6/15/05

Typed by Nen and written by Nen and Oney:
Nen: Earlier today Oney was telling me about a zebra she met whose stripes fell off and she had to paint back on with permanent marker. Kait: Since I tolerated the first round of treatment so well the doctors decided to continue with the same radiation for another week and then we'll move onto pin point radiaiton where we'll focus on the tumor. Hopefully with all the cards, support, thoughts, prays this will successful. Much like the zebra's stripe transplant. Game night was lovely. It felt good to finally see all of you guys at once. Hopefully next we do game night it'll be at home. I got my stomach drained again today. My tummy feels a little better. Nen: Last week Oney and I were drawing some animals, bc that is what we do at night, and she was on her pain meds, she asked me, "Nen, do you think it was him or the guy that plays him?" I said, "Who?" She responded, "Didn't you just tell me Spongebob called you after work?" I said "WHAT?" She said, "I thought that you just said Spongebob called you after work? Do you think if was him or the perverted guy that plays him?" Of course I am hysterical laughing now and say, " why would spongebob call me?" Oney said, " I thought you guys were friends." Then she continued to draw...and my mom said what are you drawing and she said " it's the phone Nen's stalker boyfriend Spongebob called on." Just a little insight to the daily blurb's of Kaitlin. Kait: I have permanent tattoos from radiation in the shape of black dots. I'm going to get a cancer ribbon tattoo over the dot. Laurie's fiancee just stopped by to visit so I got to met him. That was lovely. Not to mention last night was a great game night. Today was an ok day. I'm praying that each day gets better and that I'm getting closer to going home. Please remember the prayer list: Jess, Randy, Richter and Ruark families, Mullhollands, Lynn Cestone, Debbie and Crystal, Suzie, Greg, Kim, Ginny, The Sheptock family, The Coe family(Jeff's 15th floor family), PopPop Rossi
I'll try to write tomorrow with some exciting news. (Sidenote: Kait is on pain meds and dictating this to me so tomorrow she'll have a much more descriptive blog)

WE LOVE YOU JEFF!!!!

Sorry its been so long since my last post. I've been kinda bummed about the bad news. I thought I was coming home, finally, and then to find out the fight isnt over yet was just a huge let down. But I'm up for another fight and from all the posts, prayers, cards, and calls, looks like everyone else is up for supporting me through another fight! Radiation started on Thursday. Its so weird how it actually works. I just lay on a little table and within minutes I'm done. For all that it is doing you would think it would take hours or be so much more complicated. They marked my tummy where they need to do the radiation and I now have 3 tattoos! They are little black dots... but hey, scars are souveneirs you never lose!!! And I'll have lots of them when I am done with this. So besides the crappy news nothing else is really new. I have had a lot of visitors the past few days. I must say, I do have the best support group ever! Tonight Aunt Bunny, Uncle John, Carolyn, Becca, Uncle Bill, Aunt Ceil, Trevor, Jen Davenport, and Denise were all here. We hung out, ate pizza, it was a lot of fun!! Dad is here for the weekend and we have spent a lot of time playing cards. Tomorrow night Nen and Lauren will both come up, and I think the whole family will be here for a little while. That is always fun, when it is all of us! Lari spent hours here the other night... no cooper huh?? We had a lot of fun, my nurse not being a nurse all night!! And I think that everyone is coming back Monday and Tuesday for some games! I am really looking forward to that. Radiation ends on Monday and then Tuesday I will get a CT Scan and hopefully some good news! And of course after that some other decisions need to be made. It really is tough going through all this, but the support of everyone really helps. And I can't ask enough for the prayers. They are the most important thing. The posts last night from everyone were great! Thank you all sooooo much for thinking of me. I checked the site and it took me forever to read them all! It made my night!!! Right now Mom and I are watching some SNL and then I'm going to try to get to bed early, no surgeries on Nen and no late night partying. Radiation tomorrow is at 10:30 and then just relaxing and hanging out. Thanks everyone so much for everything. Please remember the prayer list... Jess, Randy, Richter & Ruark families, Pop Pop Rossi, Mullhollands, Jeff & Annie, Jeff, Greg, and everyone else that needs them. Jess, Randy, Bart, Shannon, Charlene, and Rodney thank you all so much for your continued support through all this. You guys all keep in touch with me and support me during your hard times and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart! I'll try to keep the blogs coming more often... and please just keep the prayers coming too!

