A Time for Giving

Christmas is a time for giving and my goodness have you given. We are truly overwhelmed by your generosity, there has been a steady stream of parcels and boxes delivered to our door for the past couple of weeks. Here is a photo of our Christmas tree, it looks like we have been sponsored by fedex, DHL, UPS and postal services from around the world. THANK YOU, GRAZIE, MERCI, DANKE, GRACIAS, EFHARISTO and so on...yet again many of you may be far away but your presence is felt.

We have been having a lovely couple of days in the run up to Christmas, despite the artic weather. We enjoyed a concert at the Kennedy Center, we have seen some magical light displays, we saw the Christmas Pageant at the National Cathedral. There are always so many wonderful things to do in DC at this time of year.

Isabella has selected the seafood and fish from the fish market for our traditional Christmas eve meal which Gregorio is knocking up. We hope she will be able to enjoy some of it. And tomorrow I am on turkey duty. We'll be having our meal in the evening so we can have a leisurely day and get over the worst of post-treatment nausea and exhaustion.

Well we made it to Christmas Eve and the first 10 rounds of chemo are behind us. Isabella is increasingly anxious by the whole procedure so we are grateful for a break from it all. The good news for you is that we may not be blogging so regularly for the next month. Isabella will have a hormone injection on New Year's Eve and then an MRI on January 12, but otherwise we are on a break until January 22nd. We'll update you when we have some news, in the meantime we pray for some good news on January 12th after all she has been through in the past three months.

We wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year. We'll leave you with the words of a local Christmas song, unfortunately we can't insert here.




It's snowing tonight in the Blue Ridge
There's a hush on the Ches'peake Bay
The chimneys are smoking in Georgetown
And tomorrow is Christmas Day

The Tidal Basin lies quiet
The tourists have found their way home
Mr. Jefferson's standing the mid-watch
And there's a star on the Capitol Dome

It's Christmas Eve in Washington
America's hometown
For it's here that freedom lives
And peace can stand her ground

It's Christmas Eve in Washington
Our joyous wish to you
Is for peace, love and laughter
to last the whole year through

Snowmen peeking through the windows
It's warm with love inside
'Round the tree the children gather
Awaiting Santa's midnight ride

Mom and Dad are counting their blessings
Reflecting on all they've done
So thankful for another
Christmas Eve in Washington


Love,
Emma and Gregorio. xxx

Round 9: we are counting the days to Christmas Eve

Each chocolate that has been consumed on opening our advent calendar this year signifies a day closer to the arrival of Peter and Janie from London and a day closer to A BREAK FROM CHEMO. We are almost there. Hallelujah.

Isabella had a pretty good week. Again last Friday she was very low physically and mentally but she was back on form on Saturday waking us up with the question "why does the sun stay hot?" A tricky question even when you are wide awake.


We then enjoyed a whole host of fun activities, including a tour of the White House to see the Christmas decorations. It was beautiful. Matilde was enchanted by the choir singing Christmas carols at the end. We have also had the school play. Matilde pranced like a beautiful fairy and Isabella rapped with real attitude!

Today we hit round 9, just one more to go for 2008. Isabella continues to be the real Impavido (translation: fearless) and fights on. Matilde, Gregorio and I have been battling with your common old garden cold and cough and are exhausted. As I write this at midnight on Thursday Gregorio in on his way home from the hospital with Isabella . We rushed her in this evening on seeing a temperature of 101 F or 38.3C. As a chemo patient her immune system is depressed but also a temperature in a patient with a central line could indicate a serious infection that needs to be treated with antibiotics by IV immediately. Poor Isabella, we draged her from her post-treatment slumber and exhaustion, only to discover that she did not register a fever at the hospital. However, they decided to do some blood tests and give her the medication anyway. Unfortunately the staff in the ER are not as well trained at accessing the port as the oncology staff. A traumatic end to a long and difficult day for Isabella. We'll be back at the hospital on Friday afternoon for another dose of antibiotics and that should be the end of today's drama.

Well tomorrow our visitors arrive, it is the last day of the school term and we can start to relax for Christmas. Roll on Christmas eve.

