ALL IS WELL MERRY CHRISTMAS

ALL IS WELL

Merry Christmas dear family and friends; Yep, you just got our first Christmas letter that we are finally sending out after, oh, I don’t know, 10-15 years?

I always plan on writing a letter and get started, but never finish. Not that I’m busy or anything, but how do you write to the closest people that you love and hold dear a letter one year without personally writing and signing each and every one! But, I have decided it is better to send a greeting even if I print it via modern technology than to not send anything at all.

Just want you to know all is well with the Bosco’s! We have had a few additions to our family. The best place to see pictures is via Facebook! Jennifer and her two children Elda and Salvador live in Alameda and are doing well. Jen has a wonderful job that she is enjoying and lets her travel a lot. Elda is 10 and Sal is 8, so hard to believe how fast they have grown. Alicia & Michael with their two children, Mickey who is 2, and baby girl Grace Elizabeth the latest addition who was born December 2, 2012, are living in Switzerland. We hope to visit them soon to get to hold our babies. Craig and Melissa with their son Eden live here in San Jose, and of course since they live the closest we babysit much more often. Eden is 19 months and smiles and hangs up on his grammy all the time, or puts me on mute!

Don is working at the first Presbyterian Church of Santa Clara, and still writing and arranging music, as well as playing the piano in a couple of bands, having his music studios, and playing for Valley Christian High School musicals. I am working at Kaiser, am a Feldenkrais practitioner, and am learning a new hobby – quilting-. Pictures are posted regularly on Facebook. So we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Angels and men rejoice! Sing Allelujah! Christ is come, now let us Adore Him.

Foster Kitties

Hermosa - or Hermie for short! 

So a couple of weeks ago - maybe even 3 weeks ago, I got a call - oh yes, right after I came back from Kansas when Alicia and Mickey were here. A call came from Rosi, who said they had found my cat. I looked around and thought, no way, I am not missing any cats! 

Well it turns out that back in October 2001 I had a litter of 3 kittens and one of them was Hermosa - although I don't recall actually naming her, but some days we would pick names that were unusual for kitties, just so we could give them a personality trait. 

I evidently fostered Hermie when she was a kitten and she was then adopted by some one from the Santa Clara Humane Society, but as often happened with these kittens, I was the one who would take them to the Vet to get their shots, spayed and neutered and chipped. So Hermie still had my name and address on her chip. 

Rosi who is also going through cancer treatment wasn't able to take this cat home with her, but she was very sick, half starved, and dehydrated and just needed some TLC, someone to give her her medicine and re-foster her to get her ready to readopt through Town Cats, so since I'm such a cat lover, of course I said sure, I would help foster her, but I didn't think I could adopt her because I already had my quota of cats that is legal. 

Mickey and I went to pick up Hermie and brought her home on Tuesday. She was very sweet and loved to be held, purred and easy to give medicine on a twice daily basis, but she wasn't recovering very well. So back to the vet we went on Monday night. With the help of some IV fluids and cheap cat food - Friskies, she started eating again and perked up. So I brought her back home on Tuesday after work with instructions to inject fluids! Well needless to say, I had never set up an IV line, let alone given fluids to a kitty. I knew the basics, but really actually doing it myself... Praise God for online videos that give instructions. I found one to set up an IV bag and it gave great instructions. Now I'm an expert for kitties! At least until the next time I have to do it... 

So I was looking through my old pictures and found a picture of Hermie when she was a kitten. So I know exactly how old she is. She was probably born in September 2001 based on the age she was in the pictures. I will attach them here for you to see. She is the middle kitten with the least white on her nose. 

  She comes in and wakes us up at 7 a.m. for her morning breakfast. :-) She loves to sit on my lap and is playful. Now she is 11 years old. She is eating great and putting some weight on. When she is ready for adoption Town Cats will put her up for adoption. Anyone interested though let me know.

Today was also a momentous day because I had to put my kitty Charles - a female cat that I have had for 20 years or so who helped me raise Putchka, to sleep. Her kidneys were failing and she had lost 6 pounds and was failing fast. I will miss her little cajoling noises to let her in the sit on my lap. My vet Dr. Jaime at Story Road Animal Hospital is the best vet and he truly loves cats. He has always given me the greatest advice and care, and even adopted some of my stray kitties I have rescued! :-)

Reflections

This week marks the final week I will probably take off for chemotherapy recovery. I finished with the last treatment a week ago Thursday and have been "lounging" all week. I feel as though my brain has been muddled. When I try to do things, I can't concentrate or get much done, and soon I'm lounging in my chair watching a favorite movie or tv show, or staring off into space, petting a kitty. I know my brain cells will recover or at least rewire in the next few weeks, just find it very strange to wake up each morning and know that I didn't accomplish anything the day before! It hasn't even been much of a spiritual experience for me. I had hoped it would be, that I would find meaning to life, to come to a new understanding of who Jesus is in my life, but I find my mind dull and unwieldy, unable to comprehend simple things and unwilling to try any harder. Doing chores, truly being a chore and zapping my energy. I expected great joy at the end of this part of the journey, but find I'm not that impressed, have many more doubts than answers and wish I could get out of the funk.

Monday I start the next part of this journey, the radiation oncology part. I meet with my radiation oncologist on Monday to discuss the plan that will unfold over the next month or two. I know that it will take radiation of the breast area every day 5 days a week for 5-6 weeks before we go into the next phase which is taking a drug called Arimidex for 5 years every day. This is the magic bullet pill that puts my survival statistics in the high 85% after 5 years, or I should say statistically low recurrence rate.

Statistics are not people, so I expect to just live my life as normal, maybe with an eye a little more watchful for bumps and lumps, but I don't expect to become super hypochondriac lady! I'm planning on traveling, enjoying my grandchildren, teaching the Feldenkrais Method®  

Plans will change, life will throw tomatoes and I will continue to love my Jesus as best I know how! For those of you who read this, know that I appreciate your prayers, your food, your thoughts, your help, all you have been willing to give to me during this stage of the journey. I just pray that I will have the energy, good grace and kindness to pass on to others as I have so richly received.

May the Lord bless you and keep you, may His face shine upon you and grant you peace today!