Here's a little guy who could use everyone's help

[Doug Jones]

go to the front page of PIHA

http://www.thepiha.com

Jacob was admitted today to the Philadelphia Children's hospital as his infection has worsened. Jacob is the SC Pirates myspace friend. He is number four on our top friends.

http://www.myspace.com/scpirateshockeyclub

Jacob is the pic of the acoustic guitar and listed as top friend # 4

If you get a minute, please add him and drop him a line to wish him well. This is something ALL of us can do no matter what league we are in!!!

Thanks!

Doug

[Drew10]

Hey Doug,

That was a touching story man and I work in health care (respiratory therapy)
I don't live far from CHOP and if there is anything I could do lemme know. I'm not currently affiliated with a club but I'm a former, Growl, Fury Player. I could definitely go down and bring him a jersey...or something like that....what do you think....

Drew

[NC Mustangs]

Doug,

Thanks for sharing this touching story with the inline community. Regardless of what league or affiliation these are the types of things we all need to do to build this great sport.

I have sent Jacob a get well message on behalf of the Northern California Mustangs and myself.

I wish you and your organization a great and sucessful 2008/2009 season.

[RINKRAT]

That's AWESOME! What a great story!

RAT

[Doug Jones]

Hey Doug,

That was a touching story man and I work in health care (respiratory therapy)
I don't live far from CHOP and if there is anything I could do lemme know. I'm not currently affiliated with a club but I'm a former, Growl, Fury Player. I could definitely go down and bring him a jersey...or something like that....what do you think....

Drew


Drew!!!

If you could go see him and just cheer him up that would be the BOMB!!! you don't have to tie anything into it, he just needs friends and support right now!!!! he'd go crazy!!!

Thanks so much!!!

Doug

[CoachClipboard]

The Harrisburg Lunatics wish Jacob, his mother, his family all of their prayers and wishes for a speedy recovery and have added them to our myspace page with a personal invitation to visit with the Lunatics when hes ready.

I hope that all the teams in whatever league can offer something to this young man and hockey fanatic who needs as much support and warmth the hockey community can muster. Keep the wishes coming to him and his family, send something to the hospital from your team, Doug tells me he's a hockey maniac! I am sure Doug will keep us all up to date on his progress and how to get cards and gifts to him.

Let us put aside all of the childish league issues for a short time and focus on giving as a whole to what is most important...The human side of this sport... Those who admire you. Our problems are very petty compared to his.

Thank you all in advance

[Drew10]

Hey Doug,
I'll try to get there tomorrow or Thursday I'll bring him a Fury Jersey and a Photo if anyone else out there in the Philly area would like to come down with me lemme know!

Drew

ps - If you can't make it maybe we can put together a package for him.

[Doug Jones]

The Harrisburg Lunatics wish Jacob, his mother, his family all of their prayers and wishes for a speedy recovery and have added them to our myspace page with a personal invitation to visit with the Lunatics when hes ready.

I hope that all the teams in whatever league can offer something to this young man and hockey fanatic who needs as much support and warmth the hockey community can muster. Keep the wishes coming to him and his family, send something to the hospital from your team, Doug tells me he's a hockey maniac! I am sure Doug will keep us all up to date on his progress and how to get cards and gifts to him.

Let us put aside all of the childish league issues for a short time and focus on giving as a whole to what is most important...The human side of this sport... Those who admire you. Our problems are very petty compared to his.

Thank you all in advance

Todd,

Thanks! well said and put!!!

His mother's name is Hope and her email is [email protected] Please email her, let her know that you heard of Jacob through the story on PIHA (so she knows how you got her email) any support you can give Jacob at this time is appreciated. He loves hockey. So anything hockey related you can give him is and will be LOVED!!!!

Thank you all so much! I get updates 1 - 2x a day and will keep everyone updated on this thread!

Doug

[RichardGraham]

Hi Doug,

Please let Jacob know that Inline Hockey Central also sends him our best wishes for his full and speedy recovery. Go big!

