Happy New Year!

As you start 2012, our wish is for one of peace, joy and good health.

Most of you know about my journey these past two years and some of you might be learning about this for the first time.  What a difference two years make!

Please know that my last check ups have shown that I am doing remarkably well.  I have had a great support system.  My husband and kids have gone above and beyond the call of duty.  The term ‘in sickness and in health’ never had more meaning.

So thank you family, friends, my doctors, prayer warriors and above all thanks be to God, Jesus, the rock I have clung to, the one that never let me become afraid, the one that never let me lose my joy and the one that taught me never to lose hope but also to accept whatever comes my way.  Thank you friends for your support, your dinners, gifts, cards and all the things you have done to make everything easier for me and my family.  I want to thank my abundance of prayer warriors, you were the best!  A young man, friend of my children and of the family said to me “Mrs. Ungaro, my mom told me you like prayer and I don’t know how to pray but I am going to pray for you.”  I found that amazing!

I encourage you to relish life, enjoy the moments that make life meaningful, do as much good as you can and as you should.  Enjoy family, enjoy friends, enjoy the moment.  Pray and worship.

I leave you with one of my favorite verses (Romans 12:12) and one that can be of great comfort in your daily cares.

"Be patient in affliction,

Faithful in prayer,

Joyful in hope."

Superstar Survivor!

We have so much to be thankful for this year.  Check out this video with our mom that aired on NBC Miami last night.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!  The Ungaro Family

Surviving & Thriving

NYC, October 2011

I am happy to report that 4 weeks ago I had a successful procedure to help my back called kyphoplasty.  The doctor put a cement-like filler in 3 of my collapsed vertebrae.  It has relieved a lot of my back pain.  I am still recuperating but every day feeling better.  Thanks be to God, to all my doctors, my special family and to all the wonderful friends which have made this journey easier.  I will travel to Tampa- St. Petersburg this weekend for the Walk-Run for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.  Come back next week and read about it, plus I might have a picture or two.

...OF ACUPUNCTURE AND BACK PAIN

Dear friends and family,

It has been a while since I updated my blog, so here I go.  During the month of July I made a visit to all four Florida kids.  I am enclosing pictures with all of the grandkids.  I first visited Gainesville, then Lakeland and then Tampa.  It was a joy to see everyone and also it was great that our NYC girl Angie came down from Brooklyn and made the rounds with me and then stayed home for almost a month.

As most of you know, I have been having daily back pain for at least 2 months now.  I was diagnosed as having a few collapsed vertebrae and was to have a procedure yesterday (Friday) but was canceled at the last minute as anesthesia requested that I take a beta blocker for at least a week prior for heart protection.  I decided to look for other options to see if I can alleviate the pain and was recommended to have acupuncture by a few reliable sources.  I did call a doctor yesterday who gave me an appointment right away and I had my first treatment today (Saturday).  I will have 2 more treatments next week and expect to tell you that I feel like new.

TO MY PRAYER WARRIORS:  I am also going to ask that  this coming Thursday Sept. 1 between the hours of 9 and 10 pm, if possible for you stop for five or ten minutes and pray for my back and for a successful treatment, thus even avoiding the need for surgery.  Bigger miracles have already occurred in this period of my recovery and for God nothing is impossible.  Let His will be done.

I will keep you posted.

Love, Mimi

p.s.  By the way, the 3-month CT was normal.  No sign of cancer.  God is good.

Mimi & The Ungaro Kids

Mimi & The Peoples Kids

Mimi & The Sanders Kids

HAPPY 4th of JULY!

We had a wonderful weekend in Lakeland, Florida: delicious BBQ, fireworks, grandchildren, family, and a baptism for our latest granddaughter Querida (Carrie) Dominga Peoples born on the 10th of June.  Ruben and I got back yesterday night so we will see more fireworks here at home today!

I am almost 3 months post surgery.  I cannot tell you it has been a breeze because the recuperation period seems to be full of surprises. There is always a little ache here and another there, so it is a one day at a time kind of deal.  It can be as mild as one finger hurting or it can be both knees at the same time.  I am very thankful because mostly whatever gets thrown my way is fixable.  I am going for my 3 month CT this week and then for the follow up visit to my surgeon.  I have lost a ton of weight, so much that I made it to my 1970 wedding weight of 124 lbs. which looked great then but at my age it does not look as good, especially when it is lost fast and without the benefit of any regular exercise.  I have been eating better and putting on some pounds lately--so for that I am very happy!  I will let you know how everything goes with the CT and doctor's evaluation.

