Bucket List Family

Checking the Harlem Globetrotters off our family bucket list!

2019-02-25T21:30:00.000-08:00

We were chosen to blog about the Harlem Globetrotters, as you saw from the last post I gave out a discount passcode and was given tickets for the 5 of us to attend. Faith happened to be down from Vegas, but I didn't know she would be, so she didn't participate as I only asked for the 5 tickets.

We hit a great deal of traffic on our way down, so even though we left early to get dinner, we were unable to. When we arrived at Pechanga Arena, we had to pay 15 dollars to park and were directed to the other side of the lot to Will Call to get our tickets.

Once we got our tickets, we headed inside but were told we could not bring our camera in because the lens is detachable, thus making it a "professional camera" according to security. When I explained that I was blogging about it and wanted some good photos, I was told to use my cell phone, so we did, and please excuse the quality! We all took pictures and enjoyed the show!

In the early part of the game "Globie" came out, and I don't think we laughed harder during the entire game. One of the funniest things to me is that when Sean laughs, he cries (just like his mom, isn't that sweet?) So, lots of laughter and tears when this blow up head and body Globie came out and fell several times, deflating itself and walking as though it had no legs, then growing legs and walking normally until it dropped again! Hilariously funny!!

Each time they made a basket, not only did the score go up exponentially, but the backboards blew smoke or steam into the air. That part made it ever so exciting for us, and we all cheered a little more because of the excitement of the steam!

The Harlem Globetrotters played a team called the Generals of which I later learned they play every time and have only lost to 6 times since their inception and not since the 1970's have they lost. When it last happened, the Globetrotters were playing around and having fun after getting a huge lead, which they ended up losing by messing around so much!

Speaking of messing around, this guy got up on the hoop and sang baby shark making all the hand motions and all, it was so funny!

At the end of the game, many of the kids ran down to the court and formed lines where the Globetrotters signed basketballs and merchandise.

Of course, my son had this player nicknamed "Moose" sign his shirt!

Here we are happy after laughing throughout the game with full bellies from eating pizza and popcorn we purchased at the game!

The Harlem Globetrotters are something everyone should see and take their kids to see. I remember seeing them as a young child and loving them so much which made it even more exciting as a parent, knowing my children will develop a love for them just as I have!

Harlem Globetrotters Discount Code

2019-02-04T12:11:00.000-08:00

I have been a Harlem Globetrotters fan for most of my life. I remember seeing them at a local high school as a child with my mom and brother. Ever since having children, I have wanted them to be old enough to go to a game with me, and now they finally are! I remember the tricks and how much the Harlem Globetrotters made me laugh as I child. Part of being a bucketlist family is checking things off of our bucketlists and taking my children to see the Harlem Globetrotters is one of mine and I can not wait until February 22nd when we bring my 3 boys to see them and I'm hoping that they love them as much as I did way back when I was a child!

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My newest Middle Schooler

2018-06-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

El Camino Creek has been such a great school for Zach! His 7 years here have been nothing short of fabulous from his friends, teachers, and staff!

The second to the last day of school, our principal pulled off a surprise for all the 6th graders as it was their last full day!

So all the 5th graders stood with hands together so that the 6th graders could run through their hands as if seeing them off for their next journey and school!

Luckily Zach is on the smaller side and easily fit through!

Here he is coming out of the tunnel!

And then the last day of school was finally here and promotion was in the morning! Younger siblings are not allowed to attend, so it was only Josh as a sibling attending as Faith had to work.

I was one of the mom volunteers who helped decorate the night before, which entitled me to 2 reserved seats and we arrived extra early so that we would all fit in a close up row!

Our principal and school board representatives

Zach and all the student entered and found their seats!

They sang us a song

Mrs. Greenberger, our principal welcomed everyone to the promotion

Speakers from each class made a speech and Allison was from Zach's class

Emer spoke for Mrs. Krisky's class

And Kyle for Wright/Wells combo

Zach from his seat! Happy to be finishing 6th grade and moving on.

Lined up and waiting for his teacher to call him up

Mrs. Wegener calling Zach up

Mrs. Wegener shaking Zach's hand and giving him his promotion certificate!

Shaking hands with Mrs, Greenberger who came back to our school half way through the previous school year.

And having to shake hands with the school board members!

Zach and Mrs. Wegener, happily done with 6th grade!

Zach with grandma Diane and grandpa Denny

Zach with Sean and I.

Family photo missing 2 siblings, one working and the other still in school!

Zach with 2 of his friends, Charlie and Greyson whom he'll attend middle school with

Zach and Mrs. Greenberger!

And again!

Zach with buddies, Braydon and Ben, whom he'll also attend middle school with!

Zach with grandpa Mike and grandma Brooks

Both boys with their grandparents!

And now he's off to middle school and chose Oak Crest, a different school than the one Josh chose and attended! I am so proud of Zach for finding such a good group of friends and for always being a good student. His teachers always loved him and often reminded me of how kind hearted he is, which I have always known and loved about him!

Farewell, Middle School

2018-06-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

When Josh finished elementary school and chose which middle school he wanted to attend (based solely on friends) we were told that the 2 years spent in middle school would fly by, and they weren't kidding! We enjoyed our time at Diegueno Middle School as well as his teachers and the administration which make it hard to leave, but we don't have a choice in the matter as these kids of ours won't stop growing up no matter how much I beg and plead with them to no avail.

