Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Beautiful sunny Wenesday


Hello, since I got my last infusion 3 weeks ago I've been feeling very good. Everything went fine, so far the easiest infusion of all, I didn't have any anoing side effect so this let me stay active since that day.
I got 2 tests last Friday, a CT scan and a ECO for my heart, I don't have the results yet but I suppose tomorow before I get another infusion my doctor would let me know how was it.
The dosis of the infusion is still the same as when I started 6 months ago, this was my ninth infusion.
Regarding my nutrition, I am still eating everything organic and I continue doing also alternative medicine combined with suplements of vitamins, all this leaded by my omeopath or holistic doctor here in California in combination with my oncologist from City of Hope.
Something I recomend to whoever is going trough any serious illness is to bealive in alternative medicine and it can be combined with the traditional medicine o treat it only with alternative medicine.
Unfortunally the alternative medicine is not promoted as it should be because the traditional medicine is controled by the farmaceutical comapnies that have so much power y the traditional medicien ignores the big progress of the alternative medicine when what would be the best is that both integrate together, combining both woulfd be the best for everyone,
and this only depends of us to don't support only the traditinal medicine and we should start to inform ourselfs and pass the information to other of what is going on with the alternative and warn others of the big risks of a lot of drugs of traditional medicine. A lot of drugs that are sold to the public at any farmacy have a lot of side effects, for example the famous Ibuprofen, one of its side effects damage the liver, I know a lot of people that take it normally to stop pains and they get addicted to it. The alternative offers suplements for back pain for example, the most tipical pain in most of the people today
and without any side effects.
My brother and another friend were told form the doctors that they have to get surchary for the herni disc and they said that was the only solution they had for their problem, they both saw the same doctor for ther alternative medicine and with only one shot of vitamins it took away the pain and in a couple of days and they didin't have to get surchary and it has been a lot of years since then, I was witness of my brother recovery becasue I took him to this doctor and saw how he got better.
So we have to be very carefull with traditional medicine. With all this I don't mean I am totally against traditional medicine but what it is not right is that how much ignores what it is going on with alternative medicine.
Maybe some don't know about the big danger of the famous Flu Shot that is gien today to most of the americans and specially kids, it has mercury and some lead, it is poison for our bodies, it is terrible that the docotrs know about it and they recommend it to all of their patiens, what a crime ! When tere are natural supplements with vitamins for kids and for older ones to streghten the inmune system against coulds and flu. And the same way for some ther vaccines that kids get them in their first 4 years that have lead or aluminum. So parents find out good before you let the doctor inyect those vaccines to your kids.

You could be thinking now if I am saying all this why I am treating my cancer with tradicional medicine ? Well, it wasn't an easy decision to take, it was hard to decide what to do, I had the pressior of my family on one side, in the beginiing I just wanted to go only with alternative medicine, I knew cases of people who cures their cancers with the alternative but I ended taking the decision of treat it with both medicines, something that today I think it was a logical decicion, specially for how advanced was my cancer, stage 4 (metastasis). So for own decicion I am treating it with an integrated medicine, a combination of both medicines, thanks to the agreement of my oncologist at City of Hope, he says there is no problem of
doing both ways at the same time and since there has been a very good progress with the whole treatment, my oncogist doesn't want me to stop doing alternative treatment together with his treatment.

I started with the alternative in the begining before I came to California, my idea was before starting with the treatment here in California, to ask the doctors for a 4 or 6 months trial to see if the cancer started to get reduced with the alternative medicine, but I had pressure from my family, the wanted me to start with the chimoteraphy the sooner possible, so I didn't have the oportunity to know what could have happened treating me only with the alternative. Today I regreat for not beeing stronger back then and made the doctors let me have those 6 weeeks of trial with the alternative medicine and see what would've happened.
But now I have to keep looking forward and have faith that I took the correct decision with all this.

Hope you all have a beautiful Christmas and wish you all the best for the 2008.

Federico

Miercoles, un dia antes de otra infiltracion (Diciembre 26)


Hola, maniana me hacen otra infiltracion de quimioterapia, este Viernes pasado me hicieron dos examenes, todavia no se los resultados, quizas maniana mi oncologo me los de antes de la infiltracion. Desde la ultima infiltracion hace 3 semanas me vengo sintiendo bastante bien, salvo mis manos y los pies que se me secan mucho por el efecto secundario de una de los remedios, el resto todo bien.
Pase una muy buena Navidad en compania de toda la familia en California, estuvimos todo el Lunes y todo el Martes todos juntos.
Ni bien sepa los resultados escribo otra vez.

Espero que hayan tenido una hermosisima Navidad y les deseo a todos lo mejor para el 2008.