ALL NIGHTER

Typed by Nen as dictated by Oney:
I’M HOME!!!!!! SIKE…I’m lying…I’m still at Hahnemann. They told me to start packing so I could go home the next day so of course me the “rare” case wakes up the next day with a migraine, throwing up and a huge tummy. My tummy seemed to have quadrupled in size and the Dr’s are unsure of the cause so I’ve had to stay until they figure it out. They drained it once and got two and a half liters out!!!! That’s like a bottle of soda. And tomorrow I go for another draining and hopefully some answers…It’s always something with me…good thing I never packed! My hair fell out a lot this time…like completely, completely gone…no Yamika this time Ry. It’s like really slappy bald, kinda cool. Unfortunately my leg hair has yet to fall out so I guess I’ll be forced to shave that soon in preparation for the beach. Haya came to visit this week and stayed for four hours!!! It was a lovely surprise, totally unexpected…She missed Mrs. Did!!! I had a date to shave her head Sunday, BUT, I’m still here, plans fell thru. Nen went to Jaws Fest this weekend, put her head inside a sharks mouth and lived out her fantasy. We had a lunch date with Lizard and her pink Cancer Sucks t-shirt, and we have another tomorrow. Happy belated birthday to Mom mom, Aunt Miriam, Nene and Shirley, my next door neighbor, her picture will be on the internet soon. They upped my doses of deluded which is always a help thru the day, makes me feel giddy like the Partridge Family….My biggest adventure of the week, besides getting drained like the bathtub…was going downstairs for lunch…I got all dressed up with my hat and gown and sat in the cafeteria like a normal person and I had a grilled chicken sandwich with mozzarella cheese..mmmm that sounds good right about now…I haven’t been allowed to eat for three days so any food sounds good. Today I spent a lot of quality time with Connie and Rick. We played Rummy for several hours while high on deluded and I won without cheating. Tonight we had a special viewing of pictures from Cooper and Jaws Fest with Laurie(RN), who I had a couple presents for, Roger, Nen, Connie and Ricky. We’re putting an all-nighter tonight and even got mom into her Hawaiian pig pajamas. We’ve been waiting patiently for Laurie for hours she’s under the impression that she’s at work when in reality she’s just here to play with me. Roger just ran to Wawa for our girl’s all-nighter which he is joining. So now, we’re gonna do mad libs, look at pictures and hang out for my all-nighter. My stomach is huge and I’m pretty sore so prayers in that area will be greatly appreciated. We need answers to what is wrong with me. Visitors feel free to come…I’ve had few…call in advance but feel free to come whenever…Thanks Laur for taking care of my Peter. Thanks Aunt Rox and Uncle Rick for my awesome bracelet, thanks Charlene for my new angel and Alice for my believe bracelet…And just to let everyone know Jess opened the Relay for Life event with her singing and she also gave a speech. I’m sure she did awesome. Wish I could’ve been there with you, my fellow Chemo sabi. And a big, special thanks to MRS. POLO’S CLASSES, for all the pictures, cards, and for always checking my website and writing me. Remember the prayer list as always: Jess, Randy, Richter and Ruark families, Pop Pop Rossi, Mullhollands, Jeff and Annie, Nene’s Family, Shirley, Jeff, Fellow Hahneman Prisoners,
Mrs. Cestone (Val’s Mom), Aunt Missy(Foot) and extra prayers for answers for my tummy…Thanks for everything, the prayers, the visits, the calls, the cards. I hope to see you all soon at home at the beach.