And the day finally came where Josh promoted from Middle School and at this time he had just changed his mind and switched from SDA to LCC.

Wow, CLASS OF 2022!!

We arrived extra early as I wanted to get a seat at this extra casual promotion!

Hardly anyone was around when we arrived.

The band came out and started playing (and they were surprisingly good)!

All of the students walked in and I should add that this seemed like the hottest day of the year

My poor handsome son cooking away for an hour in the hot sun

Principal Copeland who after this school year has decided to return to teaching

You can see how packed in it got and what you can't see are the smart people in the tree shade way in the back or those who were in the shade behind me on the ramp down when this photo was taken!

First speaker was a very emotional girl and we could hardly understand her.

The second speakers were a team of girls who came through the Spanish language immersion program in the elementary school district and in a weird twist they had the Hispanic girl speak Spanish and the Caucasian girl speak English, which in my opinion should have been switched around!!

This kid did a great job of speaking to the students and remembering the fun times they all had! His last line is one I will never forget as we're in the gaming age with our boys..."PubG is better than Fortnite" and as my boys are obsessed with fortnite, this was music to my ears, lol!

My 4 munchkins who have all my heart!

Family photo on this hot, hot day!

Grandma and Grandpa Teffeteller made the trip up to see Josh's promotion!

As did Grandma and Grandpa Kabo

And Grammy who sat in the shade of the trees with Faith and Nicco for the ceremony (they are the smart ones in the family)!

Faith and her boyfriend Nicco and now you can see why they sat in the shade, wearing all black!

Mom and dad while we're still his favorite people!

So much love for my oldest boy and I am beyond proud of him for all of his efforts in middle school!

With his vice principal on the left and principal on the right, both of whom stepped down to take positions working directly with students instead of in administration!

Afterwards, my son picked Islands, his favorite restaurant (because of their veggie burgers) and his friends changed their plans and all joined us there!

Such a great day, had by all! So proud of you Josh for being such a good student, friend, son, and brother! Your grades were remarkable through middle school and we know you'll keep them up as you do the next 4 in high school! Welcome to the big leagues now, but you'll always be my baby in my heart!

Spring Break 2018

2018-04-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

As our boys are in different schools, their breaks don't quite line up. Zach and Ben have 2 weeks of Spring break while Josh has only one which luckily is his brothers 2nd week.

A little while back, Sean and I decided that it would be good for Sean to bring one boy to Florida when he travels there as long as that boy is on a school break. So, here are photos of Zach and daddy in Florida during his first week of Spring break! Sean travels often to Florida and said he always wants to do the fan boat tours through the Everglades, but doesn't because he's traveling alone for work and can spend his extra time in his hotel room working uninterrupted (by me, lol). Now that Zach joined him he was able to do all those things and more.....

They started their trip out with renting a Mustang, the first surprise for Zach!

When in Florida, you've gotta do the Swap/Everglades/Fan Boat Tour

And of course that includes holding a young alligator

And having the ranger scare you with a huge scorpion

And after wards, there's nothing like a good trip to the beach

My water baby, loves the beach and I'm sure the clear, warm waters of Florida were a much needed change from our still cold waters.

And you can imagine how well Zach slept that night!

Another day and another treat

Bike riding with daddy to find fancy cars in Miami and Ft Lauderdale areas

Just a bike ride isn't enough for these two on their adventure

They rented and rode around on a moped for an afternoon.

Because Sean was there for business they had to do some work, which included a few boring inspections and marketing meals with the attorneys Sean is working for.

Let me just say that not only did Zach have a great time, but Sean did too. Now we have two more boys who want to do this and have a trip away with daddy. Hopefully Josh will be able to go sometime over the summer and Ben in another year or two, because he's too still little!

St Patrick's Day and the Sneaky Leprechaun

2018-03-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

In my quest to celebrate EVERYTHING in life post cancer diagnosis, we started doing the "Leprechaun" every St. Patrick's Day. I think he's normally supposed to create messes, but I don't want to have to clean them up. In the past we have done green balloons on the kids bedroom floors, made green streamers hanging from doors, used washable paint to leave "footprints" on the toilet. The favorite of my children has been the scavenger hunts.

Sean along with Zach and Ben were camping over St. Patrick's Day weekend, so I wouldn't be able to do it for Zach and Ben, but didn't want them to miss it. Zach and I came up with a plan that he was going to do it in the motor home while I did Josh here at home. Another problem is that we usually do Rolo's for the candy, but now Josh has braces and can't eat that. So I made a brace friendly treat this year and made it easy so Zach could do it in the motor home!!

Josh's treat at home.

Treats in the motor home and then a photo with the "mess"

Floor "mess" I simple purchased pre-cut clovers from amazon for around $5 as it was the easiest way for the leprechaun to make a mess that's easily cleaned up in the motorhome. After picking Sean, Zach, Zach and Ben up from their camping trip we made our way to Sean's high school BFF's house for their welcome baby party.

There's almost nothing as sweet as a new baby

However seeing my husband and son hold the baby, may be sweeter than holding him myself!

Recipe for Leprechaun treat:

It's so simple that I'm sure I don't need to add the recipe, but here it is.

