Natalia's journey

In reality our entire family news will be shared through this blog as our baby grows and as we fight cancer.

Friday, April 27, 2007

what happened...

Several of you called to make sure we are ok... thank you!
I usually update once a week and it's been a few weeks so sorry for leaving you lost... this time, it wasn't me but all about Andryusha.
A few days after visiting our pediatrician, Andryusha started to develop a weird rash between his legs... it progressed further and spread to the fingers and toes and he then developed a low grade fever.... we were baffled as this has never happened before. Yes, our baby has a very sensitive skin and gets diaper rashes easily but these were little blisters and he looked sick...
At the same time, Raymond had to leave for work to Dallas for 4 days (first time ever) and I was all by myself taking care of the baby and it's been rough on me. The pediatrician said that only time would tell if this was an allergy or chickenpox... of course, we were scared. I called home to see if I was at risk; luckily, I had chickenpox when I was a child ... after a few more days and lots of Benadryl it started to fade away -- it appears that we've experienced some sort of an allergic reaction. Then this week just as we were getting better he got a major diarrhea and a severe diaper rash with lots of pain. Oh, how blessed we were during my struggles with cancer; I don't know that we could have handled two sick people in the household. Only now, I look and I say "Thank you, God!" for keeping our baby healthy all this time -- I prefer to be sick than see him suffer! Anyway, we are almost back to normal now -- that's our scoop....

Oh, one more important update: a very amazing surprise ... our dear friends in Cali are participating in a triathlon benefiting Leukemia and Lymphoma society, and I am one of the honorees! The race is on May 5 - May 6, 2007. The Wildflower Triathlons is the second-largest triathlon in the world! They are doing 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run and their goal is $10,000 -- I was amazed to find out that they are at $4,200! (for some reason the web only shows the web donations and not the grand total). At one point I wanted to get involved and train for some sort of marathon and pretty quickly realized I am just not ready yet....so on my behalf please support them if you can!!! THANK YOU!!!

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Priceless memories

Yesterday, Andryusha turned 1 year and a half! How will it be memorable?
Well, I will surely remember because 3 day ago he broke my tooth - while we playing he accidentally hit me in the jaw. So I went to the dentist and now I need a crown - as MasterCard commercial would say "Broken tooth - $1,000, playing fun memories - priceless". So enjoy some recent pictures of our priceless joy!

Another interesting memory comes to mind: 2 years ago on April 1 we arrived in India for work - I was 3 months pregnant and we didn't know how it would go there; the trip turned out to be a very interesting adventure and in many ways life touching -- it was there that I first noticed a lump on my neck -- I was about 5 months pregnant and just finished teaching a class and was discussing something with a co-worker when I felt it while checking a necklace on my neck. I think next week I'll try and post some of the India pictures - stay tuned :)

Otherwise, we are doing fine - at the moment we are expanding the back yard deck so Andryusha can play safely (we finally put in a fence too). And this minor project along with keeping up with Andryusha keeps us more than busy -- without exaggeration I am dead tired every single day. For some reason, I've been also having liver pain again (on and off) but I am still super happy! What's in our future?

Off I go...

Gde luna? - Where is the moon?


Like father like son :)