Connor Lint

The Miracle of Christmas and everyday

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 02:14:00 +0000

Tonight one of the moms at Mackenzie's basketball practice started talking about the miracles of every day life... how sometimes we get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of every day that we don't take time to stop and truly see the miracles that happen every day in front of our eyes.

I have to say I truly felt that way this Christmas as I watched Mackenzie and Connor in the children's christmas program at our church.

They were both angels in the service and they were so incredibly proud to be a part of it!

It was their job (along with about a dozen other little angels) to parade around through the aisles, waving the kites yelling "Glory to God, Glory to God"... of course, Connor can't really say his "L's" so it was more like "Gwory to God, Gwory to God!"

Then, at the end, all of the children went on stage with Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, the shepherds, sheep, wise men, you name it, they were up there as they sang "Silent Night". Mackenzie knew every word (or at least she mouthed something close to the ones she wasn't a hundred percent on) and Connor waved his sparkly light from side to side. As they ended the show singing "Happy Birthday to Jesus"... Connor made sure to add in the "Cha, Cha, Cha" as loud as he could... at all of the parts he would at a regular party!!!

I laughed, I cried, but most of all I gave thanks to God just for the fact that both Connor and Mackenzie could be a part of such a beautiful service. I thought of all of the parents who were spending their first Christmas without their children and I thought of how it truly is a miracle that Connor could not only sit up on that stage during Christmas Eve, but that he could literally run through the congregation yelling "Gwory to God!!!"

There truly are miracles each and every day and we should all stop to give thanks for them.

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

The best Christmas Gift we could ask for!

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:46:00 +0000

Yes, Christmas came early in the Lint household today!!! It was a really good day!!!

The MRI preliminary results show that the tumor is stable!!!

We had this amazing peace going into the MRI today, we truly believed everything was going to be wonderful!!! As always, I teased Dr. Shah that they weren't going to be able to find the tumor... and she said, "You know... there was a time I was wondering where the heck it was, but I called Radiology and they said they hadn't uploaded all the images yet!!!" Don't worry... that day will still come :)

Connor did amazing with everything today... he couldn't eat all day and so we had all of his food waiting for him when he woke up!! It is so amazing how much he is growing up... as soon as he opened his eyes, he started asking me, "did they already take my pictures?..."

I also have to tell you what happened on the way to the hospital this morning. At one of the intersections, there is a cemetary. As we were sitting there waiting for the light to change, Connor asked me, "Mommy, is that heaven?" I proceeded to explain to him that a cemetary is where people are buried when they die and go to heaven. So Connor came back at me with, "So, we come back to life in heaven? Jesus gives us a new life in heaven with you and daddy and Mac?" When I replied, "Yes." Connor's response was... "YES!!! That's AWESOME!!! I get to live again in heaven with all of you guys!!! That's pretty cool!"

I couldn't agree more kiddo... but for now... heaven can wait!

God bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

The Next MRI

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:53:00 +0000

So, as we approach Christmas... the countdown is on to the next MRI.

As what usually happens just before an MRI, to totally freak us out and give mommy a nervous breakdown... Connor starts having weird symptoms. Everything from the hands to the feet to the legs, lower back... even the neck!!

It's so hard because on one hand you try not to freak out about every ache and pain... but on the other hand... how do you know if what's causing this is a simple kid virus or one of the tumors???

The next MRI is on Tuesday and we pray that God gives us the best Christmas present of all... NO TUMOR!!!!

Connor is so excited about Christmas this year and REALLY in to Santa!!! He even walks around stores, school and out of church today singing Christmas carols!!!

Connor and Mackenzie are both going to be in the Christmas Pagent at church and we will all be giving thanks to God for the many, many blessings he has given us.

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

November

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:47:00 +0000

In November, the miracles continued! We got to go camping in Garner State Park... beautiful!!! We celebrated Thanksgiving... and.....

Alan Ames was back in town and this time, I took Connor and Mackenzie to see him. Some believe he has the healing power of Jesus Christ... and he is the only one sanctioned by the Catholic Church to hold these "Healing Services".

I have to tell you, they actually are very beautiful and very peaceful. There is first a mass, followed by a talk from Ames, and then the healing services.

