30 June 2008
29 June 2008
thats my boy.
for a link to the article click here
Hayward's Estrella battles cancer
Tennyson High School graduate looks past illness, aspires to play college ball
By Gideon Rubin, The Daily Review
Article Created: 06/29/2008 07:18:39 PM PDT
HAYWARD — Jordan Estrella was all smiles and several steps into his trot as he watched an apparent home run sail into the night recently in Marina Park in San Leandro, a majestic blast he estimates cleared the 320-foot fence by at least 30 feet. "I knew it was gone the moment I hit it," Estrella said with a smile. But the Tennyson High of Hayward senior's thrill quickly turned to disbelief when an umpire called back the homer, ruling it foul.
On another day, his reaction would have passed as the normal reaction of any competitive athlete. But that day was May 13, just one day after doctors found two malignant 2-centimeter tumors on his lower back, thought to be a recurrence of testicular cancer he'd had surgically removed two years ago. Estrella, 17, played out the rest of the season and graduated with his class earlier this month. He recently completed a second round of chemotherapy that doctors told him should eradicate the remaining cancer cells. If that doesn't work, they'll remove the tumors surgically.
"When it came back the second time, it was out of the blue," Estrella said, sitting upright in a hospital bed on the 10th floor of Oakland's Kaiser Hospital overlooking the East Bay hills. "My (first) doctor made it seem like everything was going to be fine, I never thought it would come back, so when it came back it hit me pretty hard," he said. "Like the first time, I just have to stay strong, be positive and hope this just goes away, finally."
This time around, Estrella has added incentive to be positive. Sometime in the next two weeks, his girlfriend, Nicole Perry, is expected to give birth to their son. They've already named the baby Jordan Alfredo Estrella, with the middle name honoring his uncle who died in December.
"Cancer, a baby, graduation, ... it's a lot at once," said his mother, Regina Petrovich. "We don't know what's going to happen next, so we just have to live day to day now."
Estrella remains determined to pursue a collegiate baseball career and has aspirations of playing professionally someday. He plans to try out for the Ohlone College of Fremont baseball team later this year, although he says he'd likely red-shirt his freshman year.
Estrella projects to be a slugging corner infielder in college. He played every position except catcher at Tennyson, including pitching the last game of the season for Tennyson's only Hayward Area Athletic League win.
Estrella pitched four-plus innings, striking out six batters and allowing two unearned runs on three hits and two walks, making him the feel-good story for a team that suffered through an agonizing 2-19 season.
The win was especially sweet for Estrella, who hadn't pitched since injuring an arm playing summer ball after his freshman year. Estrella was considered among the league's most promising pitchers as a freshman, when he had a 2.10 ERA.
"To get my only win in high school, with cancer, that meant a lot to me," he said.
Teammates and coaches described Estrella's performance as inspirational.
"He's shown a lot of strength to hang in there the way he did," former Tennyson teammate Andres Ramos said. "With everything going on, he could easily have lost his mind."
Estrella admits it's especially hard being confined to a hospital bed on days when he should be enjoying summer, refining his baseball skills and preparing for the birth of his baby. He says the strong medicine brings debilitating side effects. He's taking a treatment cocktail of drugs that leave him physically exhausted and with no appetite. His treatment includes a powerful platinum-based cancer drug that "makes everything taste like metal."
Estrella cites a loving family, friends and teammates with helping him get this far. His parents — Regina, who works in retail, and George Estrella, a butcher — instilled in him a stubborn work ethic that he says has served him well battling the illness.
Estrella has two siblings: a 15-year-old brother, Javier, and a 9-year-old sister, Julissa. He said he tries to be strong for those who care about him.
"He knows that we're all there for him, and he knows nothing bad is going to happen to him," Julissa said, as tears streamed across her face. "I always think about him when he's here."
Perry said she's been amazed by Estrella's composure throughout his illness. "He's so strong," she said. "I've never known anybody that's as strong as he is. Just the way that he can act like he has a cold or something. The way he acts about it, it's like he isn't sick."
