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Rowan Strong!
Rowan Shea
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Rowan Shea
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Rowan's CaringBridge
Rowan Shea
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My Story

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
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March 07, 2022

It is hard to believe it’s been so long since I last updated this page. Life just has a way of taking off like a spooked horse. Before you know it, it’s taken a couple of years for you to chase it down. I thought now might be a good time to catch you up a bit. 
Recently we’ve been caught up in the every day routines. Nothing bad, just a continuation of work, school, plenty of play and reminding each other of how much we love each other. Love. This is one thing we  have worked harder on since Rowan was diagnosed. We do it better now. Rowan had scans a couple of weeks ago, he is cancer free! He is strong, handsome, smart, athletic, funny, almost too funny! He is brave, confident, compassionate, loving, a bit shy and cautious. He is an amazing skier who has been downhill racing for most of his young life. He even skied while he was finishing up treatment. He is also a typical 13 year old boy who can’t seem to be able to put his clothes away or fix his own breakfast. We wouldn’t want him any other way. He’s perfect to us. 
Rowan will continue to be scanned for years to come. We will always be frightened when scans come around. The fear of reliving Rowans battle. But we celebrate every day we have together. We watch our son grow day to day into a loving young man who is uniquely aware that life has a darker side. Aware you must constantly fight for the light or risk being swallowed by that darkness. 

We continue to stay in touch with Rowans doctors,  nurses and child life specialist. Always making it a point to visit them when we are in Denver. As we have learned again during the ongoing pandemic, they’re the real heroes. 

The picture I attached to this post of Rowan and his mother in Chicago this past Christmas. They’re both beautiful. I will try to update more often. For now, we are concentrating on helping friends who have recently been diagnosed with cancer. Cancer just sucks. 

We are sending love to all of you. We humbly ask you consider donating to a local cancer charity to assist those fighting right now. 

Love,

The Shea Family
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January 07, 2020

I still remember the physical reaction I had when we were told Rowan has cancer. I remember specifically Jodi and I sitting in a small room off the side of the surgical wing of Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children. The room was cold. It was dimly lit with the plastic furniture of a sterile environment that we’d come to know very well over the next seven months. The surgeon was direct. Which we appreciated. As his words were still hanging in the air, we began to cry. We wept uncontrollably for a while. And as humans do when they cry, we became full of snot! Now one thing you’d think a surgical consultation room would be stock full of tissues. Nope. I had to drag my ugly-crying, Nicholas Cage-looking-self out to the waiting room to get us some tissues. This began our  hatred of the worst tissues in the world! I bring the box of tissues back into the room and Jodi and I proceed to blow our noses only to find we are blowing with bark. Swear to God. Like dried bark off and old, dead oak tree. Hurt like hell. Obviously this was a minor inconvenience considering the news we had just received. But looking back it sticks out as a funny moment during the most horrific time of my life. It’s funny the things we remember. Those tissues have been an ongoing source of comedy and frustration over the last seven months. They taunt us with their toughness. Just lying there all near in their box, laughing at us! Ok, enough about the tissues.
 I guess the tissues are part of a bigger picture of reflection. As we stumble into 2020, I can’t help but look back over the past year with the same mixture of dread and hope I’m carrying into the new year. I’ve never been a New Years type of person. I’ve never bought into the “new year, new me” hype. But when Rowans was diagnosed we knew his last treatment would be around the new year. It gave us  something to aim for. For the first time in my life I wished away the fall and the holiday season to get to the new year. True to the schedule Rowan completed chemo on January 2nd and we have started the new year off on the best possible note. So, Happy New Year to all of you. 
I realize I haven’t posted anything on Caring Bridge for almost a month. Partly because I think most of the folks who read this are also on Facebook and in part due to I wanted to have some time to truly enjoy the holidays. Enjoy them we did. This Christmas was very peaceful. A deeper appreciation for my wife and son. A time to rekindle relationships with family. All too often we get caught up in petty, bitter fueds with people we love, especially family. These fueds are born out of us feeling like we’ve been wronged in some way. I can’t speak for everyone but I can say for myself, it was complete nonsense. This year I put that aside and apologized to people I needed to make amends with. It didn’t matter who was right or who was wrong. What mattered is there are bigger issues than some petty bullshit from the past. Rowans illness has put all of this type of drama into perspective for me. This holiday season I put myself out there in front of people and said “hey, I know I’m an asshole and I’m sorry for what I’ve done to you.” It’s amazing, the response from those folks was to repeat that back to me and we’ve moved on. If Rowan had never been diagnosed this would’ve never had happened. If there are any positives to his illness, this is it. Christmas Day the three of us just enjoyed a slow day together. As I have written before, cancer was not invited to our Christmas party. We just held on to each other for the day. Rowan played and Jodi and I were able to breathe...very slowly. 
The day after Christmas we skied. Rowan on skis is my happiest place. Watching my son enjoying the sprit I love more than anything makes my so filled with joy. Nothing compares to watching him ski for the first time while still receiving chemo. He did amazingly well. He crashed on his first run but he got up and got after it again. Later that night, Jodi was quietly sitting next to me when she told me it scared her watching him crash. She was well tried about what could happen to his broviac if crashed hard enough. Could it come out? Would it detach? Like a lot of things in life, you don’t worry about the “what if’s” until after the fact. It was very upsetting. What kind of parents are we? We had a few panic filled moments wondering if we were insane letting our son ski with a broviac! And by-the-way, he is still dealing with nueropathy! Oh my God we are idiots! Ok. Ok. Breathe.....in through the nose and out the mouth! We calmed down. I look at it this way. Life is risky. Rowan has dealt with so much over the last few months that I wasn’t about to take something away from him that he loves so much for fear of what might, or could, happen. If I did that then every time I’ve preached about blowing up your boundaries or living on the edge is how you feel truly alive, would have been a lie. I would never take away something my child loves to make me feel more comfortable. We have a saying in our family. Courage over comfort. We were determined to let Rowan continue skiing. Now, before you call us crazy, we did have a conversation with his doctor about it. The response we got was exactly what we wanted to hear. Rowan is fine to ski, just no terrain park jumps until that broviac is out. We have been skiing 3 or 4 times now and Rowan is starting to ski like his old self. Nothing makes us happier and more proud. One photo I’ve added is of Rowan in the big snow mover at the Snowy Range Ski Area. Rowan was allowed to ride along thanks to the Maddox family. If you don’t know the Maddox family, they’re the owners of Snowy Range Ski Area. They have been wonderful to Rowan and they made our day when they let Rowan jump in while the terrain park was being made. Ro was beside himself! Thank you guys so much.

