Preliminary results look great

Just received the call from our one and only amazing Dr. Jen Pope, and the preliminary results look great. She said "all three lines look great". They did not see any leukemic blasts in the marrow, all they could see is very healthy mature cells. The culture tests for bacteria will be done tomorrow but they feel pretty good that it is just her marrow saying hold on. As Angela, our nurse practitioner, so eloquently put it "BACK OFF, MAD MARROW". I love it, I think I am going to have a shirt made with just that saying on it. We all got a pretty good laugh at that in the recovery room.

Please continue to pray that these preliminary results are correct. We will not have a 100% answer until tomorrow sometime. I will post again tomorrow with the conclusive result.

Our plan as of today is: blood draw at Liberty on Tues., with an admit on Wed. to finish out this devilish phase. I truly get why they call it Delayed now.

Liz is resting pretty comfortable at home, not in too much pain from the bone marrow procedure, hopefully she will stay that way. Her ANC is still below 500 but They have given her permission to go to Mason's Red, Rhythm, and Boom on Fri.

Thank you for being faithful especially when I get weak and scared. I love all of you and YOU give me inspiration.

Blessings to all,
Christine

check out how the fundraising for Light the Night is going! :-)

http://pages.lightthenight.org/soh/ButlerCo09/clothrop

Thanks to everyone who has donated to this wonderful cause. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I know in this time of recession giving is very difficult to do. These children and their families thank you so much for the gift and opportunity for life for their child. We still have a bit to go but we are getting there. If you can even spare $5 that will make such a difference in the long run. If you give up two Starbucks coffees this week or the Chipotle or McDonald's just for one day, you have $5 to give. Besides, McDonald's is bad for your health anyway so these kids are saving your life too :-) (I like the way my mind works.)

Please consider giving just $5. It will go a long way in the research for a cure AND the feeling you get from giving will last a life time.

Blessings to all of you.
Christine

Gods timing and his purpose not mine

I know that you were waiting for this update and I am sorry that it is not the news we were praying for. Lizzy's count for her ANC was only at 360. Silver lining, it went up, grey cloud, not high enough. We will be heading to Children's tomorrow for a bone marrow biopsy to see what is going on with her marrow. Is the cancer fighting back, does she have a virus or bacteria in her marrow, is the marrow just sick and tired of all the toxins we have to put into her system for her to be cured of this disease? We will have the preliminary results tomorrow night and the conclusive results sometime on Wednesday. I will post again tomorrow night after one of her docs call and then again on Wednesday when we receive the conclusive result.

Even though this is a scary time for us without conclusive answers we still have great hope that she will be cured. Our God is a mighty God, a sovereign God and he knows what is best for Liz and our family. I will continue to hold fast and strong to his words.

Please pray for the following
Alex and his family as they prepare for the end with Alex. Give them peace and understand in this extremely hard and sad time. Allow Gods peace to wash over them and bath them in his love.
For Elizabeth's team of doctors and all the doctors on A5 of Children's
The wonderful staff that takes such good care of Elizabeth
For the bone marrow biopsy to show that the cancer is still in remission

Keep praying!
Christine

Pray for 750

We will have blood work done by 8:30 am tomorrow. Elizabeth has been praying all day that her ANC will be at 750 so she can continue on in this phase and not have to have a bone marrow biopsy on Tuesday. I ask that you please join her and my family in this prayer request. I will post the answer to this prayer as soon as I get the results from her blood work. I should know in about one to two hours after the test.

God has a plan for us and what ever it is we will handle it through him because his grace is sufficient enough.

Blessings to all of you and thank you in advance for praying for this.

Christine

Clinic visit today

Thought you would like to see my good looking husband! :-)

Liz and I headed down to Children's for our clinic visit today. It was much smoother and quicker than I had anticipated. After the initial exam. they felt that most of the issues were on the mend and therefore did not need any type of cultures done. With that being said, her counts are still at 290 (ANC).

We will have labs done early Monday morning and that will dictate what our next step is. If her ANC reaches 750, she will be admitted on Tuesday to finish out this Delayed Intensification Phase I. If not, she will have a bone marrow biopsy on Tuesday to check her marrow for any bacteria, virus, or Leukemic cells. The docs are saying that her falling out of remission is possible but it is not what they are thinking. They said it is hardly on their radar but it needs to be looked at due to the excessive delay. All indications point to the chemo working and all other markers and counts are up where they should be. One of the doc's put it best by saying "her marrow is weak, it has been hit with very toxic drugs. We have been at this for eight months now and her marrow has had enough. We could potentially see delays like this again." He went on to explain that the younger kids tend to spring back within the normal time frame but the older kids with Leukemia usually take a bit longer for their counts to bounce back. All in all it was a good visit and only about three hours. Let me tell you that is record breaking speed.

