Shoe Drive Off & Running

I'm very excited to announce that OPERATION SHOEBOX is officially up and running as of this week! Thanks to my first couple collectors and a couple of very generous shipping donations we were able to ship off 50 pairs of kids shoes this week. Skye and his soldiers should be receiving the packages in the next couple weeks and plan on taking some pictures and possibly video clips of their first handout on the streets.

A couple of friends have offered their ideas and efforts towards the project and I really wanted to give them how much I appreciate that. This is the first time I've started a charity project from scratch and I am open to all suggestions! I have a new friend, Kim Goertz, who runs an organization called Whatcom Homefront (http://whatcomhomefront.org/) that ships packages to local soldiers serving overseas. Kim got me in touch with some of the right people at KGMI and they have invited me to do a broadcast with them sometime this month to get the word out! I'm sure I'll get all tongue tied and not be sure of what to say, but hopefully the announcers can do most of the talking for me! Our long time family friend Donita, has gotten the YMCA and Aquatic Center involved also. And my teacher friend Julie Price is running a shoe drive at Lynden High School and their goal is to have 400 shoes donated by the end of October! I am still worried about coming up with enough funds to cover the cost of shipping so if you would like to get involved or have some more ideas for me please email me at Tanisita16@aol.com. God Bless!!

More special thanks to: Marge Roberts, Dena Smith, Mary Schwisow & Barb Kraght

A Real Life Wonder Woman!

Every 3 months my family gets that anxious feeling that slowly creeps up on us, as the date gets closer and closer on the calendar to my Mom's next MRI scan. Her doctors have planned these scans according to her treatment schedule. At the end of August she finished her 6 months of chemo she is feeling stronger and healthier than ever! But its hard to see her go through 3 months of treatments not really knowing if its working?? We just try to take comfort in how good she looks and says that she feels and leave the rest in God's hands.

Well today God showed us in all His glory that the treatments and my mom's hard work are working!! My mom's MRI scan came back GREAT! This means that the area in her brain that they have been watching (after her surgery to remove her tumor) has not grown more cancer cells. This news gives not only our family but my mom sooooooo much hope and inspiration for the future!

We sat down with her oncologist this afternoon to pow-wow and come up with our next plan. It wasn't an easy conversation because Dr. Kaminski explained to us that because the course of treatment for this type of brain cancer is just being developed, there isn't a "crystal clear" plan of action for my mom. There isn't a guideline to go by, my mom is the creating the guideline! Which in a way is very exciting but also kinda scary because there isn't a clear road to take.

After much discussion, my mom felt very nervous about taking a break from treatment in fear of the cancer coming right back. We all agreed that her treatments are working and her body is holding up very well with pretty minimal side effects. Dr. Kaminski did end up mentioning, "Why fix was isn't broke?"...meaning he supported my mom's decision of continuing treatment especially since it is working so well for her right now. I think she felt very empowered leaving the doctors office today!

So the next 6 months will include 6 more rounds of chemotherapy, continuing the clinical trial of Avastin and MRI scans every 3 months. From what I understand, after 12 months of Avastin therapy, the double-blind study will be unblinded and we can find out if she was receiving Avastin or the placebo. But we already know she is getting the real stuff! And we are so proud of her for being brave enough to be a part of such an important study that could potentially help so many other patients in the future!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all our amazing family and friends who continue to pray for my mom. And a huge thank you to all those that follow our blog or have heard about my mom and continue to pray for her having never even met her. My Aunt Barb introduced me to a couple at the fair this year, who have never even met my mom but are part of a prayer team that is devoted to praying for her weekly! How awesome is that?!!

Today serves as a reminder to us all that without faith we can do nothing. But if we depend on our faith in every situation, God will move heaven and earth to grant us peace wherever we need it most in our lives.