[Doug Jones]

Just got one below...sorry

[Doug Jones]

Hey everyone --

First - thanks to all of you who have written to me to see how he's doing. I apologize for not writing back - but it's not so easy to find time to be online while here. Please don't take my ''non response'' as a lack of appreciation.

It's a HUGE blessing to know ya'll care!

An ESPECIALLY HUGE THANK YOU to all the PIHA teams, players and fans who have taken the time to add Jake to their myspace and/or written to him!! Ya'll are the best!

For those of you who want to send a card or balloons or something - here's the information:

Jacob Larson
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Room 17
5 West

Jake is hanging in there - he's such a great kid! He is scheduled to go into surgery tomorrow and/or Friday. We have no idea how long he will need to stay in here. Looks like early next week -- or if they find something in the biopsy - it could be weeks. =( Keep us in your prayers.
This is a tough time in so many ways -- but we are committed to staying focused on getting Jacob better!!


*hugs* to you all!

Hope

[SPORTSPLEXJEFF]

Doug,

First of all please send the best wishes from the Feasterville Fury to Jacob and his family.

Maybe we can all see from something like this that its a bigger issue.

Who cares if this child is a fan of PIHA, AIHL, Narch, Torhs, or etc.

He needs our support and that is what matters most.

Get well Jacob as the Fury organization is praying for you!

[Doug Jones]

Jeff:

I'll pass your wishes on to Hope and Jacob!!!

Thanks!

[Doug Jones]

This just came in from Jacob's mom, Hope....

I only have a second to write this - but I had to take just a minute to post about a most suprising and AWESOME thing that just happened.


We had gone down for tests with Jake and when we came back up to the floor- we were told Jake had a visitor. We were so suprised to find Mr. & Mrs.
Yoder were here to see Jacob!! I know that Jake was completely psyched - I had to really think to place who they were at first - but not Jake -- he knew EXACTLY who they were!! LOL

They brought him some very cool PIHA stuff -- and Jake hasn't take them off yet! (he fussed a little just now because as I am typing this the nurse came in and told him he had to take them off and put on a hospital gown because he's heading to the OR)

RIght after they left - we were told they were going to be taking him into the OR for surgery.
Their timing couldn't have been better!! Jake couldn't be in higher spirits going into surgery than he is right now!!!

I don't know if they have Myspace or not - so if they do - if someone could send me their Myspace info that would be terrific -- or if this "Thank you" of sorts could be passed onto them - I'd really appreciate it.


I'm kicking myself because Jacob really wanted a picture taken with them - and I totally brain-farted on doing that.
I wish he would have spoken up while they were here!!

Keep Jacob in your prayers - we're leaving for the OR soon.


Oooops........

We're off - they are here for him right now!

Hope

Thank you to the Yoder's for making Jacob's day special!!!!

[coach]

Doug,

Please send a very big get well for me.I will be sending something to him at the hospital.





Joe Furnari
Head Coach
Hartford Fire Ants

[hckypop02]

Doug, as the voice of the Northern California Mustangs my thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family. I read the story and as a father of 4 it brought a feeling of sadness and hurt as I read on. He is brave and will make it through and one day I will announce his name when he plays for you.
Best wishes and tell him to hang tough big man!
Doug Wallace

[wheels15]

That's a great thing to do by showing up at the hospital as Mr. and Mrs. Yoder did. Mr. Yoder has been nothing but a great guy since meeting him in my first year in PIHA 4 years ago. As for Jacob, on behalf of myself, my team(Philadelphia Revolution) and my former team and good friends(Philadelphia Growl), we would all like to wish him the best of luck and to get healthy soon. I have dealt with similar issues with my family and it is not an easy thing to do, but Jacob seems like a champion and is fighting this with greater strength and determination than I ever could. So get better big guy, and hope to see you on the rink soon enough.

