Blessed

Just enjoying being Carter

Carter's wand...'Why won't Bennett turn into a frog?!'

Before Carter was diagnosed, Matt and I knew we were pretty fortunate people. We have each other, two amazing little boys (and another on the way), an awesome network of friends and family, and our health to be thankful for. Although, in the day-to-day routine of life it is so easy to take it all for granted. This is especially true when often you are just working hard to get ahead in life. We want to be the best providers for our children and have them experience things as great as we experienced them as kids, or better. The most important thing though is to just be present. And right now, there isn’t any place else Matt or I would rather be.

Believe it or not, we are also blessed in certain aspects of Carter’s cancer. We have met so many amazing children and families at CHOC on the oncology floor. Some children have bone cancer, which has taken many years of treatment. And some children have intestinal cancer, and have had almost their entire intestine removed until there isn’t much left. Carter has a very rare form of liver cancer. Yes, it is a vital organ he needs to survive. However, we are so lucky it had not spread to other parts of his body. We are also so lucky that he is able to get a liver transplant and start fresh and cancer-free with a new organ. We are fortunate to live an hour away from one of the best liver transplant centers in the country. We are blessed to live in a day and age when this is all possible.

There are terrible days when we don’t understand why Carter (and our family) is going through this, but we put it all in perspective. Even the children with cancers that seem more challenging than Carter’s at times are being given a chance to fight. This is not the case, most likely, with Carter’s liver donor. We realize and appreciate the fact that our family (and Carter most importantly) is being given the opportunity to fight, and he will survive and flourish!