Reliving June 13

Today in 2019, was probably the hardest day of my life. You might have thought that would have been the day she was diagnosed or maybe that scary time we had during Charlotte’s transplant, but it was today. We snapped this picture below waiting for Charlotte’s doctors to come into her examination room during her standard check up at Duke. Mere minutes later, we saw more than the normal 4 feet in front of the door (the oncologist and NP that would see her). When the door opened and child life was there—Brian and I instantly knew. Child life had come to distract Charlotte so we could talk to her doctors. The world went into slow motion and I don’t know how I didn’t hit the floor if I’m honest. Brian’s face instantly drained of color. We knew immediately her scans had shown her disease, her cancer, had returned. 

After all she had been through, all we had seen, all we had survived as a family…this day drained the hope out of me and I can still have a visceral response remembering it. Of course, we got it back. We faked it (for our children) until we made it and of course SHE DID MAKE IT. And we thank GOD and praise him every day. 

This week is International Neuroblastoma Awareness Week. If telling anyone about our story and Charlotte brings any change to the importance of putting research and care into pediatric cancer then we want to share our story. Thank you for helping us do just that. Wanting to share our daughter’s journey and sharing that childhood cancer such as this isn’t some rare anomaly that is someone else’s tragedy. We once were a family untouched by childhood cancer too. But when we found out THIS was what was making our Charlotte so so sick and trying to take her away from us, please know that I knew exactly what Neuroblastoma was because my dear childhood friend that I grew up with and went to college with lost her sweet son to this awful disease. His name was Trevor. How could we both have had children with Stage IV Neuroblastoma? I’ve long since put figuring that one out behind me for my own sanity. But the truth is we ALL need to care. We all need to help however we can.And our nonprofit we started, Be The Rainbow Foundation, will keep working hard in its mission to help families facing childhood cancer and whatever lays beyond ❤️🌈

Moments ago on June 13,2019

Moments ago on June 13, 2023.💕🌈💕