LIFE

We've been enjoying life sorry for the long lapse in updates but as they say, "No news is good news." Little man is doing well we've had two scans since our last update the one before last took us for a loop so I decided this time not to request a final report and take the doctor for his word, I know about time. You would think by now I would learn to trust the very doctor that saved his life. Call me crazy, I'm sure I've been called worst !!! Jackson has been doing awesome in school, he's also had moment's of shear craziness. We went on a field trip last week to the zoo in DC, another mom and I had to chaperon 4 little boy's they were great only one kept wondering off. We spent most to the day just trying to keep up with him but that's alright he was still completely adorable, they all are. We been battling the usual colds, strep throat and the occasional aches and pain's. Overall it's nice to say he's back to being a normal kid doing crazy normal boy thing's. Off course that depends on what you consider normal, riding the scooter in your underwear is normal to him. Since he's getting older we have to be careful, he is becoming a young man, besides I don't think the other moms in the neighborhood appreciate it :) He's getting use to being told no, gasp I know it's hard to tell him no when we want to just give him the world but he won't respect anything if we continue to cave and believe me he lacks for nothing.

Big bro, Evan is doing OK normal trials in middle school, gosh I HATE middle school. Don't you just wish we could just skip that one !!!! Evan really is a great kid and I'm so proud to be his mommy.

Lauren is back in NC with her hubby and Grace turned one on March 26th. She's walking and everywhere she goes looks like a hurricane has visited. She stayed with me for two weeks in March, there's a reason why you have kid's when your young. The minute she left I was bored out of my mind. I'll include pics.

I have been extremely busy coordinating a fundraiser for Childhood Cancer. Fredericksburg is going to have it's first annual Shoot Out. Yes you heard me right SHOOT OUT, clay shooting. We're hoping to have it by the end of Sept. this year. They'll be plenty of food, lots of things for the kiddos, auction and helicopter rides and I'm sure something new everyday will be added. All proceeds will go to the Pablove Foundation, they will put the money straight in the hands of the doctors doing the research. We so desperately need more money for research, there's actually little to no research being done in the Wilms area right now. Jackson had anaplastic Wilms, anything anaplastic is deadly in the cancer world but there is absolutely no research being done in this area. The success rate with this form of cancer is awful. He has lost so many of his friends to this ^%$# !!! Speaking of friends he lost his best friend on this earth Feb. 25th, this undoubtedly was the hardest along with Pablo for me. Tony and Jackson became friends when they were in treatment together. He had ALL finished treatment and passed this Feb. This was Jacksons buddy they talked on the phone for hours, Tony lived in Manassas, which is about an hour from us. I never knew anyone his age to take the time he did with this little guy. Thank God we saw him over Christmas.We LOVE his momma, I hope she finds peace and knows what special young man she had. This was his first funeral and it was hard. I'll leave it at that he's changed but I couldn't hide it from him. Back to the shoot out oh my gosh I need HELP, so I'm calling out to all my friends, family and fellow cancer families for help. If anyone wants to know what kind of help, PLEASE email me at hornecheri@gmail.com. I"ll update as soon as the date is firmed up but it's looking like the last weekend in Sept.

LOVE
Cheri

Support PABLOVE

Hi everyone, I know long time since the last update !!! Really wish there was no need for a blog or caring bridge site but since we've been thrown into the world of childhood cancer it would be really unfair of me not to update and let everyone know what's going on in the little mans life.
First off I wanted to let all our friend's that may still read this that Pablo lost his battle in June, I shut down after that for a while even though I never met him, I talked to his dear mother a lot and grew incredibly close to them. It hit so close to home and damn that hurt. I can't even imagine how his parent's are surviving. His father has thrown all his pain into a bike ride across America starting Oct. 10th for 30 day's. I hope that all our friend's and family go to Pablove.org and support Jeff. I only wish I could do half of what he's doing for our kid's. All the monies raised from this ride go right back into childhood cancer. I'm in Ah of them.
Now on to the little guy, well maybe not so little no more, he has a Birthday on Thursday the big 9 !!!!! We never thought we would see him at 7 and look now, mannnn life is good. No big party this year, he just wants a couple of his bud's to come over and go to Fun Land. This should be a pretty laid back birthday this year, even though I'll be screaming and jumping for joy inside. On the medical front everything has been good, knock on wood. Next scans Nov. 2nd, they changed them from Oct. and then wanted to change them to Nov. 3rd, ummmm no way. Nov. 3 rd three year's ago our lives changed forever and I do mean forever, D day, diagnoses day in our case. Not a day goes by that we don't think of it and how it has changed us, mostly for the good. Sometimes the ugly in it comes out and I try hard to handle it with grace and compassion. I really try to feel compassion for people but it's so damn hard after seeing what these kiddos go through. I promise I'll update after scans to let everyone know how it went. Praying already for good news. We're starting to relax a little bit on that part, now granted I won't sleep for a couple night's before our trip to DC. I really try hard to just let him be a normal kid, even though he'll never be anything but normal to us, AMAZING is more like it.