Last CHEMO! 

New Years Eve found us in Denver. We had gone down the 30th so Rowan could participate in an ice skating event with the Colorado Avalanche. Rowan and Jodi were able to skate on the ice at the Pepsi Center and were joined by a few Avalanche players. It was a fun event for Ro. Although he struggled skating because of his neuropathy, he still had a blast shooting pucks into the net. I think Jodi may have enjoyed her time chatting up one of the Avalanche players...but I could be wrong.🤪

On New Years we watched the fireworks at midnight from the condo. I will say Denver put on a fun light show and we had great seats from the high rise. New Years Day brought a lot of family into Denver for a short stay. My folks flew in from Louisville. Jodis family came from Nebraska. It was a quick, but special time to be with our families. Rowan was so excited to see his grandparents. He was mostly excited to see his best friend. His cousin Olivia. Olivia is a junior, honor roll student and basketball star. (Hopefully a future Wyoming Cowgirl!) AHEM, coaches! Rowan adores her. And she adores him. Olivia is the perfect role model for any kid. Rowan looks up to her and she has taught Rowan so much. Over the last seven months, I think he has taught her a few things about toughness. He has taught us all about that. 

The morning of the 2nd was like any other chemo morning. Get up and get moving. Get into the right mindset and prepare to be at the hospital for hours. This was a bit more jovial. Rowan has decided his party was going to be “Friends” themed. You may remember Rowan has watched all 10 seasons of the show during his cancer battle. So we were all decked out in our Friends attire. The chemo portion went smoothly and Rowans labs got a big thumbs up from the doctor. It was time to party. It was time to ring that bell! The Child Life Specialist at RMHC do an amazing job. They organize all the staff, nurses, family and friends to meet in the hallway outside of Rowans room. Rowan comes out and sees everyone and the place erupts! Rowan leads everyone down the hall and into the lobby where the bell is hanging. Now, you don’t just walk down the hall. Everyone has a musical instrument. Is was quite a noisy procession. Once down by the bell Rowan was grinning ear to ear. But we had to wait for a minute. Rowans doctor was in the ICU with another patient. It was grim reminder the stakes are so high here. While we are celebrating another family is praying. It didn’t dampen our enthusiasm for Rowan. But it served as a brief reminder we are celebrating Rowan finishing chemo, not getting a bandaid on a boo-boo. This is really, really hard. Dr. Z ran in and hugged Rowan and told him she wouldn’t miss his bell ringing for anything. Rowan was ecstatic. As were Jodi and I. We’ve had the best doctor. Rowan rang that bell three times. The three of us hugged. And we cried. The last seven months came out. We squeezed each other and for a brief moment, I didn’t want to let go. Needless to say, we partied after this! 

