SolandMonica.com

Well, it is time for me to go to bed, but I just wanted to let you all know that tomorrow is the first day of school for us here in Whittier.  I am nervous, as usual, but I will get over it once the routine begins.  I feel less prepared being out of the classroom for a year but am excited about being around the kids.

Please pray for me as kids come that they will be understanding and compassionate.  Pray that I would not get sick from them and that we would have a great year together.

On Thursday morning, I have my blood drawn.  Then on Friday, I have chemo.  Please pray for no side-effects.  I will be having the 2 drugs this time and then next Friday a CT scan to see if they are working.  If it’s working, I’ll continue with the current set-up; if it’s not working, they’ll try something else.  So either way, chemo continues.  I don’t know for how long and what the next step might be.  I really don’t think I want to know that far ahead.  I just want to live right now one day at a time.

Some fun news…My parents, sister (Janelle) and baby Athailia are coming on Friday to hang out for the weekend.  Sol and I are taking my parents to the Hollywood Bowl for a fireworks extravaganza on Saturday night!  It will be the first time there for most of us!  I can’t wait.  I just hope I feel good enough to go!  Janelle will stay home and hang out with my cousin, Rachyl, and her boyfriend, Jonathan, as they watch Kai!  Thanks guys!  You’re the best.  It will be a fun time.  Then on Sunday we are all going to go see my grandma in Santa Ana.  She’ll get to see the baby!  🙂

A few last prayer requests…Kai’s little friend Madison is having some problems with her white blood count and her kidney levels are off.  They don’t know what’s wrong and might have to test her bone marrow.  My friend, Sheri, who is walking in the Susan G. Komen walk, is having some serious knee pain and is really bummed about maybe having to miss the walk.  My cousin, Heather, is in Costa Rica at language school.  When she is done she’ll be heading to the Dominican Republic for 2 years!

Thanks for all your prayers.  I am headed off to bed for a good night’s sleep before starting the new school-year!

Love,

Monica

Category tags: Cancer Update, Fun, prayer request---- 1 Comment »

I am happy to report that I am feeling pretty good.  I am pretty tired, but overall, things could be much worse.  I had Chemo on Wednesday and was sitting in meetings all day Thursday.  I ended up going home and taking a much needed hour and half nap afterward.  🙂  Thursday evening we went around looking at houses and actually have one in mind that we might put an offer in on.  It is such a big decision, and we want to be sure it’s the right one for our family!

I am still trying to get everything ready for the first week of school next week.  It is a bit overwhelming still, but I am going to be there Tuesday to finish getting the classroom ready with the teacher I will be sharing with.  Then kids will come on Wednesday whether I’m ready or not!  😉  I am excited to have a group of kids this year but am not looking forward to the grading and paperwork that I will have to keep up with.

Thanks for your prayers and love!  Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend.  Sol’s cousin, Coti, and his girlfriend, Teresa, are here from Tucson, AZ for the weekend, so you know we’ll have a good time.  🙂

Monica

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I was going to post earlier this evening, but Sol and I went on a date!  🙂  We are just getting back from a Kai-free dinner, which was absolutely lovely!  Thank you to Chad and Alysha who took care of our precious boy, so we could enjoy a night out before chemo tomorrow!

I have been blessed the past few days with a few great people who have helped me with things related to work and setting up for the beginning of the year!  Thank you to Sunshine, Joy, Wendy, Lisbeth and Vicki, without whom, I would be drowning in not knowing where to even begin!  I am feeling much better about what has been done and not stressing as much about what still needs to get done!  Thank you! 

Anyway, I am having my chemo treatment for this week tomorrow at 2:15 pm.  I will be working in the morning, and then spending the afternoon reclining, killing cancer and hanging out with Keri!  That doesn’t sound so bad!  I had my blood drawn this morning and am praying for a high enough white cell count.  Please pray with me about that and that the side-effects would be non-existent.  I was going to ask for prayer about my cabinets at work getting unlocked, but today I went in, and they were open!  A prayer already answered!  Now I can start putting things away!  Yay!  That makes me feel good, too!

Upcoming appointments:

September 4th – Blood work

September 5th – Chemo

September 12th – CT scan to see if chemo is working

September 19th – Doctor’s appointment to discuss CT scan and next steps

Thank you for your continued prayers support and well wishes!  I love you all dearly and thank God every time I think of you!  🙂  You are my treasures here on earth! 

Love,

Monica

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Tonight we spent some time with friends, eating dinner and hanging out!  I am so grateful to be feeling so well right now.  After working all day, my body is a bit sore, but I’m hanging in there.

