Willa's Trip to Disney

Thanks to Make a Wish Foundation and Give Kids the World Village-Willa took her parents and Harper to a wonderful 5 day trip to Orlando. We saw the Magic Kingdom (and special thanks to all of our Disney veteran friends whose tips, tricks, and cautions provided us with that extra help to maximize our short adventure), Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Sea World and even had a day to relax by the pool, enjoy ice cream at the Village, and celebrate Mayor Clayton's birthday (the giant rabbit who is the mayor of Give Kids the World). Willa was a bundle energy-on the go, always wheedling "one more ride Daddy" (she knew she did not need to negotiate with Mom), and eating all the ice cream, smoked turkey legs, funnel cakes, and popcorn her little belly could possibly hold. It is difficult to say which parts of the trip she liked best. When you ask her she often start to talk about the rides we went on that were too scary (Snow White's Scary Adventure or as Henry likes to cal it Snow White's trip gone bad)-and with big eyes tell about the eyes of the forest and the queen with the frozen apple. When given choices-lunch with the Princesses, her private visit with Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and Cinderella, the magic carpets of Arabia, Peter Pan's flight, the tea cups (please no more spinning rides for Mom and Dad), the train ride, the Tiki room, well she loved them all!

And we are so indebted to the Make a Wish Foundation and Give Kids the World Village-who arranged this wonderful and special trip for Willa at very short notice, somehow managed to get a reservation to the princess lunch, and made sure she never waited in a line and got all the special attention she could possibly want from everyone (Princesses, Disney guys, Pooh and friends, Jiminy Cricket) at the parks.

This trip brought Willa such sheer joy and wonder and gave us some very precious memories and for this we are grateful.

Our Devastating News

As some of you know, we received the sad news this week that Willa’s cancer has spread to her lungs. Everyone was shocked as Willa has been feeling great and appeared to be responding to her treatment. A number of factors make it extremely unlikely that she would respond to further aggressive therapy, and she would have a high risk of significant side effects. Nobody knows how long she has left, but it is probably several months.

Willa’s 3 and ½ year old mind is blissfully innocent of her medical condition. In fact, she continues to take on the persona of various princesses throughout the day. You have to be quite alert to keep up with her various alter-egos, as well as those she assigns you. Harper is at times baffled as Willa decides Harper will be “Cinderella, Momma, or Willa” all in the matter of a few hours.

We will take a few trips in the next couple of weeks, first to Disney World (April 23rd-28th) where Willa will fulfill her dream of “seeing where the princesses live” and then we will spend some time on the beach (May 5th-14th).

We are greatly saddened by the turn of events but take heart that Willa has generally felt pretty well this past year and had some great experiences. This would not have been possible without medical advances in the treatment of her rhabdomyosacoma over the past few decades and the dedicated and first rate care she received at Children's Hospital by her oncologist Dr. Kerry Moss and all the other physicians, nurses, and staff. Her creativity and strong personality have made an impression on a number of her peers (and our peers).

We have been touched by all the support we have received this past 10 months. We are also very touched by Elma and our Westside friends’ Relay for Life in honor of Willa and in support of those with cancer. We are planning to honor Willa with a hero party (this was planned to celebrate completion of chemo but now more than ever-she deserves a hero party) and we will post evites as soon as we firm up plans.

Your love, support, and prayers have kept us strong throughout,

Stacy, Henry, Willa, and Harper