My Little Sister Rocks!!!!!

I went to Hornell this weekend to collect returnables from family. Upon arriving, my sister hands me a glad container full of change....nice...then I open it and there is a wad of bills in there as well....awesome...Shawna and I sit down and count it.....$101...AMAZING!!! She had placed cans in a few local gas stations and a convienence store. Holy Cow!! We also returned a truck load of cans, of which were half my dad's and half my brothers, for a total of $28!! I am so proud to have such an amazing family. My heart hurts from all the love!!!! I will never be able to thank you all enough for making this trip a possibility.

Almost there!!

In 3 weeks you all have help me hit $600!!!!! You people are amazing!! Now let's see what we can pull off in 6 days!!

Halloween ^-^!!



Cameron at school




 

Happy Halloween from the Moore Boys!!!



Only 2 More Weeks!!!!!

I cannot believe we leave in 2 weeks! I got a phone call from Angel Flights letting me know that we have had a pilot sign up for our ride home so we've gotten round trip flights in tiny little planes! I hope Cameron likes it. What if it scares him? And my poor Nic, the thought of leaving him is making me sad. Do I say goodbye and just leave him home? Or should Rob bring him so he can see the planes? Will it be harder if he's crying for me not to go without him? This will be the first time I've left him. I mean I've had to stay in the hospital with Cam before so I've not been home overnights for a week but Rob would bring him to see me, and in all reality I'll only be gone for 24hrs...maybe a bit more. But it still feels like it will be difficult to wave goodbye to him :-(

Happy 4th Birthday, Cameron!!!!

Today is my oldest baby's 4th birthday!!! OMG, I have a 4 yr old? Is it really possible? I can still remember the day I went to the hospital with crystal clarity. It was Tues. Oct 23, 2007.  I had taken Rob to have a tooth pulled that morning, then my mom came over and off to Strong I went for my weekly non-stress test. My blood pressure had been steadly rising over the course of the last couple of months and they decided why wait? His due date was Oct 29th. 17 hrs and 16 min later, I became a mom for the first time! From that day on life has been a rollercoster in every sense of the word but I wouldn't trade a minute of it! This child has brought more into my life than ever imaginable, he makes me thankful for everyday, and has taught me to find the joy in simple things. He has taught me patience(never something I had much of before), and has re-taught me how to imagine. Life is amazing through a child's eyes, especially one that sees the world just a little differently than everybody else. He has also shown me that I am strong and caring and passionate and that I can fight for the things that are important to me. People always ask how I "do it." My response is always the same. I am blessed, it is not hard, it is all I've ever known. There are parents out there who have and are dealing with much worse. They are the ones deserving of a pat on the back. Not me, I do only what I have to and that's taking care of my kids to the best of my ability and never for one second allowing them to believe that there is anything wrong with them or that they will never be able to accomplish all that they dream of(which, currently, is attacking the cat, watching Cars as much as possible, and eating me out of house and home.) That does not make me a superhero....it makes me a mom. This is my life and I am happy :-)

Donations Donations!!

We received our first substancial donation from Mr. Dan Berl @ FiberTech on Friday!!!! I would like to thank him and his company from the bottom of my heart! Also, I set up another account at Ridge Nickelback for returnables. And on Sat. I stopped by the little deli up the street to ask if I could put up a flyer. The only spot was way above my head so as I asked if I could borrow their stepstool a nice man asked if he could help. As he was placing it he read it and proceeded to take some money out of his pocket and hand it to me saying he knew it wasn't much but he hoped it would help. How sweet!

Update on Cameron: we increased another of his meds last week and he seems to be doing great! We have only seen 2 seizures in the last 5 days, which is AMAZING!!! That's not to say he's not still having others but he's definitely not having as many, and the side effects from the increased dose seem to be relatively minimal.

We did Halloween costume and birthday present shopping over the weekend. The boys had a blast picking out their costumes and running amuck through Toys R Us. Cameron chose a Cars electric guitar. No strings but buttons where the frets normally are and a scratch pad where you would strum. It's got many different settings and plays so many chords that it allows a child to create a song. And when you hit the whammy bar, Lightening McQueen talks, lol. I know technically his birthday isn't until tomorrow, but he loved it so much we had to open it when we got home. So tonight I am going to buy a couple of little things for him and Nic to wrap so they can tear things open tomorrow morn. Tomorrow is also Rob's birthday as well so I have to try and sneak a gift in for him. Poor man feels forgotten, lol. I, on the other hand, feel like every year til Cam moves out I can say "Happy Birthday, Rob! Here's your son!!" LOL, but seriously, he thought it was so cool that his 1st born son was born on his birthday....until Cam turned 1 and everyone was more excited about that. My poor baby :-P