Federico

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Domingo de sol

Hola, aca estoy quedandome en lo de mi hermana desde el Jueves que me hicieron la infiltracion que me habian postergado por una semana. Todo salio muy bien, hasta ahora la infiltracion mas facil de todas, no tuve ningun efecto secundario molesto asi que me permitio seguir activo desde ese mismo dia. La dosis de infiltracion sigue siendo la misma desde que empece hace 5 meses, esta fue la novena infiltracion.
En cuanto a mi alimentacion sigo comiendo todo organico y siempre firme a la medicina alternativa combinada con suplementos vitaminicos, todo esto dirigido por mi homeopata aca en California en combinacion con mi oncologo en el Hospital City of Hope. Algo que recomiendo a cualquiera que este pasando por cualquier tipo de enfermedad, que crean en la medicina alternativa que se puede combinar perfectamente con la medicina tradicional o convencional como quieran llamarla o tratarse solo con medicina alternativa.
Lamentablemente la medicina alternativa no esta promocionada como deberia ser porque que la medicina tradicional esta controlada por las companias farmaceuticas que tienen mucho poder y esta ignora los grandes avances de la medicina alternativa cuando lo mejor seria que las dos se integraran, creo que este es el futuro de la medicina, una medicina integrada donde se combinen las dos medicinas, y esto depende de nosotros de no apoyar solamente a la medicina tradicional y que empecemos a informarnos y pasar la informacion sobre lo que realmente esta pasando con lo alternativo y alertar sobre los grandes riesgos de muchos medicamentos de la medicina tradicional. Muchos de los medicamentos que se venden al publico en cualquier farmacia tienen efecos secundarios, por ejemplo el famoso Ibuprofeno, conozco muchisma gente que lo toma y que es adicta, uno de los tantos efectos secundarios del Ibuprofeno es que dania el higado, La medicina alernativa ofrece suplementos para dolores como el de espalda que no tienen ningun efecto secundario. A mi hermano y a otro amigo mio le habian dicho los doctores que se tenian que operar de hernia de disco y que era la unica solucion que tenian, ellos dos vieron al mismo medico volcado hacia la medicina alternativa y con solo una inyeccion de vitaminas les saco el dolor y no tuvieron que operarse y ya van varios anios de esto, yo fui testigo porque lo lleve a mi hermano a lo de este doctor y vi como mejoro.
Con esto no quiero decir que este totalmente en contra de la medicina tradicional, lo que no va es que ignore tanto lo que sta pasando con la medicina alternativa. No se si saben que la famosa vacuna contra la gripe que se le da hoy a casi la mayoria de los ninios en Estados Unidos tiene mercurio, veneno para el cuerpo, terrible que los medicos lo sepan y la recomienden a todos sus pacientes, que crimen, cuando hay suplementos vitaminicos naturales para los ninios y para los mas grandes tambien para evitar una gripe. Y asi muchas de las inyecciones que se le dan a los ninios especialmente los primeros 4 anios de vida tienen mercurio, plomo o aluminio, asi que averiguen padres bien antes de dejar que les den las inyecciones a sus hijos.

Para mi tratarme con medicina tradicional no fue una decision muy facil de tomar, me costo mucho decidirme, tenia por un lado la presion de mi familia, yo me volcaba en un principio por ir solamente con la medicina alternativa, conozco casos de gente que se habia curado de otros canceres con lo alternativo pero termine tomando la decision de tratarme con las dos medicinas juntas, cosa que me parece hoy logica esta decision que tome, especialmente sabiendo lo avanzado que estaba mi cancer, estado 4 (Metastasis). Asi que por decision propia estoy tratandome con una medicina integrada, una combinacion de las dos.
Como habia empezado en un principio con lo alternativo mi idea era que los doctores me dejaran probar por 4 o 6 semanas para ver si se reducia el cancer asi, pero me presionaron ellos tambien para que empezara lo antes posible con la quimioterapia y no tuve la oportunidad de poder ver que podria haber ocurrido tratandome solo con la alternativo, hoy me arrepiento de no haber sido mas fuerte para haber hecho a los doctores hacerme los examenes al principio y otra vez a las 4 o 6 semanas sin empezar con la quimioterapia y ver que ocurria. Pero ahora tengo que seguir adelanter asi y tener fe que tome la decision correcta.

