BLOG 36
24 December 2011
Christmas Message - Hello to you all from the Guerrero's in Australia.
We are sending you this Christmas message as a way to update you all on what has happened for our family this year, where we are and what we hope will happen in 2012. PLUS, of course we wish you all a blessed and happy Christmas this 2011 from Greg, Jodie, Julia & Anna.
We also want to just say, we often forget peoples birthdays for us here in Australia, we rarely celebrate birthdays and it is more of a kids celebration for us, so please don't be offended if we forget your birthday, its not a personal thing. In regards to social media, Jodie will also often have to remove or reply to any comments that may sound slightly at chance to be misconstrued, due to all of Jodies many contacts. Recently, we had to reply to a comment a family member left that sounded offensive, it's not a personal thing.
Thank you to all of you who have sent us emails/cards this Christmas and any gifts we have received for Greg and Jodie, plus the girls.
UPDATE OF 2011 EVENTS
Make sure you all go to our You Tube channel and have a look at our latest family videos we are uploading more and more regularly particularly more on nature and Jodie has also started to Vlog.
January, 2011 - brought us some difficult news in that what we thought might be a third relapse for Jodie of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. It was actually, scarring in the S1 nerve roots, due to radiotherapy and past disease tumours. Scarring can often take up to 5+ years to develop post tumour and radiotherapy for all types of cancers and nerve roots or endings are particularly sensitive.
According to Jodies Neurologist Peripheral Neuropathy is a progressive condition that over 2 million Americans deal with and millions more around the world. It can be caused by a variety of conditions, but in Jodies case it was from scarring only around the S1 nerve and not active disease. The symptoms are weakness, drop-foot, muscle atrophy and severe nerve pain. After over a year of pain controlled with Endone, Jodie is now on a patch system called Norspan, which has given her a new lease on life and a complete relief from the nerve pain caused from the scarring. With the patch, she has more energy and can participate in more of life.
We know that Jodies delayed diagnosis was the original cause of the damage she now has. This is why her message is so important in what she does to raise awareness. She will from now on always wear a foot brace and use a walking cane for stability, particularly on slippery or uneven surfaces. As she has watched the R leg muscles gradually waste away, we are reminded that we are so blessed that Jodie is still here after so much and in remission, which is the main thing and something to definitely thank God for. We are blessed that our family remains strong and together in the face of adversity.
Jodie and the family are hoping and praying that a transplant and/or more treatment is very far away and it would be wonderful if treatment was never needed again, so we continue to pray. Jodie is supported by several doctors including a very talented Haematology Psychiatrist so as a family, we must all remember that Jodie and the family must avoid any stressful situations, including conflicts or comments that might bring stress to us. It's all part of the journey.
JODIE'S JOURNEY
Jodies Journey website and Jodies health consumer advocacy goes from strength to strength. As her story becomes more powerful, more poignant and more relevant to thousands more people worldwide, the traffic on her site has increased and she is finding more avenues to tell her story, raise awareness and encourage others going through difficult circumstances in health and in life. Currently, she is getting approx. 2,000 hits per month on both Jodiesjourney.com and Consumerconsultation.com
This year marked a turning point for the Jodies Journey story with Jodies first published short story of her health challenges NOW available in Australia & New Zealand. The book will also be released in the USA & the UK in January, 2012. The book is a third in the 'Inspiring Stories' series published by Ark House Press. The title of the new book of inspiring stories is Inspiring Stories of Hope. You may purchase a copy from major bookstores in Australia & NZ, and also Christian bookstores, Word & Koorong or directly from Jodies Website as a signed item.
This year Jodie also appeared on the Insight program on the Australian TV channel, SBS. Also some of her story also appeared in the newspaper The Melbourne Age and in the Australian magazine Women's Health and Fitness. Jodies new book has given her a tool to engage with and give to world leaders, politicians and even royalty to tell her story and motivate change in our health systems, worldwide. As a result she has had some valuable conversations and developing connections with some of Australia's top movers, shakers and federal decision makers. Some of her nice royal letters are displayed at this page.
We expect that 2012 will be a big year for the Jodies Journey story as Jodie is now also part of Australia's top health consumer advocacy groups, called Consumers Health Forum of Australia. She recently attended a conference in Sydney on Consumers and Antibiotics participating in discussion and workshops on how we as consumers can change the Australian publics view of the use (or over-use) of antibiotics. Greg is very kind to let Jodie go away for the odd conference, as needed whilst he cares for the kids at home.
Jodie also spoke at a recent state conference for a well-known political party, on the subject of A Consumers Perspective of the Queensland Health System. She is now seeking more speaking, consulting and presentation opportunities for conferences, seminars, meetings and camps, about a variety of subjects, using her journey as a reflection. She has had interest from a finance company in Sydney and also a local New South Wales Council group.
If you have a speaking opportunity you would like to discuss with Jodie, please have a look at her Speaking Page. Jodie has also recently been discussing some writing opportunities with a new health reporting website about to hit Australia watch this space.
Lots of Family News
Greg is healthy, doing well and enjoying his job at Queensland Baptists. He is constantly learning new skills in regards to accounting and Payroll and enjoys the atmosphere at QB. He has a new found passion for certain rock music these days and Jodie often gives him time off to unwind from home duties and to let down his short hair for a some rock concert fun. Greg also loves and takes care of his two white, fluffy Maltese male and female dogs, we rescued from the RSPCA. Bobby is the boy and Molly is the girl, they keep Greg busy and are almost like child 3 and 4.
