Am I really going to blog?: Good to be home

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Good to be home

We made it home a little while ago. I would have posted more during the trip but I was unable to maintain an internet connection.

We did have a great time. Sam loved the ocean. She was not afraid of it all. She also loved the pool and the lazy river. We spent all of our time in the water. No sight-seeing, lots of ordering in, just relaxing.

I loved the hotel. Our room was great. Everyone was very nice. My only complaint was that they require guests to wear plastic wristbands. Samantha said "this is just like the Ronald McDonald House."

On the first day there was a hula hoop contest. Sam was the best in her age-group, while she did not win the overall competition Christian did win. It was hysterical. Too bad my camera was in the room. Here are some other pics I took on day 1:

Sam & Ashton:

Sam & Emily:

Sam & Ash:

Need to work on unpacking, will post more tomorrow.

Lori

2 comments:

Lori SchroederAugust 6, 2009 at 8:40 PM
So happy you guys got to get away! She looks so happy!!
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MonicaAugust 6, 2009 at 11:12 PM
Yay! Fun pics.
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I HOPE....

I hope you never have to hear the words, 'Your child has cancer.'

I hope you never have to hear, 'The prognosis is not good.'

I hope you never have to prepare to undergo radiation or chemotherapy, have a port surgically inserted into their chest, be connected to IV poles. Look at you with fear in their eyes and say, 'Don't worry Mommy, everything will be okay.'

I hope you never have to hold your child as they vomit green bile.

I hope you never have to feed them ice chips for lunch.

I hope you never have to watch the 'cure' you pray for slowly take away their identity, as they lose their hair, become skeletal, swell up from steroids, develop severe acne, become barely or unable to walk or move, and look at you with hope in their eyes and say,'It's going to be okay, Mommy.'

I hope that you never have to stay in the hospital for weeks, months, or years at a time, where there is no privacy, sleeping on a slab, with your face to the wall, where you cry in muffled silence.

I hope you never have to see a mother, alone, huddled, in a dark hospital corridor...crying quietly, after just being told, 'There is nothing more we can do.'

I hope you never have to watch a family wander aimlessly, minutes after their child's body has been removed.

I hope you never have to use every bit of energy you have left, with all of this going on around you to remain positive, and the feelings of guilt, sorrow, hope and fear, overwhelm you.

I hope you never have to see a child's head bolted to the table as they receive radiation.

I hope you never have to take your child home (grateful but so afraid) in a wheelchair because the chemo and radiation has damaged their muscles, 35 pounds lighter, pale, bald, and scarred. And they look at you with faith in their eyes and say, 'It's going to be okay Mommy.'

I hope you never have to face the few friends that have stuck beside you and hear them say, 'Thank God that is over with,'...because you know it never will be. Your life becomes a whirl of doctors, blood tests and MRI's and you try to get your life back to 'normal'. While living in mind-numbing fear that any one of those tests could result in hearing the dreaded words...'The cancer has returned' or 'The tumor is growing.' And your friends become even fewer.

I hope you never have to experience any of these things... Because...only then...Will you understand...

(author unknown)