Magnanimously homeschooling, worshiping, creating.......

Join us on a journey of faith, healing, learning to live with part of our hearts missing, and recovery, as our family rebuilds our lives, after our son's long battle with cancer....and his eventual rise on eagle's wings into Heaven...victory is his...he is serving the King!!!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

reminiscing with photos

I have been spending some time organizing my photos. Waiting patiently for the sales to go on so I can clear up my blog and put pics on there again. I finally got that done today! Wow, I am now printing out 2009. So surreal to go through those. Braveheart looking so good, we thinking he was going to finish this and be done forever. Sometimes our timing isn't the Lord's timing. I know he will be healed, I just know it! It just feels weird to look back on our journey and be where we are now. It hurts a little. When the cancer comes back, it is harder to cure. Kids are so different from adults. His is so fast, it gives us little time and less choices! That can be very hard to swallow. I am strong though, HE makes us pillars of iron..look in Jeremiah! God's word is healing and it gives so much good word to live and speak out over our lives...thank you Jesus for our boy!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

giving blood the easy way

I will admit that I have a very hard time giving blood. I get icky feeling for most of the day. I know they say to drink lots of water, but I always think I do. I haven't given as much lately due to this and the stress involved with my own child being ill. Now, however, I was feeling so good the other day and B had to get blood in the hospital, so I said, why not get on it again?!! I determined to drink starting the day before. I also added powdered greens to my water to build volume and make my blood nice and healthy. It was a peace of cake. They made me drink juice during the donation. I drank all night. I felt GREAT!! I encourage you to go out and do it. If you never have, now is the time. It could be your son or daughter next having a need for this. Accidents happen. Blood saves my son's life while in treatment. Thank you to those of you who take the time. Blessings upon you in Jesus' name.
PS: THEY NEED MEN TO DONATE JUST PLATELETS, SO THE RECIPIENT CAN GET ALL THE SAME CELLS. THEY ARE FINDING AN INFECTION IN WOMAN, SO THEY PREFER MEN. GO GET YOU STRONG ABLE BODIED MEN!!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

pre-transplant nesting?

I cannot believe how much I am getting done! The Lord has given me an amazing strength and energy and ability to accomplish so much right now. Braveheart is sleeping, kids have done chores and read and I am getting one thing after another done on my list.

The kids school plans are being laid, books being ordered, supplies bought and checklists created. I feel like I am a new mother nesting in her home prior to the arrival of the baby. In a way I am, because we will be welcoming the arrival of a new bone marrow for our precious boy! I hate that we have to do this but there it is. I know that He will be supernaturally healed through this and we will see a true testament to God's healing.

Now, the house on the other hand, no matter what I do, I turn around and there it looks like a tornado has run through...ugh. I am trying to hold on to some semblance of that, but hey, the laundry is caught up. How many of you can say that? :)

Saturday, July 16, 2011

cure search is the children's cancer research organization to support

This is taken from a fellow cancer warrior's carepage.

SWIMMERS GO GOLD TO CURE KIDS CANCER


Swimmers from the North Shore Summer Swim League and surrounding area pool and beach clubs are hosting the “Swimmers Go Gold to Cure Kids Cancer” campaign to help raise awareness and funding for childhood cancer research. Their efforts will benefit the Make Some Noise: Cure Kids Cancer Foundation, a pediatric cancer research foundation started by a child with cancer. Gold is the awareness color for childhood cancer, and teams are asking their swimmers to wear gold bathing caps at home meets. They hope to create a
“pool of gold” to help raise awareness for childhood cancers.
In May of 2009, Lilly Daneman, of Little Silver was diagnosed with a pediatric bone cancer called Ewing’s Sarcoma, she was nine years old. Lilly attended Seashore Day Camp and School and was a member of the Monmouth Barracuda Swim Team. For treatment, she spent over 100 days in the hospital, received 14 rounds of chemotherapy and limb salvage surgery to replace her femur with a titanium rod. Her schoolmate, Jack McLoone, who was twelve at the time, was also battling a form of childhood Leukemia. Lilly and Jack are now both in remission. Lilly swims and enjoys the ocean after major rehabilitation, and is competing once again, to a limited degree, on the summer Water’s Edge Beach Club Swim Team. Jack, who suffers severe nerve damage from his chemotherapy, is also enjoying life playing his beloved sport of baseball.

During Lilly’s surgery at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, in August 2009, she met 11-year-old Malcolm Sutherland- Foggio, of Morris County, who had the same type of pediatric cancer. He wanted to form a foundation to make some noise about children’s cancer and raise research funding on a national level. Lilly and Malcolm became fast friends. Malcolm incorporated Make Some Noise in September 2009, at which point, Lilly’s mother, Gerri Daneman, joined the Board of Trustees to help the foundation raise funds for Pediatric Cancer Research. In September 2010, with the help of the McLoone family, Make Some Noise hosted “Rockin’ the Boardwalk” and a sand castle building contest at McLoone’s Pier House in Pier Village. The dinner auction was dedicated to the memory of Mark Levin, age 9, who had recently passed from childhood cancer, and honored nearly a dozen Monmouth County childhood cancer warriors. This September, (which is pediatric cancer awareness month), the foundation plans to make a little more noise in Monmouth County, as so many children of Monmouth County are battling childhood cancers.
In January of 2011, another young swimmer from the Monmouth Barracudas, Rachel Kovach, was also diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma. Rachel’s coach, Paul Buerck, was devastated to learn the news. Coach Paul has had two swimmers diagnosed within a year and a half of each other, and is also the teacher of two other young Monmouth County girls currently battling relapsed Leukemia. Pediatric cancer is not as rare as one would think, in fact 1 in every 320 children are diagnosed with cancer. Coach Paul and the Monmouth Barracudas hosted “Race for Rachel” in February, 2011, and Rachel and her family designated Make Some Noise as the beneficiary of the very successful event. But knowing how great the research funding needs are, Coach Paul felt he needed to do more to make some noise about childhood cancer.

