Since I know you have all been on the end of your seats waiting (ha) for the 2 things I couldn't wait to share (sorry I forgot to post it here as well):

7/11/2019

Accepting my certificate from the

Honorable Judge McClenahan after being sworn in

I can finally share one of the exciting things I have been working on after months of 44 hours of training, hours of courtroom observations, writing court reports and looking at several other court cases (and obviously the pre-screening and interview, background check and driving record etc), I was officially sworn in by Judge McClenahan to be a CASA ad litem. I'm actually more proud of this accomplishment than I am of getting my masters (and let me tell you, I haven't done this much "school work", homework, and papers since grad school).
Now I don't share this big accomplishment and commitment in my life to "toot my own horn" but rather urge EVERYONE to look into volunteering. Sure, you may not have enough time to make this big of a commitment, but there are so many volunteer opportunities out there! With that being said, CASA advocates are in severe need in Central Tx. I will be taking cases in Hays, San Marcos, Comal, New Braunfels, and Lockhart and in these areas we literally only have enough CASA volunteers to advocate for 50% of our kids (Travis county has a MUCH higher percentage). That's 50% of kids in horrible life situations that have no one looking out for just them and being their voice, as well as someone they know will constantly be there when their living situations may be constantly changing or parents/family members in and out of their lives. I'd love to give you more info if you are interested!
(I was also beyond lucky and thankful for my forever work wives to come and support me, as well as be a part of this special occasion! Love them!)
CASA mission:
"CASA of Central Texas advocates for abused and neglected children in the courts, school, and child welfare system by training and supporting community volunteers."
"Advocates talk with the child, parents, family members, caseworkers, school officials, health providers, therapists, and others who are knowledgeable about the child’s history. Advocates review school, medical, caseworker reports and other documents regarding the child during the year the child is in foster care."

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When Cancer Comes a Knockin'

Timeline

On August 2, 2017, Brianna was diagnosed with Mediastinal Large B-Cell Lymphoma. Beginning Monday, August 14, 2017, Brianna will begin chemotherapy treatments. She will be commuting to Austin for 18 weeks to receive treatments. This site is set up as a donation page to help Brianna and her family cover medical costs and living expenses, as well as a one stop shop to get updates on how chemo is going and even buy a shirt or two in support!

UPDATE:
After getting her final PET scan to confirm the aggressive chemo did it's job, we got the news that it hadn't and that the tumor was still active when it shouldn't of been. Brianna is now undergoing radiation for 5 weeks, everyday in Austin.

UPDATE March 2018:
Brianna begin having the same cancer symptoms as she did this past summer during spring break, except more painful this time. She was sent to get a CT scan which showed her cancer had returned. She then met with her oncologist who planned the next steps which include to do more chemo (a differnt regimen this time) followed by a stem cell transplant.
She thought she was done....she was done.....and now she is having to start the cancer journey all over again...including losing her hair that had just start growing back.

UPDATE
END OF MARCH - JUNE 25th
(at the moment....things have yet to even begin apparently.)
If I didn't feel like I was really dying or truly out of options to live....I do now. Remember I was basically on our plan F and everything was just getting worse instead of better. I really thought I was done these last couple weeks and being in the hospital for another little week vacay. I finally updated by blog since so many people were asking, so you can read the detailed updates.

October 2018 Update:
Insurance has finally approved all of the CAR-T procedure and I will be getting my T-Cells retrieved from my body next week. (Oct 10th if all goes as planned)

MARCH 2019
The first post CAR-T pet scan showed the main mass has shrunk in size, even though still active. Hopefully, the CAR-T will continue to work its magic over the next few months before the next scan.

To donate to Brianna's GoFundMe page, please make sure the donation is made on the GoFundMe Page found here:
https://www.gofundme.com/teambonnet

CANCER CHRONICLES