Jack O' Lanten

Dylan and I made our very first Jack O’ Lanten for Halloween in New York. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be, unfortunately I had to do most of the work, sharp knives and a 6 year old are not a good combination!

We are through our first week of the clinical trial and all is well, Dylan’s counts have dropped slightly but he is not neutropenic and has not required any transfusions. He is still eating, had no nausea, and the diarrhea is tolerable. Dylan is growing eyelashes and eyebrows back and actually getting a bit of “fuzz” on his head also, very cute. Tonight after Dylan’s school lesson, we are joining the Ronald McDonald House activity to a trip to the Big Apple Circus! From what I have been told it is very good, so we are looking forward to the entertaining evening.

Thanks to Maria and her son Sammy Joe, for writing a lovely entry about us on Sammy Joe’s website . I also got to see the news article that appeared in the Australian newspaper the other day (see it below). I also want to say a huge thank you to the LaManna family and the Lions Club for making a very generous donation to Dylan’s medical fund yesterday. We still have a long way to go with reaching our target of at least $200,000 American dollars, so I still need to ask everyone to keep spreading the word and organizing fund raisers both here in America and back home in Australia. My heart tells me we will raise the money but my head tells me to panic, so I am trying my best to take each day at a time and concentrate on what Dylan needs daily. I find it hard to describe how I feel, it’s that emotional roller coaster I experience everyday. I am totally over the moon about Dylan’s latest scan results and excited to be a part of this new clinical trial. The other side of me is terrified of what will happen if we don’t raise enough money to keep Dylan in New York, I am missing Tim and Cain terribly and anxious about what will come of our family home.