(Note: These are excerpts from a 15-page journal beginning on January 2, 2006 to June 12, 2006)

Wesley was diagnosed at 9:30 p.m. New Year's Eve at the age of 9.

January 2, 2006
Wesley had been suffering from a bronchial infection for three weeks. He was undergoing treatment for that when we noticed a lump in his throat that we thought was a swollen lymph node. At the same time, the cocktail of antibiotics he was taking to cure his bronchial infection did not seem to be improving his condition. He was suffering from severely labored breathing, especially at night. Saturday, we decided to take him to the immediate med center. It is there that our nurse, Kevin, referred us to Kennestone for a CT Scan. The Doctors at Kennestone were unable to diagnose the lump and referred us to Scottish Rite Children's Hospital.

Saturday afternoon, Dr. Gauer, at Scottish Rite Children's Hospital discovered a tumor in Wesley's throat that is above his vocal chords and blocking his windpipe. The tumor was growing so rapidly that at the time it threatened to prevent him from breathing within hours or a couple of days. They told us that his odds of surviving the night were slightly better than 50-50.

At 10 pm, he underwent an emergency surgery tracheotomy to open his windpipe. The surgery took four hours and was performed by two ENT Specialists. He was awake through most of it because they could not fit a necessary tube down his throat due to the blockage. He was a real trooper; the doctors were very impressed with his bravery during the surgery.

January 4, 2006
For those of you not aware of just how outstanding Children's Healthcare of Atlanta is, we wanted to tell you of the excellent care Wesley is receiving. He was seen by 5 doctors in a 3-week period along with 4 radiologists before Dr. Gauer. No one could find anything wrong with Wesley outside of the bronchitis symptoms he was displaying. Dr. Gauer took 5 minutes to diagnose and plan a rescue to Wesley, that included bringing in a 2nd surgeon to assist on the tracheotomy, a procedure that many surgeons would perform on their own. She is truly outstanding and Wesley's life saver.

January 5, 2006
The pathologist called this morning and said that the slides of the cells are more consistent with Aveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma. This is a rare form of cancer for a 9-year-old. They will step up chemo to begin next Wednesday. (At a later date, Wesley's doctors change the diagnosis to Stage 2 Botryoid Rhabdomyosarcoma – still very rare but less aggressive)

June 12, 2006
Wesley has finally begun to recover from all of the effects of radiation. His voice is back to about 60% of what it was before diagnosis, which is a remarkable improvement over the slight whisper he could only do 3 weeks ago.

In another week, he goes to Camp Sunshine along with the Oncology staff from his Doctor's office. His Oncologist and the nurse he usually sees every Wednesday will be there with him all week. It's EXTREMELY good timing for Wesley because he will be at the end of a break from chemo (He doesn't get any for the next 2 weeks) and should be feeling as well as he possibly can until we get through the end of his treatments.