Day 20

We are in day 20 of the Delayed Intensification I. June 9Th is day 29; this is a count day, ANC has to be 750 and Platelets 75k. We will have our blood drawn tomorrow, clinic on Tuesday, Wednesday off, Thursday blood draw, and Friday clinic day. Please pray that her counts start to go up and she will be able to continue on with out delay.

The second part of this phase is an outwardly tough phase. The first half of the phase is harder on the organs, heart, kidney, and liver. The second phase she will have an overnight admit with two chemos, cyclophasphamide and IT methotrexate. Liz will also receive the ARA(stinking)c chemo and a new immune-suppressant drug called 6TG. This drug is to suppress her immune system and the ARAc has flu like systems which was the cause of her being hospitalized last Christmas. Please pray for minimal side effects.

Liz had a wonderful weekend. She went to the KI water park on Fri., a pool party on Sat. and sort of went down hill on Sunday. Her sleeping has been way off due to the steroids but she will be going off of them Monday evening.

Please come out to Bdubs on Monday, June 1st to support Liz and Joel. They are two wonderful kids that have had a horrible thing happen to them last year. Despite this, Joel and Liz have stayed strong and faithful to themselves, their family, friends, and God. Please remember to print off a copy of the coupon so Bdub's will donate 10% of your bill back to these two kids and their medical bill.

Please continue to pray for:
All A5 South children and families.
Minimal side effects of Lizzy's treatment
No delays
Liz keeps a positive outlook on life.

May God continue to bless all of you as he has richly blessed our family. God is faithful and will see us through these hard times.

Continuing to pray,
Christine

Delayed Intensification update

We are 13 days into her Delayed Intensification Phase and she is doing pretty good. Tuesday is her chemo day, Orange Tuesday, and she feels lousy all day Tuesday and Wednesday. She stays on Oxycodine for the pain and zofran for the nausea for about four days. Lizzy's biggest outward side effect from the Vincristine is severe abdominal pain and bone pain. Please pray for this side effect to lesson the next round because typically the side effect of this drug worsens over use.

We have blood draws on Monday and Thursday, Chemo on Tuesday, and clinic on Friday. Her counts are starting to drop and it is just a matter of time in this phase where she will need blood and platelet transfusions. Unfortunately this is just a part of this intense phase. Liz will push through this phase until June 9Th at which time her counts will need to be 750 for her ANC and 75k for platelets; if they are not at that point a delay will occur. We all know that that will happen. Liz always has delays :-)

We have been so blessed by God. There are many new experiences we have faced in the past seven months and only through God's grace have we faced these challenges and experiences and with God we will continue on in this journey and we will do it with the same courage and determination that Elizabeth does it with.

Please continue to pray:
For all the men and women who have fought for our freedom
For the families on A5 South
For the kid's with AML whose stays in the hospital are 5 to 6 weeks long
Elizabeth team of Doctors
Minimal side effects
For a cure

Have and wonder and blessed holiday.

Continuing to pray ~~~ Christine

Volleyball Clinic Fundraiser Link

Cut and paste the link below!http://www.sportsexpressvb.com/volleyball/camps/2009%20Camps/LizClinic.htm

Save the date ..... JUNE 1 at Bdub's

Double Click to enlarge.
Hey everyone we will be having a FUNdraiser for Elizabeth and Joel on June 1st. Their teacher, Melissa Grablovic, and Lizzy's home school teacher, who has put in countless hours with her, is now graciously putting this event together. Thanks Melis! This will also be a great way to celebrate the end of end the school year and the beginning of summer. It will be an awesome way to see everyone who has been praying, sending cards, calling, and reading Lizzy's blog. Attached is the flyer. Bdub's said everyone must have theirs and we are not allowed to hand them out. I will have extra with me so if you forget yours just find me and I will give you one. We are checking with Bdub's to see if tee-shirts can be sold and split the pot can be done. We will also have some more Joel and Liz bracelets on hand to sell for $3 if anyone would like one and did not get one before. Can you tell I am excited about this event!!!!!!!!! Abuelo's was so much fun to see all of our friends in one place and we can't wait to do it again.

Liz is doing well as far as her numbers go, unfortunately she feels pretty crummy most of the time. She has been on pain killers which helps with her body pain. She does not sleep well due to the steroid she is on so this makes her a bit emotional.....grumpy and tired. We are heading down to the hospital today. Orange Tuesday, for another round of chemo, Vincristine and Daunorubicin; they are pretty tough chemo's and she feels pretty puny with them. Liz will probably sleep a lot today.

