Cancer Sucks – Page 7

New York, T-Shirts and Spending Cash

The Sunshine Kids take several trips per year with kids that are dealing with cancer. Angelica has been chosen to go to New York for the “Summer Broadway Break”, July 17-23 this year.

SHE IS SOOOO EXCITED

Everything is covered for the trip (transportation, food, lodging, admissions, etc) and the kids are treated like royalty. The kids only need to bring their own spending cash for shopping in Times Square and the like.

So, Angelica is looking for ways to raise some money for that spending cash, and seeing as the traditional methods like babysitting are out for her (with her low counts) Angelica has been thinking about putting some of her artistic abilities to work. She’s thrown around the idea of designing t-shirts a few times over the years and so we decided to try to make this happen. Here is the first design…

Confidence

(depending on interest, she has a lot more ideas)

the t-shirts are available in three styles and two colours each, and there is a hoody. Here they are:

Shirt Style	Sizing Chart
straight cut in white with black image or charcoal with silver image	Click for larger image
Ladies cut in white with black image or dark heather with silver image	Click for larger image
Youth fitted cut in white with black image or charcoal with silver image	Click for larger image
Hoody in white with black image or dark heather with silver image	Click for larger image

Click Here to order

Please note that we are not starting with inventory, and so we will be compiling the first weeks orders, then getting them printed, then shipping. Please allow 3 weeks for delivery (5 weeks for international). Also, please let us know if there are any issues with the PayPal shopping cart.

No Clue What We Were Up Against

Sometimes it’s easy to post and sometimes it’s really difficult.

I’ve been finding it quite difficult recently. There are things I want to say, thoughts that I want to share and yet when I go to unravel the mess inside my brain….it’s more difficult than I thought it would be.

Xandra just got back from 3 days away at Camp Jubilee as part of her Grade Seven Grad Trip.

She was so excited to go and while I was thrilled for her, there was a part of me that felt unsettled and uneasy.

She spent about 3 days before the trip packing and preparing and it reminded me so much of last year when we were doing the exact same thing for Geli.

The difference was that Angelica was not feeling one hundred percent.

Obviously, there is a good reason for that now, but back then, we didn’t know. We had no clue what we were up against. I was so pregnant and so looking forward to having Judah. Geli’s complaints of feeling tired were easily explained away by the fact that she was a teenager, and the rash that she had on her legs was probably from some reaction to soap or most likely a virus.

We sent her off to the Camp and when she got home…she was obviously quite ill. Sick enough (and I was pregnant enough) that a trip to the Dr. was very important. I am so thankful that we didn’t wait longer. I’m not one to take my kids to the Dr for every cough or sore throat and there is a good chance that were I not going to have a baby any day and the fact that if it might be Strep Throat….I didn’t want to deal with a highly contagious illness with a newborn in the house…..that we would have waited even longer to take her in. I don’t even let myself think about how much worse she would have/could have gotten had we not gone in to see our family Dr and gotten blood work.

We had no clue what we were up against.

Xandra made it off to the camping trip and I have spent the last few days alternating between worrying and telling myself not to worry. Xandra is well. Xandra is healthy. Xandra is amazing! Yes, this has been a tough year on her (as it’s been on all of us) but we are making our way through this….through the good times and the bad times. We will survive. We will overcome this.

She came home today and we drove to the school to pick her up. As we drove up to the front of the school, every muscle in my body was tense and I kept looking…searching for some sign that she might not be feeling well. I waited until she opened the van door, praying that I wouldn’t hear the scratchy voice of a cough or the nasal voice of a stuffed nose……and at the same time, I’d already prepped myself that she’d been in close contact with a whole bunch of other kids, who had ingested a ton of crap food with very little sleep…..an illness would not be out of the ordinary.

Her eyes looked bright and cheerful. Her skin was sun kissed and bight. She had a skip in her step and a song in her voice as she greeted us and the breath that I’d been holding so very tight let out…….a little.

It’s a hard thing to deal with; having your child be diagnosed with a life threatening illness and then trying to carry on with life. It s not an easy thing and too many times I’ve had nightmares of something horrible happening my other children. Too many times I’ve worried or stressed about things that have never come to pass.

So much of this journey is “too much”…..I know that I have a lot to “heal” from. There are times where I’ve felt traumatized by what has happened and yet I carry on. I must! But the effects of what we’ve been though have left their mark and I’m not yet in a position of strength.

I will be. Every day, I grow stronger and some days I feel like I’ve healed….and then something like these past few days happens and I see that I’m not quite there yet.

