My Super-Surgeon and my Super Medical Student

This was filmed in July 2005, and Maya was only 4 years old. For about a week she had been asking me to take her along to my next appointment at Dana-Farber.

"I have to ask your doctor a question",

she would tell me every 10 minutes for days (if you know Maya you know I am not exaggerating).

So I made sure I brought her with me to the next appointment which was with my surgeon, Monica Bertagnolli. As soon as my super-surgeon walked in the room Maya asked:

"When I grow up, can I be a doctor like you?"

I will never forget that moment. Dr. Bertagnolli left the room and came back with a brown bag filled with medical supplies. Meanwhile I realized that I had my video camera with me and started filming.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Rudolf the red-nose reindeer+Maya+Filipa

oops

The crash ;)

Here it is

The Rented Mule Jump. See the the things you learn in this blog?
This was a successful Rented Mule, the one that resulted in a dislocated shoulder was bigger :) according to my 10+35 year-old brother.

(Speedy I have a message from Duduca, better not write it here ;) ele falou em alguem "levar porrada")

for those of you who know my older brother

or understand him :)))))
I do ;)

Duduca e a sua bicicleta (mountain bike)

O Duduca é o número 10 (karting, my brother is number 10)
By the way, Duduca has a dislocated shoulder from trying to do some jumps with his bike :))))))))

No man is an island

Zé wrote a post about how much fun it is for the girls to stay behind with tio Armindo and Tia Didija and about how we get to be spoiled by tio Jorge Pedro and tia Maryanne when we are in NYC. He also wrote about the "mini-convention" of Retro Lipo Travellers that took place in the treatment room last week. The liposarcoma stories that were shared, were nothing more than stories of hope. Two topics, I wanted to write about, but since, as always, Zé wrote it a thousand times better, I am just going to copy/paste from his blog.

Elsa's Drug
written by Zé

For the past few weeks, as those who check Elsa's blog know, Elsa and I have been traveling to New York City, to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she is trying out a new drug. The traveling back and forth has been very tiresome, but hopefully worth it. She has found three other people that are taking the same drug. One lady has almost the same history as Elsa. Apparently there is a lot of hope and expectations riding on this drug. There are quite a number of people taking the drug, because it worked so dramatically on a patient who happened to have a liposarcoma, just like Elsa. Every time we go there, we hear of more people getting on the drug. They are all very hopeful people who have made a very calculated bet on science. They all have stories of struggle against this horrible disease, but they all share a common attitude that science will come up with a solution to their problem. I, for one, believe this is the correct attitude and have always encouraged Elsa to approach her battle this way.

But even if it is tiresome and sometimes stessful, like when I have to deal with NYC traffic, these trips have also had their moments of fun. Every week Elsa and I stay overnight at my uncle Jorge Pedro's and aunt Maryanne's house were we are pampered and regaled with stories like only he can recount.Tios Didija and Armindo stay with Maya and Filipa, at our house, while we are away, which I think is also a joyful time for them. Although it is a difficult ordeal to go through, our family has been supperb to us in helping us deal with it. I am reminded of the Donne poem: "

No man is an island, entire of itself
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main ...

Indeed!

PARABENS FILIPA

15 years ago
Video coming soon. When I figure out how to digitize video 8 footage.
Belaaaaaaaaaaa preciso da tua ajuda!

um poema da Filipa

Life and Adventure are waiting.
by FE, November 3, 2008

Adventure awaits in a hidden place,

that can only be reach through dreams.
It draws you towards it,

like an unstoppable magnet.
Your soul yearns it,

your heart aches for it.

Dreams are waiting to be fulfilled.
Stories are ready to be finished.
Songs are prepared to be sung.

Go forth, go far,

travel the world.
Imagine the things you could learn,

the things you could experience.
Life will not come to you,

you must go to Life.

read more in Filipa's blog.

All the way from Virginia

they came and just to bring a smile to my face.
Thank you Carmita.

o blog da MINHA Pipókicas

Tan ta ta tan
atenção blogoesfera chegou quem fazia falta. Sim estou babada. Emprestas-me um babete?

Filipa, my 14 year old baby, the true writer/artist of the family, started a blog! Here is the link for FE's Art

quando chaac e kukulkan respondem

when the (mayan) gods talk back



Chichén Itzá

Tu sem-tumor

conversa com a M. há uns instantes:

M.: Sabes que prenda é que eu queria mesmo para os meus anos?
E.: Não sei, diz-me.
M.: Tu sem-tumor
E.: Já te esqueceste, no dia dos teus anos eu estava assim como tu queres, sem-tumor! Lembras-te? Porque é que eu estava no hospital?
M.: Sim, foi a minha prenda, tu sem-tumor. E ainda tenho a minha prenda!


E com um sorriso, satisfeita com a ideia de uma mamã sem-tumor, a M. voltou a adormecer.

Felizmente. Porque eu fiquei sem saber o que dizer. Quando ela voltar a perguntar se ainda tem "eu sem-tumor" espero poder responder que sim.