Party Time at OT's

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Thank you to everyone who came to Oscar Taylor’s last night to show their support and those that donated items for the silent auction. It was so nice to see old and new friends. I haven’t had a chance to see many of you for so long. I feel bad that I did’t get a chance to talk to everyone. I have to admit I was a little overwhelmed, as this is the first time that I have been in a social environment with that many people. After my first and only glass of wine, I was able to relax a little.

We had about 60 attendees show, which we were pleased to see, since it is in the dead of the summer when many are on vacation. Wine, beer and cocktails were flowing, while many noshed on grilled chicken sandwiches and quesadillas. Brad Perry and his band played tunes throughout the night as we all mingled and caught up with old friends.

My sister Megan brought a surprise of 1,000 cranes. These cranes were strung throughout the private room in all sorts of beautiful colors. She explained that the story says, “Sadako was only a baby when an atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Nine years later, she is an energetic sixth grader who loves to run and wants to join the racing team. But then she starts getting dizzy spells. She tries to keep it a secret, but one day she gets sick at school. She has leukemia, the atom bomb disease. Her best friend tells her the story of the cranes. If she folds one thousand paper cranes then she can get well. For nearly a year, Sadako folds cranes and remains optimistic. She folds 644 cranes before she dies. Even though she never finished folding the cranes herself, this story of one little girl’s courage and determination continues to inspire people around the world“. It was really touching to see that my sister’s seventh graders spent the time folding the cranes in my honor.

I also had another surprise that the Web site, www.themelissawaller.com, is almost ready to go live. The site had gone live for the purposes of the night to show the interactivity and finalized homepage. It was exciting to see how taking a small idea can turn into such a cool tool that can hopefully reach many others. The Web site will have areas including: the unexpected journey, about Melissa, blog, message boards, photos/video, warrior gear, resources with statistics and information and much more! Once the site is live, I will let everyone know through this blog and Facebook.

Lastly, the silent auction had a slew of options for prizes including: golf packages, handmade jewelry, spa packages, tickets to events, signed sports paraphernalia, trips and more! Thomas and Jamie won the sought-after trip to Hawaii. Thanks to everyone for bidding and especially to the companies and people that donated to the auction. I have to admit, it was pretty funny when I found out that my sisters somehow convinced my father to bid on the Arriba Mexican Grill certificate. Little did he know that he would find out shortly after he won the bid, that my sisters had schemed to use the certificate to take him out to dinner for Father’s Day. Nice one…

At the end of the night we had a little scare. My father, sister, Megan and Dustin were walking out of Oscar Taylor, and suddenly my father fell to the ground. He stopped breathing. I heard people screaming that he had fallen down and was unconscious and to call 911. We ran outside and he was awake and seemed a little confused, but OK. We sat down at a table and got him some water and ordered some food, thinking that the cause of the incident may have been from low blood sugar. The reason why I tell this story is because I wanted to let everyone know that we drove him back to the hotel and we picked him up first thing this morning. He is OK and doing well.

Tomorrow Wes and I head to the Cancer Treatment Centers of Arizona. We are checking in tomorrow night and staying for three days to meet with all sorts of doctors, do testing and learn about the center. We don’t really have an itinerary, so I am curious to see what the next few days will bring and how differently things will be. Feel free to give me a call in the next couple of days, although I will try to update the blog as much as possible. This will be the third group that we will have met with since I have been diagnosed, and I have a feeling that all three will be very different. All in all, I think it will be a great learning experience.

Link to blog: http://themelissawaller.wordpress.com/2009/06/20/party-time-at-ots/

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We value and respect our HERWriters' experiences, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice, although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.