Sunday, October 19, 2008

Sweet Reunion with the Dunham Clan

Meet Connor Dunham!


Connor was one of my most very favorite patients at Children's, and his family was no exception.  The first time I cared for Connor was my first day back from maternity leave after I had Asher.  He had recently been diagnosed with Leukemia, just after his second birthday.  Fairly soon after the initial diagnosis, it was determined that Connor would require a bone marrow transplant.  Cute Connor and his mom spent a year in Seattle (they are from Wasilla, AK) with frequent visits from family, while he underwent treatment.   To make a long and difficult story short, Connor is now two years post transplant and doing awesome!  Last week he had to undergo a bunch of tests at Children's to follow up on his progress so they made a family trip out of it.  Alicia, Connor's mom, had emailed to see if we were available for a visit during their time in Seattle.  I was so honored that they would remember me and want to spend an afternoon with us.  Anyway, Thursday they drove up to our house to hang out for a few hours and eat dinner with us.  The kids had a blast and the grown ups enjoyed catching up!  Selfishly, it was a great payoff for me as a nurse to get to see Connor doing so great after taking care of him and his family when things were just plain crappy.  Visiting with the Dunhams made me miss my job just a tiny bit.  Taking care of families while they endure the unimaginable, is both a challenge and a huge blessing. 

Halle, Connor, Haven, Carson and Asher
I love how all the kids look like besty friends, when this was the first time they met


The whole gang, including Connor's mom, Alicia, and dad, Steve and Dakota!

The pleasure was all mine Dunhams!  Until next time.

3 comments:

Becky Jensen said...

what a nice story. glad to see he is doing so well!

Linda said...

Thanks Crystal that was wonderful of you to share that experience with everyone.

Jill said...

That is so dang awesome! Great news that he is okay...and moments like that make all the horrible days being a nurse so worth it. Fabulous!!