Liz is nervous but as spunky and upbeat as always. God is very good to her in that way. She is always looking positively at her situation. She makes it easy to go through this.

Leah is now out of ICU, test are not complete so I am not sure of the reason/s for her fevers. They have removed her central line due to it being a point of infection and there was one there. Please continue to lift Leah, Ellen, and Tony, her mom and step dad, up in prayer.

Please pray for:
Elizabeth's ANC to reach 750 to begin on Tuesday
spirits to remain strong
faith to remain strong
and for her second families on A5 South

Thank you for being faithful to Liz and the Lothrop family.

May God bless you richly.

Christine

Counts too low

I just received the call from Children's and Liz's ANC count has drooped even lower, it has gone from 500 to 290. Due to the critical delay we are in with her counts, Liz will not be able to have any visitors. She is at a point where her body is like a sponge and will attract any bacteria sickness you have whether you know you have anything or not. I can not take any chances with her health.

Here is the game plan: We have clinic with an extensive physical exam tomorrow at 9:30am, on Monday we will go have labs drawn at Liberty early in the morning, IF her ANC is up to 750 she will be admitted to Children's on Tuesday with an LP/interthecal Methotrexate (chemo), Cytrabine (ARAc)another type of chemo. If her counts are still too low she will have a bone marrow biopsy on Tues. to see what is going on with her cells. If you have seen Liz lately then you know that the chemo is working. She has lost her hair. They tell us that is a good sign because once it takes care of the Leukemic cells it then goes for all the other fast growing cells and the ones left are typically the good cells. The chemo kills off all cells, good and bad.

I must admit I am scared by the long delay and what a bone marrow biopsy means. I know what they have told me and I also have been around just long enough to understand what they are not saying. Every time I would try to ask/voice the questions/concern that was going on in my head I would say to them "never mind I do not need to go there until it is necessary." These thoughts are not helpful to anyone especially Liz.

Please, I know I say this every time and you are probably sick of hearing me ask this but please pray for Liz. I just want God to take it away from her and for Liz to no longer suffer. I understand life goes on for everyone not living in this house. Our lives are forever changed; we live and breath it every second. That is why I am always asking for you to PRAY. I know you don't mean to forget but life has a way of moving forward and unless you live in this house and I am pretty sure I know who does, I certainly pray that your life has moved forward and you do not live and breath this nightmare. I pray that for all of you daily and I sincerely mean that.

For those that have asked for Leah's care page, google care pages and look up Leah Renee Jordan. No Elizabeth will not be able to attend camp due to the delays. Thank you for asking.

Please pray for:
Peace of mind and body for the Lothrop family
For Alex and his family, that they may find some sort of peace during this difficult time
for the cause of Leah's fevers to be know and stop
the staff that take such great care of Elizabeth
and for all the families and children on A5 South.

Blessings and prayers,
Christine

Keep praying

I was to emotional to write when we received the call that her counts were still too low to continue on so I did not update the blog. I am under control once again with the help of God and prayer. In the scheme of things it is just a delay ... right... at least the chemo is working. I prefer to look at the glass as not only half full but also very rosy in color. :-)

Liz will have labs on Thursday and we are praying that she will begin the second half of this DI1 phase this Friday. She is feeling good and has had a few good days with her cousin Blake Gerald, Aunt Patti, and Grandma Westhoven. Liz has also had a few friends come over to visit.

Please continue to pray for the following:
ANC to rise
all other counts to not drop
families and children on A5 South
especially for her friends Leah and Alex
The medical staff that works with Elizabeth

Thank you for your caring and prayers. I could not do this without you.

Christine

Surprise

SURPRISE ....... we are not going in tomorrow as planned. She is delayed again. Elizabeth's counts were on the rise and we were sure she would make tomorrow but her ANC has dropped down below 500. All of her other counts are behaving and going in the correct direction. Please pray that they stay that way and add the ANC's to it. This will be her third delay in this phase trying to finish it out. She will have limited visiting privileges because she runs a great risk of infection.

On the bright side, she will get to start school and be in more than we thought during her first two trimesters. The bummer is it just keeps delaying the start of maintenance. As it looks, she will not be able to attend the camp put on by Children's Hospital Oncology Staff, Liz was looking forward to going to that. Joel, Leah, Bobby, and Critter are all going to attend.

If you get a chance, go to my fundraising page at: http://pages.lightthenight.org/soh/ButlerCo09/clothrop

Save the date ... Sept. 17, 2009 for Light The Night.

