Ana Updates 016 January 7th 2009 (English)

January 7th 2009

Welcome to the New Year.

I know it’s been a few days since I wrote anything but before I get into details just want to let you know that Ana is doing GREAT!!!!! The improvements we’ve seen since Friday are amazing. So many things have happened in the last week that it’s almost unbelievable.

Since Christmas I had seen different signs of improvement in Ana’s condition. Like the sudden reduction in her need for pain killers and the short one or two hour bouts of real awareness. These were very nice indicators, sort of like milestones but for some reason they just weren’t becoming a visible path.

On Friday evening because nobody can be at two places at the same time Ana was left by herself for about 3 hours. When I arrived at her room at about 8PM for the first time in 5 weeks Ana was watching TV and paying attention to it. Some might consider that watching TV and actually being interested in it could be a strong symptom of involution, but to see her so aware and following something in depth after so much time was a clear sign of progress in my book. When she looked at me and said “What are you looking at?” with absolute clarity and a depth in her expression that I hadn’t seen in weeks I started to cry and didn’t know what to do. I wanted to hug and squeeze her but was afraid of hurting her, I was tempted to leave the room and scream all the way down the hallways, but wanted to share my joy with Ana, so I just started jumping up and down like an 8 years old on Christmas morning while looking at her straight in the eyes.

Everything involving Ana’s plight has been so patchy that I held back on my initial reaction of writing to all of you about it. Even though I was convinced that something inside of Ana had changed and that something had finally clicked I decided to make sure we had a real trend before writing about it.

It’s so amazing to see all the things that have happened since I wrote the last time on December 31st.

The Mass that was held for Ana on December 31st was a great way of ending the year and getting a jump start on 2009. I was finally able to attend one of the Masses held in her name. I went with the three kids; numerous friends were there to give us further support and to share prayers and blessings.

Later on that night I ended up taking the children to The Baptist close to midnight so we could be with Ana at the break of the New Year. We went there with New Year hats, horns, 2 bottles of Italian Asti (a sweet Italian type of champagne that Ana likes very much) and a basket full of delicious fresh fruit and chocolate covered strawberries that we had received as a gift from my brother in law David’s family. We all gave Ana a big kiss and multiple hugs at midnight. We celebrated with the Oncology ward staff that was on call. I thought that sharing that delicious basket with the people who are in the front line caring for Ana everyday even when most would rather be with their families was the right thing to do. One of the nurses was really grateful that we remembered them. Honestly the quality of the nursing at Baptist is outstanding.

I will deny any allegations of hospital personnel raising Styrofoam cups toasting to a patient’s recovery and having a few sips of sparkling Italian wine while on duty. Any suggestion that an oncology patient received a few drops of said liquid on her lips will also be denied. Same goes for any minors whose lips may have been moistened with said liquid.

Ana was totally lucid and the kids were in such a good mood that we ended up staying until about 2:30AM. They went to bed at 3:30AM; I left them at home with my sister in law and went back to the hospital to sleep in the room with Ana.

Ana’s brother Luciano arrived from Italy on Saturday afternoon. Ana was so happy to see him. The same as Chiara and Eric, Sophia is too young to remember him.

She’s very awake, and has maintained her alertness consistently since Friday evening. Her speech has improved significantly; she’s starting to move her arms and legs so much more. Due to her improvement her physical therapy will be increased to twice a day. As of yesterday she is no longer getting oxygen either.

Yesterday she almost passed her swallowing test, she was close so hopefully in a few days she will be able to eat normally and start taking a new medication called Lapatib. This drug will significantly improve the effects of the chemotherapy without causing additional side effects. This medication can only be taken orally and can’t be split or ground, she must be able to swallow it correctly.

Two short incidents will define how Ana is doing.

On Monday I had a conversation with the hospital’s care coordinator about setting up Ana’s rehab treatments at home. I would like you to keep in mind that about two and half weeks ago the same person came to me to see if we had any type of funeral plans in place. A very different type of conversation.

Yesterday we were at the hospital with the children and Chiara started to get a bit rowdy, so Ana gave her that special look that mothers give from time to time. Chiara froze in her tracks and blurted out “Uh oh we’re back to normal”. I couldn’t stop laughing for 10 minutes. I don’t think any medical explanation can be as clear or as concise as Chiara’s words.

We are all so happy and grateful to see this amazing turn around of the last few days. I know we have a very long way to go but it feels so good to see this initial progress.

Even though things are looking better we will still need all the prayers, positive energy, love, support and hospital visits you can muster.



Thank you once again



Victor