Skip to main content

step by step,

day by day...is how we are taking this journey.

Yesterday's feast left Carmen feeling not so great, and gave her some trouble sleeping. This morning she did feel better, despite the lack of sleep. We had a relaxing morning lounging around the house. Jose and Tom where working from home, and Daniel had work later today, so we all got to hang out. Carmen, Tom and I then went to WholeFoods to stock up the kitchen, which was seriously lacking in supplies. Carmen was her usual self searching the entire produce section for the perfect fruits/veggies, and running around the store. Once she got tired she sat in this cool sitting area/cafe at WholeFoods. We got home and started making lunch as Carmen directed us from the sofa in the living room. We made a great mixed greens salad with radishes, onions, black olives, artichokes, tomatoes in a Carmen-made lemon-mustard vinaigrette. I made a quinoa salad with roasted veggies (red peppers, asparagus, mushrooms, onions) and grape tomatoes. We enjoyed this delicious  family lunch together. Carmen then went to rest some more in bed before hanging out with her friend Kity who stopped by to see her. We had a late dinner (even for Spanish standards) that consisted of zucchini angel hair pancake and a butternut squash with sweet potato soup. After dinner we sat and watched an episode of the newest season of Curb your Enthusiasm, because who doesn't think Larry David is hilarious in his own crazy way.


Carmen also got some beautiful flowers from some very wonderful people. A lovely sunflower to bring her sunshine from Apa, Emily and Anna and an elegant orchid to bring us love and strength from Tom's family. She loves them very much and thanks you all for your thoughts and positive energy.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The feared M-word

 Today I felt the pain of mortality stab me in the heart. I have always been optimistic of my mother’s condition, knowing that with optimism and hope we could battle her cancer and finally overcome her disease. These past few years since her diagnosis of retroperitoneal liposarcoma in October/September of 2005 have been a rollercoaster of highs and lows, getting through it all. I tried to be strong for my mother, show her the strength she has within, assure her that she is doing everything she can to heal herself, and that surely she is on her way to recovery. I thought that in believing in her and her strength that she would be able to overcome anything. With every returning tumor she was better equipped to heal her body, to teach her body to heal itself. I was there supporting her through her surgeries, her trial chemo treatments, always there letting her know that she was on the road to recovery. Today after finishing her second round of a trial chemo that seemed hopefull...

Carmen Mateo

My mother was first diagnosed with retroperitoneal liposarcoma in October of 2005. I had come home to see her in the hospital—during the removal of a cyst on her breast the doctors accidentally punctured her lung. It was during her stay at the hospital that they completed an MRI of her core (to verify the lung’s status) and found a large mysterious mass—a tumor. Though frightened by this news she was thankful for the discovery. Weeks went by as my parents spoke with other doctors and centers trying to figure out what this tumor was and what to do. Eventually she was diagnosed—liposarcoma, a rare type of cancerous tumor that manifests itself as a mass of fat. The irony of it—my mother the skinniest petite woman in the world, had a fat tumor. Right before Thanksgiving she went   to Sloan Kettering to have surgery to remove the almost 8lb tumor. Being the strong woman that she is, she recovered quickly from the surgery and began her healing journey. It was years bef...

Another Sarcoma, Another Life Taken

Cancer strikes again. Another sarcoma another loved one taken well before their time. This time, my poor sweet 5 year and almost 7 month (just 4 days shy) dog Rico had to be put down last week due to osteosarcoma, bone cancer. The keystone of our small family, gone and with him all sense of family -- leaving a large sense of emptiness in our huge home and hearts. Tom and I got Rico together when he was just 3 months old from a shelter, and immediately he became an integral part of our lives. With him we learned what it meant to be a family and what unconditional love felt like -- how even when Rico was a total monster we couldn't help but love him. He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in January 2017 and spent most of his time doing well, until basically the past couple of weeks that were a downward spiral. It was really hard to notice the differences since we basically spend 24-7 all together (thanks to working from home and being super lame homebodies). But looking back it was...