THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP

Love and friendship is universal, transcending distance, background, and ethnicity.  The Yianas family is reminded of this daily as the prayers, good wishes, and kind gestures continue to be received and appreciated from all over the world for Theofanis' fight against neuroblastoma. It's truly evident at Eleni's corporate Pentair family, where compassion for Theo has poured in with several amazing expressions of support through individual endeavors by colleagues and their families, both domestically and internationally.

Eleni has worked at Pentair/Everpure for thirteen years. Many of her co-workers have witnessed and shared her most important milestones in her life. They knew her when she was single. They saw her marry Kosta. They threw her a baby shower during her first pregnancy. They held Deme, Theo and Sophia when they were babies. They have watched her and Dean raise their children. And, they cried with her while they tried to comfort her moments after she received that dreadful call from the doctor on May 4th. 

Eleni's home office colleagues in Hanover Park, once Theo was diagnosed, immediately wanted to somehow make life a little easier for Theofanis and the Yianas'. Led by Mike Madsen (Eleni's boss and Dean's fellow political guru), colleagues and friends wanted to pitch in to get Theo an iPad 2. So, with that goal in mind, their creativity led them to design and order  "Support Theo Wristbands." These bright orange (Theo's favorite color) wristbands were offered in exchange for a $5.00 contribution. Through everyone's kindness and generosity, they raised enough money to purchase Theofanis his very own fully-loaded iPad2 with 3G service... and then some. While Theo is in the hospital, he uses "FaceTime," that allows him to speak with and see a live video of his sisters at home. They talk, make faces, act goofy, and share stories of their days. Also, the iPad has plenty of apps and games to keep Theo occupied and engaged throughout his many hours of treatment. The iPad has genuinely provided Theo with a great deal of comfort and happiness throughout his stays at the hospital and has kept his mind and hand-eye coordination very sharp throughout this ordeal. 

Frederick Chang and family have been extremely loving and supportive throughout Theo's journey to victory. Frederick is Eleni's friend and co-worker based out of California. Knowing that Theo is a Presidential buff and has ambitions of someday occupying the White House, Frederick contacted all the living former Presidents and President Obama, informing them of Theo's medical situation and desire to join their rank. Frederick's persistence netted responses from all but President Obama to date.  Presidents Carter and Clinton wrote personally to Theo, with President Carter writing a full letter to him. Frederick presented the responses from the Presidents to Theo in a wonderful binder and the gesture and the kind words are inspirational to him. Theo even displayed the binder in his hospital window during his last chemo cycle over the 4th of July, and he received quite a few "WOWs" from some very impressed doctors and nurses!  

In addition to all the support coming directly from colleagues, it's heartwarming for the Yianas' when expressions of encouragement pour in from co-workers' families.  Spouses, children, and parents of colleagues are praying for Theo. Children who have never met Theo, but have learned about him through their mom or dad and have read about him on this blog, are calling him a friend. When Dave Walczyk, a supervisor at the Hanover Park facility, brought home a flyer about Theo, his eight year old son named Zach decided to raise money for him. A determined young boy, he found three large glass jugs, made his father cut a slit through the cap, and began filling the jar with coins from his home. He took his cause to neighbors, explaining that he was raising money for Theo. When Theo saw the first jar that Eleni brought home with a note from Zach, he thought it was pretty cool! Frederick Chang's son, Travis also rallied his fellow Key Club members in California, where they raised money to send Theo an iPod with Greek children's music.   

Best wishes and prayers are also being sent from international colleagues. In Japan, Everpure employees there began working on hand-folding 1,000 origami paper cranes for Theofanis once they heard the news. They did this with the help of family members in their spare time. According to an ancient Japanese tradition, the folding of the paper cranes will grant a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. Along with a Japanese toy, the 1,000 prayers were shipped to Theo while he was in the hospital, and it brought color and life to his room and to the Yianas' hearts. 

Theofanis has received emails, cards, gifts, prayers and best wishes from friends throughout the US....from Minneapolis to Milwaukee, California to New York, and Florida to Seattle. Gifts and prayers have come in from each end of the globe, from Europe to Shanghai, China. Even colleagues from CPT, a newly acquired company in the Netherlands, sent a little something  to help keep Theo safe and healthy while he's immuno-compromised. With prayers coming in from all over the world, it demonstrates that the power of love and faith is strong everywhere!  

