Sunday, September 18, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Collin, Neya, Bill and I will be walking in the Four Diamonds Fund 5K next Sunday September 25. Please consider making a donation to help us give back to the FDF for all the help they've given us, and to raise money to help other kids with cancer. No amount is too small! Just click here to make a tax deductible donation. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. I have been trying to post differents facts, quotes, etc. everyday on my Facebook page as my way of spreading awareness. Awareness leads to funding which leads to research which leads to cures. I know the facts and the stories I share are often grim, depressing, and hard to read. But as a parent of a child fighting cancer, I can't ignore any part of it. More than once I thought I was going to watch my baby die. I truly cannot imagine a worse experience than losing a child, but cancer takes kids away from their parents every single day. I can't know that is happening and not want to change it. But I'm not a doctor, I can't cure cancer. So I'm doing the only thing I can think of to do: fight, by increasing awareness and raising funds for research. I want something good to come out of the suffering that cancer warriors and their families go through, and I hope that my kids won't ever have to see their own children suffer through the battle. And, God forbid, if Collin's cancer were to return, or he ends up with a secondary cancer from the chemo used to fight this cancer, I want him to have more options and better treatments to help him survive.
In earlier posts I mentioned another little fighter, Conner, who was treated at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital and then at CHOP. Conner received his angel wings on September 4 with his parents by his side. Please keep his family in your prayers as they grieve and try to carry on without their beloved son. Also remember the families of some other little fighters who have earned their wings in the last week: Lennon, Layla, Gabby, and Faith. Fly high sweet angels!
Collin had his latest clinic appointment today. He was waving and saying hi to all of the wonderful clinic staff, and even answered a few simple questions. Part way through the doctor's exam, Collin decided he was ready to leave, and started crying "go go go go go!" He drew a small crowd of doctors and nurses because they're not used to hearing him cry much. The doctor told Collin he would make the exam quick, and in the midst of his screaming he opened his mouth and said "Ahhh" or pointed to where the stethescope should go just like the doctor asked. It really was kind of funny. Then it was time for his blood draw, and (thanks to lidocaine cream) he sat still and didn't cry or flinch as the port was accessed. He's always such a trooper! I was excited to learn that he has gained another quarter of an inch in height since his last visit on August 15. He is also scheduled for surgery on October 14 to have his mediport removed. After the port is out, he'll have to go to the lab for bloodwork (instead of the awesome clinic nurses doing it), and I just hate the thought of him suffering through the needle sticks again. I won't necessarily know where to put the lidocaine cream since it will depend on where they can find a good vein. I guess if I have to, I'll bring the cream with me and after they find a good vein, I'll put the cream on and wait for the hour it takes to numb the site. But even though it makes me nervous, getting his port out is yet another step toward "normalcy"!
In earlier posts I mentioned another little fighter, Conner, who was treated at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital and then at CHOP. Conner received his angel wings on September 4 with his parents by his side. Please keep his family in your prayers as they grieve and try to carry on without their beloved son. Also remember the families of some other little fighters who have earned their wings in the last week: Lennon, Layla, Gabby, and Faith. Fly high sweet angels!
Collin had his latest clinic appointment today. He was waving and saying hi to all of the wonderful clinic staff, and even answered a few simple questions. Part way through the doctor's exam, Collin decided he was ready to leave, and started crying "go go go go go!" He drew a small crowd of doctors and nurses because they're not used to hearing him cry much. The doctor told Collin he would make the exam quick, and in the midst of his screaming he opened his mouth and said "Ahhh" or pointed to where the stethescope should go just like the doctor asked. It really was kind of funny. Then it was time for his blood draw, and (thanks to lidocaine cream) he sat still and didn't cry or flinch as the port was accessed. He's always such a trooper! I was excited to learn that he has gained another quarter of an inch in height since his last visit on August 15. He is also scheduled for surgery on October 14 to have his mediport removed. After the port is out, he'll have to go to the lab for bloodwork (instead of the awesome clinic nurses doing it), and I just hate the thought of him suffering through the needle sticks again. I won't necessarily know where to put the lidocaine cream since it will depend on where they can find a good vein. I guess if I have to, I'll bring the cream with me and after they find a good vein, I'll put the cream on and wait for the hour it takes to numb the site. But even though it makes me nervous, getting his port out is yet another step toward "normalcy"!
