Save Jace

Hello Everyone,

First of all let me apologize to all of you that have so patiently been waiting for an update on Jace! I am very sorry! We appreciate all of you who have continued to keep Jace and His Family in your Prayers!

I was called back in January and offered the chance of a lifetime when The Sales Manager of L&F Distributors called me up one day and offered me a position in management! For those of you that aren’t familiar with L&F… L&F Distributors is the Anheiser Busch (Budweiser) Distributor for a huge majority of South Texas and part of New Mexico. So starting on January 30th, one day shy of my 33rd Birthday and the 1 Year anniversary of when we found Jace’s First Tumor, I began my career as the High End Branch Manager for the Corpus Christi Branch of L&F. Things are going well and I am very Thankful to God for this blessing and to the Fine People at L&F for giving me a chance!

Since then, Jamie and I have found out that Jace is going to be a Big Brother and we are taking it day by day with this one! Jamie has had a lot more Nausea with this pregnancy, but has been doing well now for the past 4 weeks!

Jace, well that’s a whole other story as many of y’all have come to know!

We have completely finished all of his chemotherapy (12 rounds) and all of his MRI’s have come back with no changes!!! Well, excpet for one…. The “Scar Tissue” that we have seen in the scans for the past 7 months has almost completely disappeared! The Dr’s said that “It was Healing Itself!” Jamie called me one day and told me that she had the chance to see the MRI Slides and that it looked like an example of a Brain that you would see in a Text Book under “a perfect brain”… Wow… Praise the Lord!!! She said it was a HUGE difference from the slides that we saw just a year ago where his sutcher (line down the middle of a human brain) was pushed over to the left due to a Baseball Size Tumor crowding Jace’s Right Frontal Lobe of his brain!

Jace has undergone many tests to make sure that the chemotherapy hasn’t messed up any parts of his body like Sight, Hearing, Kidneys, Liver, and much more and we are happy to say that all those tests have come back excellent and normal! Once again… PRAISE GOD!

We have had a few discussions with the Dr. and Radiation seems inevitable….. but I like the way he worded it… “We are Winning the Battle, but I want to Win the War!!!” and that means doing some radiation to maybe kill anything that might possibly be in there! Hoping there is nothing in there, but just in case this would hopefully take care of it all!!!

Jamie is now a stay at home Mommy since they closed her office, but things are going well and we are making things work!!! It’s tough but with God, Jace’s Stregnth, and Our Families Love, we are getting through everything!

I thank you for the continued prayers and support! and I thank each and everyone of you for your Love and Caring!!!

I promise I’ll try to make an effort to make things Updates a little more frequent!

Love to All Of You and God Bless,
Joshua Sandoval

Ok everyone, I apologize that it has taking me this long to send out a report on Jace’s Last MRI and 10 Round of Chemo!

MRI came back as no changes once again! Praise The Lord! It’s still stressful having to wait to see what the results might show, but thanks to all the prayers and God, we are still on the right Path to Recovery!

Also, his 10th round of Chemo went well! This round, Mommy actually stayed with him at the Hospital which I know he probably really loved! It’s just something about the Bond between those 2 that is really really heart warming! And trust me, I know now what Jamie had to go through for almost the past year of having to come home and not know what was really going on! It nerve wrecking!

But we couldn’t be happier and more blessed with the way things are going! Thank you to all of you once again for the continued prayers and support!

Attached are some photos that will show that not even Chemotherapy slows down this little warrior! He was a ring bearer on Friday night and went fishing with daddy for the first time ever on Saturday! Check them out and let me know what you think!

And Fishing with Daddy!!!

Love To All and God Bless,
Joshua, Jamie, and Jace

Hello Everybody,

Can you believe it’s already been 6 weeks again??? Well tomorrow is Monday the 25th of February which marks the day of Jace’s 10th Round of Chemotherapy and another follow-up MRI.

As all of you have already been doing, we ask that you take a moment out of your day tomorrow (today) to say a little prayer that we continue to see the Wonderful MRI results that we have been seeing for the past almost 6 months and that Jace’s 10th round of Chemo goes as smooth as the past 5 have been!

Jace is doing very well and his counts and body are strong and ready to go for this 10th round of Chemo! Once again Thank You to EVERYONE that has been praying for Jace and Our Family and Thank You for all the Support. As soon as we have some results back from the MRI we will let Everyone know!

God Bless You All,
Joshua, Jamie, and Jace

There is a date that I (Joshua) will always remember… Heck everyone remembers their Birthday! January 31st, a date that will last with me till the day I die! And for some of you that don’t know, a day that I will NEVER EVER forget, for it was on the evening of January 31, 2007 that we found Jace’s First Brain Tumor!

