's latest AFP is 6 !!!! We had our monthly visit with Dr. George on January 9th. Ironically, this was exactly 1 year from our date of diagnosis, but this year the results were so very much better! We didn't have a chest X-ray this month, as this will be an every-other- month test for now. Dr. George said that Zachary looked great - he cannot believe how wonderful he is doing and he is just growing up so fast! Thank you all for your continued prayers and questions - Zachary still needs your prayers through this part of our journey - we're not there yet, but every day is another leap over another hurdle. Take care and may God Bless all of you! God bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATED: 11-18-02 Everyone: We had some really neat news today - the Forsyth County Relay for Life committee asked us if Zachary could be the 2003 Honorary Chairman next year! Of course, we didn't have to think twice about it !! This is such a true honor - Zachary is such an inspiration to so many, and at a minimum, he is our hero and VERY special little man! We will attend a kick-off meeting in January and sevaral different committee meetings going forward. At the Relay For Life in May we will speak at the Opening Ceremony and at the Survivor Dinner. Zachary's name will be listed on the back of the T-shirts as the Honorary Chairman, too!! We are so very proud of our little figher, and wanted to share our news with all of you!!! Take care and God Bless all of you - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATED: November 5, 2002 Everyone: The results are in from the bloodwork - Zach's AFP is 7!!!! This was just the news we needed to kick off last weekend before the Birthday Bash! The x-rays of his chest must have looked good, too, 'cause they didn't mention it, and no news is good news - God bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary Update: 10-29-02 We had a VERY full day today. First, we went to the regular Pediatrician for our 1 year check up. Of course, this also resulted in getting 2 shots - the MMR and Chicken Pox vaccine! No Flu vaccine for the little man, as we've never given him eggs - they like for the children to have had eggs to see if they are going to have an allergic reaction before giving them the Flu vaccine (it's egg-based). So, we'll give him eggs in the next week or so, and if he does fine, we'll drop in for his vaccine then. Linda Remlinger thought Zachary looked great, and was pleased at his overall health. After we left the Pediatrician's office, we trekked down to Children's Healthcare to get some X-rays of Zach's chest done (routine - every month for 6 months after he's off therapy). The X-rays were pretty quick - which was good - we were off to the second floor to get some labwork drawn and then see Dr. George. He said that Zach looked 'perfect' - he thinks he's doing really well. The X-rays had not been read by the Radiologist yet, and we have to wait for the AFP, so we should hear back on both results later this week. Zach's other bloodwork was great - everything is falling back into the 'normal' ranges, so he's really getting to where he should be. Check back for more updates! Take care and God Bless all of you - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 10-07-02 Everyone: Update from the AFP results - finally we got the count back from the clinic. The lab they have to send it off to had some technical difficulties - the AFP machine broke, so they were pretty delayed in getting the results back to us. However, it was worth the wait - Zach's AFP was 11. Now, before you get concerned or upset - it's still fine. Remember that 'normal' is anywhere between 0-15. That having been said, even though it's higher than the 6 from last month, it doesn't mean that the cancer is back. Dr. George warned us last week that the count could 'bounce around' some, so we should not be concerned if it was higher one time and lower the next. That's about it. We're doing great - planning the Z-man's FIRST BIRTHDAY party. We cannot believe that he is already a year old, but it's been worth it.....definitely! Check back for more updates! Take care and God Bless all of you - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 8-22-02 Everyone: MORE GRRRRREAT NEWS!!! Dr. George called today and told us that Zachary's AFP was down to 6!!!!!! Can you believe it? We are so happy with this. Additionally, his chest x-ray came back clear, so we don't go back for anymore visits until next month!! Take care, and God Bless - Shane, Amiee and Zachary PREVIOUS UPDATE FROM AUGUST 19TH: We had our 'usual' follow-up visit with Dr. George today and it was the funniest visit ever!! Zachary has grown so much that most of the nurses and staff didn't even recognize him!! He's really getting bigger - up to 18 1/2 lbs. now and doing wonderful. They did bloodwork, and the preliminary stuff looks just fine. They sent some blood off for another AFP test, so we'll get those results in by the end of the week. Dr. George did say not to get concerned if it 'bounced