November MRI

Morgan got an MRI this past Monday and everything looked stable!!  She's really doing great, we have a lot to be thankful for! 

St. Jude Give Thanks Open House

Helping Hands 4 Morgan



Sabrina Soto from HGTV with Morgan and Ashley (another St.Jude patient)
Click link for video
 

We had a GREAT time at the Open House!  We raised $6635 and were the #1 team on Long Island!!  We met lots of wonderful people and hope to get more involved with the fundraising and awareness aspect of St. Jude.  Giving back to St. Jude has been like therapy for us, it made us feel so good and we couldn't have done it without all your support!  We look forward to doing it all over again next year, the pressure is on, we have a title to keep! :)

Make-A-Wish

As most of you know, Make-A-Wish is very near and dear to our hearts!  Back in February they granted Morgan's wish to meet Pooh Bear and Princesses and sent us on the most phenomenal vacation to Disney World. 

Macy's has partnered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation this holiday season.   

MACY'S BELIEVE CAMPAIGN
November - December

"We're a big believer in holiday miracles.  That's why every holiday season, in partnership with
Make-A-Wish, we invite people of all ages to write a letter to Santa and help make wishes come true.  For each letter received, we donate $1, up to $1 million, to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.  Thanks to believers everywhere, we've donated more than $4.9 million since 2008!"

Please take a few minutes and visit the link above and create a letter to Santa and help make a child's wish come true!  If your child is in the Cutchogue East Elementary School, they have already brought home a wonderful letter regarding this campaign.  Students from the College of Business Honors Program at Stony Brook are teaming with the school to help bring joy to a local child by sponsoring his wish to go to Disney World.  Letters are being collected in a box in the Main Office at the Elementary School until December 7th or drop off a stamped letter in a Santa Mail Letter Box at your local Macy's now through Christmas Eve. 

Will post again next week and update you on Morgan's MRI and the St. Jude Open House!

St. Jude Give Thanks Walk Update

I just wanted to let everyone know that I received an email from St. Jude informing us that the walk in Long Island has been cancelled!  :( 

"As our city and region recover from the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy, our thoughts are with those who have experienced losses to their homes, businesses and local communities. We are saddened to tell you that we have made the difficult decision not to move forward with holding the 2012 St. Jude Give thanks. Walk. in Long Island, NY at the Bethpage Ballpark, as well as in a few other surrounding areas affected by this storm.

At St. Jude, we see strength, hope and resilience in the faces of our patients and families every day. We know these same qualities lie in our community and we look forward to coming back stronger than ever. Thank you for your continued support of St. Jude. You are truly making a difference in the lives of patients at St. Jude and in communities everywhere."

While we are extremely disappointed with this news, we completely understand and are beyond proud of our team for helping raise $6160.00 thus far for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital!  Thank you to all of our Helping Hands 4 Morgan team members and all of our donors for supporting our family and this extraordinary hospital!!  Words cannot express just how much this has meant to us.

In lieu of the walk, they are having an open house hosted at the ALSAC/ St. Jude New York City office.  The Regional Event Specialist left me a message today asking if we would be interested in attending.  Adam and I would very much like to go and would be honored to represent our team!  So we will be heading to NYC Saturday morning and then leaving for St. Jude Sunday afternoon for yet another scan with Morgan.  We're hoping for some more positive news before the holidays!  We will keep you posted!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

 

 

 

St. Jude Give Thanks Walk Update

So far we have raised $5313 for St. Jude!!!  Just wanted to remind everyone that the walk is on November 17th, less than a month away!  Please visit our Helping Hands 4 Morgan team website and donate to this wonderful hospital or join our team and walk with us in November.  We have far exceeded our goal but we would love to keep going! 

Hurricane Grill and Wings in Hauppauge will be helping us to continue the fun and fundraising after the walk. For all walk participants that eat at Hurricane Grill and Wings after the walk, Hurricane will donate 20% of the bill to St. Jude!!

MRI Results

Our tough cookie!

Morgan had an MRI this past Monday and everything still looks stable!!  There was basically no change at all in the images which, at this point in time, is the best we can hope for.  We know there is no more possibility of the tumor shrinking so no change is a very good thing!  Without a cure in sight we just have to keep hoping that things stay as they are for as long as possible!!!  She is doing great and everyone at St. Jude is extremely pleased with her overall health.  This one year mark that we have now surpassed is a very big milestone for a DIPG patient.  Less than 10% of DIPG children will live more than 18 months!  It's hard to say that we consider ourselves lucky but I can say that we are extremely grateful for this extra time that we have been given, time that one year ago we never thought we would have.  Morgan's adorable smile, her infectious laughter, and her big heart keep us fighting everyday!

St. Jude Give Thanks Walk Update
We have raised $4623 so far and, on a competitive note, we are in 1st place!!! I can't begin to express how appreciative we are of this support for St. Jude! 

Why Support St. Jude?

Any donation, big or small, will help this extraordinary hospital and families just like ours.   

Visit our Helping Hands 4 Morgan team website and help St. Jude find a cure for DIPG!  

Hey St. Jude

Just wanted to share this inspirational video I received in my email today!  

I keep forgetting to mention that September also happens to be Childhood Cancer Awareness Month .  Cancer is the leading cause of death in children under the age of 15!  Please take a moment to read over the rest of these startling facts and statistics I found on The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia website. 







childhood-cancer-awarenesss-infographic

I also wanted to let you all know that we have raised $1823 so far, we have officially surpassed our $1500 goal for the St. Jude Give Thanks walk and we hope to keep going!!  If you would like some more information on St. Jude and where your money is going; here is a link that you can take a look at. 
St. Jude - Quick Facts

THANK YOU to all our donors, supporters, and our Helping Hands 4 Morgan team members!  We are so very proud to be walking for such an amazing cause! 
St. Jude Give Thanks Walk