Our journey began on 12/30/06 when our youngest daughter Megan was diagnosed with AML. That morning, Megan played her usual awesome game of soccer. Who was to know that just a few hours later our world would be forever changed. Megan spent the majority of the next seven months inpatient at Hasbro...
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Our journey began on 12/30/06 when our youngest daughter Megan was diagnosed with AML. That morning, Megan played her usual awesome game of soccer. Who was to know that just a few hours later our world would be forever changed. Megan spent the majority of the next seven months inpatient at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, RI. She did achieve remission, but in July 2007, a few weeks after her last dose of chemo, Megan relapsed. The only hope for a cure would be a Bone Marrow Transplant. Floating Children's Hospital in Boston, MA is where Megan received her sister's precious cells, they were a perfect match. In October 2007, Megan was discharged home where she continued to recover, each day gaining more and more of her strength back.
In March 2008, during a clinic visit at Floating, one of the child life specialists introduced us to Flashes of Hope. Megan's hair was beginning to grow back, and she was feeling better each day, so she was very excited to return the following month for pictures. That day, Meg and her two sisters got all dolled up and had a blast in front of the camera. This was a day that will forever stay in my heart, my one regret being, that I did not get in those pictures.
Our Flashes of Hope pictures are the last photos we have of our three beautiful girls together. A few weeks after they were taken, our brave Megan once again relapsed. On June 5, 2008, after an 18 month battle with AML, our sweet girl passed away.
We cannot begin to tell you what these beautiful pictures mean to our family, which is what prompted us to bring such a great program to Hasbro. Each month, we consider it a privilege to provide this service to families who are dealing with the unthinkable. We know how important these photos are to these families, a keepsake they will cherish, sometimes the last photos of their incredible, brave warriors.
As far as there being a child that we will never forget? We will never forget any of them. Their strength, positive attitude, and bravery carry us through to the next month's shoot. When we see their smiles it reminds us of that day back in March 2008 when Flashes of Hope came into our lives. That day when our beautiful girls smiled for the camera one last time…