Anna's Angel Update: January 2007

Another January. We've just celebrated another birthday with Anna. This time, her 16th! There's always another MRI looming, bringing thoughts about how our lives could change in a moment. But by the grace of God, this is not about Anna. It is because of Anna. So for now, we thank God for life, for family, for you. And we cherish every day, knowing how blessed we are.

Reflecting on this year and all the precious little faces we've met, it's sometimes hard to remember what "normal" life used to be like. We're surrounded by so many families whose "normal" is not quite so easy or painless now and it has left their children in the hospital fighting for their lives, or picking up the pieces but with many scars. As you look into these children's precious eyes their differences all melt away. They are no longer distinguishable by individual disabilities, language barriers or any other quality you can imagine. They are all just children. They just want to feel well, to run, play sports or dance, to have friends and go to school, to be carefree. They don't want to have to be brave or always clinging to someone's promise that tomorrow will be better. We just want to reach inside their little hearts, grab the pain and take it away - even if it's just for a minute - to give them a break. But for many of these kids, the breaks are rare.

When they do come though, sometimes they come from angels like you. Thank you God for angels, and for the gift of surrounding Anna and her Angel Fund with so many of them. Anna and these kids are so blessed to have you.

Because of the amount of publicity and the number of gifts Anna has received over the last few months, we have been very busy. For the first time in three years, you've allowed Anna to do so much that we can't possibly put it all in an update! So although it will be incomplete, we pray that you will be touched by the examples we've included here, knowing that you have brought hope to the lives of these and many more children and their families, at a time when they needed it most...

$813.60 Big Canoe Resort, $51.84 Party City, $48.11 Best Buy for movies, $25.32 Publix for snacks; $51.31 Toys R Us
Older teenage boy diagnosed with leukemia, recently relapsed, now in the care of hospice. His social worker very much wanted to find a way to help lift his spirits. When asked what would cheer him up he said he longed for a weekend in the mountains with his dog, before his life came to a close. Even though they needed to go quickly and the upcoming weekend was New Year's Eve, his social worker was able to find a cabin at Big Canoe where his dog was also welcome. Knowing that he wouldn't feel like getting out much, we quickly put together a surprise "care package" and sent it overnight it to their family. It was in their cabin waiting for them when they arrived! It was a huge box filled with movies, snacks, party supplies to celebrate the arrival of the New Year, and board games that the family could play together. We also included a disposable camera, hoping that there might be some moments they would want to capture and remember for a very long time. He and his family were able to spend a long weekend there because even after the holidays, you continued to support Anna's Angel Fund, giving her the means to grant his last big wish. What a special gift you gave him ~ and his family.

$900 Two month's rent on mobile home to landlord; $250 Publix
One-year-old boy with Down Syndrome, also just diagnosed with cancer. Mom is going through a very scary divorce and the dad let the child's insurance drop without mom's knowledge. The bills are mounting quickly and they need angels. Thank God, we always know where to find them. Anna thought two months rent and a Publix gift card would be perfect. That's a lot of money but your generosity is even greater than their need, so that's what we sent.

$200 Target gift card for clothes, $69.26 Fashiondrive.com (backpacks), $147.93 Office Depot (for school supplies), $817.50 Miles Properties to pay overdue rent
5-year-old boy, leukemia patient, recently relapsed, with an 8 year old sister. This family was coping not only with their little boy's cancer recurrence, but also with the loss of everything they owned in an apartment fire. They very much needed school supplies and clothes. This little boy had his heart set on a very special Spiderman backpack for school, but it had to be a rolling backpack (he wasn't able to carry it). Anna and I looked everywhere, but couldn't find the one he wanted on wheels. We finally did find one online and had it shipped from California. Because of you, she was also able to pay their overdue rent and provide plenty of school supplies and clothes, too!

$6630.20 Key Auto Sales for a 2000 Ford E150 V8 conversion van!!
9-year-old boy from south GA, diagnosed with a PNET brain tumor in July, 2006. Dad was unable to work due to his own disabilities and mom had to quit her job to care for their little boy. During surgery he suffered multiple strokes and many complications. When we were approached about this little boy, it was October and he had been in a medically induced coma until very recently. He was awake but incoherent, yet his mom and dad remained amazingly hopeful and positive. He was sent to rehab but didn't seem to make much progress. Finally after several months, his doctors decided to send him home and let him continue therapies there. This mother had spent months in Atlanta, rarely ever seeing her husband and their other seven children. She missed the rest of her family so much, but the thought of taking this little boy home and being responsible for his care was a terrifying thought to her. Scariest of all was the fact that she had no transportation if they needed help, had an emergency, or had to get back to the hospital in Atlanta. The van they had needed at least $3500 work to make it drivable – and even then there was no certainty that it would need no further work.

