Three

It's April 29th - again! Another year past treatment and another day for which to be grateful. I shared these three pictures on Facebook this morning, and I think they say a lot about Georgia's journey and where she is today. Thank you all for being with her, and with us, every step of the way.

April 2010.  Putting one foot in front of the other, and with little loving hands 

always at her back, she won her race three years ago today.

 

This morning, she visited one of her top choices for college - 

Trinity University in San Antonio.

Still right by her side. : )

Words cannot express, except for these: Please support childhood cancer research. 

Much love, and here's to many more April 29ths to come!

The Word on The Street

... is NORMAL. At Georgia's survivorship appointment today, the exact words were, "Your labs couldn't be any more NORMAL." Wonderful! We never tire of hearing the word "normal," but we've never heard it expressed so definitively before - not something we'll ever take for granted or forget! And because she is nearing her third year off treatment (next week!), Georgia will now move to follow-ups every six months, so today was full of good news!

In addition, her appointment with endocrinology yesterday was equally encouraging. The plan is to stay the course with the current supplements and our headache prevention routine unless or until something changes. We drew new labs to check her Vitamin D and calcium again, and she'll have another bone density scan as well as a bone age scan in the next week or so to monitor her osteoperosis. We're feeling confident that all of that has improved even more over the last year, but it will be nice to see it in black and white.

Our girl is growing by leaps and bounds - in mind, body, and spirit - and her days are full of NORMAL. Honestly, we couldn't ask for anything better.

Viva El Chris!

It's Fiesta time in San Antonio - the most fun 10 days of the year! We'll be missing the action this go-round, but we will be there in two weeks for a very special fiesta of our own. A good friend of mine from high school has offered his restaurant - and his hair! - for a St. Baldrick's fundraiser, and we hope that all of our San Antonio friends can join us! Chris owns Martha's restaurant and has been hard at work getting the word out and prepping for a great event on Saturday, May 2nd from 3-5 pm. He's going to brave the shave himself, and we so appreciate the support! Drop by to see us if you can, and if not, please donate to Chris's campaign and childhood cancer research!

This week, Georgia has appointments with endocrinology and survivorship. We hope to get more pieces to the headache puzzle, but (knock wood), she hasn't had a severe one in the last month! We're grateful for that and so many other things, including our wonderful Friends of Georgia. Have a great week, y'all!

SUPER Siblings

Friday was National Sibling Day, a time to celebrate the special relationship between brothers and sisters. How lucky Georgia and Ivy are to have each other, and how special their bond is - a big part of the reason that they both have come through Georgia's diagnosis so well.

Georgia had her long-awaited neurology appointment on Thursday, and we discussed the MRI, the headaches, and how we've been treating them, etc.. Luckily, she hasn't had any more as severe as those in January and February, and making sure she eats something after physical activity seems to stave them off. The plan is to keep recording symptoms, looking for patterns, and staying the current course unless or until something changes. Her appointment with endocrinology next week will certainly be helpful as we really, really think this is a blood sugar issue, easily treatable and possibly preventable. The neurologist also remarked at the beautiful picture of Georgia's brain, which shows no signs of damage or deterioration from chemotherapy. Still reveling in that great bit of news!

And if you can believe it, we're closing in on Georgia's off treatment anniversary - THREE years! We'll be celebrating, of course, and also have three events coming up in May. More on those later, but for now, thank you for always supporting both of our champions, the Superest of Super Sibs!

Happy Easter

Last week, we said goodbye to our dear Evie, just a few weeks shy of her 103rd birthday. We celebrated her extraordinary life with many members of our large family and gave thanks for the love and guidance she shared with all of us. The Easter season was so special to Evie, so she was very much on our minds and in our hearts today. 

Beautiful flowers - and smiles

These Easter baskets are Jazzy-approved

We hope you enjoyed your day as well. Have a great week, everyone!

Hot Off the Press

Once again, one of our resident writers has been published! This time, Ivy wrote a post for the St. Baldrick's Foundation blog, reflecting on Georgia's diagnosis and shaving her head for kids fighting cancer. It's as beautiful as she is, inside and out, and we're very proud of her for speaking so eloquently on behalf of other siblings. You can read it HERE, and, of course, donate HERE.

We also want to highly recommend the PBS miniseries that aired this week: Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies. It's based on the excellent book of the same name and is almost a biography of cancer, from its "beginnings" to some of the most recent advancements in treatment, including immunotherapy. This is a bittersweet blog post written by an acquaintance of mine who was interviewed for the film. Cindy is another force of nature in the childhood cancer community, and what she and her family have been able to accomplish with their foundation is nothing short of amazing. We are surrounded by so many who inspire us with their dedication to finding cures and safer, less-toxic treatments for our children, and we're honored to be a part of this army of HOPE.