We are back!

After a few years of "normal" life, thanks to Facebook we have reconnected with several local childhood cancer families and have a new website AND a store!

Visit us at chemomoms.webs.com. Please bear with us while we make the transition from this site to the new one. This one will stay up for a while longer.

Check out our Childhood Cancer Awareness buttons and t-shirts!

With HOPE,
Tammy

Photos!

I can't figure out how to caption these with the way the blogger is moving the pics, so just make up your own caption! haha
With HOPE,
Tammy

36 hours to go....

WE HAVE DRESSING ON THE WAY!

WE ARE SETTING UP ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE HOSPITAL AROUND 5 PM!!

Thursday, November 27 - the Jubilee Room at USA Children's & Women's, the room is reserved from all day. The actual dinners should take place between 2 pm and 5 pm.

This is what I need donated:
NOTHING!!! YAYAYAYAYAY!! :D

(I am bringing a couple of folks the ingredients to make the last of the casseroles...thanks to all!)


SERVERS: - please realize these people are not ALL serving on the same shift! Many are leaving around 4 and some are not arriving until 4!!

Sandra G
Mandy G
Heather G
Chris V & Jerry V
Mel B & Family
Tommy B & Sheena B
Natosha B & hubby
Ashley S & Lee S
Brandy P & Nicole P?
Karen M & Daughter
Lisa J & Daughter
Kathy L
Sara L
Jerry B
Brad B
Scott H
Jimmy B, Daphne & Family
Stacie G & Family?

You should get a call from me tomorrow to confirm the time you are coming and to make sure my schedule matches...THANKS FOR YOUR SACRIFICE!!!

I can't wait to get some photos on here so you can see all the hard work that has been done to make this successful! It will be a lot of work, but it would be much harder if it wasn't for so many people helping.

With HOPE & THANKSGIVING,
Tammy

Sunday night...

Still working on dressing.

I have had an offer, still waiting on the final word. In the meantime, does anybody know where I can BUY about 6-8 pans of dressing??? Email me please!
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I got the Thankful Turkey feathers done thanks to my old Sunday School class, 7th & 8th grade girls! THANKS YALL ARE THE BOMBS!


Thursday, November 27 - the Jubilee Room at USA Children's & Women's, the room is reserved from all day. The actual dinners should take place between 2 pm and 5 pm.

This is what I need donated:
FOOD:

6 Pans of dressing are NEEDED
sweet potato casserole - 4 pans - still need more!
green bean casserole - 4 pans
mashed potatoes - 4 pans - still need more (this ran out first last year)
corn casserole - 1 pan
*****I have received donations of canned vegs - I will be more than happy to bring you the pan, the corn/beans and anything else you need to make a casserole before WEDNESDAY!!***********


rolls
assorted pies, traditional Thanksgiving desserts - 4 sweet potato pies, 2 pecan pies, (1) 7 layer cookie bars, 1 apple pie
any other sides that you think would be appropriate


SERVERS: - please realize these people are not ALL serving on the same shift! Many are leaving around 4 and some are not arriving until 4!!

Sandra G
Mandy G
Heather G
Chris V & Jerry V
Mel B & Family
Tommy B & Sheena B
Natosha B & hubby
Ashley S & Lee S
Brandy P & Nicole P?
Karen M & Daughter
Lisa J & Daughter
Kathy L
Sara L
Jerry B
Brad B
Scott H
Jimmy B, Daphne & Family?
Stacie G & Family?

(let me know if you said you wanted to help and you aren't on this list!)

SERVICE POSITIONS:
Hostess/Host (stand outside the room and greet families WARMLY, check their reservations and find ready table)
Hot Food servers (must be adult)
Waitress/waiters (take orders from menus at each table, give orders to food servers, take plate to table, also serve dessert)
Drink servers (get drink orders, refill drinks, offer coffee)
Dishwashers (already filled this position)
*I also need someone to go with me door to door to the rooms where they won't be allowed to come downstairs. We will be filling orders for dinner and bringing it back to the rooms. This needs to be an adult and someone who is comfortable in that setting. PLUS WE CAN'T BE SICK AT ALL...