They ask everyone to come forward and it's usually a standing room only event. This time, as we were waiting in line, a woman collapsed and was lying on the floor in front of us. Not sure how the kids would respond, I waited to see if they would even notice. Then, Connor jumped out of line, walked straight up to her, leaned over to get a good look, looked back at me and asked, "Is she okay?" Bless his little heart, he wanted to help her. I explained to both kids what was going on and they seemed okay with it.

Then it was our turn. We walked up to line up along the alter rail. As Alan Ames was walking past us, he paused. He looked straight at Connor and then looked at me, concerned at first and then he smiled. Now, keep in mind... he has no idea why we were there and he doesn't want to know... he says that's between you and God!

Then, as he was coming back to lay hands on everyone and bless them... he came to us. The whole thing is usually pretty quick... almost like receiving the ashes on Ash Wednesday... he places his hand on your forhead, does the sign of the cross and moves on all while saying prayer. He started by laying hands on Connor and Mackenzie, then me... but instead of continuing down the line... he paused again. Alan Ames then went back to Connor. He placed his hands back on his head again, stood there for what seemed like an eternity... said a few more prayers over him and then said, "Bless this family abundantly."

As you might imagine... yep.. I broke out in tears.

I pray every day that God will continue to show us the miracle and continue to extend the healing hand of Jesus Christ upon Connor.

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

October

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:28:00 +0000

October was a fun month!

While both kids are full swing in school, James and I are both busy at work and in between we enjoy every day we can together.

In October, we were fortunate enough to be able to take the kids to Great Wolf Lodge up in Dallas. Someone had told us it was similar to Vegas for kids and they weren't kidding!!! There was so much to see and do... we all had a blast!!!

We also discovered the Love Creek Orchards for the first time! It's not too far from our house... a beautiful scenic drive through the hill country and perhaps the largest pumpkin patch I've ever seen!!!

At one point, a woman stopped and said, "Excuse me, but is that Connor Lint?" She went on to explain that she and her son had been praying for Connor. Elizabeth, I want you and Noah to know how touched we are by that and you should both know that those prayers are working!!!

Of course, there was also Halloween in October! Every year for the past 5 years, we've done a Halloween party for the kids. Nothing fancy, just a lot of fun! Of course, it always holds a special place in my heart because it was two years ago Halloween that Connor did his last round of radiation.

What a difference two years makes!! This year, Mackenzie decided she wanted to be a pirate and she convinced Connor to be one too so that they could have sword fights! So, we were a family of pirates! Too fun!!

Hugs and Blessings,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

September

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:16:00 +0000

I realized that the last blog I wrote was for the last MRI Connor had in September.

But, what I didn't do was come back and update the latest information we had from that MRI... Connor's brain tumor continues to shrink. It was actually 2 mm smaller this time compared to a few months ago!!! It now measures 4.1mm which is a pretty amazing difference when you consider two years ago it measured more than 8 cm!!! Yes, centimeters... that's not a typo!!!

As for the tumor on his spine, it also continues to shrink! Praise God!

Let's just pray that both of them will soon be gone!

Hugs and Blessings,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

So much to catch up on

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:11:00 +0000

Okay, so you know it's bad when your family members actually start asking... what happend to the blog???

Honestly, I've missed the blog... and I truly don't know where the time has gone except to say that life has been crazy... in a good way!!! So I guess that means that no news in this sense actually is good news!

Because I have so much to catch up on... I'm going to write a few "installments" tonight.

I write these so that one day Mackenzie and Connor will be able to look back on them and realize how truly blessed we are as a family. At the same time, I give thanks for each and every one of you who read these and perhaps say a prayer for our family.

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

Prayers Answered

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:48:00 +0000

It's been a long day... but I would do it all over again just to get the good news we got today... the tumors are stable!

While I always hope and pray that one day they will both be completely gone... after the past week and a half and all of the symptoms Connor has been suffering from it was such a relief just to hear the tumors are not growing and appear to be stable. Thank you God!

Last night he was crying saying that "bugs were biting his hands", he then woke up at 3:30 this morning saying he needed ice packs for his hands and today he told the doctors he thought someone was "hammering nails in his fingers". As you might imagine, we were all pretty stressed about today's scan. (Honestly, I think the doctors were even a little stressed.)