This summer, Coach Paul Buerck and the Monmouth Barracuda Swim team, along with Coach Robin Levin from Seashore Day Camp have rallied the North Swim League and other surrounding area swim teams to Make Some Noise to help cure kids’ cancer. Swim teams are being asked to “Go Gold,” have their swimmers purchase gold Make Some Noise swim caps for $10.00 and wear them at one of their home meets. Some of the teams are making plans to have other types of fundraising functions at these meets to help raise more funding for critically needed research. Teams with upcoming Gold meets are Chapel; Little Monmouth; Monmouth Beach Bath & Tennis; Promenade; Sands; Seabright Bath & Tennis; Seashore Day Camp and School; Ship Ahoy; Surfrider; and Waters Edge. Make Some Noise Chairman, Julie Sutherland, Malcolm’s mother, and herself a former competitive swimmer, is delighted by the tremendous support.

A child’s odds of being diagnosed are 1 in 320—three times their likelihood of being admitted into an Ivy League College. Many treatments for childhood cancers are 30 years old, and cure research is slowed compared to adult cancer research due to lack of funding. Childhood cancer as a whole receives only 3% of the research funding pie, and that 3% needs to be divided among more than a dozen different pediatric cancers. Image how underfunded that makes any one of these childhood cancers. Some cancers, like Acute Myeloid Leukemia and most of the solid tumors, like brain and bone cancers still have poor survival rates. Those who survive childhood cancers face serious long term health consequences from the treatments they received as growing children. Chemo therapy and radiation are extremely harsh on developing organs.

The Make Some Noise: Cure Kids Cancer Foundation is head-quartered in Morris County, and occupies office space courtesy of the Mack-Cali Corporation’s generous subsidizing. The foundation raises critically needed research funds for all childhood cancers and distributes them to pediatric cancer research facilities across the country… choosing cancer specific research to fund to be sure the money is well directed. Their mission is to make some noise on a national level as quickly as possible to help speed up the research funding. In the 21 months since incorporation, Make Some Noise has raised over half a million dollars, but they are just getting started. We lose as many children to cancer each year as the number of people we lost on 911. If cures remain another 10 years off, we will lose another 20-30,000 children to cancer in this country alone, one million world-wide.
The Make Some Noise Foundation is extremely grateful to the swim teams, their coaches, families, and supporters for their heroic efforts to help make some noise about childhood cancer, and is inspired to help make this a national initiative. If your team wishes to join the campaign, contact Gerri Daneman, gerri@makenoise4kids.org for more information.
SWIMMERS GET READY .. You will be the first of a NATIONWIDE CAMPAIGN TO RAISE RESEARCH MONEY FOR PEDIATRIC CANCER..
We will be going to high-schools,colleges and competitions across the country.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Down To The River To Pray

This song just caught my eye this evening...I do love this folky type music...I will update more on B soon...


Saturday, July 9, 2011

Happy Birthday Ninja warrior boy #12

Today is Ninja/Secret Agent boy's ( 3rd son ) birthday. He was born 12 years ago. The only child of my brood to be born in the afternoon light hours. He was not in a hurry to come out either by date or by labor. This signified the beginning of his unique personality.
He requested a boston cream cake/pie. I obliged him. I think it turned out quite good. I pretty much only make home made frosting and whip cream now. I really love the taste and it is so easy. I figure that is healthier than store bought even though it's still sugery goodness.
Here is the recipe I followed for my first actual chocolate butter cream frosting! It is so good and very rich! Wish I could post a photo. I will get this straightened out soon. We are taking the boy skating with his sister and a couple friends and then home to play. It will be simple this year.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

more blood and platelets

We will go in tomorrow for red cells and platelets. They are still trying to figure out the plan for sure so I have no idea if we are being admitted or not at this point. B felt much better Monday after a rough weekend coming off the prednisone and all his counts dropping etc...
We are trying to build him up so he can handle all the chemo. His kidney test is all better now that the prednisone is out. So glad to see that.
Just sitting back waiting on the Lord as He directs everything. There are so many weird feelings and yet so much peace at the same time.
Life goes on as usual though around me. Cars go by, people stay busy, babies are born, kids still need their mamas and papas. Meanwhile, there is this annoying cell that keeps invading. But God is bigger than that as we keep believing there is complete healing.

"We just have to get this last thing mom."


Love that boy....

god be in my head

I discovered a new artist that I just love!!! I adore spending time listening and worshiping the Lord in song. It clears my mind, fills me up with His word and truths, lifts my spirits, pleases Him, calms my nerves, puts things in perspective, heals me, works in my life.....I could go on and on....I urge you to fill up on worshiping Him through uplifting music..after all He is the creator of music....


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Why MAGNANIMOUS?

Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary of the American Language defines Magnanimity as such:
MAGNANIM'ITY, n. [L. magnanimitas; magnus, great, and animus, mind.] Greatness of mind; that elevation or dignity of soul, which encounters danger and trouble with tranquillity and firmness, which raises the possessor above revenge, and makes him delight in acts of benevolence, which makes him disdain injustice and meanness, and prompts him to sacrifice personal ease, interest and safety for the accomplishment of useful and noble objects.