I purchased one can of Wilton Color Mist in gold and followed the directions to spray it on golden oreos. (Yes I know they're already gold, but I wanted them really gold and regular oreos just don't color as well). I sprayed it on the Oreos which were placed on parchment paper.

The color mist is fairly pricey ($4-$5 a can) and doesn't last very long, but I was able to completely cover 15 cookies. Which worked out to 5 each for my 3 boys!

Then I made a rainbow out of MnMs because skittles which I usually use are an off limits food for Braces! The brown MnMs even looked like purple in the rainbow, and one of my boys asked how I got purple MnMs!!

Plain golden oreos, if you do regular oreos plan on using at least 2 cans of color mist

Directions are also on the color mist bottle. I purchased mine at Walmart, but have seen them at craft stores as well.

And after one coat, then I flipped them and sprayed the other side.

Happy Half Birthday!!

2018-03-12T12:24:00.002-07:00

Two days ago, on day 3 of this 4th chemo round, it hit me that the day before (March 9th)was Zach’s half birthday and that Josh and Faith’s were 4 days away (March 14th) when Sean would be out of town in Florida for work. Feeling like a horrible mom for forgetting, I decided we could celebrate by going to the movies as I could sleep and then out to lunch where we could buy them each a dessert after wards and “celebrate” it that way. Our usual way is for them to pick what they want us to make for dinner and to celebrate with a mini cake or large cupcake bought from the store. This year, on chemo, my getting all that done was impossible. So we made do with the movies and lunch at BJs with pazookies.

I know what you’re thinking...”half birthdays,” so let me explain. In my attempt to live life to its fullest we celebrate everything and the way I see it is by celebrating half birthdays, that’s more birthdays I’ll be able to celebrate with them. Knowing you’re not going to live a long full life like most really puts things into perspective and is what makes me want to get busy living!!

I’ll admit that I pushed myself way too hard. It breaks my heart that I lay in bed the 5 days a month that I’m on chemo. I really don’t want my kids to remember me like that. That thought breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. Thank God I have such an amazing husband to care for them when I can’t.

All 3 boys at the movies to watch Black Panther. It was PG-13 and we almost never let Ben see those movies and are just now starting to allow Zach to watch them as Josh started in 6th grade. It was definitely too intense for Ben, but the other 2 really enjoyed it. Faith has already seen it twice (and this was actually Josh's 2nf time).

Josh and Zach were the only ones to go to lunch with us, but Faith is eating super healthy currently so she isn't eating out and no desserts. Both Josh and Zach ordered a Pazookie from BJs, but Ben and I finished them as they were stuffed!!

Once home, I got a photo of my 3 half birthday kids. and then one of all of them! I love how much they love each other!!

My 4 babies!!

And, just so you know...round 4 is complete!!! Only 2 more chemo rounds to go!

Half Way Baby!!!

2018-03-10T09:53:00.001-08:00

My 3rd round of chemo was delayed because my platelets were low. They were 96k when they had to be at least 150k, so I had to wait a week and start chemo after they went back up. Waiting that week worked!!

For those who don't know, my chemo is 5 days of oral chemo (no having to go to the hospital and sit in a chair for hours) and 23 days off. Each session is 28 days or basically a month. I am not allowed to touch the pills, because they're a strong poison, but I swallow them, so they sit in my stomach, which has always seemed strange to me.

As my chemo was delayed this round, it ended up working out perfectly because Sean went to Mexico fir the weekend with his high school best friend, Victor and Victor's family. So, I wasn't home alone with the kids on the weekend of my chemo. I also have a half marathon I want to run on March 4th, so this will push back next month's chemo and I won't have to cancel my half marathon!!! Win-win, right there.

So I started my chemo a week late and got through it again without getting the flu this time, like I did last month. As this is my 3rd round of chemo, I am now HALF WAY BABY!!! SO happy for this little milestone and to finally feel like I'm counting down!

This is how good (ok awful) I am at blogging and how well my brain works...I am half way through round 4 and just realized that I never “published” this one. So much for one a week!! I’ll try to be better. I have several blog posts in my head now.

First scan of the year!

2018-02-01T13:45:00.000-08:00

I had a mini vacation with my family at the Great Wolf Lodge, which I'll write about time when I have a chance. Anyhow I left in the afternoon on our last day to drive up to LA while Sean drove home with the kids. Once at Cedars Sinai for my MRI, the President's State of the Union Address came on, and I missed in as I was called back right after.

Admitted into the hospital and waiting for my MRI. First time I had an MRI the night before seeing my oncologist and there was so much scanxiety!!

This was the first time they gave me pants to wear for my MRI. And they were knotted so loose that I felt like I was in a weight loss ad. #ChemoDiet, lol!! Only I gain weight on chemo...

And here are the images of my MRI. The two photos on the left are on my most recent scan and the two on the right are of my post surgery scan. You can see the far left and the far right scans are similar and the two he compared the most. The white "margins" are where the tumor lies and there is more in the recent scan on the left. That is definitely scary to me, but he assured me that it was a good thing because it has to do with scar tissue and radiation.

Overall, it was a good visit and he said everything looks good. So, I'm happy with this and trying not to think about the scar tissue.

