Ode to a Basket of Cards

 Once there was a boy.
He was loved
and brought his family great joy.

Then one fateful day
he seemed rather sick
 when too much barf did he spray.

His parents sought for an answer
and to the doctor they brought him
where it was discovered his blood had cancer.

His family and friends were sad
as off to the hospital he went
to spend weeks on end with food rather bad.

After a few months so long
his birthday rolled around
which to spend in the hospital seemed wrong.

So his mom tried to come up with a way
to help make his birthday
an extra special day.

A shower of cards from around the states
and maybe a few countries as well
would be just the fun needed to make it a date!

So she went to her friends
and did beg and nicely plead
to send him some cards before April ends.

Her friends were so awesome
and stuffed our mailbox full to the top
and then some!

Spencer's smile was as big as a barge
when a basket of laundry was emptied
to make way for the card pile so large!



Finally it was deemed the right time
to peruse through the stacks
and open the cards one at a time

So Spence went to work
opening each and every card. 
Not one did he shirk.

The cards made us smile....

and although it's taken a while...

he's read every card and admired the art...

Thank you to all

who took time from their days

to make Spence's birthday a ball!

Now we're back to the hospital...

in the hem/onc floor's tiniest room...

and the poison chemo is streaming into his blood...

and Spence is already tired and catching up on his sleep...

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED MAKE HIS BIRTHDAY SO GRAND!!!!!

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UPDATE:

• As mentioned, Spence was readmitted to the hospital this morning for his fourth and hopefully last round of chemo.

• He received a bone marrow biopsy and spinal tap (and infusion of chemo to the spinal fluid) as part of the readmission.  Spinal tap results have already come back clear, but the bone marrow results are being sent to Seattle for verification and won't be back for about a week. 

• We are weary, but looking forward to almost being done with his treatment.  Spencer has made grand plans for this summer. 

• Much to my chagrin, we've been placed in a tiny little shoebox room which has no 2nd bed for Glen or I to sleep in.  They tell us that he will be moved to a larger room as soon as one becomes available, but in the meantime we're trying not to trip over ourselves and our stuff in this annoying small room.

• First prize for numbers of cards received from outside Virginia was California!  And Utah, Colorado, and Texas were the runners up!  Thank you again to all of you! 

• I have a gazillion things I want to blog about right now, so look for the following posts in the upcoming days:  (Race Day, Best of the Cards, Other Birthday Celebrations (probably divided into a couple of posts), and more about the Blood Drive!)  I take requests as well, so let me know if there's a topic you'd like me to cover.  :)

• Thank you again to all who made Spencer's birthday so special! 

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"In their daily life, all are braver than they know. "
                                                                                                              ~Henry David Thoreau