KCAT CAN ...I have a book that inspires!

As I was looking at the proof copy of my book in front of me, I suddenly felt the creeps and had goosebumps all over my body then in my mind, I shouted, “ANG GALING!”

9th MAY Birthday Project 2015 was a success!

The month of May is over but the happy memories it brought us will always remain, especially of the 9^th MAY Birthday Project 2015.

Even though I only started campaigning for the project a month before the actual event, a lot of help still came pouring and made it possible to continue with this charity event....and more!

May 16, 2015 – 9th MAY Birthday Project 2009

I'm thirTyEEN two!

I’m a great believer of the words “nothing is impossible” but before hoping for the impossible, I believe we should do the things that are possible, those little things that we can do – even though we think that these are just too small, trivial and insignificant. With that in mind, I am able to reach out and share via MAY Birthday Project, which is now on its 9th year. I am able to raise funds and pay for my endless medical expenses. I am able to meet and find a lot of persons with Neurofibromatosis (NF) who are living in the country and was able to achieve my dream of putting up a support group (NFFriends) for us. I am able to inspire more people by living my ordinary life, extraordinarily well. I am not doing something great, I’m just doing what I want, what I can and what I believe in while enjoying the beauty of life.

I believe that my 32 years of existence here on earth is very meaningful and I will definitely do more. Happy Birthday, Kcat!

Yes, there is MAY Birthday Project 2015 on May 16 (My birthday wish)

During Pope Francis’ visit in the country, he said, "You know how to give but you have not yet learned how to receive. Become a beggar. To learn how to receive with humility, to learn how to be evangelized by the poor. Do you know that you too are poor?"

I'll find out soon

"eat right, read christopher right"

then I woke up.. I tried to google the name if he really has  book & indeed, he's an author that mostly speaks about the bible

Welcome to the Philippines, Pope Francis!

“The real Francis, I'm a regular human being, but they are making me a celebrity, a star. That’s not me. I know that the preparations are in full swing for my visit. I do not want to be the focus of the pastoral visit -- Jesus should be the focus” — Pope Francis

Last year, when I learned about Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to the country, I told God that I wanted to see him, but of course everyone wants to see him too and there’s no way for me to easily see him coz a lot of people will be there and it’ll be hard. I told God that it’s okay if I won’t be able to see him in person, knowing that we’ll be on the same country, on the same land, is already enough. I’ll just follow the updates on TV and via internet.

I decided that I won’t tell anyone about my wanting to see Pope Francis. Basta wag na. I never told anyone that really wanted too, excerpt for God.

January 11, I suddenly woke up because my phone vibrated at 7:34 am. I don’t usually wake up from my vibrating cellphone but I did. I didn’t open my eyes to check the message though. I just took a peak at the time – past 7 am, I’m still sleepy. I can’t removed the tape on my eyes means I need to wake up and clean my very dry eyes & I need to wake up someone to help me pee, so I’ll just continue with my dream. Maybe it’s just one of the infotext from Globe or Sun…..but it’s not!

When I woke up at 11 am, I froze from happiness…

3 bad tumors: Please help me shoo them away!

  

MRI scan results are out and it’s 3 pages long! Meningioma. Schwannomas. Lesions. Mass. Soft tissue. Irregular. Abnormal enhancement. Definite progression. Tumors, tumors and more tumors all over my cranial MRI. Aside from the 4cm big bad brain tumor, there are also tumors on my optical wall (on each side) that needs to be treated. That’s 3 bad tumors! Hopefully the other tumors will remain small and behave forever!

It’s Hypofractionated Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (SRT) times two that costs Php 593,450.00  and we need to raise it within this month.

Here’s the copy of the estimated price quotation we got from Medical City (the only hospital in the country that has this kind of treatment) – the red marks are the discount.

Here’s the plan according to Dr. Vega (radiation oncologist):

I'm a bosconian. Proud Bosconian!

Here it is. My speech during last Sunday's DBS Grand Homecoming. My mom read this coz I can write (and I have A LOT to share), but I can't deliver it. But still, I CAN! It's 3-pages long, size 14 Calibri font, narrow margin, single space and it's focused on just one topic. Haha. Ako na ang madaldal! :P

Very short intro

I copied a couple sentences from of my previous articles & writings, should I sue myself of plagiarism? LOL.

Read on.

I am Maria Kathrina Lopez Yarza. I am known as Kcat to everyone, but most of my DBS friends call me Tack. I belong to the pioneer batch, DBS Batch 2000. It is really a great honor to be sharing my story with you, my fellow Past Pupils. Thank you so much for making me a part of this.

Our home is our first venue of learning; the second is our school. After studying nursery school at a learning center near our home, I was ready to study in a bigger school for my preparatory schooling.  My parents learned that there was a newly opened Don Bosco School in Manila for girls, and since my dad and my mom’s brothers were Bosconians, they were eager to enroll me here. I was accepted and I was lucky to become one of the first batch of students in DBS way back in 1989 and proud to be one of the first graduates in year 2000.

In those eleven years, I thought I was only here to study, study, and study. I have learned a lot, but not only lessons from textbooks, but DBS also taught me about life: what life is, how to value life and how to live it well, not by myself, but together with everyone. And all these form a big part of who I am today.

Please help me shoo this big bad tumor away!

Hello! I’m Kcat Yarza. As you all know, I was diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis (NF–tumor of the nerves) and I have so many tumors all over my body (inside and out), including the brain. I got lots of small, benign and harmless tumors in my brain except for one aggressive big bad tumor that measures 3.8 x 4.7 x 4.3 cm and causes further compression of the brainstem. Although no too severe (yet?) this causes my frequent dizziness, nerve pain and headaches. If I am able to walk by myself, I would have fall down often and lose my balance. Maybe that is why I fell from my chair countless times.

This tumor needs to be treated with 5 sessions of hypofractionated stereotactic radiation therapy that will cost Php 400,000 or it could be more. It’s not really an emergency but we need to prioritize it because it’s already big and we don’t know how aggressive it is. If it gets bigger, it could cause more harm. How soon is soon? Hopefully before Christmas. Maybe. With your help, this CAN be possible! God will provide.

Every cent counts.

Big bad brain tumor

In May or June (this year), I noticed that I frequently have headache, nerve pain (inside my head) and I often feel disoriented. Good thing, I already know how to manage it. That’s what life is with Neurofibromatosis (NF) and I’m used to it. Then a few weeks ago, I’ve been feeling disoriented and I almost had a seizure. I know the feeling every time I’m about to have seizures. I just know. Amazing, right? I just have to stop what I’m doing, be calm, drink water, drink my anti-seizure, drink water again, and deep breathing. Inhale. Exhale. It works all the time! I never had seizures ever since I started doing this. Almost seizure but it never succeeds! I always win! Haha.

After that, I told my mom that I almost had a seizure and told her about that ‘disoriented feeling’. Then we remembered that it’s been a while since my last cranial CT scan to monitor my tumors. After that, my mom told my neurosurgeon, Dr. Lopez about it and a few days after we got the letter of request and I was scheduled to have the CT scan at PGH-FMAB.