Introducing Querida (Carrie) baptized July 3rd at
St. Stephen's Episcopal by her Dad Rev. David Peoples.

Progress Report

Here I am with Trinity, my daughter's 15-year-old Jack Russell Terrier--she's also a cancer survivor of 6 years!

It has been 5 weeks since my surgery.  I hit a little bump on my way to my recovery.  I developed a blood clot in my left leg for which I am receiving treatment. I will be fine.  I can sense that it will be a while before my body gets back to a more normal state.  No doubt after so many chemos and radiations the amount of chemicals inside my body must be substantial.  I am thankful that my prognosis is good, so I am ready to give this recovery all I  have--with God's help!

Now that I'm back at home, here's the view from where I sit to enjoy the sun.

Breaking News!

Mom is back home in time to celebrate her birthday!!

Last Monday, April 11th, Mom went to Jackson Memorial Hospital for her big surgery.  About 2/3 of the pancreas along with the spleen were removed.  In technical terms, she underwent a distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy.  The doctors thoroughly checked the areas around the remaining pancreas and any necrotic (dead) tissue as well--everything came back free and clean of cancer!  Compared to the surgery they were expecting to do--the Whipple procedure--this is great news.  She is able to keep the healthy portion of her pancreas and the recovery from this surgery is much quicker than if the Whipple procedure had been performed.  She returned home this Saturday, April 16th, and is doing beautifully at home, looking forward to a speedy recovery, and being back on her feet and cancer free!!!  Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.  They mean so much.

"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed."
 2 Corinthians 4: 8-9

Surgery Update

The time for surgery has come!  My mom asked me to keep everyone updated with the details of her surgery on this blog since she will likely not be up to many phone calls or emails in the next few days.  She will have surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital on Monday, April 11th at 8am.  The surgery will probably last several hours and they will attempt to remove what's left of the necrotic tumor on her pancreas (and possibly much of the pancreas itself).  It is expected that she will be in the hospital for at least 7 to 10 days and then return home for a slow recovery at home.  My Titi Delia will be flying in from Puerto Rico to help my mom out for a few weeks after her surgery.  We are all so grateful that she will be with her sister during that recovery period!

All of my siblings were able to spend this past weekend together with my parents.  They had a lot of fun hanging out and even though I was sad to miss the festivities, I had a great two weeks during my Spring Break in March and really enjoyed my mom and dad's company.  I promise to keep everyone up-to-date on Mimi's progress via the blog.  In the meantime, please continue to pray for my mother and hold her in the light.
My mom says that she is looking forward to the last stage of this chapter.  I say amen to that!

More soon -  Angie

Here's a shot of my mom celebrating her birthday a few days early.    She will probably be in the hospital still recovering from surgery so she and my dad decided to go all out with a Hibachi dinner.

Good News!

Some of you might know about this already but just in case you don't:  the biopsy results show that all is well with my cells and the tumor is necrotic (dead!).  There is no sign of live activity, so let's just say I fall into the 5% of people that actually survive pancreatic cancer.  My surgeon said, "The fact that we are sitting here talking a year after the diagnosis is an unusual occurrence as I don't get to do this with most of my patients since they are usually gone..."--he might not have said it exactly like that but words to that effect.  

Foremost to God be the Glory.  So many prayer warriors praying for me.  If you were one of them I thank you for it.  Let's keep at it since there is still surgery for April to excise the remainder of the mass and some repair.  We will just enjoy the victories along the way.  My back pain has gotten so much better since a few days ago. God is good!  :)

Love you!

Mimi

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
~ Hebrews 11:1

Mimi with grandchild #15, Ezra.

Happy New Year!

“The spirit of the Lord God…has sent me to bring good news….to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Isaiah 61:1-2          

Where did January go?  It’s been a long time since I’ve updated my blog (November).  I hope everyone started the New Year on a good note.  As for me, a lot has happened since my last update.  I underwent a procedure in November called Nanoknife, only the second one performed on the pancreas in the country.  This is supposed to be the technology of the future.  The tumor on my pancreas was bombarded with electrical impulses on a cellular level via needles to kill the remaining cancerous cells, if any.  My faith tells me they should all be dead but in the next week I will have a biopsy for the doctors to confirm that and for the surgeons to decide if surgery is still necessary to remove a portion of the dead tissue.  In that respect, I’m happy that everything is looking very good.  Progress has been made, however not without a cost.  Due to my 28 radiation treatments this summer, there was some damage to the spinal column which required cement to be placed in several cracked vertebrae (performed in January) to alleviate my pain.  I will have to put up with the pain for a while for further healing.  I will keep you posted as progress continues.