It will come. I believe. It must!

Two to Go & an Invitation

Angelica headed in for her last dose of Ara-C today.

Her counts have dropped BUT they have NOT dropped as low as we thought they would have but she still has all of next week, which is when the full effect from this week kicks in. But for now, she is doing okay!

Her spirits are high and overall she is feeling pretty good. I can tell that the chemo has hit her a bit as her appetite is off slightly. She is still eating, but not with the same “enjoyment and appreciation” that she normally has. I am still after her to drink water. It’s important to stay hydrated and to flush out the chemo and while it’s annoying for her to plow through 2 or 3 litres in a day, I think that it’s helped a lot.

I already told her that I am not even going to be on her case a bit as far as eating is concerned because we are only just trying to get through the next two weeks and then things change up a bit for her….for us….for our entire family.

Angelica does have two more “clinic days”……

– Tuesday June 14th for a dose of Vincristine and the hated intra-muscular PEG shots
– Tuesday June 21st for a dose of Vincristine

After that, if her counts rebound, then Geli should “START” Maintenence on Tuesday June 28th…..if they’ve not recovered in time then we put that start date off by a week and start on Tuesday July 5th. Either way, the end is coming……YAH!!!!!!

I do have a favor to ask of you.

Angelica was officially diagnosed with Leukemia on June 17th and started Chemo on June the 18th.

She’s has gone from this very sick little girl…..

I was wondering if you’d be interested in joining us in celebrating Angelica, her life and this journey over the past year.

I know that she’d love to hear from all of those people who have followed along with this journey. Whether you read regularly, or only occasionally. Whether you know her, or us; personally, or only through friends or family, or only through this blog…. I’d love to have as many as possible leave a message for her. I’d love to just overwhelm her with a HUGE SHOW of love and support and encouragement as she heads in to the last week of this intensive phase of treatment.

It could be an encouraging word, or a memory, a time in all of this craziness that stood out for you, or when you really connected with her story. It could just be a “hello, just wanted to let you know that I’ve been cheering for you from the sidelines” kind of thing or even a “Hey, you look pretty good bald!”.

As of Friday June 17th, it’s been a year. It’s been a LONG year and as opposed to looking back at this year as being a horrible and terrible thing, I’d rather celebrate it as A YEAR OF LIFE.

…..to this vibrant young woman

We have been given a year of life with our daughter and we are so thankful for that. Sure, there are times during this year that I’d be happy to have not gone through, but she is here, with us, healthy and alive. I’m thankful!

I just wanted to give you the time to think about this and to ask…

Would you please join us
as we celebrate
A YEAR OF LIFE
on
Friday June 17th

Exhaustion and Low Counts

I’m tired.

I’ve started exercising again and while I know in my head, that in just a very short time, I will have more energy….at this exact moment I’m SO tired!

My legs hurt. My stomach hurts. My shoulders hurt. Stupid muscles in my neck that i didn’t even know that I had hurt! I hurt!

I know that the end result will be a definite gain in my life, but for the immediate…I’m tired!

Other than that, I’m doing well…..so enough about me.

Angelica has done 2 out of the 4 doses of chemo for this week. She went in yesterday and based on how well she seemed on Monday with her friends, we were expecting a short in and out. She had an LP and after that she needs to lay down for about a hour, but they could give her the chemo and so while her appointment was for 8:30am, I expected them home before noon.

The whole morning just kind of went screwy. The traffic was BRUTAL and it took them over an hour and a half to get in. Then is took a bit for her to get in for the LP. While she was sleeping off the sedative, Jon got the results of the blood work and her Hemoglobin was at a 72. This was a fair drop from the 95 that it was on Friday. Typically around a 70, Geli has higher blood pressure, a faster heart rate, feels like she just cannot catch her breath, has a hard time moving around and definitely has trouble going up or down stairs. Aside from her heart rate being slightly elevated, she was doing fine, but….seeing as her counts are just heading down, down, DOWN…. They ordered a transfusion and there began one of the LONG clinic days. The blood didn’t even get to the clinic until after 1pm and they didn’t get her hooked up until 1:30pm. It takes about 3 hours for the blood to run and so they didn’t even leave the clinic until 5:30pm and then there was the hours drive home.

If we are prepared for a long day it’s less stressful than when we are kind of blindsided with it.

All of her counts are headed south. There is a good chance that she will have low to NO infection fighting ability for most of the next 3 weeks. This is a bit scarey and I’m asking for prayer to really cover Geli and us during this time.