Semester Vacay

2018-01-30T21:48:00.000-08:00

Our area has two different school districts which equals different breaks. Josh does not have Fall Break like Zach and Ben do, but we pulled him out for our Washington trip. At the end of every January.

Josh has 2 days out of school, which happens to be during a time no one else is off, Last year we went up to Brian Head for a ski/snowboard trip for those two days he had off. This year we decided to do The Great Wolf Lodge since it's been on my bucket list for several years now because my brother and his family go there in Washington where they live and because I LOVE water parks!! We decided this would be a great local semester break vacation and save us some money on a big trip. In December we booked it when we saw a great sale. However, it's still pricey! I called the day before to ask if we could have an upgraded room that had a kid's room "log cabin" with bunk beds after Zach saw it on google images as he searched the Internet, I didn't want to disappoint him, and luckily I was given the room upgrade and didn't have to!!

My boys were so excited and I'm sure Faith was bummed she had to work and couldn't go with us to the Great

Because it was semester break, there were 2 other families we knew there. Ben enjoyed playing with his buddy Jack who lives on our street while Josh hung out with his older brother.

We "adulted" and went on some water slides with our neighbors. Did I mention I LOVE water parks?

We had a blast the first day and then Zach got hurt...

When Sean took Zach to the Urgent Care, I took Josh and Ben to walk around the hotel and we ran into the mascot!

The toilet paper is how kids doctor a cut, and the butterfly is how the medic at the hotel doctored it. Zach was so freaked out about getting stitches, but we had to take him to the urgent care with how deep it was. Luckily they only, after seeing how upset Zach was and with Sean's asking, only steri-stripped it. No stitches, but sadly he could no longer go in the water....there went our vacation. But we still enjoyed the family time and the kids loved the cabin with bunk beds in our room. It really was a cute set up. And no matter what, family time really is the best time!

Girls Trip to Napa

2018-01-23T13:35:00.000-08:00

One of my closest cancer friends from down in San Diego moved up to Napa for work, I know...rough place to move....

I knew her boyfriend was going back to his parents to quit smoking and get his act together, so I went up to visit her to ease the stress of that first weekend apart.

When I arrived on Friday morning we went grocery store shopping to cook and drink as much as possible at her house in order for us both to save a few Benjamins! Then we went out and spent them on lunch and wine at a cute little restaurant in downtown Napa called Noodles. We had to do the obligatory cheers/toast and selfie as soon as we got our drinks!

Hannah lived in walking distance to downtown which was great as we were able to walk places, although we chilled at her house a great deal. Look how cute her street is. The homes are from the early 1900's and absolutely adorable.

This is Hannah's house and it was so adorable!

Not much better on a girls weekend than sipping mimosas at home for breakfast while watching Dirty Dancing, one of my favorite movies on Saturday morning!!

Since Saturday was our wine tasting day, I ordered a beer at lunch. I'm not the biggest fan of wine (or alcohol in general), but I knew we'd get our share of wine this day, so beer it was!

And then onto Beringer, which I think was my mom's favorite when I was a kid. The grounds were beautiful and the best part was that since Hannah was a Napa resident, we each got one glass of wine to bring with us as we walked around their grounds.

Many selfies were take this weekend, how could we not when we were having a girls weekend!

Hannah and I together in front of Beringer before we left, to head a couple blocks away to Mumm.

Hannah has a membership to Mumm, so we got to taste for free (I believe it was a $33 value or so), and we ended up having way more than what was on the tasting menu (only 3 samples each) as Hannah knew to ask for the Carlos Santana samples, which gave us 2 extra glasses and then I over heard our waiter talking about a different wine that was on a different tasting menu, so I asked to try it. He brought it out and said we would not be able to get anymore as we had more than what was allowed!! SCORE, lol!!

Our view at Mumm, from our window seats. It was too cold that day to sit outside.

Our first 3 drinks from their "tasting menu"

I am definitely a lover of the sunset at the beach, but the Napa sunset was just as beautiful, only minus the water.

Saturday night Hannah and I walked to the local bar where we both had drink. The had something boring on the TV, so the bartender gave us the remote so we could find a better program! This town had such a small town feel, I loved it.

Sunday, game day...Hannah and I found ourselves back at Noodles to watch the game during their unlimited mimosa brunch!

We took a group photo with some strangers we met at the bar while watching the Falcons and Patriots play. (All of us cheering for the patriots to lose, which sadly they didn't)!!

Flying home on Sunday night with great memories and a missed plane (too many mimosas at Brunch and I lost track of time), luckily Southwest let me catch the later flight which was only 40 minutes later! And then back to my beautiful family, but longing for another trip up to Napa, with either my girlfriends or my husband!

Fall Break Vacay

2017-11-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

My children (now only the younger 2) get 2 weeks off for Fall Break which is usually the last week of October and first week of November. We decided in early August that since I would be finished with radiation in early October that we would take a Disney Cruise with our family and pull Josh out of school for that week and Faith off of her job to spend that time together celebrating and relaxing.