Just more than a week after completing his second round of treatment, Estrella was well enough on Sunday to play a pickup game in Hayward's Mt. Eden Park with friends and family. Wearing a white bandanna over his head to cover his hair loss, he seemed jovial and relaxed as he drove the ball to deep center field his first two times up.
"It feels good, relieving a little stress and being able to play out here and not thinking about what I have," he said Sunday. "It helps me get away from all that stuff. It feels good to be out here."
But as Estrella prepares for a healthy future, there are some things in his past he won't let go that easily, and the homer taken away in the second-to-the-last game of the season against San Leandro tops the list. Nearly all his friends of relatives have since tired of hearing about it, and Perry rolls her eyes every time it comes up. But Estrella points out that with a runner aboard at the time, his blast in the top of the seventh would have tied a game his team lost 2-0.
"That's what my coaches were saying: 'You've got bigger things to worry about.' But I didn't even care about the cancer," Estrella said. "I'm still so mad. I'll probably talk about it with my grandchildren. I'll probably talk about it forever."
Hayward's Estrella battles cancer
Tennyson High School graduate looks past illness, aspires to play college ball
By Gideon Rubin, The Daily Review
Article Created: 06/29/2008 07:18:39 PM PDT
HAYWARD — Jordan Estrella was all smiles and several steps into his trot as he watched an apparent home run sail into the night recently in Marina Park in San Leandro, a majestic blast he estimates cleared the 320-foot fence by at least 30 feet. "I knew it was gone the moment I hit it," Estrella said with a smile. But the Tennyson High of Hayward senior's thrill quickly turned to disbelief when an umpire called back the homer, ruling it foul.
On another day, his reaction would have passed as the normal reaction of any competitive athlete. But that day was May 13, just one day after doctors found two malignant 2-centimeter tumors on his lower back, thought to be a recurrence of testicular cancer he'd had surgically removed two years ago. Estrella, 17, played out the rest of the season and graduated with his class earlier this month. He recently completed a second round of chemotherapy that doctors told him should eradicate the remaining cancer cells. If that doesn't work, they'll remove the tumors surgically.
"When it came back the second time, it was out of the blue," Estrella said, sitting upright in a hospital bed on the 10th floor of Oakland's Kaiser Hospital overlooking the East Bay hills. "My (first) doctor made it seem like everything was going to be fine, I never thought it would come back, so when it came back it hit me pretty hard," he said. "Like the first time, I just have to stay strong, be positive and hope this just goes away, finally."
This time around, Estrella has added incentive to be positive. Sometime in the next two weeks, his girlfriend, Nicole Perry, is expected to give birth to their son. They've already named the baby Jordan Alfredo Estrella, with the middle name honoring his uncle who died in December.
"Cancer, a baby, graduation, ... it's a lot at once," said his mother, Regina Petrovich. "We don't know what's going to happen next, so we just have to live day to day now."
Estrella remains determined to pursue a collegiate baseball career and has aspirations of playing professionally someday. He plans to try out for the Ohlone College of Fremont baseball team later this year, although he says he'd likely red-shirt his freshman year.
Estrella projects to be a slugging corner infielder in college. He played every position except catcher at Tennyson, including pitching the last game of the season for Tennyson's only Hayward Area Athletic League win.
Estrella pitched four-plus innings, striking out six batters and allowing two unearned runs on three hits and two walks, making him the feel-good story for a team that suffered through an agonizing 2-19 season.
The win was especially sweet for Estrella, who hadn't pitched since injuring an arm playing summer ball after his freshman year. Estrella was considered among the league's most promising pitchers as a freshman, when he had a 2.10 ERA.
"To get my only win in high school, with cancer, that meant a lot to me," he said.
Teammates and coaches described Estrella's performance as inspirational.
"He's shown a lot of strength to hang in there the way he did," former Tennyson teammate Andres Ramos said. "With everything going on, he could easily have lost his mind."
Estrella admits it's especially hard being confined to a hospital bed on days when he should be enjoying summer, refining his baseball skills and preparing for the birth of his baby. He says the strong medicine brings debilitating side effects. He's taking a treatment cocktail of drugs that leave him physically exhausted and with no appetite. His treatment includes a powerful platinum-based cancer drug that "makes everything taste like metal."
