St. Judes

Gymboree as a company supports St. Jude's Childrens Research Hospital. Wow! I can't say enough about this place. Those of you who are familiar with Phoenix Childrens Hospital can appreciate ST. Jude's as well. St. Judes is a non-profit organization that helps find cures and treats kids with cancer and any other life threatening illnesses. I always saw the comercials and adverstiments about it and would donate here or there, but never really got into it until Gymboree as a company supported St. Jude's. This summer we will have the opportunity to go down and visit the ST. Jude's facility. 85 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to st. Jude's and the treatment there. As a company Gymboree raised $1.2 Million dollars and that is only the cost of one day to run St. Jude's. This year we have an amazing goal of 1.8 million dollars as a company, below is a story of just one of the patients at St. Jude. I know times are tough, but if you have it in your budget or in your heart to Give Thanks for the Healthy kids in your life and Give to those that are not please donate to St. Jude's. I don't know any of these patients personally but I can't help but cry and feel connected to them everytime they send me artwork, or I read their stories. I just love to get my customers on board and donate to the kids of St. Judes. I don't know if it's just the time of year, or it makes me really thankful for the children that I have and that they are healthy. But I do know that if something were to ever happen, I would hop in my car and drive my kids to St. Jude's. Please Read the story below, it will touch you. There are many more stories or statistics on stjude.org.



Patient of the Month
November 2008
Brook Johnson2 years old

Diagnosis:
Brook was found to suffer from atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (ATRT) in August 2007.
Brook's Story:
When Brook was 18 months old, her parents, Melissa and Brian, noticed Brook kept tilting her head to the right.
They didn't worry too much at first, but when Brook continued to tilt her head and also seemed off balance, they became concerned. And when Brook’s right eye turned inward, Melissa knew something was terribly wrong. For weeks, Brook was in and out of the doctor’s office, her family desperate for answers. Melissa is a registered nurse, so it was both her mother’s instinct and her training that prompted her to ask for a CT scan and an MRI.
The results were devastating: Brook had a rare and aggressive brain tumor identified as atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor (ATRT). She underwent a nine-and-a-half-hour surgery where doctors removed most of the tumor. While Brook recovered, her parents reviewed the doctor’s treatment protocol, which seemed harsh for such a young child. "All I could think about was how sick Brooke would be," Melissa said. "We wanted her cured, but not at the risk of being too sick to function." Melissa and Brian decided to search for alternative treatment for their daughter. Their search led them to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
At St. Jude:
A week after her arrival at St. Jude, Brook underwent a second brain surgery, followed by four months of chemotherapy and radiation. “She’s a little miracle,” Melissa said. “If we’d stayed home, I don’t think she’d still be with us.” Brook spent her summer at home with her sisters, swimming and playing. She continued oral chemotherapy and visited St. Jude for regular checkups.
Recently, Brook’s family learned her cancer has returned, and they are back at St. Jude. Melissa is grateful for the care Brook continues to receive. “We just think the people who donate to St. Jude are amazing,” she said. “The care, the treatment, everything is the best. St. Jude is like home.”
November 2008
To help give hope to children like Brook who are fighting life-threatening illnesses, please become a Partner In Hope.

Update

Being a parent is so much fun, but has its challenges too. It's been so fun seeing my little Annika succeed in school. Annika goes to a private school Challenger. It kills my financial book, but oh my gosh it pays off so much! I never thought private school was any better until I had my daughter put into one. Annika is only 3 and knows her shapes and how many sides they have. She also knows all of her letters and the sounds that go along with them. I don't remember any of my other kids at 3 knowing that information. Well today it was so cold only 45 for the hight. It's officially now only 30 degrees and it's snowing. I don't know if I'll ever be prepared for the winter, but it's here and will probably stay until after april. These are the months I wish I was still back in Phoenix soaking up my warm weather. This past weekend Greg's parents were in town for Halloween. We had so much fun dressing up and going aroudn trick or treating with the kids. On Saturday we went up to Lagoon and spent all day there. That is such a fun place. My little Annika loved the roller coaster rides. Emilie only liked a few rides and then cried on all the other ones. Chandler and Blake were the dare devils and loved all the big rides. It was actually fun hanging out with my 13 year old son and having him make fun of me because my tummy would tickle when I would go on certain rides. I remember being his age and wanting to go on all these exciting thrills. So I just went to my first official hard rock concert. Greg and I went with some friends to the Metallica concert in Salt Lake City. It was a pretty good show. I've been to other concerts and stuff but never a hard rock one. It was interesting to see all the different types of people that were there, but it was so much fun. I have so many pictures to post, and I'm hoping to get to them tomorrow. I've been so busy at work these last few days. We had to put up all of our holiday stuff and get ready for the season. This weekened we are doing our circle of friends event where we take 30% off your entire purchase so I've been insane with holds and just people coming in to see our new stuff. Its a great time to come in and get really good discounts. Christmas will be here before we know it. Well off to bed, daylight savings has been really affecting me this time. Hope all is well with everybody!