Dear Ones,
How grateful we continue to be to have you as a circle of support for my grandnephew, Connor, and his family. I am deeply pleased to continue to send you good news. Connor will soon return to Alaska after close to a year long stay at Children’s Hospital/Ronald McDonald House in Seattle.
As I read my niece’s latest update that I forward on to you, I am touched by her grace and her talent as a mom and a writer. Although Connor’s journey has been a rough one, it is Alicia who has walked a relentlessly stressful road, holding her family together at every turn. I wish I could give her days of sleep followed by and an all expenses paid family vacation to Disney World (their favorite place ion earth). She and Steve could have allowed the pressures to pull them apart, but instead their relationship is all the stronger. Although they had their moments of melt down, I seldom saw them take their stress out on one another. Instead they had great compassion and tenderness for one another, offering each other strength even when miles apart. Also, the grandmother’s offered such selflessness to be their for their little ones. It took the village! What peace builders they have been. It has not been an easy time for them to put their lives on hold in order to be present as a durable support system. Their presence and hands on help has made this challenging journey much easier.
So, drink in Alicia’s amazing update. I do hope at some point she will finally have time to pull these updates together and weave them with more of her reflections about this road of healing into a book to serve other parents.
Once again, thank you for surrounding Connor with your healing light. Since you now know you can heal cancer, what amazing thing will you do next. It makes everything else easier!!!
Please do not relinquish Connor from your prayers as he still has a distance to travel, but regardless of what is ahead, we joyfully celebrate now!!!
In deep gratitude, Rhonda
CONNOR’S UPDATE…
Connor has done remarkable over the last month. He has slowly come off several of the medications used to treat his graft verse host disease (GVHD) and is showing no signs of any problems. Since he is still on two medications that lower his immune system, I have to check his temperature at least twice a day. Any time he gets a fever of over 101 degrees, even if he has no other symptoms, we get to go to the hospital and have blood tests done to rule out infection. Unfortunately, over the last month we have been to the ER four times for this reason. Most of the time the fevers would go away as quickly as they came but last Sunday this was not the case. In less than an hour, his fever went from being normal to 104 degrees. After having blood tests done in the ER, he was admitted into the hospital the next day with a blood infection. The doctors started him on antibiotics and within a day, the infection was getting better and we were able to return “home†Thursday. Even though it was a shame to be back in the hospital, it gave us a chance to see all the incredible people who have been there for us every step of the way one last time before heading back to Alaska. We still do not have an exact date on when we will get to return home but the doctors are talking about sometime the middle of March. Along with doing well medically, he has done marvelous with potty training and as his hair gets longer and the signs of cancer fade thankfully there is little left to remind us of all his body has been through.
Carson is a master at walking and loves to climb on everything. His personality is starting to blossom as he becomes more independent. He has accomplished many milestones while living a “hospital life†and it is hard to believe that he was not even rolling over when we got here. Steve is incredible and my love for him gets stronger everyday. As hard as it is for us to be down here coping with all of this I cannot imagine how hard it is for him to be at home. He has been working hard on our house to get it ready for us to return home and I am very excited to see all the changes. I was able to go home for a weekend the end of January to help pick out some of the new things for the house. It was wonderful to be home even if it was only for a short time. Most days what I desire most is more sleep. Between Connor’s appointments, medicine and chasing the boys by the end of the day I am exhausted. Nevertheless, no matter how tired I am when I hear the boys laughing and playing together it makes everything worth it
Recently a wonderful website: www.freewebs.com/kidscancercrusade was brought to my attention. This great site brings together stories from families that are surviving childhood cancer. It allows you to follow there journey, provide encouragement and send sympathy. I know one of the things that helped me through the hard days was the messages of hope and support. I encourage all of you to check out this site and see the amazing children that are more courageous than I can ever hope to be.
Thank you to everyone for you continued support. There is not a day that goes by after all this time that we do not feel your love and prayers.
All our love, The Dunham’s Steve, Alicia, Connor and Carson
Check out Connor singing Take Me out to the Ball Game at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7116764384596726585&pr=goog-sl
God Sent to Me an Angel
By Paul Dammon 11/96
God sent to me an angel,
it had a broken wing.
I bent my head and wondered,
“How could God do such a thing?”
When I asked the Father
why He sent this child to me,
the answer was forthcoming;
He said, “Listen and you’ll see.”
“My children are all precious,
and none is like the rest.
Each one to me is special,
and the least is as the best.
I send each one from Heaven
and I place it in the care
of those who know my mercy,
those with love to spare.
Sometimes I take them back again.
Sometimes I let them stay.
No matter what may happen,
I am never far away.
So if you find an angel
and you don’t know what to do, l
remember, I am with you,
love is all I ask of you.”
Alicia R. Dunham
5130 40th Ave NE, Room B 13
Seattle WA 98105
206-838-0707 Seattle Home
www.thestatus.com ID:Dunham- Password:unique-book
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