PS-I have my growl jersey from the championship team 2years ago, that I'll gladly pass over to him. If anyone knows where I can send it to, my email is [email protected] I know anything right now will put a big smile on Jacob's face.
Robert Beauchamp #17

[Doug Jones]

Everyone,

You can keep in touch with Jacob by using the Care Page below!!!!

From his mom, Hope....

Just making sure everyone got the link to Jacob's care page. It's kind of like a homepage for Jacob that the hospital gave to him. He can post updates there and get messages and lots of other stuff!


If you didn't get the link or email - I think you can use this (pasted below). You DO have to register with the site (protection mechanism since the users are kids).


We just wanted to let you know that the GoBigOrGoHome CarePages website was updated on 08/21/2008 at 07:03PM.

Read the update now: http://www.carepages.com/carepages/GoBigOrGoHome/updates/1677410

Please forward this e-mail to anyone who would be a meaningful part of Jacob Larson's support circle.

Thank you for showing your support and being part of our caring community.

(If the link is inactive, copy and paste the entire url into your browser's address bar and hit enter on your keyboard.)
If you have any questions or concerns at all, our Customer Support Team is here for you Monday through Friday from 8AM to 6PM CST. Call (888) 852-5521 or email us at [email protected]

Sincerely,
The CarePages Team
CarePages.com

[Doug Jones]

Just want to thank everyone who joined Jake's care page. It's so great to see so many people in both the AIHL and PIHA help and care.

Please, keep your comments, thoughts and well wishes coming to his page!

thanks!

Doug

[Doug Jones]

Pictures from Jake's mom to share...

She also wants to thank the coach who called and didn't say what team he was from but encouraged Jacob! Hope would like to thank this person, so if you called Jacob, please let me know!!!

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/jonsey36/jakeaftersurgery.jpg

Jake prepping for surgery

Jake on his way to surgery!

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/jonsey36/jakeofftotheORwithjerseyandhoodie.jpg

Jake is resting and recovering. Feel free to drop him or his mom a line at his care page and or myspace!!!

They want me to thank everyone again for all the support and well wishes!!!

[Doug Jones]

Everyone,

as if the poor kid didn't have problems enough, his pet Rabbit, Hoppy passed. Jake is pretty down and depressed while in the hospital. Please send him a well wish and or help cheer him up!!!

The poor kid needs a break!!!

Doug

[Doug Jones]

update from Jake's mother, Hope...

So == day 12 at CHOP update! I wrote the update (below) yesterday – but for whatever reason ( I though maybe we hadn’t been able to pay our bill!) – my email server wasn’t working. It seems to be ok today – but I think Bob called them and told them our situation – and so they’ve given us a little window to work with before they shut us off. Bob was up for the weekend (and to be here when we had to tell Jake about Hoppy) – but gas prices are killing us!!! I am absolutely dreading when the bills from this hospital stay start rolling in. At this point, it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to go back to work anytime soon – so just keep us in your prayers for that side of all of this, too. (Anybody need someone to do satellite/remote location type work???? Haha) After I wrote this – we had a brief moment where we thought we might be going home! It ended as quickly as it started – and yes, we are still here. They did say that *maybe* we would get to go home today – but Jacob had yet another outbreak overnight – so we have to wait and see what the Infectious disease docs have to say about that. We are also going to have to endure a few more things for ENT as the swelling in Jake’s sinuses has gotten no better – and he still can’t breathe through his nose. They started a new med yesterday to try and shrink the blood vessels – but it hasn’t worked yet. L I will end here for now – and will update again soon as I know more! Hope - (oh yeah for those of you who don’t have this info: myspace.com/hopecan is mine myspace.com/itsnotanending -- is Jake’s – you can see some of the pics there! Also – if you don’t have his carepage info yet it is www.carepages.com and his page is GoBigOrGoHome Weds. August 27, 2008 Hey everyone. So, we are still here at Children’s Hospital. Jake has gone through a lot of tests – and has been feeling pretty miserable – however – he has kept us laughing at times with his humor. So far, the tests for the atypical bacterias seem to be coming up negative (thank God!) – but there is concern in more serious areas – and so they have started the genetic testing process for those things. Those will take awhile to get back – so all we can do is wait. Right now – they believe he might have the genetic markers that kids with Cystic Fibrosis have – they just think that he is presenting in a different manner. They also believe he may have what is called Ectodermal Dysplasia. These are in addition to the Immune Deficiencies we already know he has. Right now – his most significant stuff is a headache in the back of his head – and post-surgical complications from the sinus biopsies they did last week. They removed 2 polyps and have sent those off – and we’re still waiting on that. We still don’t know what the mass in his lungs is – but for now, they do not believe it is cancer (THAT is an answer to prayer!!!!) Another downer for him is that his pet rabbit, “Hoppy” died. He’s having a hard time with that – so we’re trying to find ways to lift his spirits. He kind of feels like if he hadn’t been sick and here – that she wouldn’t have died – and although we know that’s probably not the case – in his mind/heart it is. So – keep him in your prayers for that issue. L I still have no idea when we’ll be getting out of here. I keep thinking ‘tomorrow’ – but so far – my ‘tomorrow’ hasn’t quite worked out (haha). Jake loves getting the e-cards! Besides the hoodie and shirt from the PIHA (which was SO WAY COOL) – the e-cards and messages on his Hospital Carepage are the only things he’s gotten – so he REALLY looks forward to those each day! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO SEND HIM THOSE NOTES! Please forward this email to anyone you know who is looking for updates on Jake – or send me the emails so I can forward this – my Outlook (which has all my contacts in it) is on my computer at home – and so I’ve only been able to send these to people who I remember their email off the top of my head – OR folks who have emailed me since we’ve been here