Typed by Nen as dictated by Oney:
I’M HOME!!!!!! SIKE…I’m lying…I’m still at Hahnemann. They told me to start packing so I could go home the next day so of course me the “rare” case wakes up the next day with a migraine, throwing up and a huge tummy. My tummy seemed to have quadrupled in size and the Dr’s are unsure of the cause so I’ve had to stay until they figure it out. They drained it once and got two and a half liters out!!!! That’s like a bottle of soda. And tomorrow I go for another draining and hopefully some answers…It’s always something with me…good thing I never packed! My hair fell out a lot this time…like completely, completely gone…no Yamika this time Ry. It’s like really slappy bald, kinda cool. Unfortunately my leg hair has yet to fall out so I guess I’ll be forced to shave that soon in preparation for the beach. Haya came to visit this week and stayed for four hours!!! It was a lovely surprise, totally unexpected…She missed Mrs. Did!!! I had a date to shave her head Sunday, BUT, I’m still here, plans fell thru. Nen went to Jaws Fest this weekend, put her head inside a sharks mouth and lived out her fantasy. We had a lunch date with Lizard and her pink Cancer Sucks t-shirt, and we have another tomorrow. Happy belated birthday to Mom mom, Aunt Miriam, Nene and Shirley, my next door neighbor, her picture will be on the internet soon. They upped my doses of deluded which is always a help thru the day, makes me feel giddy like the Partridge Family….My biggest adventure of the week, besides getting drained like the bathtub…was going downstairs for lunch…I got all dressed up with my hat and gown and sat in the cafeteria like a normal person and I had a grilled chicken sandwich with mozzarella cheese..mmmm that sounds good right about now…I haven’t been allowed to eat for three days so any food sounds good. Today I spent a lot of quality time with Connie and Rick. We played Rummy for several hours while high on deluded and I won without cheating. Tonight we had a special viewing of pictures from Cooper and Jaws Fest with Laurie(RN), who I had a couple presents for, Roger, Nen, Connie and Ricky. We’re putting an all-nighter tonight and even got mom into her Hawaiian pig pajamas. We’ve been waiting patiently for Laurie for hours she’s under the impression that she’s at work when in reality she’s just here to play with me. Roger just ran to Wawa for our girl’s all-nighter which he is joining. So now, we’re gonna do mad libs, look at pictures and hang out for my all-nighter. My stomach is huge and I’m pretty sore so prayers in that area will be greatly appreciated. We need answers to what is wrong with me. Visitors feel free to come…I’ve had few…call in advance but feel free to come whenever…Thanks Laur for taking care of my Peter. Thanks Aunt Rox and Uncle Rick for my awesome bracelet, thanks Charlene for my new angel and Alice for my believe bracelet…And just to let everyone know Jess opened the Relay for Life event with her singing and she also gave a speech. I’m sure she did awesome. Wish I could’ve been there with you, my fellow Chemo sabi. And a big, special thanks to MRS. POLO’S CLASSES, for all the pictures, cards, and for always checking my website and writing me. Remember the prayer list as always: Jess, Randy, Richter and Ruark families, Pop Pop Rossi, Mullhollands, Jeff and Annie, Nene’s Family, Shirley, Jeff, Fellow Hahneman Prisoners,
Mrs. Cestone (Val’s Mom), Aunt Missy(Foot) and extra prayers for answers for my tummy…Thanks for everything, the prayers, the visits, the calls, the cards. I hope to see you all soon at home at the beach.

