Blockbuster and KIIS FM

Saturday - July 25, 2009 - Happy 6th birthday, Tiffany!!! Sorry we missed your celebration!

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Blockbuster (http://www.blockbuster.com/) and 102.7 KIIS FM (http://www.kiisfm.com/) teamed up together for a "Summer! Escape Pass. Fun, free giveaways, music, and more!!!" This is what they advertised on their flyer, so we "had to" go!!! Hank insisted that our entire family go win some prizes. He had a feeling that something good was going to happen. WELL, that's exactly what we did... We went to the Blockbuster in Gardena, and I couldn't believe it, all four of us won stuff!!!

Firstly, the DJ was asking for random things like the old game show, "Let's Make A Deal". When he asked for a bobby pin, I pushed my Sammi forward, then I plucked one off of Sammi's head, and gave it to him. For our efforts, I won a KIIS FM T-shirt. Sammi was glad about that, since this is one of her favorite radio stations!!!

Secondly, Sammi later named three songs sung by the Jonas Brothers, and she won a nice poster of the threesome on a Rolling Stone Magazine cover. The DJ continued to ask trivia and questions to motivate the crowd. He handed out more T-shirts, bumper stickers, candy, gift cards, etc. After about an hour, they finally made it to the main raffle prizes. This included many DVD movies, movie rentals gift cards, a set of four passes to the Universal Studios Theme Park, a Blu-Ray Disc player, and a grand prize of a 52-week Blockbuster Free Movie Rental Card.

Thirdly, Stevie won the first of main raffle prizes. He won some gift cards for six free movie rentals at Blockbuster. Yippee! Since Hank is already a subscriber to unlimited movie rentals, these six movie rentals will come in handy when we travel, or when he visit with friends.

Lastly, we won another prize! Since I'm post-op, I cannot to lift or carry anything big or heavy, so I made Hank go up to claim our prize. We won the second to the biggest prize... the Samsung Blu-Ray Disc player!!! WHOO HOO TO THE SOOHOOS!!! We're very excited about this! Hank has been wanting a Blu-Ray player, but haven't gotten around to getting one. Now, we don't have to!!! Thank you to God for making this happen!!! And thanks to Blockbuster and KIIS FM Radio!!! You sure made our weekend special and memorable!!!

KIIS FM Radio van and booth in front of the Blockbuster, Gardena (corner of Artesia Bl and Western Ave)

Hank with his new toy!!!

Thank you again Blockbuster and KIIS FM!!! It's a perfect addition to our old home entertainment system!!!

Complications?!?!? Oh no!!!

Happy birthday, Matthew!!!

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Medical update - As I've mentioned on my blog earlier, I had my 1st surgery about two weeks ago, for the second phase of my reconstruction. Unfortunately, I sprung a leak internally on my right boob, early on Monday morning at 12:45 a.m., 7/20/09. It was bad enough to cause concern, so I went to see my cutie pie Dr. Newman in his office later that afternoon. He had outpatient surgery scheduled for me on Wednesday, 7/22/09 at 7:30 a.m., but sadly, my body couldn't wait.

Tuesday night, 7/21/09 at 10:30 p.m., within minutes, my right boob swelled up like a large cantaloupe. I thought I was going to explode. As I talked on the phone with Dr. Newman, I had blacked out! While my family carried me to the car, I blacked out again! Hank drove me to the ER, where they monitored me for a few hours, and giving feedback to Dr. Newman. My blood pressure was very low, which explained why I blacked out twice. By 4:00 a.m., I was admitted into the hospital, and transferred to my new room. I got about two hours of sleep, then was whisked off for my 2nd surgery on my scheduled time. After recovery, instead of being sent home from outpatient surgery, I was transferred back to my room for an extra day, just to be safe.

Everything was going well throughout Wednesday and most of Thursday, as I was "almost" released. BUT, Thursday afternoon, I had strained myself, and my boob swelled up again. Yikes! I came very close to having a 3rd surgery this Friday morning, but God spared me. Praise and thanks to God and my prayer chain of family and friends, the swelling came down throughout the night, and the ultrasound confirmed it this morning. I got my walking papers, but with explicit instructions. For the next three weeks, I'm not suppose to stretch, carry, lift, strain, etc. Guess I'll have to walk around holding my boobs, especially when I sneeze or cough! A girl's gotta do, what a girl's gotta do!!! hee hee hee

So, why was I in an isolation room? What's that about Negative Pressure?!?!?
Constance is one of my favorite nurses.
Wednesday visit from Yvette
Thursday visit from Yvette, Danielle, and Christina

Ryann and Lauren came by to check on me. Wanda and Angel did too, but sorry I didn't get any pictures of them this time.
Friday visit from Yvette. I can't believe she came to visit me everyday, just like my hubby and kids! You've made me feel so special, Yvette! Thank you.

