Update:

Nicholas finished treatment on 11/18/2010. He will continue to go for blood work for the next 3 years. He is still in remission.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The Tomorrow Fund Stroll for Nick

Hi Everyone,
We embarked on our first Tomorrow Fund Stroll for Nick and his clinic. The stroll is a fund raiser event for his clinic that 100% of the proceeds go to The Tomorrow Fund. (There website is listed on our blog). We decided it would be fun to make T-shirts and walk as a family. Of course we were called The Nick Shannon Rocks team and there was a 4-wheeler on the back of the T-shirt. Thank you to Amy for taking of this. (We will vote on the color next time). We had a beautiful 80 degree day and kids all had fun. I sent in a picture of Nick and along the stroll they post all the patients in his clinic. There are even kids posted that are cured and took part in the event. It was very inspiring to see one of the first nurses we met when Nick was first diagnosed. Her name is Tracy and her son was diagnosed with ALL about 6 years ago at Hasbro. Tracy decided to go into nursing (oncology) at that time and now today her son is cured and she is still a very active member of the fund. She even had his picture at the stroll and I was able to meet him. I can personally say it was great to get out and participate in an event that I know has made a difference for many families. We want to thank all the family and friends who came out and donated to the fund. Nick was all bundled up and in the stroller most of the time. We just finished the steroids and he had a pretty tough weekend. He woke up Sunday morning craving a McDonald's happy meal. As we all know, McD's does not serve lunch until 11am, so he decided the best way to alleviate all of his energy was to cry for a couple of hours. He calmed down during the stroll but Greg made sure to pick up lunch on the way home. He spent most of the day on the couch. (This should have been a hint to me before taking him to clinic).

Clinic on Monday came with a little surprise. The nurse accessed his port, drew blood and then we decided to take it out, thinking his counts would be fine. It turned out his red blood cells were very low and he needed a transfusion. When your red blood cells are very low you feel very tired and have no energy. You usually look very pale, but Nick did not look that way. He still received his shot and now we are in the single digits.... 9 to go. We ended up re-accessing his port for the transfusion. Nick was okay with everything until he decided the blood was taking too long and he was ready to go home. He is doing much today and is even telling us jokes.
We know Nick does not understand how many people are praying for him and sending him well wishes, but we tell him all the time how proud we are him. I will try to post pictures next of the stroll.