So what’s next? 

At this point Rowan is done with chemo. Around the 15th of January Rowan will have scans to make sure his body is cancer free. After those come back clean Rowan will have surgery to remove his broviac. We can’t wait for that. To have no hardware sticking out of his body will be a great day. 

A note of caution: We are trying to not get too high with our emotions. Unfortunately, we now live in a world of relapse. We have seen it too many times. It is easy to get caught up in the emotions of chemo ending and the parties. It is our job as parents to make sure we stay level. I wholeheartedly believe Rowans scans will be clean, and stay clean. But I will be prepared. I will hope for the best and bring positive thoughts with me to every scan for as long as Rowan has to do them, which is often. It scares the shit out of us. 

A return to school! Rowan will be in school at the semester change. So around 21st of January. He is so excited to be with his friends again. SRA has done so much for him. We will never be able to repay all of the teachers, staff and administrators. I’m sure there will be some bumpy roads getting used to the schedule again but we will get through it. 

I hope this catches you up a bit. I’ve added some photos from the past few weeks. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something. Thank you for your continued support and love. The new year will bring challenges and joy for sure, we are glad to have you on our side. As always, please excuse any typos...I do all of this one my phone with my thumbs! 

All the best,

Alec
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December 07, 2019

Good morning! 

We hope this finds all of you well. This holiday season has started with a bang for Rowan! We found out yesterday we don’t know how to count. Let me explain. At the beginning of Rowans treatment we were given what is called a “road map.” It is literally what it sounds like...a way for us to navigate the treatment protocol and try to plan our lives around his schedule. Although Ro’s treatment has been unpredictable due to fevers or other obstacles, it has served as a reminder of what drugs he’d be getting and when. We have followed the road map faithfully. In some ways it felt like a security blanket. A constant reminder of what is to come. We learned to look it over in advance and predict when Ro might spike a fever, or when things might go easier on him. We weren’t always spot on but we got pretty good at figuring out the ebb and flow. The one thing we didn’t realize until yesterday was that we suck at reading maps! We went into yesterday’s chemo session believing we had 6 sessions left. Turns out, after yesterday’s session, Ro only has 3 left! Somehow we counted incorrectly. We are completely happy with our ignorance! The funny thing is, when we were told the news, the three of us were numb. It’s an odd feeling. Don’t get me wrong...we are so happy! But, you set your sights on a day when you think its over and you focus all your energy on that day. You start planning for that day. Then it’s changed. It takes a moment to process. Like Jodi, I started to cry. But then stopped. I don’t know why. We are so excited. In that brief moment after I was told I felt the last 6 months flash before me. Now, to actually be able to envision life without cancer....it is numbing. I know we will let it sink in and we will be able to process it more in the days to come. All I can say is we recognize the road ahead is shorter than we thought but we still have work to do. Rowan still had a terribly upset stomach last night after chemo. The last few weeks might end up being the most excruciating. He had to miss the Christmas parade, where he was the Grand Marshall. (I’ve attached a photo of his friend, Corbin Donner, sitting beside his mother, Shelly, at last nights parade.) A big thanks to the Donners for stepping in last minute! Also, an enormous thank you to the folks who put on the parade. Thank you for thinking of Rowan. We are sorry we missed it, but will never forget your kindness. 

Thanksgiving was a whirlwind for us. We were in Denver until late on Thanksgiving day. We left the hospital and made a quick stop in Cheyenne to enjoy a couple of hours with our good friends, the Bohlender’s. Rowan had been feeling a little rough but he was able to run around and play with his pals. It was refreshing to hear them yelling and running around like they did prior to Ro’s illness. Rowan needed it. Have I mentioned the three Sheas have spent A LOT of time together the last six months? So playing with friends was wonderful. Unfortunately, we had to rush home sooner than we would’ve liked to beat a storm. We also had to get home for the holiday sales at the stores. 

