Final Fundraiser Friday

Fundraiser Friday!

This will be my final Fundraiser Friday post. Thanks to friends and family, Team Duke has reached their goal of $500 for the St. Jude Give Thanks Walk. The funds we raised will go toward helping a sick child undergo treatments that could very well save their life. Funds also go toward airfare, housing, and food costs for the families of patients at St. Jude. Thank you for donating, and I hope you keep St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in your thoughts when you choose to donate again. A great way to make this happen on a semi-regular basis is through amazon.smile.com . There, you can do all of your holiday shopping, like you would from amazon.com, but with every purchase order, amazon will donate a percentage to a charity of your choice. I hope you choose St. Jude, or another charity that is close to your heart. The fundraiser goal has been met, but the need for donations will always be there; remember, St. Jude spends $2 million a day to help sick children, and they run solely on donations from people like you and me.
Still want to help donate to a great cause? We will continue to raise money until the day of the walk, Nov. 22. You can DONATE HERE.

This holiday season, I give thanks for the healthy children in my life, and I hope you do as well! Thank you all.

*Our facebook page will continue to post any new developments along with pictures from the walk day, check back soon!

M.LEWIS

Fundraiser Friday #6

Fundraiser Friday!

Meet: Yamila
8 years old

Diagnosis:

Yamila has been fighting leukemia since age 3.

Yamila's story:

Yamila has been fighting cancer ever since she was 3 years old. At first, it seemed as though she might have tropical dengue fever, but after several tests, Yamila was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She underwent treatment at a local hospital in Puerto Rico, but the cancer, unfortunately, came back.

This time, her doctors recommended a bone marrow transplant and referred Yamila’s family to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. St. Jude invents more clinical trials than any other children’s hospital, which is why the world looks to St. Jude for new and better ways to treat childhood cancer. At St. Jude, Yamila underwent a bone marrow transplant, with her brother serving as her donor.

In addition to providing cutting-edge medicine free of charge, St. Jude works hard to create a healing environment that allows kids to be kids. Although Yamila had never left her home island before coming to St. Jude, she felt very comfortable at the hospital.

“My daughter began riding her bike shortly after leaving the transplant unit,” marvels her mom. “The physical therapist would come to teach her some exercises, and all she would think about was her bike.”

Yamila even took English as a Second Language lessons at the fully-accredited St. Jude school, bringing along her favorite toy dog named Lucy.

Yamila’s family never received a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

Yamila has returned to her home in Puerto Rico. She comes back to St. Jude regularly for checkups. Yamila loves to play guitar, make arts and crafts and cook.

“St. Jude is a hospital where miracles happen,” says Yamila’s mother. “Here, children are happy while they’re getting treatment.”

Give thanks today and share our cause! DONATE HERE and thank you!

M.LEWIS

Fundraiser Friday #5

Fundraiser Friday!

Meet: Slade
7 years old

Diagnosis:

Slade was found to have leukemia in November 2012.

Slade's story:

Seven-year-old Slade is something of an expert on reptiles. Boas, pythons, rattlesnakes and lizards: this junior zoologist can almost identify them all. And if he doesn’t know a reptile’s official name, he’ll give it a creative and catchy nickname just for fun.

In November 2012, Slade and his family were traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday when he developed an earache and a fever. His family took him to an after-hours clinic. There, they were shocked to learn Slade was seriously ill. The doctor who examined Slade arranged for him to travel immediately by ambulance to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The very next day, Slade was found to suffer from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the blood.

“I always knew about St. Jude, but never thought I would have a need for it,” says Slade’s mom. “And what a true blessing. It's the most amazing place in the world!”

Treatments invented at St. Jude have revolutionized leukemia therapy worldwide and increased the survival rate from 4% when St. Jude opened in 1962 to 94% today. And families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

Slade has another year of chemotherapy to go, but his cancer is already in remission. He has been able to resume much of his normal routine back home, taking oral chemotherapy and making regular visits to his care team at St. Jude.

Slade’s St. Jude routine has become an important part of his life, too. During every visit, Slade insists on stopping at the hospital gift shop for a new toy and eating a hamburger with provolone at the popular hospital cafeteria, the Kay Kafé.

