Transplant Information Day...

D is speaking at the Westmead Transplant Information Day today. After his transplant he said "I'd love to do that one day, to remind people that there is always hope". Here he is. He was diagnosed Feb 20th 2007!! Here he is Feb 2010 & he had walked such a long hard road...praying he's a blessing & encouragement to everyone there.

We were both TERRIFIED about what lay ahead when we went to this info day years ago. Our GP drove us in for moral support & D's best mate was there...he threw up on the way home from the fear churning around inside him...

He also has a check up today. I never get TOO nervous on these days, but there's always a very small voice in the back of my mind reminding me that "things can happen". It's been such a huge journey, & it continues on. It's not like having a growth cut out, you get hit with some drugs & then there is a recovery time...this is a "new" kind of normal in a new body with new issues & a new quality of health...it's been very eye opening. Yet D is going incredibly well considering what a HUGE ordeal he's been through & some people don't get through to this point...

A dream come true...

THEY FINALLY MADE IT!!! (After D was ill with Leukaemia, Eric started praying every night that "Daddy would get better so we could go on a train to the city..." then the dream got bigger & the Aquarium, Monorail & Centerpoint Tower were added.)

 SO happy for them both that on Eric's 5th birthday they were able to make that memory together...

...sometimes dreams do come true...but it still makes me teary to think that some nights I used to wonder if it ever would...

At the dinner table tonight Eric told us that he loves his family & he loves himself too. What a great outlook for life - if only we could keep that positive spirit into adulthood...I guess the cares of life can crowd out the important things sometimes. Cancer, death, hardships & just the day to day pressing forward can make us lose that sort of attitude...but how wonderful to be reminded by Eric tonight that love & family - the simple act of sitting together to eat a meal - is so special! (Not to make light of the hardships of life of course, especially as one who has been through many of those hard times. Sometimes you can hardly put one foot in front of the other I know...yet to be loved...& know it & be secure in it - what wonderful satisfaction we can have in that!)

Thinking about life & being alive...

All this death in Victoria has made me think about how grateful I am to have D still here...

I'm going to colour my hair in the Leukaemia Foundation fundraiser...

Sunday stroll down memory lane

My wonderful parents Heather & Kevin. This was them on a date. How stylish were they? (I have learnt to scan photos so now I'll be able to have some regular pics of things in here...soooo excited about that. I had to do some for the High School Reunion & it turned into a midnight scanning frenzy!!)

I have some great photos of mum & dad now ON THE COMPUTER. How I miss them. My SIL acknowledged the other day how hard it must be having kids without parents there...it made me teary that she 'understood' now that she has a daughter of her own. I love D's mum but I think as I grow older, towards my 40's & the age when Mum had me I really really miss them more, her especially. I think giving birth to children & not be able to tell your parents how much you appreciate all they did for you - because some things click into place when you have a child of your own - is so hard. (I realised how SELFISH I was, I realised how little I knew,I realised what an incredible journey having a child was & I wanted to ask more questions about my 'history' & me.) Dad died suddenly when I was 24, & Mum died in her sleep when I was 27. I'm so glad they were there to see me Graduate from Uni & Dad was able to walk me down the aisle, but there are so many little moments that I don't get to share. I don't want to sound like I'm whining...I am grateful I had them for so long. I hope David & I can be there for Bonnie & Eric for many years yet...because I know how sad it can be to go on your life journey & not get to share things with the people who raised you & love you unconditionally...

David & I were talking about backdating/starting another Blog with all the Leukaemia information & photos etc...that would be a mammoth job though. David thought that after his counselling session yesterday he would look on the internet for people that were also dealing with life after a BMT...he found Baldy's Blog (Adrian Sudbury) which we started looking at + the uTube video Blogs. Then we found this...

I was a bit of a teary mess after seeing some of that hospital footage - it brought back many memories of last year. But I was able to talk to D before we went to sleep last night about some hopes & even fears. I love that man...so desperately. Some people are so strong, so determined, so focused, endlessly positive & I reel off balance in the face of their strength sometimes. We live each day as well as we can, not knowing what is ahead, but trusting in Something & Someone bigger than ourselves...yet it's hard...it's so hard reading that cancer has claimed yet another life. Another one of our Quest for Life friends has died...you think I would not be shocked any more, but the reminder of the preciousness if life always makes me want to double my efforts to live well...