Noah's Smile Quilt More Pictures on Noah's Ark.

06/06/02 It is with my deepest sadness that I inform you Noah Daniel Currey passed away about 8:30 a.m. this morning. Please keep the family in your prayers. Condolences may be sent to The Curreys at 6121 50th Ave Kenosha WI. The funeral will be at Apostolic Faith Church 3045 Airline Rd,Racine,WI 53406 Phone: (262) 886-3735 I am not sure if that is where you would send flowers if you were to send any or if the family would rather donations be made to a certain place or not. All I know was Dee said he would not be at a funeral home because she didn't want him some place he did not know. She said all of it would be at church. I will let you know more later on tonight after I get back home. Again Thank you for your prayers and support. We couldn't have made it without them. In Christs Love Debbie B 06/05/02 I did see Noah today. He isn't doing very well. He is having trouble breathing again and has filled back up with fluid. He is as big as he was yesterday before they drained the liter and 1/2 out of him. I talked with Dee just a few minutes ago and she said they are about to drain him again. The hospital has agreed to let them leave tonight and take Noah to church with them. After that they will return to the hospital. And should the Lord choose to keep Noah alive through the weekend they will also be allowed to leave to go to church on Sunday. Actually I make it sound like they are being made to stay in the hospital. They could choose to go home if they wished but they decided they would stay in the hospital as long as the hospital would allow them to take Noah to church when ever there was a service. Dee, Joe, the other kids and the grandparents (and I) are holding up about as well as can be expected. Listening to Dee talk to two ladies from her church about them singing certain songs for the service really got to me. We are all still praying for a miracle but we know that no matter what happens it is Gods will and He is doing His plan His way and it is a way that we don't understand but one day we will know His reasons why and we will understand. Keep praying! And I will keep you as up to date as I can in the coming days. 06/04/02 I just got a call from Joe, Dee's husband. He called me to tell me what was going on. I have bad news. They can not do the transplant. Noah's tumor has again doubled in size in a week. He is no longer eligible for the transplant. From what I understand it has also spread. I was in such shock when Joe told me and he was upset as well so I'm not quite sure just what he said about that. I wanted to let everyone know. Now I am going to rent a car and go up to the hospital and spend some time with Dee Joe and Noah while I can. I will be home late tonight and then I will go back up there again tomorrow before I have to take the car back. Thank you for your prayers and keep praying for us because this is one of the hardest day's of our lives. 06/04/02 Right now Noah is at the hospital in Milwaukee. They have put him on a ventilator. This is to help with the flight to Delaware and also because the Doctor in Delaware requested that he be put on a ventilator. He is holding his own right now. He was doing o.k. even before the ventilator. That is just a precautionary thing. They drained 1 and 1/2 litters of fluid from his abdomen. Hopefully that will release some of the pressure that is on him. He is still very big from the tumor but that fluid being gone is a big plus. They have been running tests on him and as soon as they are through and everything is cleared they should be transporting him to Delaware. Because he is in the hospital that means a medical team has to go with him to Delaware because they can not just release him to his parents to take him. They have to transport him all the way to the hospital in Delaware. I'm not sure how this will be done, if it will be like a life flight or if they will fly commercially or what. Dee is supposed to call me later as she knows more. Please keep praying for him. He is such a fighter. He has made it through some really tough times because of God, prayers, his will to fight and his parents faith and persistence. God has already done mighty things in the life of this child and his parents and continues to do so. With each thing we think is a set back God shows how he is using it. With the problems Noah had last night it caused the doctors to drain some of the fluid from his abdomen and now he will have at least one medical person if not a medical team with him on his trip do Delaware so God is really protecting this child to get him to Delaware safely for this transplant. What an awesome God we serve. 