Estrella cites a loving family, friends and teammates with helping him get this far. His parents — Regina, who works in retail, and George Estrella, a butcher — instilled in him a stubborn work ethic that he says has served him well battling the illness.
Estrella has two siblings: a 15-year-old brother, Javier, and a 9-year-old sister, Julissa. He said he tries to be strong for those who care about him.
"He knows that we're all there for him, and he knows nothing bad is going to happen to him," Julissa said, as tears streamed across her face. "I always think about him when he's here."
Perry said she's been amazed by Estrella's composure throughout his illness. "He's so strong," she said. "I've never known anybody that's as strong as he is. Just the way that he can act like he has a cold or something. The way he acts about it, it's like he isn't sick."
Just more than a week after completing his second round of treatment, Estrella was well enough on Sunday to play a pickup game in Hayward's Mt. Eden Park with friends and family. Wearing a white bandanna over his head to cover his hair loss, he seemed jovial and relaxed as he drove the ball to deep center field his first two times up.
"It feels good, relieving a little stress and being able to play out here and not thinking about what I have," he said Sunday. "It helps me get away from all that stuff. It feels good to be out here."
But as Estrella prepares for a healthy future, there are some things in his past he won't let go that easily, and the homer taken away in the second-to-the-last game of the season against San Leandro tops the list. Nearly all his friends of relatives have since tired of hearing about it, and Perry rolls her eyes every time it comes up. But Estrella points out that with a runner aboard at the time, his blast in the top of the seventh would have tied a game his team lost 2-0.
"That's what my coaches were saying: 'You've got bigger things to worry about.' But I didn't even care about the cancer," Estrella said. "I'm still so mad. I'll probably talk about it with my grandchildren. I'll probably talk about it forever."
28 June 2008
florida & the bahamas...
quotes
let's hear it for friendship...
all you gotta do is scan the room to see the different markets im workin with.
you are not even funny right now.
you girls have it all goin on.
alfred, where we supposed to be?
you're not in miami.
nobody asked me.
was that a bet?
i dont even know what to order.
african queen.
hey. there's a crab in that pool.
sheila, i just saw a beast. nessy.
plus, the ladies like it.
i gotta show the guys at kiwanis. i could seriously get fined for this.
just me and my dusty uterus.
i have to do my job.
i just ate conch.
that lizard just pooped!
i understand, but im really only concerned with making my flight.
how do you know there's not a nice jewish boy out there for you?
if you hear me call, "daddy" turn around because im talkin to you.
i dont think they were interested in the ladies.
pics
recommended as some of the best "real" bahamian food around.
what you can't see is just above kims head on the wall/window behind here there is a lizard getting ready to sprint up the wall and, well, leave his mark.
booth in a booth.
the sign outside pisces. so cute.
im convinced this should be some sort of advertisement for international calling cards...
product of photo shoot ala sheila
coconut french toast.
one of the beach front hotels we utilized.
rough life, i know.
more commercialized beach loveliness.
this piece is called, "massive lizard on stone stairs." these are EVERYWHERE.
lighthouse lovers.
it doesn't even really matter that its fake.
"there's a crab in that pool...."
street art is rad. even in the bahamas.
this cool door is in hurricane stricken international market.
sheila pretending to break a chair. she didn't break it. the hurricane did.
the swedish gems, hienrich & chris, sheila stumbled across in the pool.
sigh.
goombay punch. a mix of pineapple and orange juice, with A LOT of added sugar.
the last of my week-long tropical beverage binge.