I had Chemo on Wednesday and was at work today getting ready for school which begins on the 3rd.  There is so much work to do; it’s really overwhelming actually.   I have to get my room set up, move my office and get materials delivered to teachers before the start of school.  Oh yeah, and have chemo, recover and rest!  It feels like such a huge task to get it all done.  I have already been asking people to help me on days I know I’ll feel ok!  My room might not be totally ready by the time students come, but if that’s the worst of it, then we’re good to go.

I am trying to do what I can to keep up my chemo schedule and be at work when I need to be there.  It’s important to me to keep life as normal as possible for me, my students and my co-workers; and to not miss too much work, but I also need to live a quality life.  I am struggling to decide between taking time off of work for chemo and recovery or having chemo on Fridays, possibly sacrificing my weekends to recover if I’m not feeling well.  It’s a tough decision for someone who wants to be everything for everyone!

As of right now, I only have two more chemos scheduled.  One for next Wednesday, the 27th, and one for Friday the 5th.  After chemo on the 5th, I will be having a CT scan to see if the chemo is shrinking the tumors.  If they are shrinking, we’ll continue this treatment, although I don’t know for how long.  If the tumors are not shrinking, we’ll be trying something else.

Please pray for peace in all our decisions regarding work/disability, chemo, medications, and house hunting.

Right now, I’m feeling pretty great; thanks for all your prayers!

Love,

Monica

P.S. Kai has been sleeping much better.  Thanks to all of you who have been lifting up his precious little soul.  He’s such an amazing blessing in my life!

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Well, today I had chemo.  Usually it’s on Thursday, but tomorrow they’re having some sort of meeting.  Before I had chemo, I met with the doctor.  He said that my white count was good and that I wouldn’t need any shots this time!  Yay, I am so relieved!  I had the two drugs today and they went in smoothly.  usually I have an easy time on chemo day but feel pretty bad the following day.  Last chemo, I had an easy time with side-effects.  Today I have had some “flushing”, a rush of heat to areas of my body.  It is such a strange feeling!   I have already taken some anti-nausea drugs and hope to keep the “horse in the barn” as one of my friends says!  We’ll see how tonight and tomorrow fare, but for now, I feel pretty good.  Tired, but good.

Some fun news…Kai has been peeing in the potty at school and he even pooped in it today!  He comes home very proud of his stickers and smiley faces!  🙂   He’s also peed at home, and continues to be more interested in earning stickers for his chart.

Tomorrow we are meeting to get pre-approved for a home loan.  Please pray that we get a low rate and can start making offers on houses!  It is really exciting and scary at the same time.

Thanks for “listening” to me and checking in.  Things here keep moving along.  Many days it’s really hard to even think that I have a disease in my body because I look and feel fine.  I have been getting sad and depressed some days and would really appreciate your prayers as I begin to seek help for this.

Kai is calling and I need to go.  Sol had an emergency come up at work and had to take off.  He said it could take between 5 minutes and 5 hours.  With computers…you never know.

Love,

Monica

Category tags: Cancer Update, Fun, prayer request---- 1 Comment »

Well, I have been wanting to update since the game, but haven’t found the time!  It ws soooooooo much fun!  We were able to connect with Brian at Angel’s Stadium, and he took us (Sol, myself, Bianca and Jeremy) on a tour of places we’ll never get to sit!  It was really fun!  We went down and saw the underground batting cages, the doors of where the owner sits, and the Dugout Seats where we watched batting practice from!  We even touched the dirt!!!  🙂   The game itself was a lot of fun, too!  We stayed all 12 innings and the score kept going back and forth with the Angel’s losing 10-7.  Some football scores aren’t that high!  🙂  Not only was everything paid for (from parking to food), but during the game our entire section won $5 gift certifcates to Claim Jumpers Restaurant!   I was even given a ball signed by Vladimir Guerrero!  How cool is that?!?  it was such a fun time and we were extremely blessed by the Angel’s organization (and Shelley and Lore who, with their daughters, watched Kai).  Thank you Patty, Shelley, Lore and Brian for making this happen for us!  We are so thankful!

Sea World…Kai and I went with Sunshine and Madison to Sea World on Thursday!  It was so much fun!  Kai was in such a great mood and loved every single minute we were there!  He was so interactive with the shows and even was clapping and cheering for Shamu to splash everyone!  He loved feeding and petting the dolphins and bat rays, as well as seeing the sea lions, otters, penguins, polar bears, baluga whales and all the fish!  He was captivated by it all and will tell you all about it (complete with hand motions) if you ask him!  It was a great day and I am so thankful for feeling well enough to spend such quality time with him exploring the world of the oceans!  It was a precious gift to share that day with him.

Tonight I had a girls movie night with Laura and Dawn, and we saw “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2”.  Laura and I had seen the first one together as well.  Cute movie and a fun night of popcorn, soda, peanut M & Ms and a chick flick…my favorite things!   