QUE TENGAN UNA MUY BUENA SEMANA

Hasta el proxino post. Federico

Monday, December 3, 2007

Infiltracion postergada. Infusion postponed

La infiltracion que me iban a hacer el Jueves me la postergaron para el proximo Jueves debido a que estaba baja la cantidad de mis globulos blancos y si me hacian
esta infiltracion ese dia me iba a bajar mucho mas. Asi que me vino bien que no me hicieron esta infiltracion ya que me vengo sintiendo bien y puedo aprovechar para seguir haciendo deportes estos dias.
Escribo denuevo despues del Jueves para contar como me fue en la infiltracion de quimioterapia. Federico

ENGLISH
The infusion I was going to get last Thursday was postponed for next Thursday due to my white blood cell count being low, if I had my infusion that day it would've dropped it even more. So I am taking good advantage of these days that I am felling good to keep doing some sports everyday.
I'll write again after Thursday to tell how I am doing after the infusion of chemotherapy. Federico

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Martes por la noche

Aca estoy en la casa de mis suegros, todos ya se fueron a dormir, aca estoy tranquilo en la cocina, escribo unas lineas y me voy a dormir.
Pasado maniana, Jueves, me hacen otra infiltracion, me voy a quedar en lo de mi hermana nuevamente por unos 4 dias para recuperarme bien y despues sentirme mejor con mis hijos.
Despues del Jueves vuelvo a escribir para contar como me fue.

Fede

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Otra infiltracion

Hola, aca estoy quedandome en la casa de mi hermana despues de la infiltracion de quimioterapia que tuve este Jueves, mi esposa me dejo en el Hospital a la maniana temprano y mi hermana me fue a buscar y me voy a quedar en su casa hasta que me sienta mejor para estar nuevamente con mis hijos. La estoy pasando de primera aca en la casa de mi hermana Caro, mi cuniado Chase y mi sobrino Kai, jugamos mucho al metegol que tienen aca en la casa, tocamos musica, disfruto comiendo las exquisitas comidas que hace mi hermana, salimos a caminar por este hermoso barrio y les hago algun trabajito en su huerta.
Mi doctor oncologo me reviso antes de que me hicieran la infiltracion y me vio bien, quiere seguir con la quimioterapia hasta Enero y ahi hacerme todos los estudios nuevamente y ver como seguimos a partir de como vean los resultados de esos estudios.
Hace un poco maas de una semana fue Halloween aca y estuvo muy divertido, disfrazamos a Lucia y Mateo, Lucia de princesa y Mateo de Zapallo, el famoso Pumkin de Halloween. Fuimos al colegio de Lucia donde prepararon todo para los chicos con muchos juegos, todos tenian que ir disfrasados, Lucia se divertio muchisimo y nosotros tambien. Despues volvimos a la casa de mis suegros donde nos estamos quedando para seguir con la tradicional costumbre de Halloween de ir de casa en casa con lso chicos disfrazados a buscar golosinas y tambien esperar que vengan a nuestra casa otros chicos tambien a buscar golosinas.
El fin de semana pasado fuimos a San Diego a quedarnos a la casa de unos amigos nuestros, nos invitaron a ir a Seaworld, el mundo marino de San Diego, estuvo muy bueno y cuando salimos de Seaworld fuimos a la estacion de bomberos de mi amigo y nos mostro toda la estacion por dentro, cenamos con el resto de los bomberos y nos llevaron a mi, Lucia, Marcia y Mateo a dar una vuelta en el camion de bomberos por toda la zona, nos hicieron un tour, en un momento pusieron la sirena para que Lucia la escuchara y viera las luces de la sirena que reflejaban en las casas que ibamos pasando, si hubiesen tenido un llamado de emergencia hubiesemos ido con ellos, cuando volvimos a la estacion a los 15 minutos tuvieron un llamado de emergencia y en un minuto ya se habian ido con el camion y nosotros solo los vimos desde la estacion como se iban.
Ahora Lucia tiene una gran historia para contarle a toda la familia aca.

Hasta la proxima. Fede y su familia

Another infusion

Hello everybody ! I am here at my siter's house again after I got a new infusion yesterday, my wife dropped me at the hospital early in the morning and my sister went to pick me up, I am going to stay here until I start feeling better and the probably on Saturday my wife is going to pick me up to be back with her and the kids. I am having a great time here with her, my brother in law Chase and my nephew Kai, playing a lot of foosball with Chase, they have the best foosball table, we are playing music together, Caro is cooking incredible meals, we go for nice walks in this beautiful neighborhood and I work in her garden.
The doctor checked me up before the infusion and he found everything good, my blood is good, I gained more weight, he decided to continue with the treatment until January and then we are going to do all the tests again and then decide what is next.
We had a fun day on Halloween, Lucia was a princess and Mateo a pumpkin, we went in the evening to Lucia's pre- school where all the kids and their parents went and it was so fun to see all the kids with costumes and some parents too, they had a lot of games for the kids. Then we went back home and we continued there with the trick or treating.
Last weekend we went to visit some very good friends of ours in San Diego, Jamie and Pam, we stayed at their house in Escondido, they invitided us to go to Sea world, we enjoyed it a lot and then in the evening we went to Jamie's fire station in San Diego. That was a great experience, they showed us the whole station inside, we had dinner with all the firemen and then they took me and my family for a ride in one of the fire engines around some nice neighborhoods, they played the siren for us, Lucia was the one that enjoyed it the most. If they got an emergency call we would've experienced that too but they didn't get any while we were cruising in town. When we got back to the station, we got out of the truck and in 15 minutes they got a emergency call and in one minute they were out of the station in the truck. Now Lucia has a big story to tell friends and family.
Until next time, Fede and Family