However, things did not go as planned. My insurance company felt that the life saving radiation I was prescribed to receive was not needed and was denied multiple times all of which we fought as hard as we could with my radiation oncologist. When I was finally approved for radiation we knew that I would finish too late to go on the cruise. So with saddened hearts we let our kids know that the cruise was not possible, but we still wanted them to do something fun. Sean found cheap flights up to Washington where my brother lives, so we decided to spend a few days with him. On November 1st, at 6am we flew out of Los Angeles. Now this was the day after Halloween and we had to leave our house at 2am in order to make it to the airport in time...which is why we got our tickets for so cheap. Only $70 per person for a round trip ticket on Spirit Airlines. Once we landed my brother Tyler picked us up and the fast, fun trip started!!

Since my brother and I are both bald right now, the first thing we did was a bald selfie together!! I must admit, my brother is seriously my best friend. There is no one who knows me better and I think it's because of our childhood as we both experienced the same things growing up,

First stop off the plane was Starbucks and not just any old Starbucks, but the first one ever built!!

It was fairly crowded and many came to take photos. There was another one in view from this one if you wanted to get in and out, but this was something on our bucket list, so we did it!

They said they don't have room for all the fancy new machines, so they still make it the old fashioned way by hand, which was really cool to watch.

Two boys excited for hot chocolate. When Josh started Middle School, I took him to starbucks a few times to get real coffee, so that's what he had. Although he doesn't care for the taste of coffee, the sweetened blended drinks are what he gets.

Watching them make coffee the old fashioned way. It was really neat.

ell

Had to take pictures of all the signs outside and inside!!

After Starbucks we walked to Pike's Market to see "fish fly, " which we did, but I didn't get a photo of that!

My kids enjoyed it, but not so much the smell. They were more excited to have their cousins join them!!

Fish and crab...everything seafood was at this market, but we didn't buy any of it!

My brother, Tyler, and I at the landmark pig at one entrance of Pike's Place and then the cousins took a photo there, just my 4 and then my family. Lots of photos and wild kids, so we moved onto something we thought they'd enjoy.....

we moved onto the underground gum wall. It was artsy and nasty all at the same time. We had to say don't touch several times, in fact!!

Faith had gum, so she put her's on the wall and marked in with a K for our last name!!

The gum wall didn't last long, so we moved onto the The Great Wheel of Seattle. I love Ferris Wheels (and Bridges), so this was awesome for me and something we didn't do the past few times in Seattle (because of the cost).

We could only have 8 in one car and there were 10 of us total, so my hubby and I got a very peaceful ride together.

So I got several photos of them, a few selfies and the view!

The view was amazing!!

And then we were off to see another site, but this was only us girls. The men and kids went home. And we wanted to see the very first Nordstrom's, but it was impossible to park, so we drove around several times and I hopped out to get some close up photos, hoping one would say the original, but none did. I did do a little quick googling and saw that an Swedish immigrant opened it with a local Seattle shoemaker. It's a great story if you ever want to Google it.

Seattle is such a fun town and we enjoyed seeing an actual season with colored leaves, as we don't get that much here in San Diego. And the last photo on this page sums up what I think of Seattle in a cute hippie flowered car with colorful fall leaves on the ground around it!

Sorry for all the new posts....had to transfer my CarePages onto here.

2017-10-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

Again, so sorry if you got a ton of new posts in your email. My hope is that by transferring them all in one day (and before midnight eastern time), they will all be on the same email. CarePages is shutting down tomorrow and I wanted to save my posts. It was pretty emotional reading through them at times and funny at other times when I realized how naive we were in the beginning, Although it's not something I ever thought I'd be educated on, I now know way more than I ever wanted. I'm hoping that tomorrow I can make my end of chemo/radiation post with photos. Chemo ended on 10/22 and radiation on 10/26!

It's so rad to be finished with Radiation and Chemo

2017-10-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

Welp, rads (radiation) ended yesterday and chemo ended last Sunday (10/22/17)!! I was so excited to finish and had my 7pm appointment so that those who wanted to be there but work could go after work, but then I was called in the morning and asked to go in to see my doctor. I am happy that I did because some of my favorite techs were working during the day and wouldn't be there at night for me to get a photo with.

I had such a great team working on me. The women totally understood how it felt when I would remove my hair piece (a head band at first that progressed into a wig) to get my head radiated, and I cried several times only to get an understanding hug.

This guy above was with me on day one and for the first couple of weeks, then he was moved to another machine and would be on my machine at random times.

This is my friend Clay and he met me there during the day as he works at the hospital and wouldn't be around for my ringing of the bell. He's in a local commercial for the hospital and I thought it was funny when the nurse said he looked familiar and he responded that he worked at the hospital and then she said " you're the guy in the commercials."

After radiation I showed off my mask to everyone who came to see me ring the bell and then I rang the bell. Followed by lots of photos!!

My family and favorite supporters with me ringing the bell.

Lots of friends and my uncle came to see me ring the bell, some more amazing supporters!

Then a quick picture with the two techs who were with me on my last radiation. The man, Phil, on the left was there from the beginning, my very first day. The gal on the right started about two weeks into my treatment as she was moved to my machine. She was the one I cried to the most when my hair started falling out and she would just hug me. It's funny how much a hug can make someone feel so much better.

And then to check another thing off my bucket list, my Uncle Charlie let me ride on the back of his Harley to the ice cream shop where we stopped to get my kids a treat as a way to celebrate!!

Once home all of my kids got a ride around our culde-sac

Zach was so excited to ride, probably the most excited out of all my kiddos

Ben and Josh took a ride

And finally Faith took a ride.

