Well the first semester ( if that's what you call it) of school is now over and I think I can safely say is was a success. Aly's biggest issue with attending school was the social anxiety, but it seems that she eventually adjusted well. We have her attending 2 schools right now to ensure she has a full week of school and having all that socialization has really helped her. Last week we attended her holiday concerts at each school. The private school put on a great performance where her class sang a number of Christmas songs along with costumes and gestures. It was great and funny all at the same time. Aly just stared at me the whole time and had the most uncomfortable look on her face. She sang most of the songs (quietly), with minimal actions or facial expressions. When she wasn't singing she was biting her lip and staring directly at me. She was very excited after the performance but wanted to leave school right then, but thanks to her teacher, she decided to stay for the rest of the afternoon ( only an extra hour). The following day was the Nativity Concert at her other school and it was put on by all the primary grades with Aly's class opening the show. The show was pretty much the same as the previous day - lots of Christmas songs. Aly was in the front row and stood very still - looking directly at me and I am sure I spotted the odd grin every once in a while. It was also a great show! After the whole show was over, Aly caught wind that some of the other kids were going home with their parents, so Aly was determined not to stay. Luckily Granny and Papa were there and that is exactly who she wanted to go home with.
Over the past few weeks I have really taken sometime to really appreciate Aly's health and progress in her treatment, but was also thrown off when she developed a low grade fever. She ended up being fine ( she was just fighting a bug) but it reminded me that she was still in treatment and really only one fever away from being admitted. I had the chance to visit some friends who are currently staying at the Ronald McDonald house in Toronto while their daughter undergoes her second bone marrow transplant ( she is 4 years old). To walk inside Sick Kids and see just how big the hospital is and to think that all of those rooms are filled with sick kids, I was overwhelmed and so thankful for Aly's diagnosis ( wierd) and progress. I had the chance to speak with one mom who was there with her son who had brain cancer. It was his 5th birthday the following day and she was so grateful that he made it that far. When she asked about Aly and I mentioned that she was in remission, she started to tear up and said that it was so great to hear that remission is even possible. There is so much attention and media focused on all types of cancer ( and I totally agree with it all) ... but where is all the attenion on Childhood Cancer? Cancer is the number one disease killing children from age six months to young adulthood. It is the leading cause of non-accidental death in children and over 160,00 kids are diagnosed with Cancer each year world wide and about 1,500 of those kids are from Canada. 210 Canadian children die from the disease and about 10,000 Canadian children are living with cancer today. Studies show that 80% of kids will survive childhood cancer, and although that number sounds great - what about the other 20%??!! Recently there was a film created to highlight the importance of raising awareness of Childhood Cancer and what needs to happen to ensure that more drugs are developed and more focus is placed on finding cures. Check out this website http://www.thetruth365.org/ and watch the video please. It is just under an hour, but well worth it. I will warn you - there is nothing warm and fuzzy about this movie - it is real, it is fact and things need to change.
