I can hardly believe our 2nd Annual Comedians for a Cure event is only 4 days away!  We are so excited!  I cannot tell  you how thrilled we are with all the support we have received from AZ news and radio!  We are so thankful that so many want to do all they can to help promote our event and make it so successful!

Tomorrow, Boomer Nichols (our MC of the event) will be on 101.5 FM with Luis Gonzalez at 4:00 PM!  Be sure to tune in and listen!!

Yesterday we taped a segment that will air on EVB Live (channel 12) on Friday between the 4-5:00 PM hour.  They will air the segment on Jack and our family followed by one of our amazing comedians, Jill Bryan going on live!

Saturday Luis, Jack, Boomer, and myself will be going on News channel 15 at 8:30 AM and then heading over to Good Morning AZ (channel 3) at 9:40 AM!  We have a jam packed schedule and we couldn’t be happier about it.

This whole week 104.7FM and XTRA 910 AM sports radio have been promoting the event and hosting contests to give away a few sets of tickets.

Don’t forget to click on the link about to purchase your tickets…I promise you don’t want to pass up on this night!  We are through the roof excited about it!

If you can’t make it and still want to help, be sure to text “HAND” to 50555 and a $5 donation will be added to your phone bill in support of our night.

ALL proceeds will be going directly to PCH for Neuroblastoma research!  Please help us make this year beyond amazing!!

Monday night Nikki and I met up with the rest of the “Children’s Fight for Life” committee to present the check to the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at PCH and it was amazing!  Here’s the check:

Can you see that…??? $100,300!!  How amazing in that?!  Everyone was so happy to see the large amount on the check and all of those at the Center were more than thankful.  It really feels so good to be able to give that amount of money to the clinic since this place was our second home for so very long.  The clinic is filled with honest love and there is nothing better than that.  Of course, the slew of treatment that Jack went through also has to do with his amazing outcome, but we wouldn’t have been able to get through it without these people.

My friend, Angie, owns Yogurtology at Arrowhead (20241 N.67th Ave Ste A-7, Glendale, Arizona) and she announced today that she will be selling Jack’s “Stronger Than Cancer” shirts at her store and every time you wear your new shirt in to get yogurt, you get 20% off!  So if you live in the Glendale area…head over to Yogurtology and get your shirt, have a tasty treat, and give Angie a hug and tell her how amazing she is for all she does for her community.  She really is amazing!

So I was running around this morning with Braden trying to get some last minute Christmas things done.  I have been so busy lately and have had so much on my mind that I haven’t stopped to enjoy the little things…like running errands with just Braden and being able to soak up that time with him while I can.  We were at Target and I was getting a few gifts for the kids and was in the game aisle.  Another mom and dad were in the same row looking at something for their daughter.  The dad picked up a game and goes, “Oh, I bet she will like this one!” The mom replied, “I am sure she will, but are you ACTUALLY going to PLAY it with her?  That’s the real question.”  Dad says, “Well it’s only for 2 players so it could only take, what, 10 minutes to play?” Mom, “Probably.”  Dad, “Well then I can handle that.”  Are you flipping kidding me?!  I wanted to bonk their two heads together and ask them what their problem was!  How could you say something like that??  How could you NOT want to spend that time playing a game with your daughter?  A little peeved with their conversation, I took a deep breath, kissed Braden on the head, told him I loved him, and accidentally elbowed the dad on the way out. (Not really, but I should have.)

