Wondrous Wednesdays (7)



In the spirit of gratitude, I’m listing wondrous things happening in my world every week on Wednesday.  If you are a blogger and want to list what you are grateful for, feel free to do the same on your own blog every week and please be sure to link back to my blog.   If you are not a blogger, feel free to comment here on my blog with your own three wondrous things you are grateful for on Wednesday. 

(1)

Baby girl is taking steps and has been since last week on Wednesday. What is cute is that usually she has to hold onto something. Sometimes she just starts going and then realizes she's not holding anything, stops and plops down. When she is holding something, she's really getting confident now and is going a bit faster than she should. No accidents thankfully (I probably shouldn't even write that down!). Most of my wondrous stuff has had to do with her recently, but she's learning so much. New words every day too. She seems to be talking a lot for a one year old, but maybe we just don't remember much of Alicia. Have to start writing down the words she knows.

(2)
I know I mentioned him last week, but my hubby deserves another wondrous Wednesday nod for unexpectedly walking the Jimmy Fund Walk with me and our girls. He is so good to me for just jumping right in and being willing to walk with me. It all started from the get go. The girls were cranky and crying from breakfast time, I was pulled over by a cop, then there were parking difficulties and several toddler potty trips. I don't know I will do a walk like that with young children again. It was an experience but truly it was such a beautiful day for a walk. Unfortunately we didn't even see Caroline but I heard that everyone had a good day. Have to say that I am glad that I didn't keep the 24 pound baby in the babybjorn for the whole walk either. My back hurt less than a quarter mile in and I kept her there for 2 miles. YAY umbrella strollers!

(3) 

This past Monday was four years that my mémère passed away. You're probably thinking and this is wondrous in a good way? Yes, because we are so blessed to have had 95 years (ok, so I wasn't there for ALL of them) with such a sweet, funny and spunky lady. I think about her in those last days: calling me and my hubby cuckoo; saying that he and I needed the training and not our dog; eating some of my apple pie ice cream; her saying with her cute little silly smile that she was “living it up;” and my mom sleeping nearby while I was there holding her hand in the wee hours when she breathed her last, saying way more than ten Hail Mary's in that decade because I wasn't sure how many I had already said. Love her and miss her so much. But I am so blessed and thankful for having such a beautiful example of love and life to learn from.

Sweet Caroline, BAH BAH BAH!

Imagine that you have a six year old daughter and you are on vacation in Disneyland with the whole family (she has an older and a younger brother). Her eye is bothering her and you think the jerking movement is probably no big deal. The school nurse had seen something wrong with her vision test just recently and your daughter is scheduled for an appointment when you get home.

A few days later when you get back from Florida, you head to the appointment wondering what this will mean – maybe glasses? Maybe just a patch for a short period of time? But at the appointment you are told that your daughter's eyes are healthy and there is no correctable disease they can find. Odd. So they schedule an MRI two long days later. You are supposed to get results that same afternoon but you can't help but research potential outcomes. Then the day of the MRI arrives and you never leave the hospital because of some devastating news: cancer. She has an inoperable, incurable, plum sized tumor lodged deep within her brain.

This is the news that hubby's cousin's family received about their daughter back in 2007. At the time, we had no children and even now that I have two beautiful daughters of my own, I can't possibly begin to even pretend to understand what they went through and continue to go through to this day. Caroline has a tumor known as a Pediatric Low Grade Astrocytoma (PLGA). It is inoperable and presently incurable. Front line treatment options for PLGAs date back to the mid-1980’s, and remain toxic, invasive and highly ineffective. While significant strides have been made in many forms of childhood cancer, pediatric brain tumors have all but been neglected.

This past year was a difficult one for Caroline and her family. The doctors did end up doing surgery in May of 2010, her dad was flown in from Iraq where he was stationed at the time, and were unable to get all of it, just the “extra” growth of the tumor that had been affecting her vision. Caroline had to relearn how to walk and talk and many other things we all take for granted. She is currently undergoing a trial round of chemo that is unapproved by the FDA. This chemo is a Phase II clinical trail which basically tests investigational drugs to learn whether or not they will be effective, determine dosages and evaluate potential side effects. While the FDA has not approved RAD001, it has been studied and shown to be effective in the treatment of other cancers. RAD001 is an oral regimen, so Caroline will take the drug daily for 12 four week courses (48 weeks). She is currently in round 9.  Poor thing! The last report I've heard is that her her vision and the tumor as shown on an MRI from July of this year are both STABLE! Praise God!

I have donated my hair to Locks of Love twice in Caroline's honor, but this year I am walking the Jimmy Fund Walk on September 18th by her side in her honor, she completes a portion of the walk every year. My fund-raising goal is achievable - $250. Basically either 10 donors at $25 or 25 donors at $10. This is the final push before the walk.  Please consider donating in honor of Caroline. No gift is too small. Whatever you can give is greatly appreciated.

To read more about her story, including her Make-A-Wish wish to meet the pope, go to http://www.teamchickaroo.com/.  To donate online please go to http://www.jimmyfundwalk.org/2011/kpierog.  Or if you would prefer to write a check, make the check payable to “Jimmy Fund Walk” and email me for my mailing address.  Thank you in advance for whatever you can do.