If you're in Sebastopol next week, there is a great fundraiser coming up:
Kudos to Mombo's here in town! They are sponsoring a tasty fund raiser for RJ Romero and his family on Tuesday, March 1st. 25% of the take that day (3:00 to 9:00) will go to RJ Romero and his familiy. RJ is our 8th grade student who is fighting cancer and our community is really stepping up to support him. Come to Mombo's that evening and enjoy dinner and help the family.
Mombo's is located at 560 Gravenstein Highway - learn more about them at their website.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
The 'No News is Good News' Post
So it looks like this is how it's going to be - periodic posts telling you that everything is going well and there's no big news. After the last few months, we'll take it.
RJ finished chemo two weeks ago, and he's handled it well so far. He did have to get a series of blood transfusions at the end of last week because his counts were off, but that is something everyone has been waiting for all along. In fact, when they went to the local hospital to get it done, one of the nurses was amazed that he had already finished chemo and this was the first time they were seeing him. He seems to feel better and stronger every day, even going bowling over the weekend. Despite a valiant effort on RJ's part, Karen ended up beating everyone with a personal best, but we here at blog central suspect that she cheated.
Things are starting to work into a routine and Jessica is trying to get everyone out of the house at least once every day. RJ is going to start working with a tutor to catch up on eighth grade over the next few weeks and he may end up going to classes half days before the school year is out. Baby Courtney is scheduled to get her lip repair soon, and blog central is selfishly glad because we miss having them around, although everyone agrees that it is going to be so different to see her without the adorable cleft.
We'll keep you posted as often as we can, so check back periodically for any news.
RJ finished chemo two weeks ago, and he's handled it well so far. He did have to get a series of blood transfusions at the end of last week because his counts were off, but that is something everyone has been waiting for all along. In fact, when they went to the local hospital to get it done, one of the nurses was amazed that he had already finished chemo and this was the first time they were seeing him. He seems to feel better and stronger every day, even going bowling over the weekend. Despite a valiant effort on RJ's part, Karen ended up beating everyone with a personal best, but we here at blog central suspect that she cheated.
Things are starting to work into a routine and Jessica is trying to get everyone out of the house at least once every day. RJ is going to start working with a tutor to catch up on eighth grade over the next few weeks and he may end up going to classes half days before the school year is out. Baby Courtney is scheduled to get her lip repair soon, and blog central is selfishly glad because we miss having them around, although everyone agrees that it is going to be so different to see her without the adorable cleft.We'll keep you posted as often as we can, so check back periodically for any news.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The Big Chihuahua
So the good news is....drumroll please...RJ is DONE with chemo! The not so good news is that he's still in the hospital :( His kidneys took a real hit this time and it's taking a long time to get the chemicals washed through his system. We're hoping he'll be out by Thursday, but right now it's just a wait and see.
In order to clear out his blood, he needs to drink lots of fluids. In the spirit of liquid medicine, his friend Julia brought him an Icee on Superbowl Sunday. Jessica and yours truly took the opportunity to walk around the block and get some air on such a gorgeous day. When we came back, the anxiety level in the room was high and RJ was clumped under all of his covers. It seems that he got a huge case of the shivers while we were gone, sending the nursing staff into overdrive as they thought he was crashing. Seems that someone should have informed everyone that RJ always gets the shivers when he drinks something really cold. Once everything calmed down, it was kind of funny - as one nurse said, "It would have been something to call a code blue due to Icee ingestion."
Julia publicly termed him the shivering chihuahua and blog central and everyone present agreed that that was the enduring image of the day.
Despite being cooped up in the hospital, he's feeling pretty good. Physically that is. Mentally, he is bored. A recent quote: "If the cancer doesn't kill you in here, you'll die of boredom." We're trying to keep his spirits up for the next day or two until he's sprung, so if you have a minute, go hassle him over on Facebook.
In order to clear out his blood, he needs to drink lots of fluids. In the spirit of liquid medicine, his friend Julia brought him an Icee on Superbowl Sunday. Jessica and yours truly took the opportunity to walk around the block and get some air on such a gorgeous day. When we came back, the anxiety level in the room was high and RJ was clumped under all of his covers. It seems that he got a huge case of the shivers while we were gone, sending the nursing staff into overdrive as they thought he was crashing. Seems that someone should have informed everyone that RJ always gets the shivers when he drinks something really cold. Once everything calmed down, it was kind of funny - as one nurse said, "It would have been something to call a code blue due to Icee ingestion."
