May 20 Update

Well I have good news to report. Julie finished her radiation this week, got her new chair and her braces for her legs. She is so strong and so rambunksious that it is getting harder to keepup with her. She had an MRI and Lumbar Puncture today...any PRAISE GOD....NO CANCER WAS SEEN in her brain or spine. Her Lumbar puncture was clear of cancer cells too. The is such a blessing. Thank you all for your prayers. Julie gets some time off before she starts she chemo. She will get 3 rounds that I know of so far. I will keep you posted...Deidra

Thanks to the NMSU Theatre Dept .and Audience Members who donated at the "Winnie the Pooh" performances

Due to the very generous audience members who attended the production of Winnie-the-Pooh and responded to our "passing the hat" during intermissions, we collected a total of $1,000 from our four public productions. We presented the money to Eddie Wolf, Julie's dad, at the end of the May 8 show. Again, we owe this very successful donation campaign to the kind, compassionate, and giving people who responded to our request for donations for Julie. We thank everyone who donated to Julie!
I also want to thank Julie's uncle, Michael Hillis, who informed our audience members about Julie's condition during our intermissions. Thanks also go out to Eddie, who attended every production of Winnie-the-Pooh and to all of Julie's family who came to the show, helped us publicize it, and supported our efforts.
Connie Breding

Mother's Day

Not much to report this week. The doctors are a bit concerned about Julie's appetite since she is losing weight each week. They started her on Ensure shakes daily and a calorie booster to add to some of her food. She is still not back to her pre-diagnosis weight but she is losing weight faster than they would like. She will need the few extra pounds for when she starts Chemo again in a few weeks. We are still waiting on her new stroller/chair and her leg braces. Should be in this coming week.

Julie is missing her "Mom" (Jen's mom, that's what she calls her other grandma) this Mother's Day. Just as Jen and I are missing EVERYONE back home today. We want to wish all the MOM's out there a very Happy Mother's Day....

NMSU-A's Theater on the Hill has been doing a production of Winnie-the-Pooh the past few weekends. They dedicated the show to Julie and have been taking donations and encouraging children to write cards to Julie. This is such an inspiration to me. I can not thank Connie Breding, the Guild Members or the Cast enough for doing this for her. Just the idea that Julie's prayer chain has grown is the VERY BEST MOTHER'S DAY PRESENT EVER....Thank You to EVERYONE for your prayers and support during this time.

Update May 3

Well Julie had a good week, but an even better weekend. She is tolerating radiation like a champ. We found out Friday about the Memphis in May or Beale St. Music Fest on Friday night. When we heard Kesha was playing, Julie wnated to go. Julie loves listening to Kesha and when she was able would dance to her music. She would even try to imitate Kesha's dance moves. So we got tickets and ventured out into the wilderness Saturday afternoon. We got there about 3:30 in the after noon. We went straight to the stage that Kesha would be performing at later in the evening. A group called The Sick Puppies was up on stage performing when we arrived. When they quit playing we and the crowd diminished we edged are way to the front of the stage. We were up front but stage right. We stayed there for the next group Hinder who Grammy likes. One of the security guards got her a couple of guitar picks from Hinder. Julie then wanted to go get something to eat so I (Grammy) stayed in our spot. The next group to come on was 8Ball and MJG a rap group from Memphis that none of us had ever heard of. I helped the spot but the crowed started getting larger and larger and very pushy, so Julie and Jen retreated to a safer place. The next act to come was Ludacris. I asked one of the security people where we could get Julie so she could see Kesha, the headliner of the night. He pointed to a pavilion behind me and said we can take her to the disabled pavilion. So I inched my way through the crowd of wall to wall people. I have never seen that before...forget personal space...Anyway I found Jen and Julie and we made our way toward what I thought was the disability pavilion, come to find out it was the VIP pavilion, the security guard at the VIP pavilion told us the disability pavilion was completely full. So Jen and I went back to the side of the stage that we were at and talked to a different security guard. I explained that Julie was really wanting to see Kesha perform, but that she was scared of the large crowd. I asked him if there was anyone we could talk to to get into the VIP pavilion. HE said "I will be back in a few minutes". He came back and had us meet him at the gate to the back stage area. He took us back there and put us in a dinning area and told us he would be back for us soon. There was another couple sitting at the table with us. They asked us about Julie and we told them her story and that she wanted to see Kesha perform. The couple had met Kesha earlier in the day and told us how nice she was. While the girl was showing us the pictures they got with Kesha the gentleman got up. When he came back he had Kesha's assistant in tow. Kesha's assistant said that she heard that Julie wanted to see Kesha so she took us to her bus where we met her and got to get pictures with her. Kesha even had us up on the side of the stage for her show. It was fantastic. Kesha was so so so very nice. She even gave Julie a hug. I like Kesha before all this but now I love her. THANK YOU KESHA SO MUCH for giving this memory to Julie and to us. I am forever grateful.

Til next time...Grammy