WE ARE SETTING UP ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE HOSPITAL AROUND 5 PM!! Hopefully we will get it all in the room that night so there won't be so much in the morning!!!

NEW UPDATE - FRIDAY

WE NEED DRESSING...
Unfortunately the place we got the frozen pans of dressing from did not have those again this year...

Anybody know where I can BUY about 6-8 pans of dressing??? Email me please!
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I also am having trouble getting quotes:
What are you thankful for?
To be answered by children currently or have survived a serious illness (cancer of course, cerebral palsy, chronic asthma, anything that puts them in a hospital setting)
I have asked EVERYONE I know (and people I DON'T KNOW) but have only had 6 responses from them!

Example: "I am thankful for my hair growing back", Emma, age 4, ALL
Can you help with this?????? Email me at chemomoms@yahoo.com

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Thursday, November 27 - the Jubilee Room at USA Children's & Women's, the room is reserved from all day. The actual dinners should take place between 2 pm and 5 pm.

This is what I need donated:
FOOD:
6 TURKEYS ARE DONATED!
6 Pans of dressing are NEEDED
sweet potato casserole - 3 pans - still need more!
green bean casserole - 2 pans
mashed potatoes - 2 pans - still need more (this ran out first last year)
cranberry sauce - done!
corn casserole - 1 pan
gravy - done!
rolls
assorted pies, traditional Thanksgiving desserts - 4 sweet potato pies, 2 pecan pies, (1) 7 layer cookie bars, 1 apple pie
any other sides that you think would be appropriate
sweet & unsweet tea (a few gallons) - done!
coffee - getting it from hospital
peanut oil - donated
6 bottles of Creole butter injector - available at Walmart click link to see the brand

DECORATIONS:
Thanksgiving table arrangements - all decorations are donated
table cloths in fall colors - all tablecloths are donated
mini-tablecloths for patient rooms donated
any fall color candles/candleholders - all candles & candleholders are donated

DISHES:
Port City Rentals has GENEROUSLY donated 100 place settings and glasses/coffee cups - I know Sandy is happy about that! ha!
I forgot to add disposable dishes since we will be delivering some meals upstairs - but that has been donated now!

SERVERS: - please realize these people are not ALL serving on the same shift! Many are leaving around 4 and some are not arriving until 4!!

Sandra G
Mandy G
Heather G
Chris V & Jerry V
Mel B & Family
Tommy B & Sheena B
Natosha B & hubby
Ashley S & Lee S
Brandy P & Nicole P?
Karen M & Daughter
Lisa J & Daughter
Kathy L
Sara L
Jerry B
Brad B
Scott H

(let me know if you said you wanted to help and you aren't on this list!)

SERVICE POSITIONS:
Hostess/Host (stand outside the room and greet families WARMLY, check their reservations and find ready table)
Hot Food servers (must be adult)
Waitress/waiters (take orders from menus at each table, give orders to food servers, take plate to table, also serve dessert)
Drink servers (get drink orders, refill drinks, offer coffee)
Dishwashers (already filled this position)

WE ARE SETTING UP ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE HOSPITAL AROUND 5 PM!!

UPDATED TUESDAY NOV 18!!

UPDATE 11/17:
Now I hear that we MIGHT need dressing - I will know for sure on Friday morning, so please check back around lunchtime on Friday!! I am still concerned about how many volunteers we have...I am hoping we have enough that nobody will really have to stay the whole 4 hours!!!

CONTINUE DOWN TO THE FOOD LIST FOR WHAT WE STILL NEED!!!

UPDATE 11/16: So I had this idea...
Since about half of the patients will be unable to come down to our dinner, since they will be neutropenic or contagious, I have always tried to take things to their room. This year, a couple of us will go door to door for the ones who can't come, take their orders (and whoever is staying with them) and bring their dinner to their room. ALSO, to make it more special, a sweet friend of mine from church is donating fabric to make mini-tablecloths for their bed table, and another sweet friend from church is sewing the hems on the tablecloths. So when we bring their food to their room, we will pull their table to the door, put the tablecloth, a centerpiece and a nice Thanksgiving card from the kids at my church, along with their food and send it back to the family! How about that idea???! I am excited about just that part alone!!!