So, it was such a relief to get the news today and re-assure us all that these symptoms are truly being caused by a virus.

While we all try to never lose sight of who is truly in charge, it is hard. You never want to see your child in pain or watch him suffer and when you watch a child battle cancer as courageously as Connor has you can't help but feel proud and a little helpless.

Thanks to each and every one of you for praying without ceasing and sharing this journey with us as we continue to watch God grant Connor a miracle.

Hugs and Blessings,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

Pray Without Ceasing

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:38:00 +0000

Lots of prayers for an excellent MRI tomorrow! We go in early in the morning and won't be home until early evening. We'll post the results as soon as we have them!

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

What the Heck?

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:32:00 +0000

Well, in addition to the blog being hi-jacked, Mommy and Connor have been a little sick these past few weeks and things really came to a head these past few days.

Connor has been doing so well for so long that when something does happen, you try hard not to panic but it's always in the back of your mind... the what if?

It started a week ago today, Connor started complaining of his head hurting saying he was "running a fever" which is how he describes the pain from the brain tumor. We tried to say, maybe it's truly a sinus infection this time and he' just not up to par.

Then, he started waking up in the middle of the night saying he needed ice packs for his hands. This too is something we've seen before, just not for a long time. This is what the doctors described as neurological mis-fires from the brain and sometimes the only way the body knows to process it is pain. So, since Connor was so young when everything first happened he would associate pain with needing an ice pack to make the pain go away. While the doctors don't believe it truly does anything, Connor has convinced himself it helps and that's all that matters.

Then, Connor started grabbing his lower back saying it was hurting him. Then, his legs... he had pain in his legs, shaking and said he couldn't walk on them.

The last straw was on Wednesday when he started screaming, crying, grabbing his foot and hitting his head on the couch saying "Make it stop Mommy, Make it stop! It's hurting me, please make it stop! Why is this happening to me?" As you might imagine, that's when I lost it! There's nothing more helpless than a mother who can't take the pain away for her child. It took me almost an hour to calm him down.

We did end up at the hospital on Friday so the doctors could at least take a look at him. The good news is, they truly didn't see anything that alarmed them neurologically, but no one knows why he's having all of these symptoms. He does have a pretty bad sinus infection (just like mommy) and we're thinking that could be it. For some reason, anytime he gets a little bug or virus, it kicks off all of the symptoms of the brain tumor. We don't know why... it just does.

With that said, pray for Wednesday. Wednesday is our next MRI and in light of this past week we're a little nervous. I keep saying... "Maybe it's just the tumors going away and everything re-wiring that's causing the pain!" So, let's think that way!!!! Continue to pray without ceasing that God will continue to show us the miracle He is performing in Connor!

Hugs and Blessings,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

Starting Kindergarten and 2nd Grade

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:19:00 +0000

It's official, Connor is now a Kindergartener! And big sis is now queen bee of the school as a big second grader!

God always puts people in your path for a reason and this year we are incredibly blessed with two amazing angels disguised as teachers! Connor has Mrs. McDaniel and Mackenzie has Mr. Scherwitz. Both of them go to our church and both of them have been so dear to our family throughout this entire journey.

Needless to say, Connor is LOVING Kindergarten! He tried really hard to convince me to just "drop him off" in front of the school because he knew exactly where he was going... yeah... that didn't happen! He was so brave his first few days of school. Then, I think the reality of a new school, all new friends and a five day a week schedule sunk in... and the tears came. Not bad, just a few and he would then say, "It's okay Mommy, I'll be alright." If I didn't know he was in such wonderful hands it would be hard to leave him each day... Thankfully, I don't have to worry.

The good news is, the tears only lasted for a few days and we're now back to him waving and blowing kisses, saying "Goodbye mom, I love you, have a great day!" as I walk away.

As for Mac, well she's seven going on 17!!! She's so grown up and little mother hen to Connor. She's been showing him around the school, making sure he knows where everything is. She especially likes getting to escort him to his class in the morning! Connor is pretty upset that he can't be with Mac in her class and eat lunch with her and play outside with her during recess but Mac always promises to look for him if she's passing by in the hall and wave and that seems to hold him over for now.