Both Greg and Jodie love living in Australia and have been here now 11 years. We always wanted to live in Australia, but at the time of marrying no Fiancs visas were available for Greg to live here, so this is why we went to live in the SF bay area for 4 years. We also enjoyed our time there (1997-2001)
But our hearts were always firmly set on returning to Australia permanently to raise our kids in this country. People often ask us, will be ever return to live in the USA?
With Julia's disabilities and Jodies situation, we are so pleased that we made the right choice, as Jodies health care is completely free here, Julias special schooling is also the best and free and Anna goes to one of the nations best Lutheran private schools, where she is learning German and doing well. Both girls are monitored and supported by counselling and educational assistance in regards to the trauma our family has endured.
Although, we understand that Gregs family miss us all Australia will always be our home and one that we would never leave. The high living standards and education, medical care here is the best and we are assisted and helped greatly in all of our challenges, far more than we would be entitled to, in the USA. We welcome anyone who would like to also live here also to check out the advantages and work conditions here, that are some of the best in the world. Wages and living standards only matched in Europe. For example, many patients in the USA with disease or medical conditions (even with insurance) often lose their homes and go bankrupt. Watch this video about a family who had this problem. Through our medical challenges, we retained our home and are about to build a new improved one with a pool, etc.
So, we will never discontinue living in Australia and always be here to reside permanently. However, in the future we would like to travel more to the US more often. Family and friends from the USA are always welcome here to stay and enjoy the sub-tropics and sunshine. We would love to put you all on a plane and mass ship you all here so you can see how much there is to enjoy, you would never want to leave. Family and friends are always welcome to stay with us in fact we recently had our best man, Todd Lugli stay with us in Australia for a brief visit, which was great.
Julia and Anna
The kids recently had a ball as we took them for 5 nights and 6 days to Sea World on the Gold Coast, here in Australia they got to learn a lot more about our beautiful oceans and animals of the Pacific region and meet some Nickelodeon characters, like Dora, Boots & Patrick. We all had a great time staying at Sea World Resort, but we were happy to get back to see our doggies and sleep in our beds.
Our girls grow and grow and grow. Julia is fast growing to Jodies height and she is only 11!! Anna is also one of the tallest girls in her class. Both have beautiful olive Hispanic/French/Italian skin they get from Greg. Thank goodness they did not get my burn easy extremely white Irish/Scottish skin. I would love a skin tone transplant from them, but unfortunately medical science has not come that far yet.
Julia is in Grade 3, going into Grade 4 (upper middle) in special school. She is way ahead with her English and is at a Grade 5, going into Grade 6 English standard.
She also won a first prize in a city art competition out of approx. 400 won out of 2,000 entries. Julia was first prize out for the Black and White drawing prize.
Below is Julias prize winning drawing of a Koala.
Anna has finished Grade 2 now and is entering Grade 3 next year. She has strong skills in German, Art and Music and Mummy is doing extra tutoring with her in Maths and English at home. Anna keeps telling us her dream is to become a Dolphin Trainer. This matched perfectly when we recently spent 5 nights at SeaWorld resort on the Gold Coast, Queensland for a family summer vacation. The kids loved being able to take their time around the park, learning more about our Ocean creatures in the Pacific and even meeting some Artic Penguins and Polar Bears.
Make sure you all go to our You Tube channel and have a look at our latest family videos we are uploading more and more regularly particularly more on nature and Jodie has also started to Vlog.
[One thing wed like to note some family think Annas name is Anna-Maria it has never been this, since birth it has always been Anna(first) Maria(second) Guerrero(last) just to clarify]
On the Horizon
We are enjoying going to a great Baptist church called Bridgeman Baptist, at Bridgeman Downs on the north side of Brisbane, affectionately nicknamed Bridgey we feel looked after, cared for and connected to a concerned community and love attending. We have had our house on the market for 8 months now and our vision is to sell and build a home with a smaller yard for easier maintenance, a pool for exercise, a granny flat for Jodie to avoid family infections and items such as non-slip floors, ramps & rails, etc. to avoid falls for both Jodie and Julia as Julia has Hypertonia issues. Hopefully the home will sell soon and we can start building or looking for the right home.
We think 2012 will be a busy and exciting year all around for our family and are looking forward to a year without treatment or chaos. Please remember that Greg and I are always here to chat to or talk to anyone who feels we can help with their personal health or disability situation.
We have both been through some of the worst and most challenging difficulties a family could face, yet we have grown stronger through it all and can now help others, dealing with their own problems.
However, we always point everyone back to the one that gives us the strength to go on, rather than looking at ourselves and struggling to fix our own needs. Sure, there are many, many times we will need medical help (either physical or mental), but often our emotional and spiritual answers are located in worlds best-selling book, The Bible.
"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man." Psalm 118:8
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD." Jeremiah 17:7
Thanks for reading our 2011 year update, please feel free to send this onto your friends who might like to connect with us via social media or our contact page.
Here is a great video wed love you all to watch about a kids perspective on the Christmas story, CLICK HERE.
We pray you all have a happy & very healthy Christmas and NEW YEAR, 2012.
Greg & Jodie Guerrero
Julia & Anna Guerrero
Pine Rivers Shire,
Queensland,
Australia.