Howdy to Our New Friends

First of all, Landon is doing wonderfully.  He will finish his treatments up on November 11, in less than 2 weeks!  He is healthy and has been without setbacks for a very long time.  <Knocks on wood>

We have, however, been making new friends.  We have been meeting new families just about monthly.  While this sounds like a wonderful thing, making new friends and all, it is not.

These families are like ours:  completely devastated because one of their babies has this horrible disease.

I feel so blessed to be able to meet these sweet babies and their parents.  I love feeling like I’m helping, in some small way, to ease their fears.  I cannot cure their baby and make it all better, but I like the idea of showing them that there is life after diagnosis and reminding them that they were chosen for this path.

God has chosen to entrust this family and these parents with this incredible responsibility because He knows they can handle it.

We were picked for this journey because we have everything we need to succeed.  We have the support systems in place, the backgrounds and histories that give us uncommon skills.

So to you, mommies and daddies of sick babies, I say this:  trust in yourself as much as God does.  Take it day by day, hour by hour if necessary.  YOU are your child’s primary care-taker.  Trust your gut, take good notes, and pay attention.

Now go love on your babies, the sick and the well.  Love on them all!

~Dana

A Healthy 7-Year-Old Landon at Cub Scouts

Relay for Life

Relay for Life is an annual fundraising activity for the American Cancer Society.  Every year, teams of volunteers walk around a track all night and compete to raise money for ACS.

Each year, Relay begins with a Survivor’s Lap.  Remember Landon’s first one?  This year, he was a little bigger and a little stronger.

After the Survivor’s Lap is a Caregiver’s Lap where those of us who took care of survivors walk with them.  This year, however, Landon did not want to do that.  He was ready to play on the inflatables.

We then got to meet a local celebrity:  Harry Coleman.  He played football at LSU and just signed on with the New Orleans Saints.

We played and played until it rained us out!  And, as usual, Lan Man was the center of attention.

Look What Happens to Six-Year-Olds!

First Missing Tooth!

Six Years Old

Landon turned six years old yesterday and we have been celebrating all week!  We had a party here at home on Saturday with an inflatable obstacle course and marshmallow guns.  I’m not sure who enjoyed the guns more:  the kids or the adults. 

Today, Landon had to go to the hospital for a Spinal Tap.  He was treated like a celebrity and everyone celebrated!

Everyone wore party hats:

Miss Janie & Landon (with the $1 he got from a stranger who saw it was his birthday!)

His room was ready:

Making a cake with Miss Janie:

Switched Hats!

Dr Morad and Dr Meyers

He's asleep. Nurse Linda is rolling him over for the procedure.

I love this picture. Dr Morad is getting ready to perform Landon's procedure in his party hat. Landon is out and doesn't even know. Dr Morad is so special to us.

Coloring the icing

He wanted a rainbow cake. These are some bright colors!

Icing the Cake

The Finished Product!

The Nurses Came for a Party!

A Fish Story

Blessedly, Typically, Five Years Old

Landon has been doing simply wonderfully these past few months.  His counts have been good, his medications unchanged.  Except, well, he’s growing up so quickly that he’s been asking for fewer liquid and chewable medications and replacing them with pills to swallow.  At five!  He can swallow pills!  He amazes me.

He has mastered the art of two-wheel bike riding.  He can even start off by himself.  Again, he just amazes me!  He is just like the other five-year-old little boys – playing too rough on the playground at school and riding his bike with his dog!

His schoolwork has also amazed me.  Yesterday he wrote a story for his teacher.  I wish I had scanned it to show y’all how good he did, and he only asked for help in spelling one word.  Landon’s story said “I see a bird.  It is blue.  The dog chased the bird.  The bird is scared.”  And I could read it!  It was such a relief after all the worry about missing Pre-K and the learning problems some children have from chemo.  Landon is just rolling along, absorbing knowledge.

He and I were talking about what he is learning in school and he told me very matter-of-factly that a penny is one and a nickle is five.  Pushing it a little, I asked him if he knew about dimes yet.  He told me “no, we don’t know dimes yet, but we learned o’clock and I think I know thirties!”  He is too funny.

Landon brings so much joy to our world.  He got a ZhuZhu pet for Valentine’s Day (a robot hamster) and sleeps with it at night.  It makes random sounds including a crowing rooster, a cat-call whistle, and a cow’s moo.  When it gets to the Moooo, Landon’s giggles light up the room.  I could just crawl into his dimple.

Wonderful, simply wonderful

That’s the best way to describe how Landon has been doing lately.  Wonderful, simply wonderful.

His blood counts have been good, his doctor’s appointments non-eventful.  He is your normal five-year-old.  He loves school, wants to be just like his big brothers, and enjoys playing with his puppy.  He told Santa what he wants for Christmas and writes love notes to his teachers.  He tolerates his little sister, but just barely.

For the first year of his treatment, Landon hadn’t really grown much.  His weight fluctuated with steroids, but no true growth.  Now he’s growing again!  He’s looking more like my chunky little baby!  He was over nine pounds when he was born, and he’s getting those chubby cheeks again. 

How sweet the sound…

From Landon…

More-Than-Landon Update

I haven’t written a Landon Update in almost a month now because he is just a normal 5-year-old.  He talks too much in school and still loves doing homework.  He likes a little girl, and a different one likes him.  He likes school, but wishes it didn’t start so early in the morning.  He is your typical little boy.  There just isn’t a lot to say for an interesting update.

So instead I’ll write about something else very important: the Bigger Picture. 

Everyone knows that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  There are already pink ribbons in the stores to raise funds for that cause.  And I think that’s great.

You know what else would be great?  If every Specific Cancer Awareness Month received that kind of attention.  Did you know that September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month?  I found that out last October – two months after Landon was diagnosed.

I had a child with cancer and didn’t know!  How can we expect the general public to know?

To mark this important occasion, I thought I’d deviate from the normal for a bit. I usually give you a very specific update on one little boy.  Today I’m trying to show you the bigger picture, one of every child ever diagnosed with this scary monster.

Over 12,400 children are diagnosed with cancer in the United States each year.  That’s a classroom full of children, every single day.

One of every 330 children in the United States will develop cancer before the age of 19.

About 4,000 children die from cancer each year.  That’s 11 children a day.

Cancer is the #1 disease-related killer of children under the age of 14.

So many of you have been praying for Landon and our family.  We very much appreciate each of those prayers and firmly believe that they have been working!  What I ask of you today is to extend your prayers to include the rest of the children and their families that are going through this hell.

And maybe you could pass on this news to others?  And think about these children when you see those pink ribbons next month?  Afterall, a candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.