To all who have been patiently waiting for an update, we apologize for the long silence. We've been waiting on Thomas's eye to heal sufficiently for chemotherapy to begin. During the wait we've been spending some time together, Ron has had a good deal of work that he has returned to, and we've been trying to catch up on some of the things in our lives that we've had little time for since February.

Chemotherapy started yesterday. We'll tell you about it in a moment, but first we'd like to share some of the past month with you, and express some heartfelt “thank you”s. We've had a great month, and we've been deeply touched by several groups and individuals in our community who have reached out to us.

Healing

Interrupted by only a couple of minor doctor visits to check the healing progress of his eye socket, Thomas had a month typical of most any eight-year-old boy. He spent one to two hours most weekdays with a tutor from the school system so that he'll be able to finish second grade. He had some friends over to the house and went to some friends' houses. He spent a couple of days and nights with my mom. There are a few adults in our local church that Thomas is close to and they took him on a few outings. We saw the new Star Wars movie, played mini golf, he rode his bike on several nice days, and he and his brother were back to their usual indoor and outdoor play.

His eye socket has healed wonderfully, for now it just looks like a closed eye. His eyelids were found to be cancer free and so were able to be preserved. Initially Thomas was very self-conscious about the eye, choosing to wear an eyepatch in public and even the majority of the time at home. Now he thinks about it very little and hasn't worn a patch for almost two weeks. He does wear his glasses all the time now, which brings us to our first thank you.

Appreciation

People all across the country have reached out to us, and our own community has responded to us extraordinarily. We wanted to take a moment to say thank you and share what this has meant to us. Presented in no particular order, we'll start with the office of Dr. Jeffrey Migdol.

Dr. Jeffrey Migdol & Staff: Because Thomas now has only one eye, it is necessary for him to wear protective glasses with polycarbonate lenses. For outdoor glasses, research eventually led us to choose glasses made by Bollé. The dealer locator on the Bollé web site led us to the office of a local doctor, Jeffrey Migdol, just minutes from our home. What a wonderful office of gracious and caring people we found! Over the course of several weeks they worked with us to select a perfect pair of protective sunglasses for Thomas (if you're curious, he ended up with Boomslangs), and to fit him with a pair of standard frames also with polycarbonate lenses. And as if this wasn't enough, they then donated the glasses to Thomas, and gave a pair to Taylor and myself as well! Dr. Migdol, Janet, and your whole staff, we sincerely thank you for your kindness.

Ritina's Family & Friends: Back in Ritina's hometown area in northern Arkansas, Ritina's aunts organized a pie supper for Thomas's benefit. We heard the event was great fun! We sincerely thank everyone who helped organize the event, and all those who participated to raise funds on Thomas's behalf.

Mark & Jackie Kettunen, and Snapple: Thomas's favorite drink in the world is Peach Snapple. It just happens that the husband of Thomas's tutor works for Snapple! In addition to a couple cases of Peach Snapple, Jackie has brought Thomas a Snapple teddy bear, frisbee, and other Snapple goodies, including some interesting test products. Mark and Jackie, we thank you very much, Thomas has really loved these things!

Peter Brady: Peter is the Handy Dandy Handyman! He's a retiree in our community who works through St. Joseph's Church here in Brookfield to donate his time to serving his extended community. He has a small army of volunteers, and they've offered to take care of our lawn mowing for a while, and possibly tackle some other yard projects. (I think he was referred by Jackie Kettunen, Thomas's tutor, who had to make the daily trek through the jungle that was our front yard! LOL.) What a wonderful blessing, Peter, and we thank you sincerely.

Ark-Plas: Ritina's sister, Katresa, works at a company named Ark-Plas back in Ritina's home state of Arkansas, and Ark-Plas has been very generous to Thomas. We've all enjoyed "the box".

Trumbull Church of Christ: The Church of Christ in Trumbull Connecticut held a special contribution for Thomas. We thank you deeply for this very gracious effort on our behalf.

Riverside Church of Christ: The Riverside Church of Christ near Ritina's hometome in northern Arkansas sent a generous donation. To our friends and Christian family there, we thank you sincerely.

Fun Station: The Fun Station in Danbury is holding a fund raising event for Thomas on Friday night, May 31. Even though this event hasn't taken place yet, we thank you for organizing this for Thomas!

Anne Vogel: Anne owns a fine arts gallery in Ridgefield. In June Anne is having an art show featuring flowers and the work of H. Lloyd Weston, and she has arranged for some of the proceeds of that show to be donated to Thomas, as well as offering to make some of his prints available in her gallery. Anne we thank you sincerely for this effort for Thomas.

Bruce Tolle & Thomas's Soccer Teammates: Bruce arranged for Thomas's soccer teammates from last year to all sign a sweatshirt for Thomas. It was delivered to us along with a huge card also signed by his teammates, and both are wonderful. What a great way to brighten up our day, thank you.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation: The Make-A-Wish Foundation has granted Thomas a wish. Thomas has chosen to visit the Caribbean, and we were informed just today that this wish was approved. The actual trip is probably a year away because of Thomas's chemotherapy, but it certainly gives him something to look forward to! Thank you Make-A-Wish, what a wonderful organization you have.

