Yes, we ‘ave a video.

YouTube link

Although Clippers for Carter is still running if you want to contribute, the bounty is now closed. We reached our goal, we’re done! If you were sent the URL to here to see a funny video of me losing my hair then enjoy, gratis, no obligation.

Instead, I urge you to have a think about something that that affects your life, or the life of someone you care about and take some action – any action. Be it a walk to help raise funding for Multiple Sclerosis research, a fight against draconian government legislation, or raising awareness about autism. Whatever touches your life, don’t just colour your avatar, get some skin in the game.

We reached $AU1,000, so it looks like I’m off tomorrow to get a serious haircut!

We’ll do some video and hopefully throw it up in short order, although the sight of me with no hair might be too disturbing for small children and dogs^*, so viewer discretion is recommended.

I’d like to thank everyone who contributed because while the goal was to raise a bit of money, it’s the act of everybody contributing a little that builds communities and makes things possible.

^* UPDATE: Funnily enough, I got quite a reaction from our Labrador, Toby although not when we first got home. I think with his general excitement of the four of us arriving home and familiar smells he didn’t notice — but about 20 minutes later I walked into the hallway where he way laying and he jumped up and started barking at me! Figured it out pretty fast once he got another sniff of me, but gave him a fright!

Loooong overdue update. The bounty currently stands at $881.87, so only another $120 to go!

But that’s not important. How is Carter? Last update I had from Maria is that he is okay physically and still responding to treatment. The regime is a trip to hospital every ten days for chemo, a spinal tap and various other tests. This is all very taxing emotionally for a seven year old and his family to cope with at you can imagine, with the head and back aches it causes — plus the doses are stronger with each treatment so probably more side effects as time goes on.

Having gone through the shock and fear of the initial diagnosis, then the relief and celebration of reaching remission, Carter and family are now in the long period where you just have to grind it out. If you’re of the praying persuasion then I’m sure sending a few up for emotional resilience as well as continued physical response to treatment would be appreciated.

Carter’s beads after just one weekOne thing the hospital does with all the kids they treat is start a string of beads that signify the treatment they’ve had. “Beads of courage” they call it. For example, you’ll get a white bead for a course of chemo, a red one for a transfusion, and so on. If you go to this link there’s a list of what each one signifies. The picture on the left shows Carter’s beads after his very first week of treatment – I wonder what it looks like now?

I remember when I first saw this it struck me as strangely beautiful and incredibly sad all at the same time. A talisman of a hard journey.

• Contacting me and if you get your donation to me, I’ll make sure it reaches Carter.
• Making a donation on the Clippers for Carter site with your credit card or Paypal, but make sure you also email me and let me know your name and amount contributed or it wont count towards the bounty.

Easter approaches, and the tally stands at $780! Not much more to go!

I’d like to thank all our contributors, including eLearning People, our first “business contributor”.

“What’s that?” I hear you ask? If you contribute to the bounty and you run a business, organisation, social group or other cause, I’ll put a link on this site over on the right just like I’ve done for eLP, and give you a plug when we do the video. Easy.

Have a happy and safe Easter.

Somebody asked me when the cut-off date for the bounty was - my replay was, “When Carter doesn’t have to go to hospital anymore.” I’ve really set no timetable for this - when we get there, we’ll get there.

That said, the tally stands at AU$559. Over half way! For those interested, contributions have broken down to $178 contributed through Clippers for Carter, $70 already given to me in cash or cheque, and remaining $360 in promised contributions once my hair is gone.

I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed so far.

We doubled the amount raised in a week! The current balance is just over $400 (I’ve had to start using a spreadsheet to keep track of it all!)

That’s within shouting distance of half-way. I’m gonna have to buy a hat!

Just to reiterate, if you have a business, organisation or other cause and contribute, I’m more than happy to stick a prominent link in the sidebar on the right and give you a plug when we video the shave.

Have a good long weekend, all.

Hi all. Happy to say that over $200 has been raised so far, with a few more promised donations from people when they see me next - good effort so far! By the way, if you have a business, organisation or other cause and contribute, I’m more than happy to stick a prominent link in the sidebar on the right and give you a plug when we video the shave.

The Good News

Carter is in remission! This means that there were no Leukaemia cells found in the last round of bone marrow and spinal fluid tests. He’s in the low risk group of the ‘standard’ group.

The Bad News

While this is great news for Carter’s long term health, it unfortunately doesn’t get him out of much in the short term. He still has to undergo three years of rigorous and unpleasant treatment to ensure he remains in remission. He ended up in hospital earlier this week due to a mild fever, and has had a constant headache since his last spinal tap.

So, while we celebrate, we realise there’s still a long way to go yet.

The Ugly News

Well, more of a funny anecdote really. I was gonna add a tag-line under the title at the top of the page, “Because he isn’t ugly enough already.” Obviously referring to me getting my head shaved. But when I made the change and looked at the front page, there was this cute picture of Carter just below the tag-line and, well, it just didn’t look right!

Of course if was the one below than it would all make sense.

“Your son has Leukaemia.”

I’ve known Carter for the whole of his seven years, and I’ve known his parents, Kim and Maria for over half our lives. Six weeks after they moved from Melbourne to Chicago for Kim to fulfil a life-long dream, working with mission focused communities in the USA, their world got reduced to the four words above when a doctor told them this news.

In the weeks since, Carter has started three years of treatment that includes chemotherapy, bone marrow biopsies, blood transfusions and spinal taps. He’s a damn brave kid, toughing it all out, and has responded really well to treatment, but the road has just started.

Although they have health insurance, as you can imagine there are a lot of ancillary expenses – travel, medications that are not covered, time off work, all kinds of stuff. The community they moved to in Chicago have been outstanding in their support. Some of the local computer geeks there have even set up the web-site Clippers for Carter where you can make a donation via Paypal, email Carter, and even upload a video of you getting your head shaved in a show of support for Carter, who is starting to lose his hair as a side-effect of treatment.

The Challenge

Being half a world away from your friends at this time makes you feel bloody useless. Emails, phone calls and kind words are only worth so much. So I’ve decided to throw my hat into the ring as it were, and put a bounty on my head — well more specifically my hair. I’ve decided if I can get donations of AU$1,000 I’ll shave my head for Carter. And I’m not talking a number one with the clippers here, I’m talking shaving cream and a razor! Make it AU$1,300 and the beard will go as well.

How you can contribute: If you want to make a donation you can:

• Contact me and if you get your donation to me, I’ll make sure it reaches Carter.
• Make a donation on the Clippers for Carter site with your credit card or Paypal, but make sure you also email me and let me know your name and amount contributed or it wont count towards the bounty.

I’ll keep a running tally on this site of our progress. Have at it.

P.S. If you operate a business and contribute, be sure to send me the name of your business and a URL and I’ll give it a plug on this site and in the video.