Georgia on My Mind

What a wonderful day yesterday! At last count, Georgia's victory picture has been seen by over 8,000 people! We're so happy to share the good news and raise awareness about childhood cancer at the same time, so thanks for all of the well-wishes and for spreading the word about our amazing girl!

We spent the morning yesterday at the endocrinologist's office, and the overall word is positive. Although Georgia's bone loss is significant, Dr. Kim was very pleased (and surprised, based on the numbers) that she's only had the one confirmed compression fracture. She wants to be fairly aggressive in stopping further damage and jump starting recovery, so Georgia will begin high doses of Vitamin D and calcium and add weight-bearing exercise in addition to continuing her swimming. At 13, she's in the most critical bone density-building phase of her life, so it's very important that we turn the tide as quickly as possible, and Dr. Kim feels confident that Georgia will be back up to near-normal ranges in no time. We are very happy with the plan and will follow up with more blood work in eight weeks. So glad to get moving in the right direction!

In other news, today is Willie Nelson's 80th birthday, and we hope it's just as special as he is. The second after Georgia was born, we welcomed her by playing Willie's version of "Georgia on My Mind." There wasn't a dry eye in that room, and it was one of the two best birthday parties I've ever been to.

 Happy Birthday, Willie!

And ... BOOM! One YEAR!

(Really) Happy Monday!

Today was Georgia's last monthly clinic appointment! For the next year, she'll go two months between appointments, and they will spread out even further as she gets closer to being five years off treatment. Her numbers were great, and we talked with Dr. Neff about her endocrinology appointment next week. We're all "looking forward" to it and getting to work on her bone issues. Thankfully, she hasn't had any problems since the boot came off, and she promises me she's taking it easy in PE, so hopefully, we'll be able to right this ship without further damage. Yes we can!

In other celebratory news, we received this picture from our good friend, Dianna, the morning that her husband, Will, was sharing his "mission moment" about Georgia with his LLS Team in Training teammates:

It's interesting to see different phases of Georgia's journey all in one place. And we are so thankful that the Bacons have been with us every step of the way - as have many of you! Will is very close to his fundraising goal for the Wounded Warrior Half Marathon, so please visit his page and help fund cures for all blood cancers!

Finally, next Saturday, May 4th, is our fourth annual blood drive! To celebrate Georgia's first year off treatment, and to continue our support of The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas, the big red Blood Bus will be pulling up to our house for donations. We'll have snacks and sundries, plus Georgia and Ivy's World Famous Lemonade, which benefits the St. Baldrick's Foundation. With the recent tragedy in West, Texas, our local centers have been teeming with donors - which is wonderful! But every day is a good day to donate blood, so we hope y'all can join us or donate at your local center. 

To donate at our drive, you must register online and make an appointment. The Center has a new system as of October, so if you have donated in the past, you may have to re-register, but your new account will be linked to your old one.

1) Go to: www.inyourhands.org.
2) Under "Donate Blood," click on "Make an Appointment."
3) Once you've registered and landed on your "Welcome" page, click on "Donate Now."
4) Under "Quick Links" on the left, click on "Search by Group Code" and enter B766 and 5/4/13.
5) Sign up for an appointment time.

Let us know if you have any questions, and we hope to see you and your healthy blood on May 4th! Thanks, y'all!

3rd Annual Art Show

Just as she's done for the past two years, our friend, Patty, has put together another fabulous art show benefiting childhood cancer research. This year's event on Sunday, April 28th will include works from her classmates at Eanes Elementary, as well as some pieces from Georgia's art class at Ann Richards. The location is new - The Crayshaw Gallery on Lake Travis - so we are looking forward to a wonderful afternoon. Please stop by and help us raise awareness, hope, and funds!

Big Science, Big Hope

Yesterday was a HUGE day for the childhood cancer community: the announcement of the Stand Up To Cancer - St. Baldrick's Foundation Pediatric Cancer Dream Team. The four-year, $14.5 million grant went to a multi-institution team that "will bring together two scientific areas that have, until now, been evolving on parallel tracks: genomics and immunotherapeutics." The team aims to specifically target several high-risk childhood cancers, including refractory (or resistant to treatment) Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, so the news is especially exciting to us as we think of friends who have fought, or are still fighting, ALL - some of them more than once.

The enormity of this announcement and what it means for childhood cancer warriors and their families cannot be overstated. This is "Big Science." This is HOPE. This is why we are so proud to support St. Baldrick's!

And thanks to more big science partially funded by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, here's another look at Emma's story and her incredible victory over refractory ALL:

 

"And she woke up. And there was no more leukemia."

What a day that must have been - and can be for other children - which is why we'll keep raising awareness, hope, and funds until every child can wake up to find that there is no more cancer. Thanks so much for your continued support of Georgia, our family, and the many organizations that are working toward that day. We will get there!

It's That Time Again - APRIL 29TH!

Lots going on in the next few weeks - school fairs and retreats, 3rd annual art show, 4th annual blood drive, and, of course, APRIL 29TH! We can't believe it's come around already, but Georgia is ready to mark her first year off treatment, and we are happy to oblige. We'll bookend that week with the art show on April 28th and the blood drive on May 4th, and she's got a movie party with friends planned for the following weekend. It seems like we were just celebrating The Big Day, and here we are again - happy, healthy, and very grateful!

We spent Easter in San Antonio with Lolly and Poppa and enjoyed a lovely brunch at a downtown hotel. We also took a stroll along the Riverwalk, right by the Arneson River Theatre - the site of the 2013 46 Mommas Shave for the Brave! And we ended the day, as always, in a hail of cascarones. It was a great day, and we're looking forward to many more this month. Stay tuned for more info ...