Make-a-Wish
We haven’t updated in a while because everything is pretty much the same, which is a good thing.
We celebrated Hutton’s 11th birthday at the end of April. She didn’t really want to do anything, so we just had dinner with 2 of her besties at Nordstrom (of course), and then they walked around the mall. It was the perfect low-key birthday she wanted. My parents were able to drive out and get to spend some time with her as well, which she really enjoyed, since she doesn’t get to see them a lot.
Hutton has been getting outpatient chemo at UCLA every other week, and she is doing equine therapy and PT to get her walking again once a week. She has mentioned how she has wanted to attend equine therapy twice a week, but since it isn’t covered by insurance, we have been looking at how to make that happen. Thanks to an amazing lady, we may have a way for her to go twice a week! (More on that to come).
Hutton hasn’t had any major side effects from this chemo protocol, which is a huge blessing, and she is even growing hair again! She has another scan at the beginning of June, and we are praying it shows no cancer in her body! Leading up to the scan and waiting for the results are always stressful, BUT we have a great distraction leading up to this scan: We are going on Hutton’s Make-A-Wish trip!!!!!!!
This trip has been a LONG and STRESSFUL journey, but we are doing it! We will share more about what it was like working with Make-A-Wish in the future, but for now, let’s just say we are grateful we’re able to go on this trip. (Spoiler: it has NOT been sunshine and rainbows, and we almost cancelled the trip multiple times).
We will be going to Aulani, the Disney Resort in Hawaii. We are so excited to travel and be a “normal” family. Hutton didn’t want to go on this trip until she could walk again, but this was the time we were offered by Make-A-Wish, so we jumped on it. We are also relieved that we are staying at Aulani because with Hutton’s mobility issues, we know we will have no issues (hopefully) because Disney goes above and beyond to make everything accessible.
This will be our first family vacation in over 3 years and the first time I have had the chance to go somewhere not work-related and “take a break”, though I am not sure entertaining an 11-year-old for a week isn’t much of a break… 😂!!
As nice and relaxing as we believe it will be, it is still stressful knowing we need to keep an eye on her for any health issues and side effects that could present themselves unexpectedly, but we know this will be an amazing experience for he and allow her to feel like a kid again.
She is planning to make a lot of “content” for her YouTube channel, so if you haven’t subscribed yet, now is the time!
https://www.youtube.com/@checkereditz
Please pray for smooth travels and an amazing trip. We are very nervous about this trip, but we are determined to make the best of it! Her oncology team and her surgeon have cleared her, so we feel good about it overall, but still, there is some worry.
