When our daughter was diagnosed with cancer, our world came to a stop. Everything revolved around her treatment and how she was feeling each and every day. As the treatment went on, her spirits started to drop as she realised that the world around her had continued on without her. Her siblings were getting to do activities that she enjoyed during the summer months, but now she couldn't, and it was hitting her hard at what she was missing.
It was then that I found this summer activity list that had little things that a toddler could do, and that was all that her body was capable of doing at the time. Some of the activities on it were make slime, get ice cream from the ice cream man, fly a kite, go swimming, go camping, go to the zoo, take a date with mom and dad, etc. We decided that we would try and work on this list and do activities that her brother and sister were not allowed to do. While some of the activities are so simple, there were their own challenges when you have a kid who isn't allowed to go in public, swim in public pools, or be to far from a hospital.
We started with something simple, making slime. My daughter has always been a STEM girl, and this was up her alley. It was the first day that I saw her smile in a long time. While I wanted it to be something for her, she wanted her brother to do it with her; they are both real nerds, so his being involved really brightened her afternoon.
We decided to try flying a kite at the local park, but she couldn't run around to get it into the air (needed her brother to help with that part). She was able to hold the string once we got it up. We were also able to get ice cream from the ice cream man when he came into the park's parking lot. Something so simple was everything to her.
A really hard one to do, and something she really wanted to do was go swimming, and because she had a port, she couldn't swim in a public pool, and we don't have a pool. So my cousin came in and allowed us to use their pool for the day, allowing her to feel a little normal for once.
For the go to a zoo, I just couldn't risk the number of people at a zoo, but I knew that her favorite animal was pigs. So I found a lady in the LA area who bred baby pigs, and I asked if we could visit her baby pigs and play with them. She was so kind and allowed us, sometimes, all it takes is to tell them your story and why you would like to do it, and people have a kind heart and allow you to experience something out of reach. If you don't ask, then you will never know if you can do it. My daughter was so excited to get to pet and play with the baby pigs, it is something that she talks about to this day.
For a date out with mom and dad, I wanted to do something that her siblings had not gotten to do ever, so we decided to take her on the Palm Springs Tram. She has also loved camping and visiting the mountains and visitor center, etc, so I thought it would be great. I had made reservations at the mountain top restaurant and bought the tickets. The only thing I didn't think about was that her blood counts were low, and the altitude really had a bad effect on her. We ended up promising that someday, when she feels better, we will do it again.
After the Palm Springs trip, I was a little worried about taking her camping, but she wanted to go; it's something we do every summer, and we have a trailer. This time we waited till the doctor gave us the OK, and we gave it a try. She had a great time going to the lake, even though she couldn't go in it, cooking outdoors (her favorite part of camping), and visiting the little town in the mountain communities.
While cancer had really been hard on my daughter, we were able to find creative ways to let her still enjoy life. Sometimes you just have to look outside the box and do the things that seem simple, because it is the little things in the moment that matter, and you don't have to spend a lot of money to make the memories.
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