All Nighter

Typed by Nen as dictated by Oney:
I’M HOME!!!!!! SIKE…I’m lying…I’m still at Hahnemann. They told me to start packing so I could go home the next day so of course me the “rare” case wakes up the next day with a migraine, throwing up and a huge tummy. My tummy seemed to have quadrupled in size and the Dr’s are unsure of the cause so I’ve had to stay until they figure it out. They drained it once and got two and a half liters out!!!! That’s like a bottle of soda. And tomorrow I go for another draining and hopefully some answers…It’s always something with me…good thing I never packed! My hair fell out a lot this time…like completely, completely gone…no Yamika this time Ry. It’s like really slappy bald, kinda cool. Unfortunately my leg hair has yet to fall out so I guess I’ll be forced to shave that soon in preparation for the beach. Haya came to visit this week and stayed for four hours!!! It was a lovely surprise, totally unexpected…She missed Mrs. Did!!! I had a date to shave her head Sunday, BUT, I’m still here, plans fell thru. Nen went to Jaws Fest this weekend, put her head inside a sharks mouth and lived out her fantasy. We had a lunch date with Lizard and her pink Cancer Sucks t-shirt, and we have another tomorrow. Happy belated birthday to Mom mom, Aunt Miriam, Nene and Shirley, my next door neighbor, her picture will be on the internet soon. They upped my doses of deluded which is always a help thru the day, makes me feel giddy like the Partridge Family….My biggest adventure of the week, besides getting drained like the bathtub…was going downstairs for lunch…I got all dressed up with my hat and gown and sat in the cafeteria like a normal person and I had a grilled chicken sandwich with mozzarella cheese..mmmm that sounds good right about now…I haven’t been allowed to eat for three days so any food sounds good. Today I spent a lot of quality time with Connie and Rick. We played Rummy for several hours while high on deluded and I won without cheating. Tonight we had a special viewing of pictures from Cooper and Jaws Fest with Laurie(RN), who I had a couple presents for, Roger, Nen, Connie and Ricky. We’re putting an all-nighter tonight and even got mom into her Hawaiian pig pajamas. We’ve been waiting patiently for Laurie for hours she’s under the impression that she’s at work when in reality she’s just here to play with me. Roger just ran to Wawa for our girl’s all-nighter which he is joining. So now, we’re gonna do mad libs, look at pictures and hang out for my all-nighter. My stomach is huge and I’m pretty sore so prayers in that area will be greatly appreciated. We need answers to what is wrong with me. Visitors feel free to come…I’ve had few…call in advance but feel free to come whenever…Thanks Laur for taking care of my Peter. Thanks Aunt Rox and Uncle Rick for my awesome bracelet, thanks Charlene for my new angel and Alice for my believe bracelet…And just to let everyone know Jess opened the Relay for Life event with her singing and she also gave a speech. I’m sure she did awesome. Wish I could’ve been there with you, my fellow Chemo sabi. And a big, special thanks to MRS. POLO’S CLASSES, for all the pictures, cards, and for always checking my website and writing me. Remember the prayer list as always: Jess, Randy, Richter and Ruark families, Pop Pop Rossi, Mullhollands, Jeff and Annie, Nene’s Family, Shirley, Jeff, Fellow Hahneman Prisoners,
Mrs. Cestone (Val’s Mom), Aunt Missy(Foot) and extra prayers for answers for my tummy…Thanks for everything, the prayers, the visits, the calls, the cards. I hope to see you all soon at home at the beach.

hey everybody! sorry it has been so long since my last update. the past few days have been everything but pleasant for me. i've been really sick, but its all for the eventual good, right? my tastes are changing again. this is one of the worst parts of the chemo. my taste buds change and everything just tastes awful! I ate today!!! I had a whole banana! my counts are up really high, all of them. so thank you guys so much for the prayers because the docs say as soon as i start getting better i'll be home in no time! if i were sick i could be home this week even, but i pretty sick so that doesnt look too good. Randy, thanks for putting in a word with the big guy of HSP looks like he listened. Yesterday i had quite a few visitors and although i was really sick, it helped me to feel a little better. Pastor Rudy and little Rudy came up... that was a surprise, and a good one too. I love visiting with them. Bean and Ro were here, and Mikey also showed up. So after everybody left i napped til american idol and CARRIE won!!! I'm so excited. I have been pulling for her from the start. Today is a little better then yesterday, and yesterday a little better than the day before. So hopefully tomorrow will be better and soon enough i will be home! I'm so close i can smell the salty air. i hear the weather isnt great, but it doesnt matter. i just want to be on my little island without all these stinky plugs, machines, tubes... you know. i wanted to thank GARY for giving me his michael jordan poster, it made my day... and it made me smile for the first time in a while. you are such a sweetie, just like your mom. THANK YOU. so today looks like ANOTHER day of just lounging around waiting impatiently to go home. they started taking down some of my meds, so hopefully that is a good sign. my hair is almost completely gone, no yamaka Ry. well i'm going to go relax and try to make myself better... i haven't figured that one out yet. but its worth a try. thanks so much everybody for everything, the cards, visits, calls, and especially the PRAYERS...they are whats getting me out of here. so i'll try to write more frequently as long as i feel ok. please remember the prayer list, Jess, Randy, Richter & Ruark families, Pop Pop Rossi, Mullhollands, anyone else that needs the prayers!! Keep them up because they are definitely working. thanks so much and i hope to see everybody soon, AT HOME!