Hugs and Blessings,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

Time to Catch Up

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:08:00 +0000

Okay, so you may be wondering... yes the blog spot did get hijacked... no, we were not trying to sell those medications :)

Thanks so much to Grant and Julie for getting us back on track! With that said, I'm going to do a couple of entries tonight to try and catch up on the past month!

Two years ago today

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:20:00 +0000

It was August 20, 2007 at 4:45 in the morning when Connor woke up screaming... I jumped out of bed and raced in to find him sitting hunched over, holding his head saying "Mommy, my head hurts... it really, really hurts!"

I scooped him up, told James to stay with Mac and raced him off to the closest children's hospital emergency room.

When we got there, I remember thinking how strange it was that we were literally the only ones there. Usually a children's hospital E.R. is filled on a Sunday night, early Monday morning. But there was no one there, but us.

We walked right in and they called us around. The triage nurse started taking his temp., doing his vitals and asking me questions. Of course, I had to giggle a little when she asked me if I had any concerns for his safety. In other words, she worried that someone had abused him. Little did she know how far she was from the truth. How much we love both of our kids more than anything in the world and how with James being a police officer and myself working at a child abuse clinic, we had heard those questions asked to other parents so many times before. When I told her there were no concerns for his safety, she shyly shrugged her shoulders and said, "Huh, maybe a sinus infection?"

Usually, a sinus infection would get you a three to four hour wait in an E.R., but because we were the only ones there, they went ahead and took us back to a room.

I remember the doctor so well from the first time he walked into the room. He was very grumpy and you could tell someone had woken him up to see us. I think he was less than an hour away from being off his shift and was probably hoping for some rest. But, I couldn't blame him... as far as he was concerned, I was a paranoid, over protective mother who dragged her kid into the ER for a sinus infection!

He started checking Connor out and when he couldn't find anything wrong, he said the same thing I had been thinking... "Sinus Infection". It sounded pretty good to me, maybe now he could give Connor some medicine to give him some relief. The doctor told me he was going to give us a prescription for some sinus medicine and write up our discharge papers to send us home.

As I waited there, I remember over hearing the new shift of nurses coming on. The over night shift explaining who was in what room... it was just us... and that "Mom was a little over protective... he just has a sinus infection, he's going home!" To which the other nurse looked over and replied... "Awe, poor thing!"

I sat there feeling a little silly, but I also thought I really didn't care... I was just glad that's all it was!

Then, the doctor came back in the room and said, "Ya know, before I send you home, why don't we do a cat scan to see if we can "see" the sinus infection!"

I thought, "OK, sounds reasonable enough." So, they came and got us and took us down for the cat scan. We were done within a few minutes and they took us back up to the ER room. A few minutes later, the doctor walked back in and everything had changed.

Before the cat scan he had stopped being grumpy and was almost joking around with us. This time, he walked in, white as a ghost, the most horrified look on his face. He quietly shut the door, sat down, looked me straight in the eyes and said, "I don't even know what to say to you right now. I am so sorry."

After a long pause he continued... "We found something we never in a million years expected to find. Your son has a very large brain tumor."

In the silence that seemed like an eternity, I stared at him blankly waiting for him to start laughing, slap me on the shoulder and say... Ha! Just kidding! You guys can go home! But that never happened.

I nervously chuckled, asking him "Are you kidding? Is this some sort of joke?"

His sad eyes looked down and he said, "No ma'am, I wouldn't joke about something like this."

At that point, my entire body began to shake as I clutched Connor closer to my chest. This couldn't be happening, maybe if I got up and walked out, I would wake up from this dream.

As my mind raced, as to how was I going to tell his father? How was I going to tell his sister? The doctor in the background was trying to explain how Connor needed surgery immediately to relieve some of the pressure on his brain.

The doctor then asked me if there was someone they could call for me, perhaps my husband? I immediately snapped back... "NO!" I didn't want James hearing this news over the phone and I certainly didn't want him hearing this from a stranger! I asked him to please give me a minute to compose myself so that I could call James.

