Sunday, August 06, 2006
Week Past 07/31-08/06
C
The letter C stands for cancer and courageous. Fri, 08/04 my sister called from LA to give me the news, albeit a week late, that our niece Nicole was diagnosed with cancer. How it was discovered at an early stage is something that at first you will not say a blessing. She experienced extreme stomach pain that she had to be rushed to the hospital. Diagnosis: acute appendicitis. It had to be surgically removed the same day. The surgeon who operated on her also discovered a diffrent "mass" so an OB-Gyn was immediately consulted. Diagnosis: they had to take out her left ovary posthaste. The doctor said luckily its Stage I and it has not metastasized. But she has to undergo chemo for six months just to make sure. Ovarian cancer usually doesn't occur until you're nearing menopause or in menopause. Seldom does it occur when you're young or eighteen. She wanted to talk to the doctor and her parents agreed. They told the doctor to be open and honest with her. She only asked two questions: Am I going to die? Will I still be able to have a baby? No and Yes. Then she had her hair cut short in anticipation of the chemo. W and I were able to talk to her Fri evening over the phone. She was very calm and ever respectful punctuating her answers with a "po" and "ho". Talking matter-of-fact about her condition. Her one concern is she might put her studies on hold while undergoing treatment. A sophomore at ADMU, she's planning to take up law.
In a bad situation you must always look for something positive. A glimmer of hope in an otherwise disconsolate circumstance. I saw four: 1) The C was discovered at an early stage, 2) It has not metastasized; 3) I found my niece to be courageous and 4) Her Dad, my brother, is with them. Having been chosen by their company to be the project manager in the Philippines for two years as mentioned in my previous blog . God always gives us something to cope with. We just have to be discerning or we lose hope. I just have a request. If you happen to read this blog please include my niece in your prayers for her healing.
Potential Projects
It's been a busy week for W. Tue, 08/01 I drove her to the airport for her 9 pm flight to Arkansas for a potential project. A confrere coming from Portland will be taking the same flight. She came home Fri but told me they'll be flying back again Sun 08/13 for a week of due diligence. This is when they will ascertain if their company will be able to fill the needs of their potential client. Fri evening she had a dinner meeting with another potential client that was introduced by our friend Joe. Hopefully everything works out in their favor.
It's been a busy week for W. Tue, 08/01 I drove her to the airport for her 9 pm flight to Arkansas for a potential project. A confrere coming from Portland will be taking the same flight. She came home Fri but told me they'll be flying back again Sun 08/13 for a week of due diligence. This is when they will ascertain if their company will be able to fill the needs of their potential client. Fri evening she had a dinner meeting with another potential client that was introduced by our friend Joe. Hopefully everything works out in their favor.
Housing Project
W told me Fri that Keith and Lynette, who I mentioned in my previous blog , are having second thoughts about buying the house. They're asking if we could still lower the price. We know it's a buyer's market but you can only go so low otherwise you might as well give your house for free. Anyways we just have to condition our mind set that we'll end up just having the house rented. Wait out the slump in the housing market and hopefully in a year or two it'll improve. I honestly believe that they are getting a fair market value, a bargain even, because there's no realtor or middle man's commission fee.
Sat, 08/05 We went to the construction site. Major development: they filled the garage with soil and started grading it as can be seen from the first three pictures. Inside the house they have already installed the TV antenna at the ceiling and additional wirings, air ducts and pipes have been installed. Sun, 08/06 after dropping off W's staff at their hotel we went back to measure the distances of the wood framings. We also got to meet our soon to be front door neighbor Jim and his next door neighbor Jeff and Sandy. They happended to be outside their home so we greeted them and introduced ourselves. Sandy admitted that she was just done snooping into our house when we came. We told her she's welcome to look inside if she wants to.
Outlet
Sun. 08/06 W and I took two of her staff to 
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Your niece is a very lucky woman. Some tumors manage to evade detection until they are in a state where all is lost. I have two of my closest friends losing their battle with the Big C.
Hopefully, and I am quite positive, that your niece is almost out of the woods.
Hopefully, and I am quite positive, that your niece is almost out of the woods.
Thank you for the support. My brother recently informed me that she might only need three chemo sessions instead of six. Another bright spot in an otherwise drab situation.
I enjoy reading you journal after you sent me your login info. We missed you at our reunion in LA but there's always next time. If you have not seen the pictures, let me know so I can send them to you. Your future house is looking good, I know it's a hustle to sell & move but it's worth it. I've done it 3 times and I keep saying it's my last. Anyway keep writing. Jun Acu
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: Wednesday, August 09, 2006 12:56:00 PM
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