Friday, October 19, 2007

Hola a todos, aca paso a darles las ultimas novedades, ayer tuve una nueva infiltracion de quimioterapia, todo salio bien, antes de hacermela vi a mi oncologo y me vio bien con buen peso, me dice que todo va para adelante, que sigamos asi con los mismos remedios y que le siga dando a la actividad fisica como lo vengo haciendo. Hace 3 dias fui a surfear despues de meses que no entraba al mar, fue una alegria inmensa, los medicos me dieron permiso para empezar a ir al mar otra vez, ven que tengo las defensas bien fuertes asi que no ven que haya ningun problema, eso si, surfee con un traje de neoprene de invierno que hacia anios que no usaba.
Por ahora ningun efecto secundario molesto desde que me hicieron la infiltracion ayer, recien vengo de hacer una caminata larga con mi hermana Caro y mi sobrino Kai, estos primeros 2 dias me voy a quedar aca con ellos porque prefiero estar separado de mis hijos hasta que me sienta mejor asi puedo descansar bien.
En 3 semanas mas me hacen otra infiltracion.
El Sabado pasado fui a la cancha con mi cuniado Chase a ver futbol, Galaxy contra Toronto, lo disfrute muchisimo. Mi cuniado, el esposo de mi hermana Caro los va a ver siempre de local, la ultima vez que habia ido a la cancha con El a ver al Galaxy fue antes de empezar con todo el tratamiento pero ahora los medicos me dicen que puedo estar tranquilo de estar rodeado de mucha gente porque estoy bien de globulos blancos y asi mis defensas estan bien. Asi que ya me saque entradas para mi y Marci para ir a ver a Soda Stereo el 21 de Noviembre que tocan en la cancha de Los Angeles Galaxy.
Realmente me estoy sintiendo de lo mejor desde que empece con todo el tratamiento, excepto ahora que me acaban de hacer la infiltracion y no me siento tan bien pero en un par de dias mas me voy a empezar a sentir mejor otra vez como me pasa cada vez que me hacen una nueva infiltracion.
Hoy es un gran dia, cumplimos 7 anios de casados con Marci.

Yo le digo al Senior: "Tu eres mi refugio, mi fortaleza, el Dios en quien confio" Salmo 91:2

Un abrazo grande a todos, hasta la proxima,

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Latest News

Hi Everyone,
Sorry it took so long to get the news out, but our lives continue to be busy with two little ones on top of all the appointments we have to go to. You all know I went through four tests ( Ct scan, pet scan, MRI and endoscopic ultrasound) to determine how my body is responding to the chemo and the results are in and they tell me that my cancer is definitely stage 4 and not 3 like they originally thought and hoped it to be. The cancer has metastasized to various parts of my body. When they did the first tests in the beginning there were some suspicious spots in my lungs, something very small in my liver and possible lymph node involvement. But they were not 100% sure so we were holding out hope that it had not spread. Well, it was cancer .They also are saying that the cancer started in the top of the stomach and grew up into the esophagus and it is called gastroesaphageal junction. BUT, the very good news is that the chemo seems to be working!!! The spots in the lungs have disappeared except one spot that has shrunk. The spot in the liver has shrunk from 10mm to 4mm, shrunk by 60% and the lymph nodes that showed cancer, now show none. The main tumor in the esophagus has also shrunk drastically. The doctors were very encouraged by the results and almost surprised by how well my body is responding. Let's keep hoping for more good results this next time!!!!! A big wall at the City of Hope says " There is always HOPE" and we have to believe that. We meet many cancer patients each visit to The City of Hope and have heard amazing stories that encourage us to keep the faith and hope.
The doctors have decided to continue with the same chemotherapy for 3 more rounds, about 9 more weeks because of the good results that they are seeing. I had my fourth round of chemo last Thursday and it was pretty rough over the weekend. I'm feeling better now and hope to feel good until the next infusion in two more weeks.
Our prayer is for the chemo to continue fighting the cancer full force and for the side effects to be minimal!!! Thanks for all your prayers and support, we feel very comforted to have so many friends and family caring for us.
I don't want to forget to mention how thankful I am with The Maui Windsurf Company where I work for all their support for me and my family. Thanks Masato and Christian and all of our friends and family and people we don't even know who are supporting us through their windsurfing websites. Thank you so much!!!
Take care and until next time, Fede

