GET UP, STAND UP!

Well, i thought the STAND UP 2 CANCER programme was great and very informative. I can only hope that another segment is done on childhood cancer specifically to get more specifics on that and get more funds directed towards the kids, specifically. Hope you all caught a glimpse of our fellow nb warrior, Drew, Jennifer Garner read a little about Drew, unfortunately didnt mention neuroblastoma, but was wonderful to see Drew's smiling face with his Mickey Mouse ears on! Go Drew! Please do whatever you can to support them and especially organisations raising money for childhood cancer and neuroblastoma. I was so moved , and couldnt help sheddding tears of joy for our Deqlan and the other warriors that are doing well, tears of sadness for the angels who didnt see the cure, tears for our warriors that are still in the fight - but inpsired to hear that they are on the brink of so many cures - that they can feel the rain is just around the corner, please Dear Lord, may it be so for neuroblastoma. I shall also never complain about ageing - as a survivor said, she will never moan about reaching 50, its an achievement she has lived those years and continues to live each year

Speaking of Mickey, Deqlan has found a new love in the form of Mickey Mouse club house! He absolutely adores Mickey Mouse but especially at the end of the programme where Mickey and the gang sing HOT DOG - Deqlan is in the most beautiful state of laughter and he runs in circles with excitement, its the most precious thing to watch ...move over Dub!

Deqlan is doing great, still running around everywhere, still very active and still a cute as ever. His scar is healing nicely - he is terribly allergic to plasters and the dressing that they had on from the port removal has a terribly , red and itchy and bumpy rash now that circles the area of the wound - we decided to leave it open on saturday night, after a much enjoyed bath, and the wound is now healing and drying and getting a little better each day. Its looking really great and im sure by the weekend there will be a great improvement in the rash and in the bruising

Eating...oh boy...thats another story ..anything wheat no problem, cheese..bring it on, but vegies or fruit, there is no way Deqlan is going to even consider putting it in his mouth. So, we have started him on a supplement shake, once a day to ensure he is getting all his vitamins and minerals. He is growing great and his weight fantastic but we need to ensure he is getting the other essentials he is missing from his diet, and hopefully sooner then later will decide to at least give them a try!

We are preparing for our monkeys 2nd birthday and have some lovely things planned for his birthday on Thursday and a little family celerabtion with 3 friends on Saturday

Hope you all caught the opening ceremony of the Paralympics ? It was spectacular. The 12 year old who lost her leg in the earthquake earlier this year, that did ballet from her chair was breathtaking- her supporting cast, using their arms and hands as their legs, was unbelievable. We are so blessed - the 300 girls who were deaf and were in perfect time with the music, from watching the sign instructors tell them what to do....breathtaking. The cherry on the cake was the athlete in his wheelchair that got to light the olympic torch in the stadium - the strength and courage it took, to hoist himself and his wheelchair the entire height of the stadium is something i will never ever forget. I salute these athletes that have taken the 'restrictions' they have have and turned them into fantastic achievements - inspring and motivating to us all. Nothing is impossible to those who believe in Our Lord!

As you can see from the pics, we have a new addition to our house , a jungle gym which arrived a little early for Deqlans birthday! Deqlan loves it - especially the drum which he loves peering and crawling through , and because it has two steering wheels on either side and he can pretend he is in a different car each day! He also loves banging the drum making his own music - he wasnt to happy when i started banging on the drum, singing this old man, sorry my boy i know i have a lot of practice to do ! He loves the slide to, its a bit high and Deqlan not to sure footed on top of the slide, so we still have to have eagle eyes at this region, as Deqlan has no fear!

A MESSAGE FROM DEQLAN- Thank you Dada and Mama, Great Grandpa & Great Nanna,Grandpa and Nanna, Conrad & Meggie & Keaton, Kevin and Louise, Granny and Grandpa for the lovely present, i love it! I am going to practice all my tricks so when you come around i can show you how clever i am ! I am Blessed to have you all and love you all very very much, thank you for my beautiful birthday present!

Congrats in order for Bron and Kobus and Matt - they found out today they will be having a little girl! Thrilled for you guys, take it easy Bron and what a blessing she is going to be!

An update on Ruan, his actual stem cell transplant went great, and he had no reaction to the donor cells. He is doing great and now we wait for the cells to engraph and for his immune system to build up again! Please continue to pray for him, as he and Yolandi still have a long journey in the hospital germ free environment for the next 4 weeks

Great news on baby Declan, the stronger dose chemo is doing its job and he is handling it very very well! Please stop by his site to leave him and his wonderful parents a note of encouragement, please continue to keep this mighty warrior and his folks in your prayers, he is so so very brave and we know Our Lord has him safely in His hands!

Great news on baby Dyllan, after 77 days in the icu , he has reached 2kilograms and went home on Friday for the very first time, we are thrilled for you Louise and Roelof and cant wait to see the little guy! Grow strong and May God keep you healthy and His hands always.

Hope you are enjoying the songs on the blog still lots more i want to add - a bit more about each

- MIRACLE - i heard this song for the first time on Connors site and it had me in tears it was so beautiful - it is definitely my message to Deqlan and I just had to include it, thanks Debbie

- AMORE - The song Mark and I walked into our wedding , it brings back such happy memories

- CHASING CARS - Well, the cars part is for Deqlan, but the song IF I LAY HERE, IF I JUST LAY HERE, WOULD YOU LYE WITH ME AND JUST FORGET THE WORLD - this song seem to play just before or during Deqlans surgeries at Kloof and this is all i wanted to do was lye with Deqlan and hold him and forget the world

- FRAGILE - one of my ultimate favorite songs by my favorite artist Sting - we are all so fragile and so quick to forget it

- YOU RAISE ME UP - this song has a lot of meaning - My Lord raise me up each and every day. I dedicated this song to my Mom and Dee at our wedding as they Raise us up and give us the strength and help we need , especially during Deqlans journey

- FIX YOU - I used to sing it to Deqlan, I WILL TRY TO FIX YOU

- CANNED HEAT - another one of my favorites Jamiroquai - NOTHING LEFT FOR ME TO DO BUT DANCE - everytime we get a great result or i needed cheering up , i pay this

- YO'U'LL BE IN MY HEART - a song that Megs and I dedicate to each other and the words apply to Deqlan - WE WILL ALWAYS BE THERE, JUST LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDER

- NEVER GIVE UP - For obvious reasons in the song title -but also went we went to Ushaka Marine World with Deqlan for the first time - my beloved dolphins where jumping and frolicking in the water to this song - i was watching Deqlan laughing and smiling at them and the words are just to beautiful!

Hope to add more soon!

Have a great week everyone, please never ever stop the prayers for Deqlan and please continue to follow our warriors and pray for them and their families

God Bless and all our love

MARK, SAMM, DEQLAN

By Jesus Stripes Deqlan is healed