Meetings, meetings

 From little things, big things grow.

We've had a lot of amazing meetings lately and have meet with some incredible people.  It seems like our world has evolved into having a meeting every day but it's how things get done.  Of course, there was the meeting with the doctors last Thursday (which I'll write about) but another meeting that really stands out in my mind and has substantiated my visions of Team G; starting to make them a reality.  We had the pleasure of meeting with two of our favorite trainers, Cliff and Sam, plus our favorite past time trainer, Ronnie (better known as Uncle Ronnie) over beers and got to bounce off some great ideas for an "actively" based foundation.  We love the idea of incorporating personal fitness motivation with raising funds for pediatric cancer.  It's something that has been there from the beginning of our journey and initiated the idea of this foundation...the CrossFit Obstacle Course Fundraiser put on by our friends and the CrossFit community.  The ideas that have formed in my mind the past 10 months are starting to make their way onto paper and starting to make sense.  It's something that everyone could be involved in to help raise money for childhood cancer.  I'm very excited to get it put together.  It just takes time but a little bit a day makes a huge difference.   

Gabriella has boundless energy these days, wearing out her little sister Bridget and us daily.  She is an eating machine and is even licking her fingers...often.  We're thinking its because things taste better now that the chemo is over and her taste buds are coming back.  It must be if her fingers taste that good.  We're still very on guard about infections and sanitizing so she's either in the bathroom every 10 minutes washing her hands or getting the hand gel.  

The girls are attending school a few times a week, starting to attend birthday parties and activities where not all the kids have clean noses.  I'm adjust my "coughing sneezing runny nose scanning sonar ears" but it's a new habit I'm learning...trying not to be so paranoid.  

We have a new addition to the family....the hamster.  I had this crazy idea that a hamster would be less work than a fish tank...ahhahhaahhaaa!!!  Who's idea was that?  Ok, it was mine.  Gabriella and Bridget were so excited at the thought of having a hamster (and I needed a reason to get rid of the fish tank) so we looked into it.  We talked a lot about responsibility of having a pet and after school last week, we drove over to the pet store, got the supplies and got our hamster.  I have to say, she's a darn cute little thing.  Stinky but cute and G just loves her to pieces.  I'm amazed at how well G does with animals.  She's so loving and careful and "Peaches" has really taken a liking to G.  She's already gotten out of her cage twice in the 2 1/2 days we've owned her but she was found and put back.  Bridgy really wants to hold Peaches but as soon as G puts her into B's hands, Bridgy hands her back.  

Making Cakes

I've had to take a short break from all the foundation activities to try and throw myself back into cake artistry.  It's been a difficult adjustment mostly because my objectives and life's work is in a very different place than it was a year ago.   I still love doing it but I realize after the intense past year we have that I'm just not as passionate as I once was.  This just shows me how much this past year has changed us.  Once I finish the projects this month, it will definitely need to take a back seat to what is now my mission...childhood cancer.  

Our Meeting

Last Thursday we had an important meeting at Packard with our oncologists, a director of radiology, the chief of radiology and another administrative director.  Without going into all the details, I'd have to say it was a successful meeting.  We've encountered some less than welcoming experiences at Packard this past year.  I asked at one point if maybe it was just our bad luck.  But after taking with other families that have been treated at Packard, we realized that there are some obvious glitches in the system.  I see it as a working relationship, similar to a personal relationship.  The grass looks greener on the other side and it is.  But it too needs watering, mowing, and attention.  We will encounter problems everywhere we go.  I've seen it and I've been on the other side of those problems working at many different hospitals.  Most of my young life was spent adjusting to different schools and different places.  As an adult, I'm tired of leaving one place to find different problems at another and I swore I wasn't going to do this to my children.  Maybe that will backfire on me later or maybe not.  But, if these people at Packard are willing to sit down for over an hour with us, listen to our experiences this past year, look into solutions together and are so passionate about caring for my child that tears are shed by the thought of her leaving, I'm willing to see if the system can change (of course to a certain degree).  At one point, we were asked if we would tell our story to the Chief Operating Officer.  I will tell the story over and over and over again until it is better.  But they better be damned sure about following up after this meeting...or else it was all a bunch of hot air. 

"When you are faced with extraordinary situations, do extraordinary things. "

We weren't put in this situation so we could crawl up in a little ball at the end or pretend it didn't happen to us.  We were given this situation for a reason.  Trust me, I hate it when people say this to me but I realize how true it is.  The amount of growing and changing I've done personally through this past year is something I don't ever want to forget.  I don't want to pretend didn't happen.  I'm just lucky enough to hold my daughter at the end of all of it and say, "Baby, you did it.  You beat cancer."  Great things can come if you make them happen.  

My Bridgy...always making everyone laugh.

This little one cracks me up!
"ME" fairy coming soon!

My final thought.....

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade....and Just Keep Swimming.