Round Three is in the can

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I have to tell you that taking care of a six-year old while she is going through chemo is a busy job. It's especially busy if the six year old is Eden Adams.

Eden doesn't have a slow-down button. She goes full-steam ahead in EVERY thing that she does and sometimes that is not good for her health and well-being. It is a tough job to get her to be down when she needs to be down, to be still when she needs to be still. I get very tired and it lasts for days. The only repreive that I get is the occasional time that I can convince her to take a nap. Those don't come very often, though and so I soldier through as best I can.

The week finished up on a fun note. On Friday at clinic, Eden had two of her fellow neuroblastoma fighting friends in the chairs to her right. Codey St John and Jaret Cerino were both there having transfusions. We (the grown-ups) found a floding table and set in up in front of the chairs and pulled up the kids for a few rousing games of cards. They had a great time playing together and it was nice to see them acting normal for a while.

Eden and I have a lot of sign language to learn to be able to communicate well with Jaret, but we are trying. He's a real hoot to hang out with, he always has some way to get my attention. This week it was with rasberry sounds. He's very competitive, too. He gave Eden a run for her money during those card games.

Our buddy, Shawn Reynolds and her folks were there Friday, as well. Shawn has been having radiation treatments and some sort of oral chemo for the last few weeks. He has shown some very positive response so far. They invited us to come to a benefit for Shawn on Saturday in Chillecothe (sorry, I can't spell that name). Three country singers from Nashville, auction items, food and fun, I called Rourke and he thought it sounded like fun so I got directions to the place.

Oh, wait: back to the treatment stuff. Sorry, I do get side-tracked very easily.

Eden has finished round three. We have clinic appointments on Monday and Thursday mornings for the next two weeks. They will check her counts and determine if she needs a transfusion of any sort.

On July 5, Eden will be admitted for her stem cell harvest. We hope that she will be able to push millions of stem cells out into her bloodstream for capture.

This week the kids will be with their mom starting after the clinic visit tomorrow.

Riley had a great weekend at the houseboat with Momma Hope, Poopa Ron and Aunt Hunny. They went out into a cove and got to really enjoy being at the lake. Riley came home in fine spirits.

Saturday we headed south to Shawn's benefit. Guess who was the first person that Eden saw when she walked in? MICAH SKEENS! Eden and Micah are close pals, but we didn't know that Micah was going to be there. It was a real nice surprise to find that Micah was a cousin to one of the singers that donated his time to play at the benefit, Scott Collier. Needless to say, Micah swooped Eden into her arms and we mostly justed followed them around taking pictures.

Suffice it to say that as usual, the PRINCESS was in the house. Somehow Eden ended up on stage singing with the guys. She sang, "Chasing that Neon Rainbow" and "Follow Me". The singers were amazing about allowing her to be in the spotlight and I believe that she signed autographs for them later in the evening.

Shawn wasn't feeling very well, so he headed home with his nanny and poppy. They took his brand new yellow Hummer with them, too. Poor Shawn just looked worn out. It was a hot day and the place was PACKED! He stayed for a good long time, though and he ate almost constantly the whole time he was there. He really seems to be doing great for all of the treatment and side effects that he has dealt with lately. He's the bravest boy that I know.

Not that I am any kind of authority, but if you ever get the change, you need to check these guys out. They were all amazing singers and had much love for our little warriors.

John Stone: http://www.johnwstone.com/

Scott Collier: http://www.scottcolliermusic.com/

Matt Mason: http://www.myspace.com/mattmasonmusic

Eden informed us on the way home last night that she planned to marry John Stone. I hope that his wife won't mind.

Daddy and Eden went for a Father's Day motorcycle ride. They had a nice father/daughter bonding time and I slept for three hours. I just cannot get enough sleep. After I finally woke up we all headed to see Cars. What a funny movie. It scored a bunch of belly laughs from all of us. Rodger has seen it three times and still finds new things to laugh at.

After the movie we picked Riley up from Momma Hope and headed home. All the kiddies headed to bed and I decided to update this before I got yelled at by my mom.

Happy Fathers Day, Dad. I love you!