OK KEEP READING, UPDATED FOOD BELOW>>>

UPDATE 11/14: I forgot to mention that some VERY SPECIAL students provided us with 10 completed ChemoMoms baskets!!! They were completely filled with the suggested items and wrapped with a special card. I will confirm the exact class when I get back online so you will know who did such an AWESOME job for these families! Saying that, I probably won't need any basket supplies until the first of the year!!! THANK YOU!!!

If you would like to refer to last year's information, you can click here and here to see how it worked.

This year we will be setting reservations for the families in advance. It is hard to know which families will actually still be in the hospital and which ones will be discharged to avoid spending the day inpatient, but we will know by that Wednesday night approximately how many families we will serve. Last year we served dinner to around 12 groups, but some families were only 2 people, and some had 6 or more! I hope to get a more accurate count this year! The reason we are using the reservations is because last year everyone came around the same time and there weren't enough tables to serve them all. We want to seat one family per table only.


Thursday, November 27 - the Jubilee Room at USA Children's & Women's, the room is reserved from all day. The actual dinners should take place between 2 pm and 5 pm.

This is what I need donated:
FOOD:
6 TURKEYS ARE DONATED!
6 Pans of dressing are donated
sweet potato casserole - 3 pans donated - still need more!
green bean casserole - 2 pans donated
mashed potatoes - 2 pans donated - still need more (this ran out first last year)
cranberry sauce - done!
corn casserole
gravy - some jars donated
rolls
assorted pies, traditional Thanksgiving desserts - 4 sweet potato pies donated, 2 pecan pies donated, 7 layer cookie bars donated
any other sides that you think would be appropriate
sweet & unsweet tea (a few gallons) - 2 gallons donated - still need more
coffee - getting it from hospital
peanut oil - donated
6 bottles of Creole butter injector - available at Walmart click link to see the brand

DECORATIONS:
Thanksgiving table arrangements - pretty much all decorations are donated
table cloths in fall colors - all tablecloths are donated
any fall color candles/candleholders - all candles & candleholders are donated

DISHES:
Port City Rentals has GENEROUSLY donated 100 place settings and glasses/coffee cups - I know Sandy is happy about that! ha!
I forgot to add disposable dishes since we will be delivering some meals upstairs - but that has been donated now!

SERVERS:
SG
MG
HG
CV & JV
MB & Family
TB & SB
NB & hubby
AS & LS
BP & NP?
KM & Daughter
LJ

(let me know if you said you wanted to help and you aren't on this list!)

SERVICE POSITIONS:
Hostess/Host (stand outside the room and greet families WARMLY, check their reservations and find ready table)
Hot Food servers (must be adult)
Waitress/waiters (take orders from menus at each table, give orders to food servers, take plate to table, also serve dessert)
Drink servers (get drink orders, refill drinks, offer coffee)
Dishwashers (already filled this position)

I also need a couple of people, teen girls or women to help me put the names on the table placecards. We won't have the families' names until that Thurs morning. I plan to be at the hospital around 9 am to get the final list and fill the last reservations, so sometime mid-morning I could use this help.

WE ARE SETTING UP ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AROUND 5 PM!!

Other duties as needed...

Check back every day for updated information!

Thanksgiving Dinner Plans

It seems so far away, but it's not! It is time to start planning our 2nd Annual Thanksgiving Dinner for inpatient families. You can read about last year's Thanksgiving Dinner here.

I kept most of the decorations from last year, but it is not too early to start collecting promises of donations. I will probably get the turkeys again, but I definitely want folks to start thinking about what home-cooked food they would like to make a double batch of for that day. It is so nice to have home-cooked food ANYTIME you have been in the hospital for more than just one day! I remember the desserts were especially a hit with the families last year.

We will do things a little differently this year, specifically we will schedule times for the families to come, so they are not waiting in the hall until we have an available table. We served MANY families last year, and it will take a LOT of people volunteering again this year. I wouldn't be surprised if more families came this year, based on last year's success.

