The Shannon Family

Hi All,
We had a nice Long weekend with the family. The kids were great and Nick seemed better and fighting off the virus he had. He was almost back to himself during the weekend. He felt cold and tired some of the weekend but still enjoyed a friend's Bday party and visit with the cousins. Today, was back to school and Nick gave us another surprise. He woke up in pain this morning. He said his ear hurt and he was crying and really upset. Even though we kept insisting he stay home, he refused and really wanted to go to school today. His temperature hovered around 99.6 this morning. He cried at the bus stop because he wanted water because he was coughing. It is really upsetting to see him this way because he just wants to be 'normal', attend school and meet new friends and especially ride the bus. So, off he went on the bus and no sooner that I sat down to start work, the phone rang. The nurse at school called to say Nick was upset and not feeling well. Greg came home early from work and took Nick to clinic. We have been thinking over the weekend that he would probably need a blood transfusion today. His counts were not bad and his red blood cells were at 8.5 (normal=10.6-14.6). His white blood cells were 5.9 (normal=4.4-11). Greg figured out what we thought was an ear infection was actually a jaw bone pain. There was rough playing this weekend with Colby and Joey and we think Nick might of hit his jaw bone on something. The clinic nurses drew cultures and also gave him some antibiotics just to be sure. If he still feels tired tomorrow, I will take him to clinic for the transfusion. His body is definitely still fighting off the virus he had and we think it just takes a lot out of him. He was really sad he could not stay at school but hopefully he will make it tomorrow. It has been a rough start for him in Kindergarten. We know it will get better and hopefully Nick continues to show the 'spunk' he has for school.

This month is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. There are different ways you can help support all the families who have children battling cancer. You can become a bone marrow donor. It is just a swab in the mouth. You can order kits online: marrow.org. Another way is to donate blood or platelets. Here are some facts about Childhood Cancer:

• Each school day, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer.
• One in 330 children will develop cancer by age 20.
• Each year in the U.S. over 12,600 children are diagnosed with cancer.
• Although the 5 year survival rate is steadily increasing, one quarter of children diagnosed with cancer will die 5 years from the time of diagnosis.
• Cancer remains the number one disease killer of America's children - more than Cystic Fibrosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Asthma and AIDS combined.
• 80% of children have metastatic disease at time of diagnosis as compared to only 20% of adults.
• There are currently more than 270,000 childhood cancer survivors in the U.S.
  Late effects of childhood cancer treatment are common in survivors, and approximately one-third are moderate to severe

Karen