Friday, September 2, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
This week has been a busy one! We survived hurricane Irene; we had no power for about eight hours, but due to the generator we bought a few years ago after finishing the basement, we were barely inconvenienced. Thankfully we didn't even need to use it to power our sump pumps. The power outage caused Neya's school to be closed Monday, so her first day of second grade was delayed a day. She is now happily settled into school, and loves her new teacher. I think she'll have another good school year!
Monday was a big day for Collin; he had his very last dose of chemo! God willing, he will never need chemo again! I'm a little nervous because I now I feel like we're not actively waging war against the beast, and I don't want it to ever come back. However, it's nice to not be giving him the measured doses of poison that along with killing cancer cells have also dried out his skin and caused irritability, nausea, constipation, and many other nasty side effects.
I have taken Collin to two Kindermusik classes since my last update. The first week, he didn't want to take off his sunglasses (usually he doesn't keep them on!) and he sat on my lap and buried his face against me. But as the class went on and I participated, I slowly turned him around so he could see what we were doing. By the time the teacher read a book to the kids, Collin got off my lap and sat down right in front of the book, and was pointing to the pictures! By the end of the class, he was having a good time. During the second class, he participated the whole time, singing, dancing, and playing instruments to the best of his ability. It brought tears to my eyes to watch him having so much fun, because I remember where he was a year and a half ago. He's come such a long way since then!
The eye surgery that Collin had in March to straighten his eyes has not worked the way we expected it to. At some point during the tumor resection in April of 2010 and the increased pressure in his brain in the days following the surgery, damage was done to the sixth nerve that controls the lateral rectus muscles of the eyes (the muscles that pull the eyes outward). In March of this year, the pediatric ophthalmologist at Hershey (Dr. W) performed surgery to weaken the medial rectus muscles (the muscles that pull the eye inward) in order to give the lateral rectus muscles a chance to pull the eyes outward with no resistance. Following the surgery, Collin's eyes turned outward a little, but not as much as we had hoped, and now his eyes have turned inward again. To further try to correct the position of the yes, Dr. W is recommending two more surgical procedures. In the first one, he would tighten the lateral rectus muscles so they would pull the eyes outward, and he could also try to further weaken the medial rectus muscles so they are pulling the eyes inward even less. However, in the end, he doesn't feel Collin's eyes will be as straight and mobile as we would like. In the second procedure, he would move the muscles that pull the eyes up and down over to a lateral position so they pull the eyes outward instead of up and down. His eyes would still have some up and down movement, but still wouldn't have as much side to side movement as he would have normally.
Last week we took Collin for a second opinion to the pediatric ophthalmologist (Dr. F) who sent him for the MRI that showed his tumor in 2010. After examining Collin and reviewing his records, Dr. F does not feel that doing the first of the two procedures mentioned above will benefit Collin at all. He feels that at this point, since there has been no improvement in the sixth nerve, that the lateral rectus muscles that pull the eyes outward are esentially dead, and moving them forward on the eyeball will not help them pull the eyes outward. He feels that the best option for improving the alignment of Collin's eyes is the second procedure recommended by Dr. W. However, Dr. F explained that there are some major risks involved with the surgery. The muscles that move the eyes up and down also supply the bloodflow to the front of the eyeball. Removing the blood supply during the surgery to move the muscles can cause inflammation, glaucoma that is extremely difficult to treat, and even blindness. He recommends a blood vessel sparing surgical technique to reduce the risk to Collin's sight. However, there are very few surgeons that perform the surgery using the blood vessel sparing technique.
