Sunday we had a fun fall day at the Rock Ranch. The weather was perfect and the kids enjoyed seeing each other. We saw the petting zoo, took a cow train ride, played in the corn house and had a lot of fun together. We are also so thankful that Cason was able to be there. We have been experimenting with his IV fluids since his levels have been unstable and hopefully we have found a combination of different things to keep him hydrated.

This week we have been busy with doctor appointments. Monday Cason got released from his Urologist to have transplant. The doctor confirmed that his bladder is to size and is functioning well. Today we met with his surgeon to discuss plans for a port. As of now it looks like he will be able to get the port, which is good because of the decreased risk of infection, as compared with another central line. We will go for both pre-op and the procedure next week. It should be an outpatient procedure, but we've learned not to get our hopes up...

Tomorrow Cason has to go back to Egleston for some more blood work to re-check for Mono. Right now most of the doctors feel like he has had an exposure (which we knew was likely since B.G. had it) but that he does not have the full blown virus. We'll know more later in the week.

The surgeons and other transplant staff met today and it looks like Big Daddy (Bob) is going to be the donor that will move on to the next round of testing. Our insurance company has 14 days to approve the next step, so we'll let you know once this all gets rolling.

Thanks for your prayers!

Hi Everybody,

Cason is back at Scottish Rite today. He had blood work done yesterday and the level that indicates dehydration was really high. We were hoping that without his central line he would be able to make up for the decrease in IV fluids by drinking more, but unfortunately this wasn't the case. He just doesn't have any real drive to drink anything during the day despite our efforts. So...it looks like he will get a new central line at some point during this stay after he gets re-hydrated. It has been so much fun over the past two weeks getting him in the pool and bath tub and we will miss being able to do these things, but we know that in the scheme of things it's not too big of a deal.

Also, it looks like the ball is going to get rolling for transplant very soon. Our nephrologist told us last night that she is going to start the paperwork required to begin the testing process. Beyond that, we don't really know the next step. Cason has lost some weight over the past few months, so we'll have to plump him up again by bumping up his feeds through his GJ tube or giving him some form of calorie booster. This shouldn't be difficult and he has gotten so much stronger and advanced developmentally that he should be ready for transplant once he gets back to the 22 lb mark.

As far as specific prayer needs, pray that Cason stays hydrated and can get back to a healthy 22 lbs before his kidneys fail. We are going to start by testing my mom and Tricia's dad, so pray that one of them is a match! If he gets a new central line, pray that it stays free of infection. Please pray for Jackson, too. He is starting to have a tough time when Cason goes to the hospital. We have a great family that loves him and takes great care of him, but it's not like being at home with Daddy, Mommy and Cason. It takes a toll on all of us, but we try to make the best of it. Please pray for us as we get ready to go on with transplant. It's pretty scary to think of our little man going through such a dramatic surgery, but we continue to trust in the Lord and look to Him for the strength and hope to get us through all of this. He is always faithful and we are trying to be the same to Him.

We love you all so much and appreciate the prayers more than you know.

B.G.

Thanks so much to everybody that came out to The Rock Ranch on Saturday! It was a great time and Cason got to be there, so praise the Lord! We really appreciate those of you that volunteered and we enjoyed meeting lots of new people.
So, here's the latest on Cason. Around 1 am Saturday morning he woke up screaming and shaking. Up to that point he really had no symptoms to speak of and was as happy as ever, so it really caught us off guard. I took him to the ER at Upson Regional where they did some blood work and sent us home. As we suspected the cultures came back showing another bacterial infection in his central line. Dr. Coker prescribed two antibiotics that we administered through the line at home and after talking with him and Dr. Jernigan, we packed our bags for Scottish Rite. Thankfully Cason started feeling a little better a few hours so we were able to go to the Celebrate America festivities.
We got to the hospital late Saturday night (early Sunday morning) and Cason had more blood work and cultures drawn. On Sunday afternoon we met with Dr. Jernigan as well as an infectious diseases specialist, Dr. Shore.
As it turns out, it doesn't look like Cason will have to get a new central line. We initially thought that this would be a sure thing, but the doctor feels like a new line wouldn't do anything to decrease the chances of getting these infections in the future.
The good thing about this infection is that Dr. Jernigan is now more anxious for us to start the initial process leading up to transplant. It looks like we will start testing potential donors (my mom and Tricia's dad will be tested first) pretty soon and transplant is likely within 3 or 4 months. We are nervously excited because we know that the surgery will be tough on everybody, but that Cason will be much better afterwards.
Please join us in praying that the process goes smoothly from start to finish and that we can find a match quickly. Also, please pray that this infection clears up quickly so that Cason can come home. Thanks!

