Wednesday, August 6, 2008

an update on nick...



(nick at the stratosphere in las vegas)

first, i want to thank all you sweet souls so much for your thoughts, well wishes, and prayers. please, if you have the time, keep them coming. i often ask for and offer prayers because i truly believe in their power!!!

you will never know how much i appreciate you
and the time you take to answer my request:)

i received a little bit of information this morning.
it is second hand but reliable...

A good friend of Bill's (nick's dad) said that he last spoke with Bill on Saturday. Bill had indicated that they were going to try Nick off the ventilator for a little while because they needed to get fresh air in his lungs. He also said that they would not do dialysis on Saturday because his counts were a little better. Bill indicated that at best they thought the vision in Nick's left eye would be 20/400. It is my understanding that they anticipate no vision in his right eye. Although he had sent Bill an email on Sunday, he has not yet heard back from him. I asked if he was doing any better. He said that it is basically status quo. When Bill asked the doctor if things were improving, the doctors were very reserved in their response and said that he has a long, long, long way to go. I didn't send this to all of IM because it is kinda "unofficial" since it is me telling you what his friend told me. I have, instead, forwarded it to those who have asked me for updates. Please let others know as you feel appropriate. Please continue to keep them all in your prayers.

obviously things are not great;
but they don't seem as bleak as they did
in my previous post concerning nick...


(nicholas gaddis:)

here are some of nick's own words (just to let you know what kind of a wonderful person he is;):

If I could meet anyone in the world I would have to say I would love to meet my donor. I have/had cancer. I have Hodgkin's lymphoma which as of right now has a 90% cure rate. Well I was diagnosed February 7th, 2000 and I am still fighting it. I have had numerous amounts of chemotherapy and radiation, I have had an experimental CD-30 antibody study, and I am currently approaching the end of my third transplant. The first 2 transplants were otologist transplants which meant that I got my own cells but the difference in this transplant was that it was allogenic which means that someone had to donate their cells to me. The reason I want to meet this person is because in order for me to get this transplant, I had to get my blood typecrossed with donors in the donor registry. Out of all the people in the world that were registered in the blood donor there were only 2 people that matched me in the world. After the doctors determined that I needed this transplant one of the 2 donors was contacted and they accepted. The big deal about this is... this is not like the donor goes and gives a sample of their blood and that is all they have to do. The person who did this had to go through weeks of immunotherapy, taking extra pills, going in for injections periodically and then to give their cells they had to go to the blood bank and sit there all day for 2 days with a catheter running out of both of their arms to save my life. This person has never met me, doesn't know what all I have been through or anything yet they took time, money, and pain to save my life. That is the type of person that I wish I could be and I wish I could meet. Technically at the moment I am cancer free but my immune system is still building thanks to their cells. (nick)

that is the kind of dear person for whom i've asked you to pray...


as i said previously, i believe prayer is a very powerful tool, and the gaddises know that their son/brother, respectively, is being prayed for all around the world. i know that they are grateful and their hearts are being made warm and full with that knowledge...

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

30 comments:

Tabitha said...

Dani ~ that seems to be a move in the right direction and I will continue to pray for Nick. From reading his words ~ he is obviously a very special person and my thoughts are with him and his family
Thank you for updating us Dani
love and hugs XXXXX

Amanda said...

Dani, i can tell that Nick is such a nice person and i haven't even met him. He is in my prayers.
Nick highlights the importance of being on the bone marrow and donor register.
Thanks for letting me know Nicks progress to date Dani.
Love,
Amanda xxxx

Tanya said...

Dani, Nick is one special guy!! I will be keeping Nick & his family in my thoughts & prayers! thanks for keeping us up to date!

love,
Tanya xxxx

Emma-Kate Castricum said...

What a gorgeous guy inside and out, fingers crossed the outcome is good, although it sounds like he has a long road ahead of him recovery wise it is also obvious he's surounded by caring beautiful people.

Thanks so much for the update Dani, it's amazing how through a person's blog from the other side of the world you can become so concerned about their friends too, beautiful really isn't it?

Love Em

Hannah said...

He does seem like a genuinely wonderful person, and I will definitely keep him in my prayers. I'm so glad that things seem to be getting better than what they were, though. Nobody deserves to go through this, especially someone as special as he.

l,
Hannah

Little Sweethearts said...

I noticed Nick is wearing a liveSTRONG bracelet. I don't know whether he (or you) has read the book by Lance Armstrong "It's not about the bike"? In Dutch they translated the title to "every second counts". I can recommend it.

