On the Road Again...
On Sept. 15th I walked for the first
time in 3 weeks.
Adelle is also one of my physical
therapists, and she had to support
the cast so I could walk.

Thanks for the shirt Mrs. L.!
Journey V
Skyping into classes at school.  
This was Latin class with Mrs. Troutman.
On Friday, September 25th, we heard something
from Dr. Womer, my attending Oncologist:
REMISSION!!!
We still need to monitor the thing in my tail bone, what ever
it is, but Dr. Womer felt that it was not glowing as much as
the previous scans.  So he was comfortable calling it
remission.  On Monday, September 28 I will go down to
CHOP for broviac removal and hopefully my cast too!
On Saturday, September 26 Mrs. O'Brien had a "Wash
and Roll" car-wash to benefit my new foundation.  A rock
band called the Bahama Mamas played classic rock,
thanks guys!  Thanks to the O'Brien family and all the
volunteers, they helped make a really fun car-wash and
raised $1,200 for pediatric cancer research!
Friends from school came to congratulate me on the good
news.
On Thursday, September 24th, I incorporated my non-profit
foundation for Pediatric Cancer Research.  It is called
"Make Some Noise: Cure Kids Cancer"
"Wash & Roll" -  September 26th
our first fundraiser for the Make Some Noise foundation,
it was a car wash and bake sale with live music from the
Bahama Mamas!
Meet Brandon.  This is the first time I met him too!  Brandon
had Ewing's Sarcoma last year, it was in his left leg.  
Brandon drove all the way from PA to come meet me at the
car wash.  It was really great to talk to him because he
knew what I had been going through.  We hung out for a
while and listened to the band.  Brandon starts college this
year, and wants to become an engineer and design
prosthetic limbs.
Sunday, September 27th was the annual Parkway Run
for the pediatric cancer center at CHOP.  Do you
recognize anyone on the poster?  I didn't go this year
because of the cast.  It would have been really
uncomfortable, especially since I had to spend the day
at CHOP the next day.  

I will definitely be there next year. So plan on joining me
if you would like to support the run for the cancer center.
Thank you to everyone who worked hard
to organize the car wash, spend the
afternoon washing cars, those who came
and donated, and especially to the band
who made it all fun.   You are all really
nice people.  Thank you.
Finally something I had been waiting for.  This is me updating my website.  
Down to CHOP on
Monday, September 28th   
First, I went to Orthopaedics Clinic at 7:45.  I had x-rays of my femur to see if I could
get the cast off.
At 9:00 I reported to Oncology Clinic for triage then to
the Day Hospital for sedation.  I had the central line
removed from my heart.

Once the anesthesia wore off, I got out of bed and went
back to Orthopeadics to see what the x-rays said.
Dr. Dormans and Ray felt it had healed as much as it needed to in the cast, so a script was written for
removal.  We went to casting to see Joe and have him take the cast off.  Joe is the best cast guy.

We went by the Oncology floor to drop off food for other families and their kids and stopped to see
Child Life because I needed a bunch of beads for my "Beads of Courage."
What are "Beads of Courage"?
Beads of Courage are beads kids across the country earn with their
cancer treatments.  They are kind of like earning medals.  The beads
represent procedures in their treatment.  They are different colors
and each color means something.  Blue is a clinic, red is a blood
product, and so on.  There are 21 colors of beads, and then the "Act
of Courage" bead.  These are the big ones.  The big beads are hand
made and are only earned through true acts of courage.  You get to
select your "Act of Courage" beads yourself.  I have a bunch of cool
ones.   This is my string of beads.  I am on my fourth string.
I do not have every bead on here because my string would be
ridiculously long.  I usually put a single bead to represent a series
of things.  Rainbow is for PT, and I think I should do a whole string
for just PT.  So, I stopped putting PT on my string.  There were just
too many.
This is my cat, Bear.
My new wheels!!
It took a few weeks to wait for the order but this
week I got my own wheelchair from a company
called Colours.  It is so much better than the
rental I have been using.  It is faster, maneuvers
better and I can push myself.   I can even pop
wheelies with it!    
It makes it a lot easier to get around school,
which is where I am in these pictures.
While I was at CHOP on Monday, Student Council at my school had a fundraiser called "Jersey Day" for my
Make Some Noise foundation for pediatric cancer research.  Kids could break dress code and wear a football
jersey to school if they brought a dollar donation.  There are around 300 kids in my school, but Jersey Day was
a big success and they raised over $1,000 for my cancer research foundation.  Way to go Peck!  Thank you
very much for supporting my foundation.
Back to CHOP for 3 month scans and clinics
October 26, 2009
I serve on CHOP's Youth Advisory Council. We help CHOP find ways to make
in-patient stays more friendly to patients and help with ideas for making the hospital
environment better for all visitors. I was down for our monthly meeting on October 12.

