CCC Act Passed!

Hans helping me paint the kitchen 'tempered sage '
The most exciting thing happening is that George Bush signed the Carolyn Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act yesterday! It is little-known that George Bush lost a sister, Robin, to a Pediatric Cancer in 1953. This 'landmark' legislation had unanimous votes in both the House and the Senate. The Act was renamed for the daughter of one of the original sponsors, Rep Deborah Pryce (R - Upper Arlington), who died of Neuroblastoma in 1999 at the age of 9. The main things it will do is earmark 30 million dollars a year for 5 years for Pediatric Cancer Research and Awareness (how many of us had ever heard of Neuroblastoma before our beloved little friends were diagnosed? - not me!) It will also create a population-based pediatric cancer registry (we don't have one of those yet?!?) This will be great - they'll be able to identify trends and possibly causal factors. We're kind of clueless as to where these cancers come from. You do sort of feel patriotic on a day like this - to see Republicans and Democrats coming together to do the right thing in the interest of the littlest Americans in the gravest danger. Thanks to each of you who sent letters and got your friends and family to do the same. We did it! Pats on the back all around!

As for our little family - we are taking it sort of easy. We're having basically a home-based recovery from Round 4. Hans is still doing great - I'm just paranoid, Hans' counts were all GREAT on Monday - his ANC was still 3K, but since we have to get him on a plane on Friday I want him to be as healthy as possible. We're finding things to do around here. I finally picked a paint color for the kitchen, and Hans was happy to help me get the job done yesterday! He volunteered for the tight space behind the fridge for me. His interest in reading, writing and letters has picked up, so we are all getting encouraged about his prospects for Pre K at Glen Loch with Elle. He picked out some MORE fuzzy poster boards yesterday. He is going to deliver one of these pictures for his very special friends, the ladies at our local Exxon On The Run store - Zena, Brenda and Julia who love him and treat him like a rock star every time he sets foot in the store.

Elle has been having fun in Seattle. She and my mom hopped on a ferry and went to Victoria BC for a day of fun and tea at the Empress Hotel yesterday. She was soooo ready to get out of the country! She's told us several times, "I can't believe I've never been out of the country!" I try to remind her that she hasn't hit 10 yet. I guess she can't complain about that one anymore. Elle has left the country. Hans is counting down the days that we'll get on the plane and he'll see his sissy again!

That's all for now - Lara

PS - Thanks to our friend shirley for yummy chicken fajitas last week while we were in chemo. They were awesome! And - good news, we heard that our cute little friend John T. got good news/clear scans! Yay! Pray for Patrick, he was called back in for a questionable spot on his Bone Scan and is doing an MIBG test this week...