Sunday, September 10, 2017

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2009. I posted a similar photo a few nights ago of Peter wheeling Mattie out onto our deck to see his much wished gift.... a ride on car. This was an item Mattie wanted even when he was healthy. But I always refused this request, until we found out Mattie was dying. That particular day, Mattie sat outside on our deck and watched Peter put "Speedy Red" together. Naturally if Mattie did not have cancer, he would have been running around and trying to participate in the assemble process, but given Mattie's fragile state, he did not have the energy for this, yet he didn't want to miss out and stayed outside for hours watching Peter.


Quote of the day: You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you. ~ Mary Tyler Moore

I woke up this morning to hearing the DC Triathlon right outside our windows. Sunny was besides himself! He wanted to go outdoors and watch the commotion. It isn't everyday that we have bicycles RATHER than cars on Route 66. You can see Sunny watching the bicycle riders from above. Peter and I loved the peacefulness of NO cars. 

While Sunny was on our balcony, our neighbor and her dog, were on the balcony below. Sunny was not only watching bicycles but communicating to his doggy buddy in the unit below ours!

Meanwhile, next weekend Peter and I are participating in Curefest. It is a National event held each September on the National Mall. The event calls attention to childhood cancer and draws families from all over the USA and Canada. September is childhood cancer awareness month, which is why this advocacy/ awareness event is held this month. 

Mattie Miracle will be hosting a booth under a tent at Curefest and each year we try to bring new materials with us. This year, we wish to highlight the Psychosocial Standards and the implementation process. So in order to educate families about the Standards, we generated a tri-fold brochure that attendees can take home with them to learn more. 

The brochure was written by us and targets families. Given our experiences I believe we were the perfect ones to write this document and help families of children with cancer understand the need for the Standards, what they are meant to do, and how families can download the Standards free of cost. The Standards are not just for professionals to use but can help families learn about the psychosocial issues that can arise during each stage of the cancer process. The Standards can alert families to findings in the literature, to help them understand they are not alone, and most importantly give them the words and research necessary to impress upon a medical care team that psychosocial support is needed.