Dr. F also discussed the option of doing nothing further to Collin's eyes at this time. He said nothing would be lost if we were to wait, and that any surgery could be performed at a later time. Collin has learned to compensate well enough that he has functional vision at this time, although it is nowhere near ideal. Perhaps different surgical techniques will be invented or perfected in the future that would reduce the overall risk to Collin's sight.
Monday was a big day for Collin; he had his very last dose of chemo! God willing, he will never need chemo again! I'm a little nervous because I now I feel like we're not actively waging war against the beast, and I don't want it to ever come back. However, it's nice to not be giving him the measured doses of poison that along with killing cancer cells have also dried out his skin and caused irritability, nausea, constipation, and many other nasty side effects.
I have taken Collin to two Kindermusik classes since my last update. The first week, he didn't want to take off his sunglasses (usually he doesn't keep them on!) and he sat on my lap and buried his face against me. But as the class went on and I participated, I slowly turned him around so he could see what we were doing. By the time the teacher read a book to the kids, Collin got off my lap and sat down right in front of the book, and was pointing to the pictures! By the end of the class, he was having a good time. During the second class, he participated the whole time, singing, dancing, and playing instruments to the best of his ability. It brought tears to my eyes to watch him having so much fun, because I remember where he was a year and a half ago. He's come such a long way since then!
The eye surgery that Collin had in March to straighten his eyes has not worked the way we expected it to. At some point during the tumor resection in April of 2010 and the increased pressure in his brain in the days following the surgery, damage was done to the sixth nerve that controls the lateral rectus muscles of the eyes (the muscles that pull the eyes outward). In March of this year, the pediatric ophthalmologist at Hershey (Dr. W) performed surgery to weaken the medial rectus muscles (the muscles that pull the eye inward) in order to give the lateral rectus muscles a chance to pull the eyes outward with no resistance. Following the surgery, Collin's eyes turned outward a little, but not as much as we had hoped, and now his eyes have turned inward again. To further try to correct the position of the yes, Dr. W is recommending two more surgical procedures. In the first one, he would tighten the lateral rectus muscles so they would pull the eyes outward, and he could also try to further weaken the medial rectus muscles so they are pulling the eyes inward even less. However, in the end, he doesn't feel Collin's eyes will be as straight and mobile as we would like. In the second procedure, he would move the muscles that pull the eyes up and down over to a lateral position so they pull the eyes outward instead of up and down. His eyes would still have some up and down movement, but still wouldn't have as much side to side movement as he would have normally.
Last week we took Collin for a second opinion to the pediatric ophthalmologist (Dr. F) who sent him for the MRI that showed his tumor in 2010. After examining Collin and reviewing his records, Dr. F does not feel that doing the first of the two procedures mentioned above will benefit Collin at all. He feels that at this point, since there has been no improvement in the sixth nerve, that the lateral rectus muscles that pull the eyes outward are esentially dead, and moving them forward on the eyeball will not help them pull the eyes outward. He feels that the best option for improving the alignment of Collin's eyes is the second procedure recommended by Dr. W. However, Dr. F explained that there are some major risks involved with the surgery. The muscles that move the eyes up and down also supply the bloodflow to the front of the eyeball. Removing the blood supply during the surgery to move the muscles can cause inflammation, glaucoma that is extremely difficult to treat, and even blindness. He recommends a blood vessel sparing surgical technique to reduce the risk to Collin's sight. However, there are very few surgeons that perform the surgery using the blood vessel sparing technique.
Dr. F also discussed the option of doing nothing further to Collin's eyes at this time. He said nothing would be lost if we were to wait, and that any surgery could be performed at a later time. Collin has learned to compensate well enough that he has functional vision at this time, although it is nowhere near ideal. Perhaps different surgical techniques will be invented or perfected in the future that would reduce the overall risk to Collin's sight.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Collin had his clinic visit today, and it went very well! He weighed in at 14.5 k (31.9 lbs), and this is the second time he stood on the scale himself (instead of the nurse weighing me alone, then me holding Collin, and taking the difference)! Then he was able to stand for his height to be measured; we did it twice because I was surprised at the number; he was just a hair under 35" which means he has grown almost half an inch in a month!