Julia publicly termed him the shivering chihuahua and blog central and everyone present agreed that that was the enduring image of the day.
Despite being cooped up in the hospital, he's feeling pretty good. Physically that is. Mentally, he is bored. A recent quote: "If the cancer doesn't kill you in here, you'll die of boredom." We're trying to keep his spirits up for the next day or two until he's sprung, so if you have a minute, go hassle him over on Facebook.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Off They Go!
As amazing as medical science is, RJ's counts went from 8 to 4,000 in 24 hours, so he was able to leave the hospital for a few days of R&R.
He got to hang out with some friends and eat some good food.
This morning, bags were again packed and they headed off to the hospital for the LAST ROUND OF CHEMO! Say it with us folks...THE LAST ROUND!
Very exciting times here at blog central. We'll keep you posted.
He got to hang out with some friends and eat some good food.
This morning, bags were again packed and they headed off to the hospital for the LAST ROUND OF CHEMO! Say it with us folks...THE LAST ROUND!
Very exciting times here at blog central. We'll keep you posted.
Friday, January 28, 2011
It's a Numbers Game
A big thanks to everyone who is participating in the Baskin and Robbin's fundraiser today! We just found out about it last night and are so thrilled with all of the support out there in the community. If you're near Sebastopol, you can find out more by clicking on this link.
One of the big things they're watching for right now is RJ's white blood cell count. We had a quick lesson on wbc counts here at blog central and from what we can tell, the normal amount of wbc in the body is anywhere from 3,500 to 15,000. This morning RJ had a whopping count of:
His count has to get over 500 in order to be able to start this last round of chemo, so it's just a matter of waiting and seeing. For someone with a virtual absence of white blood cells, RJ's actually feeling pretty good. In a bizare universal coincidence he's been eating well and gained 8 pounds since his last hospital visit. The upside of this whole thing is that he can pretty much eat whatever he wants, which these days includes lots of pizza and egg sandwiches from Tommy's in Hayward.
We're posting this recent photo of him with Courtney and cousin Alex for no other reason than RJ hates to get his photo taken. We think it's cute, and what's life all about if you can't annoy the cancer kid once in awhile?
One of the big things they're watching for right now is RJ's white blood cell count. We had a quick lesson on wbc counts here at blog central and from what we can tell, the normal amount of wbc in the body is anywhere from 3,500 to 15,000. This morning RJ had a whopping count of:
His count has to get over 500 in order to be able to start this last round of chemo, so it's just a matter of waiting and seeing. For someone with a virtual absence of white blood cells, RJ's actually feeling pretty good. In a bizare universal coincidence he's been eating well and gained 8 pounds since his last hospital visit. The upside of this whole thing is that he can pretty much eat whatever he wants, which these days includes lots of pizza and egg sandwiches from Tommy's in Hayward.
We're posting this recent photo of him with Courtney and cousin Alex for no other reason than RJ hates to get his photo taken. We think it's cute, and what's life all about if you can't annoy the cancer kid once in awhile?
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Jinxed!
Just to spite us for that last post, RJ went and got a fever this morning and is in the hospital. Fine. Whatever. We won't post things like that in the future - we get the point.
RJ was scheduled for chemo this morning anyway, but just as Jessica had the car packed and they were headed south, they got a call that his white blood count was ridiculously low and that he couldn't have chemo until it was higher. They had some other appointments, so they decided to head down anyway - they even stopped so that RJ could see his friend's band play, although blog central could tell last night that he wasn't feeling great. His temp this morning was a bit over 101 and at last hospital check it was 102.6. We think they're going to put him on antibiotics and keep an eye on him, but we'll let you know. Hopefully, this will all clear up quickly and he can start chemo next week. Stay tuned...
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Last Round!
Tonight, RJ, Courtney and Jessica make their way down for RJ's last round of chemo! The doctors had originally said that it would take months longer, but the oncologists hadn't figured on RJ having no major complications from each round. He's been able to take each chemo on schedule which has shortened the time considerably. He hasn't felt all that great at times, but his body is handling everything better than anyone expected.
Do you live in the East Bay and want to help? Jessica usually stays at the hospital to have dinner with RJ every night and hospital food isn't...the best. Wonderful friend Dede has been bringing tasty meals for them to share and we'd like to know if anyone else would like to do the same. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but a home cooked meal can make the end of a long day special. If you live near Oakland and want to help, contact Dede at DHeitma@bart.gov.
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