Bella finished Chemo

Charlie was diagnosed at the beginning of April 2010. We soon learned that two other children around his age were diagnosed that same week, Bella and Addison. This week Bella finished her chemotherapy for ALL. Here is news from her father, Steven Hicks:


Hi everyone, this is the status update that I have been waiting to post! Bella had her medical port removed last Friday at Children's Hospital and I am honored, humbled and beyond moved to report to you that SHE IS 100% CANCER FREE! She has been fighting her leukemia since April 2010. It has been an incredible, arduous and painful journey at times that we could not have made it through without all of our incredible friends and family. We are so grateful for you all and please know what a difference you have made in our lives. We have learned more than you possibly imagine and I know that Bella is here to make a difference in this world and she will with the combination of her strength and her huge heart. As we left Children's Hospital on Friday, as we wheeled her out in her wheel chair she got very quiet and reflective and she asked us if it was OK to cry. We said of course and she reassured us that her tears were tears of joy.... Peace and love to you all, thank you from the bottom of our souls.


We are so happy for Bella and her family and cannot wait to celebrate Charlie in the same fashion! This major milestone means we are a year away from ending this cancer journey. In case you were wondering, the treatment cycle for girls is a year less than for boys. Research shows that the extra year of chemo reduces relapses and occurrences of testicular cancer in the future. We can deal with the extra year for that type of insurance.

Bella and Addison in Clinic

Patio Fun

What a busy Memorial Day weekend! Chad and I finished quite a few things off of the list including fixing up the patio, trimming the Ash tree, planting the garden, mowing the lawn, and planting the bed under the back window. Needless to say the kids spent a lot of time outside with us these past few days! We had a fantastic BBQ with neighbors last night and will post pictures.

Charlie's Cancer Crushers - Light the Night

Charlie's Cancer Crushers is our Family's official Light the Night Team for 2012! The Denver walk will be on 9/27/12 and We plan on attending and CELEBRATING that Charlie is almost through his treatment. I wanted to start a team and really participate while cancer is still very much a part of Charlie's life. I think this is a good way for us to help teach our Cancer Child the importance of service and charity. So I ask all of you loyal followers to visit our Team page and donate what you can, be it money, team membership or even a facebook plug!

  http://pages.lightthenight.org/rm/DenverL12/CharliesCancerCrushers

The Year of the Moth

Every spring moths take over our doorways. 

They like to setup residence in the tiny little crack between the door and the door jamb.  Then, as you open the door, they attack!  Well, not so much attack as fall on your head or down your shirt, just kind of creeping you out a little before they flitter off.  Very much a nuisance, but not the end of the world . . . that is, unless you are 5 years old or younger. 

This spring, the infestation is pretty awful and has probably felt like a never-ending scene from an Alfred Hitchcock movie to the kids.  The little kamikaze dive-bombers have certainly been the hot topic of discussion around Hooper Household.  Every time one is spotted flapping around a light bulb, banging up against the window or giving somebody the heeby-jeebies, either Charlie or Daniel stops whatever they are doing and immediately shouts, “MOTH”!   Picture the dogs in the movie “Up” every time they saw a squirrel and that’s pretty close.  If it’s Daniel that spots the moth, the annunciation is then followed by and a whimper and a “Ewwww!”  If it’s Charlie that spots the moth, the announcement is followed by a lengthy story about a recent moth run-in at school or that fact that there’s about a bazillion of them stuck in the light fixture of their classroom.

This morning, as Daniel was climbing up into the Tahoe, he placed his hand on top of a moth that was on the floorboard.  When he realized what had happened he looked at his hand and then back up at me with sheer horror on his face.  He must have thought that his hand was going fall off having actually touched one.  I prepared myself for an enormous outburst.  Surprisingly enough there was no, “Ewwww!” and there was no crying, just a child so terror-stricken he couldn’t even verbalize his feelings.  I quickly snatched him up and placed him in his car seat.   Once there, he was easily side tracked by whatever snack or toy was left in his cupholder.  Let’s hear it for short attention spans!!!

I am just hoping that the Moth Reign of Terror is nearly at an end.

New Roommates (and more)

For the last few months we have been talking up Charlie about Daniel moving into his room.  Charlie would get excited when it was just talk, but when we actually tried to put Daniel to bed in Charlie’s room, Charlie would balk.  This wasn’t a process we were going to force, but we were pretty anxious to move Daniel out of the nursery so Ana could move in.  A couple of weeks ago, while Angela was out of town, I was putting the boys to bed and Charlie requested that Daniel stay.  Before he could change his mind, I quickly plopped Daniel down, turned out the lights and closed the door.   

Now, two weeks later, everything has been working out pretty good.  Most days the boys are pretty tired and we don’t have to do much other than lay them down.  Every now and then we hear them talking or playing around a bit.  Very rarely do we ever have to go back into their room and settle them down, which is nice.  About half the time, when we check on them before going to bed, we see something like this:

It still surprises me that Charlie lets Daniel get on his bed, much less sleep next to him.  This is the kid that used to make sure all of his toys were in just the right place before he would let you turn out the light.  As Daniel gets more and more communicative, we are really seeing them become friends.  To me, it’s awesome to watch this relationship grow in real time.  Being the youngest of my family, I have no recollection of becoming friends with my siblings.  To me, we just always were.  It’s exciting to experience this process for the first time through Charlie and Daniel.