Analise’s MRI results show that there is no growth and even some shrinkage in an area of the tumor !!!! THANK GOD AND THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRAYERS. I’M CRYING I’M SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW. PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR ALL THOSE WHO ARE SICK, UNWELL, OR NEED HELP, IT’S WORKING FOR ANALISE.
HAVE A GOOD DAY AND GOD BLESS!
The MRI went ok yesterday and we just need to wait for the results.
Today, Analise was in a pleasant mood and Sop was not so much. Same old resistance to go to school. At least this is what I can tell from the whining and crying that I can hear while I’m working in the basement.
One thing to note, yesterday we hadn’t given Analise her morning kepra dosage. She had a tantrum at my parents’ house and found a place to sit and bang her head back. Seeing that she’s usually on 2 daily doses of kepra, I’m still leading to believe that her tantrums are connected to her terrible two’s phase.
Anyway, need to get back to work. Feel free to check out the pictures from Analise’s benefit @ http://gallery.mac.com/rdeanching
There are more pictures to post and more you can find if you’re on facebook. Feel free to add me as a friend.
Have a nice day and God Bless!
Analise is having more tantrums where she becomes very angry, resistent, and starts to bang the back of her head against the wall. We just try to calm her down, by giving her juice, her blanket, and putting on her nursery rhymes via on-demand. We think it could be the anti-seizure medicine, kepra, but she has had the same dosage since moving off of dilantin, soon after her diagnosis and brain surgery.
Tomorrow is her MRI. Wednesday, April 29th, 2009. 8:50am. Please keep Analise in your prayers.
I’ll continue my thoughts about the benefit tomorrow.
Have a good night and God Bless!
OVERWHELMED AND SPEECHLESS….ok, not so much speechless, but I just dont know where to start. Yesterday was PERFECT. I had no idea what was going to happen yesterday. I know that all of our friends and family have worked non-stop since Analise was diagnosed. Weekly planning sessions, collecting donations for raffles and silent auctions, posting/mailing/emailing flyers to everywhere, baking cookies, wrapping prizes, and etc etc. Since November 2008, they had a booth at the Tinley Park Kids Expo, articles in the Family Time, posting flyers at there jobs, selling benefit and raffle tickets, and more. The beautiful flyer that our dear friends, Rob and Nora Paz, created was EVERYWHERE in Frankfort and the surround suburbs. We had local newspapers contacting us to run stories about Analise and our family. Ty Bentli from 103.5 Kiss FM mentioned Analise’s benefit regularly on-air and even posted donation info on his blog both here in Chicago and an Atlanta affliliate. Another dear friend, Lisa Finkle, mentioned it as well on Power 92.3 . The Tribune Metromix contacted us to get Analise’s benefit info.
All this created a buzz or something, because nearly ~800 friends, family, friends of family and etc WALKED THROUGH THE DOOR.
I will try to remember something about everyone, because somehow THANK YOU just doesnt seem to really express how LOVED and SUPPORTED we feel. The only other time I ever felt like this was at our wedding. And yesterday it was even more overwhelming because something more was there. You know when they say seeing is believing. Yesterday, affirmed my belief in the GOODNESS of people, despite all the things that we can complain about in the world, ie the economy, unemployment, and etc, ALL THAT WAS LEFT OUTSIDE OF THE DOOR. NOTHING BUT LOVE, SMILES, LAUGHS, HUGS, AND KISSES. WHERE DOES THAT HAPPEN? Only at our wedding and the delivery of Sophia and Analise.
Prior to the event, Melissa and I drove in a couple hours ahead of time. Sophia and Ana were napping, THANK GOD, on our way to Bourbon Street. Melissa stayed with the girls in the van, while I walked in to see how things were going. I had NO IDEA what to expect. It had been sometime since I went to Bourbon St (sorry we missed the mini-reunion Shannon in March). When I walked in, my jaw dropped. There was an army of Ana’s Garden of Hope benefit committee members and volunteers running around decorating and setting things up.
I ran into Heidi Yergler and her daughter. We grew up University Ave in Matteson, Illinois. For those from the area, it was deemed, ‘new Matteson’ while were growing up. She was in touch with the benefit committee and another girl I grew up with, Amy Sue Franze (now, Amy Sue Peterson). Heidi was kind enough to volunteer her and her daughter’s time to help out. Congratulations and our best wishes on your upcoming wedding. Her fiance’s parents happen to live in our subdivision. What a small world….
As things were coming along, I went back to get Melissa and the girls. My parents arrived, so we all entered together. I think it’s safe to say that my family was in COMPLETE AWE. My father especially wanted to compliment Jeff and the benefit committee on how great everything looked before, during and after the benefit.
The next person whom I ran into was Art Bell and his beautiful wife. Jeff happens to work with Art at Frito Lay and noticed our name on one of Analise’s flyers. From there, Jeff and Art got to talking and he pledged to be at Analise’s benefit. One of the nicest kids whom I grew up with in Matteson, also on the same block. My parents especially liked Art and his sister, Jennifer. Their parents were always so friendly. I was so happy to have gotten back in touch with Art, because I have always referenced him to Holger and Lori Rubien as my friend who beat non-hodgkins lymphoma. The younger of their 2 sons, Patrick is currently fighting that cancer. I was so happy to be able to have them meet each other and talk through some of their experiences. SOMETHING FELT SO GOOD TO HAVE THEM MEET AND TALK. To hear a cancer survivor’s story is so encouraging, especially since Art has been in remission for nearly ~20yrs. The best thing to hear is that there have been so many advancements in cancer treatment. WHAT ELSE BETTER TO HEAR FROM A CANCER SURVIVOR… God Bless you Art and thank you for reaching out to my family and my friends. Please send my best wishes to your sister, her family, and your parents. It was very nice to have met your wife and introduce you to my girls.
It’s kind of late, I need to rest up for work tomorrow morning, but I will continue to share my thoughts, observations, and thank you’s to all.
Thank you to Janice and Tony Jordan for being a part of Analise’s benefit and their words of encouragement about this blog.
Have a good night and God Bless!
And I need to get to bed…. last minute pre-sale tickets and organizing for me… A lot of work and effort all coming together later today.
Thank you to everyone who have donated their time and energy to getting this benefit organized….
No for some funny stuff…. I was getting myself together and about to trim my beard. I had the trimmer set to “3″ and just as I began to trim my beard… I dropped the guard down to “1″ !!!! So I mowed my goatee down to nothing and figured to just shave it all off… let’s just say I wasn’t happy, but what can you do?….. so right now, Analise and I look like twins… except her hair is kind of growing back while mine is sorta stubbly….
I must remember to say thank you to the students of St Jude in New Lenox who held a dodgeball night to raise money for Analise. Thank you to Kelly Keene and Mary Ann Gross of Helping Hands who organized this along with Cheri Webb and Principal Luanne Watson!
Also we must thank Kim Hansen and the other mother’s who brought their brownie troop to our home on Saturday to plant flowers with Analise and Sophia. It was a very nice of them to spend time with our girls and help add some potted annuals to our landscape! Pictures will be posted as I find time to post this week.
It’s really late and I’ll be signing off for the night. Thank you and God Bless!