Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Anthony went for a follow-up with the orthopedic doctor yesterday and everything was fine. Maria asked if we should take him to a physical therapist for his legs (Vincristine toxicity effects). The orthopedist made him walk, run, etc, and said he looks fine.

Speaking of running, Anthony started Karate again yesterday. The karate teacher, Jeff (who raised over $6,000 for us before the surgery) was very happy to see Anthony. He also had a hockey stick signed by the all of the 2003 Devils and a puck signed by the goalie Martin Brodeur to give to Anthony. Jeff is an amazingly nice person who immediately thought to do something for us when he heard about Anthony. Visit the karate school's website at : http://www.njvadhakempo.com/.

On another note, Anthony wants to go to see "The Lion King" on Broadway for his upcoming birthday. We want to get tickets, but they are $100 each. Does anyone out there know how to get discount tickets for the Lion King?


Monday, September 13, 2004

This is the start of Anthony's second week in kindergarten. To our amazement, he loves going to school. We thought he might be a little nervous and would say he didn't want to go, but he loves it. He gets up every morning with his alarm, gets dressed and makes his bed. Most mornings he is the first one up and ready. He is always in a great mood while he eats breakfast and cooperates pretty well. He called me at work today to tell me what his homework was: he had to write 5 capital Ms, 5 lower case Ms, draw two pictures of things that start with M and write their names. He did a great job. He chose to draw and write "Me" and "Milk".

On the medical side, Anthony is finally walking without limping. I guess his leg healed well. We go to the orthopedist next Monday to check it out again. Besides that and a little cold (which Anthony, Sarah, and myself have), everything is fine.

On a sad note, one of the patients that was in the hospital at the same time as Anthony passed away on Saturday. He passed away at 9:11 PM on 9/11. To read his story and add to the amazing number of hits to his site, go to http://www3.caringbridge.org/nj/thomaspeterpaul/. The courage, composure, and pure strength of these kids is just amazing. Thomas' story should remind everyone that most of the things in life that we tend to worry about are trivial..."Will I get that promotion?"..."Why can't I afford a bigger house?"..."Look at these wrinkles on my face"... Thomas' life was brief, but as you can tell by reading his guest book, he touched many people. We should all be so lucky.

Rest in peace Thomas.

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

No evidence of disease! That is the final result of the 6 month CT and chest X-ray. Now we can relax a little for the next 3 months. Also, Maria took Anthony to the orthopedic, had them X-ray his leg and it is not broken or fractured. They just gave him an ACE bandage to wear for a week. They also said to come back in 3 weeks if it was not feeling better. It is most likely a bone bruise from his leg being stressed when it was compressed in the swing. He still has a nasty black-and-blue on his knee.

Everything looks good and, as always, we are thankful for every moment we have together with our kids.