On Sunday, October 18, I went on the annual Hunger Walk for the Community Soup
Kitchen in Morristown, NJ.  It was to raise money to supply meals to people in our area
that need help.  My middle brother has served on the Morristown Youth Council and
helped the Community Soup Kitchen by serving in the soup line and helping to raise
money through our school.  
It was a cold rainy day, but a lot of people showed up for the Hunger Walk.
I was really glad to have my new wheel chair.
With my broviac out now, there isn't a line ready to use
anymore, so I have to get IVs for my scans.  They inject
contrast dye.  The IVs really don't hurt much especially
if you get a good nurse.  I am lucky, CHOP has really
good nurses.
PET scan
CT scan
I had chest X-Rays to look for tumors in my lungs, because that is
where Ewing's tends to go if it leaves the original area.  X-rays clear.
I also had X-Rays of my pelvis to check to see how my surgery looks
and X-Rays of my femur to see how that is healing.
I also had clinics with my Attending doctors in Oncology and Orthopeadics.  Dr.
Dormans gave me permission to start putting weight on the broken leg.  Dr.
Womer called on Friday with the scan results and said that he is more comfortable
with calling it Remission because the thing in my tailbone has not changed at all in
three months.  He feels that if it were Ewing's it would have grown by now.  So my
mom is planning a Remission Party call or email her if you want to come.
 My next
round of tests are in January.
Thank you very much to people who have been making donations to my new foundation
through the website!  It is exciting to see Make Some Noise: Cure Kids Cancer start
growing so quickly.   I am raising money for research because most of the money we
need for pediatric cancer research has to come from private businesses and people.  
Only 10% of federal cancer research money goes to pediatric cancer.  I also want to raise
awareness across the country so people will know that  12,000 kids are diagnosed each
year.  I didn't know that before I had cancer, but now that I know I need to make some
noise and get the word out.  
www.makenoise4kids.org

Eagles Practice
October 31, 2009
Thank you to Coach Reid for allowing Oncology Kids from CHOP to visit an
Eagles practice each year. Thank you to all the players who are really nice to
come talk to us kids and sign footballs.  I was an Eagles fan way before I had
cancer, but now I know first hand that they are a team with a lot of heart.  
Thanks also to the folks at CHOP who make this happen for us onco kids.    

                           
Fly Eagles, Fly!  I believe in Green!
HALLOWEEN!
I got to go trick-or-treating with my
friends on Halloween.  It was cold and
rainy and kind of hard to get to
people's doors with a wheel chair.  My
friend Hunter would ask people for
extra candy so he could share it with
me for the houses I couldn't get to.
Then we hung out at Tommy's house
and played Wii and Xbox.
It was really different trying to do
Halloween in a wheel chair but it was
great to out there with my friends.
My friends, Hunter, Tommy, Liam and Zachariah.
In PT, I just started trying crutches again.  I still have to use the walker when I move by myself.  We are
trying to get my knee to straighten out, it is a little messed up from the break.  My physical therapists
say it has a lot of tightness and they massage it to try and get it less tight.  I had to get bigger soles put
on my shoe so my leg can touch the ground.  We are working on building strength back in my legs and
learning how to walk again.  It is kind of annoying to have to do this all over again.   
November 5th I went on my class over night trip to Stokes State Park
The bowling alley, Plaza Lanes in Madison, had some ramps for me to be able to get up to the lanes but Mr.
Malone and a dad had to carry me up over the seats because my wheel chair didn't fit between the chairs and
the scoring desk.  The bowling alley also had a ramp type thing made out of metal pipes that people in wheel
chairs can use to bowl.  You line it up and then push your ball down the ramp.  It didn't give the ball enough
momentum, so my friends helped me get more speed on the ball by holding the ramp higher.  This didn't
work so well either, but we had a fun time anyway.
Monday, November 9 I had a Youth Advisory Council Meeting down at CHOP.  We voted on what we
were going to work on for the year and how to make it happen.

