Life is always good!

Westhoven Family Reunion Aug. 7-10, 2009


Just wanted to give everyone a quick up-date on Elizabeth. She is doing great and has ended her Delayed Intensification I Phase. We are now waiting for her counts to come up so we can continue and go on to Interim Phase II. She was suppose to start this phase on Aug. 4, but her platelet count was only at 68k and they need to be at 75K. Her ANC was high, for a cancer patient, at 1300 but by Thur. it had dropped to 780. By all accounts, both counts were high enough to start on Fri., Aug. 7 but because her ANC had dropped so rapidly, they dropped due to her being sick last weekend, they canceled the already rescheduled start date and have now given us the date of Aug. 13. Liz will have blood work done tomorrow to make sure her counts are high enough and we will then be a go for Thursday.

Liz will have an LP with chemo and Vincristine on Thurs. and we will go back on Fri. for the Peg shots. She is pretty miserable after these chemos. The only problem with the chemos are the onset of the side effects have not been consistent. Sometimes they hit her 8 to 12 hours after and sometimes 7 to 10 days after.
Liz does not mind the delays any more because we have found out that it does not take away from the end date. That is right, we have an end date, a no more chemo day ........DRUM ROLL PLEASE .......... Feb. 17, 2011, GOD WILLING, is the last day she will ever take another chemotherapy treatment. I know it is 1.6 years away but it is the light at the end of our tunnel. This is the day my little girl can start to truly dream again and feel normal.

Leah has ended her treatment for Leukemia and is now on the road to waiting for the CURE word. I believe she is 10 years out for a cure too. Please continue to pray for the cure for Leah and that she stays healthy. Also, pray for Ellen and Tony that they may feel comfort at not giving her chemo anymore. This is a quite a scary step for the parents. All of the sudden you are not giving her anything and for the past seven months you have had to monitor Leah so closely. She is still receiving blood products because her cell counts are not completely recovered from her last stay in the hospital but before long, this will be a distant memory for Leah.

Please keep my brother-in-law in your prayers. He was on a mission trip in Haiti, he goes every year, but this year we have just found out he contracted Malaria. He is pretty sick with chills, fever, he is lethargic, pale and has a host of other side effects. I know he will be OK, God is good and will surround John with healing but please pray for minimal side effects, comfort for John, Linda, Ryan, and Nicole, and a true feeling of peace during his complete healing time.

If you would like to walk with Liz/Joel and our families at the Light the Night Walk in Mason on Sept. 17, please go to our website and register to walk with our team at: http://pages.lightthenight.org/soh/ButlerCo09/clothrop


Please pray for:
minimal side effects from the chemo
no abdominal pain
no bone/joint pain
Liz to stay hydrated
the families on A5 South
comfort for Alex and his family

May God bless you and may you know his love he has for each one of you.
Blessings,
Christine