Needed: Spring Cleaners in Winter

I don't know about you, but I love crossing things off to do lists. I have been known to write things on my to do list JUST so I could cross them off at the end of the day that could've been more productive, you know, stuff like "Wake up", "Brush teeth", etc.

One of the things I want to cross of my list before I leave the Inland Empire is "Work on Mom's house". Shiloh (of Lorien, Shiloh and Aliana) has volunteered to tile Mom's floors in the kitchen and bathrooms and her neighbor is going to install the wood laminate throughout the living and bedrooms, but in order to do these things we need to get the floor cleared. While we're at it, we're going to do a deep clean and purge so when Mom comes home she can start anew.

Many hands make light work, so if you're down to help spring clean in winter, we'd be thankful for the company. Just e-mail or call to sign on up! We'll be at the house the day after Christmas all through the first week of January until we get things done.

Happy Holidays!

Oh Happy Day

Right now I'm listening to Mom snoring since she's knocked out on anti-nausea drugs and benadryl. It's the sweetest sound I've ever heard because today was the very last day of chemotherapy!

We still have doctor appointments and maintenance schedules to set up but no more chemotherapy. It's a good day and of course, here are some pictures to celebrate the occasion!

Thank you for all your well wishes, cards and calls. Even if Mom doesn't feel up to answering the phone, she loves checking her messages and being updated on everyone. Hopefully she'll be getting her strength back soon and will back to her old gallivanting self. I'll be keeping up the blog on her progress until I go back to San Jose. You know, where I live. Don't worry, I forget sometimes too!

Hoodie Love

Mom hearts her hoodie. When she has her hoodie on, she looks like this:But if you try to take her hoodie off (perhaps with cold hands although that is an unsubstantiated rumor), she looks like this:

The Home Stretch

Here it is: the very last treatment calendar!
Mom had her last 5-hour chemo session this past Friday. This Monday she had her Neulasta shot to grow her white blood cells and on Tuesday she had her Bleomycin and we're done for this week. We celebrated by watching our favorite show. Next week she has labs Monday, Bleo Tuesday (aka the LAST chemotherapy treatment aka "GRADUATION"), a lung test Wednesday, a meeting with Dr. Bosserman Thursday and finishes up on Friday with Dr. Ahn, the cardiologist. Then after that she'll be scanned and blood tested every 3-6 months for any new signs of cancer but this phase will be all pau.
Eyes on the prize is the name of the game from here on out!

Only in SoCal...

...will you see a palm tree with a snow-capped mountain in the background! Today Mom had her bleomycin treatment so we came straight home after and piled her with blankets. She got a little nauseous and I gave her Ativan which works quickly on the nausea but also makes her very sleepy. She likes to say I knock her out on purpose but that is just Mean Mom talking. You know, the same one who laughed at me this morning and said I've lost all my color and have no tan lines any more. THEN she called me Blanca Nieve all day. Which is so wrong because we all know I'm more like yellow snow anyway...

Papi

A few weeks ago my cousin Vanessa e-mailed me from Puerto Rico to tell me my dad had a heart attack. At the time, Mom was also in hospital so we decided to wait to tell her about Dad until she felt better. Papi called today and he and Mom talked for awhile. He's feeling better and is out of the hospital with a stent in place. He needs to keep on going to his follow-up appointments and also a class on how to eat and exercise. But he should be fine. Muchos gracias y amor to Vanessa for taking care of Dad and also Titi Widy for keeping us updated. The picture today is from a trip to PR Jorge and I took in 2004, you can find lots more pictures here. So if you're sending a thought or prayer for Dre, please add Papi to your list as well!

The Latest in Chemotherapy Fashion

Pieta, one of the shiny, happy people who work at Wilshire's front desk, has a daughter whose mother-in-law lost a friend to cancer. In her friend's memory, she's been knitting/crocheting (I don't know the diff - sorry!) blankets, hats and scarves for a year and yesterday she donated them all to the cancer patients here. Mom got the cutest pink hat with a pua on the side. Well, originally she was wearing it in the center of her forehead but I know on the left means married and on the right means single, so I'm pretty sure in the middle means something too! It goes well with the pink slippers I picked up at my beloved Target the other day. Here are some pics of Mom showing off her new duds...