Love, Courage, and Hope

My packing list for California:

Shave Day t-shirt and inspiration

Georgia's Beads of Courage

We missed having the fourth strand at her Victory Party,

but now it proudly bears her purple heart.

Hope Flag

There will be many of these on display at the shave.

My greatest wish.

Here's a nice article about the shave, featuring several of our honored kids, including someone you might recognize. The Peachy Keens have worked so hard to prepare for this event, and I'm honored to represent our "team," my girl, and all of these precious warriors. Thanks so much for your support, and my bald noggin and I will see y'all soon!

Why?

This is one of the reasons why I'm so proud to be Shavin' for the Brave with the 46 Mommas on Sunday. When you donate to St. Baldrick's, you see action, progress, and HOPE. You see things like this:

"This summer, with the help of donors like you, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation was able to fund a record-breaking total of $23 million in grants towards lifesaving childhood cancer research, bringing the Foundation’s funding total to more than $101 million since becoming an independent charity in 2005. This research is the only path to perfect-world treatments.

These grants will have great impact on children with cancer – keeping the research and clinical trials going, which is the lifeblood of improving treatment. They will help families and all of the institutions that help those families, both in the U.S. and around the world.

In short, these grants will bring hope."

Twenty three million reasons to shave. But here's the main one:

 If you haven't had a chance to donate, please do!

European Flair

The Votre Vu Color It Forward event was so cool! Well, actually, it was incredibly hot out, but the Vu BAR was nice and chilly inside! The company is very committed to supporting the 46 Mommas, St. Baldrick's, and childhood cancer research, and we were able to visit with - and thank - the CEO himself. We also got to try out the French Accents cosmetics firsthand. Tres bien!

This is a banner that will be hanging at the shave - kids from all over have signed it,

including my two favorite kids!

Merci, Votre Vu - see you in LA!

Saturday night, we made our annual trip to the Zilker Hillside Theatre Summer Musical, which took us to Austria for an excellent production of "The Sound of Music." If you're ever in Austin in July, this is a must do!

The Moore Family Singers.

I did not get the memo about the hats.

ONE WEEK 'til The Big Shave!

Forward Motion

With so many tidbits to share, I think some bullet points are in order:

• Georgia had her third OT appointment today and, most likely, her very last port access! Her counts continue to look good, and the increase in her energy level is so awesome to see - she's got her full sparkle back! Her next appointment is the morning of her port removal, so we may have to access it one more time, but she is ready to get that thing OUT! 
• Thanks to all that rain we've been wanting and needing, our CureSearch Night at the Round Rock Express game was cancelled, so we're working on rescheduling it. I'll post details when I have them. 
• Last week, President Obama signed the FDA Reform Act (which included the Creating Hope Act), and this is a great summary from St. Baldrick's of what this means to childhood cancer warriors and survivors. Again, thank you to everyone who helped make this happen!
• Also from St. Baldrick's, here is the press release for the 46 Mommas shave NEXT WEEK! I'm inching ever closer to my goal and would love to get there before I head to Cali! With your generous donation, you can fund lifesaving research and help conquer childhood cancer, so please, put a price on my head!
• Finally, Votre Vu, a skincare and cosmetics company, is sponsoring the 46 Mommas by donating one dollar to St. Baldrick's for every product sold from their new French Accents cosmetics line. We're attending a promotional event on Friday to help kick off the campaign here in Austin, with a decked-out Airstream trailer (the Vu BAR), no less! How cool is that?

As always, we so appreciate your continued support of Georgia and our family. We've still got a ways to go, but we're thrilled to see her returning to her whole health more and more each day. In fact, the stronger she gets, the more determined we are to keep pushing for better, safer treatments for all kids in the fight against childhood cancer. We couldn't make the difference we do without your help, so many thanks, and much love, to all of you. Onward!

Busy Busy

Mark you calendars for August 20th - that's the day we say ADIOS to Georgia's port! The surgery consultation on Wednesday went very well, but we didn't think she'd have adequate time to heal before heading to camp in August, so we'll do it when she gets back. It would kind of put a damper on things if she couldn't swim in the river, right? Especially for our little fish, so August 20th it is. Yay!