More and more bands continue to appear on the wrists of colleagues each day.  And as these friends express that they will wear them until Theo is cured from his cancer, Eleni and Dean feel extremely lucky and blessed to have their Pentair Family walking along side them during this journey. Thank you to all these wonderful people... colleagues, bosses, distributors, suppliers, and their families... for your personal generosity, support, encouragement, and prayers. 

THE SPOT

After Theofanis came home from the hospital on July 5, Eleni and Kosta tried very hard to keep Theo from getting another fever as he did after the first two cycles of chemotherapy. They did not want to go back to the hospital before it was necessary and Theo would be very upset to have another stay in between cycles. However, since the medicine was different for cycle three, they did not really know what to expect.  The doctors indicated that after the administration of the Cisplatin and Etoposide drugs, there would be much more nausea. To curb this, Theo was given round the clock doses of Zofran, Benadryl, and Ativan -- anti-nausea medications-- at various intervals. In addition, another side effect from the chemotherapy medication is lack of appetite. Kosta and Eleni had to ensure not only that Theo eat but that he stayed hydrated as he would need to get IV nutrition if he did not. Thankfully, Theo ate and drank enough to avoid the IV nutrition through much persuasion and explanation, and a touch of coercion. The nausea lingered, however. As Mom and Dad tried to drop one of the anti-nausea medications,  Theo would get sick again.  After about fourteen days, Theo finally was off all of the medications.

Kosta and Eleni were overly cautious during this round of recovery from chemo to protect him against exposure to any viruses or bacteria.  With the exception of a 30 minute outing to accept his baseball trophy, Theo stayed home and did not have visitors. Typically, after the first week to ten days back home after chemotherapy, the white blood cells dip very low and can cause a patient to become neutropenic, as had happened after the first two cycles. Eleni and Kosta awaited the first blood results with anticipation and were shocked to find that Theofanis' White Blood Cell Count and Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) were very high when they expected them to be very low. The doctors really had no explanation for this. As the days went by, the counts dropped and were more in line with the other cycles. After fourteen days Theo's WBC count was zero.  

As Mom and Dad were at work last Thursday, Theo's nose started to bleed. Both grandmothers were at home with him, Demetra and Sophia. Although, it was not bleeding profusely, the flow would not stop. After many feverish phone calls back and forth between Eleni, Kosta, home, and the hospital about what to do and where to go, Eleni raced home to take him to the local ER. But thankfully, the bleeding stopped. It was determined that Theo needed a blood transfusion. Kosta took Theofanis to Comer Children's Hospital on Friday for a blood transfusion and a platelet transfusion.  Although, Kosta and Theo spent virtually all day at the hospital, Theofanis felt a whole lot better afterward. Even better, he had no fever, so they were given the thumbs up to leave. So in return, Theo gave them a thumbs up as he left, happy that it was an outpatient day. 

Eleni and Kosta pray and give thanks to God that Theofanis  has been fever-free during this recovery period from Chemo #3. Theofanis' blood counts are being monitored closely. If they continue to increase at good levels, Theo will return to Comer Children's Hospital on Thursday, July 21st for the fourth cycle of chemotherapy. He will be admitted to the hospital for four days of chemo.  

WITH LOVE, FAITH AND PRAYER HE WILL WIN!

Saturday and Sunday were quiet, fun, and almost "normal" days for the Yianas family.  Theofanis was able to attend church and serve in the altar, too. Although still cautious about infection, Theofanis did receive some special visitors on Saturday. Nouna Evy and Nouno George came by the house before their upcoming trip to Greece. Theo was ecstatic to see his Godparents and so were Demetra and Sophia. Arms filled with presents and sweets for all the kids, they spent several hours with Theofanis, helping him complete his new Legos set. But their most precious gift was their news that Nouna will make a special pilgrimage to the island of Tinos. The Greek Isle of Tinos is where the holy place of Panagia's church of the Megalochari is located, as is the Monastery of Agia Pelagia. Tinos is a place of miracles. There, she will pray for her precious Godson. And from there, Nouna will bring back Holy Unction (Efchalio) and Holy Water for Theofanis.  "Kalo Taxidi" Nouna and Nouno, and may the lambada you light in Tinos burn brightly for our Theofanaki.  

When Theofanis is cured and has triumphed over this cancer, Eleni, Kosta, Demetra, Sophia and Theofanis will go to Tinos to echo their personal prayers of thanksgiving.


1 John 4:7, 11-12
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God... since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.


Thanks to all that have shared God's love with Theo!