The Bonn Family

    09.01.18 | Children People of CUMC Family by Marsha Bonn

    The Bonn Family

    We are the Bonn Family, Owen is 4.5 and is in the Dolphin room and Ellie is 1 and just started in the Tree Frog room! As some of you may already know, Owen has Retinoblastoma (eye cancer) in both eyes.  He was diagnosed at the age of 2 and we visit Philadelphia at least once a month for treatment. Owen receives many different kinds of treatment - it all depends on if the tumors are active or not (among other variables).  “Some” of the treatments he has received include:  6 months of  systematic chemotherapy, 10 rounds chemo eye injections, 3 rounds of radiation and cryotherapy (freezing the tumor) too many times to count.  So to say Philly is our second home is an understatement – we are there a lot!  Traveling to Philly can be expensive but more importantly it can take a toll on your family mentally, especially for Owen – every time we get in the car to head to Philly he knows it is probably going to hurt. 

    One of the positive things we look forward to as a family is staying at the Ronald McDonald House (RMH).  It has become our home away from home and we consider the staff there to be family.  While staying at the RMH, you literally become a member of their family – you are expected to clean up after yourself, do the dishes, help make food, clean your room, take the trash out and support one another – every night at 6pmdinner is served family style, it is provided by a volunteer group.  I could go on and on about how special of a place it is, but we wanted to keep this blurb short!  If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask us (Josh and Marsha Bonn).  If you ask Owen what his favorite part of the RMH is – he would say the air hockey table, we have spent many, many hours playing!  If you want to know more abou  the Philly RMH, you can visit their website.  
    Thank you so much for collecting tabs, something that you are doing that you might think is very little is making a huge difference in people’s lives – so on behalf of the families that stay at the RMH THANK YOU!

    You can also follow Owen’s story here by searching for Owen Bonn.

     

    Editors Note: CUMC has a canister at the Bridge in The Gathering for soda can tabs for RMD