Disney World - Part 1 - Why We Went and Upfront Thank Yous

(First in a series of posts about our vacation from April 2012 to WDW)

Disney employees are well trained in ways to connect with their guests and prospective guests.  A frequent question is "What are you celebrating"  Because WDW is a place to celebrate lots of things...Birthdays, Weddings, Anniversaries, Engagements, Children...

We got to test their skills though when Shannon told them "I have cancer".  Mostly, there was awkward pauses, apologies, one person congratulated her (he thought she was saying it was her anniversary from being cancer free).  Sadly, that is really the main reason we are here...or the underlying one anyway.  Shannon has cancer, and we don't know what the future holds.  So, this is our chance to create a very magical memory together so that the kids will always remember all of us together here, with nothing dragging us down.

Now, let me steer back to the happy path. Because while that is the underlying reason, it's not really why we're here.  We're here to give our kids an unforgettable experience.  We're here to celebrate life together.  We're here to give us a boost to surge forward in what's going on outside of the nice vacation life.

So, with all that in mind....I have to first thank NUMEROUS family, friends, and others without whom this LITERALLY wouldn't have happened.  Our parents helped us in many ways...financially, strategically (planning), shopping for kids' supplies, watching pets, transporting us to and from the airport.  I cannot thank them enough.  We also had many friends who gave the kids things like Disney clothes, games, toys, and lots of little things to keep them happy on the ride down.  As much as this was us trying to give this memory to the kids, it was also all of you giving us the ability to give this memory to the kids.

Soon, Part 2 will be the journey down and the first few days in detail...

St. Baldrick's

A few months ago, Shannon had decided she was going to participate in St. Baldrick's.  St. Baldrick's is an organization dedicated to drawing attention to, fighting, researching, and eliminating childhood cancers.  The main way they do this is through their shaving events.  Because an organization with bald in the name OBVIOUSLY is going to have something to do with head shaving!

So over the past few months, Shannon worked to raise money for this cause.  When I did Undy 5k last year, she couldn't really participate, but she still helped to fundraise.  This time around, I had no problem with the head shaving...since losing the weight, I feel like I wouldn't look awkward with that look, and since there's a fairly good chance between the dandruff/seborrheic dermatitis and my curly hair that I'll be going bald by the time I hit middle age, might as well get a sneak peak now to get comfortable.  My biggest concern was that I just had a huge push of asking for money in November.  And with plans to do Undy 5k again, I figured it'd be best to save up my begging for that.  Shannon ended up raising over $700 for St. Baldrick's, not too shabby at all.

So, as a family, we went to the event at Martin's East.  I noticed on the way in, they did offer walk-in registration.  As we walked around, there was just a great sense of camraderie.  All the shavees are up on stage and they applaud everyone that gets up there.  There was a lot of events and activities for non-shavees too.  Silent auctions, Chinese auctions, face painting, hair coloring, hair braiding, carnival games, lottery games, food, beer.  But, watching everyone who went up on stage or signed up to do it, I felt like a chicken for not doing this.  I felt like, to do this, would be a badge of honor.  The child that Shannon did this in honor of, Sam, is a 2 year old fighting neuroblastoma.  BOTH Sam's parents did St. Baldrick's this year.  And Shannon was one of 13 women to sign up for the event (Far many more men sign up to do it).

So, I went back and asked about any open slots around Shannon's time.  And as it turned out, they had a cancellation about 30 minutes after.  So, for a 50 dollar donation, I had my spot.  And I was glad to see that both kids didn't freak out about us being bald, Noah got a HUGE kick out of it, and Darcy loves the feel of our heads.  The only problem I found after going down to the scalp...that dandruff/dermatitis stuff never went away, and so you can see ALL the sores and redness on my skin now.  I'll just have to keep working on it with my old shampoos and stuff.

Anyway, the real point of this post is to encourage anyone reading this to take the plunge and sign up.  It's just hair after all.  It grows back.  And it's such a good feeling, knowing that #1, the money you raise is going to make sure a kid doesn't have to be sitting in a hospital, doing chemotherapy when they should be playing on a playground, playing kickball, learning how to WALK! and #2, by going out and just showing people you are brave enough to go bald, you're raising awareness without even being loud, making signs, or asking for money.  There was no end to the amazing stories I saw there.  One girl walked up shortly before my turn, her sister was one of the storied children that St. Baldrick's helps...She is going to prom in a month, and on the spot, said if she could raise 1000, she'd get shaved right then and there and go to prom bald.  And about 10 minutes later, she had her turn in the barber's chair.  Or Team Scarlet, a team of probably more than 10, who raised over $48,000.  The team captain is the father of one of the children supported by St. Baldrick's  There were some less touching, more funny ones.  Like the Fire Chief and the Police Chief, who usually don't get along too well, getting shaved side by side.  Or a couple of the guys with real long hair doing Locks of Love along with St. Baldrick's, so they got their hair braided before it was chopped.

