10/10 - People, Pies, and Protons

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Monday, October 10, 2005
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So, I’ve told you that my sweet wife and I joined a pediatric
brain tumor group on Yahoo Groups. There are all sorts of folks
there and everyone is so different from everyone else. But, they
all have one thing in common; a child family member who has
brain cancer. Most of them are in a lot worse shape then we’re
in, so at least it’s made us count our blessings. Anyway, we
found a really neat family who has a 7 year old girl who had a
brain tumor 4 years ago, and seems to be doing pretty well now.
We found that they went to the same hospital and had some of the
same doctors that we had. Then we found out they only lived only
10 minutes away. So after emailing each other for a while, they
invited us over to their home one night for some dessert. At
dinner that night, before we met our new friends, son #3 asked
if we were having dessert after dinner. We told them, ‘yes’, but
not at our house. We told the boys about our new friends, and
that we were going over to meet them after dinner.

I think son #1 saw an opening to rib us a little. He let loose
with a string of parroted profundities that he’d been taught
since before he could walk.
“Meeting people on-line dad? You’re not supposed to do that, are
you?”
“Their parents are supposed to meet your parents first, right?”
“You don’t know who these people are. What if they’re just
trying to ‘get’ you?”
“Taking the whole family, ‘eh? What if they’re serial killers
and try to poison us with the apple and pumpkin pies?”
He went on and on, teasing us with our own words. It was kinda
fun, but a little eye opening to boot. At least he remembers
this stuff.

In the end, our new friends were really great people. They were
very gracious, willing to answer any of our questions, and talk
about the treatment of their daughter with cancer. In all, they
have 3 daughters. Two are around son #3 and #4’s ages, plus a
littler one. My older two got a little tired of playing with
‘Barbie’ stuff, but they didn’t tear up the house too bad.
(grin)... These folks are good people.

Now, about our decision on son #4’s treatment; we’ve decided to
go to Loma Linda children’s hospital for proton beam radiation.
However, after we made our decision, we found that they can’t
start treatment until mid November, plus our insurance has
refused to pay for it. So we’ve gone three steps forward and two
steps back. We’re thinking about rethinking our decision. Of
course we think about thinking about these things 24/7 already.
I wonder if we’ll ever think about thinking of something else,
much less actually thinking about anything else.

For those of you who get this as email...
Enjoy today’s Jokes!
Marty

p.s.
Help Volvo fight pediatric cancers. Test drive a Volvo between
now and Oct 16th, and they’ll donate $20 per test drive to fight
pediatric cancers. More info at
http://www.volvo4lifeawards.com/cgi-bin/iowa/english/days/index.html
and
http://www.alexslemonade.org/

"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today
is a gift. That's why we call it the present."
~Babatunde Olatunji

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Reader Comment Section:

So..... did son #2 ever get some new shoes? And, did Jimmy get
new underwear & church pants? Your boys' shopping story sort of
got 'lost' along the way because of a..... push up bra. :-)
~Rita

[Yup. New shoes for #2 and sponge bob and tighty whiteys for #4]
[But nothing for mom...]

Marty:
You will be in my prayers to make this important decision.
Jane S.

Marty,
I have been reading you for a couple of years now. In fact most
of the times, I skip the jokes just to read what is going on
with you sweet wife and the boys. We live just outside of Philly
PA (very close to Children's Hospital and DuPont Hospital) If
there is ANY chance you need to be in this area, our house is
open to you and family! We have extra space & a 3 1/2 yr old who
would LOVE the company. Keeping you in prayers
Colleen P.

[You readers are just awesome! That’s the kind of email I love
getting! It makes my heart glad to see good people willing to
help out. I’ve heard CHOP (Children’s Hospital of PA) is one of
the best hospitals for pediatric cancer patients. I don’t think
we’ll ever need to head out that way, but if we do... I’ll keep
your email around. Thank you again!]

Hi Marty,
Will be thinking of you & your family & praying that you get
confirmation that the decision you make about future treatment
for [son #4] is the correct one.
With much love to you all,
Ruth

[Thank you Ruth!]

Marty,
I'll pray that you all get some clarity for what to do next for
Jimmy...so many times I've asked docs/nurses/people in elevators
"can someone just tell us what to do?" --but of course, they
can't. (although elevator folks can be surprisingly helpful...)
best to you—
Kristin

[As can wonder reader/friends. Thanks again guys!]