homework

I love that for as long as I can remember, Maggie has been the responsible type...and did her homework all on her own. She is too rule oriented and governed by consequences to even think about not doing it. I truly hope she continues to be this way...

International Festival

Today was a wonderful day for our school International Festival. It was great to participate insomething we love and to see so many friends out and about! Great day.

Spelling Bee

The school wide spelling bee was today. I'm so glad I was able to attend...even though it is gut wrenching to watch! Maggie proudly made it to the top 4 and will be challenged to another bee next week! Ugh...another whirlwind of hard words to master!

Love Thursday

our favorite family game, Rummikub

I am SO HAPPY to report that the scans/x-rays Monica had Monday shows that it is post-surgical scar tissue causing her current symptoms, not large tumors!!! Even better, they also show that a couple of the small tumors have actually shrunk with the initial chemo, so she's responding! Wahoo!!! So, back to plan A. She will continue with the original chemo prescribed. She's opted to wait until Monday to start that so she can be around for some activities over the next few days over the weekend. The symptoms she's having are very real, and her oncologist stated that these are exactly what she sees with tumor growth, so that's what she expected. Dr. Seifker had the scans read and re-read and even looked at them herself to be sure. Monica will have to just live with these symptoms, which she's just fine with. This is wonderful news, of course, that gives her the chance to keep fighting. I really do not mean to be putting y'all through an emotional roller-coaster. I know that every one of you cares about this dear family. Please do not let me take away from this good news when I remind you that this disease is still dreadful and the road is still very tough. We can celebrate today that rather than many steps back, she has taken a tiny step forward! Thank you, as always, for your thoughts, hopes and prayers. - Jennifer

update...

Dear Friends, Monica and I have heard back from so many of you in the past 24 hours. Of course, everyone is devastated over this latest development for Monica. After reading many of your notes, I decided that I may need to clarify some things. As much as it breaks my heart to say it, it is important to understand that the goals of Monica's doctor's are to prolong her life and to provide her with a quality of life as long as they can; there is not a cure (and never has been) for her type, stage and extent of cancer. I do not want to discourage anyone from paying for total healing - I know we all hope daily for this walk-on-water miracle. However, I'd like to ask you to add to your hopes and prayers some other things like peace for her family, pain and nausea free days, ease of breathing, removal of fear and sadness, the right timing and finding the right words to talk with Maggie, etc. - Jennifer

update...

Hi, everyone. I have some important news to pass on regarding Monica's health. As some of you may know Monica has been experiencing symptoms similar to what she did before the tumors were removed from her lungs - coughing, shortness of breath, and of affected voice. This has progressed through the past week, and today her oncologist said that, as Monica suspected, it is likely this is due to rapid growth of the small tumors that remained in her lungs. They have cancelled chemo today and are running emergency CT scans/chest x-rays ASAP. There is a small chance that this is scar tissue from her original lung surgery, but along with her doctor's, Monica feels pretty strongly it is cancer. Her oncologist was wanting to talk about hospice care. She will meet with the oncologist and review the scans as well as plan-forward on Thursday. She was told she will likely start a new chemo regime then. They told her that the chemo she was getting originally was pretty hard-core, and this will be even more so. What I mean by that is she can expect to be pretty heavily impacted by the side effects. They originally went with what they thought had the best chance of arresting the growth of the tumors. This new chemo is not as targeted for her specific disease and her oncologist suggests a 20% chance it could stabilize her cancer. Basically, as she moves forward having to try new things, the chances of those new therapies working decreases down to less that 1%. The new chemo regime will take 36-48 hours to administer, and therefore, will require a minimum 3-night stay at MDACC. She will do this every 2 weeks. Her oncologist does not recommend surgery at this point to remove any new tumors. She says it is a quality of life issue, that the cancer is spreading so effectively, the time spent on recovering from major surgery is not worth it. This is definitely a time for prayers for peace and strength for this family, and I thank you so much for caring about them. - Jennifer

frogs

Once Maggie found out about these miniature frogs she knew she had to have some! She had Christmas money to use and bought her own frog ecosystem. The frogs only have to be fed twice a week through the top of the aquarium and the water changed twice a year...can't beat that! She named them Sam and Lilly. Cute.

