Thank You

Thank you all for making out on that cold saturday night for my mothers event. It was an incredible feeling to have so many people devoting their time to her memory. For those of you who could not make it, we had the entire tribute recoded and edited on video. It can be watched online at the link below:

http://media.rotman.utoronto.ca/vod?AdminView=yes&mediaid=1262

Thanks Again for all of your support

Sebastian

Tribute to Lupe

A Concert in Tribute to
Lupe Rodriguez

January 31, 2009
Convocation Hall, University of Toronto


A celebration of the life of Lupe Rodriguez in music, dance and spoken word will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 31, at University of Toronto's Convocation Hall. CBC host Matt Galloway will welcome a range of performers and speakers who are coming together in tribute to this remarkable artist, educator, journalist, wife, mother, and friend - Lupe Rodriguez, who passed away in October, 2008.

Lupe Rodriguez was an important, cultural celebrity in Toronto and in Canada. Through her radiant paintings, her teaching and her travels, Lupe shared her love of art and her enthusiastic appreciation for all aspects of life. Lupe continues to impact countless people through her extraordinary body of artwork. Her passion and exuberance are reflected in her many warm relationships, with artists and curators, collectors and students, performers and journalists.

Performers at the musical tribute will include Amanda Martinez, Kevin Laliberté, John Sheard, Don Rooke, Victor Bateman, Fergus Hambleton, the Sandbar Sisters, Roger Scannura, Valeria Scannura and Jaron Freeman-Fox, among others. Lupe's sons Sebastian and Liam Cushing will speak, as will Linda Rosenbaum, Bianca Roberts and David Liss.

The musical tribute will begin at 7:30 p.m. on January 31, and the doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free but as seating is limited, we are asking people who are interested in attending to register for the event, please go to www.rotman.utoronto.ca/jan31. Convocation Hall is located at 31 King's College Circle.

Giving Back

JUNE 29TH: THE RIDE TO CONQUER CANCER
MAY 14TH: ARTSCAPE - A BLOOD DONOR CLINIC


Dear friends,
These days I am feeling somewhat like the peace lily I was given while an inpatient at PMH during that very cruel and cold month of January. The plant, having long lost its delicate white lilies has once again began to flower. Although I am long past the white lily stage of my life, I am also feeling regenerated. It is wonderful to know that spring has finally arrived and I can celebrate both my new-found energy and revitalized spirit. I may not have found a stem cell donor match but for the time being I continue to be in remission and I can enjoy the moment as I immerse myself in other projects.

THE RIDE TO CONQUER CANCER - June 20 – 22
I am thrilled to announce that we have raised $17.383.00 so far in our Ride to Conquer Cancer. This means that the four members of the team, Sebastian, Liam, Laura and Sarah qualify to participate in the Ride on June 20th thanks to your extraordinarily generous support.

Needless to say we have been inspired by your pledges and continue our fundraising. As the fundraising barometer rises, the spirit soars. For those of you who are still interested in making a donation to a member of the team, For the Love of Lupe you can you go directly to http://www.conquercancer.ca
and click ‘SPONSOR A PARTICIPANT’
Then search for the team name For the Love of Lupe
Click on the team link and select the team member you want to support.
Team members:
Sebastian Cushing
Sarah Gadon (team leader)
Laura Rodriguez
Liam Cushing

Donations can be anything you want.

For the Love of Lupe

When Liam and I found out about our mother's leukemia we felt helpless. We knew that we would play a big part in providing the emotional support she needed but when it came to her treatment, the reality was that there wasn’t much we could do. This changed when the opportunity arose to join “The Ride to Conquer Cancer.” The journey lasts two days with cyclists biking from Toronto to Niagara Falls helping to raise money for cancer research. In total the trip is 200 km.

I couldn’t help but imagine myself biking alongside someone else who has been touched by cancer. I was telling my mother that I now feel like we are part of a huge extended community of people who have been affected by this disease. Just as I want to support my mother, I also want to support others in their struggle as well as the doctors who are doing the research and the treatments. Needless to say, I have been getting very excited during the training process. Together with my brother Liam, my cousin Laura, and her friend Sarah, we have formed a team which we have appropriately named “For the Love of Lupe.”
In order for us to qualify we need to raise over $10,000 as a team ($2,500 each participant) If you would like to support us, please make your donation before June 19th, 2008 to help us reach our goal.

To make your pledge you can go directly to http://www.conquercancer.ca

ARTSCAPE HOSTS BLOOD DONOR CLINIC
As many of you may know, my mother has been a tenant of Artscape for the last twelve years and was recently invited to be on their Board. Her studio is located in Liberty Village where Artscape will be hosting, with Corus Entertainment and the Liberty Village BIA, a Blood Donor Clinic on May 14, 2008 from 12 -3 pm for our friends, colleagues, fellow artists and the general public. The clinic will be held at 33 Jefferson Avenue. To help make donating take up as a little of your time as possible, you can call 1 888 2 Donate to book an appointment for the May 14th clinic. Or if you have any other questions about the Clinic, please feel free to contact Robyn at Artscape at robyn@torontoartscape.on.ca

We are grateful for the time and effort Artscape has put into organizing this.

Sebastian

Creative Healing

Due to the demands of hospital appointments, university essays and business trips to Hong Kong we’ve been somewhat delayed in communicating with you. As this is Sebastian and Liam’s last year at U of T., the pressure is on to finish their last courses and prepare for final exams. Danny has been busy traveling with the Rotman students to Asia and I’ve been regularly receiving chemo treatment as an outpatient at PMH.

