Just one cycle to go.

We finished up cycle 7 today. Thankfully the blood counts bounced right back up again and Isabella was able to get a full dose of Carboplatin. We are still on track to end this stage of the journey in 2009. And she will hopefully finally get the H1N1 vaccination tomorrow.

Matilde has been under the weather with strep throat this week. We were at the pediatrician's even before there were any real signs of infection and straight onto antibiotics. Sadly she missed her ballet performance on Tuesday but I think we were more upset than she. A new hairband, a box of pringles and some brownies and you can focus on the important things in life! This week she announced that she wants to be a Children's author and illustrator. Given the number of books she is already producing about Princess Matilde it doesn't surprise us.

We now have two weeks without chemo and then enter the final cycle on December 10th. Next Thursday we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. A year ago Gregorio produced our wall of thanks to all of you who have supported us. By now that wall is made of reinforced steel and reaches a mile high. It would be impossible for us to thank you all personally but we are truly grateful for friends and family like you.

Recently I was talking to the lovely social worker here in the hospital. We don't think Isabella will remember this year negatively. Granted it is hard for any of us to get out of bed on Thursdays and the ease with which her roaming port is accessed, has come to define the day; but there have also been some very happy moments along the way. We have had lots of fun and laughter as a family, we have appreciated the simple things in life such as a Sunday walk through the forest with the autumn leaves crunching under foot, cooking together, watching a movie together or enjoying breakfast with friends at our local cafe and much much more. We have also had some wonderful travel experiences: sun and warmth in Florida in January, skiing in Pennsylvania in February, the beauty, space and tranquility of Canada in August and the magical balloon ride in New Mexico in October. Isabella has proved to be a very strong and courageous girl through it all. She is incredibly curious about the medical world and how everything functions. She loves school and learning about the world around her, she loves to get involved in many things. She is a confident and happy 7 year old who has got on with life despite the side effects of chemotheraphy. This week a young waitress in our local cafe said to Isabella "I know what it is like to have to wear bandanas, but you wear them well, YOU ROCK!" Isabella felt pretty cool and smiled.

Next week is a short week at school, Isabella will be performing in the school's production of Cinders and Mati is dressing up as a pilgrim for her Thanksgiving celebration.

We will be back in touch with more news in December. In the meantime we wish our friends here in the US a very Happy Thanksgiving. We'll probably still be eating turkey when we write again, given the size of turkey I have ordered!

Lots of love,
Emma & Gregorio. xxx