Goofy's Kitchen

April 19-25, 2010

This past weekend was quite busy, which started off with the Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) Carnival. The Kiwanis organization hosted this function and invited patients at CHOC and their family members to attend. We had no idea about the number of activities and booths created by different school clubs belonging to Kiwanis that took part in making this event happen. The objective for the kids was to collect as many tickets as possible through various games and trade those tickets in for prizes. Ashley had no interest in collecting tickets. She was all about face painting, tattoos, making crowns, stringing bracelets, etc. Alisha, on the other hand, ran from booth to booth to ensure her tickets accumulated while playing with pond fishing. She went from this weak girly toss and throw to winding it up for some of these games.

Ashley's 5th birthday was celebrated again in style at one of Disneyland Hotel's restaurant - Goofy's Kitchen. The celebration started with pictures taken with the sous-chef, Pluto. Then, we proceeded to help ourselves to the magnificent lunch buffet filled with awkward menu items such as peanut butter pizzas and Mickey Mouse shaped waffles. The buffet wouldn't be complete without the characters rounding each table for interaction and photo opportunities. Goofy, Baloo (bear from the Jungle Book), Chip, Dale, Jasmine and Snow White. We remembered to bring our Disney Princess signature book and the girls were so excited to fill all the blank pages with various signatures from the characters and photo holder with the various characters on the opposing page. The waiters and waitresses brought a cupcake with Mickey Mouse sprinkles and sang 'Happy Birthday' to Ashley. Although it was a special day for Ashley, Alisha was inspired by a 21-year old girl sitting at the adjacent table who is currently receiving more chemotherapy after battling cancer for 13 years. The girl had 54 MRIs, many rounds of chemo and radiation, but was surprisingly upbeat and positive. She encouraged Alisha to focus on the bright side and said that God has plans for each of us regardless of what happens. By the way, Goofy was chased and attacked by the kids, but he fought a hard battle playing swords with the girls. We visited the Lego store at Downtown Disney, checked out new sets of Legos and found the Grand Carousel set discounted due to the box being mangled. As a promise, Ashley received that set from the birthday monies she amassed.

On Sunday, we were invited to attend a quarterly function hosted by Kristie's Foundation. Here's a support group that meets every six weeks to get parents to interact and bond through common grounds while volunteers entertain the children. It is a wonderful organization that focuses on the optimistic side of the ugly childhood diseases rather than dwelling on the grim prospects. We met a family whose 4-year-old was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma, gone through surgery to remove the tumor and many rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. During some of the radiation treatments, she remained in total isolation for a week while her parents can only see her through a reflective mirror. We are thankful that Alisha's treatment does not involve radiation and pray for full recovery for these other children. The girls made butterflies, picture frames, ran around the park and rode on the train at Irvine Park. Alisha even showed off her skills on the hula hoop. We can't wait for their next event! Alisha completed her ferris wheel Lego set, which spins around by itself with batteries.

Claire's 4th Birthday Party

April 13 - 18, 2010

Alisha is slowly regaining her strength with physical activities, but is still not able to keep up with other kids. Being home bound and sedentary for the last eight months, her muscles have atrophied. Sometimes, she feels a bit discouraged since she has always been the fastest runner at her school. With that said, she tries very hard to keep up with speedy Ashley and forces herself to run. She competes with Ashley whenever she has enough energy to do so. Alisha builds her stamina playing tennis and could spend hours hitting balls - she doesn't do a lot of running, but she tries to hit the balls.

One of our close family friends hosted a birthday party for their 4 year old, Claire at a park. At first, we weren't going to go, but Alisha's blood result came back quite positive, so we ended up attending the party. Luckily, it was at a park with plenty of breathing room, so Alisha was not in close proximity to other children. Tinkerbell arrived with a bag of tricks where the little ones played with parachute, bubble blowing, balloon twisting and face painting. Other than the various park apparatus, the girls ran around chasing after one another. As the kids line up to pick their party favor, Ashley of course grabbed the Winnie-the-Pooh water cup as she is more into dressing up and playing with princesses. Alisha went for the watergun and immediately asked for a bottle of water, which we refused knowing that she will use it to fill up the watergun. Leave it up to childhood ingenuity, she found the water fountain, filled her watergun and started attacking Ashley and wetting the mushroom seats at the park.

