Sometimes it takes a crisis to open up our eyes to how blessed we really are! I always knew that we had good friends and a loving, supportive family; but since Cameron's diagnosis, I have realized just how amazing people are - and not just our friends and family - but complete strangers too!
I am awestruck with how many calls, emails and facebook messages we have received. My neighbors and friends have brought us meals, as have families from James' preschool. We have been given gas (petrol) cards to help with the expense of getting to the hospital; friends from the other side of the world have sent gifts for the boys whilst others have helped with fundraising and have donated their time, helping me with James and sitting with Cameron at the hospital. Several people have generously donated money to Cameron's medical care. A few weeks ago, I found a parcel that had been left for the boys on the driveway, no name was attached and my efforts to track down who had left it were futile. This morning, I logged into my bank account and found that someone had made an anonymous donation. These are just a few of the amazing things that incredible people have done to help us! Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts - THANK YOU! You all mean so much to us and we really appreciate your support through these tough times.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving!
I know I have been a bad BAD blogger over the last couple of weeks, but as usual, we have been very busy - in a good way!
Cameron has spent a record number of days at home, only having to go back to hospital for one night, right after his last round of chemotherapy, to deal with his terrible nausea and vomiting. Other than that, we have been a happy little family, all together under one roof. Things actually started to feel normal again. That's one of the worst parts of this treatment, we just start getting used to being at home, Cameron starts eating again and feeling better, then just as we get comfortable - BAM it's chemo time again!
Over the last two weeks, we really made the most of having Cameron home - we laughed in the face of danger (from germs) and tried to take the boys out to do some fun activities. We spent a day at the children's museum in Atlanta and the boys had an absolute blast. There were so many fun and educational things for them to explore, it was a great day out. We also took the twins to church and out for breakfast, which was a bit of a challenge, but nevertheless, another good day. As we get closer to Christmas, the boys' social calendar is filling up! We have two birthday parties coming up next month and 2 Christmas parties organised by 2 different cancer charities.
Cameron is going into hospital today for his fourth round of chemotherapy and unfortunately he will be there over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Frank and I have our schedule planned out, bags are packed and we are ready to do this again! Hopefully it will be quiet and uneventful for Cameron - but I'll keep you all posted, promise!
Cameron has spent a record number of days at home, only having to go back to hospital for one night, right after his last round of chemotherapy, to deal with his terrible nausea and vomiting. Other than that, we have been a happy little family, all together under one roof. Things actually started to feel normal again. That's one of the worst parts of this treatment, we just start getting used to being at home, Cameron starts eating again and feeling better, then just as we get comfortable - BAM it's chemo time again!
Over the last two weeks, we really made the most of having Cameron home - we laughed in the face of danger (from germs) and tried to take the boys out to do some fun activities. We spent a day at the children's museum in Atlanta and the boys had an absolute blast. There were so many fun and educational things for them to explore, it was a great day out. We also took the twins to church and out for breakfast, which was a bit of a challenge, but nevertheless, another good day. As we get closer to Christmas, the boys' social calendar is filling up! We have two birthday parties coming up next month and 2 Christmas parties organised by 2 different cancer charities.
Cameron is going into hospital today for his fourth round of chemotherapy and unfortunately he will be there over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Frank and I have our schedule planned out, bags are packed and we are ready to do this again! Hopefully it will be quiet and uneventful for Cameron - but I'll keep you all posted, promise!
Christmas Cards
My amazing friend, Leigh Plimmer has created the most beautiful Christmas Cards to sell in order to raise money for Cameron. The cards were designed by Iris Maria Salazar, Wayne Martin kindly donated the printing and Amy at Creatively Invited donated the envelopes.
The deatails are as follows:
The cards are packaged in sets of 5 and will be 5.5" x 4.25" with standard A2 sized envelopes in your choice of one of the designs shown.
$10 if they are picked up from Leigh or $15 if orderd through the mail. Please contact Leigh by email at lplimmer@att.net if you would like to order some cards.
All proceeds will go to Cameron's medical costs.
The Cards come in 3 different designs (aren't they gorgeous?)
The deatails are as follows:
The cards are packaged in sets of 5 and will be 5.5" x 4.25" with standard A2 sized envelopes in your choice of one of the designs shown.
$10 if they are picked up from Leigh or $15 if orderd through the mail. Please contact Leigh by email at lplimmer@att.net if you would like to order some cards.
All proceeds will go to Cameron's medical costs.
The Cards come in 3 different designs (aren't they gorgeous?)
Monday, November 14, 2011
An awesome weekend!
It's amazing the things that we take for granted as parents, snuggling in bed with the children on a cold winter morning, taking a stroll in a park, teaching our little ones to ride a tricycle, stealing sloppy wet kisses... Well this weekend we did ALL of that and I loved EVERY SECOND! It was so "normal"! It was one of the few weekends that Cameron has been home since he was diagnosed. We had so much fun doing everyday things that I used to take for granted, it's amazing how ones life can change in a split second. Let's face it, cancer SUCKS, but it has taught me some very important lessons, every day that we have with our children in a monumental blessing, it's the little things in life that make us happy, some things - like having a perfectly clean house -are just not THAT important, especially if I could be doing something fun with the kids. I have also learnt who my true friends are and how blessed I am to have such amazing people in my life!
