Saturday’s Ignite Hope Walk was beyond successful!  I am not sure yet of the total number that was brought in for PCH, but I do know that our “Stronger Than Cancer” team brought in just over $6800!  We are happy to say that we were the top team and we are thrilled about it!  Thank you for taking the time to walk with us or to donate.  We have some pretty amazing people who have stood behind our mission and we can’t thank you enough.  Nikki was a great team captain and did an amazing job putting this all together.

When we arrived at the hospital, the emotions were a bit overwhelming.  We walked up as they were paying Silent Night and you could see all the little heroes inside waving their lights down to us.  Since we were at the front of the walk, we were able to see over 1,000 people with their lights file in.  This year was the first time the walk was put on and I hope it continues for years to come.

Nikki and I are headed back to PCH to present the check with the rest of the Children’s Fight for Life committee  to the center for cancer and blood disorders. How amazing that the event brought in $100,000 this year!  I really look forward to giving them that money tonight!!

Now that the walk is over, we are starting to plan our event for March, Comedians for a Cure! I am really excited about this year!  Last year was our first year and you always learn something new each time you do an event so I think that this year is going to be much larger than last.  As we get in new details, we will release them to you!  As of now, we are looking at Sunday, March 10th for the event…mark your calendars!!

Last note:  I have been getting emails asking about shirts and if we still have them and yes we do!  We have most sizes left as well as some long sleeves now!  We will be selling the long sleeves for $25 (which are unisex and super comfortable!).  If we don’t not have your size, we will order it in the next order we place!  All you have to do is donate the appropriate amount for what you want and don’t forget to note the sizes!  If you have any questions at all, contact me at lmorton@thejackmortonfoundation.org.

Thank you!!!!

Some of our “Stronger Than Cancer” Team!

Kiddos having fun before the walk began:

Tons of activities for the kiddos to do before we began…

Nikki holding the flag since our team raised the most money!

Starting off the walk!

Braden was so excited!

My mom and I!  She flew in just for the day to be here with us:

Jack and Meg holding up his light so the little heroes inside could see us:

This is what it looked like form inside the hospital looking down…pretty emotional!

To say that we are thrilled beyond belief that Jack’s scans came back all clear is an understatement.  This time was one of the scariest times I have personally ever had with Jack in regards to scans.  Every other scan I had the belief that he was going to be fine because he was doing so well.  This time I saw something that was was out of the ordinary and it scared me.  My mind went places that I never want it to go again.  I went for a walk the night before the first set of scans by myself and the tears were coming down like they did when Jack as first diagnosed.  I kept thinking to myself that I cannot lose him.  I physically could not live without him and the fear of that happening was overwhelming.

Zac is working out of town right now and with the scans being scheduled so quickly and with my Dad being able to fly out to be with me at the hospital, we decided to at least wait until the CT scan before making a flight for him.  We agreed that if there was something on the CT, he would come home immediately.  It was hard not having him here because I am the emotional one (go figure) and he is the rock.  When he is gone, I take over his role with the boys and it’s hard to be a rock when you feel like you are a pile of mush.  We kept in constant contact with Zac so he knew what was happening at every moment and that helped.  I know it’s very hard for him to be gone all the time and especially when we are going through something so hard and he is far away but I also know how hard he works for our family and I love and respect him for that very much.

When we got the first call from Sharon at the hospital that the CT was all clear, it was a huge relief.  We knew that we still had the MIBG ahead of us, but to know there wasn’t a mass in his brain was huge for us.  It made it a bit easier walking in to the second day of scans.  Dr Maze wasn’t able to be there for Jack’s anesthesia due to him being out of town, but he called and told us that he would pick someone he knew we would love and he did a great job.  We had Dr Miller and he was amazing.  We had him once before and I remembered him because he was from Michigan and I was secretly hoping we would have him again.  We walked in the second day and our favorite Nuc Med nurse Angela was Jack’s nurse and all the pieces started to fall together.  We had Angela, Dr Miller, and of course the Amazing Mary and Shannon.  It was the 11th of October and his scans was at 11:00…all the signs were there for Jack to have another set of clear scans, and he did.

Sharon called us Friday at 7:49 AM and told us to start celebrating.  I asked her what she thought the shaking of the hand was for and she said it was hard to say.  It could be a late effect from treatment, it could have been a nerve problem, it could have been a fluke.  It hasn’t happened again and they aren’t worried about it so we aren’t worrying about it.

We have had a busy couple of days and Jack is getting ready to go back to school tomorrow after his 2 1/2 week break.  He is excited to see his friends and I am excited to be able to put this behind us for another 6 months.  We will chat with Dr Eshun when he gets back in town in a week or so and I am sure he will have more information to tell us but for now we are just loving the fact that Jack is doing so well and we are so very happy.

