Nearly another hospital visit...

Just a quick update tonight.

Bianca has another hospital visit tomorrow. Terence will be taking her, which will be quite different to how we usually do it as I would normally take Bianca, but I'm working tomorrow so Terence will do this instead. I'm hopeful it will just be a short visit and that she won't need an IVIG tomorrow. I'm keen to see Bianca's blood tests. She has quite a few bruises on her legs and I know that this is likely just because of playing, but one can't help wondering if it might be that her platelets have come down a bit for some or the other reason. So yes, I'm quite keen to see those results.

Thank you very much Del (SuperRelish) for your very generous donation and for spreading the word about Funrazor next week. I'm now sitting at $515 and every little bit will make a big big difference. So far 39% are saying "size zero" and 32% are saying "size one". 7 More days of voting...

Now I'm off to bed as it is way past my bedtime and now that I'm working again we are waking up pretty early in the mornings. I'll write another update tomorrow after Bianca's hospital visit.

Slowly but surely getting there

So far 45% of the votes are saying size zero. What do you say? Voting on the right...

I want to say a big thank you to Marg, Janet McFadden, Carolyn M, Paul Curtis and Sam Curley-Young for their very generous donations. So far I'm sitting at NZ$485. Thank you so very much. Every little bit will make a very big difference.

I had a comment from Merideth wanting to know how the money exchange part on the donation form works and I thought I'd answer it here. When you click on "Make a donation" on my fundraising site, a form will open up that will allow you to complete your details such as your name, email address, your country and so on. The amount you put in will show up as New Zealand dollars. When you click on the bit that says: "If your home currency is different click here to convert your home currency donation into the equivalent NZD$" it takes you to the XE site. This is just to give you an idea of what the amount you would like to donate would be in New Zealand dollars. For instance:

20.00 NZD	=	14.4920 USD
New Zealand Dollars		United States Dollars
1 NZD = 0.724600 USD		1 USD = 1.38007 NZD

And so this is just to give you an idea what the NZ$ amount would be in your particular currency. So when you have put an amount in NZ$ that you are happy with, and completed the credit card details, you should be able to click on Proceed and voila - it should be done. As simple as that. It is a secure site and all monies raised will go directly to the Child Cancer Foundation.

I want to also say thank you very much to those of you who have spread the word including Sam who shared it on her blog. Please keep spreading the word. I don't have a lot of time to try and reach my goal and in a bit more than a week it will be the big day!

I can't believe that I have completed a whole week of work so far. On Friday night I helped them out at their registration event just prior to their event on Saturday and I must say I really enjoyed it. So it will be interesting to see what this week holds. On Wednesday Bianca will have her monthly hospital visit again and this time Terence will have to take her. Hopefully she won't need to get an IVIG again and that will certainly make the visit much quicker than before. I am keen to see her blood test results. Other than that we are just trotting along with the usual stuff.

Only 2 weeks to go...

$280 raised so far. Please, please if you haven't yet, please consider sponsoring me. It is just 2 weeks until my big shave. Even if you live in a different country. The site is secure and accepts credit cards. And please spread the word. All the money that I manage to raise will go directly to the Child Cancer Foundation. Every single cent. They need so much to do the wonderful work they do and yet, they don't get any government funding. Cancer doesn't discriminate, it is sneaky and it hits when you least expect it. For many kids treatment takes a long long time, some are lucky like Bianca and copes well with their treatment. Others like little Kyah who passed away today exactly a year ago and little Christopher who has just received news that his cancer has spread to his brain and he has just a few days (maybe as much as 2 weeks) left. I have a whole blog filled with links - most of those belong to children and then a site in memory of those who simply didn't stand a chance. So many of us need places like the Child Cancer Foundation to help us and without their support this journey would have been so incredibly incredibly difficult.

I will shave off my hair in honour of my very brave girl - Bianca. And she will get to shave my hair. She will be there wearing her beads with pride. And I'm asking you to sponsor me in honour of Bianca whose story you have been following for so very long. Her ups and downs, the "joys" of things like steroids, her smile, sometimes a few tears and lots and lots of hospital stays. Please help me reach my goal. Last year I managed to raise over $2,000 and I would be so pleased if I could achieve a similar goal.

I want to say a big thank you to Andrew Taunton, Shelley, Saana, Scott and Tash, Born to Bead, Sabibah and Gawie and family for their generous donations. It will make such a big difference, thank you so very much.

So what will it be this year? Year zero, one or two? Voting on the side!

Here I go again

Remember last year when I shaved off my hair (or rather when Bianca shaved off my hair)? Remember I wrote about it here? Well yesterday when I started my boss chatted to me about Funrazor and said that he would be very happy for me to participate again this year. So I am taking this opportunity to do my bit for the Child Cancer Foundation as a thank you for the wonderful work they do.

Now there is not a whole lot of time left - the event is happening at the Albany Westfield on 3 December 2009 at 4pm. You are welcome to shave off your own hair (just visit this website) - or if you are not quite brave enough, I'm happy to do it in exchange for your sponsorship. Please help me reach my goal. Every contribution will make a big difference - no matter how big or small, so please consider sponsoring me. 100% of the money raised through this event will go to the Child Cancer Foundation. They don't get any government funding and this event is one way they are able to raise the much-needed funds they require to do the work they do.

In 2007 we became one of "those families" when Bianca was diagnosed with leukemia. It wasn't something we ever thought would happen to us, but it did. Without the support from the Child Cancer Foundation, this journey would have been so incredibly hard. But they have been there for us every step of the way. Participating in Funrazor is one way I am able to give a little bit back.

