Summer Vacation - Emphasis on Vacation

7.3.13:  4:51 PM

DISCLAIMER:  Due to family time that starts in nine minutes, I am unable to proofread.  Please kindly disregard all typos and grammatical errors.  You're the best!

We have seriously been irking out every minute of vacation from this summer vacation.

Davis attended Camp Rainbow. It is a free camp for children with cancer and blood diseases. The camp is held outside of St. Louis at a state park. Nurses, various health officials, and volunteers donate their time to making this camp a success. Each camper has his/her own camp counselor, and there are activities planned every day.  Due to privacy policies, I can't show you many of the pictures that Davis took, but he was able to capture quite a bit of his camp week. 

Davis LOVED camp.  He is already planning to return next year. He did experience some homesickness at night, but a lovely nurse, Jill, looked after him. She would call me during the day to give me an update. Did I mention that there was no cell phone reception, no wi-fi, no means of communication?  The lack of communication in part is to make the camper independent and to give parents a worry-free break.

Davis swam every day. He participated in archery. He did crafts with a little girl that he befriended in the hospital last year in March. (They were in the St. Louis TV news story together.) He wrote a song with a group of people. He learned a bunch of silly songs and chants. His favorite part was the food. The camp had catered meals brought in. He said he ate Olive Garden salad nearly every day, and his favorite meal was when the culinary school of St. Louis catered.

 

Davis was blessed enough to meet a few professional athletes.  He was able to meet Andy Van Slyke. In the above picture, Davis is holding one of his Golden Glove trophies (I think he won five.). Davis also met Brian Elliott, the goaltender for the St. Louis Blues. Mr. Elliott autographed a card for Davis; Davis guards that card.

 



 

Before we took him home on Friday, we were able to watch the camp talent show and see Davis interact with all of his new friends. Davis and his bunk mates and counselors had a rap war.  Davis performed his now famous cheese rap, and of course, the crowd went wild. He also performed a song  that he wrote with another group.

Annakate made the point to turn to me during the talent show and say, "Mom, you're crying." I couldn't help it.  The counselors, many of them twenty-something volunteers, have hearts of gold. They sacrificed their time, energy, pride (Yes, it's hard to look pretty or handsome after five days of camp.), and talent for the betterment of the little girls and boys who have met adversity of some sort.

 

I was so moved by the love and optimism I felt in the ninety degree mess hall. Every child - no matter the treatment or stage, or the disability caused by cancer, hair or no hair - fit in; everyone belonged there.  Davis belonged there. Lots of little children performed.  One little girl, maybe six or seven, sang a little song she wrote, "You can do it. You can do it. You can get through it."  And that is when the tears began to fall.  One girl sang, "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera. I couldn't see her because she was sitting in a wheelchair and the others in front of me were blocking the view. The lyrics could not have been more appropriate for such beautiful children. I was most moved when a girl about Davis's age jumped up to dance the Cupid Shuffle.  She didn't have a CD of the song, so one counselor announced, "Hey counselors, can we help her out with this one?"  And before you know it, the counselors were banging out a beat and singing it for her. The campers joined in. She did an amazing job.  Singing, laughter, smiles, joy filled the overly crowded room. I shifted my weight because I had been sitting on my foot to get some height, when I caught a glimpse of the dancer.  She had one leg. The other was prosthetic.

Look under the "c" in "camp".

I can't thank this camp enough for creating such a positive atmosphere and experience for my son and so many other amazing children. This camp is amazing. There are so many moving, heart-shaping, life-altering experiences that I can only credit to cancer. I share only a fraction of the touching moments, heroic acts and deeds, and feeling we encounter. 

Caught this rainbow on our way home from Charleston one day.
It was breathtaking.

 A few days after Davis returned from camp, we headed down to Tennessee to spend time with my family.  We had a great time. I drove down with the kids midweek, and Kyle joined up with us on the weekend.  We went waterparking (I am officially making that a word!) and shopping. We ate at the kids favorite restaurants. My niece and nephew were there, so the kids had some great cousin time as well.

Tennesse Fair Grounds flee market

We managed to squeeze in two slumber parties this past week.  Kyle pulled our camper into the backyard. We stuck a TV out there, and the kids and their friends have been content swimming, watching movies and sleeping in the camper. 

cops and robbers

 

Today, Kyle found a couple of snakes. Kyle found the first one underneath Annakate's window. At first glance, we thought it was a Midwestern Rattler because of the markings and how it would shake its tail.  After I researched a bit online, I am now identifying it as a bullsnake.  The rubbermaid was no match for the snakes; they all managed to escape. No worries here though. We are not snake killers. We would have let them go if they hadn't managed to escape. 

Davis's voice is still hit and miss - mostly miss. His team will investigate further on Friday when we are down there for chemo. Since there is no fever, they have ruled out infections.  They will determine (possibly with the help of a specialist) if Davis's hoarse voice is being caused by allergies or chemo. Other than that, Davis is doing amazingly well. He still continues to lift weights, and the benefits are noticeable. He looks healthy and strong. He eats everything.  Let me write that again. He eats everything. A far cry from where we were a year and a half ago.  He has managed to stay healthy. I can't remember the last time he has had a fever, and it seems like it has been forever since we have had to take a trip to the ER. Well, God is good. We prove it over and over again. 

On Friday, we will head down to St. Louis again. Davis will have a check-up and receive his port chemo. It will be two years to the day of our first trip to Children's when Davis was admitted.  Quite a mix of emotions swirling around inside of me. I couldn't imagine that that day which I remember so vividly would have lead us to here.  Two years down, two years to go until end of treatment. What peace and serenity to know that we haven't made one step of this journey alone. Thank you.

God bless you this Independence Day and always.  Please keep praying for Davis's health and full recovery. 

We will keep you posted.