06/04/02 I am writting this on the chance that there will be some of you out there still awake at this hour. Dee just called and said that around 1 am Noah started having a hard time breathing. The visiting nurse said she couldn't give him oxigen without orders (and the orders are in his chart to do it) so they dialed 911 and were taken to the hospital in Kenosha. At one point he stopped breathing for a few seconds. They called the transplant Doctor, Dr. Casas and she told them to keep him alive at all costs even if it means a ventalator and that they would arrange to Lifeflight them (Noah and Joe) out to Delaware and Dee will have to take the next available flight. Right now they are at Kenosha hospital waiting transportation to Childrens Hospital in Milwaukee. So please please pray with all you have. 06/03/02 As all of you know I went to see Noah this weekend. This little boy is such a fighter. Two and a half weeks ago Dee was told he only had 2 to 4 weeks to live. And I must admit when I saw him this weekend I was worried. Each day and night I would pray, "Lord, just let him make it through one more day" as we waited to hear from the doctors in Delaware who said they may possible be able to give Noah a liver transplant. Noah's medical records were sent to the doctors in Delaware on Friday. They received them on Saturday. Sunday morning while we were on our way to church Dr. Dun called and said he was pretty sure they could do the transplant on Noah but he wanted the radiologist to look at the films first before he had them come do Delaware. Today the doctor called and said yes they could do the transplant. Of course they can not give a 100% guarantee. Only God can do that. And they did say they don't know if they will be able to find the one spot that is "floating" in his body attached to a lymph-node or something like that. They will not know that until they get in there and remove Noah's liver, at which point they may or may not find that extra spot. Noah's father Joe is giving part of his liver. I have already said if there is some problem with Joe doing it then I will give part of my liver. At this point I don't see any problem with Joe being the one to donate. Prayer requests are: 1. Noah continues to hold his own until they get him to Delaware tomorrow. 2. Everything goes well with the surgery, both for Noah and for his father. And that ALL the cancer can be removed, because after the transplant Noah will be on anti-rejection medication for 6 weeks and he can not take chemo during that time. 3. Pray for God to guide these surgeons as they work to save Noah's life. 4. Pray that Noah's life is spared and that he will grow into the mighty man of God full of love and faith just like the one lady who emailed me said she felt God lead her to tell me. I don't think I need to tell any of you what to pray. All of you have been doing such a wonderful job so far and I do believe that God is listening and He is at work. There have just been too many things happen this past week for it to just be "coincidence". Please continue to pray and let others know to pray as well. Let us cover Noah and his family with our prayers. I will keep you updated as I know more. In Christs Love and thankfulness to our Mighty Lord for the Mighty work He has begun. Debbie B P.S. Thank You very much to the lady who emailed me about the surgeons who operated on her son when she was told there was no hope. And thank you to her for being willing to talk to those doctors even when I was worried about telling Dee not wanting to get her hopes up since we had already heard that it was too late. If God hadn't put it in this ladies heart to do that, we probably never would have known and Noah would not have the chance that he now has. 05/28/02 PM I have spent the last hour or so on the phone with Dee discussing Noah and his condition and what she meant by having to give the doctors their decisions when they go back to the hospital tomorrow so that Noah can get red blood cells. The decisions they have to let them know have to do with if/when Noah passes away. Notice I say IF and the IF is before the when because unless/until that last moment I am not giving up on God. With God anything is possible. We talked about how big his poor belly is and how sometimes it is hard for him to breath. Imagine a 9 month pregnant baby and you get an idea of how big his stomach is compared to his size and how hard his stomach is. Would you believe this little guy still has his times where he laughs and plays. He is even still "furniture walking" Dee said she had hoped to see him walk but with his stomach as big as it is he couldn't keep his balance to walk. Lastly I want to tell you something that she thought she had told me when we talked last Thursday but I surely don't remember her saying that to me because if I had known that I would have gone to see him last weekend instead of waiting until this weekend. Last Thursday they were told that Noah has 2 to 4 weeks left to live. But even so we still are not giving up hope on and in God working a miracle until or unless that time comes when God does take him home. If he were to take the oral chemo he might have another 2 or 3 months but those day's would be spent very sickly. Please remember to keep him in your prayers and don't give up on God! God can still work a miracle. P.S. Also keep Dee's aunt in your prayers. I just found out tonight that her aunt (her mothers sister) is also going through chemo and has been since December because she has some sort of cancer. About 2 years ago Dee's mother had breast cancer and had to have a mastectomy, so as you can see they have been through