Today we saw one of the other pediatric oncologists who hasn't seen Collin since he was in the hospital last year. He was pleased to see how well Collin is doing. We talked about how Collin has handled the Accutane, and I mentioned how it seems to me that Collin's skin becomes more dry on the right side of his face than it does on his left when he is on it. He explained that the damaged nerves that cause the right-sided facial paralysis are also part of the autonomic nervous system, and it's possible that that contributes to the skin drying out more on the right side. He said he wouldn't be surprised if Collin sweats more on one side of his body too; I've never looked for it, so I'll have to see if I notice it now. It was just nice to know that there's an explanation for the pattern of dry skin from the Accutane and that I wasn't imagining it. We picked up the last round of Accutane from the pharmacy today, and tonight Collin had the first of his final 28 doses. In two weeks he will be finished with his maintenance chemo!
Today's labwork showed Collin's ANC was 2420; normal would be around 3000, so it would seem that his immune system is pretty good. Sometime in the future his IGG (immunoglobin) level will be checked which will give us more information about how Collin's immune system is. Once his mediport is removed sometime in the fall, I won't have to rush him to the ER for blood cultures every time he gets a fever. Hopefully it will make flu season a little less worrisome!
Collin continues to make progress walking on his own at home, although balance is still an issue. He still falls multiple times a day, and many times he will fall right on his face. Every time he falls it breaks my heart, but every time he just picks himself up and keeps going. He never gives up. His physical therapist gave him a few weeks break, and then re-evaluated him on Aug. 5. She feels the balance issues are largely due to muscle weakness, and she will now be seeing him every other week to continue working on his muscle strength and balance. She also gives us activities to work on at home with him to help.
Since we are now only going to therapy two to three days a week, I signed Collin up for a Kindermusic class that starts the end of this month. He loves music, and his speech therapist said that Kindermusic will reinforce some of the things she works on with him. I am also going to register him for the next session of toddler story time at the library in September. I am ridiculously excited to expose him to some new experiences, get him around other children in a more "normal" setting, and do some of the things with him that I used to do with Neya when she was his age!
Collin has come so far in a little over a year. He is a happy, joyful little boy with a sense of humor, and he makes me laugh on a daily basis. One day last week, he and Neya were playing. Neya was laying on the floor setting something up that she didn't want him to touch, so she kept telling him to leave it alone. This of course made him angry. I called him over to me to try to distract him. But a minute later he walked over to Neya, leaned down and yanked her headband off her head, and walked towards me as fast as he could without falling...with a big grin on his face! I just laughed hysterically; it was such a normal brother thing to do! Another day, Collin's student speech therapist was working on his word cards with him. She showed him the picture of an eye, which we knew he can say very well. She asked him what the picture was. He got a smile on his face, and said "nose." She said, "That's not a nose. Where is your nose?" Collin then pointed to his nose. She asked him again what was in the picture. He grinned again and said "nose!" He certainly has a sense of humor!
This evening I learned that another little Medullo warrior earned his angel wings today. Little Bo was diagnosed in 2009, and relapsed this past February. His CaringBridge page can be found at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/bostory. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.
Today we saw one of the other pediatric oncologists who hasn't seen Collin since he was in the hospital last year. He was pleased to see how well Collin is doing. We talked about how Collin has handled the Accutane, and I mentioned how it seems to me that Collin's skin becomes more dry on the right side of his face than it does on his left when he is on it. He explained that the damaged nerves that cause the right-sided facial paralysis are also part of the autonomic nervous system, and it's possible that that contributes to the skin drying out more on the right side. He said he wouldn't be surprised if Collin sweats more on one side of his body too; I've never looked for it, so I'll have to see if I notice it now. It was just nice to know that there's an explanation for the pattern of dry skin from the Accutane and that I wasn't imagining it. We picked up the last round of Accutane from the pharmacy today, and tonight Collin had the first of his final 28 doses. In two weeks he will be finished with his maintenance chemo!
