Well I think it’s best to start this blog with some of the best news ever…..normally I save some of that for the end of the blog but not this time…not today!  We learned last week from Belle’s MRI on Thursday that according to the MRI scan that there is NO MORE EVIDENCE OF DISEASE!!!  Oh my gosh so absolutely freaking amazing!  Praise GOD!!  I can’t even begin to tell you how much this news means to us…we have been on cloud 9 since hearing the news.  It is my pleasure to say for the first time in 2 years that the McAllister Family is free of cancer!  If that doesn’t give you goosebumps or just put the biggest smile on your face then I don’t know what will.  What a huge weight to be lifted from our shoulders.  MRI below shows the MRI from the diagnosis and then the one recently taken on 4/6/17.  The marker of the tumor will always be there, similar to scare tissue.

(MRI above at Diagnosis 12/15/15 )

(MRI above 4/6/17)

It has been a very difficult 2 years with many ups and downs….but we can now start move forward and put this journey behind us!  We are so happy to share this amazing news.  When I told Belle the great news she had the most amazing, heartfelt, ecstatic response I could ever imagine.  I was on my knees looking right into her eyes and told her that her cancer was all gone.  She immediately starting crying and hugging me and then asked “Daddy does that mean I don’t have cancer in my head anymore?”….I was able to tell my amazing, strong, courageous 8 year old daughter “Yes baby…your cancer is all gone…it’s no longer there!”  What a GREAT DAY!  It was so amazing to see this response from daughter as she truly understood the magnitude of the news.  My son was equally happy and in tears….geez all of us were in tears of joy to be fair!  I can’t explain fully what the last two year have been like but I can tell you that we are so grateful for everything and the blessing of God to have my family be healed of this horrible disease.  I can’t say what tomorrow will bring but I can tell you we will most certainly enjoy today to its fullest and let tomorrow worry about itself.

The last 3 months have been amazing with many things to celebrate.  As some of you may know Isabelle was granted her wish to go to Disneyworld from Make-a-Wish!  Now to clarify since some see Make-a-wish as an organization that only deals with terminally-ill children…that is not the case….I too thought that was the case which scared the crap out of me when I learned that our family had been selected.  Make-a-wish grants wishes to children that are facing life-threating diseases or genetic issues.  Belle’s wish to go to Disneyworld and meet the princesses was granted and we had the pleasure of going to Disneyworld over spring break.  Additionally our family was selected as the Wish Week Family for Chaparal High School.  Our family was the face and representation for the Make-a-wish program.  There are many other Douglas Country schools that participate in this wonderful program that helps raise money to grant kids wishes.  Let start with telling you how amazing the Chaparral High School wish week was for our family.

I have to give huge props to Chaparral High School, the amazing students, the dedicated facility and one person in particular Kathy Gappinger for making us and Belle specifically….feel so loved and special during a difficult time in our lives.  The week start with an opening ceremony to introduce us to the school which was kept secret leading up the wish week events.  Here is a video from the opening ceremony that introduced our family…it’s a tear jerker just a heads up if you haven’t seen it yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O_li7KKwgU

The opening ceremony was so amazing…..the student’s energy and compassion for this program was astounding!   It gives me goosebumps now just thinking about it.  The kids in their student government that arrange all the events did an outstanding job!  There are some amazing and great kids at that school!  The week was filled with tons of things to do that helped raise money for MAW.  They made Belle feel like a celebrity as we made every effort to attend every event possible including a 5k run (well….5k walk for belle and I), Wish Festival with tons of fun stuff for the kids, movie night to watch The Descendants, Dodgeball (yeah those high school baseball players can really throw those dodgeballs), and Skyzone trampoline play area.  We also ate at a multitude of restaurants that gave a portion of their proceeds back to MAW….even though it’s not on our nutritional regiment we still had to support the cause so we ate at Chipotle, Chic-fila, Buffalo Wild Wings and Lil’ Ricci’s pizza thoughout the week! (Here is a video a student made from that week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TJQCOTVtG4)  Let’s just say it was a crazy busy week but it was amazing and something we will never forget!  We felt so loved and so supported by so many that our concerns with cancer just seemed to melt away!  The wish week closed with a Closing Ceremony that had Belle part of the cheerleading routine, feeder schooling into Chaparral had their students come present how much they raised, Isabelle’s class from Wildcat Mountain even came to support her (Thank you Mrs. Messmer and Principal Milley for making that happen)…along with many other mazing speeches and even by Isabelle.  She got up in front of that entire school and spoke on her own….I’m crying now just thinking about it!  Isabelle, Sarah and Michael are so amazing and they give hope to so many others out there!  The school as able to raise $66,000 dollars and grant 9 wishes!  That’s truly astonishing and I couldn’t believe what that school was able to accomplish.  Like I said earlier…..that week at Chaparral was truly life changing and we will never forget that week, the wonderful students and teachers we met or how much they all mean to us!  Here is the closing ceremony video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4RDYhQUqFw.  THANK YOU CHAP FAMILY from the bottom of our hearts for everything!!

