I know I told everyone that I was going to try to write every 10 days, well this round that went to about a little over two weeks. Everything here is going pretty good. We still have our good days and our bad days. We really miss Chance a lot and nothing will ever take that away, there are things that help the situation, but don’t take the pain away. First off I want to thank Mrs. Cox from Snowville for coming up and speaking to us today at Wal-Mart. I told her that I had been planning on updating for several nights, but I just haven’t got around to it. Thanks again for the encouraging words and support.
Destiny is doing well; she is very busy growing up. We have been trying to spend a lot of time with her. Last weekend Desirae had a yard sale at the church and I had to work so we let Desirae’s mom and dad watch Destiny through the weekend. She really enjoys going down there and getting in the pool. She is handling the situation with Chance pretty good, she still asks about him a lot and everyday wants to go send a balloon to brub brub. We have been with her a couple of times where she has gotten upset and started to cry for him. It is hard to explain to her still. Today we went to Red Robin to eat, the first time since Chance passed away. I asked Desirae if she thought Destiny might think that all of these places we had been with the kids before if she thought that Chance might still be there. I know that sound pretty crazy, but it is hard for me to be on the level of a two year old. I know I think like a two year old a lot in the things that I do, but we are not sure what she thinks at different times. Destiny has a new friend in Madison that comes over every Friday. She is learning to share, but they are having a lot of fun together. We have noticed that anytime there is an older child around she would rather play with them instead of the one her age. This past Monday, Mitch and Jody Reed came over with their children; they have one 4 and one 18 months. She really enjoy playing with Cam , he is the 4 year old. Destiny is making a lot of new friends at church as well.
As far as Desirae and me, we are doing well, one day at a time. Desirae has started back into her jewelry, which she really enjoys. She has a show coming up in October at the Floyd County High School . She is still trying to organize all of the things that we received down at Duke. This has been a huge job, which I want to thank everyone again for. When we go back and look at all of the things that you guys sent us it is just unreal, I don’t know what else to say but thank you for making those months a lot easier. Your support was and still is so powerful and helpful for us. I am still doing the same thing, going to work some and we just started basketball open gyms this week. This has helped me getting back around the guys, the only thing is Chance used to always be there with me, but that is OK. The guys have been very supportive and the parents have been great, it is so great to see them all again. My dad and I are heading to Richmond this weekend for the race; we go with Desirae’s Dad and Brother. We really enjoy this trip and always look forward to spending time with them. Desirae’s brother and wife just had a new baby on Monday which is something to celebrate about. This Sunday we will be heading to Big Island for a bell ceremony in memory of Chance at Desirae’s old church. This will be the first time we have been there since Chance passed away, but we are looking forward to seeing everyone there as well. We have a family trip planned to Myrtle Beach in two weeks with my mom and dad; this is what we have done every fall for several years. Last year it was about the last week that Chance was feeling good and showed no signs of being sick. I know there will be some tough times there too, but we have to meet them head on and enjoy the time with Destiny and make more memories. Desirae and I have started going to bible study on Wed. nights. We are getting so much from this, it just seems like that every situation that we talk about we feel like we have a story for it. I know a lot of people get tired of her and I telling stories, but what God has done for us and how much he has blessed us with, but I am going to keep telling them. Our preacher asked me last night what my treasure was and I responded by telling him my treasure would be walking into Heaven and seeing my son again and I can honestly say I can’t wait till that day. Don’t get me wrong I am going to enjoy every minute I have here because they are limited, but what we have waiting for us there is going to be awesome. If we have friends that are on the border line or if you are on the border line, please get them or yourself right, we don’t know how much time we have left. Eternity is waiting just think about where you want to spend it.
We have finalized the basketball games in December for the 15th. We are going to call it the Chance Harman Classic. It will benefit a student at Floyd County High School with a scholarship and American Cancer Society. We are looking for this to be a huge event; we have some really good games planned that day. The teams that will be involved will be Glenvar High School vs. Christiansburg High School , Giles County High School vs. Graham High School , Radford High School vs. Blacksburg High School , and Floyd County High School vs. Patrick County High School . We really hope this is a great experience and this will continue for several years. More information will be available soon, so make plans December 15 th to come watch some good basketball and support a good cause.
We have lost a couple more ATRT kids, one was the beautiful girl above Chance on the Rhabdoid website, her name was Tal, and the other was Hazel. Please continue to pray for everyone that has lost children to this terrible disease and keep the ones that are still fighting it in your prayers as well. Also this past weekend there was a bad wreck that took the lives of three young adults, please keep their families in your prayers. Just remember we have a promise to see them again, don’t miss your opportunity. September is childhood cancer month and here is something I found that was on some of the other websites, check out these numbers. Once again if you see us out, please come speak, if you have a story please write it and get it to us, or gives a call we would love to hear how Chance touched you or someone you know, this really helps us deal with our loss. We love each and every one of you. Till next time.
Love,
Brian, Desirae, Destiny, Angel Chance
Cancer in children is more common that most people realize. Childhood cancers behave very differently than adult cancers and the survival statistics are not as promising. Furthermore, the incidence of childhood cancer seems to be increasing. Please join us in increasing awareness of childhood cancer facts and statistics.
-Cancer is the number one killer of children by disease. It is the second leading cause of all childhood deaths exceeded only by accidents.
-One in 330 children will develop cancer before the age of 20.
-On average, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer every day in the United States .
-Approximately 12,400 children were diagnosed with cancer in the year 2000.
-Each year, about 3,000 children die from cancer - more than from asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, congenital anomalies, and pediatric AIDS combined.
-Only about 20% of adults with cancer show evidence that the disease has spread to distant sites on the body at diagnosis yet 80% of children are diagnosed with advanced disease.
-In the past 20 years only one new cancer drug has been approved for pediatric use.
-Only 3% of the budget from the National Cancer Institute goes towards Pediatric Cancer research. (That's 3% for ALL kinds of Pediatric Cancers combined!)
-The incidence of childhood cancer is increasing. The cause of this is unknown.
-Pediatric cancer funding is nominal in comparison to other more publicized diseases such as pediatric AIDS or juvenile diabetes which increases awareness each year.
-Most adult cancers result from lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, occupation, and exposure to cancer-causing agents. The cause of most childhood cancers in unknown.
-Approximately 70% of children with cancer participate in research trials compared to only 3% of adult cancer patients. As a result, many of the advances in adult cancer treatments are due to breakthroughs in childhood cancer research.
-The government recently CUT the budget for Childhood Cancer research.
-As a nation, we spend $14 BILLION per year on the space program, but only $35 MILLION on childhood cancer research per year.
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