Besides the preoccupation with their studies, my two sons, in company of my niece Laura and her friend Sarah have formed a team to participate in The Ride to Conquer Cancer. They are now training so that in June, they can cycle 200 kilometers from Toronto to Niagara Falls. Their objective is to raise funds to support cancer research at Princess Margaret Hospital. I am not only proud of them but extremely moved by their interest in helping others. Once you have experienced cancer as a patient or as a family member, your perspective on life inevitably changes. You see the darkness of life but you also discover the wonderful sense of hope. I know that some of you may be interested in
making a donation towards their goal. In the next entry of our blog we will provide you with all the necessary information to make your pledges.



Now, how am I feeling? Allowing the magnitude of this illness I am actually feeling quite good and energetic. Following my remission I’m in the consolidation phase of my treatment. I’ll be starting the final stage of chemo tomorrow. I had thought it was all over until a nurse asked me if this was my first or second consolidation chemo treatment. My immediate response was “What do you mean second treatment?” Apparently it is a common practice. So, for the next month I’ll be repeating a very similar procedure as in the past. Hopefully I will not develop that nasty sore throat although it keeps me out of trouble. As I’m not able to tolerate anything too sweet, spicy or acidy, I don’t eat rich foods, drink wine or eat desserts. It is the ideal diet but hardly any fun. Consequently I have been storing up this past week, eating and drinking anything that I fancy.

I have been informed by my doctor that once the consolidation period is over the objective is to have a stem cell transplant. However, it is crucial that I remain in remission and that we find a donor match. Unfortunately we have not found anybody YET so I am hoping and praying that in the next six weeks we do find some stranger in some part of the world who happens to have an identical match. You would think that with 10 000 000 donors the chances are good. However, like everything else in this healing process, nothing is guaranteed. Having leukemia is like jumping hurdles. As you look ahead you don’t know if you will be able to make that jump. However, with the support of a superb doctor, an outstanding team of nurses in the transfusion clinic, a loving family and wonderful friends I remain optimistic.



Since I was diagnosed over three months ago I have received a wonderful collection of letters, cards and emails, I’ve kept them all and occasionally reread them as it helps me in the healing process. Some of you have visited me bearing beautiful gifts and others have sent your warm wishes via the telephone. Delicious meals, dulce de leche cheesecake and a bottle of whisky have been left at our front door, while flowers have been delivered continuously. I have been spoiled as in any day I might have an exquisite white orchid, a bouquet of tulips dancing in all directions, and vases filled with bright yellow daffodils or white lilies Then there are those exquisite arrangements in “Lupe colours” a combination of reds, oranges and fuchsia. I recently received a collection of beautiful paintings created by colleagues and friends, an inspirational project inspired by my friend Hilary Inwood. My wish would be to have a show and tell so could share my gifts with you. As that is not a realistic proposition I have included some examples of the painting in this blog entry. I hope you enjoy them.



Thank you to all the artists.

Lupe

Good News

After mom was discharged, we arranged to attend a lecture given by her doctor and his wife who both work at PMH. Dr. Mark Minden spoke about the science of mom’s condition covering everything from cytogenics to chromosome abnormalities. Despite the complexity of his work, he was able to draw up some interesting metaphors to help us ordinary brains understand. When one former patient asked what blasts were, a common term for Leukemia cells, Dr. Minden took a moment to consider an explanation. "Blasts are kind of like guys in leather jackets," he said with a smile, "If you see one or two walking down the street its no big deal, but if you see a couple of hundred, then you know something’s up."

Following Dr. Minden’s lecture, his wife Dr. Mary Elliot, a PMH psychiatrist, took the podium to speak about the emotional impact of Leukemia on Families. As she spoke about the importance of moral support and living in the moment, she told a profound story that stayed with me. On a warm summer day she went for a walk with her son and after some time in the park they began walking home. During the walk he took some dandelions he had just collected and placed them in a Starbucks cup, which he then gave to his mother. An epiphany then came to her when she realized that these are the moments that we need to appreciate. Happiness is ultimately an accumulation of small experiences like these that we share with the people we care about. I suppose why I found this story so profound was that I knew that my family and I have really known this all along. It has always been the simplest moments that we have shared that have been the best.

It was a tense period of waiting to hear about the success of mom's treatment but the news is in. Mom is officially in remission. While we are happy with this new development we recognize that this battle is not over. Mom now resumes what is called consolidation chemotherapy where doctors attempt to kill any remaining leukemia cells. Then comes a stem cell transplant where mom receives donor cells, which will help start a new supply of red cells, white cells and platelets. Unfortunately my mother’s two brothers Victor and Javier were not stem cell matches, which means that we now look to an international registry for a donor. The good news is that we have discovered that the famous Spanish tenor Jose Carreras has been instrumental in developing the bone marrow registry in Spain. We have been told that the chances of finding a match increase when searching among people of the same ethnic background. After surviving Leukemia following a stem cell transplant in the late 1980’s Carreras has since devoted his life to helping people battling the disease. Leave it to mom to find a connection to Spain and a Spanish celebrity even when she is battling Leukemia.

We remain grateful for all of the support friends and family have given us. I have adopted a mantra I heard from an AML survivor that I regularly say to my mom. "The strength behind you is greater than the challenge ahead of you."

On a practical note, mom is trying to slowly connect with all of you by phone or email. Don’t hesitate to continue sending her emails. Thank you again for all of your support.

Sebastian

The Many Faces of Lupe post PMH

So here is the tranformation of Lupe after her chemo treatment at PMH. First is Dr. Rodriguez, Professor of Feminist Studies, second is Lupe Blavatski, the Fortune Teller, and finally we meet Perky Lupe. While my mom has enjoyed the blog, she felt that it was in need of some visuals. I couldn't agree more. Thus, she commissioned my brother Liam to be her designated photographer. Little did Liam know that this would be the most demanding, most arduous job of his life. Move over Cindy Sherman, Lupe has discovered the magical world of wigs, scarves, and staged photography.