Let the little children come to me

I cannot comprehend what has happened to those 20 little angels in Connecticut. I believe that they are all in Heaven with The Lord. Jesus said "Let the little children come to me." Matthew 19:14. Although he is too little to understand, I did hold Zachary and tell him how much I loved him. Zev and I feel so blessed to be his parents.

We hope that you are all safe and well. Cherish each other and tell each other how much you love them. My biggest lesson learnt from this year is to do that: cherish each day as if is your last and tell people that you love them :-)

I love you.

Newest Aussie in the family!!

Guess who the newest Aussie is in the family?! (Dual citizenship). Now to get on that Australian passport on time for our trip!

Zev and I have been ABUNDANTLY BLESSED by our church family. This past Monday, the Military ministry at our church had a wonderful dinner, hosted by the lovely Penny and her husband Jim. They put on quite the spread and presented me with the surprise gift of a prayer blanket that had been handmade by two sweet ladies at our church. The military wives had then written on the blanket with scripture verses so that I would always be "covered" on prayer. I love these gals so much ;-)

I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas season.

Much love and prayer,

Fiona xo

Finding the cure for brain cancer

I have decided to join Dr. Quinones in his quest to find a cure for brain cancer. I do not know why I have brain cancer and may never know in this life, but I believe that making the most of my cancer and not "wasting" it is a wise choice :-)

Dr. Q performed an awake craniotomy on me in August of this year. I believe that his act of taking out a part of my brain tumor has helped to extend my life. I am currently on a chemotherapy drug that was a clinical trial drug (and therefore not covered by insurance) just 6 years ago. As of just last year, Temodar has been used to treat the exact tumor that I have: Oligoastrocytoma.

This has all been possible thanks to research. Dr. Q's team of researchers is working diligently and urgently to find a cure for brain cancer. In order to continue their research, they need support in the form of funding. A donation of $5.00 would go a LONG way in terms of supporting this critical research. If you are able to give more, thank you!!

Thank you so much for your support and prayers. I am so blessed!

You can donate anonymously or in my name through the website: https://www.active.com/donate/qquest/fionayork

Thank you!

Fiona xoxo

Treasure each and every day :-)

God is good! We had a good visit with the neuro-oncologist today. He said that he had "good news" to tell me regarding the MRI. It showed a little shrinkage, which he said could be attributed to either the natural shrinkage of the tumor that occurs post-surgery or the chemo. He couldn't say for sure. I was thinking in my mind "or thanks to The Lord"! This will be the new baseline for future scans and he said he was pleased with how I was coping with the chemo. Thank you to all who prayed and encouraged me. This experience, indeed this whole journey with brain cancer, has showed me how the body of Christ works to support each other in times of need. Please pray that my next scan on March 4th also shows favorable results :-)))) Today is a great day!!

I'll leave you with a picture of my two Z men in the hotel last night. I am blessed beyond belief. When the doctor gave me the results of the MRI today, I looked at Zachary and in my heart thanked The Lord for more time on earth to be with my son and husband. I even turned to Zev and said (after the doctor had left the room) "I guess I will be able to take Zachary to his first day of school"! I appreciate and give thanks for each and every day that I am alive and symptom free. I praise The Lord because He is strong and faithful and above cancer.

Guess who's 8 month old today?!!

Zachary is! He is such a big boy now. Looking back at pictures of when he was just half his age; amaze me. Back then, he had no hair (although his head was still large!) and we thought he was so advanced for his age!

Zachary, what are you up to these days?

- You are ALMOST crawling! You get on all fours and rock back and forth. You sometimes lift a leg up (usually your left leg) and stick your bottom up in the air. We love watching you and clapping and encouraging you on. Once you get the hang of moving your hands, there will be no stopping you!

- You wear a size 3 diaper.

- You are growing so long and quickly too! Although your weight is not in the "large" section. Maybe you'll have a fast metabolism like daddy! You'll be grateful for that when you're older :-)

- You are driving. (Just kidding :-))

- You eat 6 ounce bottles every 4 hours or so. You sleep through the night (well from 1030pm through 530am). We will take that!

- You are still such a mellow, happy baby. We have been so blessed by God to have you!

- You like to eat food and are on "Stage 2" foods. You're not a fan of green beans or peas though, so mummy has to mix them with other foods like carrots or sweet potatoes.

We are currently on our way to Charlottesville, where I will have an MRI today. They do MRIs locally, but my neuro-oncologist is at the University of Virginia, hence the reason for going up there. We saw a rainbow on our way out from or house! Providence? God is good and we know He will keep His promises till the end of time.

