Voluntarily Mugged in Times Square!

Tonya has just posted a comment saying "What is the CD picture of Andy?". I'm glad I have become good friends with Tonya as otherwise I might be offended by the fact that she has expertly managed to detect the one picture associated with a ridiculous story and highlight it to the world!

The picture I think she is referring to is this one:


I'd like to say that this was a picture of me with a famous rap star...Fifty Cent...P Diddy....some one like that... but we all know the story isn't going to pan out like that.

I'd just like to start by saying, in my defence, I had just stepped off a plane so I was tired, jet-lagged, etc.

So we were in times square and the guy in the picture stops me in the street. Clare knew right from the start where it was heading but what you can't see in the picture is the oblivious bubble I'm standing in! The guy tells me he's DJ BlingMan (or something). He's filming for MTV and can I look up at the top of the tall sky-scraper, where there's a camera(!), and repeat a message along the lines of "Yo, whasup, this is DJ BlingMan on MTV!" I do this, and then he puts his cap on my head and gets Clare to take a picture.

I'm having a great time, grinning like an idiot. Clare is rolling her eyes up and giving me a look that says I know what's going on but you are clearly clueless. Passers-by just think I'm a moron.

So then he thrusts two of "his" CDs in my hands and says I can have them. "What a lovely, generous man!", I think. THEN, he says that they would normally cost $10 each but he'll let me have them both for $10. I tell him I only have $5. He takes one CD from me and packs me on my way. "His" CD is a load of other rappers tunes he's downloaded and burnt onto CD. I haven't listened to it yet!

Of course, Clare tells me how she saw it all along and what a muppet I am! But you may be wondering where she got this lovely cap from!


Later in the holiday, we get stopped by another guy. Admittedly, this guy is funnier and working for a charity. After exchanging a few witty comments, he asks Clare if she'd like to donate money for the kids in exchange for a cap (I think this guy was legit....he had a pass round his neck and there were a few of them standing around). So although I payed $5 for a copied CD, Clare paid $10 for a (dirty) cap which she could have got for $3 from a street-seller. At least it was for a good cause!

New York, New York!

Although I am dying to blog about meeting Tonya, Cat, Jennifer, Candi, Elise et al - I have decided to be disciplined and start at the beginning - New York!

(View of New York sky-line from Liberty Island)

The first week of our three week holiday was spent in New York. Despite getting caught in quite a heavy rainstorm when we first arrived, the temperature was generally very hot. We'd managed to get a very small apartment close to the subway and it served as a useful base. From here we took in all the sights New York had to offer - the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Central Park and the Natural History Museum to name but a few.

We especially liked the food in New York (and just about everywhere else!). Here we are in Bubba Gump on Times Square.

I was particularly excited about the Alabama Mud Pie on the desert menu!


It turns out that American portion sizes are very large - This cake was meant for two to share but could probably feed a small family for a week!


It was an excellent start to the holiday - because we had a whole week, we had plenty of time to relax and recover from our busy work lives.

Anyway, I've only posted a few photos - if you are interested (and have a lot of time!) the rest of the New York pictures can be found here.

Next stop - Tonya's in Michigan!

We're back!

Hi all,

Clare and I have finally arrived back from our American adventure! We've had an amazing time and met some even more amazing people. I will blog in great detail over the next few weeks but, as we're both very tired from all the travelling, I'll leave you with a few statistics from our travels to whet your appetite!

Number of miles flown: 11,417
Number of planes taken: 8
Number of hours in the air: 30
Number of states visited: 5
Number of cities visited: 6 (if you include Monroe!)
Number of times Andy has packed the suitcases: 7
Number of near death experiences: 2
Number of burgers eaten: Too many to count!
Number of pounds of weight gained by both of us: Too embarrassing to tell!
Number of pounds of money spent: Will have to let you know when I've put out my burning bank statement!
Number of hours sleep in the last 24 hours: 0
Number of amazing people we finally got to meet in person: Loads!!!!

