Luck 'o' the Irish- Make a Wish!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Wes and I are both part Irish and enjoy celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Although I think Wes would be the first to admit that the corned beef and cabbage play a large role in his love for this day. My mom's side of the family is Scotch-Irish. Talk to my mom long enough and surely she will tell you about her ancestor's castle.

The kids are really starting to have fun with it, especially Carter. Surely with a name like Owen Reilly, Little Man will come to embrace the "green day" very soon. Although the boys had matching green shirts to wear today, Carter was very disappointed that he didn't have green underwear. Sorry, dude. He did have a blast at school, arriving to find that a sneaky Leprechaun had come in early this morning and "destroyed the school". Amongst the destruction there were green footprints, toilet water that had turned green, green milk at snack time, items displaced in the classrooms, etc. He was so funny at home, pointing out things that the Leprechaun had done to the house. "Mom, look! That blanket was folded when we left this morning. Your camera wasn't on that table before, he moved it." Ok, so the teachers at school clearly rigged a Leprechaun break-in. I did not. At home Carter was merely noticing things naturally out of place. I didn't have the heart to tell him.

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On this "lucky" day, I received a surprising phone call. It caught me off guard because I had totally forgotten about an online form I had filled out several months ago. This afternoon I got a call from our regional office of the Make a Wish Foundation. They were calling in regard to Owen. He is now being considered to have a Wish granted through the Foundation. I recovered from my surprise and was able to answer the questions necessary to complete the initial round of qualification. Now Owen's doctor will receive a form to verify his medical eligibility. Basically they need confirmation of his birth defects, the life threatening condition he faced early on because we had no knowledge of his health issues with the exception of his cleft lip, the surgeries he has had, the long-term effects (particularly the fact that he will need long-term urological care) and the leg lengthening surgeries that he will require in the future. The doctor will need to provide confirmation of the story that I told, Owen's story.

Wes and I are both dealing with so many emotions surrounding the possibility that Owen could be granted a Wish. I really thought long and hard before even initiating the process, and then honestly forgot all about it. It wasn't something I was counting on, I don't know too terribly much about the process. Really, we continued our daily routines and our lives have been full and busy as always. It was very emotional and difficult for me to answer the questions being asked and try to tell this woman whose call caught me totally off guard a story that unfolded over the first 18 months or so of Owen's life. It is a long story, a story filled with too many doctor appointments, invasive tests and seven surgeries. How do I sum that up for her to fit neatly into a form that she is required to fill out? Owen's story continues to unfold. However, for now we view Owen (as do his doctors) as a typical and healthy little boy with a leg length discrepancy who happens to require the continued care of a urologist to be certain that his kidneys continue to function well despite the terrible strain his disease put on them. One of the most difficult things for us is that in imagining Owen being granted a Wish, we are also led to think of what our Little Man has fought to overcome, the fact that we almost lost him, the amount of pain and suffering he endured to get to where he is today. Ironically, those are the exact things that qualify Owen for a Wish and the reasons that we know that he deserves to be considered.