What a Game!

The anticipation was worth the wait! Garrett and I arrived in Ft. Worth on Wednesday and were met at the plane by two great guys, Captains 'Mac' McGilvray (F-16 pilot) and Lloyd Childs. Both men are AFA alumni and were helping to host Garrett's dream weekend. Mac also played football at AFA in the late 1990's.

At the hotel, Garrett got to meet with Chris Thomas, Justin Moore and the rest of the Fighting Falcons football team. They gave him the red carpet treatment! He spent the better part of two days hanging out with the Air Force football team and their families. It was fantastic, but the best was yet to come.

Game Day! We met the team at 0830 in the hotel lobby and were led to the team bus. Garrett's seat was waiting. It was a tremendous experience and great teaching moment. The team remains entirely quiet on the bus, taking private time to focus on the battle yet to come.

At the stadium, Garrett got to go into the locker room with the team and hang for quite a while as they prepared. Chris and Justin both took time to visit with Garrett and give him more "gifts" , items such as wrist bands and a pair of receiver gloves that Justin made Garrett promise not to take off during the game. He didn't.

The game was amazing, Chris had 12 tackles and two interceptions. Garrett was beside himself. The day was a cold one, but Garrett refused to break his promise to Justin and would not put on his warm gloves. It may have been an omen, because the Fighting Falcons beat the top rated passer in the country, picking him off 6 times. We watched the game with Chris' family, Mac and Lloyd. Toward the end of the game, Mac reached out to his friend and 3 time Super Bowl champion Chad Hennings, another Air Force alumn. Chad visited with Garrett and let him wear a Super Bowl ring. It was quite an experience.

Following the game, Garrett was brought back into the locker room to share in the victory celebration. Chris gave Garrett a big hug and all of the coaches and players kept thanking him for coming to the game. The overall character of these tremendous men boggles the mind. They are truly the best and the brightest. The future of our Air Force is in great hands! They represent what is good and decent about our Country, and I'm so proud to know them and have my son look up to them. Their behavior the entire time was beyond reproach. He ended his trip with a visit to Mac's family home. They are great people. All of them.

Garrett came home with a signed football, other trinkets and memories to last a lifetime. More than that, however, Garrett received so many positive examples of how true humble warriors should behave. From the coaches and players to the families, everyone was top-shelf and treated Garrett with such care, dignity and love.

There will be more to follow, but I wanted to drop a quick note to share just a glimpse of what a fantastic experience this was for our little warrior with the heart of a champion. It was a good break, because as we returned, he had more blood tests done. There were concerns that his kidneys may have been in trouble. Indications now, though, are that all is ok. Praise Jesus!

One last quick note....Garrett played his PSP video game on the plane trip down. He played the Air Force Vs. Houston game. His score: Air Force 49. Houston, 14. The final score of the real game: Air Force over Houston, 47-20. Pretty darn close!

God Bless you all. Remember to put on your armor and always fight the good fight.

JD

Merry Christmas

Wow! What a Christmas it has been around the Ross tribe. The blessings keep pouring in for us.

When Garrett wrote his "Santa letter" about a month ago, the first thing on his list was a "Chris Thomas" jersey. Chris is a remarkable young man who plays Strong Safety on the Air Force Academy football team. He is one of the best safeties in the conference! Garrett has never met Chris, but is really a fan of the player. I can't think of a more positive roll model than an Air Force Cadet. Our military have thousands of great people who stand for the right things in life.

I made a simple phone call to a great friend, Mike Simler, looking for a replica jersey. Mike's father was an Air Force General, Air Force Academy A.D., and started the Commander In Chief's Trophy. Well, that started a firestorm when Mike pushed buttons. Now a simple search for a Christmas gift has developed into a gift he'll never forget. The Air Force Academy football team, Chris Thomas' family, the Simlers and others, are sponsoring Garrett to join the team at the Armed Forces Bowl in Ft. Worth, TX on New Year's Eve! He will stay at the team hotel, ride over to the game on the team bus and get to spend time with the team and their families. What an incredible gift! We are humbled beyond comprehension. This truly will be a gift he never will forget. How many kids ever get to see a bowl game, with their favorite team and college player?

The kids gave me the best gift I could have received this year. They knew funds were tight so they didn't ask to buy each other a gift. Instead, they each on their own, decided to give the other an item of theirs that is very special. To watch that interaction and see them hug each other Christmas morning without being influenced by mom or dad is truly a gift I will never receive. Those two are best of friends and the love they share makes me proud. They've been through a lot together, and their bond is extraordinary. They showed this, too, during a recent filming event to promote research for heart disease.

We have been asked to represent the American Heart Association as an "ambassador family" of sorts, for a large event and fundraiser in Denver next year. We've always said that if Garrett's story can help another child, we'll share it. They are producing a short film on Garrett's journey, and just hearing what the kids said about each other, family, friends and God.....again, warms the heart of a daddy.