This morning sitting in Denver, I keep thinking about what our next few weeks will look like. Two more sessions of Vincristine and then the final session of just Dactinomycin. The Dactinomycin really upsets Rowans stomach. But it is manageable.  The last session is scheduled for January 2nd! What a way to kick off the new year! On that day, Ro will have his End of Chemo party! It’s a Friends theme. And we have forwarned the hospital we will be smuggling alcohol into this party. Let them try and stop us! Rowan will have about a week or so to let his body recover from his last treatment and then we will do scans. If those are clean. When those are clean! He will have his broviac taken out. We will have to endure scans regularly for quite some time. As I’ve written before, this is my anxiety. I can’t believe how incredibly strong my son is. And I can’t believe home much I fear scans. I’m a chicken shit compared to my boy. It’s all so overwhelming. 

I know in the weeks to come we will be able to reflect on this journey. Right now it’s all so overwhelming. But we want you all to remember how grateful we are. How much we appreciate you all. All the prayers. All the hugs. All the gifts for Rowan. We have so many to thank. 

Today we are headed back to the hospital. But for a fun event. The RMHC Christmas party. Rowan is looking forward to it! I’ll write more about it later. I’m sorry for this disjointed post. My brain is in a million places. 

As always, don’t tell Jodi about my typos! Keep that positive energy flowing. 

All our love and gratitude,

Alec, Jodi and, especially, Rowan
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November 14, 2019

Happy Thursday,

After not being able to have chemo last week due to a low ANC, Rowan triumphantly returned to Denver to complete session number 14! We are down to 8 sessions left. Rowan can see the light at the end of the tunnel a bit. Yesterday, while at the hospital playing “Friends” trivia, Rowan was relaxed enough to start talking about his end of chemo party. He’s decided he wants a Friends theme. If I had known my child in 2019 would love a sitcom from the 1990’s so much, I would’ve watched it. Thank you Netflix, I guess. But, if Rowan wanted Pink dancing elephants for his end of chemo party, I’d make it happen. The kid deserves it. We have no doubt the Childlife Specialist at RMHC will make Rowans party a wonderful event. These folks are angels. 

Rowan has been feeling fairly well. Last week when is blood levels were so low he was charging ahead. It all started with Halloween when he wanted to rush home for trick or treat. It continued through a visit from my parents. My parents usually visit this time of year to come to the stores for our annual Christmas Open House. But, as you can imagine, they weren’t sure they’d be able to come this year with the unpredictable health of Ro. Well, Ro announced the he’d feel fine for they’re visit. He just came out and told me he would feel great. He was true to his word. His appetite was good, he was at the stores as much as he could be. It was a good week for him and for my parents. They have been dying a little bit each day not being able to hug Rowan. Like all of you who have followed his journey, they’ve read about the terribly hard battle this kid has waged for the first 14 treatments. It did them a lot of good to be able to hug him and see his smile. We are thankful Rowan was feeling so good when they were here. There have been way too many weeks where he wouldn’t have been so good. It all worked out perfectly. Rowan was properly spoiled by my parents! They flew home last night but before going they were able to be with Rowan during his chemo session. I think it helped them to see how the process works. They met the amazing nurses and Rowans beloved Dr. Z. It is also further proof we did the right thing in switching him to a broviac. I would not have allowed my parents to come into the room when Rowan had his port. It was too painful. On so many levels. 

The downside to Rowan feeling so good last week is this is the first time his low blood counts have postponed his chemo schedule. Rowan has always bounced back enough from week to week. Now that he’s not, he will likely need to start Nuepogen, a bone marrow stimulant. Nuepogen should help his ANC rebound to ensure we stay on track with chemo. Unfortunately the main side effect is pain from your body producing bone marrow. Think of it as growing pains on steroids. Rowan already deals with body aches, Nuepogen will intensify those pains. It’s another thing I hate. All of this terrible crap that’s going to hurt my kid...and I know it’s the best thing for him. I can’t wait for this to be over for him.

Exciting news: Rowan has eye brows again! Ever sense stopping the Chyclophosphamide, he’s had these little hairs creeping back. Right now he looks like a Chia Pet a week after planting! It is fun to see his hair coming back. It’s another sign that he’s winning this battle. 

