Carmen Leolani White: 2011-07-31

Saturday, August 6, 2011

First Day of School

If someone would have told Heather and myself that we would be taking Carmen and Trevor to their first day of pre-school two months after Carmen's diagnosis, we would have never believed them.

But.....there we were.....on Wednesday August 3rd driving Trevor and his big sister Carmen to school for their first day at Waikoko Kids.

Carmen took Trevor by the hand as they got out of the car and said, 'Come on Trev, I'll show you around"!!!

Carmen had another great week. Her blood results came back with an ANC of 3045, allowing her to start round three of her treatments.

Mommy and Carmen left for Kapilani Hospital on Friday morning for Carmen's chemotherapy treatment. It was a new dosage and treatment for Carmen which required an extra over night in Oahu to ensure everything was fine. They are returning to Kauai on Sunday.

Auntie Kristal and Uncle Erich departed back to Portland on Wednesday after a terrific visit - but - always too short. Uncle Lance stayed a few extra days, so Trevor got to hang out with the guys on Friday and Saturday.

Below are a few pictures of the week.

Back at the wonderful Waikoko Kids

Auntie Kristal on the first day back to school

Tucker and Carmen getting reacquainted on Friday

A little Seaweed snack on the flight to Oahu

Little T building a fort out of Palms

Chris and Lance taking a Kayak trip

Breakfast Time in Waikiki

Breakfast Time in Kauai

I am sooooooo going to get slapped for posting this picture!!!! Shave Ice after last weeks Catamaran Trip down the Napali Coast.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Relay For Life

Last evening we participated in our first Relay For Life. This was our first but it will NOT be our last. It was an incredibly powerful, humbling and family bonding experience for us. It was so great to have family and friends there supporting and cheering Carmen on!

The most amazing part of the evening was the lighting of the Luminaries at 8:00pm. A hush fell over the crowd as Luminaries were lit one at a time as people remembered their loved ones who they dedicated their bags to and reflected on the devastating power of this disease. There was not a dry eye on the field as Sarah McLachlan song "Angel" filled the air. After this moment, survivors shared their "Fight Stories" with the participants reminding everyone that their support is helping to fund scientific research to help beat Cancer.

By the end of the 12 hour Relay for Life, our little island of Kauai and group of participants raised over $57,000 for the American Cancer Society.

It was such an amazing evening. The track was lined with sponsors representing businesses and families on the island. Every tent was featuring food, beverage or gift to raise additional funds for ACS. Some tents were even offering massages, face painting and glitter tattoos.

Heather, Carmen and Trevor were troupers and stayed at the Relay until 10:30pm while Chris stayed to help the St. Regis team maintain a walker on the track for the entire night. At about 11:30pm the entire hotel housekeeping department showed up with tons of baked good and Portuguese Bean Soup. This group was quickly followed by the hotels F&B department as the got off shift at 12:30am.

Many brave walkers endured the entire evening, never stopping for 6 to 8 hours at a time.

At 6:00am, all of the remaining walkers ended the relay by joining hands to form a complete circle around the track to pray together.

It was an incredible experience.

Images of the evening.