Incredible Generosity

There is absolutely no way to express the magnitude of thanks that we have for the generosity, support and love shown to us and to Cameron. As we sit here on Sunday, ten days before Cameron's surgery, we know we are truly blessed with an incredible support system and we can focus our energy on helping Cameron before and after his surgery - without worrying about missing work. The CYRiously Cameron's Pasta Dinner, organized by Meaghan, Sam and Becca was outstanding! Shawn and I were overwhelmed by the number of people who came out to the dinner, and by those who donated or bought tickets even if they couldn't make it over. We had so much fun hanging out with everyone, laughing, chasing kids around and eating delicious food donated by Spumoni's Restaurant in Pawtucket, RI and Ramunto's in Keene! Along with the always mouth-watering cupcakes by my very own Awesome Auntie Pattie! :) They collected so many amazing raffle prizes, really, they were fantastic! It was honestly above and beyond anything we could have ever asked for or expected. The entire day was fantastic, from start to finish!
Here are some pictures from the day:
Cameron and I made these signs to help people find camp!

The delicious cupcake display!

I don't know what we did to deserve to have these people in our lives, but we are truly lucky! Meaghan, Sam and Becca (and Caleb!) - The minds behind the operation. :)

So many friends and family came to support us! We sure feel the love <3

A little blurry, but I couldn't leave this one out. Cam modeled the hats and scarves that were part of the raffle. Haha!

Shawn talked to Dr. Bauer on Thursday evening to get some of our little detail questions answered. We wanted to know just a few things.
1. How long will the surgery take?
We actually have to get to DHMC the day before his surgery, so we'll be going up on Tuesday Oct 29th to do all of Cam's pre-op "stuff" like a physical, blood work, last meeting with Dr. Bauer (and probably Dr. Morse). That's all at 2pm, then we'll hopefully be spending the night at David's House (http://www.davids-house.org) because Cam will be admitted at 6:30am on Wed. Oct 30th. He needs to have an MRI right before the surgery, so they'll be sedating him just once for the MRI and operation. Dr. Bauer suspects it'll take 3-4 hours total. He'll likely spend at least the first day in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, then transferred to CHaD, then hopefully home by Saturday!

2. Should we shave his head?
Dr. Bauer said normally they try to hide the incision in a girl's hair, but it's much harder for a boy with short hair, so he said it would probably be good to shave it. Then Cam won't be so shocked when he sees he's missing hair on half of his head. We're thinking of giving him a mohawk. -:)

3. What exactly should we expect in regards to recovery?
He's suspecting that after the first week and a half Cam will be okay to go back to Preschool, since he only goes for 3 hours. He wants him to wait at least 2 weeks before returning to a full day of daycare, but even then, we'll have to just see how he's doing. We live so close to his preschool that we can just go over in about 2 minutes to pick him up if he was having a hard time, but daycare is a little further away.

As nerve-wracking as it is, and as fast as it is coming up, we are looking forward to this opportunity to give Cameron the chance to change his life. While it's still about a 50/50 chance, it's certainly better than nothing.
Again, we can't say thank you enough for absolutely everything from the dozens of people who have poured out their love and support for us. We'll continue to keep everyone updated as the day approaches!