June 29, 2008

It's been a long time since we wrote. Jamey is doing well these days. My mom took me to Paris last week for my (gulp) 40th birthday present. It was a wonderful trip - really amazing - the first time I've been away from the kids for more than a day or two. We went everywhere in Paris and had a ball. It was really beautiful. Leora came here to help David with the kids, which worked out great. Poor David, though! Jamey got a fever on Tuesday night. On Wednesday he took Jamey to the clinic to see what his blood counts were. Luckily his counts were high enough that he didn't have to go to the hospital. By Thursday he was fine (yeah!). Tomorrow we head to the beach to a friend's house. We'll be back on Saturday because Jamey heads off to the Imus Ranch for a week the following Tuesday.

I'm a little nervous about the 100 mile ride. I haven't been able to train for two weeks (although we walked all over Paris), and won't be able to do this week either. I really need to get on the ball with it. I've only done 27 miles so far. The kids will stay at my parents' house on David's and my anniversary (July 12) so we are hoping to get a 35 mile ride in (40 perhaps?), which will get me up to speed.

This is the letter I sent out about my ride. If you know anyone who might be interested, please forward it to them. As always, thanks so much for the care, love and support you've shown us.

Last May our son Jamey was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Jamey has had a tough year with his treatment, but he is doing well and in long term maintenance right now. For the next two and a half years he will take daily chemo, as well as other treatments in and out of the clinic. We are lucky, though, because his type of leukemia is curable. This is in large part to the money that the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has devoted to research. We still have a long way to go, though. You can see what his year's been like and track his progress through our blog. The link is http://thesultanfamily.blogspot.com/

I will be participating in the 100 mile SeaGull Century Bike Ride in October, raising funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) as a participant in their Team In Training program. I'm asking you to help by making a donation to my fundraising campaign.

Please use the link in this email to donate online quickly and securely plus learn more about my progress. You will receive a confirmation of your donation by email and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/seagull08/ksultan

Each donation helps accelerate finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. More than 823,000 Americans are battling these blood cancers. I am hoping that my participation in Team In Training will help bring them hope and support.

On behalf of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, thank you very much for your support. I greatly appreciate your generosity.

P.S. I would appreciate it if you would forward this email to as many people as you can to encourage them to donate as well. Thanks again.

Thank you so much for your support!

Karen and David Sultan

Long Time No Write . . .

It's been awhile since I wrote. I guess no news is good news . . .

Jamey is doing well, although he has not been feeling well every night for a little over a week. I plan on taking him to the doctor tomorrow to see what is up. I'm a little worried, to tell you the truth. I hope he's not coming down with something.

Other than that, things are going well here. I am training for the ride (getting nervous that I will not make the 100 miles!!) with Ellen. We had a bike accident last weekend so we took it slow today. I leave for Paris with my mom on Thursday (yeah!!), and that is wonderful, although it is also a bit nerve-wracking. I don't think I've been away from the boys except for the occasional sleep over since Coby was a baby. I am pretty excited, though! In addition, Leora is here to help take care of the boys while I'm gone. She's so wonderful. The boys are definitely happy she's here.

Work is a bit stressful right now. For me to remain part-time I have to change my job a bit. I don't want to, but I have to keep my eye on what's important right now, and that is staying part-time.

Jamey is very excited about the idea of going to middle school. He had a great promotion last week and received the Presidential Award for Excellence because his grades are so good (yeah, Jamey!). All the boys, in fact, got excellent grades. We are so proud of them! They have been doing so well.

I love summer!!!

School's Almost Out!

Jamey was on steroids this week. The doctors changed everyone on his study from dexamethasone to prednisone (types of steroids). The prednisone was much easier on Jamey. He had very few side effects, which we are thrilled about. Today we are celebrating Jamey's 12th birthday. Actual date in June 17th but this was the best weekend we could find to do a party. He invited 5 friends to dinner, movie, and a sleep over. Nothing big just get small party. We are still trying to figure out what do do in December. I am going home to visit my family Israel and was planning on taking Jamey. The tickets are very expensive so I may go alone. He really wants to go so I am waiting to see if the price goes down in the next few months. It will be nice for Jamey to go see my family who he has not in few years. His treatment is going as planned so far; continuing on daily chemo and monthly Dr visits + additional chemo /spinal tab. This is the treatment for the next 2.5 years.
Karen and the boys can't wait to be out of school; next week is the last week of school and off to summer vacation!!
We do not have any major vacation plans and the kids will be in camp for few weeks while Karen is working.

Today we have soccer games all day and it is going to be 95 degrees outside! Coby has 1 game and Noah has 2 games.

Well, got to get ready to plan the day. Will write soon

Coby's 7th Birthday

It was Coby's birthday this weekend. We went out to dinner at his favorite restaurant, a Japanese steakhouse where they cook in front of you, with the Kaminows. It was a really nice time. Today we had his birthday party - 20 kids for a cookout at our house to celebrate his birthday. They had a water balloon fight, which we thought would last for a long time. We filled up 500 balloons with water (it took all morning) and the kids used them up in 10 minutes! Jamey was great. He took charge and invented another game for the kids to play, and they had a ball. It was a very nice birthday.

Jamey is going tomorrow for his spinal tap which he gets regularly as part of the maintenance program. Karen will take him in at 8:30 AM. As a treat they will go to out to lunch at California Pizza (one of Jamey's favorite places) and to the movies together to see Iron Man, if he feels up to it when he is out of his surgery. He is also going to be on steroids this week, which do not make him feel good (although, last month was not as bad).

I am traveling to Chicago on business for 2 days, leaving tomorrow very early in the morning. I will get to see my niece Liron since she is living in Chicago. We are looking forward for next weekend. We will be celebrating Jamey's 12th birthday (a few weeks early). He is very excited to have his close friends come over and sleep over. Only one more year until his Bar Mitzvah. It's hard to believe. We put a deposit down on a place this week. It should be a lot of fun.