21 June 2008
the sun...
must go to bed and and so must iIIIIIIIIII...........
i love that little song and all the other ones in the sound of music, for that matter. (weep with jealousy if you must, but i will be taking part in the sound of music bus tour in a little over a month.)
however, now the sun is up and so am i. what is interesting is that i, unlike the sun, never went to bed. i put my pajamas on, brushed my teeth and washed my face, but then, it just didn't happen. i never went to bed. i've been packing and doing laundry for my florida/bahamamania trip, and well, i just wasn't tired. mind you, yesterday i slept for about six hours in the car on the way home from powell. so instead of getting shut eye, i've been switching out laundry loads, loading pics to my smugmug, weighing myself, admiring my newly pedicured toes and blogstalking people. then i decided to finish a book report of sorts that i assigned myself on "the five love languages for singles," by gary chapman. (stay tuned.) oh yah. and obsessively checking my email. now, who in their right mind would be writing me in the middle of the night? im not entirely sure. i guess thats is why i've been checking it so often. it didn't really hit me until the sun started coming up that i had not yet slept. to tease myself with sleep now would be silly, and a little cruel, as i have to leave for the airport in two hours. i felt somewhat criminal as i took off my pajamas (in the living room, no less, as NO ONE in my house or out is conscious enough to notice or care) and put on my clothes for the day without ever having slept in them. eerily dishonest. mostly im writing this entry because it is entirely too early to text any of my friends and all my family members are still asleep and this is the closest thing i have to conversation.
i love that little song and all the other ones in the sound of music, for that matter. (weep with jealousy if you must, but i will be taking part in the sound of music bus tour in a little over a month.)
however, now the sun is up and so am i. what is interesting is that i, unlike the sun, never went to bed. i put my pajamas on, brushed my teeth and washed my face, but then, it just didn't happen. i never went to bed. i've been packing and doing laundry for my florida/bahamamania trip, and well, i just wasn't tired. mind you, yesterday i slept for about six hours in the car on the way home from powell. so instead of getting shut eye, i've been switching out laundry loads, loading pics to my smugmug, weighing myself, admiring my newly pedicured toes and blogstalking people. then i decided to finish a book report of sorts that i assigned myself on "the five love languages for singles," by gary chapman. (stay tuned.) oh yah. and obsessively checking my email. now, who in their right mind would be writing me in the middle of the night? im not entirely sure. i guess thats is why i've been checking it so often. it didn't really hit me until the sun started coming up that i had not yet slept. to tease myself with sleep now would be silly, and a little cruel, as i have to leave for the airport in two hours. i felt somewhat criminal as i took off my pajamas (in the living room, no less, as NO ONE in my house or out is conscious enough to notice or care) and put on my clothes for the day without ever having slept in them. eerily dishonest. mostly im writing this entry because it is entirely too early to text any of my friends and all my family members are still asleep and this is the closest thing i have to conversation.
20 June 2008
grand canyon & lake powell
quotes
"whatll it be...hits from the 90s you are slightly embarassed of or across the universe?"
"stop shaking the bed. i will kill you."
"mom's a daredevil. walkin on the edge of the grand canyon. buyin milkshakes. whats next? a bikini?"
"please dont glare at me like that."
"stay away from the edge. seriously slim. you're gonna blow right off the edge."
"they prolly thought i was a mountain lion because i was so stealthy."
"ok. let me go get food for my little ravenous animals..."
"is that your breath because it smells like horses."
"this place is busting with old people."
"are you tryna snuggle me? just yo wump. if i wub it im gonna make a wish...."
"look at that old man. he was a tall drink of water before he got all shriveled."
"ive never had a pedicure. im a pedivirgin."
"all the bacteria can slide down it like a fire pole." (speaking of certain kinds of skimpy underwear.)
pics
dad is always impressed with how light we pack.
the first of many photo op stops.
favorite #1
favorite #2
favorite #3
nicole & i enjoying the shade while in search of a beach.
dad on cloud nine, the rest of us along for the ride.
quick break in at the colorado river during our drive from the north rim to lake powell.
i thought these rocks were extremely cool.
MEXICAN HAT, UT!!!!!!!!!
the view from hellishly windy, steep, gravel road known as moki dugway
another view from the drive. (note, i believe mom took both of these as my sweaty hands were covering my eyes and trying to stifle the fear fueled, whispered curse words that kept escaping my lips.)
the most patient man i know taking a breather.
michelley and i at the dunes.
nicole and i flying. and measuring whose backside really was more bodacious.