Thursday, November 12 was the first Board of Trustees Meeting for Make Some Noise: Cure Kids
Cancer Foundation.  We talked about the foundation kick-off in January and some ideas for what we want to
do to raise awareness and funding across the country.

Friday, November 13 was the end of term, and I went to the 5th and 6th grade bowling party after school.
The animal guy on Thursday night was neat.  He had a lot of animals to show us.  He
asked for volunteers to help him, and we had to hold a rope.  He brought out a huge
snake.  He put the snake on the rope and we had to hold it up.


I spent the night in the boys cabin with my friends.  We had bunk beds, so I slept on a
bottom bunk.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I am thankful for my health.  I am thankful for CHOP and all the
doctors, nurses, and other staff who helped me fight cancer.  I am thankful that
my family is strong.  I am thankful for all my friends and teachers at school for
supporting me.  I am thankful for all of you around the world who pray for me
and support me.  I am thankful to God for helping me.

I am thankful that I am alive.
First haircut since chemo- thanks Wendy!
I went down the shore for my
friend Tommy's birthday on
Saturday.
Eagles vs. Redskins
November 29, 2009
Eagles win 27- 24
Sorry Washington!

What a day!  
Thank you to the Eagles
for a great experience!  

Maura & Mr. Smolenski, you are the best!  
I am also thankful for the
Philadelphia EAGLES!
Click here to

 I am a river,
    I never stop flowing,
        Sometimes I glide smoothly,
            Other times my course is turbulent,
               I pass through my life experiences on the riverbed,
                Some good, some bad,
              The riverbed shapes me,
            Sometimes I carve myself through,
         Different experiences make it harder or easier to push through,
       Anything can happen to a river,
         As anything can happen to me,
           If I fall I keep on going,
               It may be easy, it may be hard,
                  I may go slow, I may be swift,
                    No matter what I will not stop.

                                        -malcolm 11/23/09
On Saturday, December 8th,  we started making an
awareness video for the foundation.  The video will
debut at the Kick-Off event on January 23rd.  Mr.
Pescatore is a video producer and he is making the  
video.  It was really neat to have a production team in my
house.  Mr. P, Lee, and Thomas worked hard for 6 hours
getting things set up and then shooting.  I thought it
might be hard to talk on camera, but it was actually pretty
easy.

Mr. P., sorry I bumped the mike while your headphones
were on!
That night, my friends Tommy and Zachariah
slept over.  We stayed up until 12:30.  


Well, it was really later than that, but we
don't want to get in trouble for saying how
late we REALLY stayed up.
First Term Report Cards came out this week.
I like getting first term grades because they make
you feel good as you get ready for the holidays.  
You know you worked hard and it paid off.

We have been rehearsing for the Holiday Sing.  
That is our school concert.  I can't wait for the Sing
!
I am going to CHOP this week for my monthly YAC
meeting and another day for an Ortho appointment to
check and see what is going on with my knee from the
break.  The break is angled in a way that makes it so
my patella can't move right.  We have been taping my
patella in PT so I can walk without it hurting too much.

Also going to check and see what is up with my toe.  
The Foundation Kick-Off event is January 23.  It is going to be great!  We
have some awesome music planned and some auctions to help raise
money for pediatric cancer.  I really hope you will come help kick-off my
national campaign against kid's cancer and help us MAKE SOME NOISE!  

Contact the Make Some Noise Foundation for information and tickets.
Merry Christmas!!