Friday, December 4, 2009

Brrrr it was cold today ..

It was a busy day for Connor yesterday. He had another great day at School. After School we met with his local doctor to touch bases, It's was our first visit since his diagnosis, so we had a lot to catch up on. After his appointment he had a tutoring session with Miss Horn. He went to bed pretty exhausted.

By the feel of things it's almost as if Winter has arrived early, I think it's time to unearth the snow gear.

Connor was able to visit his Dad at work for lunch today. That has always been a special treat for Connor since he was little. He loves getting a special treat from the vending machine at work. Today was extra special, Greg's friend at work gave him a super cool Clone trooper helmet set. After I was able to remove it from the packaging, He spent about 30 minutes shooting foam darts at his action figures (at least it wasn't at me lol).

I want to thank everyone who have purchased Connor's cards. Through your generous donations he has enough to purchase 2 DVD players and has a great start towards a third. As the Social workers have a child that meet the criteria they will be able to present the DVD players to them, and hopefully make that families daily trip to radiation a little easier.

We will be retiring some of Connor's cards at the end of the month, and will be replacing them with new designs soon.

Many people have been so generous to our family, and again I wanted to extend our Thanks.
As Christmas approaches many people have asked what they can send Connor and our family this year:

For Connor:
Books (Please feel free to write an short message on the inside cover)
Gift Cards to Blockbuster (He loves to rent games from there)
Gift Cards to Toys R US (He really enjoys taking a day trip there)

For Us:
A Christmas Ornament from your family
Gift Cards to local stores (Safeway or Wal mart) to help with our misc. expenses

Connor has another loose tooth, I expect it to fall out (or be pulled out lol) within the next week.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend, and takes some time out to enjoy the sights of the season.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

"That was a great day mom!!!"

Connor slept great last night. We took a quick trip to Fred Meyer to pick up Connor's prescriptions and then we were off to School.

We brought Connor's walker I wasn't really sure exactly what he would need for support. When we got there the class was working on workbooks and reading. Connor opened his workbook and started working on a worksheet, then he joined his group for reading.

After reading he went to recess. He did a great job navigating the playground without his walker. He was so excited to see his friends, he showed me around the playground. Lots of kids came up to him, and told him they were excited to see him back. It was nice watching him have "normal" 6 year old interactions with his peers (Chatting about Christmas, and Thanksgiving, and family vacations, my dad this my mom that). I know he has been missing other kids.

After recess he went to the library. The Librarian read a darling book called "Snowmen at Christmas" (lovely illustrations). Connor picked out a Military Plane book, and the Librarian was very kind to lend him some extra books to read at home, she always picks great books, he loves Library time.

Connor decided he wanted to stay through lunch and second recess. By second recess he left me in the dust and was off with his friends. He played 4 square and caught up on a lot of much needed socializing.

It was very aparent how well Connor's teacher has educated her class on Connor's disease. They all treated him like "normal". They made him feel very welcomed, but not overwhelmed. At lunch and recess he got several looks from other kids that weren't in his class, but he took it all in stride. I asked him if he was concerned about that, and he told me "No mom it's ok, they probably just don't know that I'm alright".

I could tell he did his best today, and that he was going to be just fine.

At recess a little girl came up to me and said "I'm very happy that Connor is back, it's so great that he can walk around now and doesn't need a wheelchair".
I agreed with her and told her how hard Connor was working to get his strength back.
"It's sad he lost his hair", she said "I hope it comes back"
"Oh it should," I told her, "but honestly he's happy he doesn't have to brush it"
She laughed and then said, "but the best thing is.... that he's O.K"
And then I had to hide my face to wipe the tears away, because she got it.
A 6 year old nailed it on the head .. the BEST thing is that he's O.K

On the way out of the doors Connor said, "That was a GREAT day mom", and it was.

At home we cuddled up on the couch with a big blanket, a bowl of popcorn and a movie, he was exhausted, but sooo happy.

The best part of my day: School, it was a huge boost to Connor's Self Confidence. It relieved a lot of anxiety that he had about things he wasn't sure if he would be able to do or not.

Something I was thankful for: Miss Horn and all the other Teacher's and Staff at Connor's School, and the kids who just "get it".

Monday, November 30, 2009

We're done with radiation

We had a lovely 4 day weekend. We enjoyed the normal things of the Season. Roasting our Turkey, putting up some Christmas decorations, and driving around town looking at all the lights that are already up while listening to Christmas music on the radio. This year we had a virtual Thanksgiving with some of our family in CA using an online service called Skype. Connor thought that was so exciting.





We said our goodbyes and thank-yous to the wonderful staff at the Radiation department. Although we will miss them all we won't be missing the daily drive to the hospital.










As we waited for Connor to wake up on his last day of radiation treatment Greg and I felt very blessed. There were so many wonderful people from the Radiation & Anaesthesia team that have touched his life (and ours). They have taken such good care of him these last 6 weeks.




After Connor woke up (which went very well the last day) we met with Chemo Pal Nick. Connor always looks forward to his time with him. We played more Go Fish and Old Maid.

Connor's blood counts were up today (yay!!!). His total count was up to 958. Looks like we'll be able to head to school this week!

Connor was de-accessed, and we picked up a Video Game rental to Celebrate. Connor also requested a "Party" so we had cupcakes and he blew out 6 candles (to represent) the last 6 weeks of treatment.

For December he only needs to go in once a week to have his blood tested. We are looking forward to this much needed break.

The Best part of the day: Completing Treatment, Celebrating Connor's accomplishment, and moving forward with life.