Update on two really FANTASTIC pieces of news that have come to fruition in the last 48 hours

1 - Tune into the NBC Nightly News in Chicago tonight at 6:00 PM... Rita, James and I will be on promoting the blood drive!  So excited (and THANK YOU to Pat Danly for making this happen!  You rock)!

2 - We finally received the contact information for James' donor yesterday!  I won't share a ton of detail since this is all fresh, but we are SO EXCITED to meet him and his wife in person at James' Party.  He lives in Kansas City and seems like a really great guy... I am biased here since he saved our son's life :-)  I am now a Chiefs, Royals, and anything else Kansas City fan for life.  Brought a tear to my eye yesterday and made me look back at how truly lucky we are.  More to come... but VERY EXCITING DAY!

And... SIGN UP FOR THE BLOOD DRIVE!

​

Before I get into an update on James - we still have roughly 70 spots available for the Blood Drive on 12/7 (Saturday) @ St Andrew and 50 on 12/8 (Sunday) @ St. Alphonsus.  Every single person that signs up make a difference. Two here and two there will help us get to capacity, so please sign up or share this with anyone in the Chicago area!  

I setup an easy to use website to enroll in the blood drive here (it takes less than a minute):  

http://www.curiousjames.org/blood-drive.html#/

James is doing great, minus the elevated meds that he is still on to combat his cGVHD.  He is starting to get "puffy" again from the steroids... so we're really hoping to get those down at our next clinic visit, even if just a bit.  The steroids have turned him into a bit of a maniac again, so we're up against that at night/during the night lately.  

Since my last post James' has been living life up - we went to the Bears Game together, saw Paw Patrol Live, explored the Museum of Science and Industry, Frozen 2... it's been a solid stretch and he is one lucky kid.

​Lately Rita and I have been discussing how we can help James continue to learn and develop at home since he is not permitted to go to daycare, etc.  We loves playing with other kids and ends up more than his fair share of TV due to his situation.  Finding some more structure in his day is a top priority right now - he's a super smart kid, so we want to keep it that way and help him learn and develop.  Open to any suggestions if you have them!

Hope to see you at James' Party 12/8!