HAPPY RE-BIRTHDAY CHRISTOPHER !!!

Christopher doing his David Hasslehoff imitation at Ocean City August 2007- 3 year anniversary of Christopher's Bone Marrow Transplant !!!

WAY TO GO CHRIS !!!

Welcome to Christopher's Web Page. Thank you for all your good thoughts and prayers!Christopher was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) on 10/8/02.He was placed on protocol 1961 arm d, He Relapsed CNS 4/13/04 and started relapse protocol 9061.Christopher completed induction, consolidation cranial and spinal radiation and had Total Body radiation 8/11/04-8/13/04. On August 17th 2004, Samantha, Christopher's older sister was rolled into an or at Children's where 750ml of bone marrow was extracted from her hip bones. Christopher's RE-BIRTHDAY-thanks to his sister -took place about 2 hours later through a sibling match bone marrow transplant.
Christopher's 2nd grade class wrote this poem for him the week after his relapse:
COURAGE
Courage has a name.
His name is Christopher.
Courage comes to school even if he feels bad and tired.
Courage's best friend is brave.
Courage and brave go with Christopher to get shots.
Courage doesn't care when Christopher loses his hair.
Courage is strong when getting a new broviac.
Courage fights leukemia.
Courage's name is Christopher.
(Mrs Rohwer's 2nd grade class April 2004)

THE LITTLEST SOLDIERS BY Cheryl Jagannathan

The medals on our chests
Are broviacs for meds
Helmets won't stay on
Cause no hair is on our heads.

Our weapons of destruction
We take every day
We fight the battle within us
While we struggle on to play.

We fight with honor and courage
No marine could do as well
We are only children
Living in this hell.

So bring on the medals
The purple hearts of wars
The gold cross, the silver star
To place upon our scars.

For we are the children of cancer
No one has fought so hard
But every day we struggle on
Our life is our REWARD!

Cheryl's son Robbie is now 18 years old-a college freshman. He was diagnosed in 93 and survived 2 CNS relapses and a Bone Marrow Transplant(from himself) in 96. He hopes to be a pediatric nurse some day and is a blackbelt!

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
Eleanor Roosevelt

If a Mom's tears could heal, there would be no kids with cancer...Darlene Life is a gift...rip it open and LIVE STRONG!Me(I am quoting myself!HA!)

May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love
Bruce Springsteen


You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
Christopher Robin to Pooh (A.A. Milne)


Where there is great love, there are always miracles.
Willa Cather

Christopher picked this scroll out for his room in the days after relapse:
DON'T GIVE UP
The path to higher goals in life
May not be smooth and clear.
At times you may experience
Frustration or a tear.
You may endure a setback,
Lose momentum, tumble down.
A former look of confidence
May turn into a frown.
With any goals that's worth achieving
Strength of heart will matter.
Nothing's ever handed out
Upon a silver platter.
Such a challenge draws upon
The very best of you,
Bringing into focus
The objectives you pursue.
And if you have to reconsider
How you will proceed,
You'll have stores of new self-knowledge
You can wisely heed.
And you can say that setbacks
May have made the going slow,
But they have also given you
Some valued time to grow.
Bruce Wilmer




If you give a kid on steroids chicken noodle soup,
he’s going to want a Gatorade to go with it.

Once he drinks his Gatorade,
he’s going to want some cheese puffs.

Once he finishes his cheese puffs,
he is going to want to bake cookies and brownies with you.

Once you're done baking cookies and brownies,
he will want to eat them.

Then he will say,” Now it is time for a chicken leg.”

Then he is going to want dessert,
how about about an ice cream bar.

So if you give a kid on steroids chicken noodle soup,
chances are you better go to the grocery store before lunch!

By Christopher Melkonian


US Soccer Players Time In featured Christopher and his buddy , Brandon
http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/exclusives/380002.html


Here's Chris' Transplant Day Message (remember, it's 10 meg so dial-up conections will take a loooong time to download)










Here's a link to Sam's Wonderful Ronald McDonald House Interview that was broadcast on the radio. We are so proud...

