Wishes Do Come True

On Friday afternoon, Make-A-Wish Foundation threw a party at our home to officially grant William his wish! What an amazing organization! He made his wish back in September right as we were finishing treatment and planning on a life of remission. He is a huge Harry Potter fan and wished to go to Harry Potter World/ Disney World in Orlando, FL. The plan was to go during Spring Break, but in December, under advice from our doctors, we decided to put a rush on his wish in an effort to make sure he got to enjoy the trip. So we have carefully calendared. Since his chemo and recovery are fairly predictable right now and he isn't experiencing too many "unexpecteds" at the moment, it all makes sense. His chemo will be delayed a week in hopes that he'll be at his peak of feeling great. We are so excited, but what I love even more is the fact that my kids have no real idea how amazing this trip will be. I just keep thinking about the 75+ degree weather right now while I'm suffering from a case of "wimpy Californian" during the few weeks of actual winter weather around here.

Some of the highlights of the trip will be a limo ride to and from our home and airport, 24 hour, all-you-can-eat-ice cream parlor at our resort. (Our resort is called "Give Kids the World" and it is a resort only for Make-A-Wish kids and their families.) And of course, all the fun a kid can pack into a week with tickets to every attraction in the vicinity.

We are so grateful to the generosity of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the many people who donate money to the organization to make these wishes a reality, and their amazing team of volunteers!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! We can't wait to post pictures of our trip!

In other news, William had a pretty uneventful week. He is not following his trends with his counts as he seems to hit an ANC of 0 a few days sooner than the previous chemo cycle. This week he seemed to stay at 0 a little longer than before, but he's staying out of the hospital and we can't ask for much more. Besides, I figure the sooner he cycles down, the sooner he cycles up and then he has more time feeling good while he waits for the next chemo cycle to start. Right? It makes sense to me when I don't try to factor in the rest of the what ifs. He received blood and platelet transfusions on Thursday which helped give him a boost of energy for Friday's Wish party. We are hoping the TPN and lipids are working their magic with his weight. He's had some aches and pains in his abdomen this week and tells me it's not nausea or gas. He isn't requesting pain meds and he says it comes and goes quickly. This makes me crazy. I try not to let my anxiety get the best of me or let my mind go to places it shouldn't, but the thought of the cancer speeding up it's growth is never far away.

William and Clark are gearing up for the Pinewood Derby this week. It is mild torture trying to get 2 cars done and then try to figure out how we are going to manage the emotions if one car ends up being significantly better than the other. Ahhhh. And we are cringing for next year's races because the twins will turn 8 right before the Derby and we'll have 4 cars to make!