Wednesday, the 26th of September 2007

Hi All

We had a good Tuesday - We didnt sleep all that great Tuesday night but Deqlan caught up on some sleep during the day. We had a great Wednesday to and slept better last night , although Deqlan only fell asleep after 10 last night!

We have now finished the cisplatin and we are now having 24 hours of rehydration and then should be done by 1800 or so tonight - 8 down - 3 to go ! Cant believe this is our last hospital stay over - Deqlan has come through so much - i cant even begin to explain to you the panic attack i had the day Deqlan has to have his first drip put up and they couldnt find a vein so did it in his scalp - i thought that that was the worst thing ever - now when I look back at all the things Deqlan has gone through , the drip was a walk in the park.

You can see the cabin fever is now getting to our soldier he desperately wants to get outside the room and be on the floor and walk around, shame by boy only a few more hours!

I am so proud of you my beautiful boy , you are the bravest, courageous person i will ever know and you go through all of this and still manage to smile and laugh and bring such joy to our lives. We shall continue on this road with you and Dada and I will be by your side every step of the way . Our Lord is continuing his miracle and healing on you and he loves you so so so much. My heart overflows with the love and awe i have for you - you shall ALWAYS BE MY HERO AND INSPIRATION - I LOVE YOU SO VERY VERY VERY MUCH, YOU ARE MY EVERYTHING! You have tought me so much - dont sweat the small stuff - the greatest gift in life is spending precious time with each other - there is nothing more important then family - you have brought our entire family closer to The Lord. You make any cloudy day bright and you make me want to be a better Mama and better person. I love you my sweet heart so so so so much. God Bless you and continue to keep you from all harm

My Love, i think you are the most fantastic Dada and im know Deqlan does to. The smile on his face when you walk into the room is priceless - he laugh that comes from his belly when you tickle him is the best sound in the world. Thank you for taking such good care of us and for loving us the way you do. We shall continue to be there for each other and i look forward to so many many more happy memories together with us all. I know how busy and stressed you are at work and you still continue to be the great Dad and husband you are - thank you my love, we love you will all our hearts and souls . God continue to give you the strength and courage and renewed Faith each day , on this journey and always.

Thank you my amazing Mom, for being with us through this journey every step of the way, as you promised on the 25th of May - As i have always said you are Mark and my right hand and we love you and treasure you dearly. Deqlan loves you so very much and treasures every second he is in your arms as you sing to him or play with him or soothe him - thank you Mom for your absolute dedication and love for us - I couldnt continue to work without you helping me with Deqlan - thank you my Darling Mom- you are one of a kind and i am honored to call you Mom and Nanna! There is not one single day that has gone past without you being at the ward with us, looking after him at your house or even coming over weekends to give his much needed neupogen injections, even taking Deqlan while i was sick and needed to recover and protect Deqlan from getting sick - your dedication for us blows me away - thank you for sacrificing so much and for always putting Deqlan and Mark and I first. We love you beyond description.

Dee, without your help and love and support - none of this would be possible . No mountain is to big enough for you to move - when it comes to Deqlan you will move the Grand Canyon and this you have done and more - for also sacrificing and working so hard for us, for always putting us first - for not probem being to big to solve - to fixing all of Deqlans toys that he loves to take apart on a daily basis - thank you - thank you from the bottom of our hearts for looking after us and for spoiling us rotten. We love you so very very very much and are Blessed to have you in our lives. Deqlan loves you so much Grandpa and you are guaranteed to brighten up his day and bring a smile to his face when he sees you!

Megs and Conrad - for always popping in to check in on us whilst we have been at the ward for bringing us smiles and laughs and lunch! For all the phone calls of support and encouragement and above all prayers - Megs for arranging so many fundraising drives to help CHOC and others fighting this disease - you have a huge heart and always looking to see how you can help others - We love you guys with all our hearts and appreciate all your continued help and support .

All of our faithful families and friends - words are not enough to express our heartfelt thanks for your never ending prayers, support, phone calls, text messages, emails , posts - thank you from the bottom of our hearts - we love you all and cant wait to celebrate Deqlans victory over this disease some day soon! I cant wait to thank you each personally!

Koketso left the ward yesterday and looks great - he has lymphoma and it really took over the one side of his face - if you look at him now he looks like a normal beautiful little 4 year old - we think he is also coming to the end of his treatment plan.

Ruan is also here, he has ALL ( form of leukimia) and has anoth 18 months left of treatment - each month his Mommy , Yolandie , brings Ruan from Vanderbijl for at least 1 week at a time - and she is a single mom that cant work because of Ruan being sick. She is also very Blessed to have amazing parents that help her - treasure your parents , they are Blessings!

Ilse has just arrived and has told us this is her second last round so she is also coming to the end of her treatment- great news

Dr De Jager is happy with Deqlan over all and will see us back on 5 Oct at 0930 for our quick session of vincristine - its going to be wonderful to only come for a short while and not pack a huge bag, make that 3 huge bags to stay over - we wont have to try dance and sing and jump to prevent Deqlan from pulling his port needle out! How exciting - Thank you Lord for bringing us so far in this journey and for protecting and healing Deqlan every steop of the day. Thank you for giving us the shoes to walk this journey - without you I dont know where we would be.

Please pray for our special friend Kate in the US - she has completed her treatment and will be having scans and tests done the whole of next week to check on her progress and decide on the next step - we know you going to get excellent results Karen!

I shall also be putting up some photos from Nanas birthday as promised - she had a fantastic Birthday! We surprised her with a braai on Friday night and again on Saturday morning with a brunch! Nana said she had a lovely Birthday weekend and we ended off the celebrations on Saturday evening by attending a lovely mass together. Happy Birthday Mom and many more! We Love you! Enjoy your weekend away - you deserve the break!

Two more very important issues of the day

- those of you who would like to check in with the Dads on the loneliest road campaign you can check in on them and watch their latest heart wrenching video from the following link

http://www.graceoughtoncancerfoundation.org/loneliestroad/

- more funding needs to become available so that more research can happen to find a cure for neuroblastoma - we need to ask people that have influence that have the power to get something done about the absolute lack of funding and research on all paediatric cancers. As a start, please take a moment and write to Oprah requesting a show on Neuroblastoma, the signs of childhood cancer and appeals for more funding and education. if 1 email is sent it might be overlooked but if hundreds and thousands are sent the request can not be ignored.

the link

http://www.oprah.com/email/reach/email_showideas.jhtml?_DARGS=/email/reach/email_showideas.jhtml.1

Well, let me sign off for now i have given you a lot to read today. God Bless you all - those in Pretoria stay warm - cant believe its so cold today!

Lots of love

Mark, Samm & Deqlan

EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE

BY JESUS STRIPES, DEQLAN IS HEALED!