My poor baby :'(

Cameron is still having at least 2 seizures a day :'( *Sigh* His school just called me to inform me that he had a small seizure this morning and then while in the motor room, he was hit by a bike and fell and bumped his head pretty good. Nurse said his pupils were reactive but that he was a bit out of it. Damn, damn, damn!!! We just increased a med 2 weeks ago and it seemed to work for about 4 days or so but the frequency of them are on the rise again. The only other med we can increase is one we've increased before but then had to decrease again due to nasty side effects and it didn't control his seizures anyways. I just keep telling myself only 22 more days til Boston....but even then, I don't think we're going to get answers right away and if they want to run any tests....well, we'd probably have to go back for those. Most hospitals cannot perform a test the same day that it's ordered....depending on the test, I guess. Grrr, I hate this so much. There is a fine, pretty much non-existant, line between seizures and comatose, which side do you choose? I'm such a mess. I spoke with Cameron's NP who talked to his Neurologist who now wants to speak with me personally....so I await his call.....

Bags of Cans are Beginning to Pile Up!!

I have got 3 bags of cans in my office right now with more on the way. Orlando(our maintanance guy) says that he received texts from at least 3 other offices so far with cans to be picked up so I'm hoping to have a car full tomorrow! Then it's off to the redemption center to see if they'll allow me to set up an account with them.

On another note, my blog has had 114 pageviews in 1 week!!!! Awesome people!! I know most people get excited about a million hits but for me.....I just can't believe I can reach so many people. So thank you all for everything!!!

And on 1 more note, my Aunt Dee is the bestest picture taker ever!! LOL. Just a few random shots at her house on Sunday, and she manages to capture the beauty of my children.

Putting up Flyers

I went to Herrema's Saturday and they allowed me to post a couple of my flyers near their returnables machines. I had also asked them about placing a can to collect donations and they agreed so yesterday I went back and dropped off a can that will sit at the service counter. I ran in last night to return a movie and it took all I had not to shake the can as I walked by. I didn't want to be disappointed if there wasn't anything in it. But I will check in a few days. I'm hoping to begin the collection of cans throughout this week. Only 24 more days til we leave! OMG!!!

We have a car again!!!

The car ended up being an easy fix!!! Yay! Finally...altho, the car breaking down was not exactly good luck, at least the fix was easy and relatively cheap!

On another note, the maintanance people here have been wonderfully helpful with my Cans 4 Cam drive and have come by for fliers which they are passing out to the different business suites here and are also giving me their cans from their own shop, and a co-worker has already dropped off a bag. It's beginning, ppl, and I'm so excited! I have gotten such wonderful responses from everyone I have talked to and emailed. I'm beginning to think that this really might work for us.

Thank you to all who have shared this on your Facebook page, I am immensely in awe of the graciousness of all my friends and family. I will never be able to thank all of you enough for the support, even if we fall short, you all have done so much just showing me that you are there and ready if I need you.

And My Car Breaks Down

Why is it that on a day I have important things to do, getting fliers made, buying mouse traps(yes, i recently learned of a mouse problem in my house), my car breaks down? I do not know what is wrong with it but it is at the shop now. Please let it be a relatively simple/cheap fix. Unfortunetely that is not how my life works :-(
*Sigh* and I had things kinda set up here to get my Cans 4 Cam fliers distributed around to the other buildings tomorrow and now.....well, unless the car is fixed by 5pm...again, *sigh* I will lose a whole weekend of possible donations :-(
Ok, ok positive spin, ppl? Hmm, not able to come up with one at this very moment. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

And We Have A Pilot!!!!

Angel Flights just contacted me to let me know that we have had a pilot sign up to fly us out to Boston on Nov 10!!!!! OMG!!! I can't believe this is really happening!

I sent my lil sis a copy of the flyer I created to hopefully get people to donated their recyclables and she is excited to help, so she's gonna go to the couple of redemptions centers in Hornell (my hometown) and also see about the possibility of setting up a box or something next to the DIY return machines at Wegmans, which I thought was an awesome idea, Great Idea Shawna! <3....as long as no one steals it :-( and ppl are mean and sad like that nowadays.

