She's wearing Warriors gear.
Mum likes the Warriors.
I don't think Dad will like seeing
my sister wearing this shirt!
Here's my cheeky sister. She's wearing Warriors gear. Mum likes the Warriors. I don't think Dad will like seeing my sister wearing this shirt! Walking for Dexter (Kiama Independent article written by Phil McCarroll - April 3013) Inspired by his battle with cancer, friends and family of toddler Dexter Heffernan have come together to enter a team in this year's Kiama Relay for Life. Last Thursday, his family gathered in Hindmarsh Park so members of the community could meet him and donate to his team, "Love Dexter". Now two years old, Kiama resident Dexter was diagnosed with liver cancer at the age of one and after extensivechemotherapy and surgery, was recently given the all-clear. Made up of relay rookies, the "Love Dexter" team has already had to revise their projected fundraising total a number of times after a continued outpouring of supprt from the community. "This is the first time we've gone in the relay and none of us really know what to expect," Lenice Heffernan, Dexter's mother, said. "To start with we aimed to raise $1000, then we had to move ourtarget up to $1500 and then we had to move it again to $2000. We'll probably have to revise it up again; the support has just been huge." While the 'Love Dexter' team is comprised of the Heffernans and their friends and family, support has come from all sections of the community. "The support has come from everywhere, friends and family have been donating as well as people we work with and strangers as well," Mrs Heffernan said. "The gym I go to, Beach Bodz, has come on board and offered to make us shirts. "It's really just come from everywhere and we're really grateful. "We really do want to say thank you. "The support we've received has been ongoing ever since Dexter was diagnosed. We set up a facebook page and the jokes and things that people posted on there kept us smiling through the diagnosis and treatment. "So many people have just jumped on board to help us through out it all." The Heffernans will participate in the Survivors and Carers Walk, the first lap of the relay. The Kiama Relay for Life will take place at the sporting fields at the Kiama Leisure Centre on May 4-5. For more information log on to http://relay.cancercouncil.com.au/2013/kiama_relay_for_life/Love-Dexter Thanks Kiama Independent, Kerrielyn, Phil McCarroll and photographer Dylan Robinson. There are five days left before Relay for Life starts!
The weather at the moment is glorious - huge blue skys, warm sunshine and gentle breezes. We hope it stays this way! The Kiama Relay for Life has just over $55,000!! Team Love Dexter has $2280! Thanks everyone! We would love to hit $2500... (If you know someone with a few extra dollars, maybe they could sponsor us.... it's tax deductible! All money goes to research to beat cancer.) The mankini is ready to go! We have posters and signs, pictures of my cancer journey and surgery and lots of bright colours. If you're in town, come by and say hello... bring coins! If we get enough coins - the mankini will be worn over tights and a shirt! We've getting pretty excited now! It should be a great weekend, with lots of fun and all for a great cause. To sponsor Dexter, click on this Dexter's Relay Team http://relay.cancercouncil.com.au/2013/kiama_relay_for_life/Love-Dexter Because I'm getting so big I need a new standing frame, so I tried out this one. I was so comfy that I fell asleep, drooled and snored!
Lenice seemed to work the straps and buckles really easily. Also, the frame can be adjusted. It can lean down or stand upright, depending on the amount of work she wants him to have to do. This will help him build bone density and muscle strength. He can be turned around, too - so he can have support on his back, or his stomach, depending on what he needs. It'll be fitted especially for him and his size. Knowing he has to stand in this for at least an hour a day - just to develop the strength to be able to stand, makes you really think about how easy most of us really do have it - and how determined Dexter really is. And he doesn't complain! He's a champ! C. I went to the new Japanese restaurant today. I loved it!
There was great music being played and smiled and danced in the pram. It was Jamiroquai. The food must have been very good, too because no one offered me anything! I still have a bit of a snuffly nose, but I am starting to feel a bit better. Orb!
I hope you read this. I really hope you can come to visit me at the Relay for Life. (4th and 5th May) You have to meet my baby sister. (She cries really loudly!) Love, Dexter. Look how tall I'm getting!
And, with all my practice in the standing frame, I'm getting much stronger! All-clear gives mum joy after Dexter's hard year
By CYDONEE MARDON April 19, 2013, 10:59 p.m. Thanks ILLAWARRA MERCURY! THANKS CYDONEE! Dexter Heffernan had a rough start to life but it was the routine 12-month check-up that broke his parents' hearts. Lenice and Andrew Heffernan were ready for some plain sailing after a difficult year dealing with complications from their baby's premature birth but things were about to get much worse. They discovered Dexter had liver cancer. What followed was a nightmarish blur of biopsies, surgery, infections, chemotherapy and plenty of tears as Dexter faced one challenge after another on his road to recovery. "Dexter had surgery in June 2012, which went to plan but unfortunately, his recovery did not," Mrs Heffernan, from Kiama Downs, said yesterday. "We didn't realise that Dexter was allergic to the pain medication he was given and he stopped breathing. He needed to be resuscitated twice in one day, which was terrifying. "After the first round of chemotherapy, Dexter's hair fell out in chunks and our hearts broke with every strand. We took him to a local barber and had his head shaved. He now looked like a cancer patient with his beautiful eyelashes and eyebrows pretty much gone." Almost a year later and Dexter, who is almost two, has been given the all-clear. His hair is coming back and, to the joy of his parents, so are his energy levels. To mark his return to health, Dexter's friends and family have formed a team for the Kiama Relay For Life called "Love Dexter". "This is our first Relay For Life event and we are so excited," Mrs Heffernan said. "We are especially excited about the Survivors and Carers Walk because we will be surrounded by people who have been through a similar experience." The team's original goal was to raise $2000 - "but I think we will have to raise that target as we have had such tremendous support from the Kiama community". Cancer Council NSW community relations co-ordinator Terry Deegan said funds from the Relay for Life on May 4 and 5 would go towards funding research, support and information for local people affected by cancer. For information call 4223 0200 or visit www.relayforlife.com.au. http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/1444798/all-clear-gives-mum-joy-after-dexters-hard-year/?cs=390 |
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