Friday the 14th of Sep

Hello All
Just a quick update to let you know Deqlan doing very well - his appetite still very good, his got great colour and lots and lots of energy - he wants to sit less and less and wants to walk more and more
He is thrilled to be at home crawling and walking and no one restricting him - its even a challenge to change Deqlans nappy - you got to be very very quick ! Its way to long to lie on his back to change him
Deqlans eye lashes seem to be growing back - he had the longest darkest gorgeous eye lashes i have ever seen - most of them fell out , but seem to becoming back - hardly any of this hair fell out ( touch wood) only a patch at the back of his head and the rest thinned quite a lot - its the most beautiful strawberry blond colour and with his green eyes... he melts our hearts - he is such a beautiful GIFT FROM GOD
We getting ready to watch the world cup rugby match tonight between south africa and london - go bokke !
Our friend Rene became an Aunt today to Cuan - congrats to Brett and Belinda and to your folks and to you my friend - may he bring you all lots of love and joy!
I have added a few more links on our site feel free to check them out
September is paediatric cancer awareness month in the USA and a lot is been done to raise more awareness in aid of more funds to find a cure for this beast - so please spread the word - the more awareness we can create the more chances of doors opening and cures being discovered! check out an amazing story of 5 dads travelling across America to raise money for their kids http://www.graceoughtoncancerfoundation.org/loneliestroad/index.html
Have a Blessed Weekend, please continue to pray for our gorgeous warrior and please continue to pray for our friends battling this and other cancers - Keira, Kate, Charli, both Connors, Ruan, Koketso, Miluska, Yolanda, Ilse, JP, Benny, Keagan, Nthabiseng , Henco, Jayden, Charlise,Precious,James, Eric, Raymond - and all the other soldiers and their families fighting this disease
Sacred Heart of Jesus we place our trust in Thee all for Thee Oh Lord, Oh My Jesus all for Thee
All our Love
Mark, Samm & Deqlan

Round 7

We had an early start this morning and had to be at Dr De Jagers rooms by 9am - Deqlan hardly made a peep whilst Doctor cleaned the area and inserted the porto cath needle - what he didnt like was being held down so that he couldnt pull the needle out! Everyone comented on how he has grown and how well he is looking! Deqlans blood work was great, his platelets up to 340 000, his Hb now 11 so all was well to go ahead with the 7th round

We have had our hands full today trying to keep our little soldier entertained u
as he is so much more active these days and wants to bounce and dance and crawl and walk all at the same time! Nanna was an absolute Blessing today, as she always is, she entertained our Deqlan while I tried to work.Nanna has the most amazing bag of tricks with new and never ending, entertaining toys and gadgets to keep Deqlan busy - we call it her Mary Poppins bag

We missed Meggie today so very much- her and Conrad have gone on holiday to the Eastern and Western Cape for 10 days - its their last holiday before their little nemo arrives so i think they are going to do a lot of relaxing and catching up on me time

We will be able to go home round 1700 or so tommorow afternoon, with another round under Deqlans belt - hooray! The next time is our last hospital stay and im so excited that the end of the treatment plan is finally within sight and reach. Our last hospital stay will be 25 - 27 Sep - then another 3 day visits before the surgery..so exciting

Deqlan is currently getting vincristine, etoposide, chlorophosphomide and rehydration - he is an absolute star and tolerating it very very well! His appetite is still great today and he now weighs 10kilograms - im so thrilled at this ! Finally seems to be picking up weight again

We got some great news today on our friend Charlise ( she had her primary tumor removed 2 weeks ago) the cells of what remains of the NB are mature and therefor no need for any further chemo or radiation at this stage - what fantastic news and Praise Our Lord, all Glory to Him!

Thank you for your continued messages, posts,emails , sms and calls - we really appreciate you ARMY - fighting together with Deqlan!