God has given me such beautiful children to love and care for. Through this I see even more of Elizabeth's strengths and solid faith in Jesus. I am in awe of her and wonder how I would handle something like this if it were happening to me. I hope I have learned how to deal with adversity like Elizabeth has; with quiet strength and determination.

Please pray for:
The children and families on A5 of Children's
The staff who care for Liz and the kid's
Minimal side effects of the chemo's

Always praying for you,

Christine

Volleyball Clinic Fundraiser

Youth Volleyball Clinic on Sunday, May 31st at Sports Express from 2:00-5:00pm for all 3rd thru 6th graders.

Liz Lothrop is an 8th grader from Mason, Ohio. Liz played on Ginger Hineline’s 13’s Junior Olympic Sports Express team for the 2008 season. Sadly this past October Liz was diagnosed with Leukemia. To help Liz and her family Sports Express has graciously offered their courts for a fundraiser.

The cost of the clinic is $20.00. It is open for current 3rd thru 6th graders. All the proceeds from the clinic will go to help Liz’s family with medical bills. Please go to HYPERLINK "http://www.sportsexpressvb.com" www.sportsexpressvb.com for more information and to register for the clinic. Ginger Hineline will run the clinic with the help of Liz’s teammates and other coaches. It is a great opportunity to become a better volleyball player for a great cause!

Lanes for Liz!

Where: Crossgate Lanes
When: Thursday May 14th @ 6:30
$10 for a ticket, $10 for a t-shirt, $15 for both!
Six to a lane, so find a group and bowl two glow bowl games!
Tickets include: Two glow bowl games, free shoe rental, and a drink ticket
There will be split the pot, bowling for dollars, food, silent auctions, and fun!
Tickets will be on sale May 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th from 11:00-12:30 @ Sycamore High School. Limited spots.
First come first serve basis.
For tickets call Brad Walker at 513-623-3928.

Delayed Intensification I, here we come!

We have gotten the CBC results back and we are a go for tomorrow. Elizabeth's platelets are 104K and her ANC squeaked by at 770. We will be on a path of hard core chemo that will wipe out her immune system just as it did during her Induction Phase of 33 days after her diagnosis in Oct.

We have an LP scheduled for 6:30 am tomorrow. They will inject chemo, Methotrexate, into her spine. This will entail her going nighty night by drugs. She loves going to sleep that way; sort of scares me how much she likes it....haha. That whole ordeal takes about one hour from sleep time to recovery time. After that her other chemo's will be ordered. One is Vincristine and the other is Daunorubicin, Liz has had both during her Induction Phase. The side effects from Vincristine are nausea, vomiting, jaw pain numbness, tingling, clumsiness, drooping eyelids, decreased ability to fight infection, drop foot. The side effects for Daunorubicin are: nausea, vomiting, fewer white and red cells, and fewer platelets in the blood. They both can cause the following: fever, damage to the heart muscle, damage to the kidneys, loss of appetite, sores in the mouth, throat, and or esophagus. We will not go into the really scary side effects. Randy and I will pray very hard that none of those things happen. They happen in 3-5% of the population that receive these drugs therefore we are thinking positively and praying about those so we will not worry you with that.

On day 15, which is May 26, Liz will receive the Pegaspargase shot. She will simultaneously receive three shots, two in one thigh, and one in the other thigh. Out of all the things she receives, I really hate to watch this one, it seems so barbaric. She has three nurses standing over her and one of them counts to three and they all jab her at the same time. Her brain receives mixed signals and does not know where to focus for the pain. The last needle still in is the one that hurts the worst and that poor nurse fails the shot test. The trick is to jab and push the chemo in quickly for the least amount of pain. She grades them when it is over and the nurses hate it. They hate it in a good way though. The common side effects of this drug are rash, decreased ability to fight infections, nausea, vomiting and allergic reactions to the drug itself. There is always a crash cart on had when this drug is given. If you were not scared before, just knowing that really freaks you out.

Liz will also be on a pretty strong steroid called dexamethasone. The side effects are as follows: overeating, difficulty sleeping, decreased ability to fight infection, personality changes with mood swings making it harder to deal with stress, and deterioration of the hips.

