4th and last AC chemo

10 am and here I am connected again to this chemo port for my last AC treatment, same faces around, today the place is really quiet so will get along and write something here. Just had a chat with Dr Chen who gave me some good and bad news, the good news is that I am doing great and my blood draw results shows that I am doing fantastic, she also did a physical exam which it was also great. The bad news is that AC treatment exhaustion are accumulative and normally the last one is the most difficult one, so she expects me to have a real hard time this week, I am hoping the thought of knowing I am not going to have it again might help me go through it. My strategy is going to be Tylenol PM and try to sleep as much as I can......

We talk about my next 4 rounds of Taxol, starting in two weeks. Nausea is not an issue there and you get flu symptoms which for some people are not too good and in some people are like a normal flu, hoping I am on the last group. You have got a risk of having some allergic reaction so they prescript you with steroids and some other pills that will not let you sleep for a few days....So will have to go to my Tylenol PM friend or something similar to let me sleep but we will cross that line in two weeks.....


Now coming back to this past week which was fantastic but I did not stop!. On Wed I went in the morning to a meeting at the Dioceses of San Jose for Layette, I have been helping Saint Chris on this program for two years and could not say no this year. I started helping them when after so many miscarriages I realized could not have another child so thought helping other moms will be a good idea. Layette is an initiative where around twenty parishes in San Jose collect new born clothes, blankets and cribs and distribute them to public nurses so they can give them to moms that really need it. At the meeting we discover that requests for Layettes have gone down and baased on current Economy do not think is because people are less poor. The real problem is that public nurses have been cut dramatically so there are much less nurses to follow up poor families. We discussed ways of getting these clothes to these people through hospitals that accept medical so hope we can reach more people this year. If anyone wants to donate any new born clothes please let me know, I will go and pick them up from anywhere.

On Thursday we had our morning walk with Monica and Marcela but this time Gema and Neus also join us. After last minute talks we decided to get together after the walk to prepare lunch and have the lunch at my house. I did a paella that was delicious and we had lunch Monica, Marcela, Gema, Upe, Rosario, Damaris, Jackie, my mom and myself. We had a great time and we ate a lot....I love this group to pieces, they are so alive and so positive that they are fantastic. Sorry for all the others who were working and could not make lunch, I guess this was a lunch for the ones who are not as busy as the others...

On Friday we met all the Spanish moms at the park as every Friday and I was super happy to make it this time so I could see some of them that have not seen for some time. We normally meet twice a week, on Monday some of the moms volunteer to teach the kids Spanish, we rent a preschool and divide the children in different levels and ages so the small ones learn songs, the middle ones learn letters and the older ones read and write. On Friday we meet for a playdate at the park and during winter months we do some in doors activities like painting, jumping, ice skating or others. Then once a month we try to do family activities so the husbands can also join us, really nice group!.

Now I had my cooking weekend, party after party but had so much fun!. On Saturday we spend the morning cooking with my mom getting ready for the party at Marcela's house, it was my parents farewell party and I made the condition that we were bringing the food as Marcela always feed us as well as putting the house. We had a great time, had the fire on when it was dark and we left her house quite late but we had an amazing relaxing time. My parents come alive in her house as in mine they are bored and on other places they do not speak the language so they are really quiet, here they tell jokes and do not stop talking!.

On Sunday I had Lorraine and Joan's families for dinner in my house, I did Tarka Dall which is my favorite Indian food and have to say that is fantastic. I found the recipe on Internet and will post it here some time in case anyone wants to try. I also did some chicken with a sauce that I invented myself with onion, garlic, spices, tomatoes and mil and it was also really nice. I prepared two different rices and we had a great dinner. I should had done something healthier as almost everyone who was coming was on a diet so hope have not damaged the diet much...Lorraine was complaining today but she loves the lentils so it would had been impossible for her to stay away from them. This Thursday we are the 3 of us getting together for my weekly Cellular response that Joan does on my, I do really feel that it helps getting my energy back quicker and it is so relaxing that I do look forward to have it every week.

Now the last and the best is that Ethan had his first soccer game on Saturday, he was named the player of the game!!!, he scored 8 goals!!!!, problem was that he scored 4 for his team and 4 for the other team as he was so focus on scoring that he did not care what side!. This is the photo just before the game started, I think he loved it and he will not complain much when he goes to practise this Thursday.