Well a lot has happened since our last post. Cason had to go back to Scottish Rite the Tuesday after Memorial Day because he had a bacteria show up in a blood culture from his central line. It was a crazy stay because he was never sick and almost every day a different bacteria grew. The doctors were stumped, but they made us stay in the hospital as a precautionary measure. He ended up staying until the following Monday, which unfortunately meant that he missed the golf tournament.
Even though we really wanted Cason to be there, the golf tournament was awesome. Lots of people came out to volunteer and we had so many golfers that we had to borrow extra golf carts just to accommodate everyone. The weather was perfect and we ended up raising over $20,000 for the COTA campaign. It was a great day and we can't say than you enough to everyone that helped.
Coming up next we are taking part in Celebrate America on June 28th at The Rock Ranch. We will have a few booths at the event and will be selling raffle tickets for a Disney trip, selling cotton candy, painting faces and there will be a bungee trampoline, with proceeds from each of these going towards Cason's COTA campaign. We are really excited and, like with the golf tournament, we need volunteers either all day or just for particular shifts. Please e-mail Angela Matson if you would like to help at amatsoncota@gmail.com.

I have created a new website where I'll be putting a lot of pictures from Cason's events. It's just easier to do it this way when there are a lot of pictures to upload, but I will keep posting pictures on the COTA site as well. Here is the web address for the new photo site: http://cotaforcasonb.shutterfly.com/action/

I have posted some pictures from the golf tournament. Enjoy!

We're home! Cason's doctors released him on Thursday morning after his cultures came back negative. He will be on an antibiotic through his central line for 10 days and he will have cultures taken from the line once a week for a month. He has been feeling great and we are so thankful that this was an easy hospital stay. Take care!

Hi -
We wanted to ask you all to pray for Cason today. He has had an off and on fever for the past couple of days and, after some blood work and cultures, it turns out that he has a bacterial infection in his central line. It looks like it is the same strain that he had back in March and hopefully it will respond just as well to the antibiotics. However, it sounds like there is a chance that he may have to have the central line replaced since this is his second infection in three months. We would love to push for a port instead of the external line, but we'll see what the doctors think.
Right now Tricia and Cason are in the ER at Scottish Rite and I am about to head that way, as well (Jackson is playing with his cousins, Bryce and Ella in Newnan). Please just pray that this will be a quick and relatively painless stay for Cason and that there are no further complications. He has been doing great otherwise, so hopefully this will just be a little bump in the road.
Thanks!
B.G.

It's been a couple of months since we have written anything here, so we thought we'd give a little update. We have had an amazing couple of months. Really, 2008 has been pretty great as a whole.
Cason has really enjoyed the nice weather like the rest of us. He loves playing in our kiddie pool and splashing around with Jackson and he has really improved in his ability to stand on his own. He still can't pull up yet, but once we stand him up he can usually stay there by himself for quite a while. He has been so happy and full of life; it has been so much fun!
We had some bloodwork done yesterday and Cason has made a pretty big step towards transplant. His creatinine level, which is the primary indicator of his kidney function, has really gone up over the past couple of weeks. Right now it is 3.5 and at 4 we will start testing donors. We'll keep you posted.
We are getting excited about the golf tournament for Cason on May 31st. Thanks to all of you that have volunteered to help! If you are playing or know someone who is playing, please try to turn in registrations as soon as you can. If you need more info, e-mail Angela Matson at amatsoncota@gmail.com or on her cell at 706-741-7573.

COTA kick-off

We had a great time kicking off Cason's campaign at First Baptist Church in Thomaston. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Journal entries are listed in chronological order.