Wow. By far, the biggest purchase you have ever allowed Anna to make – and what a gift. Can you imagine how it must have felt, in the middle of all the fear, heartache, and desperation, to find out that there are actually enough angels out there who have never met you, who care enough to buy you such a gift? As you know, we try to keep most all of Anna's gifts anonymous and this one – although it was hard – was no exception. We bought the van and left it on the lot for mom to pick up. Would you believe that she got the van on her birthday?! How cool is that?!

*This little boy's challenges were just too great. He lost his battle with cancer about two months later and is now in the care of heavenly angels. Thank you so much for what you, our angels, did for this family while he was still here.

$500 Check
This was a check mailed directly to a mother who had lost her daughter one week earlier. She wanted to purchase photographs that had been made of her daughter before she passed away. Knowing how much those pictures meant to that mother, it meant the world to us that you were there to preserve those memories of her precious child for her.

$50 ToysRUs, $456.36 Old Navy, $500 Publix, $170 Spa Sydell
6-year-old boy, diagnosed with Castelman's Disease (a blood disorder) and many other medical problems. When his social worker contacted us he had already been in the hospital for five straight months with no discharge date in sight. Home for this family is Savannah and he and mom hadn't been home since he was admitted. They had no family support and no friends in Atlanta. Mom had no more money for food or for her son's birthday, which was the next week. Also, both the child and mom badly needed clothing. You gave them food, clothing, and a $50 ToysRUs gift card for mom to give her son for his birthday. Mom got a much needed gift, too. She spent a little time at Spa Sydell.

$1190 B & B Rental Agency for two month's rent
9-year-old girl diagnosed a year and a half ago with a ganglioglioma in her brainstem. Her tumor had shown recent progression, requiring radiation. Because this family lived a couple of hours away, their social worker expressed many concerns about the financial strain they would face as they began radiation treatments (i.e. missed work, travel expenses and lodging expenses in Atlanta). They requested help paying their rent for one month. We discussed their request and Anna agreed to pay two month's rent to give them a little breathing room.

$308.18 Target, $200 QuikTrip
5-year-old girl (patient), 4-year-old & 12-year-old sisters. Mom was pregnant with twins and did have extended family support, but had a restraining order against the father for abuse. This was her 5 yr old's second relapse and her prognosis was very poor. The 12 yr old girl was ashamed to go to school because she didn't have anything to wear. Desperation seemed to have set in and you, yes you, gave them the reassurance they needed at that moment. By providing them with clothing, shoes, and gas to help them make the two hour trip from home, you reminded them that just outside the world of chaos and fear they wake up to every day, is a world of loving people – our angels - who are reaching out to say that they care.

$178.64 Rent-A-Center, $105.98 Target
4-year-old girl (patient) with 2 yr old brother. Very young parents who had minimal income and even prior to their daughter's cancer diagnosis, they were struggling just to provide their family with the basic necessities. After a bleed in her head she had complications and had to move to rehab. This stay in rehab was financially the last straw for the family. They rent their refrigerator from Rent-A-Center and it was about to be picked up for non-payment. Obviously the family needed a place to keep their food, but they didn't have the $74.03 to keep it. We paid $5 in late fees for them and then paid for three weeks rent on the refrigerator. In addition, we learned that they heat their home by keeping their stove on. This is a huge issue, especially considering that they have a toddler at home, so we purchased two safe space heaters for them.

$200 QuikTrip, $500 Publix, $503.91 Target, $200 Wal-Mart
This was for a 6-year-old boy who had leukemia and had just been through a bone marrow transplant, using his big sister as his donor. His family was staying at a hotel after a very lengthy stay in the hospital. His social worker told us that his family was poor, hard working, and willing to do anything for this child. Unhappy with the care he was getting at another facility several hours away, they just took him and walked out, not even knowing how to get to Atlanta, but determined to ask directions until they found their way. No appointment, no referral, no doctor's name…just looking for the best care for their son. That's love. And so is this. You provided Anna with the money for QuikTrip gas cards, allowing this mom and dad to travel to and from the hospital without giving the cost of gas a second thought. And, you made their next few trips to the grocery store a light-hearted experience rather than a painfully stressful one with a generous Publix gift card. Not only that, you provided this little boy and his sister with a portable DVD player and movies so they would have something to do in their hotel room. This 6 yr old patient is very smart, so your donations also bought him a Leap Frog Learning System and lots of educational games to keep his little brain stimulated. The one thing they had requested, in order to buy personal care items, etc., was a Wal-mart gift card. You even did that for them. You rock!

