PO Box 590 Romeo, Mi 48065
Plates for Preston
The Motor City Chapter of the Women Marines Association has taken on a small community cause to help a little boy realize his dreams of collecting enough license plates from all over the world to cover the walls in his new room when the time comes.
May I introduce you to Master Preston Arthur McFarland. Preston has a genetic disorder called Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (or NF-1). There are quite a few symptoms of NF-1, Preston's are: Left optic nerve glioma (tumor on the optic nerve) , plexiform neurofibroma (along the left cheek, jawbone and ear area), underarm and groin freckling, numerous cafe-au-lait (CAL's) spots. You can read his story of courage and strength at his Caring Friends website located at http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=preston
His update from today
May 9, 2007, reads:
Ok,
here we go for the lowdown on the last few days....
Preston's ophthalmology appointment yesterday showed his vision to be the same
as the last exam (20/30 R and 20/40 L), however the Dr noticed some changes in
his left optic nerve. The Dr will be in touch with the oncologist and she'll
be calling us to have his MRI moved up from August to now. This is the 1st
time there has been a change in the optic nerve and we are nervous. This could
mean the start of chemo. We are hoping and praying that is not the case, but
either way we are trusting God to get us through. We expected to hear from the
oncologist today, but didn't - hopefully the call will come tomorrow. Please
keep Preston in your prayers.
Today was Preston's neurological/psychological evaluation. According to the
psychologist, he did really good. He worked very hard today, had good
concentration and sat good for her - in one little room for 4 hrs...way to go
Preston!! She has to 'tally' up all of the 'test' scores (hers, mine and P's
teachers) and we will meet with her again later this month for the final
report. We are pretty confident that there will be areas of strength as well
as some weaknesses and hopefully we can gain some tools to help him catch-up
where he is behind.
On Saturday, we had a bit of a breakthrough with Preston as far as swimming
goes. He really didn't want to go to his lesson and we were asking him why he
didn't like going. He said that he didn't like floating on his back and we
agreed that if he participated in the rest of the lesson he would not have to
float on his back. Well, he did awesome on Saturday and Sunday! There is only
1 lesson left, however we are thinking of continuing lessons since he is on
the up-swing - he's actually enjoying it now!! That’s all for now. We'll
update when we know when the MRI is going to be.. Please keep us in your
prayers as well as all those dealing with NF
~~THE LICENSE PLATE PROJECT:~~
Preston loves cars (and anything to do with them) so we are collecting license
plates. We are planning on using them to decorate his new room (someday...)
and would like to get them from as many places as possible. Lon's grandfather
saved all of his old plates as did others in his family, so we have many many
Michigan plates.
Thanks! TARA
To help with this project please mail your plates to WMA Motor City, Plates for Preston, Box 590, Romeo, Mi 48065. We will present these plants to Preston and his mom and dad. It would be great to have at least one plate from each state and any country. Feel free to send cards with your plate. Pictures will be posted on our local website as well as Caring Bridge. www.jocokyroots.com/USMC.htm