I set up a fundraising site. It is a secure site and accepts credit cards, so it really doesn't matter where you live. Every single contribution will make such a big difference - no matter how big or small. Please could you visit my site and consider sponsoring me?

This year Bianca and her beads will be there once again to shave off my hair. If you are in the area, make sure you join us at Albany Westfield on 3 December 2009 at 4pm and come see Bianca shave off my hair.

Starting my new career

I was meant to blog yesterday about my painting workshop on Saturday, but I haven't even had a chance to download photos yet. So will soon.

Today was my first day at work. Well techinically I've been at work for the past 3 years or so - playing housewife is work, but you just don't get paid for it. Terence keeps saying I just finished my 3 year holiday, but no, I don't agree. Being a housewife is simply not the same as being on holiday - well if it was, where are the palm trees and my suntan? So I should rather say today was the start of my new career. Oh yes, that sounds much better :-).

Anyway, I was meant to be there at 10am (tomorrow will be the normal time of 8:30) and so we still wanted to try and fit in with our normal routine and so by 7:24 we had both kids dropped off and we came back home and wow, it felt so weird sitting and waiting for 9:30 to arrive so I could leave for work.

My day was good. I have quite a few new things to learn and pick up as they are quite a specialised business and they have very specific processes I will need to follow. Of course impatient me just wants to get to the point where it is all very familiar and I won't need to rely on somebody to get things done, but hopefully it won't be too long. I do think I will enjoy it a lot and everybody that I work with seems really nice (even the two people I haven't met yet, but chatted on the email today).

So here goes - my brand new adventure!

My Sister's Keeper

Tonight I went to watch My Sister's Keeper. I'm not going to analyse and describe the movie because I'm sure there are many who have not yet seen it. I heard some people were disappointed because they say the ending in the book was changed for the movie. I haven't read the book so can't comment on that.

I liked the movie. I did not cry even though lots of others in the movie were crying. But I did think parts were really sad, but lots were really beautiful and meaningful too. The only thing I found a bit weird was seeing a cancer patient with a bald head and thick eye lashes. That seemed weird. When Bianca started her chemo that caused hair loss, she lost her eye lashes too (or at least most of them).

But overall, I thought the movie was good and I'm really glad I went to see it.

Now this is just plain scary

Labtests were fairly recently (can't remember exactly when) appointed as the main lab doing blood tests and stuff like that. To date they have not been very popular and many people complain about the service they get - things like slow service, results taking a very long time, incorrect results being sent out, results not forwarded to all the relevant parties and so on. I felt a bit anxious when I recently had to take Caitlyn for a blood test and thought at the time that it wasn't too bad. They were very busy on that day, but our wait wasn't too long and the results were ready pretty quickly. Of course it helps when you say we need the results urgently because your other daughter is immuno-compromised and depending on the results we might find ourselves in a risky situation.

Today I read an article in the New Zealand Herald where a patient was referred to Labtests for further tests when the GP saw an irregularity on an x-ray. Their initial feedback - no signs of cancer. When the patient requested that they re-test the sample that was sent, but at another different lab, it turned out that it was cancer and much worse than they initially thought. How on earth can a lab miss vital information like this? Often with cancer, timing is everything. You simply don't have a lot of time to sit and waste.

The scary thing for us is, that if we are ever told to get a blood test for Bianca done outside of Starship Children's Hospital - we'll need to go to Labtests because that is what their contract is all about. What if Bianca's results ate simply not correct because they messed up? Could I truly ever trust that the results are indeed correct? How do you trust somebody who keeps making mistake after mistake after mistake? It is so scary I tell you.

Funrazor

It is that time of the year again, the time to shave off your hair (or support somebody who will be)! But this year unfortunately I won't be participating. It is just not practical with starting a new job. So instead I would like you all to support these 4 amazing ladies.

These four ladies each have their own story, they are child cancer mums. From left to right is Shanell (Kyah's mum), Becs (Liam's mum), Alma (David's mum) and Catherine (Sean's mum). (Alma has grown her hair the past 11 years, so she has lots that will come off...)

In honour of their very brave children, they have teamed together to try and raise NZ$50,000 for the Child Cancer Foundation. Every single cent of the money they raise will go to the Child Cancer Foundation. From personal experience we know that without CCF, people like us would have found it so incredibly hard to cope with our journey. Unfortunately, the sad fact is, that so many families are going through child cancer. And so many more will have to face the road tomorrow and the day after and the day after. Child Cancer is also sneaky, it catches you when you least expect it, when you are not prepared and it usually doesn't give you the luxury of time to make lots of different plans. It is a matter of jump in and swim and it doesn't care if and how well you might be able to swim. The journey is also incredibly exhausting and for many of us the treatment alone takes years and then there are the follow-ups and check-ups going forward. It is truly a journey I wish nobody would have to walk.

So how can you help?

Well, you can sponsor these amazing ladies by visiting their fundraising site here. This is a secure site that enables you to use a credit card. So even if you are located overseas, it is still possible to support them. Remember that 100% of all monies raised will go to the CCF.

If you are reluctant to use a credit card, you can deposit money in this bank account:
Westpac, Newtown Branch 03-0239-0159670-04 ref 1041670 (Pls make sure you add the reference so that it is allocated correctly) (Bank details updated)

Or you can see where they will be doing an actual collection by following their updates on their journal.

Of course if you are brave enough, you are welcome to register here and shave off your own hair to help raise money for the CCF and of course CCF is always looking for volunteers to help out with the event.

So please consider supporting these 4 amazing ladies. Please help brave children like:

Liam

Kyah

David

Sean