a lot lately. But this cancer that Noah has is not anything that is inherited. It is a very rare form of cancer that some kids just seem to get for some unknown reason. Also I will be going there on Friday and will not be returning until Sunday night. If there is anything you want to say to Dee or Joe please let me know before then so I can print it out and take it with me. Thank you! 05/28/02 Noah has returned to the clinic today to receive platelets. Dee and Joe were apparently told what options they have from here. They are going to take some time to discuss it and pray about it tonight and tomorrow Noah goes back to clinic for Red blood cells. The tumor is still continuing to grow. At this point he is weighing in at 12.36 kg which is about 27 pounds. When you consider he is only almost 16 months old and when we started all this in January he only weighed about 18 lbs that is a lot. Please continue to pray for Noah and for his family. When I talk to Dee I can hear it in her voice. I know the pain I feel knowing this is happening to someone I have grown so close to but I can not begin to imagine how she feels being his mother watching her baby go through this pain knowing that unless God does an miraculous miracle it won't be too much longer before God takes Noah home to be with Him. 05/24/02 I have spoken with Joe and he told me they have decided to give up on the chemo treatments. Since oral chemo is their only option and Noah isn't able to keep anything down it would be senseless to try it. They are now praying and relying sole on God to preferable heal Noah but if that is not Gods choice then to help him on his way to heaven without too much pain and discomfort. Please continue to pray for Noah to be healed. Lets not give up on God! God is still able to heal this child. And it is my prayer that NO ONE quits praying for his healing until/unless the day comes when the Lord takes him home. Please continue to pray for the strength of this family as they face this tough road. Pray for travel safety as they go to visit Dee's mom to tell her the news this weekend. Thank you all for your time and your prayers. 05/23/02 Dee just called me from the hospital. Noah's tumor in his liver has doubled in size in one weeks time and they have found a spot of cancer floating around not attached any where. They will no longer be giving him I.V. Chemo. They do have the option of radiation or oral Chemo but both have really bad side affects. Dee is taking Noah home today and is going to talk with Joe about the decisions they have to make. Please pray for wisdom and guidance from God in their decisions. And pray that God will work a miracle in Noah's live and that he won't loose this battle. I really don't know what else to tell you right now. I am in such shock because I have become so close to Noah that I feel like I am about to loose my own child. Please please pass this along to everyone you can! In Christs Love Debbie B 05/22/02 Hi all. I would like to ask you to add Noah to your prayer list. I talked to his mom last night. He was supposed to go in for Chemo on Monday but his blood counts were low so they gave him blood and then sent him home. They were supposed to go back in today and be admitted for his chemo if his counts were back up but as of last night Dee said she didn't know if they were going to admit him today. She did tell me that Noah has been in more pain lately. She has had to put him back on his pain medication. He is sleeping and crying a lot and his stomach seems to be growing again and getting hard again. She said she took him to church last night to have them pray for him and she noticed how yellow his eyes were. That could mean that his liver is having trouble functioning with this tumor in there. It was my suggestion that with all this going on that she take him up to the hospital today and even if his counts are low that she demand to be admitted. She has had to do that before and I think she may need to do that now. Please keep him in your prayers. Noah’s update for April 29th through May 2,2002 Dee was finally given the results on the CAT scan that was done on Tuesday April 23. They had a mix up and had compared the results of this CAT scan to one that they did back in February instead of comparing it to the most recent scan. Here are the results. They compared April 1st CAT scan to April 23rd s CAT scan and there was no change. They then compared April 23rds CAT scan to April 29ths CAT scan and there was a very slight decrease in the size of the tumor. Praise God No new tumors have been found. 