About Me

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Bakersfield, CA, United States
Hans was a busy, happy, sweet and fearless three year old when he was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. He fought his disease like a "gladiator" for nearly 6 years. Hans was an animal lover to his core. He was 'guarded' at home by his three cats, Black, Orange and Cotton. He also had his Golden Retriever, Honey, to keep him company. Hans enjoyed swimming, biking, gardening, grilling (he had his very own grill!), horseback riding, playing video games, building Legos, and flipping between Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Animal Planet. Hans loved all members of his family and he was a loyal friend. He had to go through a lot of treatment in his life. But Hans powered through it. His attitude was let's get this done! His motivation was always to get back home, to his family, pets, favorite foods and pool.

Monday, September 02, 2013

Pedi Cancer Awareness Month

As you all probably already know, September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month.  It's so much more than that to me.  Hans' first symptoms popped up in September of 2006, yet we wouldn't know what we were dealing with for another month.  While Hans was in treatment, he never had the typical "Back to School" experience that his friends and buddies had.  Each September was a trying time.  It was an often heart breaking balancing act of deciding whether to start school or hold back, home bound schooling or classroom, managing various treatments and side effects, while trying to find some routine and normalcy in life.  Hans never complained about his lot or the concessions he had to make. But for me, September highlighted the difficulties his diagnosis brought on.  I  thought of Hans and his struggles each September, as well as each of his buddies who had lost their battles and who wouldn't be going back to the classroom.  So many empty spots on the bus:(  And finally, September was the month we lost him to his cancer last year in 2012.  

I wanted to share that two friends - Kevin and Carter House  (Hans' bud Zachary's uncle and cousin) will be doing The Isabella Santos Foundation 5K this month in Hans' memory.  In fact, the race date falls on the first anniversary that we lost him.  You can click Kevin and Carter's Fundraising Page if you'd like to support Kevin and Carter and their race.  Thanks, guys.


1 comment:

Cousin Jenny said...

(((((HUGS)))))