After Lance recovered from cancer they told him that he was considered to have a survival rate of 2%. He made it and won the Tour de France 7 times.

Though Nick may not want to win the Tour de France, I hope he gets to live the life he dreams of. Without cancer.

Love,
Tania

dani said...

he is a pretty special guy, tabitha, and has been fighting this disease since he was 14... thank you for your continued prayers:)
love,
dani

dani said...

yes, amanda, nick highlights all that is important in life. i wish i could be a donor... i appreciate you keeping him in your prayers very much:)
love,
dani

dani said...

thank you, tanya, he is a very special young man!!! i just pray that he can kick this. God love him, it's been a long battle...
love,
dani

dani said...

it is a beautiful thing, em:) beauty full, indeed!!! thank you for your well wishes and concern...
love,
dani

dani said...

thank you, hanni:) you are right NO one should have to go through what nick has!!!
love,
m

dani said...

i haven't read armstrong's book, tania, but am very familiar with his story!!! he valliantly fought the fight... nick has as well:D
i cannot even fathom what he has gone through over the past 9 years with very few breaks.
i hope that his battle will turn out as well as armstrong's did!!!
hope floats:)
thank you, tania!!!
love,
dani

Jan said...

Dani, what a total beautiful spirit Nick is. So strong and brave and yet humble in gratitude towards others. An example on how to be.

He has been through so very much for such a young person. It saddens me. I hope that all will go well for him and his family. He is a definate fighter and a very strong person.

We will keep him in our prayers as he faces all the challenges he has right now in his life.

Thanks for the update Dani. You are a strong person too. And you have a huge heart.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the update. I was just thinking of him the other day.

What beautiful words he expressed. Being grateful is such a heeling art in and of itself.

dani said...

thank you, jan:) nick is definitely a fine example of how we all should be... i hope his strength will get him through this time. i cannot imagine after all he's been through him now losing most of his eyesight.
it's just so tragic.
love,
dani

dani said...

jenn, thank you for thinking of him:) it's just crazy that he had battled the the cancer for seven years, and now this comes up after being cancer free for 2 years:[
love,
dani

Weith Kick said...

I hope he gets better soon.

Kellan said...

I will be praying - he sounds like a wonderful man and he is so handsome too! I will pray!

Take care - Kellan

Linda said...

With tears rolling down my face, I just lifted Nick up to the Lord again, asking for a healing for this precious young man...and I will continue to keep him in my heart and in my prayers.

I also lifted up the donor to God, asking God to bless this sweet sweet giver...and asking the Lord to help me be like that donor. What a blessing that person was to someone in need. I want to be like that.

SuzanSayz said...

Dani, you are just the sweetest person, and Nick sounds like an incredible young man. My prayers will definately be added to all the others. My youngest little granddaughter Elisabeth, 10 months was never expected to live long enough to even be born. Then she was not expected to live more than a month or two. Now here she is at 10 months old, and a complete joy to our family. I know she has done so well from the hundreds of prayers from all the people that know about her and love her. I'm not sure if you've ever been to my daughter in law Lisa's blog, if not you should go to it and read about this precious little granddaughter of mine.

dani said...

me, too, wk... me too!!! thank you for your well wish;)
l,
db

dani said...

thank you, kellan:) nick has always been a handsome, darling boy!!!
love,
dani

dani said...

thank you, linda:) i have a feeling that you already ARE very much like the donor... so sweet.
love,
dani

dani said...

i haven't read lisa's blog, but i will, suz:) i hope nick does as well as your baby granddaughter!!!
thank you for your prayers; you are right they make a huge difference...
love,
dani

Unknown said...

hi dani! was just passing by..

dont worry dani i will include him im my prayers.. i already lost a good friend in a battle with cancer and it was painful.. i hope and pray that nick gets to survive this hardship :)

dani said...

thank you so much for your prayers, paulette, and for letting be know that you stopped:) feel free to visit any time!!!
love,
dani

Bren's Life said...

What a sweet letter from Nick.. What a strong young man he is. He's inmy prayers...

dani said...

thank you, bren:) i haven't heard any news for a few days; i hope that means he is continually improving!!! the gaddises are a lovely family.
love,
dani

Purple Teacup said...

Oh Dani- it breaks my heart...prayer IS powerful.

dani said...

shannon, it is heartbreaking!!! nick hasn't gotten any better at all... thank you for your continued prayers:)
love,
dani