Operation: Sticker Therapy

Hi! This is Abigail the day before her 2nd birthday. You can see her central line and her surgery scar.
When she was 19 months old she was critically ill, and diagnosed with cancer - stage 4, high risk Neuroblastoma.
She has been through a lot - with a lot still yet to go through. Abigail loves stickers and they offer distraction and entertainment during multiple hospital stays.

Our goal with Operation: Sticker Therapy is to receive enough stickers to be able to put some packets together to share with other children we meet who are fighting for their lives. We encourage you to donate some stickers, and then know that you are blessing the loves of some precious children.

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Thank you for your kindness and generosity, and may it be returned unto you!

If you would like to make a financial donation to Abigail, that would be greatly appreciated. You can do so by visiting this site:

Fans Across America

or by including a check payable to "Abigail Goss Medical Trust Fund" with your stickers.

Thank you dearly!

Please contact me if you have any questions or if you would like more information on Operation: Sticker Therapy at

tricia.bastian@gmail.com

Katie's 3rd birthday

This is how far behind I am. Katie's birthday was April 28th. I just took her 3 year pictures and I am just posting her birthday.
For Katie's birthday we had a small family party for her. Katie decided she didn't want a cake for her birthday, she wanted a donut. She loved it and thought it was the greatest ever. We had yo yogurt, went to the duck pond and then bowling. One of the presents she got was "Llama Llama, mad at mama". She absolutely loves that series of books. They are her favorite! which I love because she loves to read. It is GREAT!
Happy birthday Katie Beth!

Atlanta Georgia Get-Away

Brad and I had the opportunity to go to Atlanta Georgia. We were very excited...namely because we were going to an Atlanta Braves baseball game. This has been my dream since I first saw the Braves play back in 1998. They became my favorite baseball team when I was at BYU healing on the couch from a knee injury. They were faithfully on TBS nearly everyday. It became a ritual for me to watch every game I possibly could. Over the years I have continued to watch whenever I can. My family has become Braves fans as well. Every time a baseball game is on, my kiddos ask "Is that Chipper Jones?" He is my favorite baseball player as well.
While in the south, we went to South Carolina to the beach. It was amazingly warm. We are so used to the Pacific Ocean which is always cold. The Atlantic Ocean is warm. We wished we had our swimsuits so we could have gone swimming. We saw an alligator. That was a first for us.
We also went to Savannah Georgia. By the time we got there is was almost dark so we weren't able to see much. I have always wanted to see a plantation but there just wasn't enough time. Maybe next time....if there is a next time.
We had a great time. The greenery was amazing! Moss grows on the trees like I have never seen before.
This also helps me complete one of my goals for my 101 project. Goal #2 is to go to an Atlanta Braves game at Turner Field. We did that. We went to 2 games. Fantastic seats, great company (thanks Brad), great games, great scenery....It was a great time!

Life

Life is very fragile.
You never know when it will be taken from you.
You never know when it is your turn to go.

Last night we thought we had lost Katie.
Brad and her were playing outside and he accidentally dropped her and she landed on her head. It knocked her unconscious and she quit breathing. When he brought her in the house she was pale white and starting to turn blue. She wasn't breathing. There was no sign of life in her. Her eyes were rolled back. I said to call 911 and immediately started CPR on her. Nothing was working. She wasn't breathing and she was completely lymph. I continued CPR and all of a sudden I could feel the air going into her lungs. Her airway was closed but I was afraid to move her head and neck for fear of injury. She finally took a breath and started to throw up. But even though she was starting to breathe, she was still unresponsive. She couldn't keep her eyes open. She needed to be coaxed and told to stay with mama. Keep looking at me. It was the most calm and scariest moment of my life to see my little girl helpless. I just prayed in my heart that she wouldn't leave us and she would be okay.

The paramedics arrived, luckily for us they are stationed 1/2 mile away. They were there within a minute maybe 2 from the time the 911 call was made. They hooked her up to oxygen and tried to get Katie to talk but she was dazed. Usually she is a very talkative 3 year old and asking "what is your name?" but that night she just layed there unresponsive....but her eyes were open. There was no movement from her, no talking going on and she kept wanting to close her eyes.

About 3 feet away, Tyler was acting as if he were a firefighter. He was calling 911 and giving all the details of what was going on. He had his firetruck and was saying "we have a 1013. Katie fell on her head she is not breathing." It was fun to watch him in such a serious circumstance.

The EMT's arrived to take Katie to the hospital. As we were going, an IV was put in and she just cried. I wasn't able to sit by her to hold her hand so I tried to reassure her it was going to be alright when I myself didn't know. By the time we got to the ER, she was a little bit more like herself. She wanted to get down and go home. She started to talk to the nurses and doctors around her. I felt calm and at peace that she was going to be alright. She was alert and attentive.

A CAT scan and x-rays were done on her. There was no swelling, no bleeding, no broken bones. I was so very thankful! My prayers had been answered. The doctor released Katie saying she had a concussion and to watch her. We were watched over. We still have our sweet Katie.

How very thankful I am to a loving Heavenly Father who hears and answers prayers. I know if it would have been her time to go He would have taken her but I feel she has a special mission ahead of her. She is one of my miracle babies. I love her so much.

After that experience last night, I hope I can be more kind and loving to my children, to Brad and to all those around me. Life is PRECIOUS!

Silly kids

I was going through some of my photos, trying to clean things out and I found these two of Tyler and Katie.
I love the picture of Tyler and his squirrel. We kept 1 trach as a reminder of what Tyler once had. He decided his squirrel needed some help breathing. Oh the imagination of that little boy. I sure do love him!

Then we have miss rock star herself sporting her fantastic pink sunglasses. She is such a ham.
I love her too!

Cowboy Tyler

The other night we were watching PBR on TV. For those of you who don't know what PBR is, Professional Bull Riding. Tyler and Katie love to watch. This particular night, Tyler really got in to you. I think the picture says it all.

Duck Pond

We are lucky enough to live by a duck pond. There are a lot of geese and few ducks. Every winter when the pond freezes over the kids wonder where the ducks are and if they are going to come back. Thank goodness they always do. We occasionally go down there to feed the ducks and geese. The geese are very aggressive and the ducks get chased away. The geese are becoming more and more aggressive. They will walk up to the kids and take the bread right from their hand. One goose bit Katie. It is very hard to hold the bread, take pictures and try to keep the geese away from the kids.