around' some, that as long as it didn't start skyrocketing again, we'd be OK. They sent us for a chest x-ray today as well. This is routine, and will be done on a monthly basis for 6 months to make sure that the cancer hasn't snuck into his lungs and we weren't watching! Otherwise, everything is great - Zach is really progressing so very well, and we just couldn't be happier! He is such a 'jabber-box' nowadays - we have NO idea where he got that from.....:) (For any of you that don't know - Mommy can talk to a brick wall and swear it's carrying on a conversation with her!) It is just so amazing everything he is doing on a daily basis now. We go back for our next visit on September 23rd. We will have more bloodwork done, and they will do an ultrasound and chest x-ray that day as well. It's really nice not to have to go so often, but we don't mind getting the excellent check-ups, either! Your continued support and prayers are still needed, and we appreciate them so very much! Take care, and god bless all of you - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATE: 8-02-02 Everyone: We'll keep it short and sweet - today (August 2, 2002) was a GREAT day! Zachary got his central line removed - YEAH!!! Things went really smoothly, and we are at home and the Z-man is playing in the living room floor as we type! We have our next follow up oncology appointment on August 19th. They will check out his blood counts and schedule the next round of scans to be done. This will be a continual follow up procedure, with the length of time between the visits and scans increasing as Zachary continues to improve. Again - thank you, thank you for the prayers and all of the support. We don't think we could have done it without all of you! Take care, and god bless all of you - Shane, Amiee and Zachary UPDATED: 7-19-02 Just wanted to share an update with you from our website regarding Zachary's latest check-up: We had an appointment with the oncologist on July 16th. Zachary is doing GREAT - His doctor thinks he looks wonderful and that he is coming along just fine. Zach weighed 17 lbs. 1.2 oz.!! We didn't think he'd ever get past 12 lbs, but he's growing like a weed!! He was taken off of the Calcium and Magnesium that he was taking every day, and now Zach only has one medicine to take, only on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. He's always so great about taking his medicine, but it's so nice that he doesn't have to anymore - at least not as often! His blood counts all looked great, and the AFP was done - it was 13!!!! PRAISE GOD! A 'normal range' is anywhere from 0 to 15, so we are actually considered 'normal'! (When diagnosed on January 9th, it was over 395,000) Since the AFP is lower, then we won't have to do any more scans for the fluid pocket until mid-August. With this particular count being so much lower, it's a good sign that the cancer has not returned. Please feel free to post the update to the sites - we appreciate you 'spreading the word' and gathering more prayers for our miracle. God has truly blessed us, and we are so thankful for our son's continued recovery and success in battling cancer. May God bless you and keep you - Shane, Amiee and Zachary ADDED: 7-07-02 Our son, Zachary David Martin was diagnosed with Hepatoblastoma (liver cancer) on January 9, 2002. He was 10 weeks old when this was discovered by his nurse practitioner during his 2 month well-baby check up. Since diagnosis, Zachary has had 2 surgeries and 6 rounds of chemotherapy. The first surgery was on January 14, 2002. They had hoped to be able to resect the tumor at that time, but that was not meant to be. The surgeons did a biopsy to confirm the cancer type (even though they were already pretty sure), and inserted a central line for Zach to have for treatments. The central line has been a blessing, as it has allowed the doctors to administer the chemotherapy, give blood transfusions, draw blood for labs, and many other IV related treatments, without having to stick Zachary every time. On April 19, 2002, they were able to do surgery again - this time to resect the tumor. The surgeon feels like he was able to get all of the cancer, since the 4 rounds of chemo Zach had received had shrunk it enough to be removed. After the surgery, Zach had 2 more rounds of chemo and on June 14, 2002, he was officially 'off therapy'! We have had some follow up scans since the last treatment, and so far, everything looks good. Zachary will have to go back for regular check ups to evaulate his blood chemistry, but we are so hopeful that God has given the doctors and surgeons the wisdom and knowledge to help cure our son. Zachary is a strong, strong little boy... stronger than we ever could have imagined, but he is such an inspiration to us both. When things seem bad, or we are down, all we have to do is see his smile, or hear his laugh and we know, everything will be OK. For continuing updates, please feel free to check out our website at www.team-martin.com. Thank you, and God bless you. Shane, Amiee and Zachary Martin