Day 29, which is June 9, her counts have to be an ANC of 750 and platelet of 75K to continue on in the phase. This is another spot in which a delay can occur. After day 29, her chemo will change. I will up date you on those drugs at that time. This will also be an overnight admit due to one of the chemo's she will receive that needs to be flushed out of her system within 24 hours.

Please be vigilant in your prayers for Elizabeth. This will be a rough phase and she will not be able to see her friends very often nor will she be able to go places. I have had to be a bit firm with her and tell her some statistics that I would rather not have told her but sometimes that is the only way she can see the severity in the situation especially when she has has had a pretty good last three months. Liz forgets that she has cancer, I guess that is a good thing for her :-)

Please continue to pray for the above side effects. These side effects are common in most chemos'. The effect not only her but most of the kid's on A5 South. The effects of chemo and cancer is ravishing on ones body. Please pray for all of these kids and their families. These families are important to our family.

May God always bless you and may you see the good in all things.

Have a peaceful and blessed night.
Christine

A treatment free week!

Double click the video. Do NOT play it yet. Once you double clicked the video, a new webpage should pop up. My video will appear, and click HD and then your ready to go!!

Butterfly Update

I told Liz she could not share her chemo pill but she did not listen ...... beware, this can happen to you too if you hang out with Liz for too long. hahahahahaha


We are excited for the Butterfly walk this Sat. For those who have pre-registered, I have picked up the tee shirts and will drop them off to you today along with your yellow wrist band. For those of you who will be walking and joining Liz & A5 South team on Sat., the registration begins at 9:00 am and you can meet us around the horseshoe at STAGE C and we will begin our walk there at 10:00 am. The Butterfly Walk supports kid's with cancer and the proceeds that are raised goes to research for Leukemia/Lymphoma. Gee, I wonder why Liz picked this one. :-[}

This will be a good time and the walk is only one mile; that makes it do-able for the children that are sick and really can't walk more than that. The day is suppose to be a nice day too! Liz will be there to walk as well, her counts are not good enough to start the DI1 Phase but they are high enough to be around people.

I love my life. All this extra time with Elizabeth is one of the most precious gifts I have ever received. God knows how to make a horrible situation a blessing.

Love, prayers, and blessings to all of you.
Christine

We will try for Tuesday

We had labs drawn at Liberty today and her counts are not good enough to start the DI1 (delayed intensification 1) tomorrow. The game plan is for labs to be drawn on Monday again and if they are 750 ANC and 75k platelets, we will have an O R slot for 6:30 am on Tuesday for her Interthecal Methotrexate, a three other chemo's. This is not an admit so we will be home that day. Liz's counts should start to drop around eight days later. This has the potential to be a pretty hard phase where her counts are perpetually low and has flu like symptoms and can spike fevers.

I am thankful for the gift of A5 South. We have been blessed to meet wonderful children, families, and medical staff through this life changing event in Elizabeth's life. God does work in mysterious ways and always for the good in a bad situation. I have never met children with such tenacity and the power to over come the odds.

Thank you for all your prayers that you are saying on behalf of Elizabeth and our family. Know that even though I do not know everyone that reads this blog, I do pray for all of you and I will continue to do so.

Please pray the her counts are up and we can start the new phase on Tues., May 12.

Blessings,
Christine

We had blood work done today and her platelets are low at 43k. We are suppose to start DI1 or Delayed Intensification I on Fri, May 8th. Her platelets are too low and need to be at 75k. Please pray for her counts to rise so we do not in cure another delay. This last phase cost her a lot of time in delays and all that does is prolong the end of this journey. Her ANC, which is her antibodies within her body that fight infection, are good for her at 1180.
Please keep Elizabeth and all the patients of A5 South in your prayers. We are doing the Butterfly Walk this weekend in Mason for Leukemia/Lymphoma. Elizabeth's team name is Liz & A5 South. She wants to walk for all the kids on the floor who can not walk for themselves. If you are around and able, come out and join us for a great day and support the research for this childhood cancer, go to the link below if you would like to see what it is all about.

www.active.com/donate/2009Butterflywalk/free

May God continue to bless you and care for you as he does the Lothrop family. We truly are blessed and we thank you for all the prayers, gifts, cards, letters, meals and just the friendly wave. We appreciate so much more than we did before.

God Bless,
Christine