Friday, September 28, 2007

Ultimas novedades

Hola a todos, acabo de pasar por unos 7 dias de estudios para determinar en que estado esta mi cancer hoy y los resultados dieron que es definitavamente de grado 4 y no 3 como se habia supuesto en un principio pero dio que me hizo metastasis en varias partes del cuerpo, lo que tenia en el pulmon era cancer, tambien lo del higado y bastante en el pecho y espalda en ganglios linfaticos y en ganglios que rodean al tumor que tengo en parte del estomago y el esofago, se determino tambien con seguridad que NO ES CANCER DE ESOFAGO sino que empezo en el estomago y crecio hacia arriba, y por estar ubicado ahora en la union del estomago y el esofago no lo llaman cancer de estomago, tiene otro nombre pero no me lo acuerdo.
LAS MUY BUENAS NOTICIAS son que el cancer desaparecio del pulmon, del pecho, de la espalda, el del higado se redujo de 1 centimetro a 4 milimetros, un 60%, es bastante, el tumor en el estomago y esofago se achico un monton, desaparecio todo lo que estaba hacia adentro del esofago por eso no se me venia trabando la comida hace tiempo, queda algo en un ganglio cerca del cuello pero no saben con total seguridad que sea cancer, me dicen que podria se por otra cosa que esta hinchado, cuando me hagan todos los estudios otra vez en 3 meses se va a poder comprobar con mas seguridad.
Los doctores tomaron la decision de seguir con la misma quimioterapia unos 3 meses mas por el tan buen resultado que esta dando, no quieren hablar de operacion por ahora, quieren ver que pasa de aca a 3 meses.

No quiero dejar de mencionar lo agradecido que estoy con Maui Windsurf Company, donde yo trabajo, que me estan ayudando tanto con todo esto que estoy pasando. www.mauiwindsurfcompany.com. Gracias Masato, gracias Chris
Y a todos mis amigos, familiares, gente que no conozco y me esta dando su gran apoyo, a tantos que me estan ayudando en sus paginas de windsurf en Internet en todos lados del mundo, a todos ustedes, gracias por todo este gran apoyo.

Hoy recibi un ragalazo de mis tias en Argentina, dos remeras de San Lorenzo firmadas por los jugadores de San Lorenzo y el tecnico Ramon Diaz dandome su apoyo. Gracias tias.

Un abrazo a todos, hasta la proxima, Fede

Wednesday, September 19, 2007




These ones are from my daughter Lucia at preschool, she started one week ago.
Estas son de mi hija Lucia en el jardin de infantes que empezo hace una semana.




The picture I am with Mateo is at the Hospital before my 3rd infusion for chemotherapy.
La foto que estoy con Mateo es en el Hospital antes que me hicieran la tercera infiltracion de quimioterapia.

The other one is from my wife Marci with my son Mateo.
La otra es de mi esposa con nuestro hijo Mateo.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

A New Week

Hi Everyone,
We hope all is well with you! Thank you for all of your support, phone calls, emails and prayers. We are thankful for each and every one of you.

This week Will be a very important week for all of us. Fede will be having 4 tests/scans to re-stage his cancer. So we will know if the chemo is doing it's job. Of course we believe it is and hope and pray for the tests to have a positive outcome. Tuesday Fede will have his third endoscopy. This one is with an ultrasound and can really see through the esophagus. He will be put to sleep for this one and he is relieved about that because the last one he had in July at UCLA, he woke up twice during the procedure and it was really uncomfortable.. He will have this done in Pasadena and we trust the doctor will do a good job. Friday he will have a cat scan and an MRI and next Monday a Pet Scan. Then on Tuesday of next week we will meet with the surgeon and discuss the results of all of these tests. So we will have a better idea of how Fede is responding to the chemo and if surgery will be in the near future.

Since Fede's third infusion 2 weeks ago he has been feeling pretty well. The issue with his feet has cleared up and he is enjoying the days of feeling "almost" normal. He is eating ALOT and gaining the weight he had lost over the last 9 months. He looks great, his hair had started falling out but stopped and overall he is doing amazing on Chemo. He even played tennis with his dad yesterday and had a great time. He has been so positive through all of this and wakes up enjoying each day with his kids and family and friends. He says how happy he is to spend every single day with the kids and watch them grow daily.
In the midst of all these trials, so many good things are happening too. Fede's dad and brother came out to California and Fede couldn't be happier to be with them during this time.. We are all so happy to welcome Chase and Carolina's baby to the family. Their baby boy arrived on Saturday so we are thrilled to have a new nephew to love, and for Lucia and Mateo to have a baby cousin to grow up with here. And our families have opened up their homes for us and it feels so great to have all of our families' support. Also Lucia started preschool and is having a great time and making lots of new friends. She is adjusting well to all the changes and is growing fast too. Mateo has been such a blessing, he is a super happy baby and goes along with us everywhere. He is starting to crawl now and is just growing too fast!
We'll let you all know how this week goes. Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Love, Marci, Fede, Lucia and Mateo

