Goodbye Kool-Aide!

Yesterday I finished my 4th and final A/C treatment (which Danielle has loving termed Kool-Aide since the A part of the AC is red...it is called the Red Devil and we did not like that!!!). That completes 16 rounds of chemo for me and now I begin the waiting and growing stronger period for surgery (Dec 30). Isn't it awesome that I get the month of December off from treatments!!!  

A day full of surprises and love...We started the morning, before even leaving the house, by the kids (including Christian of course) and Joe giving me a surprise. They gave me a beautiful diamond ring and card with so many incredible sentiments. I am told this ring is "part one" for me completing part one of all of this! I have a few more waiting for me. What a loving thing to do and my heart is so touched by it...I am a very blessed women to have such an incredible family!

Then I had a beautiful necklace waiting on my doorstep from my dear friend Deana. I feel like I can share this now, I didn't want to say anything because I know she gets embarrassed but too bad. Deana has had a gift waiting on my porch every single morning when I leave for my treatments...yes, all 16 trips! Each one had so much thought and creativity to them and they made my day each and every time. I could feel her arms wrapped around me in love and I felt like she was with me every trip! I am so touched by her kindness and friendship.

Treatment time...SO, I had the whole gang with me for this last visit! The kids started out with me for our early morning start and then Joe and Josie (Joe's mom) came to join the gang...there were 7 of us, lovingly crammed into the treatment room! They were so accommodating to us and we even got a nice window seat. I even got one of my favorite nurses Nakia!  Danielle had a fun little surprise for me, she made her own "IV bag" to hang on the pole along side my meds! The nurses got such a kick out of it. The time went by so fast. The kids and I played Crazy Eights (having to use the animal sounds of the animals on the cards) and then a few fun rounds of Old Maid (we have all learned we have terrible poker faces with this). The time flew by so fast and next thing I knew I was DONE!

ALL DONE!

Celebratory Lunch...Afterwards we all met my brother John and sister in law Kathleen at Cucina Enoteca in Del Mar for lunch to celebrate. We had so many fun tapas and lots of great visiting and catching up. No matter how much time you get it is never enough. They live in Arizon so I don't get to see them as much as I would like to. They were extremely kind and surprised us by treating us all to this yummy lunch. My only regret beside it not being enough time was that I forgot to take a photo with them...argh! Take my word for it, they looked wonderful! Loved this time together.

Blessings

Gosh, I could make this list so long if I go back to the beginning on June 9 but I will keep it pared down to the last few days for you. Thanksgiving was wonderful. We normally open our home up to friends that don't have family in town but with my need for low exposure to germs we decided to keep it simple and just be our little family of 7. I would say we wanted to make it a quiet day but with this bunch it never is...I love that about us! ;o) Such a blessing to look around my table and see the faces of my little family and feel the love we all have for each other. They have all been so great and supportive through this and trust me when I say I haven't made it easy all the time. 

My Scripps Prayer Group...SO another surprise I got yesterday was from my Scripps Prayer Group. My dear friend Janet brought me a box of cards from some of the wonderful ladies in our group. I saved them and brought them to my last treatment to read while I was there. Much to my surprise they were each filled with money and gift cards to help me with what they all know I love best...to be able to reach out and help someone else! They could not have thought of a better gift for me! They know I will want to bring Christmas to the family Tease built a home for down in Mexico and they also know our family adopts a family on our side of the border every year. Of course with me not working much these last few months and won't be able to at all after surgery for awhile they wanted to take the pressure off for reaching out to these families. They know my heart so well and they have huge hearts of gold themselves. I hope I can find the words to express my gratitude to them all for this and I CAN'T WAIT TO GO SHOPPING FOR THESE FAMILIES!!! Yippee, shopping spree time! 

So many of my dear friends have been such blessings the last few months and I hope you know what every text message, card in the mail, prayers, words of encouragement, surprises dropped off, rosaries being said, FB message, meals and anything else I am forgetting at this moment have meant to me and how much strength and hope you have given me. This is a long journey that is about 1/2 way done now and between all of you and the Grace of God I am sitting here typing my thanks and feeling so hopeful for complete healing and purification of my body. I ask to live a long life here to make myself worthy of all of these blessings.

Prayers

You all tell me you like when I specify my prayer requests so here you go...

• Dec 9 Alicia Gelaro will be accompanying me on my consultation with my surgeon. Please pray that I will decide what God is pointing me to (at this moment I am being directed to a bi-lateral mastectomy) and that my doctor will be behind me 100% when I explain my reasons why.
• Please pray that this last round of AC will obliterate any possible remaining cancer cells in my body and that I will be NED (no evidence of disease) on Dec 30!
• Please pray for the 2 families that we are taking care of this December. We have our family in Mexico, the Perez family that Tease built the house for.  Our family here in the US lost the young father just this last Nov 16 to a heart attack leaving a wife and 4 kids 7 and under. We hope to bring them some joy and support by having strangers they will never meet bring them some help.

May you all have a blessed time preparing for your holidays and I will keep you posted, especially after December 9th to let you know the game plan. To be continued...

Danielle took a break and went jogging and
made an appearance outside my window seat!

 Danielle always finds a way to make treatments entertaining!

Danielle's idea of an IV!