I didn't really know what to say, I just knew I had to keep it brief. When James picked up the phone still sleeping, I said, "Honey, you need to get Mac over to Mom and Dad's and you need to get up here." There... I did it! But then James said, "Huh?" Oh great! I had to say it again! "You need to get Mac over to Mom and Dad's and you need to get up here." This time, his only response was, "Is it bad?" To which I said, "Yes." James said, "I'm on my way." and I hung up the phone.

The next few minutes were like a whirlwhind. Two nurses came rushing in, preping Connor, hooking him up to monitors and getting set to put in some I.V.'s. By this point, I couldn't stop the shaking in my body. So, they both stopped what they were doing, grabbed my hand and said, "Would you like for us to pray with you?" My answer was, "PLEASE! YES!" They held my hand, placed their other hand on Connor, stood over his bed and prayed and from that moment on, I knew God was in control.

Soon, James arrived and I had to tell him what was going on. And before I knew it, our entire E.R. room began to fill up with friends and clergy from our church. I don't really know who called them or how everyone found out, but I knew they were there loving us, praying over us and doing all they could to help.

We were soon told that the only pediatric neurosurgeon the hospital had was on her first day of vacation and not in town. So, they called in the adult neurosurgeon who took one look at Connor and said, "No Way! The brain tumor is too large and he's too small... he needs a pedi!"

That's when they informed us we were going to Austin (about an hour away). The transport team was on the way down I-35 to pick us up.

While my head had been spinning and I hadn't really had my wits about me, when I heard that my first thought was "Huh? Why Austin?" I didn't know... is that where we needed to be? Is that where the best doctors were for Connor? Or did we need to go somewhere else? Houston, Dallas, St. Jude???? I didn't know, but I knew someone who would... my big boss who I absolutely adore and who had lead the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children's Hospital for many years... Dr. Wayne. He would know what to do.

So I called my boss and immediately my cell phone was ringing... it was Dr. Wayne. When I told him what was going on, he immediately said... "That baby's not going anywhere, that baby is coming here! I've got a transport team on the way!"

I didn't even know CHRISTUS had a pediatric neurosurgeon... I had only been there a few months and hadn't really needed to know that... until now. Come to find out... they have not one, but three of the five in town and as far as I am concerned, the absolute three best in the country!!!!

In what seemed like minutes, the transport team arrived and Connor and I were in the back of the ambulance headed for CHRISTUS.

They took us straight through the ER, not even slowing down, straight up to the Pediatric ICU where we were greated by a team of specialist, including Dr. Wayne.

They started explaining to me what they needed to do and within minutes, they had Connor in surgery.

Dr. Wayne was the first to explain to me how bad it was, saying that in all his years this was the largest brain tumor he had ever seen on a child. (I would later find out that Dr. Wayne's partner for many years was a pediatric cancer doctor so Dr. Wayne had seen his share of cancer kids).

After more than three hours in surgery and with Connor resting in his room, the doctors came to get James and I in what we came to know as "The Long Walk".

We would soon discover that the doctors never wanted to discuss anything bad in front of Connor, so they would always come and get us from the ICU room, have a family member or friend stay with Connor and walk us down a long hallway to a quiet conference room to talk.

This was the first of many conferences in which they actually explained to us just how bad it was. It was myself, James, my Dad, Dr. Shah (the oncologist), Dr. Bingaman (the pediatric neurosurgeon), Sylvia our social worker and a few others. They explained that this was an incredibly large brain tumor on Connor's brainstem that had grown so large it was blocking all fluid from draining off of his brain causing the pressure and the pain. They went on to explain that given the size of the tumor and his age (he was 3) they believed it was a grade IV (the worst kind) they believed it was rapidly growing and then they told us at best, he had maybe a year to live. At that point, I hyper-ventilated, collapsed and threw-up.

The doctors stepped out for a moment, let me re-gain my composure and then they came back in. We continued our conversation, and would have many more in the days to come. Each one seemed to bring worse news. Until one day, I remember being hunched over and almost limp. And as their words started to register in my head, I sat up, rolled my shoulders back, held my head high... looked both doctors in the eyes and said, "With all due respect, He will prove you wrong." Dr. Shah immediately started to say, "Well, Mrs. Lint, I hope..." and I said, "No, no, no... no... you don't understand. HE WILL prove you wrong!"

