Quick Update

Since our fundraising work is at a slow pace we have had the time to really focus on Dougie. Lately we have set up a daily routine that includes lots of fun learning, on top of his therapies he has during the week. This past month we worked on circles and, with November, started squares. Dougie is really picking things up quick. He seems to be able to identify a circle at times when we are not even working with them! His favorite part about this is we make songs up of the shape and sing it through out the month. Dougie can also count to ten. We had not specifically worked on this; it seems he learned it from singing different songs such as “this old man”. Goes to show how those ears are working double to pull in information even when you don’t realize he is taking it in! He knows and can say 25+ words without our encouragement and repeats almost everything we say! And he is also now a full time walker! He walks around EVERYWHERE and is now trying to figure out how to make those walking legs running legs. It’s really cute because he tends to stomp his feet really fast but gets no where! Dougies personality is really coming out. He loves attention on him and will do almost anything to get a laugh out of people.

Visually we are noticing improvements on a daily basis. A big one being the difference in the distance he is responding to things. It seems to continue to get further and further. Pre-China he stopped paying attention to things about a foot away from his face. Now he is going after/grabbing at things across the room! His eyes seem to be catching a lot more bright colored objects as well. Pre-China he mostly responded to bright blue. He acknowledges things in every color now but is responding more to red, orange and yellow, at the further distance. But the biggest change we have noticed (and also the most exciting) is when we look into his face he will concentrate really hard and focus his eyes straight to our own. He has done this several times to both of us and it is the best feeling in the world! We don’t know how much he is really seeing with the lack of language but we know it is getting better at this point! We are working on getting an eye doctor appointment scheduled and will make sure we update you with what we hear and find out!

As far as going back to China; we are going to go back for sure but are enjoying this miracle we get to be a part of! We have decided to start fully fundraising again in January and will hopefully be going back sometime around Christmas next year.

With the busy season you might not hear from us and we want to make sure we wish everyone Happy Holidays! Enjoy your friends and family! And eat good foods! Thanks again for following us; until next time…

Here are some pictures of things we have been doing more recently:

Dougie stopped and turned to this pumpkin all on his own using his eyes! HOW EXCITING!

We painted the pumpkin with sand paint (mixed sand and paint together) that way he can feel it after it dries.

This is Dougie's Helping tree. Every time he helps us clean up his toys before bed he got to put a leaf on that he made himself (with sand painting again) the tree trunk is textured paper so he can also feel that! When he put his last leaf up he picked a prize from his treasure chest and then we started taking the leaves off for fall (easy 'new' helping tree concept!)

He loves the park and everything about it from the swings to the spings! He likes to go down the slide as well and walk all the way around to the steps again with no help!

For Halloween Dougie was Frankenstein. Even came with the 'arahhh'! this particular picture looks like an exact replica of a picture of big Doug!

Cutest Frankenstein EVER

Home sweet Home

After a very long 3 weeks and lots of ups and downs we are finally home again! Dougie did great with all his treatments and was such a trooper for those lumbar injections we were so worried about. We couldn’t be more happy with there skills and experience with kids. Dougie barley cried getting IV’s because they were so quick with it all!

 Since treatments we have already noticed improvements in Dougie. His eyes don’t wander around as much which means they are seeing something to stop and try and focus on. He is also responding to light at a further distance. About a foot further than before. He also seems to watch TV. Not in the same sense as we do but he does turn his head toward the light and gets big smiles (specifically for Super why, his now 1st favorite TV show!) It is soo excited to notice these little things and hope we keep noticing more and more! 

We got to know the other families more and more as the time went on and built some good new friendships in such a short time. There was a little girl name Jasmine who has been 3 times in the last year and a half. Before the first treatment she couldn’t talk, walk, not even bare weight on her legs, and also had trouble with sight. Since then she now does all the above and some! It’s really exciting to hear and see these stories and gives us even more faith that Dougie will improve if we keep at it!

