COOKIE-A Whole-Lotta Update - 05/21/07

Dearest Friends and Family,
WoW! It's been a CRAZY couple of weeks for us! First things first. I'll talk about COOKIE and her state of health, since that's really the reason you've logged on to this blog! hahaha

COOKIE is going to UCLA every two weeks now. This in and of itself is a big deal! She's scheduled to go tomorrow so as of this writing, the information is correct. She's taking only 2.5mg Prednisone every OTHER day. Her appetite is very, very low but when she's hungry, she will find somthing to nibble on. She seldom eats an entire meal and then, only once a day. She's averaging about 2 1/2-3 pounds weight loss every couple of weeks. The doctor's say that as long as we keep her hydrated she's ok. She does drink apple juice, water and Diet Coke throughout the day. She may have a little bit of graph vs. host disease going on with the tops of her hands and her face. One of the doctor's requested that she have absolutely ZERO sun exposure for two weeks and NO sun block either. COOKIE's skin is fair to begin with but since she's had the transplant, she has all new baby skin and she's very delicate. Even with sun block on, she got a little sun on her face about six weeks ago and she still has little pink raccoon eyes. We've always kept her in hats and sun block but we have to be especially careful with her this year. You wouldn't think that ZERO sun exposure would be difficult but no matter what you do, the sun is out! So, bike riding is after sundown and outside during the day is only from the house to the car to the house. She's carrying a cute little pink umbrella with her everywhere she goes.

Since last Friday, we have been busier than ever! Everything at once! Friday was a very special Mother's Day Tea put on by Parker's class. His teacher is the only one that does this and it was over the top! That's what the picture is of Parker with the white shirt and tie on. All of the little boys had to wear on of their dad's white long sleeved shirts and a tie. The little girls all wore dresses and hats and white lace gloves. It was a spectacular event from the beginning to the end. There wasn't a dry eye in the entire classroom from the time the program began. The kids all seated their Mom and Grandma, in my case. Ms. Wilson had called a couple of weeks ago and asked if COOKIE would do a little speech to all of the mom's and close with a special thank you to her own mom. Shelee didn't know anything about it. COOKIE was the only sibling that was invited. This entire program was specifically for the kids and their moms. The kids in this classroom have been working so hard, not to mention the teacher, her aides and a couple of the moms! The class learned about 20 songs with little dances and/or skits to go along with them. In between, a couple of mom's spoke and then Ms. Wilson called Shelee up in front of the class to sit on a chair. She said some very touching things about Shelee and COOKIE and Parker and then COOKIE went up and said her little speech. Ms. Wilson, over the course of the last couple of months, made it possible to get COOKIE into the classroom so she could make some of the gifts that were given to the moms. After every song, the kids gave their moms a special little gift. Every mom had a big bag under the tables where they could keep their gifts. Two of the gifts really stand out. One was a beautifully decorated teddy bear that the kids had done just for their mom. At the very end of the Tea, the moms were presented with ceramic handprints that hang by a ribbon. COOKIE was included in these gifts and Shelee was so surprised! Everyone was very happy and very touched by the program put on by this "one of a kind" classroom. It stirred memories and created new ones for each and every person involved. THANK YOU, MS. WILSON!!

Well, after the tea, we were wiped out! You can only imagine. The next day, we (Shelee, Matt, COOKIE, Parker and I) had to leave the house at 8:30AM and drive to San Diego. COOKIE's Grammy, Matt's mom, had invited COOKIE to be the guest speaker at a fundraiser luncheon. The fundraiser was for St. Jude's and there were about 150 women at the Harbor House Restaurant in Seaport Village, all waiting to meet and hear our girl. The morning started out a little rocky because COOKIE has a tough time in the mornings. She's sometimes a little nauseated and getting up early isn't one of her favorite things to do. Then we hit a TON of traffic almost all the way down to San Diego. We did manage to arrive ALMOST on time and the speech went beautifully. The women were all very gracious and appreciative to all three of us. Matt, Parker and Grandpa went their own separate way. They got to tour on the Midway Aircraft Carrier docked in Seaport Village. They had a grand time on their own!

After the luncheon, Shelee, Matt, COOKIE, Parker and I went to Grammy and Grandpa's beautiful house on the top of a hill in El Cajon. Grammy and Grandpa are the most creative and talented people I have ever met and their home reflects their passions and artistry, inside and out. We had a really beautiful and relaxing afternoon. THANK YOU GRAMMY & GRANDPA!!!

Uncle Christopher and Aunt Shannon had been hanging out together all day, back at home, and when we got home from San Diego Saturday night, the living room was filled with different colored balloons to begin our Mother's Day celebration. The next morning we had a really wonderful Mother’s Day breakfast and just spent the day being lazy.

My Mother’s Day gift from my kids was three days at our vacation home in Palm Desert! (That’s what we call Aunt Shannon’s house!) They gave me a basket with the Dreamgirl’s DVD, a crossword puzzle book, a beautiful new hot pink beach towel, a recipe magazine, two airline size bottles of Bacardi, two gift certificates for shopping and a gift certificate for the Cliffhouse Restaurant in Palm Desert and ONE wonderfully chocolate truffle from See’s! I’m a lucky, lucky mom.

On the following day, Monday, 5/14, we had to leave the house at the crack o’ dawn. We had to be at Union Station in Los Angeles to catch the 7:20AM Amtrak Train to Oceanside. We planned to take Parker to Legoland for his birthday. The only hiccup in this plan is that the doctor’s told COOKIE “no sun exposure”. Lucky for us, Grammy lives what we perceived to be close by. She met us at the train station in Oceanside and took COOKIE for a special day of movies and shopping while the rest of us went to Legoland. The park closes at 5:00 so Grammy and COOKIE were there to pick us up and take all of us back to the train station headed for home.

If you haven’t done the Amtrak, you really should. It’s a fun way to travel. It’s really reasonable and the food on the Café Car is pretty good. We had a great time! Our next adventure will be Santa Barbara on the Amtrak. I think it will be more scenic. Of course, we’ll have to wait until COOKIE can do more things outdoors!

Needless to say, we’ve been busy. Today Shelee, Aunt Shannon, COOKIE, Parker and I are going to see Shrek III. It’s a surprise for Parker after school. Tomorrow is his birthday party at school. Yesterday, he said to me, “Grandma. Do you remember on my birthday last year I got to go see COOKIE in the hospital and my party was in the parking lot? I’m sure glad I get to do stuff this time!” I was really surprised he would think of this. And YES, I remember.

I hope all of you are getting ready for a wonderful summer! We’re sending our best wishes for health and happiness your way!!!

The next blog I’ll write all about the Annual Champions Run for Life TORCH RUN! It’s coming up on June 9th and this will be our 10th YEAR!!!!!! We can’t wait!

With love, as always,
Cookie, The Grandma