Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Childhood cancer awareness month is upon us once again.  It comes with so many emotions, most of them difficult to sort out.  Over the past year we've taken a step back so that we could find ourselves again and give our family the chance to live a normal life not clouded with the C word at every turn.  We made a decision to try to limit our involvement in childhood cancer related events because it's painful.  I know that sounds selfish, and it may be selfish to many people looking in from the outside.  And that's okay with me.  Reliving what we went through so often was incredibly hard on us and we didn't realize it soon enough.  We decided to do what we can in the month of September and maybe a little sprinkled in here and there as well.  This decision doesn't come without doubt.  What about all of the children being diagnosed?  What if Jake relapses?  What about our friends who are still battling?  What about those who have passed?  Are we doing enough??  I don't know the answer to any of those questions.  I do know that Randy and I happier.  We think the kids are happy.  Everyone is healthy.  That's about all we can ask for!  That being said, we're spending every day this month thinking about Jake's Fight and spreading awareness.  We're having a pancake dinner at our church on 9/16/16 from 6pm-8pm to raise money for Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research.  We've been telling our story to new friends and rehashing it with old friends.  Most importantly we are counting the days until Jake has his three year check-up with his oncologist on 9/14/16.  We're hoping to come away with good news so that we can celebrate another year under our belts.  Only time will tell.  -Kait

Dear 7-year-old Jake

Dear Jake,
  You are now seven years old!  So unbelievable that seven years has passed since that 12lb, 7oz turkey came into our lives.  You are such a sweet little boy.  So thoughtful and caring.  You're very smart and interested in learning.  You're excelling at piano and doing fantastic in school.  Your favorite subject is social studies and you want to be a police officer when you grow up.  You're short for your age but are very proportioned.  Maybe you'll have a growth spurt soon but there's no way to tell.  You could have been destined to be shorter, or the chemo could have stunted your growth.  Either way, you are perfect in my eyes.  You're a big helper all the time.  You love doing projects, cooking, coloring, or anything that challenges you.  I'm excited for what this year will bring for you and I hope you know how much I love you.

Love,
Mommy