 We didn’t get to explore much of China b/c the humidity and Dougie weren’t happy with each other so to make sure he was as comfy as could be we hung out inside in the air. We made Starbucks our safe haven and after eating lots of McDonalds and Pizza Hut we found an Italian Restaurant that was AMAZING. This too made being there much easier.

 With seeing results already we do have plans on going back in the future but will be taking some time to enjoy the family life. We will keep you updated with any new results or other big things going on in his life. If you want to help us now, vote for Dougie at the Gerber Generation Photo Search of 2012, on Facebook. Just search Doug from NJ. The 1st place winner wins $50,000 and this would send us to China 1 and ½ times!!! It would be really cool and save us a lot of work from fundraising! 2nd place winner gets $10,000 which is just as great! You can vote once a day until September 24th! Help us out!!!!!

 We have been back for a couple weeks now but were getting things together for Dougie’s 2nd Birthday which just passed this Saturday. It was a great turn out and everyone partied like a rock star (as our theme was ‘Rock Star’) Dougie has been informed that he can now be terrible and is testing the waters every day. He is also a lot more confident with his walking and using so many new words like ‘ilk’ (milk) and ‘Row-Row’ (to sing row your boat). When u hand him his cup he will say ‘gank-goo’ (thank-you) and at dinner he will ask for ‘mer ore’ (more).

 We just want to again let everyone know how appreciative we are. We wouldn’t have been able to do any of this on our own and because of all you help Dougie’s life is changing for the better! Words will never be able to express the love and thankfulness we have. THANK-YOU! THANK-YOU! THANK-YOU!

We made it!

After a long travel with a couple delays we have made it to China and are getting settled in. I mentioned last update that we had the choice between a facility in Beijing or in Qingdao. We first chose Beijing but were then told Qingdao would probably be better for us and Dougs diagnosis, so that’s where we headed and couldn’t be any happier. Everyone here is so nice and the nurses are great with Dougie. They did blood work and got blood faster than we have ever gotten done in the states! (And yes I will be mentioning this to the nurses at labcorp). He says hi in Chinese better than English and we are also working on good bye, Chi chen (at least that’s how it sounds, haha)

When we first arrived at the hospital after such a long trip our hopes were a bit down and we were feeling very alone in our situation, but since then we have met and talked with several great people who are here for themselves or their children and that has been so uplifting. Currently there are 3 other families here from the US and a couple more from Spain and Argentina (so my Spanish did come in handy).

Doug is having a little trouble with the whole time change adjustment as we are now 12 hours off from NJ! When its 9am there it is 9pm here (the next day). We tried to lay him down for a nap the other day at 1 and he slept till 10! We can only assume as soon as we get comfortable with this time change we will be head back to NJ to start this sleepless fight all over again!

Doug got his first IV treatments today (Friday 3) and did great. They like to start off with IV treatments first to make sure there are no signs of allergic reaction to the stem cells in general and so far so good! Doug’s doctor, Dr. Tony, is really nice. The original treatment plan was 8 IV injections but after going over Dougies medical records and meeting him in person Dr. Tony is now recommending us to do half IV injection and half Lumbar Puncture (LP) injection. This LP injection was something we were very wary about in the beginning being that we would be in China, but after seeing how amazing and experienced the doctors and nurses are with young children it has made us a little more comfortable. We have decided to try it once and see how things go. The toughest part of this LP injection is trying to keep Dougie lying flat and still for 6 hours post treatment. This minimizes some common side effect such as headaches, nausea, and low grade fevers. The longer we can keep him lying still the less the affects will be. They have assured us if we need further medication to help with these side effects they are available. We have full confidence in their capabilities at performing this procedure and Doug will be receiving his first LP treatment Monday.

Out of the Hospital we are like celebrities, People are walking by staring and asking what Doug’s name is. They are amazed to see the blond hair blue eyed little guy. Crossing the street here is like playing a game of frogger, (Thank goodness we have had experience in that game! Haha) and we are lucky enough to have a McDonald’s right across the street. We haven’t made it to the market yet, but hope to go this weekend.

