we rocked pink 4 ali!

 

first let me say that this benefit/party was a huge success. second, it was so crowded and we were so busy chattin’ it up, the last thing we wanted to was take pics. 🙁 adam took most of these because i was either hugging, talking or running around the entire night.

ali was in a lot of pain that night. she’s having terrible nerve pain in her arms and midsection because the pressure these tumors are putting on her. i didn’t even know she was there until she was ready to leave. 🙁 adam got like a 3 second clip of her on video that i was able to make a still from. i really just wanted to show you how cute and put together she always looks even when she feels her worst. little missy ate dinner with adam’s family. apparently nori was entertaining them. what a goof.there was lots of pink. pink everywhere you looked. perfect.

all these frames are of the same area but taken a different times. it’s a completely different group in each shot. it was wall to wall people. it was amazing. we had family, old friends, old/current coworkers, lots of loft(3) clients, etc. seriously, people from all walks of our lives. in order to hold back the tears all night, i just kept telling myself we were at a westside wedding. i avoided looking at any image of ali, reading her name anywhere, and when people came to me crying, i told them i cry plenty at home, i want to be happy tonight!! i was actually quite proud of how well i held it together for the most part. i removed my mind so far from reality (plus pure exhaustion), i was like a zombie. totally in a trance. even when i looked at these shots i saw plenty of people i completely missed that night! thanks so much to everyone who came, donated or had us in your thoughts that evening! means more than you’ll ever know! and special thanks to my family and some of our other friends who went out of their way collecting donations and making stuff! you know who you are!the line went out the door. the side walk was even shoulder to shoulder at one point! holy cow, a lot of people genuinely care for ali!

it was also poppi’s birthday that day. we stole a second to sing to to him and let him pick the first raffle ticket.

some of us were there til 1am. our good friend joe (bottom right) and his wife were the last to leave with my folks at 2am. crazy. and we can’t take creds for these 4 frames. our friend farrell got ahold of the camera and fired off like 50 shots in 4 seconds. lol. not bad!

the fundraiser brought in enough to cover all there current medical bills. wooohooo! most importantly it showed ali just a tiny fraction of the people who are dedicating their prayers to her. it was very overwhelming to say the least. now i finally have some exciting news to share!! drummmmrrrooooollllllll….

ALI WAS FINALLY ACCEPTED INTO THE CLINICAL TRIAL AND STARTED THE PILL WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it was so cool to see our prayers in action. the very next day after the benefit, pfizer called ben and said she was accepted into the study. saturday morning a group of people gathered at our parish church (thanks jen for organizing) and said the rosary together. as they were leaving, ben got the call from pfizer saying she was set to start the pill monday the 15th! THEN as if that wasn’t good enough news, monday morning he woke up to a call from the james in columbus saying she needed to get up there immediately to start her last baseline tests. she completed them and they decided to start the pill even earlier! she had her first miracle pill (crizotinib) wed afternoon. they only kept her in for the day to monitor just because it was the first dose. from now on, she takes 2 pills a day from home and only checks in at the james every few weeks! she’s going to kill me for posting this pic but it’s already all over fb, so mostly everyone has seen it anyway! 😉 ben texted this image out saying, “down the hatch!” i replied, ” HEALING STARTS NOW!!” in 2 weeks we find out it’s working and before we know it, she’s going to be back to ‘normal!’ right? right.

still keep up the prayers. this will be the longest 2 weeks ever. the pill has a 60-80% recovery rate, that i know she will fit into. i can’t wait for you to shout

out you kicked cancer’s ass. and you know what, between her and rach, i’ve been blogging about cancer for a solid year. i’m so done talking about it.

GET OUT OF OUR LIVES CANCER!!!

love you sis. heart, smelli meli.