Her treatment began the next day, but for her Mom and I, it began when we first arrived in the Cancer ward. We went through all the emotions that everybody goes through, Why her, Why us, Why God Why. When you see several kids just like yours going through the same thing, you realize that none of these kids deserve to go through this, that they are all good kids with good parents who didn't do anything to deserve this. For us, it helped us come to terms with the diagnosis and prepared us for things to come. Caitlin spent 6 days in the hospital and fought the doctor's and nurse's every step of the way. It's her fighting spirit that has enabled her to do as well as she has.
Christmas was the first big event since her diagnosis and even though we would have liked to cancel Christmas that year, we still celebrated it with our Family. By this time, Caitlin had lost almost all of her beautiful curly hair. She also had a tremendous weight gain due to a whole month of Prednisone, 9 lbs. in one month. That was a gain of 33% of her diagnosis weight, 27 lbs. to 36 lbs. She has since lost the weight and is back to herself again.
Her Mom has since taken an extended leave of absence from work to stay at home and take care of Caitlin, since sending her to day care would not be good due to colds and runny noses. In the beginning we were really consumed with fears of financial hardship. Although it has been hard not having a second paycheck to support us, we have managed to keep our heads above water and have kept our spirits afloat as well. We attribute a lot of this to all of our Family and Friends who have supported us through out this very difficult ordeal. So many people have given so much of themselves and their time. Our friends and family in Florida have raised money through yard sales and other event to help off set the lose of income and to help pay medical expenses related to Caitlin's treatment. My brother open up a trust fund for Caitlin and all the money raised has been put in it for future use. If you would like to make a donation I will include the information at the end of this page.
Of course, I couldn't end this without giving thanks to all the people all around this country who have sent cards with words of encouragement. We have received cards form people we don't know, people we haven't spoken to in years and from people who have been in our situation. The cards and prayers mean more to us than what anybody will ever truly know. We can not thank all of you enough for what you have done. You are what makes this situation livable.
I would also like to take a minute to thank my wife for all that she has done. She has put her career on hold to stay at home with our daughter. We have since had our second child which she is also taking care of. I know that her days are often harder than mine while I'm at work. Without her tireless dedication and devotion, I don't think any of us would be holding up as well as we have. She may not hear it often enough, but I really appreciate all that you have done for Caitlin and the rest of our family.