For those who are new to ChemoMoms, the reason I put so much emphasis on this holiday is because it is "forgotten". Of course the community supports those in the hospital during Christmas and even New Year's, but when you think of Thanksgiving, you think of family time together. When you are stuck in the hospital for that day, it can really depress you to think of your family over at Grandma's and Uncle Craig telling his "pull my finger" jokes without you!

The ChemoMoms Thanksgiving Dinner comes complete with candles, tablecloths, cloth napkins, REAL dishes, silverware and glasses, music and a family photo. We print a menu and volunteers take families' orders and serve them. We also have fresh coffee to go with the dessert. Last year the volunteers all received monogrammed aprons for their hard work.

If you are interested in bringing your family and spending a Thankful day serving others, this is a great ministry. Just showing love to those who can't change the fact that they are in a sad situation and need to be encouraged is the only requirement for the job! You can email me at chemomoms@yahoo.com or leave a comment if you would like me to contact you about helping.

With HOPE,
Tammy

News Coverage

UPDATE: Here's the video!

WKRG.com Video

Please be sure to watch Channel 5 news tonight at 5 and 6 pm for a feature story on ChemoMoms of Mobile. Melissa and her son Jensen, a Neuroblastoma survivor, came to assist with raising awareness of ChemoMoms and Childhood Cancer. It should be a great piece and we hope to drum up support for this worthy cause. ChemoMoms was started to help families of kids newly diagnosed with cancer in the adjustment to their new life. It thrives on community support to provide the valuable resources that these families need and deserve. Check back if you miss the airing, we hope to have the video on this and other sites soon. Thank you for your continued support.

Childhood Cancer Awareness Day

Please make sure to visit our caringbridge friends (link on the right) and let them know you are thinking about them on this special day of honor. It would be really nice for folks to leave some guestbook entries on those who are fighting this monster, and others who have completed their battle or have lost their earthly battle.

With HOPE for a cure for all our babies,
Tammy

Discouraged...

I don't know why, but for some reason, folks don't seem concerned at all about childhood cancer awareness month. I am really frustrated that now we share the month with ovarian/gynecologic cancers. It is bad enough October is breast cancer awareness month, and all the stores are fully stocked with pink ribbons on everything in September, but now all the media is focused on ovarian and can't seem to fit childhood cancer into their schedule.

Don't get me wrong, a very good friend from my church is suffering from ovarian cancer right now, and I would love to see her beat it, but there are 12 months in the year! Surely they could have picked a different time of the year to focus on this type of cancer!!

So I am off that subject onto my local problems: Out of 70 emails I sent out, only 5 replied. That is the worst EVER response to my request for help. It makes me wonder if I am doing the right thing! Sometimes I feel like ChemoMoms is picking up speed, getting out there in the media, receiving donations, then times like now come along and everybody is just too busy with their own lives to slow down and realize there are people who AREN'T living the life they dreamed, because they are now sleeping on fold-out chairs and listening to IV pumps wake them every hour or so, waiting until the clock says it's time to jab a needle in their sweet baby's thigh. While we are all out at the neighbor's BBQ and sitting by the pool, some others are driving frantically to the ER in rush hour traffic while their child is vomiting in the backseat, running a 102 degree fever. I was just one of those thousands of parents and it wasn't that long ago. I remember the feelings I had and I just want to let these parents who are currently fighting for their child's life know that they are not alone! Maybe I am not using the right channels to get the information out there. I certainly can't pick up and move to a larger city where there is more awareness about childhood cancer. I live in Mobile and that is where cancer kids live!

If the response to a simple event like Movie Night is this poor, I probably won't take on a monster like Thanksgiving Dinner again. It is just too much for one or two people to do.

Without HOPE tonight.
Tammy

Movie Night Update

I still am in need of much of the items listed below. I have the following door prizes available:

Movie Basket from LLS
Monogrammed Koozie & Keychain

I have someone donating a few boxes of candy and drinks.

I still need:

Shaved Ice syrup available from Mobile Popcorn (they will be closed on Saturday, so I will need to purchase these on Friday!)