I laugh now, because I think at the time, I was talking about Connor... but perhaps sub-consciously the "He" I was referring to was God.

Connor has been through a lot over the past two years, five brain surgeries (none of them able to remove the tumor because of where it is), six weeks of radiation, ten months of chemo and most recently the discovery of a second tumor on his spine. But, God has been with us every step of the way. He has watched over us and put people in our path to care for Connor and to care for our family throughout this journey.

I tell people, we have lived more, laughed more and loved more as a family over these past two years and for that I am grateful.

Today, Connor ran through the halls of his new school where he will start Kindergarten on Monday and Mackenzie was able to see her classroom and all of her friends who she will be with in second grade.

From day one, we have asked everyone to Pray Without Ceasing that God would grant Connor a miracle. There is no doubt in our minds that we are witnessing that miracle right here today. Even if you ask Connor's doctors... they say there is no other way to explain it.. but a miracle!

We thank God for the many blessings He has given us and we know He has great plans for both Connor and Mackenzie in the years ahead.

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

How it all started

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:38:00 +0000

I always assume that everyone knows the story of how this journey began... but for those of you who don't, it was two years ago today this all started.

In some ways, it seems like it was yesterday. In others, it feels like a lifetime ago. It was Sunday, August 19, 2007. Connor woke up that morning and said, "Mommy, my head hurts."

I thought that was a very strange thing for a three year old to say. He had never said it before and how would he really know that his head hurt? I asked him where? And he took his little hand and rubbed the center of his forhead. At first I thought, sinus infection?? Maybe he was coming down with something?? But I also thought he would for sure this would be something that would pass and he would be up and running around in no time.

This was the first day of the new Sunday School rotation and I had promised to teach Mackenzie's class. I told James that he should stay home with Connor and let him rest. I would run Mac up to church, teach the Sunday School class and be back in a hour. I gave Connor a kiss on the forhead and Mac and I hurried out he door to church.

As soon as the class was over, I called home only to have James tell me that he thought Connor was actually getting worse. Mac and I raced home to find a pretty sick little boy. He wasn't running a fever, but you could tell something was very wrong. Then, he started to throw up. First of all, this was unusual because neither one of my kids ever throw up. Second, this wasn't the normal vomit... it was more like spit or drainage when you have a sinus infection. So, again I thought maybe he did have a sinus infection. At that point, I knew we needed to get him to a doctor... but where to go?

It was a Sunday morning and the pediatrician wasn't in the office on Sundays. So, I took him to the pediatric urgent care just up the road from our house. We spent four hours there with them running everything from a strep test to a chest x-ray and then finally telling me he had a virus. They gave us a prescription and sent us home. But something told me this wasn't a virus. I didn't even get the prescription filled, I simply took him home.

By the time we got home, Connor was starting to feel better. In fact, over the next couple of hours he became a different child. He was running around, playing outside, ate two big meals and he even got in trouble for jumping off the furniture! I thought to myself... "Huh, that was weird!"

He went to bed that night feeling pretty good, and I thought all was well... that was until 4:45 the next morning.

Enjoying Life

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:51:00 +0000

Throughout this journey, we have learned to enjoy every moment and not take a single day for granted. However, over the past few months we have watched as three young children lost their battles with cancer. I think so much of that is why we decided we needed to go somewhere... take the kids and just enjoy life. So, we did!!!

The past few days we have been in a place we had never gone before... Destin, Florida. James and I both took off work and we loaded the kids in the car and drove the nearly 13 hours it took to get there. And yes, it was so incredibly worth it!!! We all ran on the sand, splashed in the waves and enjoyed life as a family. I have to admit, after swimming in the ocean and teaching the kids how to ride a "Boogie Board" I was quickly reminded by my body that I am not 16 anymore!!! What the heck was I thinking???? All I know is that racing Connor and Mackenzie on a Boogie Board yelling "Surf's Up!" was a BLAST!!!! And while people may have been laughing at us at first... guess who was doing the same thing 15 minutes later???? All of the adults!!!! And yes, we let them borrow our Boogie Boards!!!