Please stay in touch, God Bless and sleep tight

Thank you Lord for getting us through this 7th round and we pray that you continue to heal Our Deqlan totally and permanently - we place all our trust in Thee

All our love
Mark, Samm & Deqlan

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY TO DEQLAN

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY TO THE MOST COURAGEOUS, THE BRAVEST, THE CUTEST, THE MOST ADORABLE AND LOVABLE GORGEOUS BOY IN THE WORLD, DEQLAN!

I am so proud of you today by boy - you even look older to me - like a big boy now ! Overnight you have changed from the most beautiful tiny baby that was placed in my arms a year ago to the most gorgeous 1 year old. I remember the exact second you were placed in my arms, the music that was playing, even the sound of your first cry , the look in your Dada's eyes the first time he held you - you sneezed and we both laughed saying you already took after your Dad that sneezes in bright light! You changed our worlds in an instant - you made things more meaningful , the sun shone brighter, the world was definitely a happier and more brilliant place to be in. I thanked Our Lord for choosing us to be your parents and we promised to love and treasure you each second of each day of each year. You have grown into the most amazing soul - your laughter brings us to laughter without fail, your smile melts our hearts and when you hug and kiss us - thats THE BEST FEELING IN THE ENTIRE WORLD- NOTHING CAN COMPARE TO THAT! You have tought us so much - to be brave and strong and true and that the true meaning of happiness is in our family and that love and the love of Our Lord can get us through anything - you are our hero , our inspiration , our motivation, our beautiful Deqlan Ross Higgins and we love you more then what we could ever ever explain in words. We promise to always guide and protect you and show you the path The Lord has set out for you - we promise to always love and treasure you and to teach you all the good and important things we have learnt about life. You are loved by SO MANY and you have already changed SO MANY peoples lives for the better.I Know our Lord has such an amazing plan for you - and a plan that ONLY YOU can carry out. You are such a special boy - we knew that you where no ordinary boy right from the start - we knew there was something extraordinary about you Our Darling Deqlan. Always, always know how much we love you and that we will ALWAYS ALWAYS be here for you. I know Our Lord is going to continue healing you totally and permanently and we look so forward to many many many more Happy Birthdays together. You are our inspiration. We love you so very very much, all our love and God Bless You Our Darling Deqlan

Dada and Mama

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We had a FANTASTIC DAY! Deqlan was awake at 3am this morning - he mustve known it was his Birthday and was probably to excited to sleep - we eventually got him back to sleep and he awoke at 7 this morn. He was greeted by a Birthday cake and candle surrounded by presents, balloons and streamers! Deqlan was definitely more interested in his Tigger bowl and emptied his cake out onto the carpet so he could see his Tigger! We then had a lovely breakfast of French toast that Mark prepared and Deqlan loved every bite!

Great Grandpa, Nana & Grandpa and Meggie all popped in again today to wish the Birthday Boy! More Happy Birthdays where sung and more cake was eaten! Deqlan had a great day playing with all his new toys and watching all his dvds. We even got him to eat an entire serving of food by sitting in his tricyle watching his dvds - we are so impressed he is eating so much better. Deqlan stood by himself for a few seconds today and is definitely getting braver in the steps he is taking so we definitely think that walking is around the corner.

Thank you SO MUCH to all of you for the most amazing sms's, phone calls, emails , posts and prayers to Deqlan on his big day - we are truly Blessed to have the amazing family and friends we do - thank you all - you made Deqlans day so very special and im sure if he could thank you each personally he would! We even got a phone call from Dr De Jager, Deqlans oncologist , to wish him - what an AMAZING man this is it really touched my heart.

So, back to the business of fighting this NB war - round 7 kicks off tomorow morning at 9 - only 1 night stay, should be able to leave on Thursday round 1600. Please continue to pray that the chemo does its job, that Deqlan has no side effects and that we can keep him comfortable and entertained while in the ward. Please continue to pray for his total and complete healing and that Our Lord continues to work his miracale through Dr De Jagers hands. Please also continue to pray for all Our Friends that are sick and need Our Lords healing, comfort and strength.

Have a great day and promise to give an update as soon as i am able to and in the ward

Sacred heart of Jesus, we place our trust in Thee all for Thee Oh Lord, oh My Jesus all for Thee

God Bless and all our Love

Mark, Samm & Deqlan

THE PARTY!

THE BIRTHDAY TRAIN WE CREATED
MY DOGGY TRICYLE FROM GRANDPA AND NANNA

MY BALLS IN A SHELL FROM MEGGIE AND CONRAD

PARTY TIME!

ALL PARTYIED OUT!

HOORAY FOR NODDY!

MY FEET IN THE CAKE!

MY RED CAR FROM GRANNY AND GRANDPA


WHAT A STUNNING DAY IT WAS!

The day started off with Great Grandpa coming to wish Deqlan!Great Grandpa and Nan bought Deqlan the most gorgeous clothes - the one set has helicopters on the t-shirt and as you all know, he just LOVES helicopters. Grandpa even helped me put up the balloons - it was Deqlans nap time but i think there was just to much excitement for him to go to sleep!

Then Grandpa and Nanna arrived with the most beautiful tricycle - Deqlan was in his element- it even sings How much is that Doggy in the window while his eyes and ears move up and down. Thank you so much Mom and Dee, you spoil rotten. Meggy and Conrad arrived with a sea shell full of colourful balls which Deqlan immediately wanted to get into - we also found the cutest Noddy pjs and Baby Einstein cards,tele tubbys dvd and Noddy toys! Thank you guys he LOVES all his presies. Next was Granny and Tyler and Gaynor - they arrived with a red sports car - it even goes forwards and reverses, has lights and a hooter - even a phone in the car - to cute for words! We also got some lovely pjs and books! Thanks very much Aunty Rene and Uncle Quintin, he will have many happy hours driving his car. Tyler and Gaynor kept Deqlan busy opening lovely clothes, stacking rings and shape sorters, even a music centre - with a dj mixing area- thanks so much guys you know how much he loves his music.Mike and Sandi spoilt Deqlan rotten - we are going to go shopping for something very special , thank you! We also recieved a surprise present from Reese, Theresa and Rob - the cutest musical animals - thank you so much, what a stunning surprise and Deqlan has been loving all the noises and songs!

After everyone had arrived little Deqlan was way over tired and fell asleep in Nannas arms, to be put down in his camp cot, to sleep in the lovely breeze for over 2 hours!

When Deqlan woke up we sang Happy Birthday and cut our Noddy cake! Before we got to singing Deqlan decided he wanted to feel what cake under his feet felt like and walked and the cake - he had us in buckets of laughter, its a moment i will never forget!

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing with all the stunning gifts he recieved and playing with the dogs at a distance.

A lovely day was had by all, especially Deqlan - he even got some sun and has lovely rosy cheeks to prove it.

Forgot to mention, when Deqlan and I arrived home on Friday night , we walked into his play room to see a tv and dvd player! Deqlans Birthday present from Dada. Since he LOVES his dvds and music so much and since we cant really take him out or to the shops or to play with other kids we have brought the world into our house. Deqlan is so chuffed at this and has great delight in sitting and watching his Baby Einstein Dvds holding his own remote - what a gorgeous sight

As i watch my baby boy sleeping very tight tonight, I pray to Our Lord and thank him for the most fantastic Birthday party that I know Deqlan enjoyed, i thank him for the amazing gift of family and friends that love us and Deqlan so very much. I ask Our Lord for many, many, many more Happy Birthdays in the future.

I cant wait to have you all at our Birthday and celebration party when Deqlan is better!

Have a lovely week and promise to post more pics and stories on Deqlans Birthday 11 Sep

Please continue to pray for our Darling Boy - for his total and permanent recovery, for his immune system to stay strong and to protect him and for this 7th round of chemo to go very well and that the chemo continues to kill and shrink and destroy every cancer cell in his body.

Sacred Heart of Jesus we place our trust in Thee, all for Thee Oh Lord, Oh my Jesus all for Thee

God Bless and lots of love

Mark, Samm and Deqlan

The Birthday Celebrations begin!

Much excitement was in the air when we recieved a packge from Canada on Friday morning! It was for our special boy Deqlans 1st Birthday from Debbie & Jeff, Darren & Jared, Aunty Elaine, Tracey & Andrew, Damian and Chenya - all of our family in Toronto! Deqlan was fascinated with the box and immediately crawled over to check it out!
We had loads of fun opening each gift and lots of oohhss and awws where heard! Deqlans favourite thing was the gorgeous Tigger bowl - he played with it for 20 minutes! We also recieved the most gorgeous frogs - as you know we have been collecting lots of these little creatures from everyone as gifts - FROG -FOREVER RELIANT ON GOD! So each one is so very special to us. We also recieved the cutest Pooh bear 'poof' that Deqlan ( and Mama) can lie on and watch TV - along with Pooh came Eeyore! Deqlan LOVES Eeyore and i had searched a lot of shops to find one for him - but this one was perfect - its like you read my mind! The presents kept coming - the cutest frogs and dolphins for the bath which he also LOVES. We also opened a case full of shapes and each one you hit in makes a noise - of course this fascinates Deqlan and he played with it the whole of Friday afternoon! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO YOU ALL FOR THE MOST GORGEOUS PRESENTS - I KNOW YOU ALL PUT SO MUCH THOUGHT INTO THEM AND IT TOOK MY BREATH AWAY THAT YOU WENT TO SO MUCH EFFORT TO GET THE GIFTS AND SEND THEM OVER IN TIME FOR DEQLANS 1ST BIRTHDAY. YOU ARE SO VERY SPECIAL TO US, WE MISS YOU AND WE THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR LOVE, SUPPORT AND PRAYERS - SENDING ALL OF OUR THANKS AND ALL OF OUR LOVE TO YOU ALL, THANK YOU SO MUCH AND ENJOY THE PHOTOS

Its a.....

Its a ....BOY!!!! Yahoo! Meggie and Conrad are going to be proud parents to a boy! We are so very excited ! A friend for Deqlan! Cant wait! Congrats guys, boys are so wonderful! They keep you on your toes !!!!

Happy Birthday to our friend from Antenatal classes, Siya for 1 Sep and Happy Birthday to our friend from postnatal classes, Luke , for today 5 Sep! You are both very special boys!

A quick note to let you know that Charlise is doing well , we still havent recieved final update, but she is up and about and playing and should go home tommorow - the Dad seems to understand that she will need radiation after this so perhaps they couldnt get everything out or its to be extra cautious - please continue to pray for her speedy recovery.

Attached are some photos from the Kalefong kids Birthday parties - as you can see they where in their elements with the balloons and bubbles we sent - amazing how something so small can mean the world to these kids. The happiness on their little faces in priceless -we are so excited to continue doing this and bringing joy and laughter into these kids lives!

Deqlan has been unusually niggly today - when i opened his mouth to try and feel if it was more teeth coming, to my amazement i found 4 teeth popping through the gums!!!! my poor little monkey no wonder he is not eating ( also due to chemo though) and no wonder he is moaning and groaning today! To top it all off its two molars, i hear the further towards the back you go the more pain for the little one - shame, i really hope the discomfort will settle soon

I have had a VERY BUSY day travel wise and have to run my dear family and friends to finish off for the day so I can go home and continue the Noddy plans for our party on Saturday!

Please continue to pray for our beautiful boy to be totally and permanently healed! Please continue to pray for all of our friends battling neuroblastoma and other cancers - we need all the prayers we can get!Our Lord hears each and every single one!

Again today - ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE

MARK 9 ;23

All our love

Mark, Samm & Deqlan

Tuesday, the 4th of September 2007

Sorry for not writing in a while - we have been so so busy enjoy every second with our gorgeous Deqlan!

