Chase had a very Memorable 6th Birthday

Well, Chase managed to hang in there during his Birthday party last Friday, although he wasn’t as much in the spirit as we had hoped. It’s easy to understand with all his symptoms and limitations at the moment. The part that really seemed to get him down was one of his perpetual favorites – the piñata. He just didn’t want to participate since he couldn’t use his right hand to hit it and couldn’t stand on his own. We’re not sure how much of this is due to frustration or just embarrassment in front of his friends and classmates. Anyhow, he eventually got over it and did enjoy the movie – Over the Hedge. It was a hit with all the kids and made us realize that this is probably a good outlet or distraction for Chase to forget about things for a while – we’ll probably be taking him to the theatre more often.

Then on his Birthday yesterday, we took him to school to bring cupcakes to his class, which was a big hit. He really enjoyed the visit and the warm reception. That seemed to get his spirits up again. We also got him the main present he was asking for - a large blow up water slide for the yard (the size of a moonwalk). Although he couldn’t really use it, he was able to roll around on the air mattress part and play a bit of catch with his left hand. He got a big kick out of this and enjoyed being on it so much that he wanted to have a camp-out in the yard and sleep on the air mattress part of it. After we thought about it, we said “why not” and made a real memorable experience out of it – dinner in the garden, roasted marshmallows over a fire pit, etc. It was great fun for all – especially Barbara, who could use all the features of the structure and slept on the upper level.

There was just one catch – we forgot to shut off the sprinkler system, so we all got woken up at 5 am in the cold and got soaked. Oh well, that just added to the fondness of our collective memory. Barbara was too excited to go back to school and tell all her friends about the camp out she had. Overall, Chase really enjoyed it too, even though he got nauseas again after dinner and vomited. He’s a real trooper and just tries to get over things quickly while looking on the bright side. He seemed really saddened at times, though, for example when he mentioned that he thought he wasn’t going to be on this medicine anymore after his birthday (of course, that’s what we had hoped too). We just keep reminding him that this will happen soon enough and that someday he’ll understand all of this and why he’s such a special kid – he’ll be able to help many others in this situation as well.

Thanks to all of Chase’s Prayer Warriors for helping to lift his spirits and make his 6th Birthday memorable!

Love,

John & Carol Sammut
Chase & Barbara Ann