Btw, I don't know what was in that hospital food, but my hives are back. The only outside food I got was Matzo Ball soup (yummy!). I've eaten that hundreds of times, so I know that was not the cause of it. Well, I'm back to taking my all of my itch medicines. They really knock me out, so it'll be early bedtime for me until I stop itching. On that note, I've gotta go now. Good night everyone! May God bless you with sweet dreams.

Locks of Love, from Lauren!!!

After my surgery on July 8, 2009, I had a slight fever that lasted throughout Wednesday night, Thursday, and Friday morning. So I rested on those few days, and took Tylenol to keep the fever in check. I realized my sore back muscles were just another side effect from the fever. I knew I had a long busy weekend ahead of me, and I had no patience for aches and pains. Thank you to Mom, Ada, Wanda, May, Sam, and Lisa for visiting, and bringing all the flowers, food, soups, and goodies. Thank you for the many, many calls, texts, and emails from so many friends and family members. It's deeply appreciated, and truly uplifting!!! Thank God once again, he answered my prayers and healed me physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I had a busy weekend planned, full of places to go, people to see, fun to be had, and I just ain't got no time for pain!!! ;-D hee hee hee

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Friday - July 10, 2009 - Dave, Kathy, Hank, and I got together early to beat the traffic, and for an early dinner. We had decided on the Hard Rock Cafe in the Universal City Walk. Food was yummy, but the company was the great! We thought two hours for dinner would be enough, but next time we'd better plan for three hours, in case we get to chatting again!!! hee hee hee Thanks for the memories!



After dinner, we walked over to the Gibson Theater for our concert. We saw the Love Train with the Sounds of Philadelphia. Many bands and artists from the past performed in tonight's concert. For example, they featured Eddie Holman, Delfonics, The O'Jays, The Intruders, and my personal favorite, the Stylistics.









Dave and Kathy really enjoyed the concert from their fourth row seats!!! Hank and I were happy just to be there!!!

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Saturday - July 11, 2009 - Tonight, LA Chinatown must have been the happening place. There were many banquets in all the big restaurants, a few wedding parties, and a big event with live bands in the Center Court area by the wishing well. Lots of people were walking the streets of Chinatown. Needless to say, we had such a difficult time finding parking, even all of the lots were full. After driving around for about half an hour, we had finally found the second to the last parking space on the highest part of the rooftop of Empress Pavilion. I've never parked up there before, but I was sure glad our car fits a compact space. Although a bit late, we were thankful to God that we had made it there safely.

Tonight was Bow On Benevolent Association's 41st Anniversary celebration, held at Golden Dragon in LA Chinatown. My dad, David Tong Chan, was one of the first members of this group many decades ago. At that time, he was a young teenager, and he donated funds toward their building. There are only a few original members left, but my mom is keeping my dad's memories alive with her volunteer work. Tonight, we celebrated with another ten course banquet. After all the speeches, someone played tunes on an electric keyboard, people were singing karaoke (all in Chinese), and they danced ballroom and line dances throughout the evening. Overall, it was a nice relaxing evening. We picked stems of flowers from the many sprays that surrounded the stage. Jennifer really brightens up for this tradition.




Of course, the boys kept each other busy with their games. It's amazing how much they enjoy each other's company, despite their age differences. Oh, how Stevie loves his little cousins!!!

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Monday - July 13, 2009 - Olivia and I got together again. Although she had a few workers running around her house, installing her new copper plumbing, she still managed to make us a delicious home cooked meal. You've really got that multi-tasking skill down to an art!!! And thank you for buying a few of my crochet leis. I really appreciate your encouragement and your endless friendship!!!

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Monday - July 13, 2009 - At tonight's meeting at the Wellness Community, I was pleasantly surprised to see Ako there! I had forgotten that she attends the Monday night meetings. I was great to have her in our group.

