Posts from — February 2007

Are You Blessed?
– Author Unknown

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness…
you are more blessed than the million who will not survive
this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the
loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the
pangs of starvation… you are ahead of 500 million
people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back,
a roof overhead and a place to sleep…you are richer than
75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare
change in a dish someplace… you are among the top 8%
of the world’s wealthy.

If your parents are still alive and still married…
you are very rare, even in the United States.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are
truly thankful… you are blessed because the majority
can, but most do not.

If you prayed yesterday and today… you are in the
minority because you believe God does hear and answer
prayers.

If you can read this now, you are more blessed than over
two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Dear Ones,

How grateful we continue to be to have you as a circle of support for my grandnephew, Connor, and his family. I am deeply pleased to continue to send you good news. Connor will soon return to Alaska after close to a year long stay at Children’s Hospital/Ronald McDonald House in Seattle.

As I read my niece’s latest update that I forward on to you, I am touched by her grace and her talent as a mom and a writer. Although Connor’s journey has been a rough one, it is Alicia who has walked a relentlessly stressful road, holding her family together at every turn. I wish I could give her days of sleep followed by and an all expenses paid family vacation to Disney World (their favorite place ion earth). She and Steve could have allowed the pressures to pull them apart, but instead their relationship is all the stronger. Although they had their moments of melt down, I seldom saw them take their stress out on one another. Instead they had great compassion and tenderness for one another, offering each other strength even when miles apart. Also, the grandmother’s offered such selflessness to be their for their little ones. It took the village! What peace builders they have been. It has not been an easy time for them to put their lives on hold in order to be present as a durable support system. Their presence and hands on help has made this challenging journey much easier.

So, drink in Alicia’s amazing update. I do hope at some point she will finally have time to pull these updates together and weave them with more of her reflections about this road of healing into a book to serve other parents.

Once again, thank you for surrounding Connor with your healing light. Since you now know you can heal cancer, what amazing thing will you do next. It makes everything else easier!!!

Please do not relinquish Connor from your prayers as he still has a distance to travel, but regardless of what is ahead, we joyfully celebrate now!!!

In deep gratitude,
Rhonda

CONNOR’S UPDATE…

Connor has done remarkable over the last month. He has slowly come off several of the medications used to treat his graft verse host disease (GVHD) and is showing no signs of any problems. Since he is still on two medications that lower his immune system, I have to check his temperature at least twice a day. Any time he gets a fever of over 101 degrees, even if he has no other symptoms, we get to go to the hospital and have blood tests done to rule out infection. Unfortunately, over the last month we have been to the ER four times for this reason. Most of the time the fevers would go away as quickly as they came but last Sunday this was not the case. In less than an hour, his fever went from being normal to 104 degrees. After having blood tests done in the ER, he was admitted into the hospital the next day with a blood infection. The doctors started him on antibiotics and within a day, the infection was getting better and we were able to return “home” Thursday. Even though it was a shame to be back in the hospital, it gave us a chance to see all the incredible people who have been there for us every step of the way one last time before heading back to Alaska. We still do not have an exact date on when we will get to return home but the doctors are talking about sometime the middle of March. Along with doing well medically, he has done marvelous with potty training and as his hair gets longer and the signs of cancer fade thankfully there is little left to remind us of all his body has been through.

Carson is a master at walking and loves to climb on everything. His personality is starting to blossom as he becomes more independent. He has accomplished many milestones while living a “hospital life” and it is hard to believe that he was not even rolling over when we got here. Steve is incredible and my love for him gets stronger everyday. As hard as it is for us to be down here coping with all of this I cannot imagine how hard it is for him to be at home. He has been working hard on our house to get it ready for us to return home and I am very excited to see all the changes. I was able to go home for a weekend the end of January to help pick out some of the new things for the house. It was wonderful to be home even if it was only for a short time. Most days what I desire most is more sleep. Between Connor’s appointments, medicine and chasing the boys by the end of the day I am exhausted. Nevertheless, no matter how tired I am when I hear the boys laughing and playing together it makes everything worth it

Recently a wonderful website: www.freewebs.com/kidscancercrusade was brought to my attention. This great site brings together stories from families that are surviving childhood cancer. It allows you to follow there journey, provide encouragement and send sympathy. I know one of the things that helped me through the hard days was the messages of hope and support. I encourage all of you to check out this site and see the amazing children that are more courageous than I can ever hope to be.

Thank you to everyone for you continued support. There is not a day that goes by after all this time that we do not feel your love and prayers.

All our love,
The Dunham’s
Steve, Alicia, Connor and Carson

Check out Connor singing Take Me out to the Ball Game at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7116764384596726585&pr=goog-sl

God Sent to Me an Angel

By Paul Dammon 11/96

God sent to me an angel,

it had a broken wing.

I bent my head and wondered,

“How could God do such a thing?”

When I asked the Father

why He sent this child to me,

the answer was forthcoming;

He said, “Listen and you’ll see.”

“My children are all precious,

and none is like the rest.

Each one to me is special,

and the least is as the best.

I send each one from Heaven

and I place it in the care

of those who know my mercy,

those with love to spare.

Sometimes I take them back again.

Sometimes I let them stay.

No matter what may happen,

I am never far away.

So if you find an angel

and you don’t know what to do, l

remember, I am with you,

love is all I ask of you.”

Alicia R. Dunham

5130 40th Ave NE, Room B 13

Seattle WA 98105

206-838-0707 Seattle Home

www.thestatus.com ID:Dunham- Password:unique-book

“The future is not some place we are going, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made. And the activity of making them changes both the maker and their destination.”

– John Schaar, a sociologist and professor emeritus at the University of California Santa Cruz

People live in the present moment only about 7% of the time. We are either busy regretting what we cannot change or worrying about a future that may never come in the form we fret over. In so doing, we miss the wonders of the moment placed right before us. Now is the only moment we really have. It is in consciously choosing the quality of this moment that we heal the past and string together present moments to bring to us a magnificent and meaningful future. Living now is the way to create the future we want.
Life is a journey, a process of moments that we influence. Participating fully and willingly in the collaboration of quality present moments holds far more life for us than obsessing over a destination, past or future, forsaking now.

MY SHORT-CUT TODAY:
In this moment I drop the veil caused by limiting beliefs and finally take on the knowing that I create the quality of my life in this moment. There is no ‘there’ there. I embrace right where I am standing this moment to fully insure a happy future.