5-02 Thursday - Today Noah slept in until 9 am. He was given a bath and got cleaned up and weighted and all that good stuff and then he fell back asleep from 11am until 1pm. He had his herbs after he woke up. Dee put him in a High Chair and gave him a baby spoon and some apple sauce to “play” with. Actually this was in attempt to help him with oral diversion because he hasn’t been eating any “real” food lately. His body has just been depending on the TPM and the Lippids. He quit nursing completely a few weeks ago. After a while of that he played in his crib for a bit and then took a nap. He didn’t have Physical Therapy today because every time she came by he was asleep. Later he woke up and played in his crib some more. The nurses changed his dressing on his central line today. He is still suffering from being “gaggy” nauseated and dry heaving. His weight today was 11.43kg. Dee classified today as a So-So/Good day. 5-01 Wednesday - Noah slept in until 9:15 am. He played in his crib and had physical therapy today then he played in his crib some more. He took a nap after that. He is still somewhat “gaggy” and nauseated and still dry heaving. He also had speech today and did not do well with that at all today. He hasn’t been wanting to make any of the noises that he has been taught during his speech sessions. He received his ICE chemo again tonight as well as his herbs. His weight was 11.52 kg and Dee listed today as a So-So day. 4-30 Tuesday - Noah slept most of the day and night. He was not so happy today. He was pretty fussy. He played in his Crib a lot today. He was very alert and watchful when the youth from the church came to see him but he was still in a bad mood. He usually isn’t when the youth group is around. He is still suffering from nausea and dry heaving. Dee is still giving him is herbs and I believe it is helping his counts to bounce back much faster and maybe helping to keep the tumor from growing. They started him on the ICE Chemo tonight at 6:00 pm. His maximum temp for the day was 36.9c and he weighed 11.295 kg. Dee classified today as a So-So-Bad day. 4-29 Monday - He cried all the way to the hospital and was very unhappy while he had to do his clinic appointment. He spent a lot of time in his stroller. Today they did the Angiogram CAT scan on him that they weren’t able to do last Tuesday. He also had a test done to check his kidney functions before starting another round of chemo. He was fussy, cranky and nauseated most of the time. He received red blood cells once he was admitted to his room. They did not start the Chemo yet. His high temp for the day was 36.8 c and he weighed 11.8 kg but that was in clothing. They aren’t doing tummy measurements this time. During Noah’s 10 day’s at home he had a chance to become part of the family again and play with his brothers and sister. It was a really good time for him. He even managed to go to 5 church services during the time he was out. Even while he was out of the hospital and off the Chemo he was still having a problem with getting congested and dry heaving and throwing up. I guess I’m wondering if he doesn’t have sinus problems on top of that. If he is able to be suctioned out really well with that machine they use at the hospital it isn’t nearly as bad. April 26, 2002 Noah has been home for a week now. He is doing well. But he is still having some trouble with mouth bleeding and he hasn't yet finished cutting those molars. He has really enjoyed his time at home being able to play with his brothers and sister. He went for his clinic appointment on Tuesday. His blood counts are good and they did a CAT scan. They wanted to do a special CAT scan where they have to run an I.V. because they wanted to see where the veins and such were going to the tumor so they could figure out where the tumor is being fed from. But after three tries to get an I.V. started they couldn't so they didn't do the test. He has to go back on Monday for a test of his kidneys because one of the treatments they give can cause kidney trouble, and they may try to do that CAT scan again. I believe he will be admitted on Monday for his next round of Chemo treatment. This one is the easier treatment so lets pray he doesn't have to stay in the hospital another 58 day's like last time. In Christs Love Debbie B Friday April 19th.    Noah was able to leave the hospital for about a week and go home and be with his family for about a week. He will have to go back during the week for clinic appointments but he should be able to stay out of the hospital until atleast April 26th. At which time he will be due to start his Chemo treatments again. At least this time it will be the easier Chemo. This next round is the ICE treatment. Thursday April 18th.    Noah was up at 8:30 playing After that he slept for about 1 ½ hours before having physical Therapy. He then played until 3:00, at which time he took a nap and slept until 7:00 pm. He was playful again after he got up. Thank God his mouth isn’t bleeding as much now but he still has mouth sores. He is still drooling a lot but then he is still working on those molars as well. His weight today was 10.915 and his tummy measured 53 cm. Noah’s updates from April 3, 2002 through April 17, 2002 I am so sorry. I did not realize I had gotten that behind on Noah’s updates. There has just been so much going on in my life. I truly apologize. I know many of you rely on these updates to keep up with how Noah is doing. I prayerfully promise to do better with keeping the updates more current in the future. I guess I just got behind when Tyler was attacked by that dog and I was keeping up with his updates and forgetting to post Noah's updates April 17, Noah slept until 11am this morning. He did not have physical therapy because he slept