I’ve finally recovered from last week’s 28 hour Valentine’s Day For CCA radio-a-thon.  You know, there’s a reason it ends with “a-thon”.  We should train for this thing weeks ahead of time.  You’ve really gotta be in prime physical and emotional shape to pull off 28 nonstop hours of heartbreak and triumph, it’s an emotional roller coaster.  Water is a must, you need to stay hydrated.  And stock up on the Kleenex.  The good kind too, with lotion!

Looking back on all of the families we met, who’ve gone through the unimaginable, there’s one image I can’t seem to shake.  The image of Regina Ellis, founder of CCA, rocking her baby girl Alexandra and finding a new lump.  Regina was so “open” when sharing her story of deciding to stop chemo and “just enjoy the time they had left”, I wanted to hug her but she was across the room. It was all I could do to not throw down my headphones and go embrace her.  (I did afterwards…for like a long time, and I’m sure she was probably thinking ‘OK woman, get off me!’) But every time I think of it I cry and my heart actually hurts for the loss that Regina has endured.  And for sweet little Alexandra, who didn’t get to grow up and pass on those sequined ballet slippers to her own daughter.

That’s just one of the moments where my heart broke wide open on the air during our 28 hour Valentine’s Day For CCA radio-a-thon.  Ian and Kirsten Olsen shared how they lost both of their twins, a year apart, to a rare genetic disorder.  How do families endure that? I think I would die from the sheer heartache of losing even one of my boys, let alone two.  And so that’s what I asked those parents, “does continuing to help the CCA help you make some sort of sense out what happened to you and your family?”  You know what? All of the parents we talked to agree that yes, It does help.  When we reach out for each other in times like these it helps.  Having the Caring Cabin for families to just get away from the needles and the hospitals and enjoy each other at the beach- that helps.  Bringing live music into hospital rooms helps, in fact one of our CCA kiddos, 5 year old Zach, was in a medically induced coma to reduce brain swelling and nothing helped his stats more than the Music RX crew playing live harp music at his bedside! Having a chemo-pal to talk with or play games with during those long painful treatment HELPS!  Thats why they call it joyRX.

There were also many wonderful triumphant moments during our 28 hours together.  The annual challenge between the Beaverton and Hillsboro police department went next level as the Hillsboro Men In Blue raised the most and were promptly rewarded with a mouth-kiss from Nelson! (PICTURE attached) Sweet 7 year old Autumn, in remission after a kidney transplant last year and looking beautiful with a full head of gorgeous red hair, (PICTURE attached) got to pick the winner of the car auction.  The sea of purple shirts answering phones around the clock, and our wonderful friends in the media taking time out of their busy schedules to broadcast our efforts (PIC of me and Andy Carson).  As it says on my CCA coffee mug: ”Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.”

So as a mom of three young boys, and one who thanks God everyday for keeping us all happy and healthy, I will continue to do everything I can for the CCA.  It’s an odd thing, sobbing to thousands of people you’ve never met, through a microphone.  But if you don’t mind the blubbering once a year I hope you keep listening.  And I hope you keep giving to www.joyrx.org

….stacey’s guest blog for CCA.