Christian's Fight: Locks of Love

Christian and Cliah (post head shave fundraiser)

My brain has been fogging since my last blog. There have been many tears shed and dreadful thoughts but we seem to have pull ourselves together – somewhat. Now I am typing this blog from Unit 1 – another fever, another visit, and another dose of antibiotics. I know I have spoken about this before but it is amazing the calm that comes over Christian once he enters the unit. He can sense that he is well taken care of here. He knows he can watch his movies, pee in a urinal and ride around on his IV pole. All things that ends up making his stay here at the hospital special.

Ready for CT scan

It is unfortunate that this new trial has begun just as I wanted to highlight an amazing young lady, Cliah Joyce. She was one of the students in Chris’ first ever grade one class and is now in grade four. This past week, in association with the Terry Fox Run, Cliah and her friend, Sasha Coates, decided to shave their heads in order to raise money for the Terry Fox Run in Christian’s honour. They donated their 19 inches of hair to the “locks for love” (a program that makes wigs for cancer patients) and also asked people to sponsor them in their head shave. It was a great success but more than the large amount of money their head shave raised – they proved that young people in society have the ability to affect change and show compassion for other people who are less fortunate or who are suffering. Way to go girls. This will forever be a very special moment in Christian’s battle against cancer.

Getting more brave - no sausage this time!

Gymnastics at STARS with Jamies Preschool

I wanted to say thank you to everybody who has sent well wishes and prayers. I have watched the postings on the blog and how many people have reposted it and talked about it to other people and I am grateful that there are so many people in our city and in our country for that matter who are praying for Christian. I know that he is such a special little boy who is going to do great things with his life. There is a purpose for these trials he is experiencing and I know it is going to make him a strong person. I know it is going to make the Crowell family stronger and I know it is going to boost our faith and trust in the Lord.

Julie and Evelyn working the beam!

Tomorrow we are meeting with our surgeon to discuss Christian’s plans for surgery so I don’t have anymore information today than I did on Friday. But at least today I have some perspective and hope. I have been sent so many awesome prayers from people and it has lifted us up during these days when we have struggled.

Ryan getting in on the gymnastics fun!

The rough plan for this next week is for Christian to have some tests to find a suitable vessel, which they will be able to graft into his vena cava where the tumor will be taken out. He will also have a kidney function test to determine if his right kidney is failing as the tests currently have indicated. If this is the case he will lose his right kidney (a small price to pay to receive a healthy 4 year old in return!) He will also have to stay healthy since we know that there is no way they will operate on anybody who has any type of limitation to their breathing. We know that he will for sure be in the hospital for a minimum of one week so anybody who wants to come and by and help with the kids would be great!

So please keep up the prayers and positive thoughts for Christian. Please continue to pray that Evelyn and Ryan don’t feel neglected during these times when we are so focused on Christian. I will update the blog when I have more information on surgery date and procedure. Thanks for reading and praying