Obviously, we can handle anything that we have to…including a long hospital stay, but we don’t want to have to.

We’d just like for Angelica to stay healthy and strong.

There is a good chance that she’ll need another transfusion either Friday or Tuesday and she’ll most definitely need platelets before she gets the intramuscular shots on Tuesday. It looks like we’re in for a few long clinic days over the next little while.

We’re looking at the finish end and just needing the strength to stay strong until this “intensive” phase of treatment is over.

Strawberry Shakes and Pictures

Angelica’s counts came back too low and she’s scored herself some blood. So, her and Jon are in for a LONG and boring day at the hospital today.

I have more to update on how Geli is doing and what’s up in our world, but time is tight right now…so, I’ll just send you over to RED HANDED PHOTOGRAPHY to see the Family Photo‘s that Tania took of us a few weeks ago.

They are AMAZING!

Tania, BABE!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

We are so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives.

This and That

Angelica went in for her last dose of chemo for this week. She has another 4 doses next week and then two more doses after that and she’ll be done. She was feeling pretty tired yesterday and the day before and so we asked if she could come in early today and get her counts. Her Hemoglobin was at a 95 on Monday and while it wasn’t likely that it had bottomed out, we just wanted to check it out.

When they did the blood work today there was good news, and bad (sort of)….the bad news was that her platelets had dropped from 220 to 146. Still in a decent range, but definitely dropping. Her White Blood count and her neutrophils are both UP, which is awesome as those are the infection fighters. They will be on their way down. The high point of these drugs should start to kick in the middle to end of next week (the nadir is 7-10 days). And her hemoglobin was at 95 which is lower for normal people and even low for her, but that’s exactly what it was on Monday so no need for a transfusion although we are likely looking at either platelets or blood or both in the near future.

(Speaking of blood, I’m scheduled to donate blood on Saturday June 18th…..have you given (if you’re able)? Would you consider it? It could be your gift!)

Other than that, today was a good day for her and that’s amazing. I’m still praying and hoping that we make it through the end of this round with no infections and no hospital stays. Actually, starting right now, I’m going to speak it out…..THERE WILL BE NO INFECTIONS, NO HOSPITAL STAYS…just protection and health!

******

Judah is growing so fast. He took about 4 steps on Thursday??? I think, maybe it was Wednesday. I don’t remember and then later that day he’s been taking steps and steps and more steps. He is much faster and confident crawling and so as soon as he feels unsure he drops down and crawls, but we will have a walker on our hands and most likely before his first birthday.

He is also communicating with us a ton. Here he is letting us know that he’s done. He’s done eating. He’s done sitting in his chair or he’s done playing on the floor. Anything that he’s had enough of or wants a change, he’ll typically put his hands up with his palms facing up and say “done!”

He gets a little upset with me about half way through, I think because I’m no actually doing what he wants. This child, he knows how to let you know that he’s not happy with you. No worries about him getting lost in the masses. He is very vocal.

*******

I cannot wait for school to be over. I know that as soon as it’s over I’ll be wishing it was back in, but right now, I’m really ready for the summer to start so that things can just slow down around here. No early mornings. No morning meltdowns. No rushing. No lunches to be made…..the list goes on and on and on. I’m just ready for summer. I’m also ready for some summer days. It’s been so miserable, eh? BRUTAL!!!!! What’s the weather like where you’re at, if you’re not from the rainy, grey Lower Mainland!

*******

How do YOU deal with frustrations in your life? Any tips, ideas, thoughts to share, comments to ponder? I’d love to hear from you!

Hope you enjoy your weekend! We have no real plans. It’s a take it easy kind of weekend. I like those.

Radiation – The Good and the Bad

Well, when Geli was diagnosed with Leukemia, we were given a schedule of the chemo that she would receive for the first month. After the first month was finished, we were given the schedule for the remainder of the treatment period. As I read through the material, I got to the section that talked about cranial radiation.

I wondered what all that entailed, but there was SO MUCH information coming at us and it was almost impossible to absorb it all. I’ll admit that I was nervous and concerned about the radiation, but I quickly brushed it off as we were looking at almost a year down the road before we’d have to deal with it. And so we carried on.

Back in January, I started to think about the Radiation again. I started to look into what exactly was going to happen. It was pretty scarey. And once I realized that I was scared just thinking and reading about it, I started trying to figure out a way to explain it to Angelica and the kids that would make it seem less scarey.