I cannot thank you all enough for all of the love and support you have given us.  My phone would start going off at 5:15 AM and continue until 1:00AM every day until we knew the scans were clear.  Thank you for all of the messages you sent.  Thank you for all the positive thoughts and prayers and words of encouragement.  Thank you for calling, writing emails, texting…thank you for it all.  Thank you to my friends who let me cry and who also told me in the nicest ways to knock it off and get my mind back on track when I needed it.  Thank you for making me laugh and thank you for repeating over and over again how far Jack has come and that no matter what the scans read, he would get through it.  Love you all.

Here’s  a few pics of the scan days….

Jack telling cancer to take a hike…

A very unhappy boy getting poked for the 3rd time…I felt so bad for him!

Uncle Scott came down to say hi but Jack was still not too happy about anything at the moment…

CT time.  Of course he was watching Mario and Luigi the entire time…

Of course Aunt Nik met us at PCH too!

Before we left for day 2…

Day 2…just got the call from Sharon that the CT was clear!

We took a real quick pic and I am sure Mary is going to love that her eyes were closed, but I wanted to show some of the amazing people from Nuc Med!

Dr Miller was so good with Jack.  He talked to him the entire time while he fell asleep.  He held him and hugged him….he was wonderful.

Jack sleeping after scans…we had to do some more labs after but thankfully he was sleeping so he didn’t even know.

Celebrating at home!  I asked Jack how he felt about having clear scans again and still having “no cancer” and he said, “It’s feels good…actually, it feels amazing.”

Seriously…we will never have a pic of us sitting still and smiling!

Day after results…soccer time.  I couldn’t have been happier to have him running up to me with this smile.

We celebrated Jack’s 2 year post transplant this weekend and had his old roomie, Corey, to join us in the party!  We haven’t seen Corey since the days of staying at the hospital so it was more than wonderful to catch up with him and see how great he is doing.  He is living a cancer free life and loving every bit of college and that’s just amazing.  The last picture I have of Jack and Corey was when they were playing Wii and both of them had their bald heads…the nurses used to come in and think that they were related and that Corey was Jack’s supportive (because of the bald head) big brother because they would even were the same basketball shorts and white t-shirts.  It was great to see how far they both have come!

We also were able to go down that morning (Sunday) to news 3 where Nikki, Jack, and I talked about the event coming up in November, “Children’s Fight for Life”.   Well, actually Nikki and I talked while Jack chewed on his hand (which he never does!) while looking past the bright lights trying to see Zac sitting behind the cameras!  Thank you to News 3 for once again being so supportive of our family and our want to raise awareness for childhood cancer!

With this month being Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, do me a favor and take the time to do something about it.  Share Jack’s story and his this website, volunteer at a local event, donate $5 and get one of Jack’s bracelet and show your support, sign up to volunteer at your local hospital….just do something please!

I finally heard from PCH today and Jack’s VMA/HVA results are totally normal.  This urine test is a very important test because it can detect Neuroblstoma in the body and since his are normal, we can take a deep breath for a few months until his next set of scans in November. It feels so much better!

I can say that today has been a great day.  The fact that the Stand Up 2 Cancer photo contest is ending today has caused a bit of nervousness but that is only because we think this would be such an amazing opportunity.  I cannot even imagine the feeling of standing in a room with thousands who are all there for the same reason…to stand up to cancer until there is no more.  Can you imagine?!  What a wonderful experience that would be!!

I am also very humbled by the response of my friends who have voted for Jacks’ picture and the wonderful things they have said about him.  It amazes me every day how many people Jack has touched and how inspirational he can be.

It has been a bit since I started writing and I just got a call from Dr Eshun confirming the results we were told earlier.  He went over everything and thinks Jack is doing really well.  He also finally admitted that I am a tad neurotic.  It was pretty funny to hear but he is so right!  I am so thankful that we were given Dr Eshun as Jack’s doctor.  Not only do I think that there isn’t another oncologist that would have been able to deal with me, but I really believe that he is the best oncologist out there.  He never looked at Jack as a statistic.  He look at Jack as a son, a grandson, a nephew, a friend, a cousin…he looked at Jack as an individiual that he wanted to help make better…and that is what he did.  We will be forever greateful to Dr Eshun.

So tonight is the last night for voting on the SU2C Facebook page….if you are on Facebook, vote NOW!

http://apps.facebook.com/istandupfor/contests/261680/voteable_entries/55189654

We have introduced Alex to you a couple of times and I just wanted to ask you all for some extra prayers and positive thoughts sent his way.  In his mom’s update on today, they informed everyone that Alex’s scans didn’t come back how they hoped they would.  New spots of Neuroblastoma have shown up and they have to find a new treatment because they do not qualify for the one they are on anymore.  The good news is that he can still qualify for treatment and that his bone marrow has less disease than it did in the previous aspiration.  I know Alex is a fighter and will get through this…he is just taking a different road.

Send Alex and his family some of your thoughts and prayers please!

http://www.carepages.com/carepages/MANDARINO/updates/3361513