"Danke schoen, darling, danke schoen!"

Hi everyone!
All is well! Just officially met with my doctor the other day after last week's MRI, and all is stable! Yay! Thanks, Merci, Thank you UK, Danke schön, Bedankt, Dziekuje, Gracias, Spasibo, Terima kasih, Sakamat. And i also know Shukran and Grazie :o) But whatever the language... thank you much for all the prayers you have been sending my way... they are obviously working. P.S. that first group of thank yous are from the top ten countries reading this blog. And i apologize ahead of time for any misspelling.

Well... time is passing quickly, and we are now week 16 with the baby; we can't wait to find out the sex. We've also had reasons to celebrate... some family birthdays :o) ... Marita, Mary Frances (see M.F. post), and Karin... and Mexico's Independence Day on September 16. !Viva Mexico! And now... we are in the Oktoberfest period.

2009: Jackpot!

Unfortunately, I haven't made it to the real one in Munich, Germany, but I have made it twice to the Cannstatter  in Northeast Philly for its Oktoberfest celebration. It has beer, food, and music along with other German traditions. They also have kiddie rides and games. In fact, my sister and her husband actually won a bag of meats/ sausages as a prize. Jackpot! 



OKTOBERFEST FUN FACT:  Wiki says it's the world's largest fair, & it's usually a 16 day festival late September to the first weekend in October. But it also depends on how the calendar falls... sometimes it's longer to include October 3rd which is German Unity Day. I am learning so much doing this blog :o)... this day marks the formal reunification of Germany in 1990... almost 1 year after the Berlin Wall came down.

2009: merchandise shopping

2011: working their hats :o)

lots of love & danke schöns to all...

little lisa lollipop

Don't taze me bro!

Perhaps it was all the Halloween merchandise displayed way too early at the end of August... or perhaps it was because of the upcoming, dreaded Friday the 13th this week... but I've recently recovered from a 12 day stretch of horrible phantom pain. I know...  nobody likes a complainer :o), but for the love of God, let me complain this one time :o). Just kidding. But not about the pain part. See... following my amputation 19 years ago, I have experienced both phantom pain and phantom sensation. The latter is constant for me; I can always feel my right leg... even though it's not there. To best describe the sensation... well it's kind of like when your leg falls asleep and then it feels all pins and needly. Theory has it... it's because of all the nerve endings and the confused brain. And from time to time, I get phantom pain, which is pain in the missing limb... stabbing, crushing, or like jolts of electricity... which I imagine it is how one feels one you get tazed.

Anyhows, i'll experience phantom pain from time to time, but it usually isn't something that lasts very long. This time though, it was frequent... i got tazed every 20 to 60 seconds or so on some of the bad days. It made me awfully tired and awfully miserable. Bullocks! Not sure what caused it, but like anyone that has had cancer, the paranoia sets in. And your mind starts to wander... perhaps its this... or perhaps its that. Each day just spent waiting for it to pass and hoping the next day's sunrise will also bring relief.


Well I'm not Jewish, but perhaps I'll have to convert because come Rosh Hashanah, relief did come. What a good way to start a new year...

Happy New Year to everyone!
I hope it's a good one for you and for me.

lots of love... little lisa lollipop

P.S. These last images are from a card I sent my mom. She isn't Jewish either, but as a former public school teacher, Rosh Hashanah was one of her favorite holidays.

P.S.

It's hard to believe that only six months ago, I was told that I would only have about six months to live. Duh-duh- duuun... P.S. that was dramatic music that they play in the movies... But thank God, I'm still here and still smiling :o) - see... that's me smiling. P.S. I usually smile with my mouth closed because I had bad teeth growing up. Didn't get braces till i was in my 30s. :o)

The happy couple (2012)

Well... in looking back over these past six months, I have been busy. Let's see...  February was when I was diagnosed with cancer. P.S. again. Started chemo in March... and had a going away hair party with my coworkers. Lost my hair... and now it's back. P.S. I've been told that I have a nice shaped head :o). I guess that's a good thing. Got engaged. P.S. I said yes. Two weeks later, we were married.

D.C. - P.S. Happy 50th!

Got to travel a little bit... finally got to see the cherry blossoms in DC, gave a speech in New York City, and recently went to Guatelmala. P.S. Loved it.

Always posing :o)
Feliz Cumpleanos

Have been able to spend lots of quality time with family. From an impromptu Oscar Party where we all dressed up to walk the red carpet...  to spending two weeks... two long weeks :o) down the shore in Ocean City. P.S. That's my   cousin Peggy working the red carpet.

Have also had good times with friends and coworkers... from the Candyland Beef and Beer, our Flash Mob dance during Alex Scott's Lemonade Day, and to now... back at work. P.S. I started watching the clock at 11 on my first day back. Is that bad? Whoops. And, Oh yeah, i also started this blog... six months ago exactly this past Sunday.

Aside from chemotherapy treatments, i also had chemo embolization to the liver, &  20 days of radiation to the pancreas bed. Have had lots of ups and, of course, some downs over these past six months. But by far the most exciting for me is this... see below...

Yes, we're pregnant! :o)

And apparently our little one resembles a little stuffed teddy bear, right! And no, baby bear is not in my belly. He or she is in our gestational carrier's belly on the other side of the country. 