Ako~ Thanks for your wisdom and insights! Your PT/OT knowledge and skills are awesome, but it's your warm loving heart that shines through. Your compassion to help others really shows God's love!!!

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Wednesday - July 15, 2009 - Dim sum lunch today at Empress Pavilion (http://www.empresspavilion.com/) with Stevie, Sammi, and Ada. Too bad Ada's client had to cancel, it was his loss. As always, the kids really look forward to dim sum. I'm just glad they remember some of their heritage, even if it's relating to the food. Afterwards, we decided to go for a walk around the nearby shops. Shopping in LA Chinatown is a lot more enjoyable to me without the crowds. Sammi was really bummed that Phoenix Bakery stopped carrying her favorite custard tart (www.phoenixbakeryinc.com/history). However, Stevie is so excited about his new Tony Jaa movie (Thai boxing martial arts). It's too bad there's no English subtitles to help explain the story. But, there sure are plenty of kicking action scenes to keep things moving along! Well, maybe next time we'll find other goodies that we just can't live without. ;-) hee hee hee

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Wednesday - July 15, 2009 - The Lais and the SooHoo families attended SBCC's Discovery 101 meeting. It was a great way for us to find out more about the church's history, mission, vision, future goals, and near future plans. We really enjoyed getting to know Pastor Gary more, he is such an incredible man and leader, with a very colorful background. It was great to meet people from the other services too. The meeting lasted about three hours, but it was well worth every minute. Thank you, Pastor Gary for investing your time in us. We really appreciate it!

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Thursday - July 16, 2009 - After our relaxing luncheon at Scotty's, we had decided to take a walk on the Hermosa Beach pier. It was such a beautiful warm day, with a soft breeze blowing. Many people were fishing off the pier, and many more were sun bathing on the beach. We just enjoyed our conversation as we soaked up the sun and atmosphere.


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Thursday - July 16, 2009 - Over this past year, my beautiful 10 years old niece, Lauren, had grown out her beautiful soft curls. She wanted to grow it long enough to donate her ponytail to Locks of Love, just as I did last July, before my first chemo. Bless her BIG little heart for wanting to share her love with a stranger. Doesn't she look so beautiful?!?!? I'm very bias, what can I say? hee hee hee I'm so proud of her!!!

A shout goes out to Sweetness At First Cut Hair Salon, located in the Rancho Palos Verdes Peninsula Mall, for their proactive participation in helping Locks of Love. My sister said they had forms printed out, ready to give to clients. Way to go First Cuts!!! I hope you'll generate much needed support to this wonderful organization, and may your business bloom as well! Here's their website:
http://palosverdesdailyphoto.blogspot.com/2009/06/sweetness-at-first-cut.html
For more information about Locks of Love, please visit their website at: http://locksoflove.org/mission.html. Thank you and God bless you!!!

Happy Independance Day, AMERICA!

Sorry, I haven't been keeping up with this blog. So here's my attempt to play catch up.

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OMG!!! A blast from the past. Look what our friend Glenn posted on his facebook pics:

Kristen and Sammi in their first ski school back in Spring of 1997!!! Where did the time go? And why did they have to grow up so fast!?!??! What a blessings these girls are to our family and me!!! Aren't they just the cutest?!?!?! Well, then again, I'm bias! ;-) Thanks Glenn for sharing this treasured memory with us.

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Thursday - July 2, 2009 - Hank and I took a special bus here in Torrance that went to the Hollywood Bowl to see a concert. We saw John Fogerty of the Creedance Clearwater Revival Band. He can still pipe out those old songs like the good ol' days. Pretty amazing.
Ever wonder what's going on in the "Inner Circle" of the Hollywood Bowl? Our seats were actually close enough this time to see the full service meals being served. What a nice way to begin a concert... happy and full! ;-) hee hee hee
We started our evening with the music from the LA Philharmonic Orchestra playing some familiar tunes.
Here's the conductor, John Morris Russell.
It was a full house! Well, I meant a full Bowl!
We relaxed to the orchestra until intermission.
John Fogerty of the Creedance Clearwater Revival Band rocked the bowl for the second half of the show.
I actually knew quite a few of his songs, even with my chemo brain.
He sounds really good!!!
Good ol' fashion rock and roll.
He changed his guitar with almost every song!!! Amazing!
There's a large string section in this band.
It was really exciting to hear the LA Philharmonic play along with John Fogerty! John said it was his first time playing with them.
And then the fireworks began...
It was truly spectacular!
I love our flag in lights!
Grand finale was truly grand! Sorry my pics just don't do it justice. You'll just have to experience it yourself someday!

