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María Cecilia Fidalgo



Kids with cancer fight tremendous battles. The most amazing thing is that they do it with smiles, laughter and incredible bravery! Those who finish chemo and go on living their lives and those who go to heaven so young are all heros and all victors in the battle. They win because they realize that the most important thing about being a cancer kid, is being a KID!


In October 2002 María was diagnosed with high risk pre-b cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia with MLL gene rearrangement t(4;11). She underwent 28 months of chemotherapy on the CCG-1961 ser protocol and completed teatment in February 2005.

Our journey has not been easy but thanks to our friends, both old and new, it has never once been lonely. Thank you so much for checking on María's progress and signing her guestbook and map.


Thanks to the wonderful people at Quilts of Love, María now has a virtual quilt. Be sure to turn up the volume on your computer so you can hear the Spanish national anthem in the background!
María's quilt



Journal

Saturday, February 19, 2005 12:48 PM GMT

WOW is the best word I can think of to sum up the past few days. David brought María her VERY LAST chemo pills on Thursday night on the same little teacup saucer we always use for her nightly pills. She took the pills, chased them with a sip of water from the tea cup and then proceeded to march outside with the cup and saucer and throw them against the side of the house (yes we did tell her she could do this before). Just as they made that crashing sound against the bricks, María threw up her hands and yelled "gano yoooooooooooooooooo" which means "I win." It sounded like she was yelling "goal" if you've ever heard that yelled at a soccer match... really stretched out and very loud! David and I were not expecting that and apparently neither were the neighbors because a light quickly snapped on next door. Our sweet neighbor stuck her head out the window to find the three of us near collapsing from laughter. David yelled up to her that we were celebrating Maria taking her last chemo pill. I was afraid she was going to be irritated at the noice but she came running downstairs in her bathrobe to give María a big hug. We went back in the house afterwards and dumped all the contents of María's chemo box, into the trash. We all went to bed very late, but very happy that night.

Friday morning María had an brief off-chemo celebration with her friends at school. We took red, white and yellow frosted cupcakes to represent healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The kids had a great time getting to play hookey from their lessons. María thought that was just fantastic but it was just a warm-up for that night. Carolina, who has been Maria's best friend since about 3 days after we moved here, and her parents helped us so much getting our house ready. We had it catered with the exception of some drinks so fortunately nobody had to do much work in the kitchen. We blew up bags of balloons and just tossed them around the rooms for the kids to kick around. Just before the guests started arriving, David and Carolina's dad came in with a dozen or so helium balloons as a little surprise to María. Now you KNOW what she did with them... what any self-respecting 8 year old would do... She and Carolina sucked he helium out and amused themselves talking like chipmunks. : ) We invited friends from her school, the hospital, our neighbors, David's work collegues, my family, and a handfull of other people who have supported us so much over the past 2 years. Wiithin an hour it seemed like the house was packed. We had the stereo on for music but somebody brought a bongo drum. I will never forget the site of looking across the room and seeing my now-healthy child beating loudly on that thing while 6 adults sat around her clapping and egging her on. The misery of chemo has all been worth it.

María's crowning moment of the evening was when she got up on the table (yes, standing on the kitchen table in her stocking feet) and thanked everyone for coming. Picture dozens of flashes going off as she stood up there, like she was receiving a big award of something. It was just a fantastic night! María fell asleep on the couch as the last of the guests were leaving and for the first time in a long time, I didn't have to wake her up to give her any medicine.

I woke up this morning with a knawing though... I thought of how many doses of chemo María has had to take since October 2002 and then though of how many people have lifted us up during that time, and realized that the second list must be MUCH, MUCH longer. So this is what I've been doing all day today.

Part 1 -- An impressive list for anyone, let alone a child!

Maria's Chemo Treatments
ara-c (32 doses)
asparaginase (45 standard dose shots & 10 high dose infusions)
cranial radiation (1800 cGys over 10 days)
cytoxan (4 doses)
daunorubicin (4 doses)
dexamethasone (28 doses)
idarubicin (4 doses)
intrathecal ara-c (1 dose)
intrathecal methotrexate (17 doses)
mercaptopurine (364 doses)
methotrexate (44 low dose IV pushes & 10 escalating dose infusions)
thioguinine (28 doses)
prednisone (240 doses)
vincristine (41 doses)


