While you all know my family and I are going through an extremely difficult time right now, there are countless other families who are far worse off than we. Not every story you read on this Blog is going to be about Luciana. Yes, we’ll keep you up-to-date regarding her progress but we also intend to help others. In order for us to do this, we are going to need your help too. There are so many stories to share with you. Thank you for your contribution and for signing up for this Blog. If you haven’t already done so, please visit her website www.lucianascause.org, like her page and share on your Facebook pages. The more people that know about her story and these other stories, the more likely we can make a difference.
Thank You!!!
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They say “Tis The Season To Be Jolly”. While for many people, these words are words to live by, there is still many who have thoughts of depression, sorrow, regret, anger and resentment. These feelings seem to magnify especially during the Holiday Season(s)!
For those of you who know me on a personal level, you know I have no problem talking to anyone and meeting new people. During one of our many visits to Boston Children’s Hospital, I couldn’t help but notice a young boy sitting all alone in the waiting room. What struck me as odd was he couldn’t have been older than 10. He had nothing to eat or drink. His clothes looked old and worn. The jacket he had along side of him couldn’t keep my daughter warm. As many of you know, it gets quite cold in Boston. I distinctly remember thinking to myself throughout the day, where is this kids family? Is he waiting on someone already in the OR? Could he possibly be going into surgery himself? It wasn’t until after Luciana came out of her surgery that I had an opportunity to speak with an RN. I asked if this kid was going in for surgery himself or was he waiting for someone already in the OR? What she said next made me want to fall to my knees and cry. She told me “kids, of all ages and from all over the world, come to this hospital on their own because their families just can’t afford to come with them. Their families MUST choose between coming with their child to support him/her or having a home to return to after surgery is complete”. I couldn’t believe what she had just said. It was at this moment, I knew we had to do something and so began the quest of Luciana’s Cause.
I KNOW FIRST HAND, as a parent with a sick child, just how scary and nerve racking it gets when these kids are being wheeled off into the OR for a surgery they MAY or MAY NOT come out of alive. We’ve been fortunate!!! Besides my wife and me, there is ALWAYS someone from one, if not both, of our families with us for the duration of time we’re in Boston as a Support. And for this we are extremely grateful!!! We take great comfort in knowing we’re not going it alone.
I’d like to share this excerpt written by a mother of one of the many Angels we’ve met at BCH. His name was Logan…. R.I.P. Logan
“You think your life is hard try going from your son is sick to your son has a brain tumor,then sitting in a waiting room as he is in the OR not knowing how he is going to come out,if he comes out at all. Try going from being RELIEVED that he is okay and normal to,it was a CANCEROUS tumor and he is going to have CHEMO and BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTS. Try watching your son have POISON pumped into him,Watching him LOSE HIS HAIR,GETTING SICK,BEING IN PAIN and your ALLOWING it because you think it WILL SAVE HIS LIFE. Try watching him swell up and having a hard time breathing but you let them do ROUND TWO because you think it will SAVE HIS LIFE. Try watching him swelling up 4 times his size as DR are shoving all kinds of tubes in him and putting him on a VENT to help him breath. Try watching them trying to keep his blood pressure up by pumping all kinds of drugs into him and then they look at you and say"I DON'T KNOW WHATS WRONG" Try being put into in a small room filled with people you don't know as DRs tell that you son is BLEEDING OUT IN HIS BRAIN,THAT HE IS NOW BLIND AND BRAIN DEAD and there is NOTHING THEY CAN DO. Try laying next to your son as they TURN OFF the machines that are keeping him ALIVE and your ALLOWING them to because"ITS FOR THE BEST". Try watching your son as he stop breathing and LEAVES YOUR WORLD FOREVER. Try laying with your sons body as it gets COLD.
Try going home WITHOUT him to tell your daughter that her little brother is dead and NOT COMING BACK. TRY HAVING TO LIVE THROUGH THE PAIN EVERY DAY BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE DEPENDING ON YOU”.
Please Pray for Logan’s family this Holiday Season. Pray they find the comfort in knowing he is watching over them as their eternal Angel.