$100 Wal-Mart Gift Card
Teenage boy whose family had a cleaning business that had gone bankrupt just before his diagnosis. They were living in a mobile home without power because they were unable to pay the $300 to have the service reestablished once it was disconnected for non-payment. The additional financial strain of this boy's illness has been unimaginable. Anna agreed to use your gifts to pay the $300 to have their service restored and to provide them with a gift card for groceries.

$504.53 Target for plenty of diapers, wipes, baby formula, toys, books and clothes
These were bought for a family with a three year old boy who has relapsed with a Wilms tumor and his 8 month old baby brother. His social worker told us that the family was under great emotional and financial strain. Their little boy had been in the hospital for the last two weeks and although he was being discharged soon, he would be staying at the Ronald McDonald House and getting chemo every day for two more weeks. Following that, he will get a bone marrow transplant and mom and both children will be staying in Atlanta for several months.

2 $200 Publix Gift Cards, $20 (2 rolls quarters), $ 673.24 Target, $100 Phone card
7-year-old boy from a family social workers described as "working poor". This child's mother had to stop working to be with him during an extended hospitalization and then what became a lengthy out patient recovery, too. Throughout his entire outpatient recovery, they have had to stay at a hotel. (All transplant patients have to stay close by for quite a while, due to their fragile health.) This little boy and his mother had no winter clothes and his social worker contacted us, desperately hoping that we would say we had money in Anna's fund to help them. When she emailed us to ask how our bank account looked, we knew we could provide some clothes, but thought it surely would be nice to do more for them. So, before responding to her we decided to check the Angel Fund P.O. Box and inside we found $1100 in donations from our angels! You never fail us, or these kids. You are amazing. This mother and little boy got plenty of clothes, coats, gift cards for food, phone cards, laundry detergent and quarters to wash clothes at a laundromat.

$200 QuikTrip
This little boy was back in the hospital, being admitted for transplant. (Don't remember his age.) At the same time he was admitted, his dad was rushed to the emergency room and spent two weeks in the hospital as well. Dad missed a lot of work, didn't have insurance coverage and had to leave his four other children at home with no childcare. A neighbor did help watch them some until he was released from the hospital, but by then they had suffered a tremendous financial setback from both his and his son's hospitalizations. Their social worker related to us that one of their biggest struggles going forward was getting their child to the hospital three times a week for treatment. She asked if we could help by providing a gas card. Again, you provided the money, so of course we could help get them to treatments.

$50 Children's Healthcare – Parking Tickets
This 2-year-old little boy's situation couldn't be much sadder. He has a very rare blood disorder that is treated much like cancer. As if coping with a life-threatening illness isn't enough – due to extreme neglect, this toddler has been taken out of his home and lives in a group home for medically fragile children. According to his social worker he has thrived there and is a very lovable, cute, and smart little boy. There are about six caregivers at the group home who serve as "parent substitutes" for him and insure that he is never alone at the hospital, but how hard it must be on this child to have to fight this battle without a mom or dad in his life. Parking gets very expensive for the caregivers who regularly bring him to appointments at the hospital. Thanks to your gifts, we were able to give them a small stock of pre-paid parking passes.

$168.74 Target
11-year-old boy diagnosed with a hemangioblastoma in Feb., 2005 and has suffered many complications. Throughout his illness, mother has tried to work and care for her other three children but has now had to quit her job because of her son's needs. When we heard about them, he had just come to Atlanta (they live about three hours away) for an MRI and he was unexpectedly admitted to the hospital due to suspicions of tumor recurrence. Sherry Samuels at the Brain Tumor Fdn. For Children called us and let us know that they were here and had no clothes or anything with them. Even if it had been a planned hospital stay, Sherry felt that they very much needed financial assistance anyway. So Sherry did a little shopping for them and Anna agreed to use your donations to her Angel Fund to pay for what they needed.

$500 Visa Gift Card
Sent to a mother who had taken her 15-year-old daughter to MD Anderson in Houston, TX for treatment – as a last resort. She had been fighting a glioblastoma (brain tumor) for a very long time. They weren't given much hope, but who needs more than a sliver of hope when it comes to saving the life of your child? The treatments were exorbitantly expensive ($20,000 each) so her parents will be paying for them for the rest of their lives, regardless of the outcome. Even day-to-day expenses were a strain, but your tiny gift sent a huge, much-needed message of compassion and support.