Thank you so much for praying that the bone pain would go away.  I felt pretty good both days and was able to really enjoy them fully!  Please pray as next week approaches that my white blood cell count would be high enough that they would be able to give me chemo and not have to give me any shots afterwards!  Wouldn’t that be wonderful!

I hope this finds you all well and enjoying time with your own families and friends!

Love you and good night! 

Monica

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Happy Tuesday,

I am so happy that I felt well all weekend and finally made it to church for the first time in a month.  What a blessing the service was with a focus on communion and what Christ did for us on the cross.  This world is not all there is, and my hope is in the Lord.

My hair?  Still mostly there!  Yay!  Today, though, I began having some bone pain from the white blood cell booster shots.  Last night was the first time it showed up, but I had it in my first round of chemo last year.  It’s pretty painful.  I couldn’t sit last night without pain.  I took some Extra Strength Tylenol and used a heating pad, and that seemed to help.  Today is a little worse.  I just took some Tylenol with Codine and am hoping that it kicks in soon.  The pain is mainly in my hips and lower back.  Please pray that it goes away or is controlled with drugs!  Tomorrow is the Angel’s Game, and that means a lot of sitting.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.  I have been so blessed by so many of you!

Love,

Monica

Category tags: Cancer Update, prayer request---- 2 Comments »

The big news for today is that my hair is starting to fall out.  I am so bummed about it!  I was fine last time, but going through it again really makes it harder.  It has been growing now for 6 months and is finally at a point where I can style it.  Now it’s going away again.  At least I have a bazillion cute hats to cover my bald head. 

Today I felt well all day and even spent time in the pool with Kai at, his friend, Madison’s 2nd birthday party.  It was really fun to play with him in the water.  Sol asked him if he was swimming and his reply was, “No, I hitting people!”  with a huge smile on his face.  The other kids were so friendly with him and didn’t mind being swatted with a noodle!  🙂 

Thanks for all of your prayers.  Kai is sleeping better and longer, and my side-effects are at bay for now!  🙂  It has been a good few days for me.

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Well, today I was pleasantly surprised to wake up feeling pretty good.  I woke up at 5:30 and couldn’t fall asleep.  I took an anti-nausea pill to keep the “horse in the barn” so to speak and got up for a while.  I waited for the side-effects to hit, but they never came.  🙂  We ran some errands and drove by some houses we were interested in looking at.  It was fun.  Then I came home, took a nap and woke up to go get the first of 4 shots.  These shots sting!  They take about 30 seconds, and the whole time it’s stinging!  I can’t feel it now, but it’s not too fun when it’s happening! 

Right now I feel pretty good, but my stomach is starting to feel a little strange.  I hope that tomorrow will be just like today in terms of feeling ok. 

A couple of updates: My friend went through her surgery well.  They had to take more from her arm than they thought they would have to.  Now she is waiting for the results.  My other friend, who lost her husband, is having the services tomorrow. 

Thank you for all of your prayers!  I am so grateful for feeling so well.  Yippee!!!

Love,

Monica

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Hello Everyone,

Today was Chemo week 3.  It was two drugs Taxol and Avastin, which gave me VERY bad side-effects last time.  I got to the doctor’s office right on time and was told that I would have to wait until they heard back from Dr. Freimann.  My white blood cell count was too low, and they were going to see whether or not I would get chemo today.  Well, after waiting for a while, they said that I could get it but that the Taxol dose would be lowered and the Avastin would be the same.  Then they said that I am going to have to come in for four days for white blood cell booster shots.  So I’ll be having injections Friday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.   🙁   Last time I only had chemo every three weeks, and they could give me a Neulasta shot (white blood cell booster) that worked for ten days.  Since I am having chemo every 7 days, they can’t give that to me ; I have to go in daily.   So, I guess I don’t get a week off…at least I get a break from chemo next week.   When I had the shot last time, that’s when I got bone pain.  So strange and so painful!  I am really praying that doesn’t happen with these daily doses.

On a strange note, one of the chemos that I saw someone else receiving was BLACK!  It was so strange seeing her tubing all black as it goes into her body!  I wonder what that was?  Martha, my mother-in-law, and Lark, a friend from work took turns hanging out with me today.  It was fun; we played Blokus (a really fun game) most of the time.

So right now, I feel tired and need to lay down, but I wanted to let you know that I am home and doing fairly well.  Friday is when the side-effects hit me last time, so please be praying against all the side-effects (nausea, diarrhea, gas, rash, shortness of breath, pain and now hot flashes to my hands and below my knees) and that the shots won’t give me bone pain!

Thank you so much!

Surviving another day!

Monica

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