Today's labwork showed Collin's ANC was 2420; normal would be around 3000, so it would seem that his immune system is pretty good. Sometime in the future his IGG (immunoglobin) level will be checked which will give us more information about how Collin's immune system is. Once his mediport is removed sometime in the fall, I won't have to rush him to the ER for blood cultures every time he gets a fever. Hopefully it will make flu season a little less worrisome!
Collin continues to make progress walking on his own at home, although balance is still an issue. He still falls multiple times a day, and many times he will fall right on his face. Every time he falls it breaks my heart, but every time he just picks himself up and keeps going. He never gives up. His physical therapist gave him a few weeks break, and then re-evaluated him on Aug. 5. She feels the balance issues are largely due to muscle weakness, and she will now be seeing him every other week to continue working on his muscle strength and balance. She also gives us activities to work on at home with him to help.
Since we are now only going to therapy two to three days a week, I signed Collin up for a Kindermusic class that starts the end of this month. He loves music, and his speech therapist said that Kindermusic will reinforce some of the things she works on with him. I am also going to register him for the next session of toddler story time at the library in September. I am ridiculously excited to expose him to some new experiences, get him around other children in a more "normal" setting, and do some of the things with him that I used to do with Neya when she was his age!
Collin has come so far in a little over a year. He is a happy, joyful little boy with a sense of humor, and he makes me laugh on a daily basis. One day last week, he and Neya were playing. Neya was laying on the floor setting something up that she didn't want him to touch, so she kept telling him to leave it alone. This of course made him angry. I called him over to me to try to distract him. But a minute later he walked over to Neya, leaned down and yanked her headband off her head, and walked towards me as fast as he could without falling...with a big grin on his face! I just laughed hysterically; it was such a normal brother thing to do! Another day, Collin's student speech therapist was working on his word cards with him. She showed him the picture of an eye, which we knew he can say very well. She asked him what the picture was. He got a smile on his face, and said "nose." She said, "That's not a nose. Where is your nose?" Collin then pointed to his nose. She asked him again what was in the picture. He grinned again and said "nose!" He certainly has a sense of humor!
This evening I learned that another little Medullo warrior earned his angel wings today. Little Bo was diagnosed in 2009, and relapsed this past February. His CaringBridge page can be found at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/bostory. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Collin had his quarterly MRI today. Originally he was given an 8 am timeslot, but we got a call last night that the MRI machine had broken, and they pushed him back to 9:30 am. I called before leaving the house this morning, and thankfully the part needed for repair was flown in and got to the hospital this morning, and the technician was almost done fixing the machine. I was worried about how Collin would react when I told him he couldn't eat breakfast, but he handled it pretty well.
In the MRI waiting room, Collin looked like he was going to cry, but he leaned his head against mine and stayed strong. I managed to distract him, but seeing him nervous made me want to cry. I was so proud of how brave he was! Then when the anesthesiologist put the mask over Collin's face that would deliver the gas to put him to sleep, he kept saying "shirt, shirt." He was concerned about his Wiggles t-shirt that I had taken off so the anesthesiologist could access his mediport once he was asleep! After the MRI as Collin was waking up, the nurse asked if Collin is always so calm and easygoing, because he wasn't fussing much, he was just cuddly and asking to get dressed.
Once Collin was being put into the MRI machine, I headed up to the 7th floor to visit our nurses. I also ran into little Sean's dad. Sean is doing well, and should be completely done with his treatments in October. Their journey has been even longer than ours; please continue to keep Sean and his family in your prayers!