“I am so proud of the way he has handled himself through all of this,” says Slade’s mom. “How can a child go into a procedure with all those nurses and doctors around him and not be scared? But he never is. I will always be indebted to St. Jude. They are saving my child's life.”

Help children like Slade, and donate today! 42 days and $115 left! DONATE HERE. 

M.LEWIS

October

October is shaping up to be an eventful month.

Chris was out of town for 3 days, we got our fence replaced, and Halloween costumes have been created already. It might seem a bit early, but we are going on a real vacation soon, so I have other things to fret over, and not much time to be creative when we return.

Lorelai has informed us (for months now) that she wants to be a fairy princess. She has a dress that will work, and fairy wings, and a wand...but she needed a little more pizzazz, you know? So, we bought glitter tulle and elastic and I made her a skirt to slip on over her dress to kick it up a notch. Total cost of Lorelai's costume: $18

Adalaide was a bit harder. She doesn't talk or understand the holiday, so that leaves it up to me pretty much. Addy doesn't like big outfits. Too many ruffles, buttons, ribbons, etc and her tiny frame gets overwhelmed and she becomes "hulk baby." So I decided to make her a ballerina. She has a little tutu that was Lorelai's and a pink onesie. She has a teeny little crown from Disney World earlier this year and pink shoes. All she needed was ribbons up her legs, but nothing she could fuss with. So I took a pair of sock she already had and bought a spool of slender pink ribbon. I tacked on the ribbon in all the right places, and tada...hopefully she will cooperate. Adalaide's costume: $3

Now I have to buy candy, that is the most expensive part of Halloween it seems. There is a cartwheel coupon right now, so if you all use that, get it, and use it while you can!

We also picked out our pumpkins to carve. We go to this cute little pumpkin patch at The Storybook Ranch in Mckinney. You get a free mini pumpkin, a wagon ride, a pony ride, you can go to their petting zoo, their bounce houses, and their corn maze. Pretty cute stuff. Just go early and on a cool day.

Soon we will have all cool days, seeing as we will be in Colorado, and I get to wear coats and boots like one should be able to do in mid October. Even then, it will only be for a short while, but I'll take what I can get!

Another little bit to add to October? 2 more babies! One will be another adorable niece for Chris and myself (and another cousin for our girls!), and the other will be a precious baby girl for my friend, Erin (and another playmate!). I do look forward to hearing of their joyous arrivals!

Hopefully next post will have pictures. That helps with the fun factor on these blogs...I am just too tired to mess with it right now. ;)

M.LEWIS

Fundraiser Friday #4

Fundraiser Friday!

Meet: Reese
2 years old

Diagnosis:

Reese was found to have a brain tumor in May 2013. 

Reese's story:

Today, Reese is an active little girl who loves to dance. But for much of her first two years, she was sickly. While hospitalized for dehydration, Reese had a seizure. It was a blessing in disguise.

The seizure prompted an MRI, which revealed Reese suffered from a brain tumor called ependymoma. The tumor was removed at the local children’s hospital, but Reese needed additional treatment to enhance her chances of survival.

Reese’s parents were provided with a list of cancer centers that offered proton beam therapy, a form of radiation that can pinpoint dangerous tissue while preserving healthy tissue. Reese’s parents were in the process of arranging treatment at one of these centers when they were told there was an issue with their insurance.

"That’s when I realized I wasn’t going to let my insurance determine the fate of my child,” says Reese’s mom.

She reached out to an online support group for parents of children with ependymoma and asked for advice. Soon, she was talking to the coordinator of the brain tumor program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude has the largest pediatric brain tumor research program in the country and the world’s best survival rates.

Reese’s mom says, “When the coordinator explained the program here at St. Jude, and how that would help us, and we wouldn’t have to worry about any of the financial side of things, I didn’t even want to proceed with the other cancer center anymore. St. Jude had a program that would meet Reese’s needs, and they could help her. For me, that was my focus.”

Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

Reese and her mom left the rest of their large family back home to arrive at St. Jude last Father’s Day. It was hard to be far from home, but the staff and the amenities at St. Jude helped immensely. Now, following intravenous chemotherapy and proton beam therapy, Reese has been reunited with her family. She is finishing her treatment with oral chemotherapy administered at home.

“Reese loves to be the center of attention,” says her mom. “I think we’re going to have our hands full with her!”

Give thanks and donate what you can HERE. Thank you!