Jessi has been amazing throughout all of the challenges and highlights. There's been so much done and said about Garrett, and Jessi has quietly stayed in the background being supportive, loving and unselfish. Even when Garrett was so sick she would go around to me, Garrett or mommy and make sure we were all ok. She's much more mature than her 8 years. Kathy and I have decided that an "anonymous" donor is going to sponsor her for a trip with one of us for being such a great sister through all of this. She is more eaten-up with rodeo than even her brother, so we're going to take her to an out of state rodeo for a few days and really make over her. Garrett is a very special boy, but he's just a boy and we want to balance how much attention he gets while Jessi sits back and watches in silence. There needs to be a reward for that kind of courage, too.

Well, it's winter again. The cold keeps us inside more than we like, but it gives me fewer excuses not to drop you all a note and let you know how the little warrior is doing. He's taken to basketball now and is doing well. He likes the game and his coach plays him a lot. He continues to have nightmares but we've finally gotten a few leads on someone who may be able to help him move past that.

As I sign off, I ask you all to pray for a family I know who lost their son to heart disease just a few days ago. While we were able to celebrate the magic of Christmas with our son, another family is planning a funeral for theirs. The gifts we have been given are not wasted because we will continue to use these gifts to glorify God and help find a way to cure this terrible disease.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and may you all share in the blessings of the Christ Child, the warmth of His love, and the magic of the season seen through the eyes of a child who for a while, can forget about fear and pain. If we learn from them, we can too.

God Bless,

JD

Checking In

It has been quite a while since a post, so I thought I'd put out a short one quickly to let everyone know that Garrett is doing really well. He had a great summer playing baseball and once again, just being a kid. He still has nightmares from time to time, but slowly he will hopefully be able to deal with the "demons" that naturally come with such a traumatic experience. Overall, he's done remarkably well.

We had a little bit of a scare when Garrett was diagnosed with the H1N1 flu a while back. He apparently got it at school. He was a pretty sick little guy for a few days, but came out of it really well. Not being sure how his heart would handle the situation, Kathy and I were pretty spooked. We took turns sleeping with him for a while, and thus got it too. We all felt lousy for about a week, but the put the whole family on the Tamiflu and it helped.

Garrett's doing good in school this fall. We held him back a year because he missed so much school a year ago that he was constantly behind and frustrated. He and Jessi are now going to school right next door, which is great. They just walk across the pasture and they're there! He's playing basketball now and really enjoying that.

There's so much to tell, but all at once is too much. Garrett has a biopsy scheduled for the first of next year, which will be really tough. So we won't even tell him for a while, though he asks about it once in a while.

Hope everyone is well and thanks for all the prayers. They work!

God bless,

JD

March 2nd, 2009 One Year!

Hello, Friends!

It’s been a while so today seemed like the perfect time to update Garrett’s blog. Exactly one year ago today, we received a blessing that words cannot describe. Thank you for hanging in there with us.

The past several months have raced by so quickly. In January, Garrett received a “Western Wishes” wish. They are the cowboy answer to “Make A Wish Foundation”. The whole family was treated to a weekend at the Denver Stock Show and Rodeo, where Garrett and Jessi hung out with many of the top cowboys in world. Garrett made new friends, and was given a special gift by the young man who won the Free Style Bull Fighting event…his championship buckle! It was an incredible weekend, to be sure. The fact that so many people are still reaching out to him, reminds us how truly blessed we are.

Yesterday, we had a small gathering of folks to celebrate our 1st year with our new boy. In perfect Ross family style, it could not go quietly. Just as we were packing the car to head to the event, I heard Garrett scream for “daddy”. The tone of his voice told me something was terribly wrong.

He had been in the yard playing ball with a friend (baseball tryouts were Saturday). He was throwing the ball in the air, and hitting it with a bat. Enter a yearling puppy named “Stella”. She is a 13 pound terrier, given to Jessi and Garrett as a gift by one of his nurses. Stella went for the ball just as Garrett swung. When I arrived, Stella was not breathing and in complete seizure. I gave her a quick rib rub, which caused her to start breathing. After quickly checking for, and finding no obvious broken bones, I carried her unresponsive body to a good friend’s waiting pick up. He had just pulled in. We made a mad dash to the 24 hour urgent vet care where after 24 hours and plenty of IV meds, she was able to come home with a whopper of a headache.

Last night, Kathy and I had to realize that though the day had been traumatic, (Garrett was sure he’d killed his dog…and nearly did) we realized that God gave us another blessing. One year ago, we had been praying for Him to save our boy. This year at the exact same time, we were praying He’d save a dog. We’ve come a LONG way!

Garrett told me later that he’d run off to the barn and knelt in a stall, asking Jesus to save his puppy. I guess Jesus really does love the prayers of a child. Today, you can’t hardly tell she’d been whacked.

We’ll write more soon, I promise, but I had to take this opportunity to let you all know that Garrett is doing great physically. We still awake every day victorious, and still finish every night on our knees thanking Him for one more day. Only now we do it with a dog who's worth about $30.00 a pound since yesterday.

God Bless you all.

JD

Perfect Score!

November 18th marked Garrett's 22nd surgical procedure. Today we got perfect news. Biopsies are scored from 0-5, with 0 being perfect, and Garrett's tissue biopsies scored perfect! All of them!! All the old, bad cells that were there in the last test are gone. Praise God! Garrett's tough little body with God's grace, fought the bandits off again!