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost been a year already from that day! Time has flown by when a year a go, time seemed to stand still! Jace has definetely come A LONG way as have Jamie and I and Our Family! All thanks to the Grace of God!

We went in last Wednesday (1/9) for an MRI… Thanks be to God and Everyones Prayers the results came back the same once again! “No Change In Comparison To Last MRI’s”…

Monday January 28 will officially mark the end of Jace’s 9th Round of Chemotherapy! We were in the hospital this past Week on Monday and started his 9th round. He will recieve a chemo injection on the 21st and 28th and we will be 1 Round away from completing A Year of Chemotherapy!

All and All everything still looks fantastic and we are Extremely Thankful for the Prayers and Blessings that have been bestowed upon us during this whole Journey! Thank You to All from the Bottom of Our Hearts!

We Love You and God Bless,
Joshua, Jamie, and Jace Sandoval

It’s hard to believe that 2007 is coming to an end…  it only seems like yesterday that there were roughly 50 of Jace’s Family and Friends gathered in a room that held half of that.  Patiently awaiting the results from Jace’s First Brain Surgery. And within a matter of days 100’s of people!  Everyone praying, making phone calls on updates, or just visiting trying to keep positive thoughts in their head!  It has definetely been a Year of Blessings and Miracles!

We are currently 3 weeks away from Jace’s 9th Round of Chemotherapy out of his scheduled 10 Rounds.  We will begin the 9th Round with yet another MRI as we pray to continue to see the same results that we have seen in the past 4 months!

December has been a very good month for Jace!  Besides a little head cold that we were carefully watching.  He was able to spend more than a week with Mommy as she took a Vacation the week before Christmas.  He had a Fantastic Time on Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Sandoval’s and a Fantastic Time on Christmas Day at Grandma and Grandpa Duncan’s!

He received many gifts and has since opened all of them and played till his heart was content!

One of the things that we had the chance to take part in also was the Little Wranglers Party.  This is a Party set up for all the youth of the Coastl Bend that is battling or has battled Cancer.  Definetely a time that Jace will remember for a long time.  He played A LOT and won prizes while playing games, and he met Santa!  After a brief visit with Santa, Santa presented Jace with a Brand New Bicycle, Helmet, Knee Pads, and Elbow Pads.  Jace also received a Nerf Football and Texas A&M Beanie!!!  This is a Great Event and one of many that is geared towards all those amazing and precious children!

Also Jace has been on TV a couple of times on KIII TV3, a couple of times during the Little Wrangler’s Party and then On Monday Night December 10th when they came out to the house and did a follow up story on Jace from the 2 that aired earlier this year!

We are looking forward to a New Year!  and Are Excited knowing that Jace’s 10 Rounds will soon be over!  It will be after his 10th round that we find out what his next steps will be!  We will continue to pray for his health and great results and we will continue to pray during his before bed prayers for ALL OF YOU that have lifted him up in Prayer and Supported Jace and His Family throughout this Joyous Year!

God Bless Each and Everyone of You,
The Sandoval’s

Joshua, Jamie, and Jace

So, it’s been awhile since we have sent out an Update.  Things have been really busy, but we have managed to stay somewhat sane! haha… well as sane as one can be when you have to keep up with the Little Tornado we’ve come to know as Jace!

We started this morning by going to the Dr’s office to have the nurse access Jace’s Mediport.  We also found out that we will no longer be in the hospital for 4 days like before, but now we will be in till Wednesday morning!  Jace will no longer be receiving Methotrexate through his Omaya Reservoir. 
After we left the Dr’s office we proceeded to Driscoll Day Surgery for Jace’s MRI!  After his MRI he was automatically admitted up to the 4th Tower to start his 8th Round of Chemo.

We just received word, that there is STILL NO CHANGE in Comparison to previous MRI and NO NEW Growth.  He does however have a slight Booger Problem! haha!

We can not Thank ALL OF YOU enough for The Prayers and Support that we have received from You throughout this Journey!  This Past Thanksgiving was extremely meaningful as we had A LOT to be Thankful For! and We are really excited about enjoying Our Christmas and New Years!!!! 

God is Amazing and Prayer is Powerful!  We are Greatful and Thankful!  We are Excited yet Humbled by this whole experience!  God Bless each and everyone of you and your friends and family that have been praying for Jace!

We are on day 10 of the 7th session and all is going well. His counts are suppose to drop today and as usual, he barges through with no complications!!! God Bless us!