M.LEWIS

Fundraiser Friday #3

Fundraiser Friday!

Meet Logan
8 years old

Diagnosis:

Logan was found to have a brain tumor when he was 6 years old. 

Logan's story:

“Logan is a kid who gets everyone’s attention, and he doesn’t even have to try,” says his mom. He just has a certain something that draws people to him.

When Logan was 6 years old, he started having headaches. At first, he would have one every few weeks, but soon he was having headaches several times a day. After repeated trips to the emergency room, doctors ordered an MRI. The scan revealed a tumor in Logan’s brain.

Logan was transported by air to a children’s hospital for surgery, where Logan’s worried family was warned of the possible outcomes. “What they told me made me sick to my stomach,” says his mother. “They said he could be paralyzed on the right side or that he could go blind.”

Fortunately, Logan came out of surgery without any lasting damage. But even so, the crisis wasn’t over. The tumor was malignant, a type known as ependymoma.

Logan needed intensive post-surgery treatment to improve his chances of survival. The best place for him to get this life-saving treatment was St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude has the largest pediatric brain tumor research program in the country and the world’s best survival rates.

At St. Jude, Logan received 33 radiation therapy treatments over the course of six weeks. His mom remains proud of how brave her little boy was. “I was the one crying,” she remembers.

The wide-ranging support of his treatment team at St. Jude helped Logan cope. “The Child Life Specialists worked with him every time he got an IV,” his mom says. “He loved his physical therapy. They let him play basketball every time they got done with a session.”

The St. Jude school helped Logan keep up with his peers during cancer treatment. And Logan picked up a new hobby: puzzles. “He started with the puzzles that were 30 or 40 pieces,” says his mom, “and by the end of his treatment, he was doing the ones that had 100 pieces. His motor skills were excellent.”

“I didn’t worry at all when I was at St. Jude,” she continues. “I knew he was going to get better, and I didn’t have to worry about having to take care of everything because St. Jude helped.”

In fact, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

Today, Logan is in the second grade but doing math at a third-grade level. He is signed up for baseball this year and loves his pet Chihuahua, Jo Jo. His mom says, “He’s all you could ever want for a son.”

What can you give today? Please, DONATE HERE, and thank you!

M.LEWIS

Fundraiser Friday #2

Fundraiser Friday!

Meet: Kayla
At 8 years old

Diagnosis:

Kayla was found to have acute lymphoblastic leukemia in September 2012. 

Kayla's story:

Nine-year-old Kayla has a million-watt smile. When it spreads across her face, which is often, it shows the light inside her that not even childhood cancer can dim.

A day in 2012 that had been such a fun, with a trip to the park and then to the movies, ended with Kayla at an urgent care clinic, crying in immense pain. An abdominal X-ray showed her liver and spleen to be enlarged. When they took blood her mother really panicked.

“She wouldn’t stop bleeding,” Kayla’s mom remembers. “I thought, oh, that’s not normal. Something else is going on, something deeper.” It was cancer.

That night, Kayla was brought to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude is where doctors send their toughest cases because St. Jude has the world’s best survival rates for the most aggressive childhood cancers. When she arrived, Kayla was found to suffer from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer.

Kayla began receiving chemotherapy at St. Jude, where the groundbreaking development of combination therapy for children with ALL has revolutionized leukemia therapy worldwide and increased the survival rate from 4 percent when St. Jude opened in 1962 to 94 percent today.

Chemotherapy for ALL usually lasts more than two years, which can seem like forever to a child. But Kayla has stayed positive and upbeat, even during the hardest times. Kayla’s smiling face is well-known to both hospital staff and patients. She’s often seen to be something of a “big sister” to newer and younger patients, helping them learn to feel at ease.

“Kayla has a great personality,” her mother says. “She enjoys life, and she is an entertainer at heart.” When Kayla grows up, she wants to have her own television show.

Two years of treatment could add up to a lot of bills for a family facing childhood cancer. But families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing and food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

“Thank goodness on top of all of this, I’m not getting a bill for Kayla’s treatment,” says her mom. “It allows us to really concentrate on our children, on loving our children, and we don’t have to worry about the money aspect. I can focus on Kayla and being supportive of her.”


What can you give today? Please, share and give thanks. DONATE HERE.

M.LEWIS