Please pray for the following:
Her friend Alex and his family. Hospis has been called into help with the needs of the family
The kid's and families on A5 South
ANC's to go up so we can continue on next Tues.
For Strength and understanding in difficult times.

I hope I can one day shine as bright as the children do on A5 South.

Blessings,
Christine

Please Pray

Do you remember a while back when I asked you to pray for a young boy named Alex? Well the time has come for you to pray for Alex, his parents, Dale and Sally, and his siblings.

All chemos and experimental chemos have failed and Alex will be going home to our Lord soon. Please pray for this wonderful family and the terrible loss that they and this world are about to endure; they are giving them about two months.

Life is really not fair at times and being with these families and making friends with them knowing that some will survive and some will not is hard. We have seen a lot of children not make it but never one that was a close friend, one that was diagnosed just shortly after Liz.

There are miracles in this world and we can pray the God will show us one in Alex.

Please pray for that miracle and pray for God's peace and strength for this wonderful family.

Christine

My Fundraising Page

My Fundraising Page
Shared via AddThis

I know this picture has been on the blog before but the detail of these children have not. The kid's in the picture have cancer. One has a brain tumor, one has AML, two have relapsed from ALL, one has even had a bone marrow transplant, one is a new diagnoses of ALL and one has sarcoma, soft tissue tumors. All the precentages of the outcome are different but what is not different is the fight to cure them all. You have the opportunity to help in this war.

Hello Everyone,

Please click on the "My fundraising Page" to view.

Some of you may be aware that Liz and Joel Brown, her classmate and friend that was diagnosed four months before Liz with ALL, have been asked to be the Honored Hero's of Mason's chapter for Light the Night. Light the Night is an organization that provides millions of dollars a year for critical research for a cure. In the 50's, the cure rate for Leukemia was only about 3-4%, today it is at 85% and we owe the thanks to organizations like Light the Night, Relay for Life, and other wonderful organizations.

I know that a lot of you have given so much to this cause already and I am extremely grateful so THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Along with this honor for Liz and Joel, we as parents are responsible to raise money to help the cause. Our goal, the Brown's and Lothrop's together, is $4000.00. If you feel led to give to this pediatric cancer cause, great! You can go to the link above and give. Basically it costs $25 if you wish to carry a lighted balloon. Gold is in memory of someone, red is, I believe for the participant, and white is for the survivor or the one going through this ordeal. Shirts are $100.00, I KNOW, very expensive, but for a good cause. We have a solution ..... we are saving you several dollars by letting you purchase shirts for $10.00, these are the ones we sold at BW3. The front says "We fight, We win" and the back says "blazin with <3," <3 means heart or love so the saying is "blazin with love." Several people already have these shirt and we have a few medium and large left so we decided to sell what is left and give the proceeds to Light the Night for research for pediatric cancers. I am hoping to make this walk a huge success. Cancer has touched at least 98% of us in some way or another. It is not a new concept for us. it is a volatile and vicious disease that does either one or several things to the victim. It claims their lives, leaves them with disabilities, or leaves them like it found them, healthy. It is our hope and mission to leave them like the latter, like it found them, healthy.

I understand that there are a lot of horrific diagnosis's out in this world and they all deserve the same hunt for the cure. We all have our own interests, but if you do not and you are seeking a cause to give to, one that touches so many lives, I urge you to consider this one.

We will be wearing the shirts the night of the walk, which is September 17, 2009. This will help show support for Joel, Liz, and all children with cancer. Even if you can not give, please consider coming out on that special evening and walking with us. Your physical support means as much to Liz, Joel, and the families as anything. If you can not make it, please take a moment that evening and pray for the children and families that are going through this ordeal and for the ones that have lost their battle.

Please, check in frequently at the sight just so you can see how we are doing and to PRAY for us.

Love and prayers to you and yours,
Christine and Randy

Praying for day 29 to be on Monday

Just a little medical update. Liz had her labs drawn at Liberty today and although her two counts that count for continuation of the Delay Intensification I are on the rise, they are still not there. Last Monday, her ANC was very low at 180, platelets at 84k; today her ANC is 375 and her platelets are 104k. Platelets are above the 75k mark and that is good and ready to go. However, her ANC is still too low and needs to be at 750. They have rescheduled her admit day for this coming Monday. Please pray that her platelets stay at an acceptable level and her ANC rises to 750. Lizzy's hemoglobin, oxygen level in her blood, is continuing to go down. This is expected and actually has stayed higher for a longer period of time than we had anticipated. We thought she would have had blood products by this point in the phase. God answers prayers. I have seen this clearly every day for the past seven months.

