SANTA CAME TO MY HOUSE

On Friday the 22nd of December Santa visited Brendan, Kieran, Tara and our friend Aidan at Brendan's house ( pictured). He brought with him two large sacks of toys.

A month ago Aidan entered The David Jones 'Make a Wish to Santa' competition. One of his wishes was 'for Brendan to get better'. Well, Santa saw Aidan's wish and he won the state prize for not only himself but for Brendan too. Santa's elves contacted Brendan and Aidan's Mums to find out what they would like. Santa granted our children's wishes with many gifts and much joy.

A very special thank you goes to Aidan for his special thoughts and kind heart in wishing Brendan well to Santa.

Brendan, Aidan, Kieran and Tara had a great time opening gifts three days before Christmas (Brendan thought Santa was going to arrive in his sleigh). Brendan was showered with gifts that were beyond anything he could of imagined. Santa gave him a Roboraptor, a Ninetendo Wii Play Station, a Leap Frog learning pad and many Star Wars toys. It really was a very special morning for the kids.

BRENDAN and his family would like to wish all our family and friends a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

BRENDAN TRANSPLANT NEWS

Yesterday we found out that the donor in the US is not a good match with Brendan and is not able to be his marrow donor. The search for a more suitable donor is continuing. We have been told that it will take between 1-3 months. In the meantime Brendan is going to try a drug called Enbrel to try and control his fevers and his joint pain. Fingers crossed that this drug will give Brendan some freedom from the symptoms of his illness for a little while and give him the energy to start school in Term 1 next year. Brendan's doctor has been discussing Brendan's illness with other doctors who are on a committee for children with MDS. All the doctors in Australia are in agreement that Brendan needs a marrow transplant. For now we wait and hope that a suitable donor can be found soon.

Tomorrow we are heading off to a holiday house owned by the Childhood Cancer Association. The house is in Inman Valley on the Fleurieu Peninsula and is near Brendan's Grandparents, Aunt, Uncle and Cousins. We will spend 5 nights at the house and spend Christmas day with Anna's family.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone from Brendan, Richard, Anna, Tara and Kieran.