Sunday, December 20, 2009

An Amazing Christmas Present

I have sent applications and letters to many different charities. When possible, I try not to tell Tina about it so she doesn't get her hopes up. Yesterday, she got quite a surprise in the mail.

An old friend of mine is a lawyer and he is on the board of the firm's charity board. He and Tina were in the same optimist club together so he knew of her story. He emailed me an application. I've been waiting with great anticipation for a couple months now, hoping she would get it and not able to tell her about it. She called me today to tell me she got a big check. Her insurance is now covered until she and Paul get married, as long as there aren't any other financial set backs.

Jon Lomurro and his father's law firm, Lomurro, Davidson, Eastman & Munoz, in Freehold, NJ has given this family such an amazing gift. There are no words to describe how grateful I am. It WILL be a great Christmas afterall, not necessarily for the money, but what the money represents. It has created an assurance that Tina doesn't need to worry about where the money will come from. She has more important things to concentrate on like Paul, Ashley, and staying as healthy as she can possibly be.

As for an update, she is going in for a lumbar puncture this week. That's also known as a spinal tap. I told her to make sure they go to 11. :)

Although the people at the hospital poke and prod her, give her medication that makes her sick, and litterally pump poison into her body, she's making them muffins for Christmas. Is she crazy?! Just kidding. Those people do amazing work and I'm very thankful that they're doing everything they can for her.

They suggested that Tina find trials and get second and third opinions. She is going to try to get an appointment at MD Anderson which is the best cancer hospital in the country. The good news about that is she'll be close to more family.

I really only want one thing for Christmas this year...a cure for cancer. Please pray that my Christmas wish comes true. Merry Christmas to everyone!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Countdown to Christmas

It's been a crazy month and I haven't updated this in a while. I had to move so I've been mighty distracted and for that I apologize.

Tina's daily radiation is finally over. She had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday to discuss their next steps. They won't do another scan of her brain for a little while since even though she's not getting the radiation, it doesn't mean that it's not still working on the lesions. The doctor has put her on two different chemos. If these don't work as well as we want them to, there are three more options. See, donating to cancer research really does help.

The countdown to Jersey has begun...just 12 more days! I'm so excited. We've got family coming in from Minnesota too. I hope to see snow and I'll love watching Ashley open up her gifts, but I'm so looking forward to seeing Tina. In all her recent pictures she looks fantastic!