Overdue Update

Well, I should have written this over a month a go.

Last time I wrote, Ollie had just been given the one year all clear. Well, we've since been in again for a checkup, and I'm pleased to say that he continues to bring smiles to the faces of doctor Angela and the nurses and staff on 3b for more reasons than just being adorable. he is a strong, boisterous and talkative bundle of energy. He will be 3 years old in two weeks - so very hard to believe. It's probably time we started to consider pre-school.

We also took a trip to visit Dr Lindsay Adams, the paediatrician who first joined all the dots and sent us to 3b in the first place. We didn't go for anything specific, just to touch base. If Oliver get's sick again Lindsay will be our first stop, although one of the GP's in the practice we frequent (not our GP though) is fabulous with him. Anyway, we had been meaning to go and see Lindsay and to thank him for identifying Oliver's predicament for some time. I think he was glad to see how well Oliver was, and was genuinely happy for us and to receive the card we gave him. Thanks Dr Lindsay - you may have just been doing your job in your eyes, but in our eyes you saved our little boy.

It's been over a month since I returned from France where I was one of 19 climbers to attempt the summit of Mont Blanc as part of a fundraiser for the children's cancer ward at PMH. Initially, when asked how it was, I had been telling people 'It was good, but...' Now, I've changed to 'It was a dismal failure!' We didn't make the summit due to high winds (65km/h+ I believe), low cloud (making for very limited visibility on a fairly steep ridge), and some fairly sick team mates who really needed to get back down. I was absolutely gutted when we were turned around. I had pinned my hopes on making the summit and doing something concrete for my little boy and our little friends. I wanted so much to fly my flags on top - Ollie, Tom (and the Keenan clan), Immie (who passed away on May 1), Evie (who passed away only 3 days prior to our summit attempt), and the kids on 3b who placed their names and hand prints on a big 3b flag. I know in my head it doesn't make sense, but in my heart I was again left helpless and at the mercy of something much larger than me. Most importantly, of course, thanks to the generosity and hard work of the other climbers and everyone that supported our fundraising efforts, we have raised over $800,000, with the aim of hitting $1 million by the time we hit Christmas and stop fundraising for this specific event. Thankyou so much to everyone who has given so very generously.

You know what, I could go on, but I won't. I struggle with long blog entries, so I'll leave this one here, and I'll be back soon.

I had photo's, but the website doesn't want to let me load them up.