We just want to take some time to say Thank you to big Doug’s Family (Dougies Grandma and aunts) for setting up the Hawaiian Luau. It might have rained but that didn’t stop anyone from having fun! We raised another $700 from that and got to enjoy friends and family before our long travel here. Thanks to everyone who came and partied like a rock star out in that rain! You all are AWESOME!

We will try to keep updating as much as possible! We have been having good luck with our internet since we got here and hope it stays that way. Until next time……. CHI CHEN

Long time no Update... Sorry for the wait!

Sorry for not updating more recently, we have been super busy with a lot of ‘extras’ going on in the Dillon household and came to realize how long its been since we updated, so here we are. More recently we have been preparing our trip to China; we have gotten our passports and are in the process of obtaining Visas. After looking into ticket costs we have realized prices have changed since we last checked which means we will be needing a little more than we had anticipated for. Our original goal was $30,000 but with ticket costs gone up, visas costing $150 each, and then other costly expenses such as extra baggage for Dougie's food, we are looking at $34-$35,000. Fortunately we have been receiving so much support from all over that we are already past our 30 and are at an amazing $31,587 so we aren’t worried at all!

We hope to see everyone at the last event, a Hawaiian Luau, till we take our journey to China and Back. It is the day before we leave, July 28th; from 2-10 at 50 S Poplar Ave. Call: (609)670-5032 or (856)430-5026 for more information. Kid friendly!

We will be leaving the 29th to get to Beijing China on the 31st. We are so excited how close everything is and words CAN’T express our gratitude. With out all of your support and the help and support from our community we wouldn’t be where we are today. From Rita’s water ice to the Burlington County times. Everyone has stepped up and shown us how much love you have for our family and specifically our Son.

Our options have opened as there is another facility they recently started treating at, Yanda international Hospital, located in Beijing China. We originally were going to Chengyang People's Hospital located in Qingdao, China, but are researching this newer facility everyday. We were told that both facilities are open for us on the 31st so this new decision won’t stop the process!

This past weekend was the bar crawl fundraiser that raised an amazing $1200! We had about 40 people (on the bus) cheering Dougie's name and it was seriously an AWESOME night. We want to thank everyone who came, helped, donated, and most of all supported our son, with a special thanks to Jon Nell for putting the event together and for Dooney's Pub & Restaurant and Otts for being so open to helping make the event GREAT!

We would like to send special birthday wishes to Joan Kaighn whose 80th birthday just passed this last week. She asked for all her gifts to be donations toward Doug’s journey, helping raise another $700 bringing our total to $31,587!

We will keep you updated as we get closer, and as long as we get things working, we will be updating from China too! Thanks again to everyone for helping this become a reality! We couldn’t help Doug without all of your help love and support!

"Going to Holland"

Just to clarify things, we are NOT GOING TO HOLLAND!

Our clothes drive ended just this last week and we were able to gather 4,568 pounds which then makes a total of $776.56, WooHoo! Seriously, CHINA HERE WE COME

Don’t forget about our event, May 19th at the Moorestown Rita’s on Camden ave. for a Kids Carnival. 12-4. We get 15% of all sales during that time and will also have some face painting, games and MORE!!! Hope to see everyone there!

And also, All you drinkers; A Bar Crawl event is in the process of planning and you should be hearing more about it in the near future!!! If that sounds interesting keep you eyes peeled!


Ok, so NO, we are NOT going to Holland! This is just a little thing written by Emily Kingsley, called ‘Going to Holland,’ where she describes her experience of having a child with a disability through this metaphoric story. I, Nicole, read it back when I first found out about Dougie while I searched for a perfect quote to wrap around Dougies footprint that I want to get tattooed. When I am asked how I felt when I found out his diagnosis my mind immediately comes back to this story. It is soo True (for us) and I hope sharing it with everyone it will give you all a perspective to what it is my husband Doug and I went through.

And real quick I’d like to say I wouldn’t want be in Italy ever, Holland is right where I am meant to be!


Going to Holland (Emily Perl Kingsley)

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability – To try and help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It is like this…

When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous trip – to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum, The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags, and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland!”