The next step in the DI1 phase we switch up some of the drugs. On Monday, God willing, she will have clinic at 10:15 am where she will receive Vincristine, a chemo that likely causes hair loss, which has happened already, REVERSIBLE nerve problems, and less likely is jaw pain, headache, muscle weakness, pain in the abdomen, dizziness, drop in her blood counts, all of which she does experience, plus some very serious complications that, due to prayer, she has not experienced. At 1:50 pm she will put herself to sleep with some good stuff and receive cyclophosphamide over a 30 minute IV and IT methotrexate through the spine. She gets pretty sick from the cyclophosphamide and feels pretty miserable from the lumbar puncture with IT methotrexate. I guess if someone was putting a needle into my spine I would be pretty sore too. The admit is because of the Cyclophosphamide. This chemo has serious side affects of the heart with new cancers resulting from the use of this drug. The drug needs to be flushed out of her system within 24 hours after receiving it. Liz will also be receiving the dreaded ARAc, cytarabine, or ARAstinkinC. This chemo is brutal on her system with rare but serious side affects to her liver, kidney, and muscles. Please keep Liz and my family in your prayers. These drugs are necessary for her survival but seem like such an evil too. I can only pray and ask you to pray that she is protected from these side affects and that God and his army of angels are surrounding her and the staff that is placed before her. I often wonder, if this drug is so lethal, why in the world do they have me giving this drug to her at home. It is a five minute push through her port but takes about 20 minutes to actually do the procedure. I am a nervous wreak giving her this drug and knowing that it makes her so sick.

With each phase we pass through it brings us that much closer to maintenance. I can not believe it has been almost eight months since this tragedy happened to Liz and our family. Sometimes it hits me pretty hard and still takes my breath away that my little girl has cancer. It is really surreal even after all this time. We could not have made it through this ordeal without each and everyone of you. Unless you have been in our shoes you will never know what it means to receive a card, read a message left on the blog, see people at the fundraisers, having people pray for us, meals left on our door step and the list just goes on. Each one of you holds a special place in our lives; we are eternally grateful for each one of you. May our Lord shower his peace and kindness upon you and yours as he has our family.

Blessings,
Christine

Hope now!

Shaving Daniel's head!

Elizabeth shaves Daniel's head, a friend from church. He said he wanted his head shaved when Lizzy's fell out so he and his family came over after church and Liz went to town. They had a good time or at least she did. She pulled a few funny hair cuts on him before she completely shaved the entire head. Daniel was a great sport about it. Thanks Daniel!

We are not ready for Tues., day 29. Elizabeth's ANC count is very low at 180; it needs to be at 750. Her platelets are high enough at 87k but both counts have to meet the requirements.
She is feeling OK but very tired. Please pray that her counts go up so we can start on Fri. We will have blood drawn at Liberty on Thur.

As always continue to pray for all the families and children on A5 South
for Lizzy's counts to go up
for the joint pain to subside
minimal side effects of all the drugs
pray for a restful evening

God bless,
Christine

Day 26 of DI 1

We are now into day 26 of this phase, remember our life runs in days in a phase, not days of the month. I don't even know what the true day of this month is now that is pretty bad.

Liz has lost her hair and is sporting beautiful wigs that we bought at the Tri-County Mall in the store called Hair Max Beauty Supply. The prices were outstanding and I will be putting that information in the parent lounge at Children's. The wig places that "claim" to be there to help these children and families out during this hard time should be ashamed of themselves, charging $1000.00 to $3500.00 for one synthetic or human hair wig. We bought four wigs, two human hair and two synthetic for $461.00 total and they are awesome! They may not last two years but she is not going to be bald for two years; as you can see I feel very passionate about this. Some children want hair but do not qualify for aid but can not afford to buy a wig at that price with all the other bills coming in but this is a place where anyone call afford a wig if they want. Enough of my rantings; all that matters is that we found great wigs at awesome prices and are going to share that info. with the other families. :-)

Liz has been in a lot of pain lately. They believe it is due to the steroid she was on or the chemo, Vincristine. If the pain does not subside by Tuesday, they will do x-rays and bone scans to make sure her bones are holding up under the effects of the drugs.

Visitors are limited due to her ANC being only 430. Please call before coming to visit and make sure if you are sick or think you are sick you choose another time to come and visit, also remember to use the hand sanitizer when you come into the house. There is one coming into the house from the garage and one on the wall in the entry way. Her ANC is her immune system and right now she has none. Lizzy's platelets are down to 51k. These two counts need to be ANC 750 and platelets 75k to finish out this phase on June 9.

Please pray for the following:
The families and children on A5 South.
Counts to go up so we do not have a delay.
pain to subside in her arm and legs.
Continued stable health.

