Terry Fox Run - Part 2

Thank you to everyone who supported us last weekend. We had a great day and everyone had fun. Malcolm had a special red "survivor" T=shirt to wear and he was the youngest person in a red shirt at the event. Jan's parents came out and cheered us on and we saw a few friends - one was a very special friend, a little boy who was down the hall from Malcolm the very first month Malcolm was in. This other little boy had just been diagnosed with the other kind of leukemia (ALL) and was also just starting his treatment. He has done really well and has not had to spend much time in hospital. He is now on the "maintenance"phase which is almost entirely at home and we sincerely hope he continues to do so well. Every time we go to the hospital we are reminded that while Malcolm's journey has ended there are others still walking down that path...kudos to all of you who either supported cancer research through us or do so in other ways...

In just five days we raised over $1,000! We thought that was great and hope to be a bit more organized next year so that we can raise even more. Donovan made our "Team Malcolm" sign and carried it until he found an interesting caterpillar to collect, which we ended up bringing home and nurturing for several days in a cup, until it made its great escape. I should mention that if you still want to donate it is certainly never too late - just click on the link in the previous post.

Mary Ellen

Terry Fox Run

Just a quick post to say that we have signed up for the Terry Fox Run this weekend. Click here to join our team or make a donation. The Terry Fox Run raises money for cancer research. This is the first time that we have participated in a fundraising walk as a family and we are looking forward to it.

We benefited firsthand from advances in cancer research. Children with Down syndrome are much more likely than typical kids to develop the type of leukemia (AML) that Malcolm had. In the past, kids like Malcolm were more likely to be killed from the treatment than cured by it as it was not widely recognized that children with Down syndrome have a unique sensitivity to certain chemotherapy drugs. Research has resulted in turning one of the worst prognoses into one of the best and research continues to try to replicate this result in typical children. Ongoing research may result in children like Malcolm, who have Down syndrome, benefiting typical kids who get this horrible disease. We encourage you to show your support.

Mary Ellen

Brothers

I have mentioned in other posts how great Donovan is with Malcolm. This continues to be the case. He and Malcolm have a great relationship and Malcolm loves spending time with him. That is not to say that they never get frustrated or upset at each other - but they always forgive and forget. They love to do really silly things and giggle together (sometimes to the great annoyance of their parents) and Malcolm's lack of language is no barrier whatsoever to the fun.

Donovan started school this week so it was a big change for the whole family. He seems to be doing really well. He is in a split grade one/primary (what they call kindergarten in Nova Scotia) of 17 kids. He has a male teacher who he seems to really like.

We had a great time in Ontario and the first two photos above were taken on vacation - both boys really liked seeing the dinosaurs at the ROM. They had a really great time playing with all their cousins and seeing everyone back home. We were thankful Dad made such a great recovery. Through all the hustle and bustle of the first week at school our hearts have been heavy this past week with the passing of my Aunt Pat. We will miss her.

Mary Ellen