Garrett and Jessi both cried hard the night before. There has been barely any sleep and dang little rest for a few days. The anxiety was building exponentially each day. Both kids were scared for what "tomorrow" might bring, so I we just stayed up and watched rodeo each night the past few. That always makes life better.

Garrett had a really tough day yesterday, having 3 attempts at IV's blow up the veins. All the previous surgeries and IV's have scarred his little veins so much that it is hard to get one started now. They ended up giving him intra-muscular sleeping meds and then deadening the site for the cathetor (more needles). He woke up during the biopsy and asked the doctor if he was going to die. I hope and pray he does not remember that

I carried him in like I always do, and then Garrett was on the table for 4 hours. Laying him down is pretty tough, but it's the meeting with the doctors after that has us a little jumpy. Poor Kathy almost starts crying just at the thought. It was that meeting that kicked us in the guts last February. But this time the doctors came out and told us that both sides of the heart looked great, but that we would have to wait for the pathology results from the biopsy to know for sure. Today, there were tears of joy.

We were supposed to hear results by noon today, but by 3:30 we were still waiting and getting a little anxious. About an hour later, we got the news all of us have been praying for...Garrett's biopsies, all of them, scored a "0", being perfect. Both sides of the heart are healthy, strong and he is even growing an extra branch to one of his arteries. (something that normally does not happen)

Tomorrow we take Jessi in for an endoscopy to check on some stomach problems she's been having, but we expect to get good news again. Just another little bump, and then we get to go into the holidays with a clean slate.

We're worn out, but absolutely thankful and blessed tonight. I will pen more later, but wanted to share our tremendous news. Thank you all for your support and prayers. We are so grateful for the continued support and love for my family, and all the prayers we feel. Praise God with us! He gives us the armor to fight our battles, and we wrap ourselves in it every day.

God Bless you all!

JD

Garrett Now Knows

Well, the news is out. At his appointment in Denver this week, Garrett was told that he will have to have another double biopsy in November. It was sooner than I wanted to tell him, but can't be helped now.

He is understandably scared and has had nightmares nearly every night since. During the day, he's a little more detached and askes a lot of questions such as "what if I die" and "How do we know this heart won't quit". All tough questions to find answers for, but we try.

I have told Garrett that God decides when we have completed our work for Him on earth and calls us Home to be with Him. For any of us, that is a question we all have and should always work to prepare ourselves for that day. We need to love and laugh and learn and make sure we take care of other people who have little, just like He taught us to do. If we do our part, I know Jesus will do His part.

Aside from the fears, he does not seem to be showing any outward signs of rejection, still. This is great news that we welcome gladly.

For now, we're trying to keep a positive spin on everything and focus on prayer and trying to live our lives for Christ each day. Our little Warrior is surrounded by a team who refuse to ever accept defeat, claims each day as a victory and ends each night on our knees so we can land on our feet in the morning.

Mommy and Daddy have our own set of fears, but I will not allow "can't", "won't" or "doubt" to enter into the Ross vocabulary. We strive for the heart of a champion....every single day. And each new day is a victorious blessing.

Stay warm, all. Summer's fixin' to quit us.

God Bless,

JD

A Brief Update

I know I have been remiss of late. I guess we just got caught up in trying to put some "normalcy" back into our lives. Since Garrett's last biopsy results, we've seen no physical changes in our little warrior. He continues to be happy and playful, albeit a little too rambunctious at times (which is a very good thing).

The kids and I had a chance to head up into the hills for a short elk "hunt". It was their 1st official elk hunt with Daddy, and it will go down as one of my all time most memorable. Each had a cow (elk) call and they made every terrible squeaking sound they could muster. We didn't see any elk that day, but we had the time of our lives. We found a sun bathed saddle overlooking a draw, and both kids crawled up into my lap. I cannot remember when we had that much pure love and enjoyment together. It was if we were sitting in God's lap and the angels' wings were forcing a calming breeze down through the aspens. (see photo)

Since then, two wonderful community groups put on a ranch rodeo and quarter horse race to benefit the Family Fund For Garrett Ross. The overwhelming feelings of humility and appreciation were too much for even words to capture. Being proud people, we find it hard to let people help us. However, while we don't deserve any of the blessings we receive, we are forever changed and grateful to so many who came together over the love of a little boy and his family. Thanks, will never be enough.

Garrett is enjoying school now that his immune system is up and running pretty well. He still does not know about the big biopsy surgery in November. We want to wait until the right time to tell him. There is no sense in getting him stirred up right now. He fights nightmares and sleep, his sister Jessi is having some emotional fights of her own over the ordeal, and Kathy still cannot really talk about the "what ifs" and the future. As we deal with the emotional tribulations and the uncertainty of the future, we hit our knees each night thanking God for another day and pray that tomorrow will find us greeting the sunshine with a smile and will to fight one more time. God is so gracious and loving, and we know there are no fights we cannot win with Him guiding us.

More to come soon.

May God light your path to cool water.

JD