Any other door prizes - DVDs (there is a new Barbie movie that just came out yesterday, $15, and The Last Mimzy has been marked down to $9 at WalMart); toys; fun T-shirts; anything kids will like

I do still need a few folks to help too! I have some maybe volunteers, but I need more definites!

With HOPE,
Tammy

Movie Night Is This Saturday!!

So things are gearing up for this weekend. I am aware there is a little thunderstorm out there in the Gulf, but hopefully it won't have any effect on our event planned for this Saturday.

I am still in need of volunteers to help with the patients and their families that day. I also need the shaved ice syrups donated (4 different flavors) and some drinks and movie size candy.

I have received one donation of a Movie Night gift basket from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, so that is exciting! It will be our big door prize at the end of the night. If you or your business could make a donation, it would be greatly appreciated!

I am inviting the Hematology/Oncology Clinic as well, so we should have more participation this time. I am getting excited!!

With HOPE,
Tammy

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C)

Another mom wrote this and I have some of the same concerns, so I thought I would post it here for you to consider about this national cancer awareness program airing tonight:

********************************************************************

Written by a fellow cancer mom:

Here are the bullet points about SU2C that concern me....

I have been very vocal about doubting SU2C.
I'll try to summarize what several online friends, pediatric community organizations, and childhood cancer research groups are concerned about. Here are the bullet points of what worries us:

- In the beginning, SU2C had ZERO representation of childhood cancer. How can you be against Cancer and forget about the children who have it?

- Pediatric cancer is terribly underfunded in comparison to adult cancers - yet the SU2C telethon was placed in "Childhood Cancer Awareness Month" - nullifying our attempts to have the month celebrate OUR KIDS, raising awareness of CHILDHOOD Cancer

- Now, there are slight signs of pediatric cancer being whispered about for SU2C - but none of the advertisements, press releases, or public appearances by the organizers have touched on the difference between funding research for adult vs. pediatric cancers. Pediatric cancers DO NOT benefit from Adult research - they are TOTALLY different

- We pediatric cancer parents are FED UP with seeing the faces of our children used to gather funds for adult research. The "Faces" of cancer for the Relay for Life fundraiser are often more than 75% children - when less than 1% of the funding goes toward pediatric projects.

- We fear they will use our children's faces and stories - then hand the money over to adults.

- We do not dispute that Breast, Lung, and Prostate cancers are far more prevalent than all Childhood Cancers combined. However, those adult cancers are well funded by the federal government and private industry. Pediatric cancer is not. If SU2C intends to pass out money based on the number of people who are likely to be diagnosed with a particular cancer, (the way the ACS does) - then only use ADULT stories, ADULT faces, ADULT sympathy. Leave
our children to those of us who care about them and who will work hard to raise money for them. DO NOT use our children to benefit adults. The adults don't need the help.

- If SU2C intends on only caring for adults - then they should acknowledge that they are purposefully forsaking children, and place any and all future telethons in a month far away from Childhood Cancer Awareness month. We respect the right of SU2C to raise money for the specific groups they wish to support. We DO NOT respect their use of children if the monies gathered are not allocated equal to the amount of time/percentage of use of the children. In other words, if you use kids for 30% of your stories, give 30% of the money to pediatric organizations. Its a simple equation. Or, ignore children, and let us raise our own funds, in our own month.

- Don't lump pediatric cancer in with adult cancer. They are vastly different beasts.

- Ultimately, it boils down to this: STOP using the struggles and losses of pediatric patients, who are fighting for the chance to live their lives, for the benefit of adults. STOP exploiting our children.
************************************************************

I personally have experienced some of these feelings so I thought I would put this out there to let others know that there IS a difference in adult cancer research and childhood cancer research. While I do believe that supporting ALL types of cancer research is very important, of course I am partial to making sure MY money and effort is for CHILDHOOD CANCER RESEARCH because we are directly affected by it.

I do know our local TV station has recently filmed at our children's hospital for a program to air just before this adult program, so hopefully other cities' stations are doing the same.

With HOPE,
Tammy

Movie Night At USA Children's & Women's

I am still finalizing some details about Movie Night, but I wanted to give you something to start with. You will see other information in my September 2oo7 folder too.