I didn't expect to get any MRI results until sometime this evening, but our oncologist's nurse called this afternoon. The MRI was ALL CLEAR!!! I can't stop smiling, I am so happy and relieved! Thank you for all of your prayers and positive thoughts! Please keep them going for all of the kids in this fight, their families, and the dedicated doctors and nurses that care for them!
In the MRI waiting room, Collin looked like he was going to cry, but he leaned his head against mine and stayed strong. I managed to distract him, but seeing him nervous made me want to cry. I was so proud of how brave he was! Then when the anesthesiologist put the mask over Collin's face that would deliver the gas to put him to sleep, he kept saying "shirt, shirt." He was concerned about his Wiggles t-shirt that I had taken off so the anesthesiologist could access his mediport once he was asleep! After the MRI as Collin was waking up, the nurse asked if Collin is always so calm and easygoing, because he wasn't fussing much, he was just cuddly and asking to get dressed.
Once Collin was being put into the MRI machine, I headed up to the 7th floor to visit our nurses. I also ran into little Sean's dad. Sean is doing well, and should be completely done with his treatments in October. Their journey has been even longer than ours; please continue to keep Sean and his family in your prayers!
I didn't expect to get any MRI results until sometime this evening, but our oncologist's nurse called this afternoon. The MRI was ALL CLEAR!!! I can't stop smiling, I am so happy and relieved! Thank you for all of your prayers and positive thoughts! Please keep them going for all of the kids in this fight, their families, and the dedicated doctors and nurses that care for them!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Collin had an episode of vomiting last Friday that really made me anxious. He had eaten dinner, and was sitting in the recliner watching Elmo on the iPad when out of the blue, with no crying, gagging, or coughing beforehand, he threw up. He had no fever, and he seemed perfectly fine before and after the episode. Even though I know kids who have had tumors where Collin's was tend to throw up easily, the incident really increased my (already high) anxiety, because vomiting for no apparent reason was one of the first symptoms of the tumor and I dread relapse. Thankfully he has not thrown up since Friday, and seems fine. He also shows no evidence of chicken pox (and my shingles are almost gone-yay!)
Today at his routine clinic visit, I talked to his oncologist about the vomiting, but she wasn't concerned at all. She wasn't surprised or concerned either that he hasn't grown taller in quite a while; she said it's not unusual for it to take at least a year off treatment before kids start to grow taller again.
Collin's last dose of his current chemo (Etoposide) will be July 26. He has two more rounds (14 days each) of Accutane, and then he will be totally finished with chemotherapy by the end of August. On one hand I am excited to be able to stop giving him measured doses of poison. I know it is progress, a milestone in his treatment. However, it's scary as well, because not giving him chemo means we're not physically fighting the cancer anymore. It's a terrifying thought.
Collin's oncologist talked about something (coincidentally) called "Collins' Law." Basically it's a formula for predicting "risk for recurrence of embryonal tumors including medulloblastomas." It is determined by taking the person's age at diagnosis (16 months for Collin), and adding 9. So, the next 10 months are critical; if by May 2010 (25 months from Collin's original diagnosis) he is still free of any clinical evidence of recurrence, he is considered "cured." There is still a small risk of secondary cancer years from now that can be caused by the chemotherapy Collin has received over the last year and a half. So please pray that Collin's next MRI this coming Thursday still shows "No Evidence of Disease." As soon as I know the results, I will share them!
Today at his routine clinic visit, I talked to his oncologist about the vomiting, but she wasn't concerned at all. She wasn't surprised or concerned either that he hasn't grown taller in quite a while; she said it's not unusual for it to take at least a year off treatment before kids start to grow taller again.
Collin's last dose of his current chemo (Etoposide) will be July 26. He has two more rounds (14 days each) of Accutane, and then he will be totally finished with chemotherapy by the end of August. On one hand I am excited to be able to stop giving him measured doses of poison. I know it is progress, a milestone in his treatment. However, it's scary as well, because not giving him chemo means we're not physically fighting the cancer anymore. It's a terrifying thought.
