Now mid way through the clinical trial…  Noel is finding some relief to the sores in his mouth, that is to the ones he already had, which is good but more sores are now appearing which is not so good…  The new mouth wash is working but having little effect on the cause of the sores the GVHD which I guess is to be expected as this is to do with the donor cells attacking him…  Generally he is about the same…  legs still swollen and energy levels low…  although he is trying to walk a little at the YMCA…  we need to get in practice for the Relay for Life now only 2 weeks away…  when we will be walking in both the SURVIVORS laps and the CAREGIVER lap…  since we are both survivors and caregivers!!!  And of course we will be joined by Charlotte who is a survivor and if not exactly a caregiver she is a great encourager with her smiles and hugs.and zest for life…

People ‘Relay’ for many reasons…  because they had cancer, I did, now over 6 years cancer free!  Because they have a friend with cancer, I have many, some are fighting, some are cancer free and some sadly have lost the battle.  Some ‘Relay’ because they have relatives who have been told ‘you have cancer’ I do, my granddaughter…  now a survivor, my husband, now a survivor and my brother who is in maintenance treatments right now as a survivor…

Some ‘Relay’ because they want to see more research in to a cure for all cancers, well we all want that!  But the main reason The Dawes Family ‘Relay’ is to support the American Cancer Society in they support of those who need accommodation when their treatment center is far from home…  the ACS have wonderful places called the ‘HOPE LODGE’ in many town across the USA.  When Noel was told his cancer would needed to be treated at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston MA., 100’s of miles away from our home in Glens Falls, NY and he would require to be in Boston for an extended time of almost a month and then for regular appointments…  every week for 6 months.  Eventually getting spread further apart.  Now almost 3 years since his Stem Cell Transplant they are every month…  we spend 2 nights in Boston for each visit…  this has added up to 100’s of nights…  imagine what our hotel costs would have been…  and how difficult it would be to afford, hotels in Boston are expensive…  nights at the ‘HOPE LODGE’ are ‘free’ but we all know nothing is free…  the ACS need funds to provide this service to cancer patients and their caregivers…  So this is why The Dawes Family ‘Relay’ to raise funds so others, can like us, receive this blessing of a safe, clean and comfortable place to stay when needed…  will you help us ‘pay it forward’?  A donation small or large will help…  but without you we can not do this…  thank you!!

We have pooled our fund raising efforts to just one fund as we did last year…  Charlotte’s RELAY page, where last year with your help she raised over $3,000 for the American Cancer Society…  We are now 2 weeks away from our RELAY FOR LIFE and have yet to raise even a 10th of that…  Will you please consider making a small ( or large! ) donation…  and help us all PAY IT FORWARD…  thank you!  Please visit Charlotte’s page today http://main.acsevents.org/goto/charlotte-emma