I am running out of time fast. I am going to go to Staples and make a bunch of colored copies of my flyer (does anyone know if I can post it here somehow?) and find out where the local redemption centers are and also see about contacting all the business in my work building complex to attempt to collect all of their's too...which would be a lot, lol, ppl drink a lot of pop here. Even if I only somehow manage a couple of hundred dollars, that would help SOO much.

On a side note, I am also considering doing some small time baking on the side for the holidays and whatnot...maybe even try and get an order or 2 before we leave to make a little extra cash, but if not, it's ok, just thinking extra cash around christmas time never hurts. And I love to bake....although, Rob doesn't seem to like it as much.. Probably because I yell at him when he tries to eat anything and I am a control freak, too. It's constantly "Don't touch that," and "No, I don't need any help, Thanks," even tho the offer of help is nice, he doesn't really mean it, lol. I <3 him, but baker/decorator he is not. My kids help fill cupcakes tho. and Nic takes a bite out of everything he touches which is cute....and irritating all at the same time, lol. But all in all, my family loves that I bake...and I'm sure I know why.

Ok, so this is what I'm in the process of now. In doing some research, I have learned that redemption centers will allow me to start an account with them, so I think I will ask that people who live close by them bring their bottles and cans there and then they can let them know that they want to donate to Cans 4 Cam. I am also going to see if they will allow me to post fliers inside their building ask people if they would be willing to donate some or all of the cash they receive back. Oh my goodness, I hope this works!!

Progress, progress

Ok, I have managed to find some lodging for families of children who are to be seen at Children's Hospital Boston for just $30/night!!! AND through contacting Angel Flights, an organization of volunteer pilots that is dedicated to help families travel to necessary appointments, we may be able to fly in and out for nothing! Well, as long as weather is good. See, these people fly personal aircraft, I'm talking 4-6 seater planes, so any possibly bad weather could potentially cancel our flights....but we are NOT thinking negative here.

All that is left now is to pay for the visit itself, a measly $600 plus the cost of whatever tests they may want to run, and meals for the Cam and I. I have no idea whatsoever if they are going to want to run tests or how much these things may cost...but I do know that Cam and I would be more than happy to eat off the dollar menu at McDonald's, lol. Hmm, although, the cost of living in Boston is, last I knew, 49.1% higher than here in Rochester so maybe there it's the $1.50 menu?

Again, I'm only asking for a few cans and bottles...and who has really given up pop? or beer for that matter? LOL. I am willing to travel a bit to pick up, although I drive a midsize sedan so please let me know ahead of time if I am going to require a larger vehicle. We only have 1 more month to try and make this happen, else I reschedule for the spring and I'm hoping I do not have to do that. Don't make me do that. :-P

Thanks, thanks, thanks

Cause for Cam

Hi, my name is Cris and this is my very first time attempting to blog so wish me luck, laugh when I make mistakes, and please feel free to give me tips and advice.

Its a little difficult to figure out where to begin so I'm just gonna type. This may get confusing but I'll do my best.

I have 2 most amazing little boys(as soon as I can figure out how to post pic, I will) who are my entire world. Cameron will be 4 at the end of October and Nicholas turned 2 in July. Those 2 boys fill my heart with joy and my home with laughter.

Cameron was born with a condition known as Optic Nerve Hypoplasia/Septo-Optic Dysplasia (I will be using ONH/SOD or just ONH hear on out to save some typing.) There is no "in a nutshell" for this, at least not for him, but I will try to sum it up best I can. He is legally blind, red-green colorblind, has hypopituitarism(will explain in a min), a complex seizure disorder, and general cognitive and physical delays. He takes multiple medications daily and receives physical, occupational, speech, vision, and music therapy weekly. Hypopituitarism basically means that the pituitary gland, often referred to as the "master gland," does not produce enough of 3 or more hormones. Cameron is deficient in thyroid, cortisol, and growth hormones. He currently takes a thyroid replacement hormone and a cortisol replacement during times of stress. We have been watching his growth closely because he's been growing but we know that will stop soon.

The reason for my decision to attempt a blog is that my son has a great team of doctors.....but I worry that only having one set of eyes may be harming the chances are of finding the best for my son. So, I have managed to schedule an appt at the Children's Hospital in Boston with a neuro-ophthalmologist. It's on Nov 10 and I am super excited!! My concerns are that I am going to have to pay out of pocket for this visit and I do not have the sort of funds necessary.

So here's what I'm asking....I would like to ask for Cans for Cam. It is my hope that with something as simple as donating your recyclables, you can help make this trip a possibility!