Journal

Monday, September 27, 2010

Celebrating Connor's 9 years off treatment date in Disney World!

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Sunday, September 27, 2009

Wow! 8 years off treatment!!

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October 13, 2008

I just found out that AOL is discontinuing the website where all of my pictures for this site are stored, so all the pictures in the journal and all my links are going to be deleted. Ugh! I just tried putting them all on a montage so I don't lose them. Hope this works!!


Connor


Saturday, September 27, 2008

Hard to believe another year has passed, and a whole year since I updated Connor’s page. But that’s really a good sign. Connor is doing really well. He’s now 9 years old, 7 years out of treatment today, and a big 4th grader! He’s still heavily into computer games and TV, but he’s more social and so smart! His health is great even though he’s pretty small compared to other kids his age. He’s only about 60 pounds. His brothers who are 3 years younger are only about 10 pounds lighter than he is. They all became big brothers in July to Shaun! One of these days I’ll get some new pictures of the 4 of them to upload. Life is hectic with 5 men in the house but life is so good.

Thanks for checking in with us and continuing to keep Connor in your thoughts and prayers.


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Thursday, September 27, 2007 3:13 AM

I just wanted to do a brief update since today is such an important date for us – 6 years off treatment! Connor is doing great. All 3 boys are back in school. Connor is now in 3rd grade and the twins just started kindergarten this year. We’re getting ready for our Light the Night walk on October 6th at Campbell’s field. If anyone is interested in walking with us or donating to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, just let me know.

Other exciting news is that we recently won a contest for the “messiest room” with our local Fox network and we won an Ikea makeover! The pictures were just posted to the web yesterday. Check them out!
Makeover

Thanks for checking in on Connor and keeping him in your prayers for continued health.




Wednesday, March 28, 2007 6:52 PM CDT

Six years ago today, Connor was diagnosed with leukemia. I’ll never forget when we heard those words. My world came crumbling down. Having the type of leukemia he had, we thought it was a death sentence. This was an “adult” disease; how could a 2-year old have “adult” leukemia? We searched the web and the news kept getting worse. At that time there were limited sources available to us and trying to find one that wasn’t filled with medical jargon was rare. Of the few personal websites I found, I couldn’t find one success story about a child who had AML m7. Hope was fading. Then while we were at CHOP, I came to meet the mother of a little girl named Jessica. Jessica had also been diagnosed with AML m7, was also 2 years old at the time of her diagnosis, had been treated at CHOP, and was on the same protocol as Connor. At that time Jessica was 4 years old, finished treatment, and was in remission. Unfortunately I never found out if Jessica had a website, but I do she is still in remission because every year her family purchases a Holiday Tree Ribbon in her honor for the Candlelighters annual Cancer Awareness tree in Washington, DC. I wish I could contact that little girl (now 10!) and her mother to thank them for the unbelievable gift of hope they gave us when all other resources failed.

At that time, there were few websites to network with other parents. We had Candlelighters and Squirrel Tales, which were wonderful sources of information, but it wasn’t until I discovered CaringBridge and created this website for Connor that we were able to read stories and contact other parents. Chris Russo, mom of Gooch , took a giant step forward and became a magnet, drawing cancer moms and dads from all over the world to her website. Then she posted the links to these other websites. Today she has moved all the information she’s gathered to another site called Share The Love where there are hundreds (thousands?) of links to children and adults in treatment, post treatment, angels, and newly diagnosed. There are stories of survival, stories of grief, stories of hope, but the main thing is, the stories are being read and shared and people are coming together if only to know that they are not alone.

I’m a bit nostalgic thinking back over the past 6 years and remembering all the support we’ve received from family, friends, and even total strangers. We’ve met (even if only through the Internet) so many wonderful, caring people along this road and as terrible as it was to travel this road, it has made us stronger, wiser, more compassionate, and more grateful for the gifts we’ve been given.

Connor is now 8 years old and I don’t think he remembers anything about cancer. He’s so brave and has come to accept the shots and blood draws that now only come once a year. He doesn’t know why and he doesn’t ask why. He knows McDonalds always follows a clinic appointment, and that’s just fine with him. I look at him now and I am so overwhelmed at times to just have him with me today. I still cry for the friends we’ve lost along the way, especially Tyler who was such a big part of our lives. His Mom and Dad are forever changed and I don’t know what I can do for them. That could so easily be me and I know there is nothing anyone would be able to say or do for me either.

So even 5½ years off treatment, the wounds are still so fresh and our success is still so fragile. The “R” word is spoken less frequently, but it never entirely goes away. We enjoy every day to the fullest and never, ever stop thanking God for the gifts we have today.

I know it’s been ages since I’ve last updated but we’ve been doing great. Kevin and I have been married 9 months already! The boys adore him and so do I. We’ve done a lot to the house, but there’s so much more we want to do. We adopted a kitten named Nemo during the summer. Right before Christmas, Kieran tried to climb up on Connor’s loft bed and fell off and broke his arm, but he’s fine now. We’ve all stayed pretty healthy so far, and Kevin and I are both doing really well with our jobs. We’re planning a trip to Disney next fall, and we’re really looking forward to that. The boys are all doing well in school. Connor is in 2nd grade and will be making his First Communion in May, and the twins will be starting Kindergarten in September. We had their birthday party at AmeriKick and of course now they all want to take karate lessons. So all in all, life is pretty darn good and we’re really looking forward to some warm weather and outdoor fun!

Thanks for checking in with us and for continuing to keep Connor in your prayers.

Read Journal History

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Hospital Information:

Patient Room: We're home - Hopefully for good!

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
34th Street and Civic Center Blvd.
Philadelphia, PA 19104
215-590-1000

Links:

Connor's Picture Page   Updated 11/6/01 - These are pictures from when I was going through treatment. There are also pictures from when I met the Wiggles!!

Connor’s twin brothers Ryan and Kieran

  

Connor’s Smile Quilt



See our pictures from Light the Night 2002

  

Tyler Robbins - 5/30/95 - 4/24/03

Anthony M - 5/5/98 - 6/2/03