When the kids were little and we’d watch a Disney Movie….as soon as the villain came out as being overtly scarey and evil, my kids would be done with the movie. They’d run from the room, yelling and carrying on about how they didn’t like that movie….the worst one was The Little Mermaid Movie. I didn’t want my kids to be scared of something as stupid as a movie and I didn’t want them to give up on every movie that we watched just because there was a part that seemed scarey as first. I wanted them to see that often when we carry on through the “tough” times, there is a good chance that in the end, we will win or triumph over the situation.

And so I’d go and get them, I’d talk about the villain and how nasty they were and then I’d give away the ending. I’d talk about exactly what was going to happen and then I’d make them come and sit on the couch with me and I’d TOTALLY WRECK the rest of the movie. Scene by scene, I’d tell them what was about to happen and we’d finish the movie off that way. As soon as it was over, they’d be asking to watch it over again and over and over and over again….it was no longer scarey because I’d taken away the element of surprise. Knowledge is power and I decided to use that same approach with the radiation.

I explained about how she would need to go in before the radiation treatments to get a mask made. How they would lay her down on a hospital table and drape this material over her head and face. That it was kind of a breathable mesh, and that it would be pliable but would harden into the perfect shape of her head and face. That it would take about an hour to make this mask thingy. When it was time to get the radiation on her brain, that she would go into the room, lie down on the table and they would attach this mask onto the table so that she could not move. Because when you are dealing with radiation, you don’t want to make any mistakes and end up with the radiation going somewhere where it shouldn’t go….

It would take about 5-10 mins for her radiation treatment and during this time, she would be in a room strapped to the table and the radiation machine would move slowly around her sending waves of radiation into her brain to make sure that there were no stray cancer cells in her brain.

If she happened to have any hair left at this point, she would lose it and it was possible that she’d end up feeling like she had a sunburn on her scalp.

I explained this all trying very hard to not frighten the kids, but to make it all very matter of fact and yet, I was nervous. I just kept thinking….do we have to go through with this? She’s never shown any indication that her brain was involved and she’s had the chemo injected into her spinal fluid? Isn’t there something else that can be done?

Now, I had read a lot of material at this point and some of it confused me. There was conflicting information on whether or not cranial radiation was necessary or even beneficial in kids who had never had cancer show up in their brains. There was information about how in the States children with Leukemia who showed no signs of cancer cells in their brains didn’t need to have the radiation treatment. It seemed like the long term side effects of the radiation were actually worse than the possibility of a chance that you might end up with cancer cells in the brain.

Jon went in at the start of this last stage and our Dr and nurse talked to him and explained some about the radiation and how it seems in Angelica’s case that the radiation was unnecessary, but that we’d have to actually meet with the radiation dr. to discuss the whole scenario. An appointment was made for a week later and we started talking about the whole situation between ourselves. We weighed the pros and cons and in the end we decided to opt out of the radiation treatment.

Jon was fully prepared to stand for our decision to the Dr and yet when he got there, she explained all the benefits and ALL of the side effects and in the end, there was no need to “stand”……the decision was just made, in Angelica’s best interests, to not go forward with the radiation.

In Geli’s case, the slight possible benefits to having the radiation are grossly overwhelmed by the negative side effects and as of right now we see no need to put Angelica into that kind of a position.

We have such a peace about having this portion of her treatment cancelled. We were willing to go ahead with it, if it was absolutely necessary, but I was not excited about it. To get to this stage and to have that worry or concern removed from our lives is such a HUGE blessing.

And so TODAY we start the last 4 weeks of treatment……we are counting down and we are so excited about it.

28 days…….

Once More…with Love! (and MANY pictures)

Earlier this week we had our last and final head shaving party.

Angelica’s hair (which had started to grow in so SO cute!) was just in the beginning stages of falling out. She still had a head full of short hair, but we could see evidence that it was getting ready to fly, fly away! There was hair on her pillow and lose hairs on her neck and on her clothes….she was definitely shedding.

She could just wait and let it fall out on it’s own but there is something just kind of nasty about waking up in the morning and rubbing your face in a pillow full of short hairs. Even worse is when you wake up with a bunch of tiny hairs in your mouth and up your nose. BLECH!

My sister, Michelle – isn’t she pretty?

So, when my mom and sister came over to get their heads shaved, Angelica had already decided to preemptively shave her head too.

We’ve joked around that Angelica has a future in hairdressing with all this head shaving that she’s done over the last year.

