Boston Stuff

So Sammy was seen by the surgeon on Tuesday. No surprises. The surgeon will operate first on the left lung. The surgery date will be determined after the results of tomorrow's bone scan are reviewed; probably within two weeks or so of the scan. Sammy's expected hospital stay is approximately one week. Then, a few weeks later, after she recovers, the surgeon will remove the nodules in the right lung. The thoracotomies will not be pleasant for Sammy and she prefers not to discuss it. Sammy feels great. She would rather go to school and hang out with friends than worry about surgery.

On a lighter note ... a HUGE thank you to Ms. Gibbens and Ms. Willemsson (Bow Elementary School) for shuffling crazy school schedules so that Rebecca and her 4th grade cohorts could engage in an encore performance today of "Dig It" for the kindergarden class and Rotman Family. We couldn't understand why Becca almost passed on the L.A. trip in lieu of participating in that concert. Now we get it. The concert was GREAT, fun, creative and wonderful. In fact, I think it's the best concert we've yet to see at BES. So a HUGE thank you to everyone who made today's encore performance happen. Becca got to perform for her family and we got to love every minute of it. Now you can take the bleachers down!

Another piece of great news: Sam the cat (did we mention that, in addition to his 3 legs, he only has 1 ear???), who has been HIDING under Samantha's bed for one month, has FINALLY made his way downstairs. Yesterday was a great day of bonding with Sam. He let us stroke him and feed him. When he finally had enough of our "love," he did not hiss at us (as he always does), but rather meowed. That's what we call progress.

A final thought... please remember that whatever information you read on this website is the foundation of what we talk about at home. Our explanations have always met the needs of Samantha and Rebecca. We expect that the information we share in the website will meet all of the needs of the girls' friends and peers as well. Obviously, we could elaborate ad infinitum about the details of Samantha's medical status but we choose not to. When in doubt, ask yourself, if my child was the one going through cancer treatment, would I want sensitive issues discussed with my children's friends in a manner in which I have not discussed myself? In other words, please don't gossip. There are children involved. Just as Sammy prefers to be asked questions directly, so do we.

It's so hard to ask not to gossip when Shari loves doing it so. So here's some gossip: Marie Poole feeds her family FROZEN DINNERS from Market Basket! Marie showed up at our house tonight with bags full of frozen meals. It made Shari feel SO warm and fuzzy inside. Finally, a woman who admits she feeds that stuff to her family on a regular basis and, finally, a meal that Shari grew up on! We had to laugh.

We love all of you so much. We could never get through this without your support.

Shari and David