Burt Family 2013

Burt Family 2013

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Cancer Free!

Max's year-and-a-half cancer check up came back clear!

Max like always was a champ when it came to getting his scans.  No more anesthesia for Max, he laid so still and was able to drink his contrast before and got his contrast injection during the scan without any complaint.

Max was super excited to checkout all the new Toy Story decals that decorate the machines.

Our Oncologist was very pleased to see today's scans, this is a big milestone, given that neuroblastoma is the most aggressive form of childhood cancer. For Max to continue to be cancer free this long really increases his long term survival rate.  We now get to start spreading our scans out to every 6 months instead of every 3 months, so we can start to minimize his exposure. If the cancer will start to grow at this point it would most likely be localized in his abdomen so it will be much easier to look for as opposed to testing his whole body.

Here is a brief interview of our head Oncologist:



While his cancer is in remission we are still working hard to get his auto-immune disease into remission. We are still fine tuning his medications, we had to increase his meds quite a bit before our trip, which gave us an increase in other things like blood pressure, blood sugar, headaches, and more weight loss.  We are hopeful that his body is managing the meds and we would appreciate prayer as we continue to taper meds to a more manageable level as to limit the long term side effects.   As frustrating as it can be some days, we continually thank God for blessing Max with this rare auto-immune disorder, had it not been for an extra awesome immune system trying to combat the cancer we wouldn't have found the silently growing tumor, had we not found it when we did, Max probably wouldn't have made it this long.  So many blessings to be thankful for!

Madison's Top Five Memories


1. Having lunch in Cinderella's castle and meeting ALL the princesses.



2. Holding an alligator after a swamp boat tour in an airboat.



















3. Snorkeling in a shark tank, feeding sharks and having dinner inside a shark tank.



 

4. Being a part of the lion king live action show at Animal Kingdom and the star of every other parade and show.


5. Water parks, water slides, pools, water, etc...


 

Molly's Top Five Memories


1. Personal meet and greet with Tinker Bell in Pixie Hollow and her very own authentic Tinkerbell dress from Papa and Grandma.



2. All you can eat ice cream and candy at our village all hours of the day.


3. ALL merry-go-rounds - favorites were the one at our village that she could ride whenever she wanted and as much as she wanted and the double decker carousel made out of Legos at Legoland.


4. Getting to be a part of and dance in the Dora and Diego Parade, and then getting a personal escort to meet the rest of the Nickelodeon characters.




5.   Characters and Rides, Molly was fearless and was excited to ride and do everything!  Luckily she hit a growth spurt before we left and there were only a few rides she wasn't able to ride on.






Kari's Top Five Memories


1. Getting treated like a VIP at every opportunity. Personal escorts and behind the scenes tours, front row parking, reserved seating at every show and parade. No wait times. People went out of their way to see how they can help us.

2. Secret lounges at the different parks, where we could rest, enjoy free refreshments and air conditioning.
Magic Kingdom Secret Lounge
Epcot Secret Lounge inside Spaceship Earth (the big ball) - Serving the only Starbucks we found on our whole trip =)
3. The beautiful hot weather, even all the majestic lightening storms and the record breaking rain fall of 13 inches in 2 days.




4. Meals all figured out for us, served with great southern hospitality and love.

 







5. Enjoying all the smiles and joy on everyone's faces.


Monday, June 25, 2012

Josh's Top Five Memories

1. Watching the kids expressions during character meet & greets.


2. Airboat tour of the Everglades & holding an alligator.



3. Going on Toy Story Mania many times and always getting the high score, except when I played with Madison, she would always win.




 
4. Animal experiences: petting a sloth at GKTW, feeding the dolphins, manta rays, sharks, and sea lions at sea world, and finding the big snake and turtle at our resort.

 




5.  Meeting the Harrison Ford stunt double with Max after the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and getting an authentic autographed Indiana Jones adventure hat.

 

....And not having  to worry about anything during our vacation.  No work,  no stress, no dr appointments for Max or Kari having to take him to them.  I am so happy that we could just relax and enjoy time together as a family. It's hard to narrow it down to 5 favorite things when everything was amazing. Give Kids the World was one of the coolest places that I have ever experienced, they treated us like royalty and the kids had such a good time.  There was always something new for them to do or experience.  Disney and all the theme parks went out of their way to make us feel special, no waiting in lines for anything, characters always picking out the kids for special stuff and cast members always checking to see how we were doing. I am so happy that Max and our family were able to have this experience, I know we will never forget it.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Max's Top Five Memories


1. Feeding and learning how to teach the dolphins to wave and talk to him.



3. Meeting Lightening McQueen and Mader.


3. Getting to meet the Harrison Ford Stunt Double and watch the awesome stunt show and receive an authentic Indiana Jones autographed hat.

4. Personal meet and greet with all the Toy Story and Pixar Characters and riding Toy Story Mania and Buzz Lightyear Rides as much as he wanted without any wait.




5. Getting to drive our airplane and be honorary co-pilot for the day.