Monday, September 10, 2007

Este Jueves pasado me hicieron la tercera infiltracion de quiomioterapia, vengo pasando unos dias bastantes pesados despues de esta infiltracion y no puedo caminar bien producto de uno de los efectos colaterales de uno de los medicamnetos de la quimioterapia, me duelen los pies cuando camino asi que hoy me dijo mi doctor que corte por un par de dias con el medicamento que tomo todos los dias que es parte de la quimioterpia, asi vemos si se me pasa esto en los pies, me pidio que trate de no caminar por dos dias. En las proximas dos semanas me van a ser 3 examenes para ver en que estado esta todo adentro y a partir de ahi verian los doctores como continuar. Uno de los examenes es de mi cerebro, otro es otra vez una endoscopia y el otro un escaneo que tambien me lo habian hecho antes de empezar con todo el tratamiento y el 25 de este mes tengo un turno con mi cirujano para ver como seguimos con todo esto.
Maniana en un gran dia, empecieza un jardin de infantes mi hija Lucia, como sea voy a ir a llevarla con mi esposa, no me lo voy a perder y mi viejo llega de Argentina, hace un anio que no lo veo y tambien llega mi hermano. Asi que voy a tener casi a toda mi familia aca conmigo excepto mi hermana Lucila que esta en Espania con su familia. Los voy a tener maniana a mi Papa y a mi Mama conmigo despues de un anio que no estoy con los dos juntos.
Mi vieja esta aca en California desde un poco antes que nos vinieramos para aca, dejo todo en Argentina para estar cerca mio y darnos una gran mano en todo.
Que buen mes este con el campeonato mundial de rugby, aguanten los Pumas !

Hasta la proxima. Fede

Sunday, September 2, 2007

SPANISH

Hola a todos. Vengo de tener una muy buena semana sintiendome muy bien, vi a mi doctor el Lunes pasado y esta muy contento con el progreso de la quimioterpia por lo que le conte de como estoy comiendo normal otra vez, sin tener que licuar la comida y no se me esta quedando trabada como me pasaba antes. Me dice que esto se debe a que el tumor se esta achicando.
Hacia meses que no comia asi.
Este Jueves me hacen la tercera infiltracion. Lo primero que me van a hacer es un estudio de sangre, despues me encuentro con mi oncologo para ver como va todo y luego me hacen la infiltracion que dura 3 a 4 horas. Hay 10 habitaciones privadas para hacer las infiltraciones que son muy comodas con television cada una. Lo primero que me hacen es conectarme suero y me mandan ahi un medicamento que se llama Zofran que es un antinausea. Despues me empiezan a pasar Epirubicin que es uno de los medicamentos de la quimioterapia. Es rojo oscuro y una enfermera me lo inyecta muy despacio a travez de la coneccion que tengo del suero y tiene que ir controlando que no se escape de la vena porque me puede lastimar un musculo de la mano o del brazo, depende por donde me lo esten inyectando. Cuando terminan de pasar todo este liquido me ponen otro medicamento que se llama Oaxiplatin que tambien es muy fuerte y me lo inyectan como lo hacen con el suero. Este medicamento tiene efectos colaterales muy raros, puede afectar el sistema nervioso y cada vez que me la dieron me causo mucho dolor en la mano y el brazo que me duro despues por 4 dias mas o menos y por 5 dias despues no puedo tomar o comer nada frio y no puedo exponerme a agua fria por ejemplo meterme a una pileta. Si toco agua fria es como hielo y siento enseguida que me quema y no puedo estar al sol por los primeros 5 dias.
Tengo remedios para la naucea asi que ni bien me agarra la controlo enseguida.
El pelo se me cayo bastante pero no se me cae mas y casi ni se me nota que se cayo tanto.
Cada dia tiene su desafio pero tambien muchas cosas lindas y estoy muy feliz que a la vez tengo mucho tiempo para poder disfrutar tanto a mis hijos y verlos crecer.

Una de las cosas mas lindas que me va a pasar este mes es el nacimiento del bebe de mi hermana Caro. Y tambien mi hermano y mi Papa llegan este fin de semana y va a ser muy especial estar con ellos juntos. Mi hermana menor Lucila vive en Barcelona con su familia, mi cuniado Pablo y mi sobrina Coral que es una belleza. Ellos no van a poder venir pero los sentimos cerca igual todos los dias.

