October Update from Anneli

We know that it has been a really long time since we updated the blog and we apologize for this and still hope that you will continue to follow Jack's Journey.

We have just had more juggling balls in the air than we normally do so we dropped the ball of updating the blog...but we are now back on track again and our goal is to update the blog more frequently.

October was a busy month for us. We did some fun things such as visiting an apple orchard where we went apple picking. It was so cute to watch Emma help Jack pick apples by holding down the branches so that he was able to reach the apples.

Jack and Emma are both enjoying school. Jack is slowly getting over his separation anxiety and Emma is learning tons of new things every day. We are amazed over how much they both learn and grow from one day to another and we try to cherish every moment.

Halloween was lots of fun with carving pumpkins, hanging spiderwebs and going trick or treating. Emma (Snow White) and Jack (Pirate) celebrated Halloween by going to a party at the Valerie Center on Friday October 30th and then we went trick or treating in both South Orange and West Orange on the actual day of Halloween. The staff at the Valerie Center was all dressed up as different types of candy.

Jack is still in his first stage of maintenance - Each cycle lasts for 12 weeks and this is week 11. Jack has a procedure with a spinal tap next week.

We are often asked the question how Jack is doing and how he is handling the maintenance stage. Damond and I have talked a lot about how fortunate we feel that Jack is a strong boy with a positive outlook on life, and how well he is doing at this stage of his treatment. It is amazing to see how he is used to getting a finger stick every two weeks and getting chemo through his port every four weeks. Last week he did not even cry as they did a finger stick.

This being said, it is still hard to wake Jack up every night and give him his medications on an empty stomach at around 10:30 - 11:00 PM before we go to bed.

The biggest challenge is that every Wednesday he has to take a second chemotherapy tablet in addition to his other medication. I will admit that we forgot this medication one week and I felt like the worst mother ever. The wonderful and supporting staff at the Valerie Fund assured us that this happens to every family and that it was ok, but I still felt bad.

I often look at Jack when he is sleeping at night and still find it hard to understand how any of this could happen and it still feels like a bad dream that does not go away. I know that as a parent you always worry about your children no matter what, so this is part of being a parent.

We still feel very fortunate to be surrounded by love and support from our family and friends as we could not do this without you all!!!

Love,
Anneli