Back to School - August 26, 2009

From Brianna's mom Jennifer:
Kaitlyn started middle school (6th grade) last week and she loves it! She handled the first day just fine while I was the one wishing the girls would have had at least 1 more bus ride together. Brianna's friends (8th graders) have taken Kaitlyn under their wings and made it a smooth transition. Kaitlyn was so excited she packed, unpacked, and repacked her bag several times. She also surprised me with her three year plan...FOR DATING IN MIDDLE SCHOOL!!! Something tells me that the first phone call I receive from her school will be discipline related (nothing too terrible---my bet is on cell phone or talking in class), especially considering that my first "non-scheduled" parent/teacher conference happened when Kaitlyn was 3 years old. She refused to take a nap so instead she was supposed to sit quietly and was given a book. When the teacher told me, "Kaitlyn had a bad day," she proceeded to show me a book with every page ripped out! In elementary school, I received a call that Kaitlyn and another student were not getting along. I told Kaitlyn to write a letter of apology to the other student, but when I read the letter Kaitlyn said, "even though you made me very mad," putting the blame back on the other student! Ugh... Kaitlyn is the complete opposite of Brianna. Loud/Quiet, Hyper/Calm, etc. Even when Brianna was very sick she would make people laugh by stating, "Kaitlyn has issues!"
I told Kaitlyn that Bob and I know EVERYONE at Gregory M.S. and will know everything that goes on...she has no idea just how many people are keeping tabs on her to make sure she is o.k. On the first day of school, I recieved a couple of text messages letting me know she was doing great. Being the youngest of four to go through Gregory, we know almost every staff member at Gregory.
Kyle Porter filmed the last segment of the "Brianna's Battle" news story last week. WCIU-Chicago will be airing the story in September/October, but I will post a link for all to view as soon as Kyle finishes the final product. Though we hoped and prayed for a different ending, we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Kyle as his compassion and professionalism left us with a precious keepsake, one we can watch over and over. It is wonderful to hear her voice and her laugh.
Hopefully, her story will help build DIPG awareness. A pediatric cancer with a horrible prognosis where doctors remind parents there is no hope. Finding hope in a "hopeless" situation is hard enough without the added knowledge that time is very limited. We were hoping to be the 1 out of 10 to live at least 18-24 months. Never would we have imagined that our time would be limited to just over 9 months. We need a breakthrough, even if it's only to give families a longer "honeymoon" period.
The first day of school was a difficult one and we will be facing many more difficult days as we near the anniversary of the diagnosis date. This date is in the back of my mind as I mourn our loss, return to work, help Kaitlyn adjust to middle school, & my grandmother's health (she is now on hospice and we are blessed to have Nurse Jane taking care of her.) There are numerous other things to worry about and my ability to compartmentalize and multi-task are lacking...the stress has caused me to break out with shingles!! It's a mild case but still enough to make me crazy!
We continue to pray for those battling DIPG and other illnesses. We are grateful and ver blessed to have your continued support. Please support the families currently fighting this battle by visiting their carepages/caringbridge sites. For every message we received we gained strength and courage to continue the fight. Brianna was amazed when I told her how many people were praying for he. I took time to read many cards to her and a majority started with, "You don't know us, but..." and included, "You are such an inspiration and amaze us with your strong will and deep faith...." It must have been a huge comfort to her as I read those cards when she was bedridden. Thank you everyone for letting Brianna know she made a difference in so many lives!