His hair started coming back after the chemo in late September and just hasn’t slowed down. We are so excited! Its much lighter and sooo soft. We haven’t been able to tell if its still going to have as much curl, but it is definately lighter….

We love him too much!!!

Hello Everyone,

We just received some news that made us Drop To Our Knees in Praise and Weep with Happiness!

Jamie has been hounding me to ask the Dr. EVERYDAY, how one knows when a patient is able to be a candidate for “Remission”???? So this morning, when he came by to do the “Omaya Reservoir” procedure on Jace, I asked him. “Dr., when is it that you would know that Jace is a candidate for Remission????” he proceeds to tell me that “Remission is a Term he typically uses for Leukemia and Lymphoma Patients”….

So, I nod my head yes and say “I understand” he then mentions… Jace’s Case is different so I can’t say that he is in Remission cause Remission means “subsiding of the symptoms of a disease”… He proceeds to tell me if I had to call it something, I would refer to it as “JACE HAS NO EVIDENCE OF ILLNESS!!!”

His past 3 MRI’s show no change, the past 6 Tests on his “CSF - Central Spinal Fluid” have come back showing no Malignant Cells, and the Pathologist Report from Monday (10-22) on his CSF has come back Negative!

Did we hear correctly???????? “NO EVIDENCE OF ILLNESS?!??!?!?!?!” That’s the words straight out of the Dr.’s mouth…….

He also mentioned that the hardest thing for Dr’s to do is figure out “how many treatments is “enough” and “when to stop”" Well in Jace’s Pilot study, all information is taken from patients going 10 rounds of chemo, so we will continue on with 3 more treatments. Well, that is the plan right now unless something changes and Dr. decides to do less. But for now we continue through 3 more rounds of chemo which will bring us to April, Jace’s 3rd Birthday!

Thanks again to everyone for their continued Prayers and Support!!! It means more than you will ever know! We Love You All!!!

Praise God, Praise God, Praise God!!!!!!!!!

Once again we send our Praises up to God for the Miracles that he continues to show us! We send Thanks to all the Angels and Saints that have been watching over Jace, and We also send Praises to the Doctors, Nurses, and Staff that have all been involved with Jace’s Journey.

We have received the Results from the MRI that was done on Friday the 19th and the results are as follows:

There is no significant change in the size or configuration of the ventricular system when compared to the previous study. The shunt catheter is unchanged in position. No new parenchymal abnormality is noted. No new enhancement is identified. There is also no new enhancement in the region of the surgical defect noted in the high right frontal lobe.
Impression:
1. No significant change in the appearance of the brain when compared with the previous study. There is no new abnormality.

So in other words, they are not seeing anything that they haven’t seen in the past 2 MRI’s (total of the past 16 weeks). The contrast of the area previously described of being about the size of a sunflower kernel is still there, but now being referred to as “surgical defect” also known as Scar Tissue!!!

I spoke with the Dr. while we looked at Jace’s MRI Slides and I asked him myself. So now do you think it is “Scar Tissue” and he grins and nods his head “yes”…

Also, on Thursday I discussed CSF with him “Central Spinal Fluid” which is the fluid they pull from his brain when the administer the chemo “methotrexate”… Each day they pull 2cc’s and run test on it. He did mention that usually you can see “malignant cells” when you look at CSF under the microscope. And that out of ALL 4 daily specimens that they pulled during the last (6th) session that there were no Malignant Cells noticed in Jace’s CSF!!!

It’s amazing! We are still in shock!!! We are ecstatic!!! They Power of Prayer is truly incredible!!! The Out pour of Support is more than we could have ever imagined, and The Grace of God has prevailed once again! We are truly blessed!!! Blessed to have such Wonderful People working on and with Jace, Blessed to have such Wonderful Family and Friends that support us, Blessed for the Miracles that we witness everyday, and Blessed To Have Jace in Our Lives!!!

God Bless Each and Everyone of You,
The Sandovals
Joshua, Jamie, and Jace

Here we are at home preparing for Round 7 of Chemotherapy!  These past 6 weeks have been eventful and memorable!
Jace has so much hair growing in, he enjoyed a trip to Dave and Busters in San Antonio, a trip to the Pumpkin Patch in Bandera, playing at the Carnival at Bayfest, enjoyed spending a few days at school with his friends, he is talking so much, laughing even more, and just being Good Ol’ Jace!