Thank you for all the prayers you have sent Lizzy's way and continue to do so. It has made her journey much more do-able.

Blessings and prayers,
Christine

Powerful skit, God & us!

Amazing skit. I first saw it last year and a friend shared it with me this morning so I thought I would pass it along.

Unsung Hero Awards Dinner!

Awesome past month!

What a month we have had. Elizabeth and the Lothrop family have been so blessed by the continued support and prayers from our communities. I do not know how people can survive without one another and more importantly without God. Our life and who we are is driven by our love for the Lord. We try, but often fail in our efforts, to love and except each other as God has commanded us to do. I know, that word command really freaks people out, but that is precisely what God has called us to do; Love one another as we have loved ourselves.

Why is loving someone, especially a stranger or our enemy so hard for us to do? I thank God that he is so much more and so much bigger than me or any of us for that matter. I am trying to do my best for the precious gift of my family and friends that God has placed into my life and into my care. No matter what happens on this earth or when a loved one leaves this earth for home, God is allowing me to take to heaven the most important things in my life; my family. My family not only includes Randy, Catherine, James, and Elizabeth but it also includes you. I will continue to pray for all of you as you are also praying for my family and for me. God does not give us burdens or trouble but he will be there to carry us through the hardest times in our lives.

We started off May by Randy, Gina, Greg and Annette participating in the Flying Pig on May 3rd, then on to the Butterfly Walk, May 9th. It was a wonderful event with family, Team Success, friends, Sycamore Boys LAX team and many others walking for Pediatric Cancer. We then celebrated Mother's Day and our oldest daughter, Catherine's 19th birthday on Sun. May 10th. On May 14, Sycamore hosted "Lanes for Liz" glow in the dark bowling. We had such a great time and there were many sycamore students, teachers, and some Mason friends, that came out to have some bowling fun that night. On May 22nd, Liz, Randy and I were honored at the Unsung Hero Awards banquet. What an honor and privilege that was to be there and to be honored with so many wonderful and strong people whom have gone through so much more than Randy or I have. People like Elizabeth, parents who were there to except the award for there child who did not make it, doctors who have and are saving lives on a daily basis, and the list goes on.This past Sunday Liz's Junior Olympic Volleyball team hosted a very successful volleyball clinic on Liz's behalf. The very next day, June 1st there was a blood drive at Mason Intermediate in honor of Joel and Elizabeth. I have not heard yet but I am sure it was a tremendous success. People are so willing to give and help out. It is such a simple thing to do but it saves lives everyday. To Joel, Liz, and us, you are our hero's. Without this gift of life, they would not be here today. I can not tell you the units of blood and platelets that Elizabeth has received over the course of seven months. To top off this day, Melissa Grablovic, the kids tech teacher at Mason Middle, organized a great fundraiser at Bdub's with shirts designed by Ashley, a student of Randy's and friend to our family, Melissa, Liz, and Joel.

On a side note, a rather large side note, these shirts will be sold for the Light the Night event Sept. 17, 2009. Joel and Liz are the honored hero's for Mason. The team name is Blazen with <3 (<3=love.) You can go to www.lightthenight.org/soh. to view Liz and Joel as the Mason Honored Hero's. We are so excited and can not wait for this event. We will keep you posted on how to join our team for $25 dollars to carry a lighted balloon and $10 for a We Fight, We Win shirt. All the proceeds go to the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society. Cancer is a nightmare for anyone and seeing your child go through the pain and suffering is a living nightmare. My wish, if you have not gone through this, is that you never do.

On to Liz, she is going through a rough patch. Last night knocked her for a loop. We had clinic today at 11:00 A.M. she had sushi at 3:00 P.M. and has spent the rest of the day and evening in bed. A friend from Atlanta is spending the night with her and is just hanging out, even when Liz is sleeping most of the time. Her hair is now coming out in fist fulls. I know the difference between shedding and falling out now. I will know how to better describe it to new mothers now that I am experiencing it. Liz is tempted to shave it but is still a bit afraid, I can't blame her. Lizzy is now off of the steroid and her counts will start to drop. Please pray for the following:

Pain in her back and abdomin. She is on pain meds every 8 hrs.
Nausea
Counts to go up
No delays and we can finish out this phase starting June 9th.
For her friend Alex, please pray for a miracle healing.
For all the families and children on A5 South, may they find peace and comfort in Jesus arms.
For our Doctors. May they embrace the ones they can save and forgive themselves for the ones God calls home. They are outstanding, wonderful, and caring and may God continue to carry them through their journey with these kids.

Thank you for being on this journey with us and never leaving us alone.

Christine