Warrior and Rock

First, a few words about life at the Ronald McDonald House, or, as Sam calls it, The Golden Arches Motel. Or...as Solly calls it, Old McDonald House.

It even has a theme song (if you're reading on an iPad you might need a real computer for this one):

But I digress. It is lovely, with an art therapy room, a play room, a garden with a wonderful play structure, and much more, including a delivery of donuts tonight from a local bakery...

Out in the garden

So basically, every time you feel guilty for driving through McDonald's with your kids, think of us and feel less guilty :-)

There's also art and music therapy on a regular basis...even for Solly!

Sam and I had to be at clinic this morning at 8:30am, and it was clear at 8:15am how truly lovely this place is. I can actually SEE Children's Hospital out our windows. We left at 8:22am....

Today they began one of the two new chemotherapy drugs. These drugs are a little new, a little bit unusual, so they have been a little trickier to acquire. We're still waiting on one of them, called Sorafenib. Today Sam had his first infusion of Azacitidine, and he will receive daily infusions (IV) for seven consecutive days. So at 9:48am, we'll leave tomorrow for our 10:00am appointment!

It's boring in clinic sometimes so I get to play with fun photo apps...

Sam is doing a great job of holding onto his hemoglobin and platelet counts, which means that he didn't need any blood transfusions today. This was most exciting for Sam because it meant that he would get to his yoga camp on time! 

Warrior

Rock -- you might know this as "child's pose" but um...he is a child. So they call it "rock."

 Also this week, Sam got to paint a little pottery following yoga. It's a little like being at summer camp...only not so much.

So now we continue, we move forward. Each day brings new adventures and challenges, each day we continue to be grateful for Sam's relative good health and for the blessings of family and friends.

Many of you have asked for our mailing address. Please don't feel that you have to send ANYTHING! But I'm going to give it out here otherwise I spend lots of time giving it out individually anyway. You people are (ever so kind and wonderful and) persistent! Please remember that almost everything here is handled by volunteers so let's not overwhelm them, okay? thanks!

Sommer Family
c/o Ronald McDonald House
8948 Watertown Plank Road
Milwaukee, WI 53226