Saturday, September 13 is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Day.

The Movie Night will be held in the Jubilee Room in the afternoon. We will have popcorn, with a real live popcorn cart, shaved ice *the parents seem to really enjoy this!* and door prizes. I am thinking we might add face painting too, if we can get someone to do that. If you or your group or Sunday School class want to help, you can either volunteer the time on Saturday OR you can donate the items needed:

at least 4 colors of shaved ice syrup available at Mobile Popcorn

door prizes (new items to give away, or gift cards to use at movie rental stores or movie theaters)

movie size box candy (available at Dollar Tree stores)

canned drinks (using canned drinks avoids any contamination problems with ice)

And as always, you can send money via Paypal to allow the purchase of these items.

More information will be coming!

With HOPE,
Tammy

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month!!!

Hey all! Sorry for the absence, life has been busy around here!

Welcome to September! Our month is finally here! I have been working on some things (quietly) and still have some details to finalize, but I wanted to remind you to do what you can to spread the word about Childhood Cancer and Gold Ribbons.

September 13 was chosen by President Bush as National Childhood Cancer Awareness Day, so we are hosting a Movie Night at the USA Children's & Women's Hospital on that day. We will watch a movie (I think it is "College Road Trip"), have snowcones, popcorn and candy, along with some fun door prizes and balloons for all! The movie will take place in the Jubilee Room this year, because we just ran out of room in the other playroom. I will update more as I determine what is needed in the way of donations.

Since we have 2 childhood cancer survivors at my daughter's school, and I just happen to be on the PTO board, we will have gold ribbons decorating our school campus this month! I planned to put them up this weekend, but Hurricane Gustav had other ideas, so hopefully we will get those ribbons up in the next day or so. I will be sure to post the pictures!

Another thing we are doing is called "Coins for Kids". In September, our students will be bringing in their spare change to donate to the USA CWH specifically for cancer kids. For each day's donation, the students will receive a gold ribbon sticker they can proudly wear. At the end of the week, we will be sure to let the students know how much they raised and probably elect someone to give the money to the hospital. I know I was so excited that our school agreed to do this!!

I hope to have more information soon!

With HOPE,
Tammy

Running Low on Basket Supplies!

Hello all you out there in Internet-Land! :D
Last week I had the opportunity to meet a new friend here at the hospital. His name is Taylor and he was in the hospital getting chemo. SUPER cute and SUPER sweet! I gave his Nana my card and had a chance to talk with her for a few minutes. I hope they made sure she got a basket before he was discharged! (I took 3 more with me that day)

Speaking of baskets....

My stock is LOOOOWW - if it had not been for two faithful friends who remember me always, I would not have the main things I needed for the baskets last week!

I am going to list out the items here that I am completely out of, then I will list the items that are getting low:

COMPLETELY OUT OF:
Toothbrush/toothpaste

(you can get a kit with Crest at the Dollar Tree)

Chapstick

(please make sure it has a seal on it)

2008 or 2008/2009 Calendar
Address book

Microwave Popcorn

Microwave Meal

(Hormel makes very tasty ones for about $1.75 each)

Digital Thermometer

(WalMart now has them for about $4 in Health & Beauty)

Mints/gum

(preferably minty flavors for sleeping moms when Dr. comes in early)

Thank You notes

(again, my favorite store, Dollar Tree has cute ones!)

Lysol sanitizing wipes

(needs to say "ANTIBACTERIAL", "kills 99.9% of germs")

GETTING LOW ON:
Hand lotion (purse size)
Emery boards (kind that has a wrapper are best)
Body wash (travel size)
Pen

If the hospital called today and asked for a basket, I don't have enough to put together ONE complete basket. Thankfully I dropped off 3, but I have a feeling they haven't had any for a while, so they could possibly deliver all 3 in just a matter of a week.

I had some ideas about how YOU could help get these items.

* If you work and have a breakroom/snackroom, maybe set up a jar for spare change near the coke machine, people could drop their quarters in there. Do it for a week and probably get a few dollars.

*Pass around an envelope asking for anonymous donations. Make sure you put your name on the envelope so it will be returned to you. You can also put my blog website on there so they will see how the donation will help.

