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July 12, 2005
By Laurel | July 12, 2005
We are slightly less hysterical today. We talked to some doctors and have learned about several options that have worked very well on other kids. But that’s not the BIG NEWS 🙂
The BIG NEWS is that Sam’s birthday is TOMORROW! Our beautiful, oldest boy will be 5 years old! We will be having dinner with Shamu – just a few friends since we were keeping him under wraps to avoid any illness prior to next week’s planned stem cell transplant. I say that because there are so many kids that we love and enjoy and yet we need to balance everything we do with what is best for the little guy.
Medically, we meet with the orthopedic surgeon Thursday at 1pm to review the surgery. We are assuming it will be general anesthesia, less than an hour, and we’re hoping to have it scheduled for sometime Friday. I will be in Chicago this weekend for the annual neuroblastoma conference (www.cncf-cancer.org) at the O’Hare Hyatt. Does anyone know why O’Hare’s call sign is ORD? Intriguing minds will check tomorrow’s post for the answer 🙂
Another Sam story: when in the hospital last, Sam asked what happened to the tumor that used to be in his belly? We told him the doctor took it out but Sam persisted with questions and wanted to know what the doctor did with it. After much questioning, we learned that he wanted to make sure that the doctor cut the tumor into tiny little pieces and then burned it so it wouldn’t hurt any other little kids. He’s awesome, isn’t he? But I think the thing we’ve seen over & over after 6 months in the oncology wards is that all kids are awesome – we’ve yet to meet one that doesn’t fight, doesn’t want to have fun, doesn’t want to be a kid. They’re all pretty amazing. So, hug a tree and a kid today, tonight, and tomorrow and then hug someone else you love. We’re learning about things we can control, things we can’t, and trying to tell the difference. If that sounds familiar, there’s probably not that much difference between a recovering alcoholic and us cancer parents – we’re all trying to just get better each and every day. Thanks for reading, please keep saying prayers, and if you want to get involved, check out www.chemoangels.com – our angels (Jill & Mary) have been just amazing and if you want to bring a smile to someone’s face, it’s a great way.
Thanks for everything – Neil
Topics: Progress Reports | Comments Off on July 12, 2005
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