No rain on our parade

Yesterday was a huge, multi-vendor fundraiser for Ty’s Fund and Alex’s Lemonade Stand (Melissa, how can we thank you enough?).  Dozens of our friends and neighbors, many who we never even met, joined together to help the amazing DeVitto family to set up and run this amazing event.  Ty is still talking about how much fun it was!  They had a bouncy house where Gavin went wild, arts and crafts, amazing raffles, pizza, baked goods, games and over a dozen vendors selling wonderful products to support the cause.  Lou and I are sending out tremendous thanks to the DeVitto family for opening their beautiful home to hundreds of people on Ty’s behalf.  And, thank you to the dozens of people and kids who volunteered to help out.  Finally, thanks to all those in attendance, and to all those who donated products for the raffles… your generosity is beautiful and humbling.  Yesterday was such a testament to just how many people really care about Ty and all the little warriors fighting this terrible disease.

The party was outdoors and when we left the house it was the most beautiful, perfect day.  We took extra time to change the boys into shorts, tees, and sunglasses, and to lather them up with sun block in advance.  In typical Campbell fashion, we pulled up to our VIP parking spot with a huge, black storm cloud hot on our trail (that cloud is my nemesis).  The storm rolled in at the height of the party, but luckily it really didn’t last long – and it certainly didn’t damper anyone’s spirits.  We finally had a chance to get out as a family, and we met so many nice people there. 

Ty and Gavin both had a great time.  Ty is still talking about how much “pun” he had at the “burr-day party.”  Lou and I tried explaining that it was a fundraiser, not a birthday party, but Ty thinks we don’t know what we’re talking about.  He looks at us like we’re weirdos  when we try to explain the difference.   In fact, he loved the raffles so much, that he has added a strip of raffle tickets to his pile of “stuff.”  This is a really big deal.  Ty’s “stuff” consists of his favorite things that have to go with us everywhere.  It used to include two car squinkies, his shooting ice cream cone, his train, his motorcycle Spiderman and his Captain America.  Captain America is still a favorite, but now he is joined by Ty’s two robots, his stuffed Max doll, a random coloring book that he got after some recent bloodwork, his candy, a toy book and now, the strip of tickets.  All of those things go with us absolutely everywhere.  He’s so funny about it.  Check out the baller himself with his tickets in this picture from the fundraiser :)



Lou, Melissa and SuperTy

Today turned out to be a very long, scary day.  Lou and I decided to take Ty to Sloan Kettering after his oxygen treatment because he complained of head pain and vomited a handful of times over the weekend.  The symptoms reminded us of what it was like when Ty still had tumor burden on his brainstem, so we feared the worst.  The decision to head to the hospital happened so fast, I wasn’t even able to alert you all and call on your prayers in time.  Luckily, Ty’s angels were there and his MRI today showed that everything looks fine in the brain.  Why he hasn’t been feeling well remains a mystery and we just have to keep a really close eye on him (it’s not as if we ever don’t, anyway).  Lou and I feel like we live our lives on a battlefield, taking cover, dodging bullets, constantly on edge.  Today, we are exhausted, but we are in this for the win.  Cancer fears all of us :)

It’s 8PM as I write this and we are still on our way home.  We left so early in the morning, I won’t even get a chance to see Gavin awake today and that really bothers me.  I guess the plus side about going to the hospital today is that we were able to get Ty’s infusion of Avastin that was otherwise scheduled for Wednesday.  Now we won’t have to go back this week and we can rest easy for a few days knowing that his scan was stable.  We also picked up his Etoposide and Accutane so he can begin his next chemo cycle at home on Friday (he's almost done with this course of Temodar).  Ty did fairly well today, too.  No narcotics.  No nausea.  And, he barely complained of head pain.  He was tired and spacey earlier in the day which had all of us concerned, but later in the afternoon he perked up and was having some fun in his room playing games, reading books and watching TV.  Thank God.
 
Next weekend one of my favorite people in the entire world is getting married.  I am beyond honored to be in her wedding party and sharing this special day with her.  Christina, I love you and I can’t wait for Saturday.  Your wedding is going to be just perfect. 

The most beautiful bride-to-be

She is getting married in Long Beach (New York) so Lou and I decided to take the entire family back to the old neighborhood for a vacation with all of our Long Island friends and neighbors.  We will be heading out there on Friday and staying for two weeks!  Fingers crossed for some great weather, but even more importantly, fingers crossed that TY is feeling good and happy the entire time.  We will take a LOT of pictures.