This has been a great week for us. Usually the third week of my chemo means that I am tired. Thanks to the generous help and love of two special ladies, Ginny and Penny, we were able to transform my house into a home! These two southern belles came and first used stuff we already had to decorate our house, then we went shopping to buy stuff to accentuate certain areas. These gals can decorate on a dime! They were so energetic and got me going and excited to be in my house every day!

We also received our Christmas cards, with pictures that were taken by Micah Cummings and Ginny on them!

Still on the road....please pray for our traveling mercies and for the results of my MRI to amaze the doctors! I would love to be able to say "only God can explain this!"

Christmas pictures

Our dear friend, Micah, generously offered her time to come and take our pictures. Our friend Ginny got to come along and observe Micah in action. We had a fun afternoon and little man was such a trooper, to keep smiling despite an outfit change and chapped cheeks!!

We are now selecting pictures for our Christmas card!

Happy holiday season :-)

Second swim lesson and lunch with the girls

Zachary had his second swim lesson this past Tuesday. The water was quite cold and he hadn't had his nap, so it wasn't a "fun" lesson :-)) I am proud of my boy's efforts. He really had a stuff upper lip as his little body shivered in the pool!

We had lunch today with some dear girlfriends. Zachary was the only boy :-) Little Nora is a cutie pie but she is already "promised" to a peach farmer. That's ok though because Zachary has already "promised" himself to little Grace, who is Ellen's baby girl. Does it count if I had a hand in this future arranged marriage?!!

I thank The Lord for every day that I take a breath. Life is so precious.

Have a good week :-)

Fiona xo

Thanksgiving in New York

Zev, Zachary and I spent a wonderful Thanksgiving with his family in upstate New York. We introduced Zachary to his entire family and smiled as they played and kissed and loved on our boy. He was so mellow throughout it all! He is such a good boy :-)

Here are some pictures from our week. Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!

FIFi xo

The family that hunts together, stays together

Our week in Texas

We are back from Texas (we've been back 5 days actually!) and are on our way to upstate New York, to spend Thanksgiving with Zev's family. We know that they will love meeting and squeezing our Zachary!

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. This past week has been emotionally hard for me. Apparently dealing with/ living with cancer is like the grieving process. My time in San Antonio was tainted by my sadness at having cancer. I made the mistake of looking up my diagnosis (Oligoastrocytoma grade 2/3) on the Internet. The stuff I read was discouraging in terms of prognosis.....after many tears and wise counsel from family and friends, I have come to the conclusion that: a) I am not a statistic, b) only God knows the day that He will take me to Heaven, and c) I need to stay off looking up my diagnosis on the Internet.

Here are the highlights from our week in San Antonio. I caught up with Leslie; Zev and I went to historic Gruene Texas and then to Austin Texas; Zachary and I had lunch on the Riverwalk and then we all stayed and visited with our awesome friends TJ and Julia and their sweet babies. A full week indeed. Zachary also turned 7 months while in San Antonio! We also started infant swim classes at the Y.

Zev and I wish you and your family a happy Thanksgiving :-)

Zachary's first plane ride and sunny San Antonio!!

We are in sunny San Antonio this week! Zev is here on TDY so Zachary and I thought we would accompany daddy and come down to catch up with some old friends. I love San Antonio (Texas reminds me of Australia). It is warm here (short sleeve weather).

Zachary did great on his first plane ride yesterday! Zev and I were a little nervous and gave him a bottle at take off and landing for the first flight, but he slept most of the way and didn't even need a bottle on the second flight. He even slept well in his pack and play last night. Yes, we have been blessed with a good baby and we give thanks to God everyday for him :-)

The only hiccup was Zev's suitcase being delayed (it was delivered to the base at like 4am) but we are glad that it arrived. Otherwise he would be wearing a t-shirt that said "Time to make the donuts." Zev was looking forward to wearing jeans though :-)

I am excited for this week ahead! Get out and vote if you haven't already! Have a great week.

Fiona xo

Waiting for my miracle

Today's devotional from Stormie Omartian:

"Lord, I wait on You because You are my Lord and I trust that You know the very best time to fulfill Your promises to me. I depend on You at all times, but especially when I feel weak on the face of unanswered prayers and postponed dreams. Give me the faith and patience I need to rest in Your timing. Enable me to be strong and whole in my mind, body, and soul as I wait on You to move on my behalf.

Wait on The Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on The Lord!"

The cutest pumpkin you ever saw :-))

Trick or treat!