Spring is here!  With all the lovely blossoms and birds chirping come the familiar sounds of .... Construction!!  Eeeek....   The streets of Ottawa are booming with construction, there is a whole lot of fixing and building going on that is for sure....

Over here at Candlelighters we are busy building a fantastic Team Candlelighters for Tamarack's Ottawa Race Weekend!  Check out candlelighters.net and see who else is participating and fundraising for Candlelighters.  Thank you VERY much to all of them.  I am really thrilled with the enthusiasm they are showing, and their commitment to supporting Candlelighters.  Here's a story from Jenny and why she's running.....

I am running the Ottawa race weekend's half marathon for my daughter Phoebe Rose and the many other children and families who have been affected by a childhood cancer diagnosis.  Phoebe was just 10 weeks old when she was diagnosed with infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia.  Hearing this diagnosis was devastating and instantly changed our lives.  Our priorities shifted and life became solely about bringing our family through this crisis together, with love and support, and saving Phoebe.  Phoebe has overcome incredible odds, travelling from her home in Ottawa, first to Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children and then to Memphis' St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, for treatment of her very aggressive cancer.  She has had infections, life threatening side effects from her life saving medications, relapse, and many days she has fought just to survive.  She is my inspiration.  When I am running and I feel tired, I think of her and all that she has endured.  I think of all of the smiles and the joy that she has brought to this fight.  And I think of the other children we have met on this journey, some who are thriving and others who have lost their lives.  Each of them is a hero.  I am running in memory and in honour of these children and with hope that awareness of childhood cancer will be raised.  And finally, I am running with thanks to Candlelighters, a wonderful organization that has supported and celebrated these heroes and their families.  Phoebe's journey is at Phoebe

Phoebe Rose

Amidst all the outside construction, you may not have noticed some changes to the Sens Den on 4North.  Thank you very very much for all those who participated in the Sens Den survey.  Your feedback was vital to the discussions I had at CHEO and I am thrilled to say that the Sens Den will be undergoing some changes of its own.  Based on your surveys responses, a new fridge will be arriving - bigger than the previous one with more space for individual family's food.  There will be no freezer on this fridge, but it will accommodate more food and be more suitable for the families of 4North.

You'll be able to eat your warmed up food (a new microwave!) at the bar height table with stools then relax on one of the comfy chairs or the couch.  This is wonderful news for our families whose children are inpatients on 4North and it should be freshly painted, the new blinds up and the furniture in by June.  That's the plan and I am very hopeful everything will be on schedule.

Additionally, some new sleep chairs have been ordered and are on the way, arriving maybe as soon as this month!  CHEO is committed to supporting patients and families and I believe this is evidence of that and I am happy to have had opportunity to work together with them in finding some solutions.

It's been great meeting some of you at CHEO on Tuesday mornings.  Tamsin and I are really happy to put some faces to names and look forward to seeing you at the MDU in the upcoming weeks.  Here is a pic of us with MollyPenny at MDU last week.

Our friend MollyPenny

Special greetings to my friend Spiderman who I saw earlier this week, on his way to school no less!

Hopefully you'll be out swinging your clubs before long.  I will be .... FORE!

'Til next time....

Jocelyn