Phyllis [♥]

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A little about me. I was born in Monte Murtosa, Portugal in 1965 when I was 9 years old I came to the US. We lived in a two family yellow house in Wilson Ave, Newark , within one year we moved to North 9th street in North Newark. Then North 12th street. Yep I remember living in the basement, thank god it was only for 6 months and then I got married to a wonderful man name Tony, and I love him just for what and whom he is. There is something special about it. We dated for almost 8 years before we got married and we just had our 20th wedding anniversary this April 2007,. We work hard, to have all we have, nothing was giving to us, some people may envy us but nothing is stopping them from having the same life if they worked as hard as we do. I have a beautiful daughter name Nicole she’s my world I hope she enjoys life as much as I have for God knows she’s already been to hell and back if you read the story bellow you'll understand, but she’s not looking back and is living life and God willing a long life to live. I have some awesome friends that I love to spend time with and would do anything for. You know who you are no need to name names.. I get along with everyone but don't like to be taken for a fool. If you want respect then show respect. Live by your word and do the hard thing. Don't play games, be honest, be flexible and avoid the overarching sin of taking yourself too damn seriously. This has made me tired that’s it for now more to come later…
NOW HERE A REAL LIFE STORY FOR YOU TO READ.
BUT PROMISE NO TEARS.
From BMT Newsletter November 1995 Issue # 32 - BMTs for Neuroblastoma Reprinted by NYSERNet with Permission from BMT Newsletter
Girl recovers with help from family, hospital staff and friends
Nicole Padinha at 5 years old, and a typical kindergartener. Except for an occasional check-up with an oncologist, or a flash of recognition when she sees a television commercial about a hospital, her life is normal. It wasn't always that way.By the time she was 2 years old, Nicole had suffered repeatedly from abdominal pain accompanied by fever and, later, vomiting. "Looking back, I realize that each time it came back stronger," recalls her mother, Phyllis Padinha. Nicole's pediatrician insisted that the pains were caused by a virus, but by the fourth episode Phyllis and her husband, Tony, had begun to doubt that diagnosis. Their fears were confirmed when, on Nov. 8, Just 21 days short of Nicole turning 3 years old, she was diagnosed with an advanced case of neuroblastoma.In early November, the Padinhas had taken Nicole, their only child, to the family's primary care doctor. He said she might be allergic to dairy products. But Nicole tested negative. "Thank God she wasn't allergic, because if she was it would have delayed looking for the real cause," Phyllis says.Then Nicole underwent x-rays and ultrasounds at Newark Beth Israel Hospital, which is a half-hour drive away from the Padinhas' home in Rahway, New Jersey. The tests revealed a mass in her abdominal area and the technician told Padinha she needed to talk to a surgeon that day. "The tests were done in the morning and I didn't get home until that night," Phyllis remembers. "I went from technician to doctor to surgeon to oncologist. By the end I was walking without being conscious."Nicole's tumor was removed later that week. The medical team told the Padinhas that the tumor was malignant, but hadn't spread to other organs. Then they performed a bone marrow biopsy and sent the results to be analyzed at a Los Angeles hospital, where doctors found neuroblastoma cells in Nicole's bone marrow. An autologous BMT, the doctors said, would give Nicole the best chance for survival."When I first heard that Nicole had Stage IV neuroblastoma, all I could think was 'Why?'," Phyllis says. "I couldn't breathe and no one could stop me from crying. I had a million questions that no one could answer."When my husband and I heard her chances for survival, we couldn't see a future at all. We were very quiet together for weeks and months, clutching each other for support," she says. The couple found comfort in talking to other parents who had gone through the same thing.For the bone marrow harvest, Nicole and her parents flew to Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. Once the marrow was harvested, it was purged in an effort to reduce the number of neuroblastoma cells in the sample.Nicole began five months of chemotherapy Newark. In May 1994 she traveled to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for radiation therapy and the BMT, which she came through with no complications except a high fever that lasted about two weeks. "The doctors said a lot of things might go wrong, but the only thing that happened was the fever," Phyllis observes. Once the fever subsided, Nicole returned home to an overjoyed family.Although Phyllis was frightened much of the time, she realized that Nicole needed her to keep a positive outlook at all times. "She was so young she had no idea what was happening," Phyllis explains. "I knew she was going to react the way she saw me react, so I made the situation look as natural as possible."I was there for her constantly," she continues, "from the minute she opened her eyes to the minute she closed them. Sometimes I just wanted to cry whether she saw me or not, but I had to stress that everything would be O.K."She advocates an honest approach with children who are having BMTs. "When a doctor comes in to do something, don't tell kids it's not going to hurt, because the next time around they won't trust you or the doctors," she advises.While Nicole was ill, Phyllis gave her a small toy or knickknack each morning. "You'd be surprised what it does for the child," she says. "They look forward to tomorrow to get something new.""She always had a smile on her face, and it helped me a lot to see her that way," Phyllis says. "Now it's hard for me to believe anything ever happened to her.