Very Sad News...

As you may remember, I posted on December 23rd about my friend Matt's nephew, Nathan Carlson, being diagnosed with Leukemia and his pending battle. It is with great regret and sadness that I must share with you that Nathan has lost his battle and has passed away at the tender age of 7 on July 2nd.

From all accounts, Nathan was extremely courageous and brave in his fight. He never gave up, always had a smile on his face, and fought with the vigor that would make anybody proud. He may not still be with us, but he touched everybody who had the opportunity to get to know him.

Nathan and the rest of the family are in my thoughts. I would like to encourage you to do two things. First, go to www.carepages.com and register and look up NathanCsUpdate to review his page. Second, in his last few days, while Nathan was having a difficult time breathing, his Mother was asking for people to take a breath for Nathan. In his honor, TAKE A BREATH FOR NATHAN.

My deepest condolonces again to the entire Carlson Family. You are all in our thoughts.

The Family Would like to suggest donations to go to:

The Nathan Carlson Fund To Benefit the Research of Dr. Eva Guinan Dana Farber Cancer Institute
10 Brookline Place, West 6th floor
Brookline, MA 02445

This fund will help further the research of the experimental transplant that Nathan had. Our family believes that this transplant worked. Nathan had no GVH disease that many of the other children get and he had a good quality of life. We have donated Nathan's lungs to help further this research because this is what Nathan wanted and this is what we believe will make a difference. If you feel that you do not want to donate to this fund, then please direct funds to Boston Children's Hospital's 6 and 7 West Child Life Activities.