I must admit that I wasn't going to allow my kids to ride it because I always thought motorcycles were scary and dangerous. On my ride home, I was shocked at how safe I felt, so I knew my kids would be fine riding around our culde-sac!

Cutie pies Ben (above) and Josh (below) try on the helmet I wore.

Then, Sean, Ben, and Zach took turns sitting on the bike alone. I think Sean would be in Heaven if he had a bike, although I don't think his mom would ever let him. I would, but that is only recently (post diagnosis) as I am now under the mind frame that life is short and needs to be lived to it's fullest.

I am so grateful that this part of my journey is over! It was long and had many challenges, mostly the timing of my appointments coinciding with traffic, my being very tired (usually going to bed around 7pm or as soon as I got home from radiation).

Goodbye CarePages- CarePages

2017-10-17T15:04:00.000-07:00

Goodbye CarePages

Posted Oct 17, 2017 3:04pm

Edit: REPOSTED FROM CAREPAGES

It seems CarePages is going out of business and all pages, including this one will be gone at the end of the month. I am going to try to transfer as much of it as I can to my blog. I know I'm horrible about keeping up with it, but I'm going to try. For future updates you can look at...

Bucketlistfamily.blogspot.com

And if want, you can sign up for email updates. I am going to try to start posting weekly, but my priority is spending time with my children, so don't get your hopes up. There are photos on there, which is cool.

On a side note, treatment is going well. I have only 8 more radiation treatments out of the 33 total treatment, ending on 10/26. And only 6 more doses of chemo, ending on 10/22. Whoop whoop, I'm so excited to be done with this part of treatment.

Birthdays and Radiation

2017-09-15T03:13:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, my first 3 children were all born in September with the first two sharing a birthday (September 14th). Believe it or not, my 3rd was due on their birthday but came a few days early (September 9th).

This year Faith turned 22 and Josh became a teenager!! Because 13 is such a special birthday we allowed Josh to pick any restaurant in La Jolla (where my radiation hospital is located as I had it right after). We offered popular and expensive Hibachi Grills and Fondue restaurants, but true to form, Josh chose his favorite, Islands, because of his love for veggie burgers!!

In the end there were 3 desserts at our table to share. We celebrated Zach's this night as well because he had his party on his actual birthday and never had a birthday dinner out with family.

A couple attempts at selfies in the radiation waiting room. I know I look bald, but I am not. My hair is pulled back and I'm wearing a headband.

I had to continue taking them until I didn't look bald as I know that is coming very soon!!

Everyone went back into the radiation room with me and we took a photo which will probably be on our (spoiler alert) Christmas Card this year.

In this photo you can see me in the background with the mask on my face and yes, I am unable to move. The big dude on the left of this photo is my daughter's boyfriend Nicco, who after 3 years is basically a part of our family now.

Today was radiation number 4, so I have only 29 treatments left!!

Mutant Cells- CarePages

2017-09-13T23:32:00.000-07:00

Mutant Cells

Posted Sep 13, 2017 11:32pm

Edit: REPOSTED FROM CAREPAGES

Yesterday I got a call from Dr. Bush, my oncologist up at UCSF saying the DNA sequencing showed that I have 179 mutated genes out of the 480 genes. Apparently this is very rare and I am considered "hyper-mutated." It appears that the chemo I took for a year in 2014 is what caused my tumor cells to mutate. This is the same chemo I am currently taking and that scares the crap out of me. Now my oncologist at Cedars Sinai wants to see us to discuss this. It sucks and I'm bummed. Hopefully something can be changed in my treatment plan, but as of now I'm told this "standard of care" is the only thing they know even if it is pushing me closer to death.

Radiation isn't Rad, but that's what some call it.

2017-09-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

After a week and a half long fight with Blue Shield of California, my insurance, I have finally been approved for IMRT radiation. I will have 33 sessions and started tonight, which was a rush by me as I had to start my chemo the night before. So last night I slapped on my anti nausea patch and gave myself 2 hours before taking my chemo, not the usual 24 hours. So yes, I spent the night next to the toilet. However, in the long run I think it'll be worth it as I'll finish a day early. And I'm all about the finish line. Especially because my wonderful hubby booked a Disney cruise for my post radiation treatment celebration and as something to give the kids to look forward to. We're still hoping to make it with the whole insurance denying my radiation fiasco.

So here's my first day. I had a mask made 3 weeks ago in preparation for this and several scans done to show the doctors how to line up the radiation with my head and mask.

Once we (Sean went with me for my first radiation treatment) arrived, I noticed how big the door is. Huge and heavy, which tells me how bad this is for someone without cancer.

It's a huge machine and here's a photo of it.

I climbed on and they had my mask ready to go, so I had to pull my hair to the side just as I had when they made my mask.

And then I was snapped in, they literally snap my mask to the table and the mask is tight, leaving me no room to move my face or open my eyes.

Close up with my mask...ready to get this started.

I am now one down, with 32 treatments left to go!! I'm praying that this 33 visits goes by quickly. Also praying that my anti-nausea patch works now that it's been on for 24 hours.

