LaRosa's and or Chick-Fil-A

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has become a very important organization within the Lothrop home. My daughter is here because of this organization. I am not just saying this. It is fact! This organization provides at least 75% of the grants and funding in research for pediatric blood cancers. 4,000 children a year is not enough of a money maker for drug companies to put their money into and develop pediatric cancer drugs. Most of the drugs and chemo's used for these children are adult drugs that are tweaked to work for children. Leukemia and Lymphoma Society funds research for the cure. We are know at an 85% cure rate for the type of Leukemia that Elizabeth has, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. This organization cares and is making huge strides in the field of blood cancers.

Please consider eating out at LaRosa's tomorrow and or Chick-fil-A on Wednesday and team-up with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Mason Middle School to fight and save the lives of thousands of children. One lost is one too many. Below is the information sent to me from the Middle School.

Help support the Mason Middle School Pasta for Pennies campaign by eating at LaRosa's! Please spread the word! This is an easy one folks. Order out for lunch or get it for dinner that day!

When: Tuesday, February 23rd (from open to close)
Where: Mason LaRosa's
How: By giving/mentioning the attached flyer when eating there. It is valid for eat in, carryout, & delivery.
Why: 20% of food sales will be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through the MMS Pasta for Pennies campaign.

LaRosa's Mason Direct Number 513.398.0680

AND OR..........

When: Wednesday, February 24th (5-8pm)
Where: Mason Chick-Fil-A
How: By giving/mentioning the attached flyer when eating there. It is valid for eat in & carryout.
Why: A portion of food sales will be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through the MMS Pasta for Pennies campaign.

Blessings,
Christine

Go for Monday!

Catherine, Lizzy, and Haley this past summer going canoeing.

We had Lizzy's lab work done and she is finally a go for her next big chemo. I feel like we are always fighting day 29. Her ANC is 950 and her platelets are 127k. Dr. Absalon, her primary Oncologist, was jumping with excitement when he saw her numbers. Thank you for your prayers for her.

Once again God continues to inspire me to always try my best and that is not easy to do. I fail at it all the time. I ran a race on Valentine's Day, oh how I wanted to quit that last 1/4 mile up hill to the finish line. Why do all races end on a hill and not going down the hill but up the hill???? All I thought about was Liz and how she would give anything to be out racing and doing things that we push ourselves to do because it hurts.......whaa whaa whaa. I didn't quit and it felt great! Not really, I wanted to heave my guts out but I am glad that I ran the race and did not stop.

Lizzy can't wait to get back into Volleyball. She said her goal is to get a volleyball scholarship. If anyone can do it, I know it will be her. If you want to see what a true fighter looks like just go to A5 south. I have never seen kids with such tenacity. Their will to survive and live a healthy life is something to admire.

We will go to Children's, at Liberty, for her chemo, Vincristine, Monday at 8:00am. Please pray for minimal side effects as this is the chemo that effects her joints and causes stomach pain. Liz will receive this chemo every 29 days; as long as her counts are 950 and 75k. Lizzy will also start back on her daily chemo Monday. We are now down to 363 days left of taking and having chemo. We are still in the Valley but we are walking toward the light with God always at our side.

Blessings to all,
Christine

Kids need your help

Liz giving a thumbs up to the donor of the blood and platelets that she was receiving.

I have asked a lot from all of you over the past 16 months; for prayers, for money to support our cause, fundraisers, walking events in support of Liz and the list goes on and on and on. I am going to prayerfully ask that you consider giving blood products. Elizabeth would not be her today if not for the generosity of selfless and giving people. I have learned so much from being a caregiver of a child with cancer. Elizabeth has gone through so many units of blood and platelets that I have lost track of the amount. She will never be able to give back by giving blood because of her type of cancer. This is something that really bothers Liz because she knows a persons life is depending on it. My child is here because of people who give and I cannot thank you enough.

Platelets take any where from one to two hours to give. The shelf life for platelets is three days, but no need to worry about them going bad, the last time I gave platelets the bag left with a name on it and it went directly to Cincinnati Children's. The Plasma I gave went to Shriners downtown. A person can give platelets every two weeks and blood can be giving every 56 days.

Patients continue to need life-saving blood, no matter the weather conditions. Like everyone, Hoxworth Blood Center is dealing with the snow yet again. Hoxworth will remain open! Donors can call 513-451-0910 to find a place to donate. All donors, 2/15-2/20 will be automatically registered to win a pair of Suite Tickets to the SOLD OUT Taylor Swift Concert on March 28th!

Please consider giving the gift of life, you never know who you are going to save!

Blessing and prayers,

Christine

Liz is having her her blood drawn this Friday, please pray that her ANC is 750 and her platelets are at 75k. Last time they were checked her ANC was 510 and her platelets were 63k. If they are at the right levels she will have chemo on Monday and go back on all of her daily chemo as well.

Liz is feeling really good, no chemo, it will do that to her : ) Please pray that she resumes her chemo on Monday and her counts remain high.

Blessings and prayers,
Christine

Movin on up, just like the Jeffersons

We are heading in the right direction; UP! We had blood drawn on Monday and her ANC is 540. WHOOPEEEEEEEE! This means she can wonder about like a normal person; NO mask and we can go places! Liz and I were like two school girls that were just asked to the prom. We danced, hugged, and wanted to cry but didn't. Who wants to be the first one to do that? JEEZ.

God is awesome. Liz and I prayed hard on the way to Children's that she would be at least 500. An hour later we called Children's and the prelims were at 450. The tech had one more step to do and this step usually brings the numbers down a bit. I told her "I am confident that God will work the numbers, I will call back in 10 min." called back and God gave us 540. The rest is HIStory. We were out the door to breathe the air and take in the day.

Liz needs to have an ANC of 750 and platelets of 75k to have her heavy chemo on Tues. please pray that her counts continue to climb and she is well enough to go back on her daily chemo. Feb. 17 , 2010 is one year away from her final chemo date. We will be celebrating our journey over the past 16 months and gearing up for the last 365 days. I don't know what we are going to be doing yet but one thing is for sure ...... the Lothrop house will be rockin. I can't wait to have the calendar count down like the kid's do at Christmas time.

Thank you all for your daily prayers, checking in and reading the blog, letters of encouragement to Liz, and your financial support for our cause.

Blessings and prayers,
Christine

Layups for Leukemia!

For those of you who could not make it out for the Layups 4 Leukemia, we made a little video of the highlights. Copy and paste the link below and enjoy. I don't have the total as of yet that was made for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society but when I do, I will let you know. Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odRazm4nui0

Winter Break 2010!