Hannah!

If you are in the New Hampshire area and have access to WMUR Channel 12, our very own sweet, smart, artistic, fabulous Hannah is going to be featured on the 5 o'clock news either tomorrow (Wed.) or Thursday. Hannah and Jamie have been best friends for just about their entire lives, and I consider myself lucky a million times over to have Hannah's mom, Nikki, in my life. Nikki has been incredible for me through our journey with Annie ... and in the middle of it all, her amazing Hannah was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. Hannah and her family now visit Children's in Boston regularly, and we have even managed to pass through on the same day at one point.

We are so, so hopeful -- along with everyone who loves Hannah -- that the newest medication is making the difference in turning Hannah's disease around. It has been a tough road for all of them, ESPECIALLY since the latest med has to be injected weekly by Nikki. Nikki's strength and fortitude as a mother amaze me constantly! (Nikki and I comment often upon the craziness that life has dealt us -- that we have become such incredible friends and we both have kids who are ... giving us a run for our money, shall we say?) Nikki often prefaces some news about Hannah with some nonsense about it "not being a heart problem" or "not what you have faced with Annie." This experience has taught me another thing -- and that is that there is no degree to worrying about your children. Worry is worry when it comes to our little guys, and there is no sliding scale. We deal with what we are dealt; but, more importantly, we are all stronger than we give ourselves credit for being.

We will be joining the Thompson family in supporting Hannah and arthritis research at the Arthritis Walk on May 10 (https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=260885&lis=1&kntae260885=89AC9D7042B64A49B61AD7055A5DB392&supId=204154983). You can read Hannah's story on their blog at http://www.hannahhugs.blogspot.com/. Hannah's dad, Michael, heard from the arthritis folks that they were having a hard time getting the message out about arthritis and the walk. He promptly contacted the local news, and the news story that will run this week is a result of his efforts. (Go, Michael! And being the marketing person that I am, I have to help in whatever small way I can!) So Tivo, DVR, set the VCR, whatever, but catch beautiful Hannah and her amazing family sharing their story on the news!