Monday 5/31/04A Happy Memorial Day to you.
Les and I survived our last inpatient stay at the hospital last week. We both had a relatively good time. My cousin, Debbie, and grandma came on Tuesday afternoon and stayed till after dinner, and then my cousin came again on Wednesday for lunch. My mom came on Wednesday evening and stayed with Les while my grandma took me out to dinner and a play (we saw South Pacific). On Thursday we were able to get discharged fairly early and then we went to visit my cousin, Matt, at his house. From there we met up with my sister and then my dad came over after we got home. Oh, and I think Gammie came over sometime that evening too. What a wave of support for Les as he approaches the final weeks of treatment.
I finally got the photos developed from our events in May. The first event we attended was called Courageous Kids. It is sponsored by the American Cancer Society and is hosted by Sea World. It was held on Mother’s Day (5/9/04) and they pampered me. They had lunch, a great “goodie bag”, some crafts, games, and a bunch of raffle give-aways. They even did a game of musical chairs with the moms. The news media was there and they happened to get some footage of me falling into a chair and laughing. It was the clip they used for the evening news that night. We were also able to purchase passes to Sea World for the remainder of the year at a huge discount.
The following weekend was the Celebration of Champions (5/17/04). This event is exclusively for the kids from Children’s Hospital who are being treated (or have been treated) for cancer. The event is wonderful. It starts with a relay “race” where each child currently in treatment or recently completed treatment “runs” a 1/8th mile section while carrying a torch of tissue paper and then passes it off to the next runner. Each child runs with a celebrity and a corporate sponsor. This year our celebrity was Trevor Hoffman, a pitcher for the San Diego Padres (#21). He was very popular and we were able to get a couple pictures before he was whisked away. Again the news media was there and they took footage of Trevor with Les and also did an interview with me. They ended up showing Les on the news that night and not me.
Following the Celebration of Champions event, and after a quick nap at grandma’s, we were off to the Padres game. Outfielder, Ryan Klesko (#30) purchased 400 tickets for the kids and families that attended the Celebration of Champions. The kids are invited to go out on the infield during the pre-game activities where they are recognized as champions before the entire stadium. This year the Padres were playing the Cubs and I have a picture of Les and Jason on the field at the same time as Sammy Sosa. They never saw each other, but it happened nonetheless.
The next weekend (5/22/04) Murrieta was holding its Relay for Life, another American Cancer Society event. This is a 24 hour fundraiser that happens in many cities all over the country. We got together with a group of family and walked for a couple of hours.
Because of all the “events” this month, it’s been hard to make much progress on Les’ new bedroom and the schoolroom/office. I hope June slows down a bit so we can finish up those projects and get our house back in order.
Les is doing great so far this cycle. His hair started coming out again a couple weeks ago, so we shaved it off again. It’s now coming in again fuller than before. Hopefully he won’t lose it again. The area around the scar in the back of his head is still bald and I don’t know if it will come back or not. Pray that it does.
Well, enough for now. Thanks still for your prayers and support.