Joli's 1 week post-chemo now and doing really well! She's been a little nauseous, but overall, she's active, funny, and doing great! Here is a picture of her on her date with Lolo - they go out to lunch every Thursday together! I also caught her checking Gordon's heartbeat using her stethoscope. Joli knows all the medical terms -- stethoscope, blood pressure, temperature, "flushing the tubes", operation, injection, "tape", and cream. She doesn't like hearing them, but she does say them and refer to them.

So far, her hair is still holding strong -- even after lots of brushing!

Enjoy

WE'RE HOME

Hi, everyone! We're home finally! Joli's chemo went a little long, so we had to stay later. We got home finally around 8:30pm. Here are some pics from the hospital. The one with me and Joli is in the recovery room after surgery. She spent lots of time in the playroom, and she was pretty mobile- even while getting chemo. There was only 1 drug that required her to sit still because they had to check her blood pressure every few minutes. So, she usually brought a toy into bed with her.

See the Dora suitcase? It was actually quite heavy, but Joli wanted to wheel it all by herself. She wheeled it all the way down the pediatric floor, into the hallway, into the elevator, out the hospital doors, and all the way to the parking garage! Woah!

So far so good...! Tonight, Jorge and I have to give her an injection... yikes!

NO PICS, BUT QUICK POST

Hi, everyone! Sorry no pics yet, but we wanted to update you. As I write this, Jorge is taking his turn sleeping on a very uncomfortable chair next to Joli's bed. I spent the last 38 hours with her, and she's doing great! She's reacting really well to the chemotherapy, and she actually has so much energy that I had to call Tita Grace in to give me a little rest! Joli was in true form today. She was chatting up a storm and telling all the nurses they did a "good job." She even put stickers all over one of the doctors that came to check on her. And, she called him "disgusting." ha ha ha.

Yesterday was a slightly different experience. Of course, we were all anxious and nervous. Joli was freaking out (and she had every right to), and the anesthesiologist decided it would be a great idea to give her a valium derivitive. I'm actually going to have Jorge post more on this, because it'll be infinitely funnier when he tells the story. Let's just say it reminded me of all the Friday/Saturday night college festivals where all your friends say, "Man, I love you. I really love you, man." Yeah, that was Joli. Age 2.

She slept off most of the evening, but by 10pm, she was ready to party! So, I played with her in the playroom (and chased her around with an IV.. now I know what it's like to be a camera man on one of those reality shows...) until after midnight. She slept and then woke up at 7am, sat up in bed, and said, 'Uh, Mom. What do you think you're doing?' I replied, "sleeping. now be quiet." That didn't work. That just made her laugh.

So, it's now 9pm our time. Joli is in the middle of her second dose of chemo, and she receives her third dose tomorrow. The routine, basically, will be 2 nights in the hospital for 3 rounds of chemo. Then, a visit on the 4th day for blood tests. We do this 5 more times. One down.. five to go! Little did we know, Jorge and I actually have to give her a shot at home for 10 days each time! Eeek... I guess we'll be cutting a lot of short straws to draw.

Good night! Rest assured little Jo-Jo is doing just fine! Thanks for all your prayers and concern!

I forgot.. it's the 17th ... and some news about Joli's next step

So, here is Joli's tigger body shot and yet one more afro puff.

We've been holding off posting some news on the blog because we were waiting to tell all of our family members the next stage in Joli's recovery. As some of you have heard already, the decision has been made to proceed with chemotherapy. Joli will go to chemo for 6 months in 3-4 week intervals. On Tuesday, she'll have surgery to have a central line placed into her chest where the chemo will be administered (as well as blood drawn and any pain meds given). We've posted great afro pics because, chances are, she'll lose her hair as a side effect. We're not looking forward to the next 6 months, however we are so thankful that we have little Joli! So, of course, we'll do what it takes to make sure she has a long, healthy life.

Joli's chemo is preventative by 80%. When the eye was removed, the tumors were removed, and her test results showed that there was no cancer in her body. However, there is a 20% chance that cancer could develop if we do not do chemo treatments. Given that we've somehow gotten the 3% of all cancers (retinoblastoma), and seem to be in the 2% of retinoblastoma/enucleation cases who actually need chemo, 20% is just too big a number for us.

So, of course, please continue to send good thoughts towards this next leg of Joli's journey! Especially, please, send good thoughts on Tuesday as she goes into surgery and receives her first chemo treatment!

Oh, and if you're keeping track of days (which, we've sort of lost track of, ourselves!), it's exactly 1 month since Joli was diagnosed with retinoblastoma. I guess the "17th" will continue to be a special day for the Talusan-Vega family!

Thanks everyone!
-Liza and Jorge

The Afro Puff....

Just a few pictures to truly appreciate the Afro Puff that is Joli. Ah, yes, she rocks it old school.

Yet... it's no wonder where she gets it from.

Okay, Aunt Jenny... here's a fun picture! We're going into Boston this weekend, so we'll have more to post on Sunday! Later dudes!

SOME NEWS...

The MRI and spinal tap are clear! We're still waiting to hear about the eye pathology, which is taking some time. Dr.Mukai is meeting with Dr. Grabowki today to go over some test results, so we should have some more news after this weekend. Thanks!

Feeling groovy!

Joli is doing great! We go to the doctor again tomorrow to find out the results of her tests and to check on her post-op. Joli's eye is starting to open a bit - we'll probably post more of those pics when it happens. It's been swollen shut, sort of, since the surgery, but now we can see into it a bit more. If you click on the picture of Joli and Grace or the one with her on the "orange and pink" slide, you can see it a little better. It's basically really red and shiny (from the glass implant and lens). Having a great time! Thanks for all the cards that are pouring in (and the gifts!). See you soon!

GAVIN TALUSAN LACANLALE!

Congratulations, Mari and Patrick! They just welcomed into the world little Gavin!
All are doing well! Mari's water broke around 8:30am (west coast time) and Gavin was born around 3pm! Hurray! Joli has another cousin to boss around :)

Congratulations! (and Gavin shares a nice birthday weekend with Liza -- who turned 30 on Saturday, 9/3).