“Holland?!?” you say. “What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.” But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven’t sent you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It’s just a different place. It’s slower paced than Italy, less flashy, than Italy. But after you’ve been there awhile you catch your breath, you look around… and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills…and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy… and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.”

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever, go away… because the loss of that dream is a very Significant loss.

But if you spend the rest of your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things…about Holland.

The End!

Hope you enjoyed it; continue to follow us to Chinaand Back!

-The Dillon Family from Doug’s Journey to Sight.

Great Success!

Last night was a great turn out! We had a full house with lots of fun times. After carefully counting up all the earnings made from our amazing event last night, we came to a total of $8,327, bringing us to a whopping $26,327! This covers the whole 24,000 in treatment costs and some. We can now set a date and start the process of passports and visas. A couple more events and we will be to China in no time! We just want to thank everyone again for the support and love we have seen from all over! Thank-you US Foods for the yummy buffet food, and Roger Wilco for the wonder prices on beverages. Thank-you to the community and all who helped us create the great baskets we raffled off and thank-you to everyone who helped out the night of the event, it wouldn’t have gone as smooth without all your help. And last but not least, thanks again to everyone who came and we hope you all enjoyed yourself as much as we enjoyed ourselves! Keep your eyes out for another post with our scheduling details. And we will also let you know if we will be able to have our kid’s day event, at Rita’s water ice. We are in the process of setting that up for the kiddos to enjoy a good time like we did last night! Thank=you again and we can’t wait to see everyone again at a future events. THANK-YOU

Are you ready?

We are so excited about our upcoming Beef and Beer/ Chinese Auction on April 27; 630-1130. There’s only 4 days left! For only $20 you get to enjoy a wonderful buffet followed by dessert and coffee, open bar ALL NIGHT ($2 Jell-O shots!), and DJ entertainment from DJ EWilz followed by the worlds #1 blind DJ, DJ Touchtone! Along with that we have 25+ Baskets to be auctioned off. You could win a night’s stay at the Hampton OR tickets to a Phillies game. Be the winner of the 50/50 raffle or our best prize, we think, the IPad3. Get your tickets now before its too late; this is a night you won’t want to miss! Space is limited so CALL NOW!!! (856-465-2295). (This event is also the last opportunity to drop off clothes for the Clothes drive) *must be 21 to enter*

We want to thank everyone for the help we are getting to make our event the best it can be. All food for the event has been donated to us by US Foods with the help of our friend Brooks Ferg. We also worked out a great price for beverages with the help of Roger Wilco Liquor store that includes Yuengling, Miller Light, a variety of wines, and vodka to make our $2 Shots! Last but not least we’d like to thank the community for helping out and giving such a great return to the donation request letters we sent out. As I mentioned before we have 25+ baskets to auction off and we would never have been able to provide these if it wasn’t for your help! Thank you so very much!!!!

As I mentioned before, our clothes drive is coming to an end. They will be picked up in the next couple weeks so we made the beef and beer the official last collection day. Bring all your soft house hold items to Moorestown Lenola’s Fire hall; 229 N Lenola Rd. and there will be a place to drop the bags off! The more we collect the more we earn and the clothes are then donated to those in need! It helps 2 great causes so don’t forget!

We recently received a $4,300 check from Immanuel Baptist Church, YAY, and would like to thank the church as a whole for such a generous donation! With this deposited into the account we are now at an amazing total of $18,000!!! WOHOO!! Thank you IBC for raising all that money and getting us that much closer to CHINA!!! With all that we have raised we can now schedule a date for our trip! It is so exciting to know we are almost there and words can’t describe how blessed we are to have so many people that are helping and support us! It really means so much to us all!

On another note, we are in the works of another event, a Kids Day, at Rita’s water ice. Hopefully some time the end of May, before it gets too hot! If you know of anyone who might be able to help us please let us know. We are thinking face painters, games, maybe a balloon maker, and of course the water ice, maybe more. It should be a great day so keep you eyes peeled for more information on this!