Mission | The Pablove Foundation

Mission | The Pablove Foundation

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PRAYERS NEEDED

Our dear friend PABLO needs some urgent prayers right now, here's his blog spot,
http://getwellpablo.blogspot.com/ he's such a special little guy to our family. I think the world of his momma, Jo Ann, please say some prayers for her to, help her be strong during this time. Good Bless you Jo Ann, Jeff, Grady and Pablo.
Love
Cheri
My heart just broke again today.

Here's a few quick picture's, as you can see from Jacksons expression he really doesn't dig the whole baby thing. I think he knows whats coming, crawling, walking = destroying my stuff !!! He, He, gotta love babies. Lauren, Grace and Hubby are all settled now in N.C. I just know we'll be making a quick trip real soon, need to get my fix and hold the baby for a while, then I'll be fine. The bottom pic is our famous panda at the National Zoo, I think it's the momma bear, funny, I tell the boy's that's what I am.

Sorry I was such a downer last night, just felt kinda down. All better today, It's been raining like crazy today so needless to say nothing got done that should of gotten done. Jackson had a wonderful day back at school and is probably loving not being able to lift anything, hopefully he's not milking it for what it's worth. This is going to be a short post, it's late and I'm tired.

Thanks for checking in on us.

Love

Cheri

The Monster

I pulled this off another site, I found it interesting, sorry if it's to deep for some of you.


The Monster

There's a monster. It lives in our house. It moved in a long time ago. It must have been hiding in the walls because we didn't notice him for the longest time. But it was there. It's the funniest thing because I never really believed in monsters. I thought they were the stuff of fairy tales. Imaginary beasts that people made up to explain their fears. They weren't real though. Were they?

But now I know they are real. The thing about monsters is they're not just big and scary and with sharp teeth. Bears are big and scary with sharp teeth, but they're not monsters. The difference is that the monster has a malevolent streak. It's not there because it wants to eat your garbage; it's there because it means to do you harm. Disney got it all wrong in Monsters Inc. Don't believe it. That's all imaginary. Those kinds of cute cuddly monsters don't exist. Steven King has it right.

The monster sometimes comes into our room at night and slithers underneath the bed. Its hot breath comes right through the mattress. It leaves me sweating, scared, unable to sleep. And then a chill settles in like the window was left open on a January night.

We've tried to kill it a dozen times. Sometimes it seems like we're winning, but still it won't die. And even if we kill it, I have this terrible feeling it will come back from the dead like just like in the sequel to a bad horror movie.

It's a clever beast and follows us wherever we go. There's no escape. We can never see it because it hides in the shadows, but it's always there and has ways of making its presence known. We can't live a normal life.

When we got the dog, we thought maybe he would scare the monster away. The dog is smart and brave, but somehow he doesn't see the monster. The monster, though, is keeping its distance. But somehow I think it might be smarter than the dog and just waiting for its moment.

Try to explain a monster to your friends. They can hear what we're saying, but they don't quite believe us. We still have all of our body parts, and none of us has quite gone insane. They've never seen the monster even though they've been to the house. Still they get the sense that something isn't quite right. Some of them keep their distance. Now we just smile and say, "Oh the monster...he's gone back inside the wall. We're doing fine.

Sometimes our monster doesn't seem so scary. On a sunny day, when the kids run in the park laughing and playing, we forget that it's back there waiting for us. You have to forget for a while, or it will get inside your mind and drive you over the edge.

There are professionals who know how to deal with monsters. Ordinary folks never meet them other than on a social basis. We feel better when we're with the professionals. They seem to know what they're doing. But at night when we are home alone, there is just us... and the monster. The chill returns.

There's a monster. It lives in our house. It lives in our boy.

No Jackson is not sick again, but I really thought this hit home for us this last scare we had. It'll always be there, now how do we live with it ?? I know, I don't need help. Just some reassurance he's gonna be OK.
Love
Cheri

INFLAMED NODES

Nothing like a couple of inflamed lymph nodes to set a whole family into a nervous frenzy. That's actually putting it mildly by the way, my hair has turned another shade whiter and last night I believe I was the sickest I've been in quiet a while. Dr. Dome called at around 6 this evening to let me know that it was indeed inflamed lymph node's and we'll probably never know what caused them. Thank God, this is all we had to deal with. Our whole family is breathing much easier, I think there's going to be some good sleeping tonight. As for the wacky blood work we're going to keep an eye on it with regular checks. Scans as usual for now, next one should be in July. They're sure the nodule on the lung is exactly what they stated, a lymph node and the kidney is scarring not a rest like was originally thought. I'll try to update some new pics tomorrow of the zoo and Easter. God Bless and Thank you from the bottom of our heart's for all the loving thoughts and beautiful prayer's.
Love
Cheri