On Tuesday, Sept. 27th Grayson and I had the privilege to attend a special ceremony.
We are featured in the last photo of 5.
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110928/news/709289941/#
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110928/news/709289941/#
There we were sitting with the president of Lutheran General Hospital and Hyundai , a legislative Representative, the wondrous Dr. Kwon, many other well-suited men and women and 3 other families at different stages of their cancer journey ( one of which was recently diagnosed in July which brought back many memories for me). It truly was one of those moments I had to pause time for. I did so several times during various speeches. Here we were at the VERY first stage of development for a survivorship clinic. A clinic G would be a part of. A clinic G would need. Surreal. And even a bit painful.The bittersweet feeling of our presence haunted me once again. It aches to be reminded we are family that needs this and yet we are thrilled to know such an opportunity will be at our fingertips.
Dr Kwon during his acceptance speech
G and Dr Kwon
(at one point I caught Dr Kwon quickly smooch G on the cheek. I melted. G lit up. To see that side of Kwon was priceless. We never doubted it was there but as I have described before, Kwon is the serious straight to the point one of that Dr ying-yang. That moment and the time G gave Dell a great big bear hug-the kind you give your grampa- are etched in my mind forever. These two men are business when they need to be but deep down they love these kids. We are so lucky. G is so lucky.)
Princess Jennie
Grayson was asked for an imprint of his hand on canvas. He was so excited to paint! He was also so well-behaved during the business portions of the event. His smile was pretty contagious! His handprint will be lifted from canvas and placed on a Hyundai Hope on Wheels vehicle ( a vehicle literally covered with hundreds of handprints of critically-ill children). Needless to say, there were many times I held back tears. This was real. To think that I will one day, years down the road, take him to see that canvas handprint of a tiny 2 yr old. To know that at any point in his life he can walk the halls of LGH and visualize what he was a part of puts my mommy heart at ease. I swear-the footsteps my mother, myself and Grayson have taken in that hospital have come full circle in more ways I can count. I am blessed.
All this was being done for the right reasons-for the patients. To continue to support them long after the treatment has ended. The list of long-term effects is hard to swallow ( you've read of my spiel on this before). The pain and fight does not end at the last dose of chemo. Several people have entered my life since G's diagnosis who affirm this. I call that list my dessert course. Right now we are stuffing ourselves with the main entrees. Dessert is OT (off treatment), expect it is not the kind of dessert you want. For me it is flan- I HATE flan. I will worry about my flan in 2+years.
But the big picture is this----surviving the fight and all that comes with it (before, during and after). And with a survivors clinic the plethora of resources are right there for us, for him, for so many other sufferers. Thank you Hyundai, thank you supporters and thank you LGH for inviting us to be a part of history. Grayson will undoubtedly know his story and those surrounding him during our journey.
I received news of this video about a week later...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbmfcmEtHmA
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