We are so incredibly blessed that we could enjoy all of God's creations and many blessings together! Mackenzie and Connor even did the "Euro Bungee" where they strap the kids to a bungee cord and bounce them as high as they will go on a trampoline!!!! I'm sure Dr. Shah would have loved that!!!! No worries, Connor didn't go too terribly high... but the teenage girl helping him did get him to shoot his arms out like Spider Man... he thought that was pretty cool! And as for Mackenzie.... fearless as always! That child was doing back flips 20 feet in the air!

We laughed, we played and we fed the fish (we couldn't catch anything if our lives depended on it... but the fish sure ate good!) Most of all, we enjoyed life and the many, many blessings that come with it!

Hugs and Blessings,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

Another Angel gets his wings

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:06:00 +0000

A sweet little Angel is dancing in the heavens tonight. Another friend of ours lost his battle with cancer.

We came to know little Nathan Rodas through a mutual friend and we have been constantly praying for him and his sweet family as they spent time at various hospitals across the state.

This morning, Nathan passed away.

You can view his caringbridge site at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nathanrodas

Please keep all of his sweet family in your prayers.

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

Jinxed It

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 01:02:00 +0000

Okay, I jinxed it... I was bragging yesterday about how great Connor is feeling and how wonderful he's been doing and guess what???? Guess who spiked a fever?

So, needless to say... anytime his fever goes over 101 we have to go in to clinic for blood cultures and I.V. antibiotics.

Poor kiddo... he was feeling pretty crummy earlier today... but the good news is, after spending most of the day at the hospital... we're home tonight and he's on the road to recovery!

Hugs and Blessings,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

Getting Ready for School

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:55:00 +0000

I know it's been a while since our last post... we've been having a lazy summer... enjoying the 100 plus degreee weather and doing all we can to stay cool!

Now... I can't believe summer is coming to a close and we are already getting ready for back to school! On Sunday, I took the kids shopping for school supplies. This was the first time Connor has ever needed supplies since he's starting kindergarten! Needless to say, Mackenzie the big sis was the resident pro and decided to lend him her expert advice!

It was quite precious really, Mackenzie explained to Connor what everything was and why he would need this or that in school and he was VERY serious about it as he took it all in! He was also VERY serious about having EXACTLY the SAME school supplies Mackenzie had!!! If she wanted a red folder, he wanted a red folder... when she wanted the spiral notebook with puppy dogs on it... he wanted the spiral notebook with puppy dogs on it! I'm not realy sure that Connor understands Mackenzie will not be with him in class... in fact, he keeps asking me if Mac is going to be his teacher!!! He loves his big sister so much!

Now if I can just make him understand that I AM NOT doing parent drop off!!!! Connor keeps trying to convince me just to drop him at the curb because he's a big boy now and knows exactly where to go! Good thing for me is that they truly don't allow you to do that for Kinder, so he's stuck with me walking him in.... at least for this year!

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

Happy 4th of July!

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:51:00 +0000

What an AWESOME weekend!!!! We filled the long weekend with lots of family time!!! Fiesta Texas on Friday, Swimming, swimming and more swimming on Saturday... Oh yeah and more swimming on Sunday!

The kids swam so much this weekend I was convinced they were going to sprout gills! Mac is like a fish and Connor has now figured out how to go down the slide without having his face go under water!!!

We didn't make it to the fireworks because everybody fell asleep! But that's okay, because it was awesome to watch both of them play with their friends all day long without a care in the world.. just enjoying every minute of it! Hoping that all of you were able to do the same!

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

All I want for Christmas....

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:45:00 +0000

That's what Mackenzie will be singing for the next few weeks! On Friday she lost not one.. but BOTH of her front teeth!!! Pulled them herself!! What a woman!!!

Of course, Connor had offered to help her by tying them up with a string, attaching it to his remote controlled car and letting them rip!!! But, Mackenzie said NO WAY!!!

Needless to say, she looks absolutely adorable with no front teeth!!!

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

The Connor Lint Video Library

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:41:00 +0000

I'm a little behind on updating the blog... but we were incredibly honored by an event that took place on Thursday.