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I remember as a kid growing up, just how special the Christmas Season was. Why wouldn’t it be? There was no one in my immediately family that I was aware of being sick or dying of an incurable disease. For the most part, other than a few members in our family being overweight, our lives weren’t consumed with hospital stays or weekend visits to the Cancer Center. Later in life I found out My grandfather had emphysema from smoking 5 packs of unfiltered Camels over the course of many years but hey, they didn’t have the medical information back then that they have today. What did I know? I was just a kid. Grandpa looked like one of the wiseguys you’d see in a Godfather movie. I thought his oxygen tanks gave him superhuman powers. Even though Grandpa had his oxygen tanks, he was happy to be home with the family, especially when we came to visit during the holidays. It never seemed like there was something to worry about. We were happy, joyous, playful, and as a family, we were together. Enjoying the comforts of a spacious home and, thanks to Grandma, meals that could literally feed a Battalion of Marines.
As a Marine, I know what it’s like to be away from family during the holidays or for an extended period of time. While I personally was never deployed overseas, I wasn’t living at home with my family. I was on my own. Every day, hoping and praying I could be at Grandmas house eating the antipasta my father would make each year or Grandmas Manicotti. Not to mention the Turkey mom would make with stuffing and mashed potatoes. I know how it feels to want to be there playing in the snow with my brothers and cousins or playing poker with the men after the 5th of usually a 7 course meal (Grandma was Italian). Which leads me to my closing of this months edition.
As you all know, our service men and women are fighting an ongoing war across seas and many won’t come home this Christmas Season. Equally as important, many have already made the ultimate sacrifice to our nation by giving their lives so that we remain a free nation. I ask each of you this holiday season to take a moment and reflect on what’s truly important in your life? The families of these men and women will never have the opportunity to hold, hug or even touch their son or daughter, husband or wife ever again. It is for this reason, you may now understand why, for many, the Holiday Season is not always the “Season To Be Jolly”. This Holiday Season please take a minute of your time and Thank, not only our active and reserve military personnel, but ALL our Veterans and all their families too!
______________________________________________________________________________________
Again, If you haven’t already done so, please visit her website www.lucianascause.org, like her page and share on your Facebook pages. The more people that know about her story and these other stories, the more likely we can make a difference. If you can, please take part in our 50/50 Fundraiser. We also need help selling Raffle Tickets. If you or someone you know could help us sell just 5 tickets, we’ll give you a tciket for FREE!!! If you don’t want to take part in the 50/50, please visit her website www.lucianascause.org and consider a One Time Donation or a Recurring Monthly Donation in any amount. Any size donation will help!!! You can make donations to Luciana’s Cause via PayPal or check. All checks should be made payable to Luciana’s Cause.
Thank You!!!
______________________________________________________________________________
They say “Tis The Season To Be Jolly”. While for many people, these words are words to live by, there is still many who have thoughts of depression, sorrow, regret, anger and resentment. These feelings seem to magnify especially during the Holiday Season(s)!
For those of you who know me on a personal level, you know I have no problem talking to anyone and meeting new people. During one of our many visits to Boston Children’s Hospital, I couldn’t help but notice a young boy sitting all alone in the waiting room. What struck me as odd was he couldn’t have been older than 10. He had nothing to eat or drink. His clothes looked old and worn. The jacket he had along side of him couldn’t keep my daughter warm. As many of you know, it gets quite cold in Boston. I distinctly remember thinking to myself throughout the day, where is this kids family? Is he waiting on someone already in the OR? Could he possibly be going into surgery himself? It wasn’t until after Luciana came out of her surgery that I had an opportunity to speak with an RN. I asked if this kid was going in for surgery himself or was he waiting for someone already in the OR? What she said next made me want to fall to my knees and cry. She told me “kids, of all ages and from all over the world, come to this hospital on their own because their families just can’t afford to come with them. Their families MUST choose between coming with their child to support him/her or having a home to return to after surgery is complete”. I couldn’t believe what she had just said. It was at this moment, I knew we had to do something and so began the quest of Luciana’s Cause.
I KNOW FIRST HAND, as a parent with a sick child, just how scary and nerve racking it gets when these kids are being wheeled off into the OR for a surgery they MAY or MAY NOT come out of alive. We’ve been fortunate!!! Besides my wife and me, there is ALWAYS someone from one, if not both, of our families with us for the duration of time we’re in Boston as a Support. And for this we are extremely grateful!!! We take great comfort in knowing we’re not going it alone.
I’d like to share this excerpt written by a mother of one of the many Angels we’ve met at BCH. His name was Logan…. R.I.P. Logan
“You think your life is hard try going from your son is sick to your son has a brain tumor,then sitting in a waiting room as he is in the OR not knowing how he is going to come out,if he comes out at all. Try going from being RELIEVED that he is okay and normal to,it was a CANCEROUS tumor and he is going to have CHEMO and BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTS. Try watching your son have POISON pumped into him,Watching him LOSE HIS HAIR,GETTING SICK,BEING IN PAIN and your ALLOWING it because you think it WILL SAVE HIS LIFE. Try watching him swell up and having a hard time breathing but you let them do ROUND TWO because you think it will SAVE HIS LIFE. Try watching him swelling up 4 times his size as DR are shoving all kinds of tubes in him and putting him on a VENT to help him breath. Try watching them trying to keep his blood pressure up by pumping all kinds of drugs into him and then they look at you and say"I DON'T KNOW WHATS WRONG" Try being put into in a small room filled with people you don't know as DRs tell that you son is BLEEDING OUT IN HIS BRAIN,THAT HE IS NOW BLIND AND BRAIN DEAD and there is NOTHING THEY CAN DO. Try laying next to your son as they TURN OFF the machines that are keeping him ALIVE and your ALLOWING them to because"ITS FOR THE BEST". Try watching your son as he stop breathing and LEAVES YOUR WORLD FOREVER. Try laying with your sons body as it gets COLD.
Try going home WITHOUT him to tell your daughter that her little brother is dead and NOT COMING BACK. TRY HAVING TO LIVE THROUGH THE PAIN EVERY DAY BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE DEPENDING ON YOU”.
Please Pray for Logan’s family this Holiday Season. Pray they find the comfort in knowing he is watching over them as their eternal Angel.
______________________________________________________________________________________
I remember as a kid growing up, just how special the Christmas Season was. Why wouldn’t it be? There was no one in my immediately family that I was aware of being sick or dying of an incurable disease. For the most part, other than a few members in our family being overweight, our lives weren’t consumed with hospital stays or weekend visits to the Cancer Center. Later in life I found out My grandfather had emphysema from smoking 5 packs of unfiltered Camels over the course of many years but hey, they didn’t have the medical information back then that they have today. What did I know? I was just a kid. Grandpa looked like one of the wiseguys you’d see in a Godfather movie. I thought his oxygen tanks gave him superhuman powers. Even though Grandpa had his oxygen tanks, he was happy to be home with the family, especially when we came to visit during the holidays. It never seemed like there was something to worry about. We were happy, joyous, playful, and as a family, we were together. Enjoying the comforts of a spacious home and, thanks to Grandma, meals that could literally feed a Battalion of Marines.
As a Marine, I know what it’s like to be away from family during the holidays or for an extended period of time. While I personally was never deployed overseas, I wasn’t living at home with my family. I was on my own. Every day, hoping and praying I could be at Grandmas house eating the antipasta my father would make each year or Grandmas Manicotti. Not to mention the Turkey mom would make with stuffing and mashed potatoes. I know how it feels to want to be there playing in the snow with my brothers and cousins or playing poker with the men after the 5th of usually a 7 course meal (Grandma was Italian). Which leads me to my closing of this months edition.
As you all know, our service men and women are fighting an ongoing war across seas and many won’t come home this Christmas Season. Equally as important, many have already made the ultimate sacrifice to our nation by giving their lives so that we remain a free nation. I ask each of you this holiday season to take a moment and reflect on what’s truly important in your life? The families of these men and women will never have the opportunity to hold, hug or even touch their son or daughter, husband or wife ever again. It is for this reason, you may now understand why, for many, the Holiday Season is not always the “Season To Be Jolly”. This Holiday Season please take a minute of your time and Thank, not only our active and reserve military personnel, but ALL our Veterans and all their families too!
______________________________________________________________________________________
Again, If you haven’t already done so, please visit her website www.lucianascause.org, like her page and share on your Facebook pages. The more people that know about her story and these other stories, the more likely we can make a difference. If you can, please take part in our 50/50 Fundraiser. We also need help selling Raffle Tickets. If you or someone you know could help us sell just 5 tickets, we’ll give you a tciket for FREE!!! If you don’t want to take part in the 50/50, please visit her website www.lucianascause.org and consider a One Time Donation or a Recurring Monthly Donation in any amount. Any size donation will help!!! You can make donations to Luciana’s Cause via PayPal or check. All checks should be made payable to Luciana’s Cause.
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