Chelle had brought her kids with her and my other sister had dropped Jack off for a visit and so we had the 3 bigger girls helping to watch the 3 little boys. Cousins!!!!!!!! So! Much! Fun! Jack and Zach are already walking like little men, but Judah is still clinging to the walls and the furniture….look at those thighs – SMOOSHY BABY THIGHS…NOM! NOM! NOM!

As always, Geli’s kind of goofed around when she’s done the head shaving…she decided that Aunty Chelle needed a mowhawk this time around.

Because there was hair ALL over the bathroom floor, we put Zach and Judah into the bath tub to keep them contained….it was a good idea, until Judah grabbed the taps and turned the bath on. Yah! They were dressed…..Oh Well, they had fun playing in the water. It kept them occupied until we were finished.

Zach wasn’t so sure that he liked playing in the bath WITH Judah…..

…..but he is just SO DARN CUTE, isn’t he?

In the meantime, Geli finished up Aunty Chelle’s hair and they did the final check. It’s awful to get your head shaved and then to walk away and find out later that you have a few scraggly long hairs that didn’t get taken care of…usually you end up with a few behind an ear or sticking out of the top of your head. There is an art to “rockin’ the bald look” and it requires some effort! Ha Ha Ha!

Then it was Aunty Chelle’s turn ~~to get back~~…, ~~to get revenge~~…, to help shave Angelica’s head!

Jack was helping out by taking care of Aunty Chelle’s necklace. He did such a good job, too! Love the steely blues, man!

Aunt Chelle figured that Angelica needed one triangle patch on the top of her head. It was very modern looking, no?

Becca gave me a great big CHEESE face! Silly goose!

While Brianna went in for the close up…..

While everyone else was going bald…..Judah was practicing his best “greaser” hairstyle. Looking pretty good, buddy! Looking pretty good!

Aunty Chelle finished up on Gelica’s hair….

And then it was Nana’s turn.

Geli wanted to try out a Mowhawk for Nana too. She looked pretty cute with a punk hair style, too! But we didn’t figure that the mowhawk would look amazing for Aunty Brynn and Uncle Chris’s wedding in August and so Angelica shaved it off.

After they were finished, we headed down stairs to get a few good pics of the baldies outside.

Aren’t they pretty? Who needs hair? And this way, we’ll not have to do our hair over the summer, how awesome is that?

Three Brave, Bald Beauties….

Josiah and I shaved our heads this morning….I don’t have any pics of him, yet! but here is the most recent photo of me. I took this picture this morning and put it on Facebook with the caption “Bald Once Again…for the final time!”

This is IT! After Geli’s hair falls out this time and when she’s done this last half of this stage….it’s done! Her hair will start to grow back and we will be moving on away from this past year. It’s exciting to grab ahold of these times, knowing that they signal the beginning of the end.

Shaving your head is not easy. It’s not something that I enjoy doing, nor do I want to continue doing it. I’m “okay” with it, but i wouldn’t choose to be bald for no reason! My hair was close to 2 inches long. I could actually style it. I was liking that it was starting to grow out and yet…….to stand with, to support, to love, to create a safe place for my daughter….I’d do it a thousand times. To see her bravely confront her chemo induced hair loss and chose to deal with it proactively, knowing that “it’s okay to be bald”, makes my heart sing.

I believe that she sees herself and her beauty regardless of whether she has hair or not. Her hair is not what makes her beautiful, therefore her lack of hair does not speak of a lack of beauty. She is beautiful! She will always be beautiful and her beauty shines from the inside out. Her confidence in herself illuminates that beauty a thousand times more.

While this time has been tough….in fact it’s been brutal. There have been SO MANY GOOD THINGS that we choose to embrace as we acknowledge the tough times. Angelica’s understanding of and confidence in her true beauty is something I’m so thankful for because that is something she will carry with her forever.

New York, New York

I would LOVE to go to New York. I’d love to be able to see the sights and eat the food and shop the shops….it sounds like such an AMAZING experience! Have you been? Was it AMAZING? What was your favorite thing to do or place to be or food to eat or thing to see or hear or experience?

This picture of Judah has nothing to do with this post…he’s just cute! It’s his “Cheese” face!

Jon came home from one of Geli chemo appointments a few weeks ago and announced that Geli had been chosen to go/offered a trip to New York.

Each year 4 teens from the BCCH Oncology Department joins together with teens from other hospitals and they all get together to “do” New York. They choose 2 boys and 2 girls from each hospital and Geli was one of the girls chosen from BCCH.

