Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2009. We took Mattie to New York City for a second time to start his experimental treatment at Sloan Kettering. He had to start the protocol in New York but could continue treatment each week at Georgetown. Before Mattie's first infusion, we took him sight seeing in New York. New York is a challenging City to negotiate when you are fully functioning, however, with a disability and in a wheelchair, it was much harder. Nonetheless, we were determined to get Mattie around using taxis and even ferry boats! One nice by-stander snapped a photo of us with Lady Liberty behind us.
Quote of the day: Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul.
I found this quote on the Internet today. Certainly I understand the spirit in which it was intended and perhaps why the author even wrote it, but let's be honest.............. cancer impacts every part of the patient and the family. Both literally and figuratively. In fact, many childhood cancer treatments impact cognitive functioning, specifically treatments for brain cancer, and many high dosage chemotherapies have cardiac side effects. Mattie's therapies certainly did! So in these examples cancer directly affects the MIND and the HEART! Putting that aside, I know the psychological ramifications of cancer are NOT easily measured and quantified, and yet everything from diagnosis, scanning, living in the hospital, treatment, side effects, feeling ill, in pain, being isolated, losing friends, disease progression, and the list goes all weigh heavily on the MIND and HEART. All of these factors have consequences! Consequences that would never have arisen in the first place if cancer wasn't physically present. So yes cancer may be a physical disease, but unfortunately you are missing the forest through the trees if that is all you view it and treat it as.
As of tomorrow, I will be on day 7 of working on Walk permits! However, it will practically be done! As of today, all permits have been filed and tomorrow I am headed to City Hall to pay our permitting fees, which have substantially tripled in cost from last year! Amazing no??! It is hard to at times accept these fees knowing that we are hosting this event on private property. But I realize it is the price of doing business.
Later today, I went to Mattie's school to set up for tomorrow's last kindergarten art session. I am hearing feedback that the children are having lively conversations at their dinner tables at home about Matisse and Picasso and naturally their parents are wondering where this is coming from. That made me chuckle! I find the whole thing absolutely hysterical since I am not an art major, I am not an art educator, or an educator of young children. Yet something is being conveyed to these young minds! Tomorrow's lesson focuses upon the friendship and rivalry between these two great artists. In so many ways Matisse and Picasso understood and knew each other better than anyone else in the world! They certainly studied each nuisance of each others' works over the years, and in a way it was the competition between the two of them that sparked great achievements in art! Somehow the children always love this last session, given the hands on exercise and then the special snack. I will share photos tomorrow!
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