Legos are progressing well. She combined Green Grocer and Corner Cafe and is eagerly working on the Ferris Wheel. Her motivation (not that she needs one when it comes to Legos) is to watch the Ferris Wheel spin. Other than the Legos, the girls worked on their latest culinary creation - tomato basil salad with onions. Although Alisha's appetite has not been stellar of late, she usually eats what she prepares herself.

Chef-for-a-Day

April 12, 2010

The girls were invited to be Chef-for-a-Day at Maggiano's South Coast Plaza. They had the traditional chef outfit waiting for them upon their arrival with the monogram of the restaurant sewn on it. Alisha remarked that she now looks like Emeril Lagasse with a chef outfit. We first took a tour of the kitchen with a number of large refrigerators containing frozen products. The Executive Chef, Kevin Gilbert gave the girls a quick chat about the rules inside the kitchen and showed them importance of hand washing.

The first dessert they made white / chocolate chip cookies, which were put in the oven to bake for about 10 minutes. Next, they worked on the apple crostada where they scooped the pre-marinated apples with cinnamons on top of the dough, folded them, brushed the top layer with light frosting and topped it off with granulated sugar sprinkles. While the apple crostadas are baking, they worked on frosting the chocolate zuccotto cake as well as mastering the spin on the cake tray in order to create the design on the chocolate frosting. As the final dessert, they dipped the lemon cookies in the frosting, wiped the excess frosting off and placed it on the dessert tray. Each of them decorate and presented their masterpiece with raspberries. The cooking experience was so much fun and Alisha could not stop smiling. It has been a nice change of pace to see her so elated and passionate about cooking.

Ed Unangst, the General Manager was so generous where he comped our dinner and packed all the desserts that the girls made home with us, which included the huge and rich choloate zuccotto cake. Alisha couldn't be happier while talking nonstop about the wonderful opportunity to cook inside a famous kitchen.

Event-full Week

April 5 - 11, 2010

Other than the head-shaving event this Wednesday, Angels Baseball Team donated about 600-700 tickets to the Make-A-Wish Foundation in order to allow new Wish child and his/her family along with volunteers to attend one of their games this Thursday. The Angels played against the Minnesota Twins. Alisha was super excited as this is her first baseball game. She was very involved and asked what every acronym meant (HR, RBI, R, H, E, LOB, etc.). Ashley, unfortunately was a bit restless after she ran out of things to ask to eat. Baseball is surely not up her alley. We were able to convince her to stay through the seventh-inning stretch since it's one of the songs she picked up at school. Alisha, on the other hand, did not want to leave. Much to her chagrin, we had to take off before Ashley threw a tantrum.

On Friday, it was Ashley's birthday. We were able to celebrate her big day first at school. With the traditional birthday circle, Ashley shared her childhood photos by age and treated all the kids in her class to colorful cupcakes. Although we did not host a birthday party, she was given plenty of presents and had her very own Hello Kitty birthday cake! Needless to say, Ashley was thrilled to be the center of attention while sharing her toys with her sister.

Since the baseball game on Thursday had to be cut short, Alisha's pseudo-uncle, Craig purchased tickets to another Angels baseball game on Saturday. The special give-away was a Rally Monkey lunchbox, which will come in handy when we the girls have their individual lunchbox full of picnic munchies for the summer outdoor concerts. The seats were in the nose-bleed section, but we had great view behind home plate. Again, Alisha was very focused on the game while Ashley became antsy. We did stay until the very end of the game as we walked toward the parking lot at the bottom of the 8th to avoid a huge crowd.

All in all, Alisha had a full week that included another visit at her best friend, Angela's house on Sunday.