That's all the energy I have! I'll be back in a few days to update you all a bit more. But finally, thanks to all the amazing people that made this trip one that we'll remember always!

We're going to America!

Well, it's been over a month since I last blogged for two reasons; we have no further news on our baby situation and we have both been unbelievably busy with our jobs. I think it's fair to say that the work/life balance in the Dungey household is definitely off-balance!

We do have some good news though! We are taking a three-week holiday to America and we are going to meet up with some of our new blogging American friends! Our schedule is pretty hectic but here's a little breakdown:

New York - to see the sights
Monroe via Detroit - to spend some time with Tonya, Knoah and family
Chicago - whirlwind tour
Las Vegas - to meet with Candi who's flying in from Utah
L.A - Hollywood fame at last!
San Francisco - to soak up some American culture
Home - to sleep off the jet lag!

Tonya and Candi have both been incredibly supportive of Clare and I throughout the whole process of the pregnancy, birth and loss of Theodore and we are thrilled to have the chance to meet them in person at last! We may also have the chance to meet Jennifer who is Grandma to a little boy called Owen who has Achondroplasia. She has also kept in constant touch with us. We are very grateful to have so many people caring for us, both near and far.

The results

Firstly, sorry it's been a while since I last posted anything. Both our jobs have been very hectic over the last month or so and it's been hard to find time to fit everything in. Thank you to everyone who faithfully checks the site!

We received our genetic results this week and they were not as positive as we had hoped. Our geneticist told us that they had found the genetic "change" in Theo that they were expecting. This confirms the Kniest diagnosis reported by the post mortem. Having tested my blood, they also found the same genetic change in some of my blood cells. This means that I exhibit mosaicism in these cells - some of them are regular and some are dwarf!

It is safe to assume that at least some of my sperm cells are affected in the same way as this is how Theo got the condition. In the worst case scenario, all of them will be affected and this has led the geneticist to give us a 50% chance of recurrence. Although, potentially the risk could be lower than this, it is very difficult to determine what percentage of sperm cells are affected so they have to go with the worst case scenario.

The presence of a genetic marker means that pre-natal testing will be possible at about 11 weeks. At the moment, Clare and I are still coming to terms with the situation and so have no clear idea of what we are going to do next.

Prior to getting the news, we had already decided that it would be wise to seek the counsel of a couple in our church to help us along the way. In addition to this, we had also considered that professional counselling might be a good idea too. Now that we have the results, we are definitely going to proceed with both of these.

We are also planning to see the genetic counsellor again, once the dust has settled, to ask him further questions about our options.

Sorry to have to break this news to everyone via the blog. Both Clare and I really value your continued prayer and support!

Taking the plunge!

I've been meaning to post this for over a week now but have been so busy that I have only just got round to it! We received an email from Clare's friend Di who made the decision recently to get baptised. Baptism is a public declaration that you believe in God and want to follow him. It also involves getting quite wet! Christians get baptised to follow the example of Jesus who was baptised by John (... the Baptist, funnily enough!). This is part of the email that Di sent us, explaining why she made the decision.

Although I was Christened as a baby and Confirmed as a teenager in the Anglican church, and have been a practising Christian at Martlesham Christian Fellowship for 23 years, God has been nudging me for quite a while now to affirm my faith!

After many discussions, and much prayer, I was baptised by full immersion (adult baptism) this weekend, in the sea at Sizewell (church weekend at the Christian Conference centre there), to affirm my love for God (photos attached). It was amazing! God is good!

I just thought you would like to know, as your testimony through the blog, and your example of ongoing love for God through Theo's life and death has been one of many influencing factors in my decision.

This was very exciting news for us! Di has been a great support to us over the last few months (I still remember the lovely food parcel she had delivered as a surprise for us when we came home from work one day....mmm!). It is even more touching that Theo had his own small part to play in her decision. Clare and I are both very happy for her!