Speaking of amazing friends, on Friday night, our friends Anni and Neil held a fundraiser for Cameron. What a fantastic night! They held a raffle for two great prizes, a Teddy Bear like the one that Cameron carries with him all the time, donated by my dear friend Carol Martin and a photography session with Germaine Vlok, who has taken all of our family photos and is a truely a phenomenal photographer!
$700 was raised for Cameron and we are so grateful to everyone who came to support us and of course to Anni and Niel for hosting, and for all the people who donated food, wine and prizes. Thank you all so much!
Speaking of amazing friends, on Friday night, our friends Anni and Neil held a fundraiser for Cameron. What a fantastic night! They held a raffle for two great prizes, a Teddy Bear like the one that Cameron carries with him all the time, donated by my dear friend Carol Martin and a photography session with Germaine Vlok, who has taken all of our family photos and is a truely a phenomenal photographer!
$700 was raised for Cameron and we are so grateful to everyone who came to support us and of course to Anni and Niel for hosting, and for all the people who donated food, wine and prizes. Thank you all so much!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Three down, three to go
Wow! What a hectic couple of weeks we have had!
We celebrated the boys' second birthday with a small party, they had the BEST time and were thoroughly spoilt. It was really an excellent day and just what our family needed. It was such a joy to do something "normal" and watch James and Cameron playing with their friends and eating birthday cake, without a care in the world.
The next day, Halloween, was just as big of a hit as the birthday party. Although it took a bit of convincing to get James to wear his costume, once he was outside collecting his candy, he LOVED it. In fact, he loved it so much, that he insisted on going trick or treating 3 times!! Not for the candy, he just liked walking around the neighborhood like a big boy. Even though Cameron got tired, he did VERY well! He collected enough candy to rot several teeth!
We returned to the hospital on Thursday for Cameron's third round of chemotherapy.
This chemotherapy, which contains a drug called Cisplatin is an extremely strong dose of chemo and can cause pretty bad side effects, including kidney failure, hearing loss and severe nausea and vomiting. They kept a close eye on the kidney function and gave him an unbelievable amount of fluids to flush his system, of course this meant diaper changes every half hour. Fun! We won't know how much of Cameron's hearing has been effected for a few months, but we are hopeful that it will be minimal - either way, it's a small price to pay!
So far, the worst part of this chemo has been the vomiting. Poor Cameron can't keep anything down, even with all the anti-nausea medication that he is on.
He was discharged from hospital yesterday, but unfortunately, with all the throwing up, we have had to come back to hospital to get him on IV fluids and medication. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he won't need to be admitted and will be sent home once he has had sufficient fluids, but I have my bagged packed just in case.
We celebrated the boys' second birthday with a small party, they had the BEST time and were thoroughly spoilt. It was really an excellent day and just what our family needed. It was such a joy to do something "normal" and watch James and Cameron playing with their friends and eating birthday cake, without a care in the world.
The next day, Halloween, was just as big of a hit as the birthday party. Although it took a bit of convincing to get James to wear his costume, once he was outside collecting his candy, he LOVED it. In fact, he loved it so much, that he insisted on going trick or treating 3 times!! Not for the candy, he just liked walking around the neighborhood like a big boy. Even though Cameron got tired, he did VERY well! He collected enough candy to rot several teeth!
We returned to the hospital on Thursday for Cameron's third round of chemotherapy.
This chemotherapy, which contains a drug called Cisplatin is an extremely strong dose of chemo and can cause pretty bad side effects, including kidney failure, hearing loss and severe nausea and vomiting. They kept a close eye on the kidney function and gave him an unbelievable amount of fluids to flush his system, of course this meant diaper changes every half hour. Fun! We won't know how much of Cameron's hearing has been effected for a few months, but we are hopeful that it will be minimal - either way, it's a small price to pay!
So far, the worst part of this chemo has been the vomiting. Poor Cameron can't keep anything down, even with all the anti-nausea medication that he is on.
He was discharged from hospital yesterday, but unfortunately, with all the throwing up, we have had to come back to hospital to get him on IV fluids and medication. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he won't need to be admitted and will be sent home once he has had sufficient fluids, but I have my bagged packed just in case.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Cake and Candy
Last week we celebrated Cameron and James birthday with a party at home. The cake was a hit and the boys had an awesome time with their friends. We sadly said goodbye to Granma who flew back to Cape Town on Monday, we really enjoyed having her stay with us - thanks for all your tireless help.
On Monday we went trick or treating and collected candy from the neighbors, the boys cowboy outfits were really cool.
On Thursday it was back to CHOA for the third round of chemo, here Cameron is shaking it up with his buddies at music therapy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)