Noble Cause

April 7, 2010

Ever since Alisha was diagnosed with leukemia, her pseudo-Uncle, Craig had made a promise to allow her to shave his head when she loses all her hair and stay shaved until she starts to grow her hair back. Luckily for Craig, Alisha took about seven months to go bald while most cancer patients going through chemotherapy take around two months to lose their locks. Additionally, her hair has already started to grow back - the peach fuzz feel.

A few months ago, Craig was praying that Alisha is one of those kids whose hair just thins out, but the intensity of her chemo knocked most of it out last month. Craig and his dear friend, John joined in on this noble cause to honor and support Alisha in her journey to beat leukemia. As Alisha prepares for her artwork (she had hello Kitty in mind), Craig and John bravely braced for how it will turn out. Alisha was a quick study and carefully designed and gave Craig the Friar Tuck look - huge bald spot on the top with a border of hair around the back of the head/neck and the side while John's look was more feminine involving a sun and later a flower with stem. John's 4-year-old son, JP also joined in on this great cause and asked for his head to be shaved too!

Alisha meticulously worked on her designs while thoroughly enjoying herself with laughters in between the shaving. Alisha also had a trimming to even out her peach fuzz, so the hair would come in all one length. Although Alisha had been apprehensive about going bald, she is taking advantage of the benefits of being bald - no hassle in the morning, no hair drying after shampooing, no more tangles, no more bad hair days! She has definitely taken her baldness into strides. We are all very appreciative of what Craig, John and JP and done to keep Alisha company and are truly thankful how much she is loved!

Maintenance

March 29 - April 4, 2010

Yeah! Alisha made count and started the Maintenance phase of her treatment on Tuesday. If all goes well, she has 18 more months before she's off chemotherapy. Although she made her count on Monday with awesome numbers as her nurse indicated, her procedure on Tuesday didn't fair so well. Alisha vomited violently shortly after her procedure. The doctor and nurses rushed to her room to ensure she doesn't end up asphyxiating herself since she was sedated and still recovering from the anesthesia. Luckily, she got the clear when she started breathing very smoothly and rested for the remainder of the day after a couple more bouts of vomiting.

One of our good friends, April gave Alisha an Emeril Lagasse cookbook for kids. Alisha is so elated that she convinced us to take her shopping in order to make mashed potatoes and "Holy Guacamole". Both dishes turned out to be a huge smash and were quickly devoured. The recipe to the guacamole dish was doubled and it was barely enough to satisfy our insatiable appetite. Alisha was in charge of the math by dividing the recipe for the mashed potatoes in half and doubling the amount for the guacamole. We will try to post photos the next time we cook.

Easter Sunday - Miracles for Kids is a great organization dedicated to helping families cope with children with life-threatening illnesses. Volunteers from the organization delivered Easter baskets to us this week and the girls were super excited to dig into their basket. The girls' Aunt, June was so sweet in making individualized Easter buckets filled with goodies and treats. Alisha's Chemo Angels also spoiled the girls with cards, stuffed toys, goodies, popcorn bucket, flowers, etc. As always, we are extremely grateful for all the kind gestures during this Easter holiday. Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Food Preparation

March 22 - 28, 2010

Alisha had a lighter chemo appointment on Tuesday; however, she still went for days with stomach aches. One of her many ways to divert her pain is through reading. She loves the Magic Treehouse Research Guides even more than the series itself. Her first Research Guide from Magic Treehouse was about Leonardo Da Vinci. She learned about his wild and crazy inventions, which has been proven to work. The giant crossbow, parachute, ornihopter flying machine, boat and automatic igniting device for firearm are some of his creative inventions. Alisha is in awe of Da Vinci's talent and constantly shares the details of his inventions with us.

Penguins, natural disasters such as tornado, earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, leprechauns, mummies, pyramids were other research topics she read about. Currently, she's learning about space and the rainforest. These research books are very well written and informative. Other than reading, the lego building (Green Grocer finished) and bike riding (good-old Barbie bike) continue when her energy level is high.

