He still has his vomiting spells but in general is doing well. I've been very pleased with all the progress he has made. He's a tough dude.

I'm very thankful for everyone's help. The donations, the prayers, the advice.... all of it was so appreciated.

I'll update more when Boston trip comes around. But, right now I am just gonna go enjoy my healthy and happy baby boy.

Thank you for all the mail I got over at thousandhurts@gmail.com. I read and respond to as much as I can.

I think after the debt is paid off and we have a little breathing room, the first thing I am going to do is start saving to take this kid on a vacation. He needs one. :) (As does his sister who now refers to herself as Nurse JJ).

Love to everyone.....

XO
C

I hope he will be eating chicken fingers in just a few weeks. Everyone keep your fingers crossed.

I haven't felt much like posting lately, mainly because I feel like it can sometimes get too heavy and personal. I have just wanted to blindly enjoy this summer and not think about anything.

I do want to thank an anonymous donor who made this possible. I owe you everything.

Only 14,000 left to pay off. That feels like nothing in comparison to where we were.

Thank you for your thoughts.... You are all very dear to me. <3

XO
C

Our friends over at Opie and Anthony were kind enough to donate some one of a kind things to the Stan Auctions. You can check them out over here:

http://t.co/hdg2A5k

Not much to report, Stan has been good and we are planning some exciting things for his future treatments. I will let you all in on them as they come around!!!

Thank you again for all your continued support!

-C

Without Patrick, I would not have met my husband. Without Patrick, I would not have had my children. I am forever in his debt.

I will miss his stupid jokes, I will miss his silly snort-giggle, I will miss his dirty sweat rags. I will miss laying on him when I have had too much to drink. I will miss how he made Arelis laugh. I will miss his dumb sunglasses.

I will miss his heart.

Wherever he is, he took a piece of me with him. I surrendered it willingly.

I send love. So, much love.

Here is the info for the services.

Patrick W. Mussell 3-21-1979 - 6-14-2011   Wake Friday 6-17-11 4pm-8pm Blackley Funeral Home 809 Broad AveRidgefield, NJ 07657   Gathering: Sat 6-18-11 9amBlackley Funeral Home   Funeral Mass Sat 6-18-11 10am St. Mathews Church 555 Prospect AveRidgefield, NJ 07657   Flowers of the Field (201) 878-2669flowersofthefield.net   In lieu of flowers:http://stanleymcdonaldfund.squarespace.com/

Stan now is on a new type of medicine that has to be monitored with biweekly blood draws that aren't covered by our insurance. We will try to find a way to make this work. In the meantime, I wanted to quickly thank you and give you this brief update.

You have all been so kind with your words and prayers. I appreciate all of it. All the donations from this point on will be used for the blood draws and we will just have to figure out how to keep some of these past due bill collectors at bay.

I often wonder to myself how I will repay all of you. I find myself feeling guilty and uncertain. But, please know that I will one day figure out a way to pay this forward. I promise all of you that.

Please contact me at Thousandhurts@aol.com.

Much love to everyone,

XO
C

Thanks for all the support, We are almost at the amount we needed to make this trip happen and we hope we can scrape the rest together in the coming days.

All thanks to you.

Here is a pic from Stanley's recent Birthday party.

I'm so proud.

         This is STILL happening and today of all freaking days. No cupcake with dinner tonight, no playing with his present, nothing. I get to sit here, stare at him and worry.

         Regardless, I will make today as great as I can for him. He deserves it.

         Two weeks till Boston Trip. Thank god.

         Never hesitate to get in touch with me: Thousandhurts@gmail.com

         Thank you to the person who donated this week, we appreciate it endlessly.

         Also, thank you to all the people who have given in the past, I wish I could have you all over for Pancakes and Bananas.

         XO

         C

Stanley has had a weird year, full of trial and error. We haven't gotten it all straightened out yet but we are working on it. In late may we will head up north for his checkup. We will discuss new meds and have a new plan of action.

Last week was no fun at all. I didn't leave the house for 5 days straight watching him go in and out of a hazy eyed trance.

This year we asked all his friends and family to skip the toys and donate to the fund. Our house is full of things to play with, but what stanley really needs is to get the best care possible.

I'll blog more later. I am truly exhausted.

XO
C

It's time for me to begin to sweat as Stanley's Boston trip is about to be confirmed.

I hope we have been doing right by him and everything is on the up and up. I know that I feel in my heart of hearts he is doing great. But, I can't wait for a doctor to agree.

Once he is tested and reviewed we get to breathe easier and sleep a whole lot better and focus on cleanup.

We have managed to pay off a HUGE chunk of the money we owe thanks to all the help. We are down to about 18k in debt. Even though that's a ton, it feels like pennies in comparison to what we were sunk in earlier this year. But, I have been working nonstop to lower all our payments and make deals with a lot of the creditors.

Now, to work on saving the money to go to Boston. I plan to make it a one day round trip so there is no hotel expense. (HELLO COFFEE!!) The visits can be pricey, but I'll pay anything for piece of mind.

If you ever want to get in touch please email me at Thousandhurts@gmail.com

All donations received for the next few weeks will be going straight to the Boston Trip.

I just wanted to thank you again for everything. You are all amazing. I am reminded of your love and generosity every time my son kisses me on the nose. I am thankful for his joyful life and I am thankful to have friends like you.

Much love to all of you....

XO
The McD's