Our fear for Rowan continues. As I’ve written many times, I can’t shake the fear of relapsing. But we look ahead to January 15th. Which should be his last chemo treatment. We look ahead to his bell ringing ceremony. The party that we are going to throw for our community, to thank them for all the love and support. We look ahead to Rowan going on his make a wish trip. We look ahead so much. And it’s counter intuitive because we always preach  honor each day. Don’t wish away days. (Although Jodi always gets on me for wishing away summer. Truth be told, I love winter and each July I’m ready for fall to hurry up. But, I’m a little weird maybe?)

Right now we will focus on those last 8 treatments. We will focus on getting healthy. After the last treatment, Rowan will have a little down time, probably a few weeks, and then scans. When those scans come back clean, we will schedule his broviac removal. Just in time for him to go to Aspen for a week long ski camp. The Shining Stars Foundation puts on the camp for kids with cancer and other life threatening illnesses. Rowan can’t wait! I think about this and all the other things we have planned coming up. I think about all the trips we had planned last summer we had to cancel. We have NO more time for cancer! The cloud of relapse hangs over Jodi and me. We talk about occasionally, we fear it every day. It’s a roller coaster. Today, we will concentrate on today. Tomorrow we will worry about tomorrow. One day at a time. 

Our hope is to be back in town this weekend. Rowan was exhausted yesterday and went to sleep around 5:00PM. Hopefully he can bounce back so we can head home. Jodi’s folks are coming in this weekend for an early Thanksgiving celebration. This year we have so much to be thankful for. Owning retail stores, we don’t get to celebrate holidays with family the way we used to. This year it’ll be even harder to get away. It makes the time we do spend together even more special. It also highlights the family you don’t see often. The siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents. The people who you’re connected to but for whatever reason you’ve lost touch with. They rally around your child. They send packages or donations or kind words. Most importantly, they send love. It makes you ask yourself have I done enough to show my love to them? It makes you think about the reasons you’re not as close as maybe you once were? Time and distance can do so much to change a relationship. So can foolish pride. There have been many blessings borne out of Rowans illness. One of them is self examination. I find myself asking a lot of questions about how I’ve treated people. If I’m being honest, I haven’t always liked the answers. Sometimes life presents us with challenges we can’t handle on our own. That’s when we find out who will stand beside us. It gives us an opportunity to rally and fight for a common goal. It reintroduces us to our strongest allies and it strengthens our bonds with family. We will never stop thanking and supporting all of those who have rallied around Rowan. We owe so much to so many. The Sheas will head out on a goodwill tour as soon as we can! It’ll be sorta like the Beatles going on tour, only different. 😬

For now, we will get Rowan rested up and point our car northward ASAP. Thank you for your love, prayers and friendship. We continue to be overwhelmed by all of you. 

Alec, Jodi and Rowan
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Casey Carter
November 14, 2019
Sending the Shea's lots of well wishes, stay strong!!

Feeling good

Good morning, 

I was reminded yesterday that it has been a bit since I last updated everyone on Rowan. After my last post a few weeks back, Rowan has rebounded nicely. In the second half of his treatment protocol, the drug Cyclophosphamide has been removed. This drug was particularly hard on Rowan, as I’m sure it is on anyone who has to take it. Rowans treatment now consist of Vincristine every week and every three weeks he has Vincristine and Dactinomycin. As I’ve written before, the drugs are horrible. The Vincristine causes neuropathy and the Dactinomycin causes his stomach to turn cartwheels. But there is improvement in his appetite and he is generally feeling better.

We are still spending way too much time in Denver, and with the holiday season approaching it has realigned priorities. 

Back to Denver today. We are hoping to be home for the weekend. Rowan is looking forward to a visit with my parents, who arrive on Thursday. It is good to have company come. Rowan gets sick of seeing his parents! 

Thanks for all your continued support!

Alec







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We are a mess.