On Saturday while Ashley attended her friend's birthday party, Alisha's Uncle, Tony came by to watch after her. Tony brought his big salad mixing bowl and engaged Alisha in making a simple, but beautiful dish. She learned the rules of cutting, how to create color contrast, so the dish looks presentable and food texture to make it more palatable. They made a refreshing tomato salad with onions, cilantro, basil, red wine vinegar, etc. Unfortunately, there were no pictures to post, but we all hope Uncle Tony will swing by more often and show us how to make more delicious dishes. Alisha ended up eating a good portion despite her lack of appetite. Since she was involved in making the dish, we believe she felt it tasted better...great way to get her to eat!

Last PEG

March 15 - 21, 2010

Alisha received her last PEG-Asparaginase (intramuscular) shots this past Tuesday. The first thing she had asked me was, what about procedures? When is my last procedure (lumbar puncture under sedation with chemotherapy)? Unfortunately, she has a dozen more....

The bike-riding adventures continued. Although she was delayed in learning how to ride her bike due to the illness, she was determined to master bike riding without training wheels. Alisha was fearless and practices riding almost daily and is now riding independently around the courtyard. The next step is riding to/from the park.

Her oncologists are still amazed of her blood results despite the intensity of the chemotherapy that she has undergone. We could not be prouder of her resilience in fighting this disease! Alisha finished her first three-floor lego set from Make-A-Wish Foundation and could not wait to start the set, which connects the hotel to the green grocery store. She has her system of building legos and becomes quite upset if people tamper with the order of her legos.

One More Week of Daily Chemo

March 8 - 14, 2010

Week Two of the daily chemotherapy. Alisha is very tired of going to the hospital. She did not fair as well in the recovery room after the lumbar puncture and chemotherapy under sedation. Alisha immediately complained of a headache, which persisted throughout the week. Sometimes, if too much sedative drugs is administered, it causes lingering headaches that last for days.

Alisha was extra tired from the accumulation of chemotherapy the week before. She constantly complained of a headache and had a few low-grade fevers. There were times where she would sleep on the couch from 5pm onto the next morning or whenever her hunger sets in. On Sunday, she rode her bicycle for an hour and got some sun, which is great for calcium and the absorption of other minerals. On a lighter note, Alisha finished the 2nd level of the Green Grocer Legos set and couldn't wait to finish the 3rd level along with the roof, so she can start on the hotel set and attach the two buildings. Other than building her legos, Alisha took an interest in perfecting her typing skills again and having a lot of laughs over the SpongeBob typing games.

The girls were pleasantly surprised on Saturday morning with a visit from their nanny, Annie. We had not seen Annie for about 6 months and both of the girls were so thrilled to see her. Annie has taken care of Alisha since she's two months old and Ashley when she was born. Annie is lively, energetic and generous when it comes to the girls, so we're always happy to see her!

Second Half - DI

March 1 - 7, 2010

This week marks the beginning of the second half of Alisha's Delayed Intensification phase, which will last 29 days. Although we wanted Alisha to delay getting her chemotherapy, so her body can recuperate, her blood results were outstanding. Thus, there was no reason for us to argue for a delay. Her session of Cytoxan, lumbar puncture and Cytarabin was about 8 hours long due to pre- and post-chemo hydration. Alisha vomited three times during class in the afternoon, but pushed forward to complete her schooling. Her Home & Hospital Teacher was quite impressed that Alisha was determined to continue learning despite her bouts of vomiting.

Since Alisha was receiving daily chemo, we tried to keep the day relatively light for her with a lot of TV watching (Food Network, esp. Emeril Lagasse), some homework and Lego building. To our amazement, she came home from the morning chemotherapy asking to ride her bike. She rode around the courtyard everyday after chemo, we all wonder if she really did get chemo. Luckily, we believe that the sessions with the acupunturist has worked, which soothed her stomach cramps and pain and nauseous sensation. Again, her oncologists were flabbergasted that she made count with flying colors and wondered what she was fed or what we did. Let them continue to be puzzled....

February 28 was the Chinese Lantern Festival, so the girls made a lantern in the year of the Tiger and we had the rice balls to celebrate the occasion.