Today was a very special day in two mom's lives that have little girls who are going through heartache and pain way beyond their years. The Shiblaq family has a 6 year old, Leila, who was diagnosed with ALL, same as Olivia, just a few weeks prior to Livi's diagnosis. We met Leila in the hospital upon diagnoses and I have kept in touch with her mom Laura. Well, after much talk about wanting to get together, we finally did. Today, Laura, Leila and Deena (age 3
), met us at the park today. We had a great time. Olivia and Leila didn't really connect at first. You could tell they were getting used to seeing someone else who had to go through the same stuff as themselves. Leila, says her mom, usually always wears a bandanna to hide her "fuzzy" head, but Livi takes her hat off every chance she gets. Leila started to warm up to the idea and soon we had two fuzz heads running around together! After the park they stopped by our place. Neither of the girls were feeling that great so they shared Livi's medicine 
and quckly developed a great bond. Laura and I were both so pleased to see our own daughter's smiling and holding on to eachother with such innocent delight. Rubbing heads and holding hands. It was great. We also enjoyed being able to see another child with the same scars as your own and to hear them using the same terminology that is so foreign to the rest of the world but so common to you. "Be careful of my port!" Laura made me laugh when she said now when her kids play doctor, they also have an older son, they play spinal tap and bone marrow biopsy. Livi calls the pharmacist and orders "5 ml's of bactrum, methotrexate, and 5 milligrams of mercaptopurine." Oh, the joys of leukemia! It was a great day. A wonderful opportunity to give these girls a sense of normalcy amongst themselves. They've both fought a great fight and have much more to go, but these are two girls that will definitely make it through!
), met us at the park today. We had a great time. Olivia and Leila didn't really connect at first. You could tell they were getting used to seeing someone else who had to go through the same stuff as themselves. Leila, says her mom, usually always wears a bandanna to hide her "fuzzy" head, but Livi takes her hat off every chance she gets. Leila started to warm up to the idea and soon we had two fuzz heads running around together! After the park they stopped by our place. Neither of the girls were feeling that great so they shared Livi's medicine 
and quckly developed a great bond. Laura and I were both so pleased to see our own daughter's smiling and holding on to eachother with such innocent delight. Rubbing heads and holding hands. It was great. We also enjoyed being able to see another child with the same scars as your own and to hear them using the same terminology that is so foreign to the rest of the world but so common to you. "Be careful of my port!" Laura made me laugh when she said now when her kids play doctor, they also have an older son, they play spinal tap and bone marrow biopsy. Livi calls the pharmacist and orders "5 ml's of bactrum, methotrexate, and 5 milligrams of mercaptopurine." Oh, the joys of leukemia! It was a great day. A wonderful opportunity to give these girls a sense of normalcy amongst themselves. They've both fought a great fight and have much more to go, but these are two girls that will definitely make it through! 
Aaron and Deena had a great time too. I've never been able to witness Aaron playing with another little girl before. It was funny. Almost as if he had a crush! TOO CUTE!
4 comments:
Very cool for you and Livi! I'm sure it was great to have someone to talk to that completely understands what you're going though. It's good to see Livi smiling with a new friend.
Hi Family,
Loved the pictures and recount of your day. It's amazing how much good can come out of a bad experience (ALL). Beautiful! :)
What a sweet post. Glad you have such a great friend, Livi.
Livi and Leila look like they were having tons of fun together! What sweet smiles. Thank you for sharing these precious moments of your life.
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