Our lives are a mess. This last week had us wanting to crawl under a rock and hide for eternity. It just was too hard. Maybe it was the break we had? Maybe it was our continually frayed minds and hearts? Maybe it’s just everything. This year has been a challenge on many fronts. Work, school, relationships, and obviously Rowans cancer. It has felt like 2019 has something against us! But we have managed to limp along and make it day by day. It takes strength to keep it together. Some days we say and do things we aren’t proud of. Our struggles with our situation manifest themselves in poor choices sometimes. We hurt each other. Sometimes the best intentions cut the deepest. Each morning the sun rises to find the three of us still together. Still hanging by a thread. Daily I remind myself that spiders hang from one thin line sometimes. So can we. Some days it’s all we have. We have been low. For some reason, I thought it would be easier by now. I figured we would have a routine down. A predictable schedule. What we have found is there is NOTHING predictable about cancer. It’s a demon. Perhaps because of this, we are struggling to find our smiles, our energy, our balance. We wonder what our lives look like after all of this? Will we go back to “normal”? Hell, I struggle to remember what our lives used to be sometimes. Publicly, we preach about our strength. That we will keep fighting. It’s true. We believe it. Privately, we have doubts, moments of weakness, tears. Lots of tears. Fear, panic attacks, anxiety, and especially, anger. We are pissed about all of it. At times, we are angry at each other. This is what cancer does. If it isn’t eating the insides of your child, its eating the patience of our family. Jodi says when we hit Denver, it’s like a switch goes off. A switch that immediately changes our attitude. And not always for the better. Our distaste for Denver is prevalent in everything we say or do. We, (mostly Rowan and myself), get chippy. We get short with one another. Denver is so synonymous with Rowans pain that it becomes hard to see anything else. Any good. We are so conditioned to feel pain that at times I think we make it up in our heads. Then we take it out on one another. It breaks our hearts. Then we try to pick up the pieces and take another step forward. We try to forget, but I’m not sure we ever can. One day in the future we will look back on this and try to put the pieces together like a puzzle. I think it’s only with the wisdom of passing time we will be able to reflect on this time in our lives. It’s impossible to reflect while it’s happening. Today, I woke up and the sun came out. We will take forward steps, leaning on each other. Our lives may be a mess,  But we are together. Our relationships may be strained at times. But we are together. I’ve never been a quitter. Jodi has never been a quitter. It isn’t in our DNA. But I can understand why some people find it easy to quit. Shit gets hard! And if you’re not one for sticking it out, you’ll run. That’s not us. We pull our collars to the wind and march on. 

Rowan has had a hard week. Sick for most of it. Tomorrow he will show up. Doesn’t want to. He knows he has no other choice. He’s not a quitter. It’s not in his DNA. The broviac has made some things easier, although Rowan hates that he can feel everything administered through his broviac coursing through his body, it’s still so rough on our beautiful boy. I’ve attached a picture that is so sweet, but still heartbreaking. Our boy playing his Switch with a scarf and hat on, but bare chested with tubes sticking out of his chest. For Jodi and I, it  will never get easy to see our son like this. It makes us cry and smile at the same time. 

We continue to marvel at our communities love and support for Rowan. One wonderful lady asked me the other day if I was taking care of “myself.” I said I will take care of “myself” when I’m done taking care of my son. It’s in my DNA. 

Jodi, Rowan, and myself thank you for all your love and kindness. 

Please pardon any typos!

Alec
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The Vinsons
October 20, 2019
We wish we could give you a BIG HUG and enjoy those Rocky Mountain views with you, but since we can't we hope you know we're ALWAYS thinking, praying and cheering for you, Rowan!!

Surgery update.

Rowan’s surgery went well. He is now the proud owner of a broviac. If you’re not familiar with a broviac, google it. It’s pretty amazing. This device will mean no more needles and pokes for Rowan. He will have to have mom and dad flush it out daily, but that’s pretty quick and painless. 

Yesterday’s chemo on the other hand was dreadful. Rowans body enjoyed the break of the last two weeks Almost straight away after Chemo, Rowan was sick. He tried to eat but couldn’t keep anything down. Fortunately he fell asleep and was able to sleep a bit. Ro woke up this morning still dealing with an upset stomach. Now he’s afraid eat for fear of getting sick. Chemo is an evil bastard. 

I’ve attached a couple of photos from recovery. Rowan was pretty funny coming out of surgery. One minute sleeping and then trying to play on his switch as the anesthesia wore off. 

We are hoping to head home soon. For now Rowan is trying to rest. We are officially at the halfway point of his treatment. We should be excited, and we are, but we know we have a long road ahead. 

Thanks for your continued blessings and positive thoughts.

Alec
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Hans Anklam
October 17, 2019
I'm wishing you all the very best, every day, my friend. Stay Rowanstrong!