Support Medicines (sorry, I can't count these)
albumin
ativan
benadryl
bolus fluids
caffeine pills
ceftriaxone
clonazepam
contrast dye
demerol
emla
fluconazol
freezy spray
g-csf
general anasthesia
gentamycin
heparin
macrodantin
magic mouthwash
morphine
mycelex trouche
pentamidine
phenergan
platelets (life saving gifts from strangers)
propafol
senakot
tpn
tylenol
vancomycin
vitamin K
white cells (life saving gifts from mommy & tía Isabel)
whole blood (life saving gifts from strangers)
zantac
zofran
zoloft


Procedures
abdominal ultrasound
bladder catheterization
blood work (peripheral, from groshong, from port)
bone marrow aspiration
ct scan
dental exam
eye exam
head mold made for radiation
laproscopic surgery to remove gallbladder
leukopheresis
lumbar puncture
mri
neurocognitive assessment
physical exam
picc line placement and removal
surgery to install double groshong line
surgery to remove line & implant portacath
x-rays



Part II -- all the people who've gone out of their way to make us smile since Maria was diagnosed. Yes the past 28 months have been difficult, but look at what all we've gained. Talk about counting your blessings.....

Friends both old and new
Alicia & Cammie
Amanda
Amber & Kaidrie
Amy M. (dancing with the angels)
Amy & Connor
Amy & Katarina
Amy & Rosie
Angel Anna ~ Quilts of Love
Angel Chris ~ Quilts of Love
Angel Gator ~ Quilts of Love
Angel Jane ~ Quilts of Love
Angel Moo ~ Quilts of Love (Maria thinks this name is just hilarious!)
Angel Red Mist ~ Quilts of Love
Angel Sky ~ Quilts of Love
Angel Toto & grandson Cameron ~ Quilts of Love
Angela & Christi ~ captain of the Thomas team
Angela & Jessica
Angelique & Harlei
Anna M.
Annie & Isabelle
Apollo & Giovanni
Apryle & Victor
Ashley
Audra & Keegan
Becky W.
Belinda & Wilson
Benjamin, Paulina, Erin & Ester (dancing with the angels) ~ in Taiwan
Bill H.
Carine & Lindsay
Carolyn ~ Quilts of Love
Carrie & Leah
Caryn H.
Cathy & Amanda ~ ring leader of the Tate zoo
Cecilia & Dustin
Chris & Isabella
Chris & Ronnie ~ the Gooch
Cindy & Brandon
Cindy & Hillary
Cloe & Tarun ~ in England (you can do it Tarun!!!!)
Colleen & Kaitlyn ~ in Australia
Colleen & Kelsey
Crochet Ma1 ~ Quilts of Love|
Dana S.
Darlene & Christopher
Darlene & Parker
Dawn & Tommy
DeAnna & Chase
Deborah & Caleb
Donna & Molly
Donna M. ~ angel Marcus' friend
Doris G. ~ Amanda G's grandma
Duffy & Sammy
Edie ~ from Germany living in the US
Elizabeth & Adam
Elizabeth & Tyson
Elizabeth & Vanessa
Emmie & Maggie
Erin
Freda, Laura & Stevie Ray ~ in Canada
Gary & Ashley
George & Noelle
Gina & baby Nathan ~ who really isn't a baby anymore but will always be 'baby Nathan' to me
Gloria & Maximillian ~ in England
Iliana & Tyler
Island Princess ~ Quilts of Love
Jack & Colby (dancing with the angels)
Jacob
Jacqueline ~ in the Caymen Islands (can we come visit? lol)
James & 'auntie' Allison C.
Jamie G.
Jan & Colin
Janet & Nettie
Janice ~ Andrew's grandma
Janice & Girlie Lew (dancing with the angels) ~ in Australia
Jean ~ Quilts of Love
Jeanette & Jalen (dancing with the angels)
Jenna
Jennifer ~ Lighting Children's Lives
Jill & Alex
Jill & daughter
Joana & Marcia ~ our Portuguese friends
Joane ~ in Hong Kong
Jodie & Lindsay
Joy & Abby
Judy & Karl
Karen
Karen & Clare
Karin & Christine
Kathi & Melanie
Kathie
Kathy
Katie & sweet little Hunter
Katie, Jacques & Ian
Kelley & Lindsay
Kelly & little miss Sofia Maria
Kelsey
Keri & Katie Rose
Kevin
Khalita
Kim & Andrew
Kim & Hannah
Kim & Kody
Kim & Mr. Nicky
Kristi
Kristy & Kendrie
Laura & Colton
Laura & Dani
Lillie & Carter
Linda & Bram
Linda & Ray ~ Connor's grandparents
Linda P. ~ Amanda T's aunt
Lisa, Brian & Kevin ~ brothers beating leukemia
Lisa & Ross
Lisa A.
Lisa R.
Liz & Manda
Lola & Julia
Lori Anne & Amanda
Lorraine & John
Machaelle
Machelle & Elizabeth
Mandy & Ramin
Marey & Ali
Mariah A.
Martha
Mary & Alex
Mason Brown family
Monica M.
Michael (aka Miguel) & Andy
Mikie & Emily
Nancy & Ashley Jeane
Nancy & Matthew
Nancy & Tanner
Nicole S.
Nightowl ~ svnoi uguku
Pat & Isaiah
Peggy ~ Melanie's grandma
Phyllis
Rachel
Regia & the beautiful Sarah (dancing with the angels) ~ in Brazil
Regina & Madie ~ the Wild Girl
Rhonda & Carter (dancing with the angels)
Ros ~ Tino's grandma
Rose ~ in Brazil
Rushell, Shauna, Tuesdey & Davin (dancing with the angels)
Ruthie & Seth (dancing with the angels)
Ruttinger Family
Sabrina ~ in Italy
Sam & Aaryn ~ Maria's future husband
Samantha
Sara & Austin
Sarah & Patrick
Sergio, Rachel & Arianna
Sheila & Nick
Stacey & Chad
Stacy & Kayla
Steph & Josh
Stephanie & RachelJoy
Susan, Mike & Rebekah
Susan & Katie ~ in Canada
Susan & Sarah Beth
Tamsin & Tino ~ in Gibraltar... someday we must take Maria for a visit!
Teresa & Alex
Teresa & Marcus (dancing with the angels) ~ in Canada
Terry ~ angel Jaden's grandma
Terry & Julianna Banana ~ in Canada
Terry & Linus
Tim H.
Tina & Karlee-Ann
Tracy & Katia
Trisha & Noah
Ursula & cute little Alexia ~ from Argentina
Valerie & Serena
Vicki & daughter
Vicki & Duncan
Vicki & Nathaniel
Vicks ~ PostalPals & Bears Who Care
Yelena, Pavel & Dmitry