Sam on the radio

Halloween Pictures...

The Princess in her Halloween Parade

Sonic the Hedgehog

The Lovely Fiona

The whole gruesome crew



On Thanksgiving Day 2004, we Celebrated Day 100 Post Transplant...

Celebrating Day 100

Chris with his 100 Day Cake as he writes his letter to Santa

Time for 100 Day Cake

After Mass on Thanksgiving Day 100 (so much to give thanks for)

Enjoying fine cuisine on Day 99 (has this boy ever looked happier ?)

The kids singing to Chris (note poor tortured Missy)

Pictures from the Mondo Day 100 Party - nominated for Damascus Event of the Year (along with the livestock raffle and pig milking contest)

Darlene Carrie and Karen (3 SuperMoms)

Missy and Sheena at the Party

Blowing Out 100 Candles

Chris, Clare and Leah

Chris, Clare, Leah and Choco Fountain

Chris and his pals

Chris and Sheena at the Party

Sam and Leah doing the chicken

Dad and Kristen (before Dad stuck in Face in the Choco Fountain)

Party Videos...

Sam and Leah doing the chicken (video)

Everyone Singing to Mr. 100 Day

On December 6th, Chris Ventured Back to School - Hello Rockwell !!!

Chris going to school for the 1st time as a 3rd Grader

Chris Back at School

Chris and his 3rd Grade Class

Finally, here are a few non-event pictures - some just hanging at home - others with our friend Sheena (who we originally met at Camp Friendship) when she came down for the 100 Day Bash...

Making a Gingerbread House with Sheena

Chris, Missy and Sheena in the new Moonbounce

The Annual Damascus Alien Staring Contest

Chris and his friend Tom at Hershey

Seeing the lights at Brookside Gardens

Sam the Ballerina

Ballerina Sam - video (love that Arabesque)

And last, but not least...

Missy's (short for mischievous) Toilet Art
**********************

Chris has been riding his bike anywhere from 1 to 2 miles a day

Showing off those new muscles

On the 2nd Anniversay of Chris' original DX Day, we celebrated with (what else) A CAKE (It's the Melkonian way)...

**********************

Here are a couple of pictures from the
Zammit / Melkonian Barbecue

Chris and Sam

**********************

The Connecticut Cousins came to visit for Sam's B'day

And we all went to see Sam as an Orphan

The Cast of Annie (Damascus style) sang Happy (11th) Birthday to Sam (video)

**********************

Here are some pictures from the highly successful
Light The Night Montgomery County

A Boy and his Mom

Chris was hawking his latest Video CD (to benefit LTN)

While Missy was loving the burritos

And Sam hung out with her friends

Chris and his pal Ben Olsen from DC United - GO UNITED !!!

Chris and his friends the Stearns and Mengles

**********************

Thanks to the Casey Cares Organization for sponsoring a Melkonian Pizza and Movie night

**********************

We finally had a nice day to go outside and play

Chris got some exercise pushing Missy around in her battery-less car (video)

Missy doing her best Tony Hawk / Dorothy Hammill impersonation...(video)

More exercise kicking the ball up on the roof (video)

Missy doing her best Michael Jordan Impersonation...(video)

Chris warming up for his UConn basketball tryout (video)

Chris warming up for his Harlem Globetrotters tryout (video)

Ok now, don't tell Chris I did this...everyone knows that a film shoot never goes right on the first try, so even though Chris wants you to beleive he made both of those shots on the first try, here are the bloopers to prove the contrary...

Let's try that shot again...(video)

How about that backwards shot ??? (video)

**********************

And finally, our Best Wishes Princess...


*********** END OF NEW PICTURES *************
Sorry Joshua, that's all I have for right now...

Here's Chris doing his Exercising at Home (with help from his little Sister)

This was Chris' Reception Committee when he came home on September 8th

Chris hanging out with his buddy Jake

Sam advertising Annie

The Leos Club from Damascus High School held a car wash in Chris' Honor

..and of course, Missy had to help wash the cars..