…Now to the important part of the blog… about Dougie, hehe. He wants to walk so badly, but is still working on balance. Lately he will take 2-3 steps here and there with out any help from us. It takes a whole lot of ‘WooHoos’ and ‘you can do it’s’ for him to try. He will get there and then wont stop so I m taking in all the still time we get! Doug also has been popping teeth out left and right! He has about 12 teeth through and more on their way. As exciting as it is to chew food with hard teeth it is definitely proving to be a hard battle for him. He’s also had some ear infections that don’t help the situation at all. He still for the most part is his sweet little self and because of it all I get more cuddle time! I still can’t wait for them all to be through and him to really be himself again!

Thanks again for following Doug’s journey and we hope to see everyone on Friday!

Biggest Yet!

We have been in the works of a Beef n Beer/ Chinese Auction and we are finally there! Come enjoy good company, good food, unlimited drinks, and dance the night away. Join us for our biggest event yet on April 27 at the Moorestown Lenola’s Fire Hall, 6:30-11pm. Tickets are $20 a person and each ticket number is entered into a drawing for a door prize! During the night you can enjoy an excellent buffet selection and an open bar (beer and wine) followed by dessert and coffee. There will also be a Chinese Auction with excellent prize baskets, along with a 50/50 raffle. Tickets for the 50/50 are $5 each and are being sold now until the event night. (You must be present to win the 50/50 raffle!) Please get your tickets NOW. Space is limited!
21 and up!

Everything is falling into place and the event should be a great turn out. As of now the hall is reserved, the permits are approved, and tickets are available. The big part of our event was food, but thanks to US Foods, and a good friend, it is in the works of being donated! We have plenty of other ideas in the making and we are working on awesome prize baskets for the Chinese auction! Along with that we are looking for a DJ that can help us provide entertainment for the night. If you have any suggestions please let us know! We are also looking for volunteers for the event night. If you are interested please contact us. Help us reach our goal with our biggest event yet! Invite your friends or family and enjoy the night!

DONT FORGET, we are also still collecting cloths for our clother drive. We take any soft items and you can contact us to figure out how to get them to us! we will be collecting until May of this year. The more we collect the more we make. Doug's Journey will receive .5 cents for each pound we collect, and then the clothes will be donated to people who need them! So basically when u help us you are also helping another cause!

Doug has been perfecting his balance and is standing longer and longer without holding on to any thing! We recently had an eye visit at Wills eye hospital and we found out that the little sight Doug has can be diagnosed as near sighted. The doctor also informed us he does have the ability to fixate on objects but does not follow through with tracking. We already knew this from what he shows us at home, but it was nice to hear a doctor agree with us and it to be documented for other doctors to know as well! Recently Doug has been getting really good at fitting his circle shapes into tight circle shape hole! Yay Doug! He is getting to the age where he lets us know when he wants, and doesn’t want, us to be involved in his play time. He has also become really cuddly and likes to give kisses so we make sure to take advantage of that! He really enjoys roaming the house to find anything new he hasn’t discovered yet! Ha-ha. We are soaking up as much as we can because these times will be gone and he will be off to school before we know it!! :(

HALF WAY!

We had an awesome time at our bowling event. 25 lanes were filled all for Doug’s Journey! WOOHOO!!!!! We had lots of yummy goodies (thank you bakers) and some bows hand made by Tamkins Goodies. We made about $1000 from those sales and another $400 from our 50/50 raffle. We also made another $275 from the winter classic Flyers Jersey that was graciously donated to us from Laurel Lanes. All that added with the other $1000 we made from the bowling tickets adds up to a whopping $2675! We wouldn’t have done it without the help of Laurel Lanes, our table salesWOmen, Becky and Jen, Those who donated baked goods (you all know who you are, and we thank you sooo much!) and also Tammy for her beautiful bows! And lets not forget everyone who came to show their support!

Since then we had the opportunity to attend National Karate Institute's Award ceremony where they generously donated all proceeds from their Chinese auction raising an AMAZING $1,708! We want to thank everyone there for all of the support we received with a special thanks to Master Kim and the Trabold family for going out of their way to get Doug to China, and also to the whole NKI group for all their donations as well. With all this help we will be to China in no time!