Collin's oncologist talked about something (coincidentally) called "Collins' Law." Basically it's a formula for predicting "risk for recurrence of embryonal tumors including medulloblastomas." It is determined by taking the person's age at diagnosis (16 months for Collin), and adding 9. So, the next 10 months are critical; if by May 2010 (25 months from Collin's original diagnosis) he is still free of any clinical evidence of recurrence, he is considered "cured." There is still a small risk of secondary cancer years from now that can be caused by the chemotherapy Collin has received over the last year and a half. So please pray that Collin's next MRI this coming Thursday still shows "No Evidence of Disease." As soon as I know the results, I will share them!
Friday, July 15, 2011
When Collin was still in the hospital, we tried to keep him busy any way we could...different toys, dvd's, etc. One of the things he loved (and still loves) was watching videos of The Wiggles. He knows all of the songs, and he sings and dances to them regularly. So when Bill found out that The Wiggles would be playing at the Hershey Theater, we knew we had to get tickets and take Collin to the show.
Then I thought it would be neat if Collin couldget a chance to meet The Wiggles in person, and I decided on a whim to call the theater box office. I explained just how much The Wiggles meant to Collin and what they've helped him get through, and asked whether it would be possible for Collin to meet them. Phone calls were made and emails were sent, and in the end we received an email offering a meet-and-greet. We were so excited, and I couldn't wait to see Collin's reaction when he was face-to-face with The Wiggles!
The concert was yesterday. We had to be there an hour before the show. There were about four or five other families there for the meet-and-greet aswell. We sat in the theater, and talked to two of the dancers. Then Sam, Murray, Anthony, Captain Feathersword, and Brad (who was standing in for Jeff who had recently had surgery and wasn't able to travel yet) came out, and spent time talking and posing for pictures with each family. They were SO very nice!
The concert was a lot of fun, and Bill and I enjoyed it as much as all the kids there. The Wiggles put on a great show; they were very interactive with the wholeaudience, and genuinely looked like they enjoyed every minute of the show! I had expected Collin to sing and dance along as he does at home, but instead he just watched and took it all in. He did fall asleep for a while in the middle (it was his normal naptime, and he couldn't fight sleep any longer), but he woke up before the end of the show. At the end of the show, he kept waving to the stage and saying "Wiggles, Wiggles!" Now, Collin loves to wear his Wiggles concert t-shirt and look at the pictures!
Then I thought it would be neat if Collin couldget a chance to meet The Wiggles in person, and I decided on a whim to call the theater box office. I explained just how much The Wiggles meant to Collin and what they've helped him get through, and asked whether it would be possible for Collin to meet them. Phone calls were made and emails were sent, and in the end we received an email offering a meet-and-greet. We were so excited, and I couldn't wait to see Collin's reaction when he was face-to-face with The Wiggles!
The concert was yesterday. We had to be there an hour before the show. There were about four or five other families there for the meet-and-greet aswell. We sat in the theater, and talked to two of the dancers. Then Sam, Murray, Anthony, Captain Feathersword, and Brad (who was standing in for Jeff who had recently had surgery and wasn't able to travel yet) came out, and spent time talking and posing for pictures with each family. They were SO very nice!
The concert was a lot of fun, and Bill and I enjoyed it as much as all the kids there. The Wiggles put on a great show; they were very interactive with the wholeaudience, and genuinely looked like they enjoyed every minute of the show! I had expected Collin to sing and dance along as he does at home, but instead he just watched and took it all in. He did fall asleep for a while in the middle (it was his normal naptime, and he couldn't fight sleep any longer), but he woke up before the end of the show. At the end of the show, he kept waving to the stage and saying "Wiggles, Wiggles!" Now, Collin loves to wear his Wiggles concert t-shirt and look at the pictures!
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