After the Chap Wish Week we headed off to Florida over spring break to go hang out with Mickey Mouse and some princesses.  We were so excited to go and have a fun time away from our normal life!  Just to take the time to not worry about life or going to doctor appointments or concerning ourselves with cancer treatments.  Florida was just the ticket we needed….we had an absolute blast!  What a great experience and the weather was wonderful the entire time.  Belle got to meet all of her favorite princesses and Michael got to ride some amazing rollercoaster rides at universal Studios Orlando.  I wish I could say that mom and dad got some time to relax and slow down a little bit but that wasn’t the case.  Disney was balls to the wall the entire time from the moment we woke up to them our head hit the pillow but it was so worth the sacrifice of relaxing on a beach!  And to be fair it was about the kids anyways…the trip was for them to have fun and just be kids!  Mission accomplished for sure.  I think we may have to find a beach to relax on in the very near future. 

That kind of summarizes our last couple months and the amazing news of Belle’s no longer showing any more evidence of disease.  I did ask does that mean she is cancer-free…..apparently that’s a loaded question since no way of truly saying “Cancer-Free”…..but I will certainly take “No evidence of disease” any day!  What a huge success and Belle has been so very strong through the entire process. I hope that all of you reading this share her strong to those who need hope or belief in their life.  Hope that cancer is not always a death sentence, hope that there are great stories of people overcoming cancer, hope that they too can have the same outcome….and obviously the power of belief…belief that God is looking out for us…sometimes the answers of healing and answered and certainly sometimes they are not as God may have a different plan.  I can tell you he has answered our prayers and those who have been praying for us daily that Belle would be healed and free of cancer.  Praise the Lord!  I can’t thank everyone enough for heling us get to where we are today….looking back I wish that I had kept a list of everyone that has been part of the journey….It just means the world to us that we had an army supporting us in so many ways!

What does the future hold for the McAllister Family???  I don’t know obviously but I do know that we will continue to love one another each and every day….we will enjoy the moments and not let them pass us by…I know that we will not go back to the way our lives used to be but to the better lives we have now…celebrating my family every day….and we will continue to do our best at Kicking Cancers Ass!  We will continue all of our nutritional habits and even improving each day in that area as we can always do better….we will continue the essential oils….we will continue the cannabis regiment FOREVER!!  I can’t help but think that there were multiple forces and not just one thing at hand helping get Sarah and Belle to be free of this disease…between the doctors, the chemo, the positive thinking, the essential oils, the cannabis oils, nutritional changes, and God answering our prayers….I think all of those things working together got us to where we are today!  We will continue to work hard and keep cancer at bay to the best of our abilities as this is a life-long fight.  Certainly cancer rear its nasty head and come back BUT we can’t worry ourselves about that…we will just worry about what day gives us and celebrate today!

Matthew 6:25 - 34 - ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble

I have references this passage a lot over the last 2 years and it will continue to hold true moving forward.  Belle’s next MRI won’t be for another 3 months  and Sarah has her annual scan in Salt Lake City in May so please send you love and prayers for those scans.  I will certainly do a quick blog update after those scans to keep you all informed…until then all of you take care of yourselves and we love you all…..McAllisters out…mic drop!

Love,

Mac, Sarah, Michael and Isabelle! 

GoFundMe Link: https://www.gofundme.com/mcallister-family-medical-fund