through it today. He played in his crib and was semi cranky today. He also played on the blue floor mat with his toys and in the exersaucer. He took a nap in the afternoon and had his herbs after his nap. He also got to go on a stroller ride after his nap. They went to another floor to see someone from their church who is having some tests done. He was in an O.K. mood in the afternoon and evening. He is still hoarse and loosing his voice. His counts are continuing to go up. That is a good sign. Today marks 56 days in the hospital. And when Dee asked what the chances were of getting out any time soon they just laughed. Guess that means they won’t be going any place for a while. His weight today was 10.685kg and his tummy was 54 cm and his high temp for the day was 38.7 April 16, Noah was up at 9am being cranky and fussy. He had Physical Therapy today and was out by the nurses station. Usually he loves to be out by the nurses station but not today. Today he was unhappy about that. He took a long nap in the afternoon. He had speech therapy today but did not do well. He usually loves to play and talk with the speech therapist but today he was not happy about it. He played in his crib and continued to be fussy and whinny into the night time. He has started to loose his voice and become hoarse. He still has mouth sores but he isn’t bleeding as much now. He received red blood cells today and he had his herbs today. His counts are on the rise now so that is a good thing. His weight was 10.88 kg and his tummy was 55.5 cm and the high temp today was 37.4c. Today was a So-So Bad day. April 15, Noah slept until 11am this morning and has been somewhat cranky and fussy throughout the day. He did have physical therapy today. He napped in the afternoon until early evening hours. Even after his nap he was still unhappy and cranky so he slept more. When he woke up he played with the toy Phone Diana Livengood gave him. He didn’t breast feed today but did drink some water. His mouth isn’t as bad today but he still has mouth sores. He received Red blood cells and platelets today. His weight today was 11.01 kg and his tummy was 53.5 cm and his maximum temp for the day was 38.8c. Today was a So-So day. April 14 Today Noah was up at 7:30am he played and had a bath by 8:30 am. He took short naps on and off all day and was cranky and whinny. He still has mouth soars and bleeding from his mouth, still nauseated and dry heaving. He did a lot of fussing and crying today and did not breast feed nor did he have herbs. When his counts go down and his temp goes up he gets put on anti bionics because his body has nothing to fight off any possible infection so now it is time to start the anti biodics. He received platelets today. His weight was 11.12 kg and his tummy was 54 ½ cm. So-So/Bad day April 13, Today Noah woke up at 8:30 due to the care partner coming in and messing with him. He was really tired because he had a rough night and could have used more sleep. He took lots of short naps throughout the day and was fussy and cranky. He was very nauseated and still bleeding and dry heaving and gagging from the blood drainage because of teething. He didn’t have his herbs today because of the nausea. He did play some in the am and then again in the pm. Today he received Red Blood cells. Now his counts are starting to drop from the chemo treatments on April 8th and 9th. His weight today is 10.69 kg. And his tummy is 54 cm. His maximum temp today was 38.5c Today was an O.K. day. April 12. Noah was up at 7:30 am. And then back asleep by 11 am until 2pm. He had his physical Therapy in the playroom again . He is still suffering from nausea. He was in an O.K. mood until he had to be restrained in the car seat at 3pm then he was fussy, crying to and from Sheboygan (to pick me up for the weekend) He did enjoy the church Rally. His mouth started bleeding again during church due to the fact he is STILL teething. He became nauseated from the blood and threw up blood. He was up a lot during the night and was gagging and dry heaving because of the blood from his mouth. He seemed to be in a bit of pain during the night. His weight today was 10.07 kg and his tummy was 52 cm. His maximum temp was 37.4 Today was a So-So/Bad day. April 11, Today Noah was up by 8 am again. He had Physical Therapy in the playroom. Eileen took him to play in the play room and then he played at the nurses desk. He took only short naps today and was very cranky, fussy and whinny. And yes he is still teething. He went for another wagon ride outside with mom. Now he is becoming nauseated probably because of the chemo. He threw up sour white chunks and later started throwing up blood clots. His mouth is now bleeding again from his teething. He did drink some juice today. He was in a very foul mood in the evening. His weight was 10.775 kg and his tummy was 51 cm. His maximum temp was 37.4 Today was a So-So/Bad day. April 10, Today Noah was up by 8 am. He was cranky, fussy, with high pitched winning and screaming. He rode the blue sit and push toy again for Physical Therapy. This time they had him unplugged from the I.V. so he was able to get around better. He stayed playing