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Friday - July 3, 2009 - Happy birthday Hank!!! Today is your special day, and we want to celebrate! So, Disneyland and California Adventure, here we come!!! Thank you, Auntie May for getting us in, and for wanting to stay with us. Thank you to the Lai's for joining us, it would not have been the same without you guys! And thank you, Disneyland for giving Hank his special free birthday admission. We had a wonderful time riding the rides, watching the shows, but we REALLY enjoyed the special 4th of July fireworks extravaganza!!! And it was spectacular!!!

I love you, Goofy!!!
On the California Adventure side, the Aladdin Show was really relaxing and nice. Btw, they have good A/C in this theater!!!
It's about the "All American Apple Pie!!!"
Hey, save me a bite!!!
It's a small world after all...
It's a small world after all...
It's a small world after all...
It's a small, small world!!!
Sorry for singing, but this is my favorite ride. And now, it's new and improved!!!!! ;-)

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Saturday - Fourth of July - Today, we were invited to Darrell and June's house for their family celebration. After our delicious Chinese BBQ dinner, most of the gang walked up the street to Cerritos Park for their game booths and the fireworks show. Fortunately, for those of us who stayed back, we were able to watch the whole fireworks display from their upstairs windows. We had a great time just hanging around with the gang again.

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Sunday - July 5, 2009 - Another Lemon Butter Club meeting was called. This time at the Universal Hilton buffet. In attendance were Steve, Ruth, John, Verne, Derrick, Kathy, Donna, Austin, Hank, and myself. Of course, we had a ton of large king crab legs, but there were also very large lobster thermadore tails, for our special "lemon butter". Of course they had a huge variety of other foods too. I think our group left a few things for the other hotel guests.










This group surely knows how to eat!!!

Nice try, Ruth, but these guys are still waiting for their boats from Tokyo Lobby!!!
"Before"
"During"
"After!!!"
Austin, you are just soooooo sweet!!! And this time, literally!!! We are just so thankful that God answered our prayers for you!!! I really enjoyed watching you devour your food this evening. You've got to gain some of that weight back, and I'm happy to see you trying!!! Keep it up, you can do it!!! You have God by your side and us rooting you on too. Let us know if you need us, we'll gladly help!

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Monday - July 6, 2009 - Last year, Hank won a special prize from K-Earth 101 fm radio station. (http://www.kearth101.com/) He won an hour massage at Zen Spa in Calabassas, CA, at the value of $109.00 each. Since we went on a Monday, they had a special for us. We were able to enjoy the sauna, snacks, drinks, all the other amenities, plus a full hour and a half Swedish massage! I really enjoyed the massage, at least the first hour. The bonus half hour was a bit blurry to me, because I was too busy snoozing! Zzzzzzzz!!!! Hank managed to stay awake for his entire treatment. Thanks K-Earth! It was the perfect way to end Hank's extended birthday weekend celebration! Here's the link to Zen Spa: http://www.zenspa.biz/

Noah and Rachel came to visit us this afternoon too. Awww, they look so happy together!!! sniff sniff

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Tuesday - July 7, 2009 - I was able to enjoy a delicious homemade lunch with my friends Olivia, Sandy, and her hubby Ralph. I haven't seen Sandy since I moved out of the Torrance office of Pacific Bell, about ten years ago. It was really great to catch up with both of them.


Sandy and Ralph~ I'll be praying for you both on your medical issues. I thank God that you are both saved, and you also put your trust in Him. He is the ultimate healer, and he has truly blessed your marriage. I'm glad we've reconnected. I hope we'll keep in touch. God bless!!!

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***Medical Update*** Wednesday - July 8, 2009 - Today has finally arrived! I've been anticipating this day for the last seven months! I've been scheduled for part two of my reconstruction surgery. My temporary skin expanders were OK, but a bit hard and uncomfortable. Now, I'll be able to move more freely, without getting pinched from the inside. I'm happy this phase is over with, and looking forward to phase three at the end of the year. God has a special plan for my life, and I'm looking forward to everything he has to offer me. I'm so thankful to be alive and cancer free!!! Thank you for all the love and support from my family, friends, and those special friends that are my extended family! God is sooooo good!!! Thank YOU!!!!!!