Gracias por el gran apoyo que me estan dando.
Un gran abrazo a todos. Fede
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ENGLISH


Hello to all !
I've been feeling pretty good the last week, I saw my oncologist last Monday and he was so happy when I told him that I was eating normal. Foods I haven't eaten in months are passing with no problem, the food is not getting stuck in my esophagus and he said that this means that the tumor is getting smaller because of the chemotherapy. I am getting my 3rd infusion this Thursday. First I go in for blood work, then meet with my oncologist to see how everything is going. Then the infusion with takes about 3-4 hours. At The City of Hope they have about 10 private infusion rooms that are comfortable. A nice bed, chair for whoever is with me and T.V. First they set up the I.V. and give me fluids and Zofran which is a very strong anti nausea medicine. Then they start the first medicine which is called epirubicin. It is bright red and the nurse has to slowly inject it into the IV. It is very powerful so they have to watch as it goes in to make sure that is going into the vein and nothing is leaking. Then they start oaxiplatin which is also very strong and potent. This drug has many strange side-effects. It can affect the nervous system and each time it has caused a lot of pain in my hand and arm that lasts for about 4 days. Also with this drug I can't drink anything cold or be exposed to cold water for about 4-5 days. If I touch cold water it feels like ice and gives a sort of burning sensation.
So now I know what to expect. I have anti nausea medicine and can control the nausea with that. My hair started falling out but has stopped and it's not even noticiable.
We are taking it day by day and each day has some challenges but many joys too. I'm so happy to be spending so much time with my children everyday and watching them grow.

We've been really busy here with all my appoitments and seeing family and friends when i'm feeling good. Lucia got her first black eye on Saturday. She fell and hit the side of her face but was strong and recovered with a popsicle. With all the hot weather, we've been enjoying my in-laws' pool. Lucia is almost swimming and we can't get her out of the pool.
We're really excited and waiting for the birth of my sister Carolina's baby this month. My dad is coming and my brother and it will be nice to be all together. The only one missing is my sister Lucila and her family in Barcelona.



Thank you so much for all your support.



Big hug to all. Fede

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

This pic is from one week ago. Mateo will be 6 months on Sept. 6th and is getting his first tooth. Lucia will be starting preschool in two weeks and she'll go twice a week and is really excited about it! She will be 3 in November.

Esta foto es de hace dos semanas. Mateo va a tener 6 meses el seis de Septiember y le esta saliendo su primer diente. Lucia va a empezar en un jardin de infantes en dos semanas mas y esta con muchas ganas de empezar. Va a cumplir 3 anios en Noviembre.

Healing

Hi Everyone!!

Like you already know, life gave me a surprise with cancer of the esophagus which was discovered in June. After seeing four different doctors since November of last year, and some tests that showed nothing, my symptoms continued. My symptoms started last year with a feeling like the food was not going down good. It was very gradual but by November, food was getting stuck and I was starting to change my diet by eating softer foods to avoid the uncomfortable feeling. The doctors performed an upper GI test that is an x-ray of the throat and esophagus. You swallow a magnetic liquid that is seen going down the throat on the x-ray. Nothing was discovered with this test. The symptoms continued and I was told I had acid reflux and to take antacid. I returned 2 months later and was again told it was acid reflux and to take the medicine for 2 more months. Finally in May I went back to the doctor with my wife and insisted on an endoscopy to look down my throat and see what was there. At this point I was having a lot of trouble swallowing food that wasn't soft. To avoid choking we had starting to blend almost everything and completely cut out meat from the diet. The blood test showed no signs of illness but the doctor agreed to send me to a Gastroenterologist. With only 2 on the island I couldn't get in for a couple of weeks. Finally on June 22nd I had an endoscopy. The doctor found something she didn't like but said it was probably an infection, small chance that it could be the beginning of cancer but probably not considering my age. On June 25th, the results were back, I went to her office alone because I thought it wasn't going to be serious and the words she told be were shocking. I had esophageal cancer. And it was serious.
So like you all know, we came to California within 2 weeks of the diagnosis so we could have the support of our families and the best medical care. We had consultations at UCLA and The City of Hope. We chose The City of Hope to treat my cancer for their great reputation and for many excellent references. You can see their website at www.cityofhope.org
It has been 4 weeks since I started chemotherapy and Thursday of last week I had my second infusion, I have approximately 5 weeks left. The truth is I'm doing pretty well with the chemo. The first few days after the infusion are the most difficult. I feel pretty bad the first 4 days but the anti nausea medicine helps a lot! After about the 4th day I start to feel a little better but never normal. I feel a little week, sometimes more and sometimes less. And when I am feeling good, I take advantage of it and try to exercise a little. I'm eating good and drinking a lot of liquids. After about the 2nd week of chemo food started passing a lot easier and now I'm eating almost anything I want. So the doctors were happy about that and are hopeful that the tumor is shrinking.