*One day at lunch, ask your friends when they are leaving their tip if they would also like to put a dollar towards the purchase of these items. As you can see from the list, many items only cost $1 or less.

*Ask your Sunday School class to have a "Digital Thermometer Drive". Ask them to bring as many Digital Thermometers as they can collect in a week. Better yet, challenge another Sunday School Class, even the whole department! Have a table or large storage container in a central location and ask folks to drop them in during the assembly time. Imagine how many thermometers could be collected in that one day!!!

*Talk to your Bible Study group about providing the items to fill a whole basket.

These baskets cost approximately $24.80 (back when I started this last year). I am sure the cost of everything has increased with the gas, but $25 is still a fair estimate if you shop around for nice but cheap items. Buying in bulk is helpful too. I received a box of notebooks after the school supply clearance last year and I am still using that box! I also received several boxes of purse size hand sanitizer during that clearance and I still have one of the boxes of 6 bottles! Keep your eyes peeled for good deals!!! :D

With HOPE,
Tammy

Back home....

As soon as the party was over, we headed for the annual family vacation at Gulf Shores. We had a great time and the kids are nice and BROWN. We got home on Saturday and later that night, both kids were sick! Bryant is fine now and Colette had to go to the ped today to get antibiotics for an ear infection! But it is so nice to be back to "normal".

So I kept a copy of the newspaper article to show at the family reunion. Did anyone else see it? Does anyone have a copy I can have? I wanted to put one up at church, but I only have the one copy. It was in Saturday, July 5, on the front page of the Metro section. I have noticed several new locations on the blog so I hope something good comes from this media attention!!

The party was wonderful! I had so many helpers, it was really a busy time, but I didn't feel stressed about ANY aspect of it. Thank you to all of you who came and spent your evening figuring out what I needed done! ha! Believe me, I am learning what *not* to do with every event! I think it went well and I hope you will want to come back for another event!!!

I hope to have the photos uploaded in the next day or so. I did get photo releases on each child there, so I finally get to post the pics of our decorations and helpers!! If you were there and took photos, please email them to me so I can add yours to the album. My email is chemomoms@yahoo.com.

I think the kids (and parents) favorite part was the shave ice machine. Once the party was winding down and some clean up started, several of us loaded up 2 carts with all the extra burgers, chicken, chips and cokes and took them to the 4th floor. There were many parents who were unable to leave their child, so this is what I try to do to make ChemoMoms different. We pushed our carts down the hall, knocking on the doors and bringing the party to them! We took the balloons from the cafeteria and gave them to the kids, along with beanie babies provided by Child Life. The parents were (as usual) surprised that we offered the treats to them too. They would hesitate until we reassured them that it was for them too, and then you could see the expressions on their faces...I can't explain it, but I know how it feels. :D

The funny part was how many parents wanted snow cones! What is up with that? I am the same way! I always want a banana snow cone if I can get one. Maybe because we are all kids at heart! I will try to include the shave ice machine again in the next event, which will probably be a Movie Night in September.

Which leads me to the next big deal: September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Last year I made metallic gold stickers and passed them around my community. I also made real gold ribbon lapel pins (with the tie tack backs). This year I would like to sell them online to raise money for ChemoMoms. I scrapbook so I just used some of my tools at home and made gold ribbon stickers that were great to use on MANY things I mailed out last year. I just passed out the lapel pins (but they did take a lot of time and effort). I will try to get some pics of them and see if anyone is interested in buying them. I already have an order (thanks Megan!) that I will be shipping to Indiana when Megan holds her Alex's Lemonade Stand (which raises money for childhood cancer research).

I am also going to hit the hospital HARD to try to get them to raise gold ribbons all around the campus. I have some ribbon already (Hobby Lobby already has CHRISTMAS decorations!) so it is VERY easy to locate wide, wire-edged ribbon. Hopefully I can use the contacts I have at WKRG and the paper to get Mobile in on the "secret" about September!!!

The Movie Night is also in the works. I did one last year and it is MUCH less hassle than July 4th. Just have some popcorn, maybe the shave ice again, and play a newly released, family friendly movie and it is great.