We did have an MRI this past Friday and we are really looking forward to seeing what the results have to show from it.  Tonight and Tommorow Morning we will say special prayers that God shows us the same results we have scene in the past 2 MRI’s!  On another note, we have been receiving nothing but positive comments from the Oncologist, which we are exstatic about!
Thank You agian from the bottom of Our Hearts for all the prayers and support!  And we will let you know the results of the MRI and how Jace is doing during his 7th Round of Chemo as soon as we kow something!
God Bless,

Joshua, Jamie, and Jace

Jace is doing wonderfully. We are looking forward to our next MRI. If they follow the 6 week schedule that thye have been on then we arelooking right at Monday October 22. We hope for good news from the Drs.

Look at all his hair!!!

This is Jace and his cousin! They are 4 days apart!!!

Jace finished day 15 of his chemo Round 6 yesterday.

I had Josh ask the Dr what he thought the future held for us.  Since Jace is doing so well and his body is accepting the chemo so wonderfully and everything seems to be going above and beyond what we ever expeected.  But the Dr held firm and said that he would have to continue the chemo until he was 3 years old - which is in April.

That we woudl then analyze what is going on with him and find out if we will still need radiation.  As of right now, he said it is still a possibility.  So we go on about our lives one day at a time and wait for the answers from above.

Jace is doing really well and feeling good more days than not.  We are truly blessed with all that he is and is becoming and what he has taught me and so many, I believe in the short two years he has been in our lives. 

We wait for round 7 now.  It is 4 weeks out and will probably start sometime around the end of October.  I’ll post more pictures and stuff pretty soon so you can all see how fast and quickly his hair is coming back!!!

God Bless

It is approximately 12:30 and Jace is still in the Driscoll Hospital 4th Tower Play Room waiting to be hooked up to IV then start his Chemo.  We started at the Oncologist Office this Morning where the checked his vitals and accessed his MediPort.  They drew a little blood for tests and then they sent us on our way.

While we were there the Dr handed me the results of Fridays MRI and the results read as follows:

Comparison was made with the previous study dated July 23, 2007…  There remains evidence of “a surgical defect” in the high right frontal lobe.  This area has not significantly changed when compared with the previous study.  A shunt catheter (Omaya reservoir) is also unchanged in position.  The ventricles are unchanged in size.  No New abnormality is noted.  Limited Evauation of the orbits and paranasal sinuses demonstrates no abnormality. 

Impression - No Significant change in the appearance of the brain when compared with the previous study.

Once again we have been shown the Power of God and the Power of Prayer.  Thank You to everyone that has held Jace close to their hearts and prayers!  We will now continue with the 6th Round of Chemo and the Dr said we now wait to see what the next MRI will show.  There is a slight chance that the next MRI might show the same thing as these past 2.  If that is the case, then there might be a possibility that what they are seeing is Scar Tissue and there might not be a tumor mass left.  We will wait to see and then proceed from there.  Thank You again for all the prayers and support!

Love and God Bless,
Joshua, Jamie, and Jace

Ahhh! Corpus Christi Bay!!!

We went to a concert downtown at Cole Park for some fresh air and running around. There was no slowing this kid down. It just amazes us every day his energy and enthusiasm for life!!!

We are expected to go back in the hospital for Round 6 Chemo on September 10.
Even though we had to switch Oncologists, we have decided to keep him at the same hospital. We’re hoping the familiarity of that hospital will not change things for him so much…or us!!!

We will be sure to keep everyone posted on how he is doing!
God Bless
Joshua, Jamie & Jace

So here we are and it seems like FOREVER since we have sent out any kind of Update on Jace.  Well, needless to say with each day that passes he keeps getting stronger and more active and if you remember correctly, he was jumping in his bed while attached to Chemo, so you can only imagine what he is foing now as far as his activity level!

We have officially met with the New Oncologist Twice now and we are happy with what we have seen so far!  He seems genuinly concerned about his patients and he is up to speed on Jace and what he has been doing and what he has done up to this point!  So, on ward we go!  Jace has been going in on Mondays for his Lab Work and the Office calls us in the afternoon with information. 

I just received a call this afternoon about 5:10pm and was told that his counts are still rising and that everything is looking fine.  I was also told that everytime that we do this… if “something” doesn’t look right in the “COUNTS” that the Dr. will want to see Jace!!!  If not, then go about our business as usual!  Also, we are looking at September 10th, for the next MRI and addmittance into the Hospital for his next round.

We have actually had a GREAT past month or so… we have done all sorts of things and Jace is just doing Wonderfully!  He’s absorbing things like a sponge and is still exceeding our expectations!  God Bless Everyone!

Love,
Joshua, Jamie, Jace