*This brave girl's fight against a brain tumor has now ended. She fought for such a long time. No more pain, no more fighting now. Again, how precious it is to us that you touched her heart and the hearts of those who loved her while she was here. You are the love of God in action and it means everything to these people when they are hurting so deeply.

$164.90 Newton County Water and Sewage, $152.58 Snapping Shoals EMC
Paid water and power bills for family of a 14-year-old boy, newly diagnosed with cancer. Family just moved here from Augusta and were here less than three weeks when son was diagnosed with cancer. Mom has two other children as well and is having to fight hard with her employer to keep her job, while balancing the needs of her son.

$361.66 Gas Inc., $88.65 BellSouth, $55.83 Gwinnett Co. Water
14-year-old girl diagnosed with cancer on 9/20/06. Due to a terrible fungal infection and multiple complications, she spent over two straight months in the hospital. Right now, due to a problem with her insurance company, she has to come to the hospital three times a week for treatments that could be administered at home. This is a very low income family anyway, but the child's illness has put tremendous additional financial pressure on them.

$604.19 Target for clothes, shoes $242.95 Target for diapers, wipes, toys and movies
This family has TWO sets of twins and is from Brazil. The child with cancer (diagnosed in November) is a 15 mo. old girl with a twin brother. They have 6-year-old twin sisters. The family is living with the children's maternal grandmother because of the financial strain on them. Dad is bilingual but mom only speaks Portuguese. Because of that, it is very hard for mom to be alone at the hospital with the little girl who has cancer. Obviously she is unable to communicate with the nurses and doctors, so dad feels that he often needs to be there. As a result, he has missed quite a bit of work and that has contributed to their financial problems. We were asked if we could help with any of the following needs: clothing for all of the children, diapers, wipes and, movies and educational toys. Because of you, Anna was able to provide everything they needed.

$2093 Bioscript Pharmacy to pay for one month of chemotherapy
This was for a teenager who had just found out that he was going to have to fight his brain tumor again. He had no insurance and didn't qualify for SSI because he was working full time and making too much money when he relapsed. He quit his job and to deplete his savings he used all his money to pay off his own bills and his mom's (she is disabled), so that he might possibly qualify for SSI. This was in December so your Christmas gift to him was another month of chemotherapy - and another month of hope.

$600.31 Target, $83.63 Kohl's, $200 Kroger, $67.80 Babies R Us, $100 QuikTrip, $155 Spa Sydell
5-year-old girl (patient) and her two month old infant brother who was born with complications. Her social worker said their mom could really use some help putting some things aside for Santa to bring her 5-year-old, and she needed things for the baby as well. And as you always do when needed most, you morphed yourselves from angels into Santa Claus and visited this mother in early November! We asked Santa about getting some things for mom, too. He DID!

$100 PagePlus, $250 Publix
7-year-old boy going through a bone marrow transplant. He is from South Georgia and in Atlanta with his mother. They are going through this very long, painful process alone. They have no family who is able to visit them because of the distance to Atlanta. Anna was asked by their social worker to provide them with the ability to purchase food and with phone cards to allow them to call home.

$165.07 MCI, $300 Georgia Power, $250 Publix
3-year-old girl having a bone marrow transplant. Because of the length of treatment for bone marrow patients and the required stay in Atlanta after treatment, it can put a tremendous financial strain on the families. This family was running out of money trying to pay for living expenses at home and in Atlanta. They desperately needed help with paying bills and buying food. No problem for you. Every time we wonder how we might be able to say "yes" to a request, the donations begin to arrive. You always seem to know when we need you – and you respond. What an admirable, generous and gracious group of people you are.

$1588.23 Christmas Day – Gifts for the children in the hospital!
It has become a cherished tradition for our family to spend part of Christmas Day sharing the stories of you, our angels, and your gifts with the children who were too sick to go home for Christmas. That has become the event we most look forward to during the holidays every year. Oh, how we wish we could somehow share that experience with you! We can't take pictures because of all the restrictions protecting the privacy of the children, but if you could only see their faces when we arrive with the carts and wagons loaded with gifts! When they see us coming, sometimes you can just tell that they're praying one of those gifts might be for them! It's so sweet. We always take more than enough gifts for the kids we expect to be inpatient and usually give out quite a few in the parking deck and elevators on the way in and out, too. If you're a kid, our angels have provided a gift for you!