A picture of the two of us, after the event...

Cancer Sucks: CBS, This Blog Post is for YOU!

Look, all cancers deserve awareness.  But given our personal connection to colon cancer, that's the one I am spending the most time making sure people are aware of, know the warning signs, heed the risk factors, and make sure they do whatever we can to continue preventing it.  But, given the primary detection method of colon cancer, and...let's face it, what we're dealing with, your pooper...colon cancer is one of the least talked about cancers.  Because who wants to discuss bowel movements with your doctor?

So, what I imagine was a very strange commercial to most football fans, was actually music to my ears.  Last night, towards the end of the Giants-Packers game, Ozzie and Sharon Osbourne came on to announce the CBS Cares Colonoscopy Sweepstakes.  Yes, you heard that right.  http://promotions.mardenkane.com/cbs/cbscares12/.  The grand prize is a trip to New York, nice cushy hotel, and at the end, you get knocked out and get a free colonscopy!  MUSIC. TO. MY. EARS.  Sharon is a colon cancer survivor and the combination of the Osbournes and colonscopies was enough to perk my attention, make me chuckle, and startup this blog post.

My only complaint about this is that while SOME people will see this and be reminded "Well, I do need to get one, might as well see if I can get a trip to NY too", many will probably dismiss it or skip it if they don't win.  But, good to see CBS at least putting it out there.  I'm betting it at least started a FEW conversations.  And that's worth it.  My only tip for CBS...next time, offer up a better prize, and make the entry qualification that you need to get a colonoscopy done.  That way, you get a TON of people to get colonoscopies and take care of their health instead of just one.

But, I digress...CBS, for that alone, I am watching ALL your TV programming tonight.

How Do I Score 2011?

New Year is coming upon us. This is an entry I've been working on in my head for a long time. Ever since 2007, it's been pretty easy to "score" what the past year has been...



2007 - Bought our house in Westminster, found out we were having 1st child, I got promoted that year - GREAT

2008 - Noah - GREAT!!!!

2009 - Layoffs at work, our refi deal fell apart between Christmas and New Year's, and Shannon's ectopic - HORRIBLE YEAR

2010 - Pregnant with 2nd child, Work doing better - GOOD



This year...I have no idea how to do this. Darcy was born, so I can't call this a terrible year. She is a wonderful child and a blessing to have every day. But, this can't be a wonderful year. It can't be a great or good year. Because while we have Darcy, we also added this shitty member of our household too. Cancer.



I didn't post this before, because I just didn't want to talk about it or confront the situation head on...Shannon had a CT scan for post-op done on December 7th...Pearl Harbor Day, should've seen that coming. The spots in her lungs grew. In the abscence of any signs of infection, that basically confirms that it is Stage 4 cancer. Despite the successful surgery, the cancer has already spread to her lungs. This is not what we wanted, obviously. This is not what should be happening.

What happens now? Shannon is back on chemo, as we figured she would be post-surgery. But now, I think she has to be on chemo until the spots can dissapear. And that's not even a given, since her chemo treatment pre-surgery never fully removed any spots, only shrunk some. And since it's showing signs of spread, that changes the prognosis. In a direction that we didn't want to think about. Basically, they aren't considering this curable anymore.

Nobody is giving up. She has a lot of fight left, but this development just cuts us down at the knees. The thing I keep coming back to, from a perspective of how this year is...this isn't right. Shannon shouldn't have to be focusing on pills, scans, incisions, colostomies. She should be worrying about Darcy cutting teeth, saying first words, what crap she's getting into now that she can crawl like beast mode. Cancer is a thief, that much is certain. And it's already stolen a laundry list of things from our family. And unfortunately, it seems like that list might keep growing for awhile.

So tell me, how should I score this year? It's horrible to think of this year as a shit year, because Darcy's birth was something great. That's not fair to Darcy. But it's not fair that I be forced to score this year as good when we have this kind've shit from cancer. This year has brought so much loss upcoming to our family, how can you celebrate it? Shannon said she'll still toast the new year because, to be honest, next year CAN'T be worse, right? Right? Maybe right? Hopefully right!?

I think all that can be said...F*@# Cancer! You dirty rat, you can't win this war, we can't let you. Also, I'm going to cut your balls off. Maybe not today, maybe not next year, but someday, I will find a way to spit on your figurative grave, you POS disease.