October 5, 2011
I feel like I’ve been off work for two years and have just gotten back to my very full desk! It’s amazing how much time it takes to get a healthy 8-year-old off to school, soccer, cheerleading and rehearsal! It’s so wonderful that Tanner’s able to do so many things now that her energy is returning, but it is somewhat hectic trying to get she and Jake everywhere they need to be and still tackle homework, housework, and find a little time for fun! I’ll take this schedule any day, though; it’s much more fun than hospital stays and late night ER visits.
Tanner is looking and feeling better and better every day. The puffiness from the long-term steroids has finally resided and you can once again see her little pointy chin that shapes her pretty, petite face. The hair that she lost in the last six months is growing back and she has little wisps all over that hint at the beautiful head of hair she will have soon. The excema she had developed has all but gone away and her face has gotten a little pink to it. As my mother said last week, “She looks like Tanner again.”
She’s down to just two medicines taken at bedtime, one of which is a prophylactic antibiotic which I think they will take her off of at the next clinic visit. That leaves us with just her antidepressant, which I think we will have to continue for a little while. The demons may have left her body, but they definitely still linger in her mind.
Poor little Jake has gotten where is terrified to be in a room by himself. Our new therapist, Amy, believes now that some of the stress has left the house, he is starting to show some of the fear he has felt for the past several years. Even a 4-year-old knows when something is serious; and I think the fear in our house has been palpable.
Little by little, though, I am having days where I don’t really think about leukemia, or at least it’s not in the forefront of my thinking. I think we are all getting there.
We’re working on big things over here at the Page house! Saturday is our Team Tanner garage sale. Our neighborhood, Sullivan Farms in Franklin, is having a neighborhood garage sale on Friday and Saturday from 7 am until 2 pm. I spent the better part of today knee deep in our storage shed ridding ourselves of some great stuff we just don’t need anymore. Add to that three laundry baskets full of books I culled from Jake and Tanner’s impressive collection, some toys, kid’s clothes and some furniture and we are hoping for a great turnout! Tanner and Jake will be selling Krispy Kreme’s and cokes on the corner to add to our kitty.
Light the Night is just 10 days away and Team Tanner is currently in 5th place among the family and friends teams at $3,300. Our goal is $10,000. While I don’t expect to beat out Blake Shelton’s team, I do think we can improve our rankings! I assured the Tennessean reporter who called today to do a follow-up on Tanner from the article they ran last year, that we had a last minute donor bunch, but that they could be counted on to do great things!!! Hint, hint! (To donate, go to http://pages.lightthenight.org/tn/MidTN11/teamtanner)
Seriously, if you have thought about coming to walk with us, please do! I have participated in many fundraising walks and this one takes the cake. Fireworks, lighted balloons and the downtown Nashville skyline make it a really memorable event. If we raise $10,000, we get our own VIP tent and two attendants to get us T-shirts and balloons so we don’t have to stand in line. Last year, we had barbecue in the tent, but this year, we will get… wait for it…. Krispy Kremes!!! If that doesn’t make you want to walk, I don’t know what will! 
The day after Light the Night, in celebration of all that we have been through as a family over the past few years, the Pages are headed to…. Disney World!!! It won’t be quite the same as last year without that Make-A-Wish button, but I’ll wait in line any day rather than be one of the families whose child has a “life threatening illness.” We do get to visit Give Kids the World Village any time we are in Disney. It’s the village just for wish kids where we stayed last year and it is truly a magical place. The kids want to go to one of the parties they have there every night.
Watch for Tanner to be in the Tennessean in the next few days (you can see the article from last year at http://www.tanner.celiamusic.net/files/2010/10/LLS_Tennessean_Oct.-6.pdf).
Love,
Beth