Family
cousin Angela
cousin Blair
cousin Blake
grandpa David
aunt LeAnna
uncle Michael
cousin Nina
cousin Rachel
uncle Robert
grandma Rose


These are just the people who have signed Maria's guestbook and/or map. I started this journal to keep our friends in the US updated on Maria (and my how that list has grown!). Beyond this, we have had such great support from our friends in Spain. Most I don't think have ever seen this page but I thought they deserved special mention anyway!


Friends (both old and new)
Alberto G.
Alberto L.
Alex
Ana
Antonio C.
Antonio R.
Carlos
Carmen
Carolina
Celia
Clara
Claudia
Concepción
Cristina & Rafael ~ 'el oso'
Guillermo
Ines
José
José Eduardo
Juan M.
Juan R.
Juan T.
Karla
Manolo
Manuel
María & Sergio
María Ángeles
María Eugenia
María Pura
María Victoria
Mariana
Marisa
Miguel Ángel
Natalia
Paloma
Paola
Patricia
Pilar
Rocio
Rosa
Santi
Sofia & Elena
Silvia & Anna ~ from Italy
Tatiana

Family
tío Alberto
tía Ana Belén
tía Angelina
primo Armando
abuela AveMaria (dancing with the angels.... we miss you so much)
prima Candela
primo Cristian
tía Elena
abuelo José
tía Lili
tía Isabel
tío Marco
primo Miguel
primo Luís
tío Roberto
primo Xavier


Special Thanks to
Caringbridge
the ASION organization
all the staff at the hospital infantil niño Jesús


**please forgive me if I've forgotten anyone's name.


with lots of love and gratitude,
Ava, David & María

Read Journal History

Sign and view the guestbook
Sign and View Guestbook

Hospital Information:

Hospital infantil niño Jesús
c/ Menendez Pelayo, 65
28009 Madrid, España
(Spain)

Links:

http://www.asion.org/   Asociación Infantil Oncológica de la Comunidad de Madrid
http://www.3dflags.com   Free flags for your website
http://www.sharethelove.org   Here you will find a listing of websites for children battling serious illness. Please visit and offer some encouragement. We want to ensure that NOBODY GOES THROUGH THIS ALONE!


 
 

E-mail Author: madrilenos96@hotmail.com

 
 

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