Max’s Militia

Today was check up day. All is well! While we were there we found out Flashes of Hope would be taking pictures today. They asked Max if he’d like to do it. So he jumped in to get some 📸 taken.

He also had time to stop and visit some doctors and nurses over at 9B. So, 9B friends if we missed you today, Max says hi! ❤️

If anyone was tagged in a post about buying shirts, that was not us. I apologize for any confusion. It was just brought to our attention. Please don’t buy anything from whoever that is! Thanks!!

Another successful check up! Today was the last day Dr. M will be there for Max’s check ups. She’s been there since day 1 of his diagnosis. We are forever grateful that she was a part of his team. We are gonna miss her!! Thank you Dr. Mamauag for taking care of our dude!! 🧡🧡

Max finished up his last little league baseball season last night in a championship game. They didn’t win, but it was a good game. A great way to end his little league career. Still blessed that he was able to play! 🧡 ⚾️

What a great vacation! Max is thriving and we are grateful to be along for the ride!!🎗️

He refused to take a “normal” picture, so here ya go…but he had another successful monthly check up. All still looks great! 😊

Max finished up his 6th grade year today! He made distinguished honors all 4 nine weeks! Super proud of our dude! Now onto 7th grade! 😎

We know the power of prayer can work wonders. Max is proof. We are asking that everyone continue to say some prayers 🙏🏻 for our dear friend Sheila in hopes that she finds a donor ASAP. Please share, it could make a difference! ❤️

www.nkr.org/FWC379

It’s Max’s 12th birthday! 🥳 We’re at the hospital, but only for a normal check up. Hoping all goes smooth. Then back in action for baseball tonight! ⚾️

Max wanted to congratulate his buddy Jeff Carter on his retirement! 🏒

Jeff is certainly a special person and we’ve enjoyed getting to know him and watching him play! Wishing you and your family the best as you start the next chapter! 💛 🖤

Celebrating the 🔔 ringing and Gio’s birthday!

We are going to do our best to live stream this afternoon. It will be sometime after 3:00pm. ❤️

Today is all about this kid. He did the thing, he beat leukemia! 💪🏻 When we started this journey two years ago, we had NO IDEA what our lives were going to be like. We took each day as it came and made the most of it. There were good days and bad days - but we kept trucking along. We prayed, we cried, we worried, we laughed, we did it all. Max, the true super hero, fought the whole time. He had his many mood swings, and ups & downs. Thank goodness for the amazing staff on 9B to handle it all. From the days of playing Mario Kart, losing baby teeth at 4am, fake fainting, mispronouncing names on purpose, midnight beef jerkey runs, random fevers, rage rash (how could I forget that????), constant asking of “do I have ANCs today?”, from extreme meltdowns to being incredibly happy…they saw it all and held our hands the whole time. We are still so ever grateful to all of you. It was all of you who helped us through one of the worst times of our lives…all of us. WE couldn’t have done it without YOU!

We are so fortunate that Max has had the best doctors and care team around and that we live so close to UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

It’s amazing to think we started this journey 2 years ago, almost to the day. We are now on the other side looking back and it seems so surreal. We did that. MAX did that. Today, he finally gets to ring that 🔔. We have prayed for this day. Congratulations Max! You did it! 🎉 ❤️

On Monday, Max will be ringing this bell. We cannot wait. If you missed Scott’s post last week, he is collecting well wishes videos for Max. See below…

Max will be ringing the bell at Children’s on April 1st! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼. We are working on a little surprise for Max accomplishing this huge milestone in his journey. I wanted to ask if anyone would be interested in sending Max a little video message to join in the celebration 🎉. A quick something on your iPhone/cell phone of choice would be more than enough and beyond appreciated!
Planning to create a special video for Max that we can surprise him with in the near future🧡🧡🎗️🎗️.

Feel free to send it here on Facebook messenger or to my email [email protected]

Thank you for all the love, support, and kindness!!🙌🏼

Max will be ringing the bell at Children’s on April 1st! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼. We are working on a little surprise for Max accomplishing this huge milestone in his journey. I wanted to ask if anyone would be interested in sending Max a little video message to join in the celebration 🎉. A quick something on your iPhone/cell phone of choice would be more than enough and beyond appreciated!
Planning to create a special video for Max that we can surprise him with in the near future🧡🧡🎗️🎗️.

Feel free to send it here on Facebook messenger or to my email [email protected]

Thank you for all the love, support, and kindness!!🙌🏼

Well we did a thing today, several actually, but one step closer to being done.

Last Bone Marrow biopsy ✅
Clinic Visit ✅
Echocardiogram ✅

Up next:
Bell ringing - April 1st 🔔
Hockey game - April 15th to celebrate! 🏒

One of the exciting announcements this week:

I can officially remove this reminder from my phone! Max took his final dose of chemo tonight! 💪🏻

That’s a wrap for this dude’s elementary basketball career. So glad he was able to participate this year. 🏀

There will be some exciting things to share with you all this week! (I know we still need to get all of his Make-a-Wish trip posted!) Stay tuned…

We got back last night from Max’s trip. It was incredible. We have a ton of pictures to go through to share with everyone…so here is a teaser. There will a bigger post with more pictures and details!

Made it to the plane! Time to go see the mouse!!

This dude is about to start his last month of chemo! Looks like bell ringing 🔔 will be happening beginning of April! It’s been a loooooonnngggg two years and we are so grateful for all of the thoughts, prayers and well wishes we have received. This kid fought and he fought hard. 💪🏻 Max will finally get to take his Make-a-Wish trip next week! ✈️ We are certainly excited to celebrate the strength of this kid.

He missed out on playing in the snow last year. He couldn’t wait to out today! ❄️

Monthly check up was good. Counting down the days until we ring that bell 🔔. We are super super close! 💪🏻

Max was invited to an IUP basketball practice today. He had fun watching the guys scrimmage and then got to shoot around with them after. As always Coach Lombardi and the players welcomed him in as part of the team. Max said his favorite part was getting to shoot with the guys. 🏀

As we close out 2023…we once again thank everyone who has been in our corner. This year was little calmer than 2022, but still held some surprises. With 2024 only hours away, we are looking ahead to the good things that await, such as Max ringing that bell this spring!! 🔔

We hope everyone has a very blessed New Year! ❤️

Last year vs. this year! So glad to be home this year! Merry Christmas!!

Last time this year we were checking into Children’s to put the last and final round 5 behind us. We got to visit with Sidney Crosby before we got admitted - so thankful this year we are in a good place and able to be celebrating Christmas at home, no packing up and preparing to be separated for the holidays!
Hug the ones you love, laugh, eat too much, have another drink, smile, and enjoy every minute of this holiday season! Wishing you all nothing but the best this holiday season!!