I'm super excited to start planning for my son's wish trip! Dawson is 5 and a half years old, and as of last Thursday, officially told his wish granters that he'd like to go to Disney World!
Dawson was a typical, healthy 4.5 year old last year at this time, and then suddenly he broke out into hives (which honestly wasn't all that abnormal for him). The hives eventually lead to his entire lower body swelling and turning purple. D went into the hospital on May 15, 2013, and on June 25 of last year, he had both feet amputated and skin grafts of his lower body due to his illness (officially diagnosed as purpura fulminans). The first time around, he was in the hospital for 84 days. After his discharge, he had a couple of additional hospital stays, including one for a bone infection, and re-grafting of his knee.
In January of this year, Dawson had his most recent hospital stay, for intense rehab to use his prostheses. And these days, you can find him looking adorable with his new legs on - Ninja Turtles! (Family pic with Dad, Mom, and his little brother Wes, who is 16 months younger than him).
Yep...and now climbing a rock wall at school. (He's had his legs less than 4 months!!)
He still has some lasting damage from his illness, and will have to have additional surgeries down the road (into his teens), but for now, he is pretty much a typical 5 year-old...although instead of putting on shoes each day, he puts on feet.
How we got to this wish is a long story (maybe for another day), but we are here. We requested October for his trip, and I'm excited (and sooo intimidated) to start planning!
Dawson was a typical, healthy 4.5 year old last year at this time, and then suddenly he broke out into hives (which honestly wasn't all that abnormal for him). The hives eventually lead to his entire lower body swelling and turning purple. D went into the hospital on May 15, 2013, and on June 25 of last year, he had both feet amputated and skin grafts of his lower body due to his illness (officially diagnosed as purpura fulminans). The first time around, he was in the hospital for 84 days. After his discharge, he had a couple of additional hospital stays, including one for a bone infection, and re-grafting of his knee.
In January of this year, Dawson had his most recent hospital stay, for intense rehab to use his prostheses. And these days, you can find him looking adorable with his new legs on - Ninja Turtles! (Family pic with Dad, Mom, and his little brother Wes, who is 16 months younger than him).
Yep...and now climbing a rock wall at school. (He's had his legs less than 4 months!!)
He still has some lasting damage from his illness, and will have to have additional surgeries down the road (into his teens), but for now, he is pretty much a typical 5 year-old...although instead of putting on shoes each day, he puts on feet.
How we got to this wish is a long story (maybe for another day), but we are here. We requested October for his trip, and I'm excited (and sooo intimidated) to start planning!
