The Lutzie

When you have cancer, of course it is awful, for anyone. But when you are a kid with cancer, it is so completely horrible because of how quickly it interrupts your childhood and in such dramatic ways. It forces you to grow up, almost overnight. One day, you are at school, playing with friends, competing in sports, taking piano lessons, doing homework...not a care in the world. And then five days later, as it was in Bailey's case, you are learning words like tumor and port and chemo. School stops, play-dates stop, activities stops...childhood stops. Your days are filled with nothing fun...just doctors, needles, medicine...and a lot of really difficult and heavy decisions. 

So, when people do something to take our little girl's mind off of the hard stuff, we are so appreciative.  And one (of the only) good things about cancer, is that people really will make a lot of effort and go completely out of their way to make you smile - especially when it involves a child...and that part, has been a lot of fun. Specifically because it is Bailey that people are doing these nice things for...and she is so appreciative and it lifts her spirits so.

Today, we were able to spend time with Auburn football superstar tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen. He heard about Bailey's story and he wanted to get involved. He went out of his way to set up a special meeting and he brought a huge bag of Auburn goodies for her...posters, balls, pictures, etc. ( He even had some paraphernalia from an organization near and dear to my heart, the Auburn Women's Soccer Team.) Bailey was thrilled. She had been feeling down all morning because she was headed back to the hospital, but this really lifted her spirits and took her mind off of the next chemo. She is already talking about making sure we get to an Auburn football game next fall. A special thanks to Philip for taking the time to make our baby girl smile. Bailey said that once she is cancer free and her leg his healthy, she is going to Lutzie! We'll be sure to post the video. :)