2 week post-op doctors visit- CarePages

2017-08-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

2 week post-op doctors visit

Posted Aug 11, 2017 12:45pm

Edit: REPOSTED FROM CAREPAGES

I did not get the news I had hoped for at my doctors appointment 2 days ago. I wish I could turn this around in my brain, but for the first time I'm really struggling. Struggling to wrap my mind around the term "advanced stage" and high grade. I want to go back to low grade and slow growth.

I'm in a complete state of shock. I feel like I just went from wanting to see my baby graduate from high school to hoping to see him graduate from elementary school.

I now have grade 3 anaplastic astrocytoma and it sucks. I'm mad, pissed, and scared.

Home Sweet Home- CarePages

2017-07-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

Home Sweet Home

Posted Jul 31, 2017 11:54am

Edit: REPOSTED FROM CAREPAGES

We made it home last night and sleeping in my bed for the first time in two weeks was amazing. Although the steroids keep me up so much at night, I still enjoyed the comfort of laying in my own bed.

I'm going to look into my physical therapy referral and start to get my life back into order.

Thank you all for your support, texts, calls, and messages. We look forward to all the delicious food coming up in our mealtrain. Next up is a two week check up on 8/9. I'll update then.

Thanks again for all you've done for me, but mostly for my family.
Mel

Last night in the hospital- CarePages

2017-07-29T04:18:00.000-07:00

Last night in the hospital

Posted Jul 29, 2017 4:18am

Edit: REPOST FROM CAREPAGES

Although it's already tomorrow, I haven't gone to sleep yet and have been reflecting on so much that happened with this surgery. It's quite difficult to sleep on steroids and immon a high dose to keep the swelling down.

An awake craniotomy was never on my bucketlist, but has now been checked off. Being awake during surgery was wild. Hearing the doctor telling the anesthesiologist to look out for you movements as he stimulated your brain and telling them the plan of pouring cold water on my brain as step one during a seizure and step 2 is them giving me a certain anti-seizure drug if the water doesn't work right away, and the final step being putting me completely under with a breathing tube immediately and no longer being able to finish the surgery. Dr. Berger spoke to me throughout the surgery. He asked what I was feeling and where I felt it. Others in the room would say "her arm is twitching" after he said "stimulating now, tell me what you see" and twice during that time I had a focal seizure in my left arm and hand. One that made my left arm from the elbow shake inconceivably and listening to him say "dousing with water" to which my arm stopped moving instantly. And another focal seizure which felt like a horrible cramp in my left hand that I tried to
Meditate and breath through until I heard him say "dousing with water" again and realizing that must have been a seizure which stopped instantly after he used the water (which I could not feel). He continued stimulating until he didn't feel he could go any further and had me move my hand, arm, and foot several times to make sure there wasn't too much weakness many times. I even felt tingling on the left side of my face which was of no concern to him. After he was finished I heard him telling a resident how to screw my head back together and heard the tool thatvwas being used, but felt nothing as the skull and brain have no nerves and he numbed my scalp with a local shot given before stitching which I could feel ever so slightly and he stitched me up or someone else did as I couldn't see above my head. I was nailed to the bed. With one nail in my forehead even. And several on the sides.

Last night a drainage tube was removed and thatvwas by far the most uncomfortable thing I have experienced this week.

I love this hospital, the food has been great as has been taking a week's break from my raw vegan food diet, which I'll be back to come Monday, my first full day at home. I'm actually craving it as real food isn't as satisfying.

My surgeon, Dr. Berger touched my knee and gave it a slight squeeze prior to surgery while telling me "everything will be fine, this is a routine surgery for me" which gave me do much peace prior to surgery. Sometimes it's the little things that make it feel so much better.

I received a clinical trial that the FDA has just released to all brain surgeons that is a drink you take 3 hours prior to surgery, Zach and Sean made it for me by adding water and shaking it up. It lights up tumors under a special light, which luckily didn't quite work on mine as lower grades don't light up as well. So mine still appears to be low grade, which I find out for sure in 2 weeks. The benefit to me of this dye was that I got to be a vampire and hadvtobavoidcall light in the hospital. Lights are always off in my room and there are warning signs around saying no lights. When I want to walk the hallway, the lights are turned off for me and when taken into MRI, I am completely covered and wheeled away. I actually enjoyed being in the dark and knowing that lights would burn my skin kept me secluded in the dark as well as in the hospital for an extra day.

In a few hours I will be checking out and I can't wait to go see more sights in SF, but I won't be riding bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge tomorrow, I'll be taking it much easier and enjoying my family time.

I'll probably have to fix this in the morning when I get a chance, but I'm sure you get it.
Mel

surgery done- CarePages

2017-07-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

surgery done

Posted Jul 26, 2017 4:58pm

Edit: REPOSTED FROM CAREPAGES

she just got done. Dr. says he got everything he could and left the neurons she currently uses. should be no permanent damage.

sean

Surgery #5- CarePages

2017-07-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

Surgery #5

Posted Jul 26, 2017 12:27am

Edit: REPOTED FROM CAREPAGES

So I haven't used this in forever, but I'm trying to find a way for Sean to get the message out to everyone with tomorrow's surgery and this seems to be the easiest way at this point without him having to build an additional page to his company website, which he did for me, but is too complicated, so here we are back on this.

Anyways we're up in San Francisco at UCSF where Dr. Mitchel Berger will operate on me while I'm awake. I haven't yet had an awake craniotomy so I like to say, it was never on my bucketlist but will soon be checked off!!