As it happens, Georgia and Ivy both spent some time last week in the Sabinal River in Utopia, Texas with their grandparents, Romy and Ratty. Then, I took them to Houston and Galveston to see GG and the cousins. Despite all the rain (which we certainly didn't mind!), we were able to do several fun things, like see "Singing in the Rain" on the big screen and visit the Moody Gardens Aquarium.

Shark cage!

Tonight is CureSearch Night at the Round Rock Express game, so we're on our way to volunteer and get folks signed up for the walk in September. This week, Georgia begins a three-week creative writing camp in the mornings, and she's got a clinic appointment on Wednesday. We'll keep you posted on our busy girl's schedule - if we can keep up with her!

From Bench to Bedside

That's a critical component of medical research - getting the findings (whatever form they may be in) from the lab to the patient. And as childhood cancer research is our priority, any news of that leg of the journey being successful is cause for celebration. So here are a couple of articles making the rounds this week that highlight some promising, although very novel, breakthroughs in the treatment of ALL and, perhaps, other cancers.

First, from our friends at St. Baldrick's, Fighting Childhood Cancer with Leukemia Immunotherapy. THIS is why I'm shaving my fool head in three weeks with the 46 Mommas. St. Baldrick's is solely dedicated to conquering childhood cancer, and your generous donations produce results like this. Thank you!

Next, In Treatment for Leukemia, Glimpses of the Future. A three-time leukemia survivor was treated with a drug used for advanced kidney cancer based on information learned from a whole genome sequencing of both his cancer cells and his healthy cells. This survivor is also a physician researcher devoted to the study of blood cancers.

We're getting there. I just know it! Funds = Research = CURES. Now watch this sweet video put together by the teenage daughter of one of my fierce Momma friends. Great work, Fiona and Bekah!

THREE WEEKS 'til I Shave for the Brave!

Girl Power

We celebrated the 4th of July by watching "A League of Their Own" with our neighbors at the Moore Family Outdoor Theatre (which is a screen we hang on the side of the house). It was a lovely night, complete with gourmet popcorn, popsicles, and fireworks down the street. If you've never seen the movie or read anything about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, you really should. Talk about Girl Power!

Georgia in her official AAGPBL t-shirt. Good advice, by the way.

Outdoor movies and veggie corndogs? Ivy likes it, likes it, yes she does.

My great aunt, Ruth "Tex" Lessing - AAGPBL all-star catcher 

and coach of my short-live Bad News Bears CYO softball team.

Often described as "cute as a bug's ear," she was once thrown out of a game

for punching an umpire. The fans raised $2000 to pay her $100 fine,

and the ump wrote her an apology.

As I mentioned last week, while there is a lot going on in the healthcare world at the moment, one thing we want to highlight is the passage of the Creating Hope Act. Because you made your voices heard to your Senators and House Representatives, this Act was passed as part of the FDA Reauthorization Act and now just awaits President Obama's signature. This is the first time Congress has passed legislation addressing the dire need for new drugs developed expressly for children with cancer or other other life-threatening illnesses, and you helped make it happen! Thank you! With these measures in place, the hope is that researchers can develop safer, more effective drugs for these kids and avoid dangerous drug shortages. Nancy Goodman with Kids v Cancer was instrumental in the creation of this Act and the momentum behind it, so go visit their site if you want to see real passion in action. True Girl Power.

Superhero Blood Drive

Now here's a great way to spend your 4th of July holiday - donating blood! The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas is holding two Superhero Blood Drives at the Westgate and Metropolitan Regal Cinema Theatres from 2-4:30 tomorrow. The first 10 donors at each location will receive free movie tickets, and all donors at these drives will receive "swag" from the new Spider Man movie! Click here to schedule an appointment (enter Donor Code "regal"), or walk in tomorrow. And if you can't make it to these drives, all local centers except the Round Rock location will be open from 8-3 pm tomorrow, and all donors will earn triple donor points!

As always, we encourage all Friends of Georgia to help keep their area's blood supply stable by donating regularly, so visit your local blood center and help save a life! And have a Happy 4th of July, y'all!