This year, because of your generosity we went into the holidays better funded than ever before. Not only that, even after the holidays your donations continued to flow, allowing Anna to help kids who were in crisis after all the celebrations had ended. That has never happened before! We are rarely in a position to help any children for at least a month or two into the New Year. But this year was different – and incredible, thanks to you.

$242.99 Target
On December 23rd we bought one more special gift to take to the hospital on Christmas Day – an Ipod Nano and Itunes gift card. We bought it without having any particular child in mind, but we knew that there would be somebody during the holidays who would need a special lift – and a special gift! It turned out that there was a teenage boy in the emergency room all night (Christmas Eve). He was very sick and terribly depressed about having to be admitted on Christmas Eve. After talking to the charge nurse, we decided that the Ipod should be his. And, we had several other gifts to leave for him, too. When he got to the AFLAC Cancer Center on Christmas Day, you (our angels) had already visited his room, leaving gifts and the message that someone knew he was there - and cared.

Another tradition we have established over the last three years is that once a year, usually during the holidays, we make an exception to our "anonymity rule" and allow Anna to meet a family that she would also like to support with your Angel Fund donations. This year, she actually met and provided Santa for two very special families. It was such an awesome experience and one that none of us will ever forget. Both of these families are familiar with our website; therefore, we've decided not to record here how much we spent on them. (That would be a little tacky, don't you think?!) We do want you to know why Anna chose to meet them though, and why we thought they were so very special! Here's just a little bit of info about each of their families:

Family #1: This is a family with three children who has also taken in four foster children. While caring for these foster children, one of them (8-year-old girl) was diagnosed with cancer. It's a very long, sweet story, but in the end, they adopted all four of these children and now have seven! The sacrifices this family has made and the love they have for each other is just amazing. Seeing the way that even the children have embraced each other brings tears to your eyes. Needless to say, their quality of life has changed drastically over the last few months and we felt that Santa deserved a little help making Christmas particularly special for this family. Christmas was made even more special for us because our family was able to take all nine of them, along with one of their favorite nurses (and ours!) to dinner! It was a blast! These are two very special parents – and they are raising seven amazing children.

Family #2: There are no words to describe just how cute these children are! The child who is a patient is a 1-year-old boy with a brain tumor. In his family there is also an 8-year-old sister, and a 9-year-old cousin who lives with them. They are the sweetest and most precious children! And, just as in the other family, their parents are wonderful. They could not have been more excited or more grateful for what you did for them this Christmas. This mother even called me on Christmas Day to tell me again how special Christmas morning was at their house, because of you. That meant the world to us.

Prior to hearing their child's diagnosis, these moms and dads wanted nothing more for their children than any other parents – most of all, for them to be happy and healthy. Now their dreams are much simpler. They pray that their child will have another birthday – or sometimes, just another day. They dream of pain-free days when their child will once again run and play, sit around the dinner table at home, or just giggle with sheer delight. They remember, and long for the chaotic days of trying to get the kids to and from school, get errands run, homework done, dinner cooked, everybody bathed and in bed on time. But for many of these families that day will never come. They wake up day and night to the sound of monitors, alarms, voices of nurses and doctors, and to their own uncontrollable thoughts and questions about today, tomorrow…Some will not survive and many of those who do will never lead lives that resemble what they used to know.

The number of children who need help is overwhelming. This year, the AFLAC Cancer Center in Atlanta treated more than 300 children who were newly diagnosed cancer patients and over 1000 more who had blood disorders. But, every year, you allow Anna to make a difference in the lives of more children. We continue to be so humbled and inspired by the generosity of our friends, family and even people who have never met Anna.

Whether their children have survived or not, the families who have been touched by you will forever remember your gifts of love and compassion. Because Anna's gifts are anonymous, we rarely see the responses. But we do sometimes hear about them and they have taught us many things. They have taught us that there is no heart that is so hard, hurt, tired, sick, or anything else, that it can`t be touched by your generosity. We have also learned that children who receive gifts from our angels usually believe they must be particularly special to be cared for by them. And that is yet another gift, like the cherry on top – your finishing touch. You tell them that they matter, that you care about what they are going through, and that their lives are indeed worth fighting for.

Thank you for being such a special pat of Anna's life and ours. Most of all, thank you for giving us the means to make a difference for these children. For us it is a calling and a passion, but without you it would be an unfulfilled dream.

Forever grateful,

Lisa, Larry and Anna


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