Where did 2015 go?

Like many, I find it hard to believe it is almost Christmas. Actually the Impavidos have already "done" Christmas. The Italian grandparents were with us for a couple of weeks for Thanksgiving and then we decided to have Christmas before they returned to Rome, complete with crackers, corny jokes, champagne and presents! Matilde Lucia rather liked the fact that we were celebrating on Santa Lucia.

So why have we already celebrated? Well we are heading to some sunshine and warmth in the Caribbean! The girls have been very understanding about not having presents but getting a holiday instead. Even so we have still put up all the Christmas decorations, baked cookies for Father Christmas, made (and remade) the ginger bread house, monitored the Elf of the Shelf's movement around the house. You can't stop the magical traditions of Christmas, even if you aren't going to be here. It has been a busy couple of months and we are looking forward to slowing down. With limited communication options, I think we will really switch off and enjoy all that the island has to offer...more to follow

I am sorry not to have updated this since August. Isabella had another MRI in October - all was stable and so we were given another three months off until the next round of scans and tests scheduled for late January. Isabella passed her Grade V piano exam, sang beautifully last week at the National Cathedral Christmas concert and is starting to choose her subjects to take for IGCSE. It takes me right back. Meanwhile Mati continues to love swimming and has beaten some of her own personal bests at some of the recent swim meets. She is enjoying secondary school having now mastered how to tie her tie and she continues to adore cooking - particularly the sweet stuff! Both are maturing into independent confident young girls -  firmly established in their own bedrooms where they retreat immediately upon return from school each day.

We are looking forward to a bright and happy 2016 and hope we shall see many of you in it!

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and fun and healthy New  Year.

Lots of love,
Emma, Gregorio, Isabella & Matilde. xxx

PS sorry we have been playing around with the format of the page and haven't quite worked it out yet!

Secondary school girls

With new uniforms, new backpacks, new lunch boxes and more! And so another school year begins. Here is the annual photoshoot - with new school uniform and all the paraphernalia. ...and back to the routine we go.

What a roller coaster!

For those with limited time. Here is the short version : following up from last week-end's MRI - no action required, we will continue life as normal and monitor the situation. Another MRI is being scheduled for 6-8 weeks time.

The longer version is that we've had quite a ride of emotions this week and had I written this post on Monday I would have been in a totally different frame of mind! Isabella's oncologist called on Monday afternoon with the preliminary readings on last Saturday's MRI. She began the conversation with "have you got a moment?". Well we all know what that means - shut the office door, sit down and take a deep breathe. She explained that the tumor had grown a few millimeters which represented a 35% increase so we would review the options on Thursday when we visited the oncology department. The good news is that the oral trial drugs - the mek inhibitors - could be used for re-treatment  and given the limited side effects and how effective it had been at shrinking the tumor before, this was good news. Yeah, right. Treatment, goodie!

Gregorio and I were convinced of the worse - back to treatment and the depressing drudgery of being in that routine again. All Isabella's vision issues over the summer, along with some dizziness and stumbling began to add up.

Three tense days followed. The worse part of which was telling our teenage daughter who is very happy with life, that her tumor had grown and going back treatment was highly probable.

So we went to children's yesterday fearing the worse.  After extensive eye tests, numerous visits and talks with all the specialists at the hospital we have concluded that we will continue to monitor the situation for a couple of months. Despite our fears, none of the symptoms and vision issues that Isabella seems to have been having over the summer appear to be abnormal or normally associated with her tumor and its location. The increase is small and so we will monitor for a couple of months. Isabella will have further eye tests in a couple of weeks and another MRI at the end of Sept/early October. If things are stable we will continue without treatment. If there is a further increase then we will probably start the mek inhibitor. So for now we will return to “normal”, get back into our DC routine etc and await the next MRI. I believe we are all extremely reassured by this.

In other news this summer Isabella gained an A* in her  Italian IGCSE (International General Certificate of Education - taken by British students at age 15 or 16, for you non-Brits) and Matilde passed her Grade 3 music theory. This week we have been watching the sunrise over the Potomac - Isabella has been learning to row in the early hours. She loves it, so much so she had no qualms about jumping into the river at the end of the lesson for her capsizing drill!

We had a good summer with friends and family in Europe. A few upsets - pulled tendons, twisted ankles, pretty bad stomach upsets and several things not going quite according to plan, not to mention the very hot temperatures. However there were some wonderful highlights that include Carlo and Gianna's elegant celebration of 50 years of marriage in Rome, a lovely party in Tuscany for some dear friends 50th birthdays, splashing in the Mediterranean in Mallorca, eating and drinking great food and wine as always. We also saw the Sistine chapel (we are American though, we could have done with some AC), the girls insisted on having their portraits done in Piazza Navona (that's what the tourists do, cringes Gregorio), we toured the foods of the world at the EXPO in Milan, we bought new school uniform in M&S and we stocked up on lots of clothes, shoes, edibles and drinkables thanks to the favorable euro!

School begins next week. More news when we have it sometime in October. For now deep sighs of relief and hopefully a week-end catching up on lost sleep this week.

Lots of love
Emma and Gregorio xxx

6 months on - all stable

Need I say more?!