A dear friend of mine contacted me several months ago and said that her son was planning a service project as part of his bar mitzvah and he wanted to do something for the Children's Hospital in honor of Connor. Needless to say we were incredibly honored by just the thought of him wanting to do something in honor of our son. But, for a young man to think of doing such a kind gesture for a child, it truly warms your heart!

So, on Thursday, Ethan along with his proud mom and dad presented CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children's Hospital with more than 300 DVD movies for the children on the 8th floor (the cancer floor) and all of the other children throughout the hospital to enjoy. Along with it, they presented a plaque with Connor's picture to hang next to the "Connor Lint Video Library".

To Ethan and his mom and dad, we are honored and forever grateful for what you done. We love you!

Hugs and Blessings,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

Time with Grandaddy

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:55:00 +0000

We got a little escape out of town for the weekend to go spend some time with Grandaddy.

We decided with the temperatures reaching close to 110 with the heat index it would be the perfect time to head to the beach!

This was the first time we had been to Galveston since Hurricane Ike hit. It was nice to see that a lot of things had been repaired, but sad to see that some places were still either being repaired or were simply not ever coming back.

We took the kids to Moody Gardens since we had never been there before and they had a blast playing in the sand, swimming in the water and checking out the aquarium.

We are convinced Mackenzie is going to have some career that works with animals because she is just crazy about them! So she really enjoyed telling us all about the different species of fish, sharks, penquins, etc. I didn't even know everything she did!!! She loves to read animal books and watch animal planet!! I caught myself going... "Oh really? Wow!" Then I would check the information wall next to the exhibit... and she was RIGHT!!! Man she's good!!!

At the end, the last exhibit we saw was the penquin exhibit and we all got the biggest kick out of what happened. We were standing up against the glass and this penquin jumped off the ice and swam right up to Connor. Connor started moving his hand up and down and this penquin copied him and followed him for a good 5 minutes. The kids got a big kick out of this since we had just watched Happy Feet not too long ago!

Overall, it was a great weekend!

Hugs and Blessings,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

Connor the Priest?

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:29:00 +0000

Tonight I ran into an old friend of ours, Father Jimmy Drennan. The last time I saw him was when he drove more than an hour from his new church to the hospital so he could pray over Connor at his bedside.

He immediately started telling me how prays for Connor every day and his new congregation keeps asking... "Father, who is this Connor???" Father Jimmy said they all know Connor's story now, but he really needed a picture of Connor to have when he prays for him. Of course, I just happened to have a few in my purse and was happy to give them to him.

I then went on to tell him the great news from last week and how well both Connor and Mackenzie are doing. We started talking about VBS and how both kids are having a great week at VBS!!! Mackenzie of course is the big girl enjoying the fact that she's a VBS veteran and Connor is loving the fact that he's able to chase the teenage girls around (the helpers in his class). Father Jimmy was thrilled to hear this of course, but he then immediately turned to me and said... "So I guess my hopes of Connor becoming a priest are out?"

Needless to say... we both just laughed :)

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

connor

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:58:00 +0000

Brandy,

You made my Friday, Praise God! I'm so happy for all of you and l
look forward to continued great news about Connor!
Happy Summer!
Jan Rabchuk

Fw: God is Good!

noreply@blogger.com (Connor Lint) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:35:00 +0000

----- Original Message -----

From: Brandy

To: Connorlint.update@blogger.com

Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 8:25 PM

Subject: God is Good!

All the time... and all the time... God is Good!

What an amazing day we had! The MRI was yesterday and it was a very long day. We didn't get home until after dinner, but the good news is... Connor did well.

Then, today we got the GREAT news!!!

The MRI results showed that the tumor in Connor's spine is very small and barely even showed up with the contrast! That's good! It's smaller in size than two months ago and a lot less "enhancement" which in their terms is good!

Then, we found out that the brain tumor is also smaller!!!! PRAISE GOD!!! They are actually measuring it in millimeters now!! It's 8.6 mm compared to the 8.2 centimeters it once was!!!! What a HUGE blessing!

I immediately started crying when we heard the news.. but this time they were tears of joy!

We are so blessed and yes, God is working a miracle!

Hugs and Blessing,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor