Fighting Stage 4 Leiomyosarcoma one day at a time

Hello Everyone,

Thank You for visiting, I initially started this blog to keep family and close friends updated on our journey to Houston Texas, to visit with Dr. Burzynski, a world renowned doctor, who specializes in cancer.

A year and a half ago, MB was diagnosed with stage 4 Uterine Leiomyosarcoma and given no more than a year to live.

MB is only 50, she hasn't seen any of her kids get married or have babies. She still has a thirst for life, three kids and a Husband who absolutely adores her. My sister is 23 and youngest brother only 17. We still need our Mama Bear. If you are, or were, blessed enough to have an MB like mine, who has always loved you unconditionally and supported you, you will know how we feel. Nothing can replace a mother's love. Nothing.

Because MB's cancer is very aggressive, we had no time to waste. The very same day the doctor told us to prepare for hospice, MB and I said, "Fu*k That!", Hospice is a dirty word at our house.We started applying to the Burzynski Clinic as soon as we got home from the doctors appointmet, after 3 days of collecting medical records and sending faxes we were finally accepted.We never took time to think, we just acted. No more than a week and half after we were told to go home and prepare for death, we were on a plane headed to Houston TX in search of life and a second chance. We've left California and our family during Thanksgiving.

Even though the treatment is crazy expensive and we are away from home during the holidays, this is still the best decision we ever made. Sometimes you have to bet big to win big!

We aren't the Kardashians, we are just the Vargas' and we are going through the "realest" hardest battle of our lives...This is our story....If you'd like to start reading from the very beginning click on November, on the lower right hand side of the page and the very first post is the "Adventure Begins"

Monday, November 14, 2011

The International House of Burzynski

photos in Dr. Burzynski's waiting room
Dreaming of all the places I have yet to travel to as we wait
Mama Bear waiting patiently for her consultation
 I've never walked into a room filled with people literally dying to live. People come from all over the world to see and be treated by Dr. Burzynski. In the waiting room, we met people from Australia, Georgia and California and those are just the ones we spoke with.
                One of the more memorable patients was a woman from Georgia with a rare bladder cancer. The Doctors in Georgia no longer knew what to do with her so she came to see Dr. Burzynski. When she sat down I felt like I was looking at a ghost of what was once a very beautiful woman. She couldn’t have been more than 40 and her skin was pale as a ghost, her eyes were sunken in and glazed, her hair was dark and curly and disheveled. She had very beautiful features but I felt like I was looking at an empty shell, her spirit was gone and she spoke slowly because of the chemo she was given in Georgia.
                She sat down next to my Mom and in true Zepeda fashion my Mom looked over at her and asked, “What’s your problem?” she said it in a sweet way of course. The lady proceeded to tell us about her hardships and was soon called into the Dr.’s Financial Dept. When the woman came out, my mom noticed right away that she was upset, the woman’s brother went to get their car and when he left the woman burst into tears, right away my mom ran to her and started comforting her and telling her it would be ok. I swear it took all the strength I had not to burst into tears at that very moment! It was like watching two injured puppies console each other. I could hear my Mom whispering to her to be strong and I had to look away because one of us had to keep it gangsta.
                Later my Mom told me the woman was crying because she couldn’t afford the treatment. Most insurance companies don’t cover all of the treatment costs and some like ours don’t cover any of the costs. Luckily, my Mom has always been a fantastic business woman and we can afford the treatment but when we sat in the financial office she was sweating too, without getting into specifics by the time we leave Texas we will have spent a small fortune. I told my Mom that if the treatment worked we’d get my brother a thong and a bow tie and have him dance on the weekends. My Mom yelled at me and said that under NO circumstances was I allowed to Pimp out my brother, Dang IT!
                When we finally met Dr. Burzynski it was surreal, I’d read about him in Suzanne Sommer’s book about cancer and watched his movie so I felt like I’d be cool when I saw him. When he finally walked in, I felt like I was going to have a panic attack, when I saw his son I thought I’d faint. They both had the most beautiful aqua almost turquoise blue eyes.  Burzynski met with us briefly then his son who is also a Dr. and a team of oncologists explained the treatment plan in further detail. The son was HOT and I look forward to our daily visits, he was also the first one to give me his card when the meeting was over. SCORE!
                After a super long day at the clinic we rented a car went back to our hotel where our fans were waiting, yes a group of guys on the top floor of our hotel have decided to whistle, oooh  and awe every time my mom and I arrive, you’d think they’d be over it after the first three times.
                Today was hard but filled with hope. The doctors definitely had a plan of action and offered us options. I look forward to the days that follow. I know there are people out there that think we are crazy for spending our entire life savings on this without a guarantee, I used to be one of those people but when the person you Love most on the planet is told to go home and die you will go to any lengths and spend any amount of money for another shot.  God and opportunity have given us a second chance to keep on fighting and that’s just what we are going to do! Last but not least, hot guy by the name of Jose Perez who is also taking someone to treatment is staying in our hotel, my Mom is encouraging us to be “friends” lol, more to come on him and the Hot Dr. tomorrow. ;)




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