We finally got our Doug’s Journey t-shirts in! They are $15 a shirt plus $2 for shipping (if necessary). They come in sizes s-2xl. If you are interested please contact us via email or by phone.

*Front of the Shirt*

*Back of the shirt*


Doug now likes to blow kisses and it is the CUTEST thing ever! He also likes to pat his heart when we talk to him about love and tell him he will never be alone because there are many many people who hold him in their hearts, and they are in his as well. He can now stand himself up in the middle of the room with no help. It may only be for seconds, but those seconds will turn to minutes which will turn to hours and then I will be hollering at him to just SIT DOWN! Ha ha. He continues to move forward and show he will not let his vision slow him down! Recently he started saying Mama… it comes out more like bma bma but this momma right here will take what she gets! She’s only been waiting the last 16 months to hear it! All in all he is doing really well!

Doug will never forget all the help he is receiving (we won’t let him). He may be young now, but this is going to impact the rest of his life and to know how many people care and want to help is just an amazing thing! THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU!


Here are some Pix from our Bowling event on January 14th! Check them out!

*Yummy food*

*Bowling fun*

*NKI*

*Not moms fav pic of herself, but its a good family pic!*

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone had a great holiday. Another Christmas has come and gone and a new year is just beginning. We are ready for 2012, are you?

Let’s start the New Year off right with Bowling for Doug! Join us at Laurel Lanes Bowling Alley on January 14th from 11:30-2. You will need to check in with us before you can get your shoes and the two hour bowling starts at 12. Tickets are $20 a person or $100 to take whole a lane (6 people max). You get 1 pizza pie and 3 Pitchers of soda to share at each lane. Along with bowling we will be selling T-Shirts, support bracelets, and baked goods. Also there will be a 50/50 raffle; $5 a ticket. To purchase your tickets call (856)465-2295; (856)577-5898 now. As of right now we only have 5 lanes reserved because we do have to pay up front. We are capable of getting more if they are available, but if we can tell the alley the amount we need prior to the 14th, then we are promised enough lanes. Please purchase tickets BEFORE the 14th to ensure yourself a spot. Hope to see everyone there!

If you want to donate a baked good for the bake sale please let us know what you plan on bringing. We will need them by January 13th. If you are having trouble getting them to us please feel free to call so we can work something out (856)577-5898.

Clothing drive is still going till May of this year. If you did a new years cleaning or are planning to get rid of those old clothes you never wear, send them our way for our clothing drive. Any soft house hold items are welcome; blankets, pillows, clothes, jackets, etc. We get 15 cents a pound; the more the merrier!

*We are in the process of planning a yummy Spaghetti dinner toward the end of January, more details will be provided. We are trying for the 29th. Keep an eye out for it and keep the date open.*

The holidays were a fun time here at the Dillon’s! Dougie got lots of goodies from Santa, and enjoyed staying up as late as he could on New Years Eve. He made it till 11pm then was acting so funny from lack of sleep that we put him to bed.
He is getting so much more curious in the space around him and is getting into everything around the house. He likes to find certain things in the house like the fridge to stand up and jump while holding onto the freezer handle, or he heads to the bathroom to bang on the tub. He is having a hard time expressing what he wants but what 16 month old doesn’t? He is also now trying to figure out how to stand up with out support! He recently started signing thank you at the appropriate time, with out our prompting him to. He likes to sing the Itsy Bitsy spider with mommy and does all the motions, although some are in his own little way. His little personality shines out more and more and he keeps amazing us daily! He is soo smart and we couldn’t be more proud of him!

Doug with Santa! He liked the way his soft suit felt!

This is Christmas eve. Doug got his special christmas pj's and is ready for the morning!

This was our family christmas card photo. i think it turned out pretty good for a 20 min session after dinner and before work! lol

We hope to see everyone on January 14th. Come ready to bowl and have a good time!