Check in tomorrow is at 6am and surgery starts at 8:30am, lasting 4-6 hours. Don't expect an update before then as I'm not sure what Sean and the kids will be doing while I'm under the knife.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts and prayers.

Love,
Mel

Spring Break Day 3, time to relax some

2017-04-11T12:21:00.000-07:00

Because day two was such a difficult hike, we decided to take it easy today which meant riding the free shuttle bus around the park to see all the sites, getting off and exploring without any hiking! We even slept in and caught the later bus which we were happy wasn't full.

My boys at the bus stop.

One of my boys wanting to take a picture of us.

First stop half dome village as it was the last stop before returning to the visitors center. So we hopped off and made our way to Mirror Lake for a walk, not hike as Ben started saying "hike" was a bad word and for no one to say it!

Lots of stops and resting on this day which meant lots of photos of my boys.

Some of the most beautiful scenery was around this lake.

My favorite thing to look at was my 3 guys. They really enjoyed kicking back and being able to climb rocks, walk across logs, etc. It gave me time to get some cute individual pictures of each of them.

Ben is 8 years old, and in 3rd grade.

Zach is 10 years old and in 5th grade

Josh is 12 years old and in 7th grade. We had to wait for this week to go on vacation as he was only off this week, unlike his brothers who were off the week before as well.

None of these guys know how to stay on a path which was fine here as it was nice and flat.

You can see the rocks make up the path. There were some great paths and trails to follow to all the falls and scenic spots such as this one.

And this is why they call it "Mirror Lake."

I only wish that it were a clear day, but it was cloudy and gray.

We even ended up with a little rain.

Half Dome was closed because there was still snow up there, but yesterday we hiked half way up. Some day my kids and I will hike the all the way to the top!

We took a walk to go around Mirror Lake, but didn't see an end in sight!

So we saw some logs and decided to cross them.

Sean went first and took the camera, then went Zach who we had no fear of falling into the river.

Then Ben went because he was eager and we knew we could trust Josh and Zach on the sides if either Sean or I had to jump in to rescue Ben.

Josh's turn. The family you see behind him was wanting to cross when we showed up, but were still deciding and wanted to watch us go first.

Mama's turn. We all made it safely to the other side, and that family decided they'd make the walk back in the scattered showers.

My 3 lovely boys being silly on a log, but so happy that there was no "real" hiking today!

Spring Break Yosemite Day 2

2017-04-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

Day two started off with a bus ride up to Yosemite as we camped outside the park.

The bus ride was beautiful and we saw so much on the drive up. It was a great time for us to plan our day. And this was planned as a BIG hiking day to witch my boys were frustrated, worn out, happy at times, enjoying a few thing along the hikes, and exasperated during much of the hike. However at the end of the day they were happy with all we had accomplished!

My boys inside the tree stump outside the visitor's lodge.

The river from Vernal and Nevada Falls

We opted out of taking the shorter "mist" trail as it was cold with snow on the ground and we didn't want to freeze our butts off or get sick during this vacation. For some reason, my kids always get sick while on vacation!

Starting up the very long trail to Vernal Falls

Family photo just before the climb in the trail.

So much beauty from the bottom, why did we even climb all that way?

My boys just before the climb on "National Sibling Day" and probably wishing they were spending it in Hawaii, like many of their friends instead of hiking with mom and dad.

Family photo at the bottom of the river.

What was behind us in the above family photo! Absolute beauty, unlike nothing else!

Vernal Falls from the bottom.

Lots of snow and icy trails on the hike up

Zach found this frozen "ice crystal" that he pretended to eat.

So much snow, which we all enjoyed seeing and playing in a bit!

As you can see, even Half Dome has snow on the top of it!

Photo of the falls along our hike, about half way up!

Another photo of the falls, they were breathtaking.

And more...I know there are so many photos. That is why I made my posts by day instead of vacation. It was just too hard to narrow down the photos, I took hundreds each day!

Once up at the top we were able to look down on where the falls start. There was a separate hike down to this area. All of my boys complained and said they didn't want to go any further as they were able to see it at this point. Sean said he wanted to get closer as we will probably never get the chance again. I would have gone, but the kids and I were exhausted at this point.

Most people stopped and turned around at this point. The "mist trail" leads straight to this fall as it's the shorter more direct route.

Lil photo op with my boys up there!

And then I thought it would be good to stretch my back and had Sean take a pic of me in this Yoga pose.

Do you see the people gathered up by the top of the falls?

Zach decided to join Sean and made the hike down (and back up) with him. So these are the photos Sean and Zach took.

Top of Vernal Falls

The water really crashes down

Beautiful views Josh, Ben and I missed out on, but we enjoyed our time alone, relaxing a bit.

Picture of the people and where the trail back starts.

Josh, Ben and me waiting for them to return and looking for them!

A view of the trail we hiked up.

They had these markers on every trail and showed our altitude, which was 504X feet above sea level, date marked 10-18-1905 and slightly difficult to read as seen by my "X" as it's over 100 years old!

“There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of the giant sequoias and redwoods…and our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children’s children forever, with their majestic beauty all unmarred."

– President Theodore Roosevelt, 1905

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

― John Muir, 1918