My cancer is stage 3/4. The scans detected 2 very small spots on the liver but they can't be 100% sure unless they biopsy it. So they are treating it as stage 4, but the rest of my organs are clear. It is stage 3 because the tumor goes deep into all the layers of the esophagus. The surgeon said it is not a big tumor but is goes deep, it is about 3cm long.

Something that changed drastically since I found out about my cancer is my nutrition with the help of a great natural nutritionist on Maui. I'm eating mostly organic and taking supplements that help with the side effects of chemo.

Thanks to the love and incredible support of my wife and the happiness of being with our children everyday, and the incredible support of all of our family and friends and especially the faith we have in Jesus Christ, I'm taking all of this with Joy, Peace, a lot of strength and most importantly HOPE.

Something important that I want to share with all of you is that preventative medicine is fundamental. A very simple test, the endoscopy should have been preformed from the beginning.. It is the test that allows the doctor to see inside the esophagus and stomach and it is very easy. I had one in Maui and one in California and didn't feel anything. You have to be your own health advocate. My cancer could have been discovered 6 months ago when I first started going to the doctor. But because of my age, every doctor overlooked the symptoms and assumed the least: acid reflux.

The photo is of the first infusion of chemo. I'll keep you all updated often.
.
A big hug to each of you,
Fede

Monday, July 30, 2007

Curandome

Hola a todos !

Como ya sabran la vida me tomo por sorpresa con un cancer de esofago que me lo descubrieron recien en Junio despues de ver a varios doctores desde Noviembre y fuimos mi esposa y yo que pedimos que me hicieran una endoscopia porque los mismos sintomas me seguian ocurriendo, sentia que la comida se me quedaba trabada y me tardaba en pasar y se descubrio que tenia una tumor maligno en la entrada del estomago, parte en el esofago y y parte en el estomago.

Como en Maui no tenian todo lo necesario para el tratamiento de este cancer decidimos venirnos a California donde tenemos mucha familia y hay muy buenos hospitales con doctores con muchisima experiencia para tratar este tipo de cancer. Elegimos el Hospital City of Hope por la gran reputacion que tiene y teniamos muy buenas referencias, lo pueden ver aca http://www.cityofhope.org/

Ya hace 4 semanas que comence con la quimioterapia y el Jueves de la semana pasada me hicieron la segunda infiltracion, me faltan 5 semanas mas de quimioterapia. La verdad que la vengo llevando bastante bien, los primeros dias despues que me hacen la infiltracion son los mas dificiles, me senti mal los primeros 5 dias y lo mismo con la segunda infiltracion pero me la banque gracias a los remedios que me dieron para bancarme los efectos colaterales, despues de esos primeros dias me senti mucho mejor, en realidad nunca me siento normal, me siempre debil, a veces mas y a veces menos y cuando me siento bien aprovecho para hacer ejercicio y estoy comiendo muy bien y tomando muchisimo liquido que es lo que me pidieron los medicos.

Mi cancer es de grado 3 pero los medicos lo quieren tomar como de grado 4 porque hay unas manchitas en el higado pero no pueden detectar si realmente son celulas cancerigenas pero creen que si son se irian con la quimioterapia. El resto de los organos estan bien gracias a Dios.
Es de grado 3 porque esta tomada toda la pared del esofago y el tumor mide mas o menos 3 centimetros de largo.

Algo que cambie drasticamente desde que me entere que tenia cancer fue mi nutricion con la ayuda de una muy buena nutricionista en Maui. Estoy comiendo todo organico compensado con suplementos naturales y algunos de estos suplementos me ayudarian a contrarrestar los efectos colaterales de la quimioterapia.


Gracias al amor y el apoyo increible de mi esposa con la felicidad de todos los dias con nuestros hijos, gracias al gran apoyo del resto de nuestras familias y de todos nuestros amigos y principalmente la fe que tenemos mi esposa y yo en Jesucristo, estoy llevando todo esto con mucha felicidad, mucha paz, mucha fuerza y mucha esperanza.



Algo importantisimo que quiero dejarles a todos aca es que no se dejen estar con la salud, la medicina preventiva es fundametal, sepan bien que una endoscopia es lo unico que permite ver bien adentro del esofago y el estomago y es una boludes, a mi me hicieron dos, una en Maui y otra aca en California y no senti nada.



La foto es de la primera infiltracion de quimioterapia y la remera que tengo abajo de la camisa es del campeon que me va a acompaniar siempre hasta que salga de esta.



Los voy a manter al tanto seguido a partir de ahora.

Un fuerte abrazo a cada uno

Fede









































































































































































.





































































































.