A Feeling of Extraordinary Healing

On December 1st our family received the most wonderful holiday blessing...the gift of extraordinary healing. My Mom has an MRI scan of her brain every 3 months and once again it came back with no new cancer growth.  December 6th was the one year anniversary of her grim diagnosis of a stage 4 glioblastoma brain tumor. And one year later yes she does have brain cancer, but she is tumor free and living life to the fullest! Her oncologist says he would like to take some of the credit due to her success with her chemotherapy treatments and clinical trial study, but he said he is giving my mom ALL THE CREDIT :) Her story is nothing short of a TRUE MIRACLE. The cancer specialists are learning so much from her because no one has progressed so well through treatment from this type of brain tumor. Her fight is being witnessed by many and others draw hope and strength from her success.  

This year I have really treasured the time I've gotten to spend with my mom decorating our houses, christmas shopping and making holiday plans together. Even through chemotherapy she is a ball of energy and wears me out! We are looking forward to spending a very special Christmas together as a family with my fiance coming home for 2 weeks from serving with the Army in Afghanistan and his daughter and family coming from Georgia and California. There are so many challenges that we have faced as a family this year that makes us appreciate the simple act of getting to be together for the holidays. There may have been years that we have taken that time for granted, but this year is a reminder to all of us that it is so very PRECIOUS. Everyday with my mom here is a blessing and we are celebrating this Christmas season with a tremendous amount of joy and optimism for the future! Many blessings to all of you and your families this Christmas season.

Happy Veteran's Day

Happy Veterans Day to all of America's veterans who have placed our country's security before their own lives, creating a debt that we can never fully repay. Our veterans represent the best of our country and sometimes I don't feel like that on a daily basis they get the respect or praise they deserve.  America would not be the country that it is today without those who have served and continue to serve proud, freely, and valantly.

To those of you wear the uniform of your country with pride today, and for those of you who wore the uniform in days past, these few words go out to you, and hope they bring life in its fullness unto you and yours...You gave of yourself, to protect and keep the life that Americans cherish, a life that comes with the freedom to love and dream and are filled with many treasures. You gave of your family, you gave of your life. Some came home, some never did, some live in our memories, some in our tears, taken in life both young and old, no score card to determine who went and who returned. So accept these simple words of thanks. THANK YOU...

Veteran's Day Tribute

Thanks to my good friend Julie Price and the FBLA students at Lynden High School, we were able to take part in a local project to support our troops and do some charity work overseas where they are serving. LHS students participated in OPERATION SHOEBOX and collected 140 pairs of shoes which were mailed to the 170th MP Company troops and handed out to the kids in need in Afghanistan. 

My fiance Sgt. Ortiz captured some great photos of the kids with their shoes and made a video for the students at LHS to express the appreciation of the soldiers in his platoon. This was the video that was played at the LHS Veterans Day Assembly this week...very touching and a great way to recognize our Veterans this week. Thank you Julie & LHS!

Barb Won't Be Sidelined...

Last weekend our Auntie Barb had a scary and unfortunate accident that resulted in a broken back. Her T3 & T7 vertebrates were fractured after she landed on her head/neck on the hardwood floor at a Halloween party with friends and her husband. The news was terrifying but we were immediately relieved to hear that she was responsive at the hospital and could move her arms and legs. It was very scary to see her laying in the hospital in so much pain and not knowing how serious the damage was. But by day 2 at the hospital she was fitted for a special back brace and had taken her first couple steps. 

She is going to have a very long and painful recovery ahead of her but was extremely lucky that the break in her spine was a "stable" break, meaning it was somewhat protected and supported by her ribcage. A break any higher up in your spine can easily result in permanent paralysis. With the support of our family and some very wonderful close friends, she has had around the clock care and homemade meals delivered to her and her boys. 

Most of us know that Barbie's boys play football for Lynden High School and are pretty tough athletes! From the minute Barb left the hospital last Monday her goal was to make it her boys' playoff football game this Saturday. So last night we bundled her up in her wheelchair and wheeled up the ram to the Lynden bleachers to cheer on her boys to a 48-0 victory over Bellingham. Just proves that Barb won't be sidelined by any injury, even a broken back! God be with her on her road to recovery and with the Lynden Football boys on their fight to the state tournament. 

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.

OPERATION SHOEBOX: Supporting Our Troops

Helping Our Everyday Heroes Reach Out To Kids In War Zones

When my fiance Skye and his soldiers from the U.S. Army arrived in Afghanistan this June, they were immediately swarmed with barefooted children from the area. Children that walk long distances to school and to look for work, to try and create better lives for themselves and their families in some very hard conditions. These children remind the soldiers of their very own kids back home and it touched them, knowing these local children are lacking basic items like a pair of shoes.

Skye asked me to get our families and friends back home involved in a special project. We are collecting gently used kids shoes in all sizes to send to our soldiers overseas to give out to the children they encounter in the streets. Some of these kids have never owned a pair of shoes and are in desperate need of footwear to protect their feet from the harsh terrain and extreme temperatures.

“If these children don’t remember anything else about us being here, they might remember that an American soldier gave them their first pair of shoes or socks,” Skye said. “Giving the children items they need helps them get over the fear of people (Soldiers) in uniform . It shows them that people in uniform are not bad and are actually there to help."

Show our soldiers how much we appreciate their service, by donating shoes to hand out to children to allow them to walk to school and to better their opportunities for the future.

Please email me at Tanisita16@aol.com for more information about getting involved or where to drop off shoe donations. Feel free to get your neighborhood or your kids' classrooms involved, I have so many wonderful friends that work in the schools or the medical profession who are offering to help me spread the word! Back to school is a perfect time of year to get this going because so many kids are trading their summer play shoes for their new school shoes. The Goodwill and Value Village are also great places to pick up shoes for around $4 a pair. I am looking for any ideas for fundraising to raise money to help with shipping costs as well.