Update

Happy Mother's Day! Today I received a very pretty bracelet from Brendon that had his initials engraved on the front (BAD) and on the back it had "courage 2009" engraved. I hope you all had a wonderful day. Mine has been very relaxing.

People have been asking for a list of the states that we do not have for the mini bike plates. They are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. If you need more information or if you'd like to send one for the state we are missing, please let me know. Thanks again to everyone who has mailed them in so far.

If you would like to attend Brendon's party, you can visit http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/XWLUJEQWRPKYIKEHSZBY/brendondunn and rsvp with your name, e-mail address and the amount of guests that will be attending. It seems to be working out pretty well so far. It's a little more "green" to send the invitation electronically instead of mailing invites out to everyone. Please feel free to forward the evite to anyone that I may have forgotten. I really hope everyone can make it. It should be a fun day!

Please pray that Brendon's port removal goes smoothly on Wednesday. He's really excited to get it out. After his port removed we are planning on going up to the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital to let them know that he's all done. We haven't been there in a while so we're pretty excited to see them all.

Finally, here are a few updated pictures. Enjoy!

Brendon and Grampa Dunn

Bren up to bat.. This one went to the fence.

Brendon pitching..

Uncle Tommy, Bren, Chelsey and Oasis at Chelsey's graduation party. Congrats Chels!

All done!!

Brendon's chemotherapy is officially done. His last day of taking pills was April 25th. All of the scans that he had on April 29th came back excellent. His heart looks great, his breathing is great and the scar tissue from where the tumor was actually shrank! He will have his port removed on May 13th. We are all very, very excited!!

Brendon has been playing on a baseball team for the first time in almost 3 years. He is really enjoying it, even though he is on the minor team. A lot of his teammates are a lot younger and smaller than him. He is keeping positive and using it as a learning experience. He hit a home run the other day, which was great to see. That kid can hit! He has tons of power and it's great because his teammates don't know his story so he's just another kid on the team. No one asks him if he's feeling ok or if he needs to rest. He loves that.

His party is June 6th from 1-7pm at the Great Outdoors in Turner, ME. The address is 68 Naiad Lane in Turner. It's still a surprise to Brendon so please don't mention anything to him if you see him. I will be sending evites and regular invitations this week and the beginning of next week. We would absolutely love it if everyone could make it. I'm asking everyone to RSVP to me by May 23rd so that we can plan for food. Please invite your families and enjoy this great day of celebration with us. I know it's short notice and I apologize. It's been really hectic trying to get all of these last appointments in. We are really hoping for a huge turn out (150-200 people) so please don't be afraid to invite people. There will be lots of games, food and fun! We are very excited.

The bike license plates keep rolling in. You all are doing great! I'll compile a list of the ones we are missing and post it this weekend. Thank you all so much!!

Brendon will be going to his first Red Sox game with our friends Renee and Ben tomorrow night. He is so excited to say the least! It will be a late game so he'll get to miss school on Friday, which he is very upset about. :)

That's about it. I'll post again this weekend with pictures and more information. Look for the invitations coming soon.. If you don't get one, please let me know. I don't have everyone's addresses so I'm hoping word of mouth will keep everyone informed. Please e-mail me with any questions or if you'd like more information about the party. Have a great night!!

2 year anniversary

Today marks the 2 year anniversary of Brendon's diagnosis. It's been a long 2 years but it seems like it has gone by so fast. I can't believe that this journey is almost done. Brendon has been such an inspiration to us. He is so upbeat and so positive about everything. God has truly blessed us. Tonight Brendon said "Mom, Dad, thank you guys so much for always being there for me and for being the best parents' in the whole world.". How sweet is that?

A lot has happened since the last post. Brendon had his last appointment for chemotherapy at the clinic on April 1st. On that day, Andy and I surprised Brendon at school with balloons and snacks for the kids. The teachers were so great to let us disrupt their class! Brendon announced to everyone that it was his last chemo to which the kids all clapped and cheered. Of course the teachers and I were holding back the tears (Not successfully, might I add) at that point. Both teachers said great things about Brendon's attitude and how he never complained about homework, or having cancer or anything like that. Martel has been so great to us throughout this entire process. They have been so supportive and helpful. Here is a picture of Bren with both classes.

The appointment at the clinic went very well. They told us what to expect for this month and over the next year. After which they brought in a present for Brendon and sang For He's a Jolly Good Fellow.. Again, it was hard to hold back the tears. It was a great day! Notice the kiss on Brendon's forehead?? He's such a ladies man. :)

At the clinic

Kisses for Brendon...

Brendon and Deb at the clinic

Brendon will have a CT scan, an EKG and a pulmonary function test on April 29th. We will know the results of those scans on April 30th. If everything comes back normal he will have his port removed the first week of May. Please pray that the results are normal. It's been a while since his last scan. He takes his last dose of chemotherapy at home on April 25th. That's this Saturday! Only 4 days away..He is so excited to finally be done with that. Every Wednesday for the past year or so he has to take 15-20 pills throughout the day. Thank God he knew how to swallow pills at a pretty young age!

I want to thank Miranda and the people at her work for all they are doing on getting the bike plates for Brendon. So far we have plates for Maine, New Hampshire, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, California, Tennessee, Missouri, Kansas, New York, Indiana, South Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia. I am so excited to give him these at his party! He has no idea that people are sending these to him. Because of the spelling of Brendon's name it's kind of hard to get a plate with his name already on it. People have been getting the blank plates that come with stickers to make your own plate. Those have been working out great! Thank you to all who have sent them so far. We are so grateful! Please contact me at werdunn@myfairpoint.net if you have any questions or if you'd like to send a plate. I will be sure that Brendon knows where they came from and we'll send you back a picture of Bren with the bike plates. Here is an example of what the plates look like:
As far as the party is concerned, it looks like it will be either June 6th or June 20th from 1pm to 6pm. I'm pretty sure that it will be held at the Great Outdoors in Turner. One of the owners, Mary, has been so incredible to work with! She is the sweetest person and we are so excited to have the celebration there. We're hoping that everyone will be able to attend the party and help celebrate this journey we have been on for the last 2 years. I will post an invitation on this page, as well as on Brendon's CaringBridge site (www.caringbridge.org/visit/brendondunn). This party is a thank you to all who have been with us on this journey and a celebration of Brendon's conquering cancer! For those of you who are not familiar with the Great Outdoors it is around 60 acres with tennis courts, basketball courts, ball fields, horseshoes, and so much more! We want people to be able to come to relax and have a great time. We will provide the food and drinks, so please just come and celebrate with us. All are welcome! We just need to have people RSVP so that we can plan the food. I'll post the information as soon as it's finalized. Brendon has no idea about the party we are planning so if you talk to him please remember that it's a surprise. He thinks I'm working on a birthday party for Andy. Is it ok to tell a little white lie if it's for a greater good?? :)

Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers. Have a wonderful evening.

With much love,
Amber & Andy