Buddy Walk Meeting

I went to the Buddy Walk meeting on Saturday. The Buddy Walk will go on as planned!!! Thank goodness!!! Chris and I were worried. The center is having a lot of trouble getting corporate sponsors because so many company's have cut their funding for non-profit donations. As an example, last year Walmart gave our walk $11,000. This year the most they would be able to contribute is $5,500. That's still a lot of money but half from the previous year. This is the type of problem which was making everyone on the Buddy Walk committee nervous. So we really hope to see everyone there! If you can, please walk with us or donate today!

Meet Morgan...

Morgan is 5 months old and is also a member of the Eastern Pennsylvania Down Syndrome Center. We went to a fundraiser today for her Buddy Walk team and it was a lot of fun. This is the second time that Isabella has seen Morgan. Both times she has wanted to bring her home! Please keep in mind that so many children like Raymond and Morgan benefit from the center!

Earlier in the week I took Raymond to see his surgeon. We had good and bad news. The good news is that Raymond won't be needed the one surgery we thought he would. Yay! The bad news is that the surgeon thinks Raymond's fundoplication procedure may have come unraveled. That is the procedure were the upper curve of the stomach (the fundus) is wrapped around the esophagus and sewn into place so that the lower portion of the esophagus passes through a small tunnel of stomach muscle. This surgery strengthens the valve between the esophagus and stomach (lower esophageal sphincter), which stops acid from backing up into the esophagus making it almost impossible for Raymond to throw up, reflux, burp, etc. It's a very concerning bump in the road. His surgeon has actually never had to go in and repair a fundoplication. Not that he can't, but that tells you how often it happens. We were told it was one of the rare side effects. Really Raymond? You had to be the one to have the rare side effect? That's my boy. Never a dull moment. The only way to tell 100% if it did in fact has come unraveled is to go in and look. Before the doctor does that he wants us to try a few things first to weigh out other possible complications. Hopefully we will get it figured out and he won't need corrective surgery. Having reconstructive surgery for this procedure is very risky and can lead to many other complications. We have total faith and trust in Dr. Arthur but I'm praying it won't come to that. We also see Raymond's oncologist on Thursday. I'll let you know how that goes.

On a totally different note...I am starting a list on the side bar of the blog for retail blunders. I am always catching mistakes at the register of stores or on my recipe. My mom keeps telling me I should keep track of it and I always mean to. So this is going to be my way of doing so. I'm going to add a few items to the list that I remember happened recently but we'll say the list start date is August 1st. Maybe this will make other people watch what the prices of the items they buy. Just because it says 30% off doesn't mean it rings that way. Figure it out before you go to the register, you'll be surprised how often the register makes an error. Also something as simple as the cashier scanning something twice. Or an item ringing up a totally different price then what is on the tag. Your waitress mixing up tables. So keep your eyes open. You'll really be surprised how often it happens!

On the way home from Walmart the other night we saw fireworks from the Reading Phillies stadium. Isabella told me to look over and watch them "splash in the sky". Isn't that a great description?!?!?