We walked in to Barnes and Noble and I instantly felt better.  There is something about a book store…I could have stayed in there for hours.  Now Braden, he isn’t as big of a fan as I am!  If you know him at all, he talks a lot…and he talks very loud, so a bookstore isn’t the best place for him but we still managed to get a few things accomplished while we were there.  Like I said, my mind, as well as most of ours this time of the year, has been all over the place.  I was going through a big checklist in my head while I was driving home, Braden was pretending to be a choo-choo train (loudly!) when all of the sudden, the song “Ronan” by Taylor Swift came on the radio.  I have never heard it on the radio before and have only listented to it once with Jack since we heard it and downloaded it  at the Stand Up to Cancer event.  I instantly got the chills and then noticed that Braden was totally silent.  He sat there and said, “Wisten Mom” with his little hand up to his ear.  We sat in silent for the couple of minutes that the song played as I drove and as tears streamed down my face.  That song is so powerful and even more so since we knew Ronan and Maya while he was being treated at PCH.  I “wistened” to the song and can only imagine how Ronan’s family feels every day, but especially around the holidays.  The song was over and Braden went back to acting like a train and I started thinking about all the things that I am so thankful for and that I don’t even realize…like Braden’s choo choo sound.  It’s loud.  It’s more like a high pitch scream rather than an actual “choo choo” and I will admit that there are times when I am driving and totally tune it out (it’s what mom’s do!).  I started thinking of where I would be if I could never hear that noise again or how I would be if I never heard Jack say, “Well actually Mom…I was going to remind that you are wrong.” or hear the little cough on the monitor in the middle of the night that woke me up just as I feel asleep and left me lying awake for hours.  All of these little things that are actually the big things in life.  The little things are what we need to listen to, remember, write down, record so you always have them.  We need to take time during this time of year, and really all year, to take a deep breath and “wisten” to what’s going on around you and embrace it.  We are lucky.  We are so lucky to have both of our boys here with us.

I started this post yesterday and didn’t finish it.  Today, a horrific act of violance was committed at Sandy Hook Elementary in Conneticut.  A man is responsible for killing 20 children and 6 adults, which includes his mother.  This is something that will never be explained or justified.  These little, innocent, beautiful children were robbed of their lives and their families will somehow have to learn to live without them.  I cannot imagine what the pain is like for them.  I cannot imagine what it was like in that school and what the children who survived actually witnessed.  I wanted nothing more to run to Jack’s school today and pull him out of school early but I fought it with everything in me.  Instead I arrived at his school a bit earlier than normal and waited to see his famous bright neon green Vans backpack come through the door.  I have laughed with other parents and teachers that we can literally see his backpack from a mile away and today I was so thankful for that.  I couldn’t even see his body, but I saw his bag and I have never been so relieved.

Like I was originally posting yesterday, try and take time to soak up your days.  Soak up the moments that will soon be just memories.  Learn to laugh more, love harder, live better, play more, leave the electronics alone for a bit and pay attention to what is really happening around you.  You never know when life will change…through cancer or a sudden tragedy.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those effected by today’s horrific event.

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.

Excited, nervous, emotional, happy, thankful…only a few words to describe how I am feeling right now.  Honored…that’s another.  What an amazing opportunity we have to be able to attend the SU2C event tomorrow in LA.  Unreal.  I know not everyone understands this to the level that I feel, but I truly hate cancer so very much and I will do anything to make it go away forever.  Tomorrow I will stand with my sister, Nikki, who has been more than a sister to me…she is my best friend, my children’s second mom, my confidant, my babysitter, my “stand in husband” when Zac has been gone for work…Nikki and I get to go to an event that means so much to so many.  Hundreds of people will be standing up to cancer together while millions are watching on their tv’s.  They all hate cancer because they are a survivor, a fighter, or because they have lost a loved one.  Can you imagine the energy in that room?  It’s one thing to go to an event for fun, but this is an event full of meaning.  Full of fire and fight and I am truly still in denial that we are going.  We get to meet some of the wonderful and amazing people that work for this group and thank them for all they are doing.  Really, it’s amazing and as I type with my stomach doing flips and my nerves about to crack with excitement and nervousness, I want to say thank you to those of you who have supported us for so long. Thank you for being there, thank you for reading, for understanding, for donating, for pushing though the tough times and for celebrating the good times.  Love you all.

It the long run, we are all there to fight the same fight, right?  I wish everyone thought that, but they don’t.  Some are too concerned with their building their own identity and some are just too scared of cancer to stand up and fight.  For those who join, thank you.  For those who don’t, that’s unfortunate…because if it happened to your child, we would be there standing up next to you and fighting.

As I said, a lot of emotions running tonight but please tune in tomorrow night to watch Stand Up 2 Cancer!  We will be there and you may see a face or two you recognize!  Thank you again to you all, to Stand Up 2 Cancer, and to all of the little ones who have fought the fight or are battling it now.  We are there for you.

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!