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Shannon's Build a Bear party and other newsAt times it does feel like that. I just close the door to my office and cry. Then I open my door back up and go on with my day. I refuse to cut myself off emotionally from the families. We were in their shoes once, and now , we are a template for the worst outcome possible. The pain of losing a child never wanes, but I have eased mine by going to work every day at the hospital where Shannon was treated. I feel as though I honor Shannon’s memory every day I go to work. One of the doctor’s I work with, in addition to her specialty in Oncology, is board certified in palliative care for pediatrics. Whenever a child has no hope for a cure, she advices the best treatment to lesson the pain and give the child the best quality of care in the time left. At the end of life, she is frequently called upon to council, comfort, and support not only our children with cancer, but any child in the hospital that is dying. When Shannon relapsed for the third (last) time, Dr. Cherrick , along with Shannon’s primary oncologist, Dr. Kennedy, helped us to see the facts amidst our grief. Dr. Cherrick had me list what was most important to us, and to Shannon, in the weeks she had left. I knew at the time, that I was going to have to erase “cure” from my list. Then I erased “hope” from my list too, at least the hope of Shannon being here with us on earth. In the place of cure and hope, I would add comfort (no suffering), fun with quality time, and faith in Shannon’s eternal life with God, and peace for Jim and I as her parents that we did the best we could for our baby. I nominated Dr. Cherrick for the 2008 Anita Award. This award is given by Hospice of CNY each year . I wrote a nomination letter describing the help she gave us at the end of Shannon’s life, and the compassion and care I have seen her give all her patients. It takes a very strong person to be dedicated to patients at all stages of their care. There are many successes, patients completing therapy and continuing on to full lives, but when this isn’t possible, Dr. Cherrick is supportive and always listens to the families wishes. I am extremely happy that Dr. Cherrick won the Anita Award for 2008. Myself, and several other staff from the hospital attended the award ceremony. It was a wonderful honor for her, a long time coming for such a deserving doctor. The Shannon Froio Foundation recently held our third Build A Bear Party at the Carousel Center store. We had 35 families sign up for a morning of bear building and fun. Each family picked any animal with a complete outfit. The staff did a wonderful job organizing all the festivities! Shannon was there in spirit of course. Shannon’s best friend Emily came with her mom Shari, all the way from Croghan! William Sonoma, my dream kitchen store in the mall, also helped out by providing a continental breakfast for everyone. Yummy !!!!!! What is especially sweet is how the kids would come up to me to thank me and show me their animal. I love them all. I wish I could hug each one. I am so thankful that all those kids were able to come to our party. One little girl, reminds me so much of Shannon. When she’s in the office for her chemo, everyone knows it. She has a fine set of lungs, just like Shannon did. I call it SPUNK. At the party, she wanted her picture taken with me. So I knelt down with her cheek to cheek. I felt a moment of such total joy and tenderness. To feel a little girls cheek next to mine again … I pretended it was Shannon giving me a hug from heaven. Thank you to everyone that attended the party … the families,hospital staff, friends, our build a bear staff friends … this is the Froio family therapy, knowing that in spite of cancer or other hematological diagnoses, kids can still have fun!!!! Thank you also to Toni Gary and the Golisano Hospital Foundation for making us a beautiful poster to display at our parties. Shannon will welcome everyone to her parties from now on. Now my thoughts have turned to the holidays. I realize they are fast approaching, and most of you have already started your shopping, as I have. However, my thoughts are always with some of our center families. I would like to sponsor a family or two for the holiday season. I already have two families in mind. Both of these families have children with progressive disease. A cure is out of their reach it seems. The prognosis is not good. Financially they are already struggling. I feel an overwhelming need to do something, anything to make their season brighter. Any donations we receive in the next two weeks will be used to help these families. Thank you and God Bless you all this holiday season. The Froio Family Gayle Jim Samantha Jimmy and Shannon |
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