Love Thursday

When I was a child I would find multiple shark's teeth (and sand dollars, too) every visit to the beach in Galveston. Now for some reason I just cannot make that happen. I've told Maggie about this so now she's hot to find a shark's tooth (and a sand dollar), too. Maybe this summer...

Ian's birthday

We had a quiet celebration at home together to celebrate Ian's 40th birthday.

Galveston

At the last moment we decided to take Jennifer's offer seriously and borrow their beach house for the MLK holiday weekend. It was a bit windy and chilly but we were able to spend some fun times together alone as a family. We also found AMAZING shells...which is very unusual for Galveston!

Clementine

Why aren't our pets "normal" like other people's pets? Apparently, Clementine has had a hidden passion for skateboarding! He even climbs aboard and let's Maggie and I push him for fast rides in the hallway!

update...

Monica had her appointment this morning with her oncologist's physician's assistant. This is her first week off chemo, but she keeps up those weekly appointments so that they can continue to monitor how her body is tolerating the chemotherapy. Today the PA was able to let her know that Friday's brain scan was clear and healthy. While this was not really something that the doctor's or Monica were concerned about, it is definitely nice to say "healthy brain." All seems to be going well, as far as they can tell. Monica has her nausea managed, and her primary side effect is simply lack of energy (and lack of sleep, which clearly doesn't help the lack of energy). Hopefully with these two weeks of rest, her body will have a chance to recover nicely before the next round starts. If you see Monica (she's been at school and otherwise out-and-about) you will notice she is sporting a new haircut. The volume of hair she was losing was so much, she decided to lessen it by getting a cute bob! The next couple of weeks may be quiet simply because there won't be much to report. Don't worry, I'll definetely get back to everyone as there's more information to disperse. - Jennifer

5th graders!!!

It's hard to imagine these girls are already in 5th grade...so grown up compared to when they met as babies less than a year old! I'm pleased as punch they've remained friends. Hopefully, that will continue regardless of which middle school they go to.

finally!

We actually went out to a restaurant with family this evening...we haven't done that in months!

Monica's chemo treatment was uneventful today. She is, however, totally exhausted. The expectation is that nausea will hit sometime tomorrow (sounds like a hurricane making landfall!), so she's taking the new miracle drugs preemptively. Let's keep crossed fingers they do their job this week! After today, she will have the next 2 Monday's off, starting back on round 2 at the end of January.

Look who it is!!!

We saw Zada!!! Well, the picture tells me I did. I seriously don't remember seeing her at all. I remember going to my grandmothers funeral but I don't remember seeing Zada. I was newly on my trifecta of non-nausea medications...that's all I can say about that.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! My hope is that we may all prosper in good health and happiness!

New Year's Eve

We had to cancel our annual New Year's Eve celebrations at a friend's house. I felt my all time worst. Maggie went on without us and was able to have a good time. When she got home Maggie and Ian watched the ball drop in Times Square on TV. We almost had to go to the ER but the Dr. on call decided to try one more thing...his concoction of 3 drugs he uses for his own patients. Huge miracle...it worked! Happy New Year!!!!!

41st birthday

My 41st birthday came and went without much attention. I felt horrible. Jennifer came over and brought flowers and presents and mom/Howard brought a coffee cake. Small celebration... that's all I could muster.

update...

I just want to report that Monica had her 2nd chemo treatment yesterday. She was feeling good going into it, and the process went fine, but she was hit again last night with nausea. She's feeling pretty miserable, but so far she's been able to stay home. She is currently there, trying to rest, and trying to stay hydrated. It seems that she's able to do a slightly better job of that this time than she was last week, so hopefully that means she'll be able to avoid the ER. She was hoping that only getting one drug this week (Gemcitabibe) rather than the two combo from last week (Gem + Cisplatin) would minimize the nausea, but so far the difference isn't noticeable although being able to stay out of the hospital is a good thing! - Jennifer

lollipop

I LOVE that on the top of Maggie's list to Santa this year was a big lollipop!

sweetie pie

Maggie showing off her new shirt!

Merry Christmas

We had a nice Christmas. Quiet. We had a small gathering of family and enjoyed the day together.