[Doug Jones]

Hey everyone! Yep - we are FINALLY GOING HOME! woo hoo!

Jake is still not back to 'normal' and we have a lot of things to keep an eye on - and tons of meds he still has to take -- but for now - it will feel SO GOOD to be home! We may end up back in if things haven't resolved by this time next week --- but we're just gonna pray that ISN'T the case!!!

I know a couple of people had emailed me for the hospital address -- so if you sent something there - we need to know so we can follow up on it. I also know that a couple of people asked for the address at the house -- so I'm just going to put it here (instead of trying to go back through emails!)

Jacob Larson
12 Bangert Avenue
Perry Hall, MD 21128

Love to you all ---- I"m getting off here so we can pack up stuff and head hoooooooooooome!!!!

Hope

[SWAMPDONKEYS29]

That's great news!!! Enjoy the holiday weekend in the comforts of your own home.

Thanks to Hope and to Doug for all of the updates.

Get well soon Jake!!! The entire inline hockey community is in your corner.

Ruppy Hailey

[RichardGraham]

Hey Doug,

I finally got an IHC Commemorative Jersey mailed out to Jacob today. IHC's original webmaster Jon Niola didn't like the colors, so he'll have to wait for the new IHC jersey design that Brandon Morton is cooking up. ;)

I hope that Jacob will enjoy the jersey.

Go big AND go home healthy, Jacob!

[Doug Jones]

9/5 update

I don't know what their plan is going to be. The infectious disease docs are supposed to be calling me back in about an hour. If they don't have us bring him back up before Monday - the other docs want us to take him back in on Monday --- but they said the ID docs may not want us to wait that long.

He's on 10 different prescription meds right now - and some of them, well, the side effects suck (nausea, migraines) --- so although his spirits have been way up - overall - he's still having a tough time.

He has been so begging to go to SC - and we know that as bad as we would like to just jump in the car and head down - we can't. Not until this stuff is more under control. So - I did take him down to my sisters last weekend ---- and we came home with 2 bunnies and a HORSE (yes, I said horse ---- all thanks to my sister --- but the horse was a 'rescue' that cost her only $100!!!!) -- So he's been on cloud nine about those things. Anything to keep his spirits up I guess.

I'll write more later--- phone is ringiing - might be the docs!

[RichardGraham]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for the update. What a courageous kid Jacob is. Wow.