A Wish Granted

We found out a couple of weeks ago that Sammy will be granted a wish through The Make a Wish Foundation. I had mixed feelings about it initially, as I had always thought that only kids that had terminal illnesses qualified, but apparently that is not the case. Our social worker at The Children's Hospital brought it up to us first and then several families staying at the Ronald McDonald House indicated that their children had been granted wishes and encouraged us to apply. The parents at the Ronald McDonald House explained that The Make a Wish Foundation's goal is to give children who have been through traumatic medical events a piece of their childhood back, and to provide the children's family with a healing experience. Well every day I see signs that this experience has affected Sammy more than I would have liked. For example, she has turned into a very attached little girl, she doesn't want to leave my side, even to spend time with her Daddy. She used to LOVE to go to preschool and now just the thought of me leaving her there brings her to tears. I know that this will pass and I am hopeful that the wish she receives will begin that process. I know that as a family we could certainly use a fun light hearted event as well!

In terms of what her wish will be, my guess is that we are headed to Disney World given Sammy's love for all things princess, but we won't know for sure until March 14th when the Make a Wish people come to our house to interview Sammy. They want to make sure that they grant her with a wish that is truly her dream come true and they have several questions to ask her to ensure that the wish she gets, is really truly her wish and not our wish! So stay tuned, I will let you know what her wish is as soon as I find out!

In terms of Sammy, she is still doing well. She is in physical therapy to regain strength in her right side and that is going really well. She is already favoring her right hand for things like eating and drawing. I think she has the most work to do on her walk. She is still a bit unsteady, although it is much better than it was pre-operatively. Zach and I have also noticed that she might need a bit of speech therapy as well, as she is still experiencing some weakness on the right side of her face; although it is very subtle. We are headed back to Boston on Wednesday of this week to meet with her surgeon for the standard post op meeting, we will also be meeting with the oncologists so that they can evaluate her progress from a physical standpoint (to ensure she is improving on her right side rather than deteriorating) and we also have an appointment with an eye doctor to see how her eye sight is as they believe the tumor ran along her optic nerve.

So, things are moving along nicely. Sammy remains in good spirits and Zach and I are adjusting to life back at home. Thanks for continuing to follow our story. Please continue to pray for that Sammy continues to improve!