"this tha biggest dog i EVA walked..."
love it.
oh dont worry. i definitely knocked the entire lower rack off. it was awesome.
the parental units. i really LOVE this picture of them.
the perfect end to the perfect family adventure....having the the lake gunk scrubbed off our legs & feet whilst sitting in a spa chair and checking our various portals of internet communication. (note: we independently picked our polish color. great minds DO think alike.)
unfortunately, one thing that was missing from this fabulous week of family togetherness was 1/7th of our family....tam had to be in class so she couldn't make it. boo, but next time for sure.
"whatll it be...hits from the 90s you are slightly embarassed of or across the universe?"
"stop shaking the bed. i will kill you."
"mom's a daredevil. walkin on the edge of the grand canyon. buyin milkshakes. whats next? a bikini?"
"please dont glare at me like that."
"stay away from the edge. seriously slim. you're gonna blow right off the edge."
"they prolly thought i was a mountain lion because i was so stealthy."
"ok. let me go get food for my little ravenous animals..."
"is that your breath because it smells like horses."
"this place is busting with old people."
"are you tryna snuggle me? just yo wump. if i wub it im gonna make a wish...."
"look at that old man. he was a tall drink of water before he got all shriveled."
"ive never had a pedicure. im a pedivirgin."
"all the bacteria can slide down it like a fire pole." (speaking of certain kinds of skimpy underwear.)
pics
dad is always impressed with how light we pack.
the first of many photo op stops.
favorite #1
favorite #2
favorite #3
nicole & i enjoying the shade while in search of a beach.
dad on cloud nine, the rest of us along for the ride.
quick break in at the colorado river during our drive from the north rim to lake powell.
i thought these rocks were extremely cool.
MEXICAN HAT, UT!!!!!!!!!
the view from hellishly windy, steep, gravel road known as moki dugway
another view from the drive. (note, i believe mom took both of these as my sweaty hands were covering my eyes and trying to stifle the fear fueled, whispered curse words that kept escaping my lips.)
the most patient man i know taking a breather.
michelley and i at the dunes.
nicole and i flying. and measuring whose backside really was more bodacious.
"this tha biggest dog i EVA walked..."
love it.
oh dont worry. i definitely knocked the entire lower rack off. it was awesome.
the parental units. i really LOVE this picture of them.
the perfect end to the perfect family adventure....having the the lake gunk scrubbed off our legs & feet whilst sitting in a spa chair and checking our various portals of internet communication. (note: we independently picked our polish color. great minds DO think alike.)
unfortunately, one thing that was missing from this fabulous week of family togetherness was 1/7th of our family....tam had to be in class so she couldn't make it. boo, but next time for sure.
ahhhhh...
im not sure what is greater....the fact that my blogging hiatus status will be lifted for an evening or that i am currently blogging while getting a pedicure in a massage chair....
15 June 2008
blogging hiatus...
so i will be on a bit of a blogging hiatus for the next little bit, unless i am pleasantly surprised with free or ridiculously inexpesive internet access at my various places of temporary residence in the coming weeks. in a few minutes i leave for the week long grand canyon/lake powell family adventure. then im off to florida & the bahamas with the girls for another week. then i'm headed to lovely santa barbara for the two weeks of excellence known as EFY counseling. ah, yes. let the good times roll!
i have about 10 pending blog entries. hopefully ill get them posted/updated soon. otherwise, see you in a month. =)
i have about 10 pending blog entries. hopefully ill get them posted/updated soon. otherwise, see you in a month. =)
14 June 2008
13 June 2008
sweetness
today was one of those days where everything seemed to go my way. even when there were a few hang ups, it just didn't seem to matter. it was an 18 hour day with my kids. lots of laughing. and hugs. and congratulations. and pictures. and smiles. and goodness all the way around. i'm going to write about it, but right now i can barely keep my eyes open and so instead im going to bask in the sweetness of this day as i fall asleep.
12 June 2008
hmmmm....
its now 1:38 am. on a school night. instead of sleeping i am cleaning my room, playing with pictures and blogging. tomorrow happens to be the last day of school. avoidance much? noooooo.....never.