Christmas 2009

Love Thursday

Maggie made me this BEAUTIFUL origami heart out of 1 piece of wrapping paper...I love it and it is now one of my favorites! Today is Christmas Eve and I was not able to make it to Christmas Eve services...I didn't even catch Maggie in her Christmas dress. Others reported back to me that she looked like an angel.

Monica has been admitted to a room in MDA to try to keep her hydrated and manage the side effects she's experiencing. They have been taking care of her in the ER from when she went in Tuesday night to this morning. One thing I did learn today that I was unaware of is that one of the two drugs she received on Monday she gets only once a month. That drug is particularly harsh and the reason why they will always keep her in the hospital at least overnight after the first day of each 4-week cycle. The hope is that means maybe the other three weeks of her cycle will be more manageable. At least it will be one less chemo drug. She is trying to rest she has her phone turned off for now. I imagine we won't be seeing her active on FB for a while, either. Just know that she's working on the fight. Maggie and Ian will be attending Christmas Eve services at Palmer this evening. Hopefully they will have Monica home for Christmas. However, in the big picture, of course, we want her to be where she can be best taken care of. - Jennifer

update...

Poor Monica hasn't been able to keep even water down. She was doing fine while at the hospital, but I guess the anti-nausea medication they sent home wasn't as good as what she was getting in the IV. That's really just my guess...I don't really have any facts. Anyway, she went back to the hospital last night and is still there. I don't know if she's still in the ER or has been admitted. I'll let you know when I hear more. - Jennifer

Clementine

Every year Clementine claims his favorite spot to nap...under the Christmas tree!

Mags and Rose

We seem to have a lot of these...

Love Thursday

Maggie loves the bottle cap necklaces and was pleased to make her own bottle caps with a kit she received as a Christmas gift!

Good news from MDACC. Monica's bone scan shows only the one spot of cancer on her spine, noting else (as far as bones go). She'd been very worried about the pain she's been experiencing in her shoulder, but it looks like that's surgery related. The other good news she has to share is that she actually hasn't had any pain today, so hopefully that means healing is happening! That's all for now. Thanks for your thoughts, prayers, meals, FB chatting, etc.! - Jennifer

Polar Express Day

Today was "Polar Express Day" in 1st grade at school. Even though I am not teaching anymore, I couldn't pass up a day to visit in my PJ's. This is me with the rest of my 1st grade team I teach with...I really miss being at school! It's all I know...

really?

Rosie is such silly, weird dog sometimes! She lays like this all the time...like she is comfortable!

update...

Monica went in for a bone scan today. and while she was there they told her that they've decided to push her chemo back a week. Basically, they feel like she needs more time to heal from the larynx surgery she just had. So, chemo starts Monday, December 21...week of Christmas. It's 4 weeks of treatment, a week off, then another 4 weeks of treatment before she is restaged. - Jennifer

Love Thursday

Monica went to see her oncologist today. Here's what the doctor said: her cancer is very aggressive. A new CAT scan shows cancer in her spine now and new growth in both her lungs...one sizable one in both the right and left lobes. Sizable, we think, is around 1 cm range. If you remember, these were not there on earlier scans, and certainly the growths in her lungs were not there when she had her lung surgery on November 9. So, the fight is on! She will start chemo on Monday. This will be once a week for 4 weeks in a row. After 2 cycles of this, they'll do more tests to see if everything is working. If it is, she'll keep on that program. If not, go to plan B (don't know what that is right after now). She will be on a trial - this is an additional drug that they will add on to what she'd be doing anyway, so she won't be missing out on anything. this is not a placebo test. They do, however, have two different groups p one that gets the extra drug right away and one that gets it a little later. She doesn't know yet which group she'll fall in. She'll spend the night at MDACC after the first round each cycle just to be sure she gets and stays hydrated. - Jennifer

container overload!

One drawback of accepting so many meals...we have a million containers that are pouring out of our cabinets! We have reorganized, cleaned out and thrown away a lot...

update...