I hope and pray these next six months continue to go just as well. Fingers crossed.

lots of love... little lisa lollipop

P.S. I love you, baby bear.  love, mama bear

Home Sweet Home

Hi everyone!
After talking to my father the other day and my sister today, i realized that i haven't told everyone... including you... that I am back at work. Yay... (for now :o).
I received a super warm welcome from my coworkers. Aside from all the smiling faces, I was also greeted by messages posted around the nurses' stations. They brought breakfast and treated me to lunch. It felt great to be home.

Tomorrow will be my third weekend back. And with that said, I better get my a@# to bed.

lots of love... little lisa lollipop

P.S. This blog is dedicated to my coworker Deb Mc who reads my blog religiously... and can even recite its dates and titles like Rain Man. :o)

Mr & Mrs: Wedding Video

Hi everyone!

Hope all is well. Just a quick post to include our wedding video. Here's the link:

     https://vimeo.com/71926173

lots of love...  Mrs. little lisa lollipop :o)

Guat's up?

Hi everyone!!
Guat's up? Clever Guatemalan merchandise slogan probably geared towards us Americans. My favorite though... Guatever! Of course, said with attitude.

So much paperwork :o)

Well... I returned from Guatemala last Sunday night. It was amazing! We worked out of an established medical clinic, and our team did a total of 70 surgeries during the week. Awe-sooomme! All of the children were beautiful, and the families were so grateful and appreciative. Even if the surgery was only for a hernia, they would thank us as if we were saving their lives. Many of the Mayan families have limited access to medical care... not to mention the financial restraints. Makes one realize how fortunate we are in the States. And not to mention how lucky we are as nurses. It was all old school paperwork... none of the high tech computer stuff that I'm spoiled with.

The food was good... and I'm a picky eater. Sometimes... the presentation wasn't the best though... check out the beans that came with my breakfast one day.

Fan dance

The weather: perfect. Warm during the day, but not unbearable. Unless you were working in a small space without ventilation. Here's Christine celebrating our fan's arrival after 2 long work days.  The mornings and nights, on the other hand, were just a little chilly.

Antigua, Guatemala

After a long work week, we headed to Antigua which is an old colonial city and absolutely beautiful. Being surrounded by the mountains and with the clouds so low, you feel like you are closer to Heaven. Perhaps that's why my prayers have been answered, and my scans this past week show that my cancer is stable and/or shrinking. Yay! Although I would love for it to be 100% clear, I'll take it! I'm taking my cues from my doctors, so if they are excited, so am I. So... I didn't need any chemo this week. Our current plan is wait and rescan late September. Fingers will remain crossed, and please keep the prayers coming :o).

I met a lot of great people both at the clinic and within the CHOP team. They are a fun, welcoming group of people whose energy never ceased to amaze me. If i looked better in the blue hats and if i didn't already have a home in oncology, I would definitely want to work with them in the surgery area.

Querido Junior

Lots of love to all of them and to all of Guatemala.
Don't cry. I'll miss you too.
little lisa lollipop

Antigua

Go Green Team!

around the world in 5 months

Hi everyone!
Hope this post finds you all well. Not much exciting happening on this end... hence, no recent posting. Have just been doing normal good 'ole summer stuff when i have the energy. This past week I've also been getting ready for my trip to Guatemala. I leave mañana! It's a medical mission trip thru my hospital that will be performing outpatient surgeries. I am so excited, and I'm happy to keep my mind off my upcoming scans on August 6th. Not sure what my cancer is planning, but I'm planning on going back to work. fingers crossed

Movie night along Schuykill River

Eakins Oval with family

Well... i've always had the travel bug, and i've always wanted to travel the world. Just didn't think it would happen this way... thru my blog. I am always amazed by the power of the internet and how many people you can reach. My favorite part of my blog is logging on to see what countries it has reached (obviously... since i'm such a dork and have been keeping track of them to write in this post :o). These are the countries that have logged on to the site in order of appearance :o), and I also highlighted my top ten readers.
Lots of love... little lisa lollipop

USA 
Mexico 
Netherlands
United Kingdom
India

Bolivia
Canada
Puerto Rico
Bahamas
France
Germany
Australia
Indo-
nesia
Spain
Guate-
mala
Poland
Austria
Italy
Switzer
-land
Ecuador
Argentina
Hong Kong
Japan
China
Sweden
South Korea
Russia
Peru
Taiwan
Ireland
Malaysia
Turkey
Vietnam
Israel
Nicaragua
India
Brazil
Albania
Tanzania                            
Belgium                              Finland                                 Panama        
Serbia                                 Bolivia                                  Bahrain                        
Bangladesh                         Denmark                              Philippines
Chile                                   Bulgaria                               Cyprus
Venezuela                           Sri Lanka                             Columbia
Ukraine                               Romania                              Tunisia    
Georgia                               Croatia                                 Iceland
Slovenia                              Egypt                                   Saudi Arabia
Algeria                                Barbados                              Czech Republic
South Africa                       Thailand                               Armenia
Costa Rica                          Portugal                                Hungary  
United Arab Emirates         Norway                                Latvia
Slovakia                              Norway                                Greece
Singapore                            Bosnia & Herzegovina         Iraq