Looking at this picture, we're not sure if Chris belongs in the Psyche Ward instead of the Oncology Ward

Here's Mr. Activity playing with a flying bionicle in his room

A message from Chris to everyone on Day 11 (he's chatty so it's another big 15 Meg file):
Here are a couple of videos of Chris doing physical therapy in his room on Friday, 8/20/04 (before the mouth sores hit too hard):

Video One
Video Two

Sam
and Chris the day before transplant
Sam and Chris the day of transplant - Sam is done giving her bone marrow and Chris is waiting to receive it

Sam recovering
Chris Playing Baseball in his room (note the basketball hoop, dart board, VCR, laptop and disco ball)

Chris on day 9

.
Here is a site that explains blood counts blood counts.

Normal Blood Count Range
White Blood Cells (WBC): 5,000-10,000
Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC): over 1500
Hemoglobin (HGB): 11.5-13.5
Hematocrit (HCT): 34-40%
Platelets: 160,000-500,000



BR>
"The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away. "Barbara Kingsolver

Journal

Thursday, May 13, 2010 6:37 AM CDT

It's been a long time...you know what they say? No news is good news!

I have been very active in A Message Of Hope Cancer Fund-we offer direct financial assistance to families fighting cancer in this area. We just had our 3rd annual Gala this past weekend and Christopher and his friends had a team at the Relay for Life in Damascus. My sister-in-law, Monica is currently in treatment for breast cancer. She and her family came down and we all went to the Survivor Luncheon. Christopher and I had been asked to speak, but I knew with the Gala there would be no way. BUT the week before Christopher had a poem assignment for English. We brought the poem and Christopher read it at the Luncheon-here it is:
There Once Was a Boy

There once was a boy.
His age was a mere 6 years old,
when he acquired a high grade fever,
plus a bloody nose that could not be controlled.

The three were at the E.R.
The boy and his ma and pa.
The boy was constantly poked with needles,
as his parents watched their son’s arms turn raw.

The doctor got the guts and told the parents,
“Your son has cancer.”
Then they all stand and stare.
The doctor apologized for the bad news. No answer.

Eventually the ma burst out in tears,
and shortly after she screamed “EEK!”
The pa turned around to see what was the matter.
It was the boy, whose nose, yet again, began to leak.

That night started weeks in the hospital.
The boy could only get better from there.
Two years of strong chemotherapy almost cured him,
but then something happened, much worse than any nightmare.

The boy relapsed.
He had to start all over again.
The boy was as mad as a bull, but as weak as a kitten.
So instead of expressing his fury, he watched ESPN.

This time there was an easier way out.
He could get a bone-marrow transplant from his sister.
Praise the Lord they had the same marrow type.
This avoided cell conflict, which might happen with cells of a random mister.

Seven weeks were spent in the hospital.
The boy, so weak he slept for most of that time.
He could not even eat. He was fed through his nose.
For an eight year old boy, being isolated in one place so long should be a crime.

Soon isolation was over, but that is not all of it.
He still had to wear a medical mask around,
for an entire one-hundred days after the transplant,
but he did not mind, all he cared about was seeing his house on its good old dirt mound.
ccp

10, 9, 8, 7, 6.
The one-hundred days slowly reached their end.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0!
Finally! He took off his mask and had a party for all his friends to attend.

The boy is still around today.
You can see him at the Chinese buffet eating fried rice.
Now he functions like any other person, you could not even tell,
the difference between anyone and the boy who overcame cancer twice.


Chris Melkonian


Hope all is well-for those of you in the battle-Keep up the fight! For those of you stopping by to see how Christopher is doing-Thank you for your continued support!

Love, Darlene

Read Journal History

Hospital Information:

Patient Room: We Are HOME

111 Michigan Ave 4-yellow unit
Washington DC 20010
202-884-5000

Links:

E-mail Author: melkonid@comcast.net

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