Cameron Rides for the Cure!

This is Cameron.
OK, that was Cameron about 14 years ago, but I love that picture and finally I had an excuse to publish it! This is Cameron now.Em and I consider Cam to be our nephew, though that isn't technically correct. He is our cousin Holly's son but given our unusual gene pool, he might as well be our nephew. Yet, I digress....

On April 5th, Cameron is participating in Mt. Bachelor's Riders for the Cure, where he will be "Riding for Emily" and trying to raise money and awareness for the Sara Fisher Breast Cancer Project. Last year's top individual fundraiser brought in $1300 and we are trying to help Cameron top that amount. RFTC is what they call a "Jam Session" where skiers and snowboarders ride rails and do tricks in the half pipe and there are limbo contests and other fun activities up at the mountain. Everyone dresses in pink and can dedicate their ride to a particular person or just for the cause in general. Cam will be decked out in a pink shirt with pictures of Em all over it and (hopefully) a tricked out pink helmet. We will definitely post pictures of him looking his pinkest!

If you would like to sponsor Cam as he rides for Emily, please follow this link to my Uncle Earl's website where he has created a fast and easy way to pledge your support with PayPal, cash or check. Go to http://www.earlsphotos.com/ and click on the Riders for the Cure link!

We all appreciate your support and are cheering Cameron on in his fundraising effort!

Dramatic drop

Every time Em goes in for chemo, they test her blood and check her white and red blood cell counts. For the first time, her numbers were dramatically lower for both her white and red blood cells. The doctors advised her that she is dangerously susceptible to any illness or infection right now. She is supposed to stay away from public places and anyone who might be sick AND she cannot risk getting any sort of injury, even a hangnail! Her body may not be able to fight off anything right now. There is a shot that can be given to a chemo patient at this point that could boost her immunity, but according to her insurance, she is not sick enough to receive coverage of the cost. Had her blood counts been one point lower, she would qualify. Alas, she must hide away from the world for the next couple of weeks until they can check her blood again and qualify her for the shot!

Em completed her seventh treatment on Friday. One week of feeling bad, a week of feeling good (hopefully), and one more treatment before this chapter closes and the healing and rebuilding can begin. Keep your chin up, Em. We can finally see the finish line!

3/4 of the way there!

Nothing much new to report this week. Em did improve after around 9 days of feeling pretty crummy. She had her 6th treatment on Friday and is back to feeling the pain again, but we are hopeful that it will not be as bad or last as long this time around. She is armed with a bunch of new pain medications and the name of an acupuncturist who specializes in treating chemo patients. We've heard rumors that it really does the trick but can take a while to feel the effects. Em has such a dislike of needles (especially now) that she may not choose to take the alternative medicine route. We shall see.

Six down, two to go! The first Friday of April can't get here soon enough. :)