Notice:

If you are reading this today, please take the time to post a blog comment and let us know you’ve stopped by.  When you are through posting your comment, please let all your friends and family know that the blog is being updating again, and invite them to stop by and have a read. 

We are “guilty as charged” when you say that that we have not been keeping up with the website and keeping folks informed as to how things are going.  Aidan has been doing extremely well, and because of this blessing the whole family has used this opportunity to attempt to return our lives to some semblance of normalcy.  Thus, we have ignored the site and failed to update the blog on a regular basis. 

Because of our lapse, we fear Aidan’s supporters have tired of returning to the site just to discover no changes, and maybe they have let Aidan slip from their conscious thoughts and also their prayers.  Since we are acutely aware that Aidan’s progress is a direct result of these prayers, we obviously are going to focus our efforts to keep Aidan’s story alive so that all the prayers will continue.

Please accept our apologies and our promise that there will again be regular updates to the blog and website.  Now for some updates…

News from Nanni...

My hope was that you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Aidan and his family were blessed with a wonderfully warm family Thanksgiving at Nanni & Papa’s house.  Also present were Aidan’s Aunt Dee, Uncle Lance, cousins Bree & Bell, Uncle Bobby, Great Grandpa Wallace and Great Grandma Jo Jo. 

Due to the hardships our family has had to endure during this last year (including my sister’s home catching fire the day before Thanksgiving) our Prayer of Thanksgiving was a somewhat sober event.  In spite of a year that has brought us the dreaded news about Aidan, the loss of my brother Bruce, and my Sisters material loss the day before, we remained thankful for the blessings that we do have, and we prayed that these blessings will continue.  As is our tradition, we took turns to give thanks for the things that are important to us as individuals, and as you can imagine, a few tears were shed.  As he seems to have the power to do, Tator’s was able to brighten the moment, lighten our hearts, and bring a smile to our face.  When it was his turn for giving his thanks, he blessed us with “God is good, God is great, Thank you for this food, Amen”.

Except for taking one small break so he could eat, Tator’s spent the entire holiday playing with his Brother Sage, and Cousins Bree & Bell.  Not a moment was wasted and Aidan ran, played, hid, told stories and about anything else he could imagine to do just to have some fun.  It was extremely encouraging to all of us because he did not appear to wear down or tire in any way.  In everyway possible, Tator’s appears to be just any other normal 5 year-old little boy, and for that we are very very thankful.

Still today, Tator’s shows negligible side effects from his radiation therapy and continuing Iressa treatments.  Other then being regularly “cold”, slightly underweight, having a Wildman hairdo, and being somewhat more susceptible to colds and other minor maladies, Aidan continues to progress better then anyone could have ever imagined.  Tator’s hair seems to be coming back in the pie shaped area in the back of his head, but his sidewalls remain wide and white.  Mom & Dad are working the susceptibility issue by keeping Tator’s as isolated as can be expected of a “normal” 5 year-old.   Granma Jo Jo and Aunt Min solved the being cold issue by suggesting a heated mattress pad to keep him more comfortable.  And the underweight problem is being resolved by his Papa who made it Tator’s “job” to eat and drink as much as possible.  When Aidan resists, his Momma simply threatens to make a call to tell Papa that Tators isn’t doing his “job”.  Not wanting to disappoint his Papa, Aidan is usually willing to negotiate taking just a few more bites.  

Aidan was due for his regular blood work-up and monthly Iressa prescription at Children’s Hospital in Seattle.  His appointment was originally scheduled for the Friday after Turkey Day, but the mountain pass had an 18-inch snowstorm, so needless to say the trip was cancelled and rescheduled for today.  Just before leaving this morning, Mike & Tanya received a call from Children’s suggesting that they again postpone the appointment.  Corrie (Aidan’s Nurse Practitioner), thought is was simply too dangerous for them to traverse the pass, and if they made it over, she was of the opinion that the Seattle snow fall had made traffic so bad, that it would not be worth the effort.  She suggested that the blood work could be done by a local laboratory, with the only catch being finding someone with the experience drawing blood from the specific port that Aidan has implanted in his chest.  As of this writing Tanya and Mike were still working to locate the proper experience.  Chalk it up to just another burp in the daily schedule!

Aidan and Sage are getting anxious for the upcoming Disneyland trip planned for Dec 12th through the 19th.  About a month or so ago we made paper chains with the countdown days written on each link.  Last night I asked the boys how much longer until Disneyland; Sage said “13 days”, and with two fingers high in the air and a grin from ear to ear, Aidan replied “2 weeks!”  Aidan’s current plan is to hit Splash Mountain first thing.  In the past, Aidan was not tall enough to take on the Mountain, so he had to traverse the “Winnie the Pooh” ride over and over again.  This trip he takes his turn to Ride the Mountain and we are all looking forward to it!

It snowed all morning on the Sunday following Thanksgiving and snowmen were springing up all over town.  But, the most special snowman was being created at 53 Bremmer St in Richland.  The snow was perfect for snowmen, beautiful to witness, and a gift from heaven…

Thanks for caring and thanks for your prayers,

Nanni