It's been 6 months since we stopped treatment and last week's MRI shows that everything is all stable, no regrowth, we are off the hook and continue our lives for another three months until the next MRI.

In fact we were so relaxed this time, possibly a first, that I forgot to contact the doctors for a preliminary reading on the results.


Meanwhile spring activities in full swing here. End of year tests and exams have started, some finished. Isabella had her end of year choir concert yesterday and Mati will finish swimming for the season this week.

Then there's birthdays and Mati's graduation from primary school. And then we are gearing up for summer travels in Europe.

More news when we have it, in the meantime a few photos from recent weeks.

Lots of love,
Emma & co. xxx

Glorious day

Most of Team Impavido at the end of the Race for Hope 2015

Today was the 7th year that Team Impavido has participated in the Race for Hope here in DC. We had the largest team ever - all going at various speeds. Some setting their personal running record, others took a more leisurely stroll! But all completed the course. Our team ranged in age from babies in strollers to grannies striding, even running along! Bravi tutti!

It was glorious weather, perhaps a little hot for running but it is always so wonderful to come together for this amazing event to celebrate those who have survived brain cancer and remember those who have sadly lost their lives to this terrible disease.

Dare I say, Isabella was beaming, she is blossoming into a fine young lady. She strode proudly with all the yellow t-shirts in the survivor's tribute and then completed the 5 K in her personal best.

Afterwards we had 60+ in the garden for a celebratory lunch. The garden in full bloom, the pimms flowing,  balls and frisbees flying everywhere - the perfect garden party. We are lucky to be surrounded by so many great friends. Team Impavido have raised $3,580 so far this year for Race for Hope - all proceeds will go towards Brain tumor research. THANK YOU to all who have contributed.

Next MRI next week. Hoping for another all stable and then we are off the hook for another three months. We'll keep you posted.

Lots of love,
Emma  & Gregorio. xxx

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Spring is in the air...

...and there are lots of changes in the Impavido household.

This week Isabella moved into her own bedroom. She and her sister haven't slept apart since Mati was about 3 months old! There was a dramatic goodnight on the first night...and then they realized they could text each other from their own beds. Modern technology!

Isabella has braces - it seems to be a rite of passage for all teenagers, in this country at least. But as you can imagine, it is not so simple with Isabella. The pieces attached to her teeth are made of porcelain  (rather than the standard metal) and she will have to have the wires removed before every MRI (every three months) and then put back on. The metal would distort the brain scan readings. We needed a few more medical appointments!

On the musical front the girls have suddenly started practicing the piano with enthusiasm, I guess the exams will be here in no time - Grade V for Isabella and III for Mati. Not sure if Gregorio has remembered his promise if they make it to Grade V....this week-end Isabella is singing with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. They are singing pieces from Les Mis and Miss Saigon. At last night's rehearsal they met Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, composers of these musicals, which was pretty special.

The girls are definitely growing up and becoming more independent. Gregorio and I seem to be moving from supervisors to mentors. A changing role for sure. Meanwhile I have been promoted and am going back to full time work. A mixture of excitement and apprehension juggling work and home life.

Gregorio completed a half marathon a couple of weeks ago in the pissing rain in a record speed. Sadly this week he is hobbling and frustrated that he cannot run thanks to an injury this past week-end. Not half as frustrated as we are that he can't get out and release some energy! Hopefully he will be back on form soon for his upcoming races here in DC and in Istanbul.

Even I have donned my running shoes in this warmer weather. Well my annual 5 k is coming up and I need to see if I can still complete the course :) The Race For Hope will take place on May 3rd in DC. Please let us know if you'd like to join the team or support this valuable cause, raising much needed funds and awareness for brain cancer.

Next MRI will be in early May. Till then we look forward to warmer weather and the cherry blossom here in DC.

Lots of love,
Emma.x

All Stable!

Isabella had an MRI last week-end - three months since she stopped treatment and we got the results this week - all stable. Extremely good news. So we move forward for another three months.

I felt much relieved and ready to book our summer holiday. So this evening we have booked our flights to Europe. Most unlike me, we have selected dates, almost at random, without having fully fleshed out our plans and we will fill in the pieces in the coming months. We had to do it...just before we jet off on our next trip - got to have another one to look forward to before you leave on the present one that's Gregorio's philosophy!

Off to Utah to ski, though the snow is probably better in New England this year. Should be a fun week though, we are looking forward to it. Girls have already had a week's skiing with the school in Snowshoe, West Virginia and we've had our weekly outings to the local slopes at Whitetail. Gregorio managed a long week-end to Park City back in January with some friends....the only one who hasn't been away already to ski this year, is me - but I have been enjoying ladies day out on the local slopes on Fridays - a real treat, nobody on the slopes and time to catch up with girlfriends!

February 26th is Bella Notte - the National Brain Tumor Foundation gala fundraiser at the Italian Embassy. Isabella will be joint MC for the evening. It's a poignant event but also a celebration of the courage and strength of the pediatric brain cancer patients and survivors. If you are in DC and would like to still join us at the event and help raise funds for a valuable cause - let us know. A few months further on we will be drumming up support for the Race for Hope.

In the meantime - Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Pancake day next week.

Lots of love,
Emma and family xxx