Another dream I have is to have a luncheon for the hem/onc doctors, nurses and staff during the month to thank them for their tireless efforts and honor them for all they do. Maybe someone in the catering/restaurant business would like to help me do this. Of course, all donations are directed to USA Children's & Women's, so it would definitely be a charitable contribution to the hospital. I just get the idea going and do the legwork.

Let me know what you think about these ideas...I want to do more than just the one movie night this year.

With HOPE,
Tammy

T-I-R-E-D!!!

Here is the news video from earlier today...I will update more later...check your newspaper tomorrow (we don't know what section)

WKRG.com Video

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

I just checked my computer (in between loading the van and getting Miss Priss dressed) and found that we DO HAVE ENOUGH MONEY for the burgers!!!! (and a little extra to cover any other last minute items)

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR GIVING FOR THESE FAMILIES!

Don't forget to watch Channel 5 local TONIGHT (wkrg.com for the out-of-towners) and check the newspaper in the next day or so (al.com) for the write-up about tonight!

If you wanted to make a donation but have not, you are more than welcome to do so. I am taking a basket with me to meet the reporter today, hopefully that will get some airtime and all money I receive during the year goes to pay for the baskets and any special requests by inpatient parents that I can help with.

Please continue to keep up with the information I post here, September - Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is coming up and it is time to start planning that!!!

With HOPE AND HAPPINESS,
Tammy

Thursday Update

Wow - these past 2 days have been so hectic and stressful! This is when I REALLY wish I wasn't the only ChemoMom in ChemoMoms of Mobile!!! :D

I think I have put about $50 in gas in my little car with bad A/C just to save money on all the driving I have been doing! I made a huge circle today, starting out going to West Mobile, then down to the hospital and finally by Brookley then back home. I think bad air conditioning just makes you tired=er - if that's a word!

I visited the cafeteria and got a feel for where the manager wants us to be - I'm not real crazy about it, but we will make the best of it. I thought we would use an hour to decorate, it make take more time because it is going to be pretty difficult and we will have to do some figuring. Also, the elevator into the cafeteria is broken, so anyone who has an IV will have to walk outside to come in the side door (with their nurse, of course).

But I did get a crash course in running the popcorn cart, and I pulled it up to the Treehouse until then. It takes some effort to move that thing! I also dropped off the flyers to be passed out.

The biggest news of the day is that BOTH the newspaper AND the TV reporters will be there tomorrow night! This will be the first official "ChemoMoms" event they have attended! This is my 4th event, but I never had the media involved. There was a TON of red tape and lots of rules to follow to allow this to happen, but I think the hospital will get some good press and hopefully I will finally get some community support? Prior to this event, my church family has really been my only volunteers. This time my Gulf Coast Tres Dias community has stepped in and really makes up most of the volunteers for tomorrow night. Yay!!

We were not able to get cheeseburgers donated...they officially want 2 weeks advance notice, and I didn't have the letter then, so I will know next time. Therefore I am going to have to BUY 40 cheeseburgers/hamburgers. I received a $10 donation last night from a lady at church and that paid for the popcorn and oil I bought, so hopefully someone will help with the $40 we will need to pay for the burgers. Thankfully everything else has been provided!!

We DID get a donation from Chick-Fil-A of 2 trays of nuggets, so that will really help out in the food. The reason I still want the burgers is mainly for the parents who aren't able to come because their child is sick or too little. I get to go door-to-door and greet the parents and actually give THEM a drink and a burger. That is the main reason I do ChemoMoms - for the PARENTS.

If you are planning to bring your children when you help tomorrow night, please try to feed them before they get to the hospital. We will have PLENTY of snow cones and popcorn, but I don't really know how we are going to stretch the chicken and burgers. I know my own children will be tempted to get into the nuggets, but I want to make sure the kids from the hospital get theirs. At the end of the night, we will certainly give away the extras!

Tonight I am going to call everyone that I know has volunteered. If you don't get a phone call from me, please call me because I might not remember everyone! Thanks so much!

With HOPE,
Tammy 406-5820 (cell)