A March Miracle

OK, this miracle technically happened Friday, February 27, but as a journalist, I always love a good headline. And Baby Austin will always be a miracle baby in my opinion.

You might remember from a post last year about my college friend Natasha and her family who discovered their little baby had leukemia. After five months of chemo at Shands at UF, the Allen family officially went home for good on Friday evening, and Austin is in remission. The photo above is Austin on the right, and his big brother Hunter is on the left.

I'm so happy for this special family and hope to meet Austin and his big brother Hunter one day. During this ordeal, my mom and dad cooked and took a meal to Natasha one day while she stayed at the hospital EVERY day. She stayed during the week, and her husband came to the hospital on the weekends. Austin is such a happy baby. When my parents visited his room, my mom said all he did was laugh and laugh, despite being so sick.

His older brother Hunter celebrated his 5th birthday at the end of January, and I sent him a present. He told his mom to tell me, "Thank you for the gift. If you ever need anything, please call me." How cute is that! He also sent me an adorable hand-written thank-you note.

Natasha and I have been out of touch since college, but through Facebook, e-mail and her blog, we've reconnected, and I've learned so much about her wonderful family's struggle with this dreaded disease. As Natasha wrote near the beginning of this fight, "Austin has cancer, but cancer doesn't have Austin." Go Austin for beating cancer! Take care little buddy!

Updates

I'm happy to report that my college friend Natasha and her family had some good news this week. After the first round of chemo, baby Austin (pictured above in the hospital with his big brother Hunter) is in remission and doesn't have any cancer cells in his body. The doctors determined this after a bone marrow biopsy. He'll still needs four more rounds of chemo, but the Allen family is very happy. They continue to need prayers and support since they'll probably be at Shands Hospital until March.



Another Gator is moving to Knoxville! University of Tennessee President John Petersen selected Dr. Jimmy Cheek, UF's Senior Vice President for Agricultural and Natural Resources, as UT-Knoxville's next chancellor. The UT Board of Trustees approved the recommendation Friday, and Cheek starts Feb. 1, 2009. I should probably warn him about all the orange and white he's going to encounter. Go Gators! Go Vols!

The Power of Prayer and Facebook

I've had a Facebook account almost since it started four years ago thanks to my brother who turned me onto it. During the past year, I've noticed how many of my high school and college friends have joined. It's been great catching up and reading where people's lives have taken them.

A few months ago, one of my college friends, Natasha, and I became friends again on Facebook. I already knew she was married and had one child because we had lunch before I left Gainesville several years ago. However, through Facebook, I quickly learned she was pregnant with her second child.

If you're not familiar with Facebook, people can post photos, information about their work, education, family, etc., and status updates for their friends to see and send messages to friends. Because of this interactivity, I learned Natasha delivered baby Austin on July 30, 2008, and within a few days, she quickly posted photos of the new arrival along with his daddy Patrick, big brother Hunter and other family members.

During the past couple of months, Natasha continued to provide status updates about how everyone was doing. Just more than a week ago, she posted how she had fun at the Gator game even though they lost. A few days later, she mentioned how she was home with her older son who was sick, but the baby was healthy.


So it came as quite a shock to me and all of Natasha's friends when last Thursday night at 10:27 p.m., she wrote the following status update: "Chemo starts tomorrow. The battle begins. No matter how rare-Austin is strong...and he will beat this Leukemia. Keep praying..."

I couldn't believe it. How could this adorable healthy-looking baby boy have such a horrible disease? It was a shock for Natasha and her family as well. The odds are one in three million.

Almost immediately, friends started sending their well wishes, thoughts and prayers via Facebook. Natasha and her family have been at Shands Hospital at UF since last Thursday, and Austin's chemo is going well. She keeps updating us on how things are progressing since she has Internet access there, and baby Austin sleeps a lot.

It's amazing how fast life can change in an instant, but at least there are ways to let your friends and loved ones know almost instantly the good and the bad news. It's going to be a long road for them, so please keep this special family in your thoughts and prayers. God bless you baby Austin!