Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2009. Mattie was in our living room with Peter. They both transformed our floor into a huge race track. Mattie loved this track, because the cars were battery powered, and he could watch them speed around and control them with his hands rather than having to walk around on his feet. Do note the socks Mattie was wearing in this picture.... they are pink! My friend, Junko, gave me these cozy pink socks because she knows I am always cold. Mattie loved the way the socks felt, and he literally pulled them off my feet, and put them onto his that night! The irony is tonight as I write this blog, I am wearing the same pink socks. I forgot about Mattie pulling my socks off, until this picture jogged my memory.
Quote of the day: None of us would part with a single one of our memories yet they are all so laced with pain. The need and desire to touch and hold our child again brings an ache that has no release. ~ Willis Day
For those of you who wore gold and/or orange today...... WE THANK YOU! I appreciated the emails today letting me know you were wearing either gold, for pediatric cancer, or orange, in support of the Mattie Miracle Foundation. These messages mean a lot to us! Peter and I both wore orange today, and I wore a golden sun necklace, which also captures the essence of Mattie.
I received an email from my friend Debbie this afternoon. She brought to my attention an organization called, CancerCare. CancerCare is a national nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization that provides free, professional support services to anyone affected by cancer: people with cancer, caregivers, children, loved ones, and the bereaved. CancerCare programs—including counseling and support groups, education, financial assistance and practical help—are provided by professional oncology social workers and are completely free of charge. Founded in 1944, CancerCare provided individual help to more than 100,000 people last year, in addition to the more than 1 million unique visitors to their websites.
CancerCare launched Cupcakes for a Cause® in 2004 by enlisting a small group of bakeries in NYC to sell specially decorated cupcakes to raise funds for the CancerCare for Kids program. To learn more about this wonderful and tasty program, visit: http://www.cupcakesforacause.org/
Cupcakes for a Cause® Week is September 20-26, 2010. It is a week-long event with hundreds of bakeries and grocery stores around the country selling specially-marked cupcakes and donating a portion of sales to CancerCare for Kids. To find a participating bakery in your neighborhood go to...
http://www.cupcakesforacause.org/bakery/find/
As I went on the cupcake website tonight, I came across e-Cupcakes. You can create your own e-Cupcake and send it to your friends and family for FREE! Presenting sponsor göt2b is donating $1 for every e-Cupcake sent in September, up to $10,000. I sent several e-cupcakes out already and if you are looking for a way to support pediatric cancer and alert others to this important cause, consider sending an electronic cupcake. Click here to send an e-cupcake: http://www.cupcakesforacause.org/ecupcake/
Today was a day of chores and running around. When I got home this afternoon, I decided to do laundry and work in my garden. However, as I was working, I noticed that I was having trouble seeing out of my left eye. Almost like when you look into the sun, and then look away, you feel you are seeing sun spots! Well that is how my initial issue began, I did not think much of it at first, since I was outside in the bright sunshine. But then I noticed that my field of vision was becoming significantly impaired. So I went inside and sat down and I noticed that I was losing vision in my left eye altogether. If this hadn't happened to me two other times in my life already, I would have been in a full blown panic today. However, as a migraine sufferer, I also suffer from a rare condition called ocular migraine. This has been diagnosed by an ophthalmologist, and though I realized what was happening to me, I was still frightened, because I never know when my vision will return. Peter and Karen supported me through this feeling, and thankfully within 35 minutes, my vision did return. Here is some information about ocular or retinal migraines, if you are interested in learning more about them.
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A retinal migraine (or sometimes called an ocular migraine) is thought to be a rare migraine form but some studies suggest that this is due to it not being accurately diagnosed in many cases. It is, however, thought to occur more commonly than ophthalmoplegic migraines. Retinal migraine is found to affect more women than men, as with all migraines, and it also appears to be more common in women who have previously experienced migraine with aura. In a retinal migraine, visual problems occur prior to the headache part of the migraine and temporary but complete blindness can occur. Other symptoms of a retinal migraine include:
1) Temporary blind spots
2) Total blindness, often isolated to one eye
3) Possible headache occurring with or after visual disturbances
It is thought that the muscles around the eye contract, disrupting blood flow and resulting in the temporary vision loss. A migraine with aura usually involves visual disturbances to both eyes whereas a retinal migraine more often involves visual disturbances, including blindness, to one eye. Exercise or any other exertion may prompt a retinal migraine
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Peter was worried about me tonight, so he got home from work earlier than usual. We sat outside on our deck and had dinner, and naturally Patches (our cat) wasn't far behind. She hopped up on Mattie's chair, as she does many nights, now that he is gone. So because of the day I had, I am signing off early, but wanted to thank you again for supporting National Childhood Cancer Awareness Day and for pausing to give thought to all the children and families touched by cancer each and every day.
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