Our Christian family at the Danbury Church of Christ: I wish I could name everyone who helped us from our local Christian family. Our brothers and sisters have brought us food, made contributions, provided babysitting, been there to cry on, helped with transportation issues, prayed continuously, sent dozens of encouraging cards and letters, taken both Thomas and Taylor on outings and to their homes, and so much more.

Danbury Hospital 12 West Floor: This is the floor where my mom works at the Danbury Hospital. They took a private collection for Thomas. Thank you so much for this effort for Thomas.

Taylor's Class: Taylor's class at Center Elementary made a huge and spirit-lifting banner for Thomas, and it's currently the wallpaper in our dining room. The families of Taylor's class also took up a private collection for Thomas. To the families and children in Taylor's class, we love and thank you sincerely.

Westside Elementary School in Searcy, Arkansas: Searcy, Arkansas was our former home, and this is the elementary school where Thomas would likely be attending were we still there. This school easily wins the award for the most cards and letters sent to us from one place! To all the faculty and students at Westside who have had a part in encouraging Thomas and our family, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Brookfield Newcomer's Club: The Brookfield Newcomer's club sent Border's gift certificates to Ritina and Thomas. Thank you for this wonderful gift.

Brownie Troop 466: This Brownie troop collects change throughout the year and then votes on a way to use the funds at the end of the year. This year they voted for Thomas, and gave to us a gift certificate to John's Restaurant here in Brookfield. Thank you troopers!

Bridgewater Baskets: Bridgewater Baskets, a local business, sent Thomas a wonderful basket of goodies. Thank you, it was a wonderful gift.

Nancy Riddle & All of Brookfield for the Hearts for Thomas: Nancy Riddle and the Brookfield PTO arranged a fundraiser called "Have a Heart for Thomas". Children and families from Center Elementary, Huckleberry Elementary, and Whisconier Middle schools all created displays of heart-shaped messages for Thomas, and made donations to Thomas. The response overwhelms us; Brookfield, we don't know how to say thank you for this. Please know that our deepest gratitude goes out to all of you who sent hearts and donations. The love you have shown for us has moved us deeply. What a special and remarkable community in which we live!

New Fairfield Junior Varsity Softball Team: Colleen Klages and the JV softball team at New Fairfield High School had a bake sale for Thomas. This past Wednesday, the day before chemotherapy started, Thomas and I went to visit them at their school so they could meet Thomas and present their donation to us. What a special time that turned out to be! Thomas met the girls, and then spent a long time playing softball with them. He had the most fun he's had in a while, and it was just what he needed on the day before he had to head off to the hospital. To Colleen and the whole JV team, we thank you sincerely not only for the donation, but for the time you spent with Thomas just letting him have fun. You are all very special to Thomas now.

Web Site Messages, Contributions, and Purchases: The web site's guestbook has been a very special source of encouragement for all of us, and we thank everyone who has taken the time to leave messages. They have helped us more than you could possibly know. A special thank you also to everyone who has made donations or purchased Thomas's artwork.

Cards & Messages: We have been flooded with cards and letters of encouragement. We wish we could reply individually to each and every one, but there are so many this just isn't possible. We do read each and every one, and they are always a great source of strength and encouragement.

Personal Contributors & Supporters: Numerous individuals have privately supported us both financially and in other ways, and to each of you we offer our special thanks. Some of our most special donations are the one dollar or five dollar contributions we've received from people who were just touched by Thomas's story. Thank you so much to all of you for touching our lives in return.

Anyone I Missed: We've had so much support I am sure that I have overlooked someone or some group. If you are one of those people or groups, I assure you it is not because we do not appreciate you, but just that we've been overwhelmed by life these past few months. If we find anyone that we overlooked, we will be sure to update the site promptly!

Chemotherapy

As I wrote at the top of the page, chemotherapy started yesterday. Thomas is undergoing two separate courses of chemo that will alternate every three weeks. This first course requires that he be in the hospital for two days. The course that will alternate with this one will require a five day stay.

Ritina took the first night with Thomas last night. As of about 2 PM today, Thomas has had some nausea and vomiting, but it has not been too severe and he seems to be in fairly good spirits. The final doses of chemo for this round of treatment will be administered sometime late this evening, and his oncologist feels confident that he'll be able to come home tomorrow.

Once home, the oncologist feels that by Sunday he should be feeling good. Then, about ten days later, his blood cells will start to be affected by the chemo and his energy level will probably be reduced, and we'll have to be more careful about keeping him out of environments that would expose him to anything infectious. Another couple of weeks after that, about the time the next chemo treatments starts, he'll probably start to lose his hair.

I'm headed back to the hospital in a short while to relieve Ritina, then tomorrow she'll drive down and hopefully we'll all come home.

God bless you all!