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