Meet the Sims!

Clare and I had the great pleasure of meeting Geoff and Valerie Sims yesterday. Val has been in regular email contact with us since before Theo was born and has a particular interest in us as both her and her two boys have Achondroplasia. She has been very supportive and encouraging from the start and it was fantastic to finally meet her and Geoff in person!



They both came to our church service and then back to Clare's mum's house afterwards. We all talked for ages, each sharing different experiences both serious and amusing. By the end, it certainly seemed to me and Clare like we were all old friends. We both left feeling full of joy and I'm sure it won't be the last time we meet up.

God brings good things out of bad situations. Although losing Theo is still hard for us, we have met so many wonderful people who have enriched our lives more than we could imagine possible. For that, we feel greatly blessed!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3 20-21

One step closer

Finally, I have some more news for you!

I had a phone call from our geneticist yesterday who told me that he had got the results of my x-rays back from Great Ormond Street. The good news is that they have said that they can't find any link between me and Theo! You may remember that when we first went to see the geneticist, he was concerned that I exhibited some of the same issues as Theo (shortness, wonky legs, arthritis, cloth ear, etc). He had thought there might be the possibility that I had mosaicism. If I did, it could potentially increase the risk that we could have another child with the same condition.

It seems that this is not the case and so hopefully the chances of recurrence are greatly reduced. We have yet to see him officially to get the full details and we still have to wait for the results of Theo's genetic tests to come back. Nevertheless, this is a very positive sign and gives us hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The geneticist is still chasing Theo's genetic results to see if they're finished so as soon as we know anything, I'll let you all know.

Thanks to you all for your continued prayer and support!

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
Lamentations 3 22-26

When one door closes...

Well, I'm finally back online after quite a few weeks off! Sorry to all those who faithfully check the site and have been disappointed to find nothing new on it. This is partially because Clare and I have just spent 10 days in lovely Cornwall (I'll post some pictures soon!) but mostly because I'm a bit lazy!

Anyway, whilst we were away, Clare got some rather surprising news (I'll preface this by saying it is not baby-related before everyone gets too excited!). The head mistress of her school has left. This means that the current head of the junior school has to take overall headship of the whole school...which means that....

Clare Dungey is now acting head teacher of her Junior School!

... at least for the next term anyway.

This came as quite a shock to pretty much everyone! Although this is a massive leap up for Clare, the new head mistress is sure she up to the challenge. It is quite daunting for Clare because there are so many new things to learn so please remember her in your prayers. It is an amazing opportunity though so we are both very pleased. She led part of her first staff training day today (with very little notice) and seems to have been very successful.

So as we reach the 6-month anniversary of meeting Theo tomorrow, another door of opportunity has opened. Although, it is not in the same league as having a baby, it shows that God has a plan for us and that life does go on.

We'd just like to thank everyone who has supported us, raised money for Theo, prayed for us, written us emails, cooked for us and generally loved us! We couldn't have coped without you!

Jim's half marathon result!

My good friend, Jim, ran the Bath half-marathon yesterday in memory of Theo to raise money for the Restricted Growth Association. I have just received this email from him:

Hi,

Thank you very much to those that sponsored me for the Bath Half Marathon yesterday (and for those that haven't yet done so, you still can via the web-link!!).

We've raised well over £600 in web-donations alone, and with gift aid the total might exceed £1000. I can't thank people enough for their generosity.

In terms of the half marathon result, I can barely walk today, but completed 13.1 miles in a PB of just over 86 minutes. That time puts me a respectable 356 out of around 14,000 entrants.

Hope to catch up with you soon. Thanks again.

Jim

It's still not to late to sponsor him here if you want!

Well done to Jim for such a fantastic result (it's been known for it to take me 86 minutes to manage 1 mile!). Also, our deepest and heart-felt thanks to him for everything he's done. We really appreciate it and know that the money raised will go towards supporting other families like ours!