in the play room with Eileen (the Child Development Specialist or better known as the “play lady”) Then Eileen took him on a wagon ride. He had his herbs today and then took a nap. Today wasn’t a good day for Breast feeding. He went on another wagon ride outside with his mom. He had speech therapy today. And of course he is still teething. His weight was 10.72 kg and his tummy was 51 cm. Today was a So-So/Bad day April 9, Up early today again. Noah didn’t get herbs today because he wasn’t feeling well. He did breast feed well although he was very cranky, fussy, unhappy, moody and indecisive again today. Still teething. One of them is almost thru on his top left. He slept on and off. He had Physical Therapy today and went on the blue sit and push ride toy all around the HOT unit. He played at the nurses desk and napped. He got his VODC chemo again at 3am His weight today was 10.64kg his tummy was 51.5 cm. And his maximum temp was 37.0c. Today was another BAD day. April 8, Noah was up early today. He didn’t have his herbs today. He did breast feed better today than he has been doing. He was very cranky and fussy and indecisive and unhappy today. He is teething, still working on 3 molars to come in. Slept on and off today. Went to the playroom for Physical Therapy. He was angry when he had to come back. He went for a stroller ride and played by the nurses desk. He went to bed early tonight, by 9:30 pm. He started his VODC Chemo (the rough kind) at 3am. His weight was 10.590 kg and his tummy was 51.5 cm. With a maximum temp of 36.6c. Today was a BAD day. April 7, Noah slept most of the A.M. He played a bit after waking. He was a bit fussy with Dee’s friends Wendy and Eric. He was whining and throwing fits. He went out on pass again today from 2:45 until 9:30 pm. They went to McDonald's, Toy’s-R-Us, K-Mart and to the PM. Service at Church. He was clapping and happy at Church. His weight today was 10.425 kg and his tummy was 52 cm with a maximum temp of 37.2c. Today was a So-So/Good day April 6, Today Noah was up early in the morning playing and then took a nap from 12:30pm until 3:00pm. He got to go home on a pass from 4:30pm until 10 pm. He hated being strapped down in the car seat and cried a lot because he wanted out of the seat. He was fussy in the car but really enjoyed playing with his brothers and sister. They went to a drive in restaraunt and drove by Lake Michigan for a while. They changed the dressing on his central line today. He is also starting to teeth again with his molars. The doctors are trying to wean him from his pain medication with Methadone. I guess in some ways I can understand their concern that he not get addicted to the pain medication but this is a baby who still has a tumor that has his liver stretched out to about the size of a flattened football or about 4 times the size of an adult liver. You know everything in his body has to be all pushed out of place and hurting. But there is one amazing thing that shows God at work. Even with all this going on with his liver it is still functioning almost normally. His weight today was 10.43 kg and his tummy was 52 cm. His maximum temp was 36.8. Today was classified as a So-So/Good day. April 5, Today Noah was up from 7:30 am until 11:00 am. Playing. He slept from 11 am until 2:30 pm. He didn’t have physical therapy today because he was sleeping so much. He did play in the bouncer at the nurses desk until 3:30 then he slept until 4:30. He was cranky and uneasy during feeding time. He seemed to be in pain. So they changed his pain medication. He slept from 7 pm on through the night. His weight was 10.43 kg and his tummy was 51 cm. His maximum temp for the day was 37.2c. Today was a So-So day. April 4, Today Noah was up by 7:15 had his sponge bath and played at the nurses station in the exersauser until 11 am. He had Physical Therapy in the playroom. He slept until afternoon after physical therapy and then took another long nap in the evening. He had fun crawling all over the room floor. He went over to the stroller “indicating” to his mom that he wanted to go for a stroller ride. He was some what fussy and had some mouth bleeding today. His weight was 10.43 kg and his tummy was 52 cm. His maximum temp for the day was 37.7c Dee classified today as a So-So/Good day. April 3, Noah was up early this morning, at 5 AM. He played with Mrs. Livengood ( a friend of Dee’s who had spent the night with her) for an hour. He slept late after that. He had Physical Therapy today and practiced walking with a push toy. He slept from 12:30 until 3 P.M. Then he went for an Echo-gram for his heart (which turned out fine with no problems) He slept most of the rest of the evening. He was playful in the late evening. He has started taking his herbs in juice instead of breast milk. It had become a concern that maybe he was associating the taste of the herbs with the breast milk thus he wasn’t wanting to nurse any more. We are now finding that the TPN and the Lipids that they give him keep him full and that is why he isn’t feeding well. Today’s maximum temp was 37.0 and his weight was 10.345 kg. His tummy was 51.5 cm. Dee classified today as a So So/Good day.