Jon and I were a little nervous at first, because…..well…..she’s been with us almost 24/7 for the past year. I mean, she’s gone to school some times, and for 2 or 3 hours to the teen group; but aside from that she’s been basically glued to our sides. And this is not just some over-nighter into Vancouver…..this is a whole week away…..far, FAR away!

The group does go with one of the clinic nurses and so Geli will be SO well taken care of. And they wouldn’t offer it to her, if they didn’t feel that it was safe. We also feel that Angelica is such a responsible young lady and that this is a great opportunity for her and so……..after much deliberation…….

ANGELICA IS GOING TO NEW YORK IN JULY!!!!

Now here is the thing….

Angelica is scheduled to start the last 4 weeks of this chemotherapy on Tuesday May 31st which would mean that she’d be finished on June 27th. She would then have 3 weeks to recover and then to go on the trip.

In order to start the chemo, her counts have to be at a certain level. If they are under that level, the chemotherapy is delayed for a week. We’ve had delays before, but we are hoping and praying for no delays this time as a delay might impact her ability to go on the trip.

We are also doing everything in our power to keep her healthy and to hopefully create a situation where she does not get an infection. Again, this round can make her counts go WAY down (like non-existent) and we are trying with everything in our power to keep her healthy and strong so that we avoid any hospital stays…..but especially any infections!

She is so excited! It’s an amazing opportunity and something to look forward to as the last 4 weeks of treatment crawl by.

It’s amazing what a dream, a hope, a goal can do for your emotional well being! We are so excited for Angelica. This is truly an experience of a lifetime!

Unexpected Blessings

Back in June/July of last year, just shortly after Angelica was diagnosed with Leukemia, my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins got together and bought Geli an iPod Touch.

It was the most amazing blessing EVER! (to those reading this….it’s not that your gifts weren’t amazing too, I just happen to be mentioning this particular gift for a particular reason that you will soon see.)

Angelica spent hours, and Hours and HOURS on her iPod. Playing games, and listening to music and watching movies and looking things up and well, it provided some amazing distractions at times when distractions were so SO needed. She never went ANYWHERE without her iPod.

One day a few weeks ago, Angelica went to school and had her iPod tucked into the outside pocket of her backpack. Somehow, someway, her iPod got stolen out of her backpack. She was SO upset. Its upsetting when the innocence and naivety of your world is stripped away and you realize that the world is not the safe place that you might have thought it was. To have something of yours stolen from you……it’s a rude awakening into reality! It’s even more upsetting when that “item” has memories and key events in your life, attached to it.

We asked if there was any way possible for the school to make an announcement about her iPod being stolen. Geli checked in at the office a few times, but no one had turned anything in!

We got a call two weeks ago from one of the teachers who mentioned that the WGSS Grads were fundraising to get Angelica a new iPod.

We were shocked, in a good way! Once again, we are so touched and amazed at how this community has rallied around us and supported us and loved us…..it’s overwhelming, in such a very, very good way!

I got the call last week that they had the funds in and were able to purchase a brand new iPod for her. This is even an upgrade from the amazing iPod that my family had already got for her. This new one has some new features that her previous iPod didn’t have, like a camera and the ability to Facetime.

On Friday, while she was at school, the principal came down to her Math class and got her out of class and took her down to the English 12 class. We hadn’t told her about what was happening and so it was a surprise for her.

She was BLOWN away! After they presented it to her, she texted me to let me know what had just happened. I had cried when the teacher had called to let me know and I cried again when she texted me and I’m crying now, just thinking about it. She was so SO excited. It was such a HUGE blessing for her. She had basically resigned herself to the fact that her iPod was gone forever. We don’t have the ability to replace it right now and so………….well, that was just the end of it!

The class presented it to her, and they even had it engraved for her. How amazing is that?

In the middle of this crazy, horrid weekend of pain, this blessing could not have come at a more opportune time. In the better moments, she has loaded the iPod with all of her previous apps and music and added new movies and music to it. She’s been able to watch movies while pacing the house or laying in bed or on the couch. She’s been playing games to distract herself and quite honestly, it has been the perfect gift that came at the perfect time.

Thank You! Thank you for giving, for sacrificing, for caring for and supporting!

WGSS Grads of 2011, you have made a HUGE difference in this young lady’s life. She (and we) will never forget you or your kindness. You have given from yourselves and invested in the future. You should be SO proud of yourselves. I am so thankful to you. May your futures be bright and full of hope, peace, joy and love; and may you be abundantly blessed in such greater measures than you’ve given out.