Monica is out of surgery. The doctor said that the implant went well. Her voice will be stronger, probably a bit higher. Hopefully it will help her with her low energy, as this has been a continuing problem for her. She will be out of the hospital late tomorrow morning and is not allowed to talk for 48 hours. while she can't talk, please send her FB messages, as that's her preferred means of communication right now, and I think it's important for her to keep up contact. Monica has along the process tended to push herself too far, resulting in some real set-backs. We'll hope that she can avoid that this time but then, when it's appropriate, work to get her strength back. That's going to be important as she moves forward with chemotherapy. She also visited the pain management doctors, and they are going to start stepping her off the medications she's been on since her original surgery. As you may know, Monica has continued to have a lot of problems with nausea, and the hope is that this is tide to the pain medication she's been on. again, getting her appetite and strength back is what we need to support her on in prep for chemo. - Jennifer

maggiebee99

I thought it was time to give Maggie her own email address! Times sure have changed since I was 10 years old!!!

Maggie & Momma

How many 10 year-olds will wear a matching shirt with their momma? Maggie!!! Always my Maggie.

gingerbread house

Gingerbread house building is always a fun day at our house. Each year our house always seems to have a different design. The heart on the roof was a first this year.

Maggie's tree

More tradition...Maggie puts up a little tree in her room every year.

Winter is here!

Something amazing happened today. It actually snowed all day today...all day and I missed it. I had 9 appointments at MDACC and missed it all! :-(

Love Thursday

Hello, everyone. Just wanted to let you know that Monica has some plans in place now. She was at MDACC this morning and will be there again all day tomorrow visiting different doctors and having different tests run. This is mostly all in preparation for the surgery on her larynx, which will be Monday, and her oncology appointment next Thursday. She will stay overnight at MDACC and should only stay one day. As for the oncologist, she seems to be running s ton of different tests, and hopefully that means she'll be ready to give Monica a plan of action come Thursday. I want to pass on how grateful they are for all of the meals you continue to bring! Not having to use her energy to cook has allowed Monica to focus on healing and spending time with Maggie in the afternoons. Particularly with all the nausea she's had, it's been a huge blessing to not have to prepare food. Thanks! - Jennifer

update...

Hi, everyone. Monica has been battling nausea lately, and finally got so dehydrated that she spent the day in the ER Monday.The good news is that she is better and home resting. She got home Monday night but still pretty worn out. The thought is that this is all medication-related, so it sounds like they will be changing some of her drug routine up. The other good news is that she has 9 appointments scheduled with a whole slew of folks at MDACC between now and next Thursday. So, the show is getting on the road with oncology, voice issues, etc. She is hearing that chemo is very likely (which is a good thing - nice to be able to do something), and hopefully she'll learn more about that during this set of visits. Thank you, everyone, for your calls and emails checking on her this week. As always, everyone's concern, prayers, good thoughts mean the world to Monica and her family. - Jennifer

too much fun...

Whose idea was this? Not a great night...ending up being really sick after spending time with friends at our house this evening.

advent wreaths

We love all the tradition around the holidays! One of which is advent wreaths made at church. Of course, lighting them is another story after we almost burned our house down a few years ago by forgetting to blow the candles out Christmas Day!

1st gift of Christmas!

The tree is up, the stockings are hung...and the 1st gift of Christmas is wrapped!

Christmas tree

I LOVE getting the Christmas tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving...it just feels right!

flannel sheets

Yea!!! New Flannel sheets! It's been getting REALLY cold in Houston this year.

Love Thursday

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and let you know how thankful I am for everyone's support. I am so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful community. Many prayers have been answered...successful surgery and I ended up with a voice! Please continue sending your positive thoughts and prayers my way...I still have quite a battle ahead of me! Y'all give me such strength! Stay tuned. My next surgery will be scheduled soon for my voice box implant and more news about how we will take on the cancer in my right lung! Sincerely Yours, Monica

tree house

Maggie has always wanted a swing of some sort or a tree house of some kind in a tree on our property. Unfortunately, we never had the right kind of tree on our property to make this dream a reality. Luckily, our neighbors behind us have something of the sort right at our fence line...and that counts! Thank God!

Happiness is...

Happiness is being able to hula hoop. I used to be able to do this endlessly...I just can't do it anymore!

garden update

Our peppers and tomatoes are coming along nicely...

garden stones

Maggie painted 3 garden stones for me...LOVE, HAPPINESS and PEACE.