"Sports Star - Tuesday November 24"

Hello everyone,

I'm frantically sending out emails and posting this blog entry because we just found out earlier this evening that Dane's "Sports Star of the Week" feature will be on CTV news TOMORROW - Tuesday November 24. It will apparently be on three times - on the lunch hour newscast, at 6:00 pm and at 11:30 pm. The feature will also be posted on CTV's website in case you miss the news.

Dirk was with Dane for the interview portion tonight and it sounds like our 8 year old was a tad reluctant. So if his answers are pretty limited and he looks like he is hiding a bit under his hoodie, so be it. By Dirk's description, it seems we are lucky he got in front of the camera at all. I'm sure I'll get reminded about "how I made him do this" many times over in the days, weeks, months and years to come!!

Hope you enjoy the feature - Janie and Dirk

"Have you seen Dane?"

Before you panic, we haven't lost Dane. "Have you seen Dane?" is my play on words for this week ... yep, he is officially a celebrity.

Starting today the direct mail letter from CancerCare Manitoba is arriving in Manitobans' mailboxes. The letter is being sent to about 40,000 households and we know it's out there because Canada Post delivered ours today. It seemed fitting that Dane was the one who opened this one piece of mail tonight. Below is the link to the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation website, specifically "Dane's Story" (this is the same copy as in the direct mail letter).

www.cancercarefdn.mb.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=534

Starting this Saturday, a piece will also be running in the WFP for about six weeks. I find it to be a striking ad - the picture of Dane is a real close-up and definitely elicits emotion.

The 30 second TV spot is "in the can" (journalist language) and should start running on CTV by the middle of next week. Ashley and Dane did a wonderful job at the rink and performing a spinal tap on the puppet at CancerCare with their favorite Child Life Specialist. They definitely look like future doctors or scientists. There will also be a 60 second spot on the Foundation's website and I will post both links once they are available.

This entire experience has been a lot of things to our family. Although Dane was resistant, he seems to be quite pleased with the finished products and even went so far as to admit he likes the pictures they chose of him. The team working on this project went out of their way to include Ashley and that was wonderful as she has often felt like the odd person out during this incredibly tough ten month journey. Clare has been the "gerber" baby and her mild mannered personality has been the topic of much conversation. Although Dirk has had more of a supporting role, he has been very engaged in the whole process and I very much appreciate his patience. For me this undertaking was more "therapy". A chance to return to my journalist roots while being altruistic and another reminder that when life gives you BIG, FAT lemons, you work damn hard to turn them into a meaningful pitcher of lemonade.

The "bonus" of this project is the CTV producer nominated Dane to be "Sports Star of the Week". The station is taking video footage of his game tomorrow night and then interviewing he and Dirk next Monday. I don't know exactly when it will run but again I will keep folks posted via the blog. He's #19 (Big Joe Thornton's #).

Dane is on his off-week for appointments. Everything went smoothly last Tuesday and all his blood counts are holding. He's still on 100% of the chemo dosages and goes back to the Clinic next Tuesday for his bi-weekly blood work.

Until next time, take care ... Janie and Dirk

"Lights, Camera and Action"

It's the end of what has been a busy week so just a short blog update before calling it a night.

Here's a snapshot of our "happenings" ...

Trick 'r' Treat

All we can say is WOW do the staff at Cancer Care Manitoba know how to spoil a bunch of well-deserving kids! Ashley and Dane had an absolute blast trick 'r' treating last Friday morning. There were many great costumes, friendly faces and best of all a scale at the end to weigh the nearly ten pounds of goodies in their candy bags. This was a trial run for the real deal last Saturday night and they were not disappointed. They each went out with friends (and parents in tow) and collected quite the haul. Dane had no shortage of energy to run door to door and he now has enough chocolate to last an entire year! It was great that he was feeling well and could enjoy the holiday like all his peers. Hope you enjoy the post costume picture. Dane was a Wii remote (imagine that), Ashley was an art palette and have you ever seen a cuter Hershey's Kiss?

Boosting the US Economy

In need of a little get away and some new duds for our ever growing Clare (19 lbs and rising as she closes in on the six month mark next week), I escaped to Fargo and GF with my mom and Clare for a couple of days earlier this week. It was a good break and except for a couple of sleepovers with friends, it was the first time since Dane was diagnosed in early January that I have been away from him. I was a tad anxious when we first left, but I purposefully tried not to think too much about home while shopping til I dropped. The sky did not fall while I was gone and this is encouraging for future potential get aways.

Lights, Camera and Action

I think Dane has come to realize that agreeing to be the face of Cancer Care Manitoba's campaign is a lot more work than he could have imagined. In typical eight year style he not-so-gently reminded me in front of the consultant and photographer that "I made him do this - he never wanted to in the first place". He then asked if he could have a chocolate bar when the photo shoot was done and because sometimes bribery is effective, we caved! Seriously, we've all been busy with photo and video shoots at the house and at the hockey rink. The direct mail portion of the campaign is on its way to the printers and should be hitting mail boxes in a couple of weeks. We still have one more video shoot for the piece that will run on CTV and that will be filmed the week of November 16. We'll keep you posted on the details and will likely put a link to it on the blog once it's ready.

We didn't have any appointments this week and Dane continues to feel really good. He has his once a month IV chemo next Tuesday which also means the start of his steroid boost. This is the beginning of the third and last month of his first 84 day Maintenance cycle and knock on wood, we hope the many, many cycles to come run this smoothly. Now if only we could conquer his eight year old attitude!

Until next week, take care - Janie and Dirk