11 June 2008
quote of the day
ms booth, if you love us so much you should prolly write your phone number up on the board too. so we can, you know, get together this summer....
hurty heart.
my heart hurts a little right now...i just had a father come by my classroom to purchase a yearbook. he said he just got into town, that he flew in from alaska for his son's graduation. i asked who his son was and he told me, and i had him as a student last year. then he said, "please tell me about him." i told him about his son, and the good student he was in my class. respectful, kind, hard working, polite. he then said, "anything else? please. anything you can tell me about him is more than i have right now." i learned that an ugly divorce situation has kept this father & son as "blood related strangers," as he put it. that his mother forbade him to have contact with him, with the threat of kicking him out of their home. he told me how he was very handy, but that he didn't think his son knew how to even use a hammer. how he was very good with math...that he wanted to teach his son easier ways of doing his math, and that now he was graduating, and it was too late. i mentioned that it would never be too late, and that i'm sure if he knew how much his father cared for him, they could build some sort of relationship. the father said he sends money, cards, & letters and calls, but to no avail. that the mother doesn't honor the visitation rights he won in court. and that when he has taken it to the authorities he is just told "it happens all the time." bleh. not OK.
10 June 2008
quotes of the day
valerie's getting married. she's a fetus. --nicole
and
i'm moving out in two months and i don't know how to do laundry. i can't even load the dishwasher right. --nicole
and
i'm moving out in two months and i don't know how to do laundry. i can't even load the dishwasher right. --nicole
quote of the day
ms booth. i gonna miss you. we should exchange numbers so we can get together, go to dinner...
09 June 2008
temple
tonight as i was sitting and waiting for our temple session to start i realized that there were TONS of familiar faces all around me. it was fremont stake's temple night, in preparation (and celebration) of the upcoming stake conference. it was so wonderful to be around my old ward family in that setting, after being away from them for so long. i tried to take a few moments by myself, but it seemed that there were so many people to greet, catch up with and talk to and hug and smile at. it felt a little out of place to do so in the celestial room, but a little bit right at home at the same time. i imagine that is what the celestial kingdom will be like....joyous reunions abounding. it was such a lovely night.
quotes of the day
not only did one of my girls let me know she was pregnant, but today i also heard this....
and
who sprinkled drama on your cheerios? --a teacher at my school
and
what is life like after high school? --one of my darling senior boys
and
me: make sure i get your signatures in my yearbook so that when you're famous i can say i had you as a student.
student: at least somebody believes in us.
ms booth....i started losing my hair...
and
he bout to go b for bananas an all you
and
how you not gonna give a black person fried chicken? that like thinkin hilary goin beat obama
hahahah
ms booth, im glad you see the humor in this, but i serious.
and
who sprinkled drama on your cheerios? --a teacher at my school
and
what is life like after high school? --one of my darling senior boys
and
me: make sure i get your signatures in my yearbook so that when you're famous i can say i had you as a student.
student: at least somebody believes in us.
ms booth....i started losing my hair...
and
he bout to go b for bananas an all you
and
how you not gonna give a black person fried chicken? that like thinkin hilary goin beat obama
hahahah
ms booth, im glad you see the humor in this, but i serious.
08 June 2008
quotes of the day
(from a game of imagine if...)
imagine if HOLLY were awakened in the middle of the night by a burglar trying to break into her home. she would:
A. scream
B. wake her partner and demand action
C. reason with the intruder
D. try and sneak away to call the police
E. tackle the intruder
option B. hilarious.
and
shweggie: you were in iraq?
cass: yah
shweggie: for how long?
cass: for like 7 months
shweggie: what did you do there?
cass: you know. just hung out in the hottest place on earth. and used porta potties that smell like absolute a**.
imagine if HOLLY were awakened in the middle of the night by a burglar trying to break into her home. she would:
A. scream
B. wake her partner and demand action
C. reason with the intruder
D. try and sneak away to call the police
E. tackle the intruder
option B. hilarious.
and
shweggie: you were in iraq?
cass: yah
shweggie: for how long?
cass: for like 7 months
shweggie: what did you do there?
cass: you know. just hung out in the hottest place on earth. and used porta potties that smell like absolute a**.
joanna & bryan's engagements
(yes these are my own beloved pink crocs. this is also a good illustrative reminder NOT to wear socks & jeans to the beach.)
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