Love,
Emma and Gregorio. xxx

Sisters

Lest, Matilde not be forgotten in all this and as an example of the support we are getting from the hospital and the generosity to be found in this country, there is an amazing foundation called "SuperSibs" for super siblings of cancer patients. Matilde has started to receive her own notes with activities etc. Not to mention all the lovely cards and gifts you have all sent her.

We have been thinking about how Matilde is coping with everything. It is hard to know what a 4 year old really thinks. Apparently at school she is her usual gregarous self. As you can see she is quite a character. This is a photo of her taken last week, ready to go and do the shopping.

When Isabella's tumor was first diagnosed Matilde was obviously confused and concerned about her sister being in hospital and getting lots of shots (the biggest fear a young child has). As the weeks went by, she became relatively jealous of Isabella. As those of us with siblings know, no matter how much you love your sibling, the feeling of jealousy is pretty common. Only on becoming a parent do we start to understand the difficulty of dividing our time, energy and love fairly between them all, even at the best of times. Matilde said a number of times recently "why is Bella always with you and I have to be with nonna?" This despite being spoilt by nonna or having spent the morning with me.

As Isabella's treatment has progressed, Matilde has been rather unaware of all that her sister is going through. She is at school on Thursdays when we are getting treatment and on Fridays, which is often a low day for Isabella, Matilde is also at school. Last Saturday morning, as Matilde and I went off to do the shopping, Isabella waved to us from the window. Matilde said "poor Isabella, she has a sad face, we have to make her happy" Indeed, we do, perhaps we just don't know what is going on in Matilde's head. Recently, she has been very sweet with Isabella, running and fetching her blanket or soft toy, or getting an adult when Isabella is feeling sick. She quite likes being a little bit of a 'big girl'. She seems to even quite like sleeping on the top bunk now.

Meanwhile, Isabella is very fond of her little sister, Matilde. During her low days, she wishes Mati were home to do one of her 'shows'. Some of you will know how unique and entertaining these can be. But don't think it is all idyllic in the Impavido household, they do still fight so life is pretty normal!

Today Isabella reached round 8. This past week, despite a very low start, she bounced back by Sunday and the doctors decided carboplatin and just half a dose of vincristine. Well we are another week closer to Christmas and our much needed "break". The break will still include a lupron hormone injection (which does seem to knock Isabella sideways) and an MRI with full sedation on January 12th. Right now we are focusing on the last week of school. The Christmas performance will see Matilde as a fairy and Isabella's class are going to be rappers. She has quite a selection of bandanas to choose from for her costume! It should be entertaining.

Love,
Emma and Gregorio. xxx

Round 7: only 3 more to go till Christmas

The Impavidos had a happy Thanksgiving in good company. None of the Italians at my table took a liking to pumpkin pie - but nobody's perfect and that left more for me! You should know that my dear husband, Gregorio is the one with a tender heart and the author of last week's blog. He won me over with a copy of a Pirandello play nearly 15 years ago. He's still a big softie underneath.

Isabella enjoyed turkey and cranberry sauce but the rest of the week was downhill. We did not manage the major side effect of the vincristine well and she was pretty low physically and mentally for the whole Thanksgiving break. She only managed a few hours at school on Tuesday but bounced back and had fun all day on Wednesday.

Today we reached round 7 and the doctors decided we had probably pushed her body far enough with vincristine. So a break from that today and only the carboplatin this week. Added to that we also had the lupron hormone injection. We're hoping for less pain this month. Dr Baldy and his side-kick the resident clowns at Children's Hospital appeared at just the right moment this morning and produced a big smile on Isabella's face. She has slept the whole afternoon and has awoken a new person, smiling and laughing and hungry for food. We haven't seen that Isabella for a while. She requested sushi and edamame for supper (she hasn't put in food requests for some time) and that is what she got. She is lapping it up while watching (for the umpteenth time) High School Musical 2.

The house is empty, the Italian grandparents have returned to Rome after their tour de force here. We are extremely grateful for all their help. We are now busy making Christmas decorations, cards etc. Apparently we are getting our Christmas tree on Saturday and in a couple of weeks English family will arrive.

We're are really looking forward to Christmas. We have the last round on Christmas eve and then there will be a break of 4 weeks before treatment starts again. And then we'll have 4 weeks on and 3 weeks off. In January there will be an MRI to assess what effect the past 10 weeks have had.

Here's to a good week.
Love,
Emma & Gregorio. xxx