On Saturday, Megs and I went through to Montana Square to go and support Jayedn Pretorius singing and recieving a cd of the song he has dedicated to his Mom - we mentioned him a while back, he is 5 years and he also has neuroblastoma and was only given 3 months and he has been active and being as 'normal' as normal can be for over a year now. His dream was to sing and record ' Dance with my Mother instead' - Mrs South Africa and Reach for a dream made this possible for him and we had to go and support and meet this little guy in person. Well, there was not a dry eye in the house - what an amazing little warrior Jayden is. I was honoured to meet him. He has the most gorgeous smile and you can just feel the presence of Our Lord around him. I told him that i was so proud of him and that he sings beautifully- I asked him if i could have a photo with him as I wanted to show my warrior how brave he was to. I shall treasure this photo always. Please pray for Jayden and his family - for Our Lord to continue comforting them and fillig their hearts with peace and hope and renewed Faith each day. I salute you Jayden !!!!!

We have been planning Deqlans 1st Birthday party for this Saturday - unfortunately we cant have a big gatherng at the moment to protect Deqlan from getting sick, so a very intimate gathering of our folks and siblings - but we are definitely going to plan a celebration when Deqlan is healthy again and to celebrate his first Birthday with all of our family and friends! We are having a Noddy party - Deqlan loves Noddy and his Bumpy Dog, he is so clever ...if you put a few different toys own in front of him and you ask him who is Bumpy dog , he will show you! So clever my sweetheart! Hope to post lots of photos of our celebration with him! I cant believe how quickly time has gone - a whole year ago my life changed for the better! What a Blessing Deqlan chose us!

Megs went and met with Yolandie today at the new CHOC house in Pretoria - this house has been set up to accomodate families for children who need treatment in the Pretoria area, and dont have funds for transportation or accomodation during treatment. They discussed what the house and the CHOC families are desperatley in need of - we are definitely going to help them whereever we can - im sure megs will be sending an email out to you all to see who and how we can help! As she has already mentioned, we would love to make this our Christmas project this year - watch this space for more details. I am so proud of you Meggie for getting involved in this and wanting to help others as you always do!

Speaking of Megs - she goes for her 17 week scan tommorow and hopefully we will be able to see whether we have a little nemo (boy) or dori ( girl) on the way! Im in two minds about what I think - my dreams definitely show a little boy running around the garden with Deqlan - my heart tells me a little girl! Who ever comes a long will be just as loved and we cant wait to meet you!

One of our Neuroblastoma friends, Charlise (4), had her operation on Monday to remove what was left of her tumor -we are waiting for un update - please pray for her and her family that all went fantastic and according to plan to for her speedy and permanent recovery - will update when we have more information!

We recieved fantastic news from our friends in Texas! Keira had a check up scan last week and it shows that her tumor continues to shrink! This is WONDERFUL news as it means she will not need chemo as it continues to shrink by itself ! Our Lord is so great , all the glory to him! We are so happy for you all and continue to pray that it shrinks and shrinks and dissapears!!!

Deqlan has had a great week so far - bundles of energy , lots of crawling and more wanting to walk at the moment - his balance seems to improve as the days go towards his Birthday...

He has been loving his walks around the block , watching the trees and cars and just being in the open air does him the world of good! His eye is looking great, his not as pale and lots of laughs and smiles and new tricks each day. Deqlans appetite is not great at the moment - but we persevere and try and get a few bites of this and that into his tummy! He loved a mashed up banana today! He definitely doesnt do carrots - every item of food we have tried that involves carrots gets a terrible reaction !

Well, let me be off to sleep and hoping to post more news tommorow! I look so forward to watching Deqlans beautiful and peaceful face as I close my eyes and pray for my beautiful boy.

Have a lovely week and please continue to pray for Deqlans total and complete healing , for his imune system to be strong and protect him from getting sick, for him to have a lovely build up to his very first Birthday!

EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE!

God Bless you all

Mark, Samm & Deqlan