Llamas & Penguins

Jenn is writing this as dictated by Oney(Kait) This post may not be as long as I hard originally planned. I had one all written up and ready to go and as I clicked on the “publish post” box, the computer disconnected from the internet and my entire blog disappeared! Today is the 9th day since my new birthday, and so far it hasn’t been that great. I have been pretty sick and pretty tired. I have not been getting much sleep at night so I try to make up for it during the day, but that is rarely ever a success. Right now we are experiencing a Code Red, (Lizard) or maybe it was just a fire alarm. Tuesday, Mom went to build a bear in an unsuccessful search for a tiger to stuff instead she came home with a cute new bunny in scrubs to add to my stuffed family. Later that evening I received a phone call from Roger and his football team which helped lift my spirits. Thanks Roger for all your support ALWAYS!!! All the side effects that I seemed to have skipped the past three times of chemo I am experiencing them now all at once. I’m on heavy doses of nausea medicine and of course my delauded. During my daily mind travels I’ve come across a penguin and I’ve crossed paths with a pack of llamas who have a magic touch when rubbing my back. Apparently yesterday was a big day for me and I’ve been told I had fun. Although yesterday was probably one of my worst days as far as sickness and pain go it was my best social day so far. Lizard and Ry came in the morning. Followed by a visit from my old R.A., Christopher. My cancer sister and her mom were there to help me complain about my discomfort to my doctor’s. Bobby Deren made his triumphant return with his nine toed friend. And half the Cooper Clan was here too. While I enjoyed their company I think Aunt Ceil enjoyed dropping my toothbrush and stories of burning eyelids. Dad is on his way for the weekend tonight. Nen has been here every night this week while Lauren is at home hopefully recuperating. Right now I’m sucking on a blue icy which every awakening moment seems to find me doing for the tiny amount of pain relief I pretend it brings. And a bunch of thank yous go out …THANKS…Joanna for my e-mail, thanks Jess for my “orange” presents…thanks Randy for his uplifting e-mails as always…thanks Charlene for the post…Karen for the Friends DVD’s, they’re the only things I seem to be able to concentrate on…Thanks ssssooooo, ssssoooo, much for the cards. Even when I’m feeling my worst cards and posts on the internet make me smile. Thanks for the e-mails, the cards, the phone calls, the visits, these things make a world of difference to me. Please remember the prayer list…Jess, Randy, Richter and Ruark Families, Pop-Pop Rossi, Mullhollands, Annie and Jeff,(Friends of my Mom’s), Uncle Ace’s wife, Suzie Nene’s mom-mom…Best wishes to Kristie and her minor surgery...and anyone else who needs them June 8th will be 28 days from my new birthday and my expected day of departure. Keep up the prayers and I’ll try to keep up the blogs

well....
I feel a little better today. I acually ate!!! And tonight I am planning on having some chicken fingers and hot sauce... lobsta!! haha. Dad is here. Mom went home for the night. Now that I'm feeling better I am hoping that soon they will let me venture outside for some fresh air. And in about 3 weeks or so I am hoping to be HOME, lounging on the beach. So not much has happened. I mean not much can happen... Lou Hornstein brought me some presents from Yankee Stadium... Derek Jeter!! Well, not him, but his shirt and 2 hats! Uncle Bruce shaved his head in honor of me and sent me a picture. I just saw that today. So thanks everybody for the cards and the calls. And feel free to visit WHENEVER!! I have no plans and would be thrilled to entertain anyone! Remember the prayer list... Jess, Randy, Richter & Ruark families, Pop Pop Rossi, Mullhollands... and anyone else needing the prayers. Thanks again everyone! And DonDon, dont forget those chicken tenders...haha!!!