disclaimer

I forgot to give you my disclaimer. We prayed really really hard and we are going home! God is glorious and has reminded all of us once again who is in charge at all times, good and bad.
Thank you for praying.
Blessings,
Christine

hospital update

We are still here, just in case you thought we were anywhere else.

Liz is finally feeling better. She has been fever free for about 14 hours now, please keep praying. We have no idea when she will be released. The nurses and doctors are putting their educated guess on her white board. Earliest one is Thur. 4-1. Personally, I thought that was a cruel joke .... not really. The latest is Tues. 4-6. They are all being optimistic. I figure God will release us when the time is right. Go ahead, give us your guess. I will tell you she usually takes three weeks and we are 2.5 weeks into it. Also, a little insight, the precursor cells that they look at to see if her ANC is coming in are not showing yet. Now that you are adequately armed with this information, you are qualified to guess.

Please continue to pray for all the children on A5 South and the wonderful staff.

Blessings,
Christine

POWERFUL Lyrics!

If you double click on the still you can watch the video on youtube in it's original dimensions

In, Out, In, You guess!!!!!

We are back in the hospital. Liz spiked a fever of 103 last night and after spending much time in the ED, we arrived in our room at 2:45 am. She is resting semi-comfortable at the moment. The are giving her two units of blood, antibiotics- zosyn and vancomyocin, and morphine for the pain. We are in here for at least three days, 10 if she has a bacteria in her body, and until her ANC is 200 and rising. At present, her ANC is a whooping ZERO! The last time this happened we were in here for three weeks. Please pray that that is not the case this time. Each time this happens to her it gets harder to deal with. Life can be very cruel and disappointing at best sometimes.

Please pray that this is just a normal thing that happens in maintenance,
her counts come up quickly,
her spirits stay strong,
all the families on A5 South,
the wisdom of the team of doctors that are placed in her care,

God ultimately has the control. No matter how we struggle for it, he always has it. Please please please pray for her complete recovery; this means NO relapse. God is an awesome God. No matter what our struggle is he is with us and that gives us comfort.

Blessings and enjoy your God given day,

Christine

Prayers

Lizzy enjoying a slice of heaven at her Aunt and Uncle's in Orlando :) Thanks Dave and Suzanne!


Meet Ridgeway. You can follow his progress at: http://rally4ridgway.blogspot.com/
He was diagnosed with ALL in September of 2009 and of course, we met at Children's on one of Lizzy's many stays.

Lizzy has specifically asked that you pray for her health.
Once again her counts are down, ANC 500 and falling, platelets 14k, she had a platelet transfusion this afternoon at 3:30. All chemo has been stopped once again and will not start again until her ANC is 750 and platelets are 75k.
You know the drill when this happens..... no school, no outings without a mask, and no visitors if you are sick. This means a cough, runny nose, fever, or what you may think is allergies. Please call me first at 349-5966 before visiting. If Elizabeth gets a fever while she is neutropenic, ANC under 500, she is hospitalized for a minimum of 10 days, on two different antibiotics, and until her immune system is above 200 and rising. last time this happened to her, we were in the hospital for three weeks waiting on her ANC to make a reappearance in her body.
Lizzy's spirits remain high through all of this, even with the episode from last Friday. I do not know how she does it sometimes. I get very sad when her world comes crashing down around her when it should be getting better each day. I know that one day she will walk away and be cured. God has placed in Elizabeth's life very special, dedicated, and intelligent people to provide the best care and outcome for her.

Please pray for all the children on A5 South
for our friends who's children have lost their battle with cancer
for Ridgeway, who broke him arm today and ended up in the ED
for the wonderful staff at Children's
for Lizzy's health, her counts to rise, her cold to go away and not get any worse


Psalm 18:32-34 NIV
It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

Blessings to all of you,
Christine

Back with a BANG!

We are home from our wonderful vacation. We had a great time. The weather was OK but who can complain, we were in Florida! Weather is subjectional anyway, right?!?!?!

We did not bring back the sunshine like we promised but we did bring back colds; we won't share them with you though.

Lizzy had a wonderful first day of school on Friday. Since her diagnoses in Oct. 25, 2008, Eight grade year, she has only gone to school 32 days. 30 days was before her diagnoses and two were the first two days of school this year. She has truly had her share of disappointments for a 15 year old but she handles it with such grace. I love her so much!

We had a rough go of things last night. After picking her up from school she began to feel poorly. She started to vomit in the car. When we got home I gave her ocycodone and ativan but the symptoms only got worse. The pain became concentrated on her right side where the appendix is. We called the hospital and they told us to go to the ED right away. I made it to Pfiffer Road but the pain became too much and we had to pull over and call 911. They meet us at the BP on Pfiffer Road and took us the rest of the way to Children's. About five hours after the pain and vomiting started it ended, just as quickly as it came on. The doctors have not figured out what the problem is/was.

Liz had a chest xray for the rattle and whizzing they heard in her lungs, they wanted to rule out pneumonia. Thank God it came back clear. The relief on her face and in body was actually visable. She also had an ultra sound on her ovaries and kidneys. The doctor felt it might be twisted ovaries which would entail surgery. That was also ruled out. Her ovaries are very small and was hard to find but they did and they were not twisted. Doctors said they are small due to the chemo and the depo provera shots she has received. Please pray that the small ovaries will correct themselves when she is no longer on chemo. She had traces of blood in her urine so they felt it could have been a kidney stone. Bottom line ....... we really do not know. That is not a real reassuring feeling but Liz is fine and not in any pain.

We were discharged at 1:30 a.m. and she is sleeping peacefully upstairs. All is well within our soles. As Liz said on the way home "God answered another prayer." "He always does!" She is so right!

Thank you for being with us on our very long journey. I am grateful to all of you for your prayers and support. People are always asking us why, why why???? Lizzy's response is and always has been "if not me then it would be someone else."

We go in Tuesday for her heavy dose of chemo. She will have Vincristine and Interthecal Methotrexate. Please pray for minimal side effects of both of these chemos. Vincristine causes bone, joint, and abdominal pain and Methotrexate causes back pain from the procedure, and mouth sores. Please pray that her cold goes away and does not turn into anything other than just that, a cold.

Blessings and prayers,
Christine

A full day

Liz had such a great time today, again!
She had to do some unpleasant business first, school work. I know Melissa, that you are glad to hear that. We had lunch at Seasons 52; an awesome restaurant from the Darden Company. They own Olive Garden, Longhorn, Red Lobster and a few others. It was so wonderful, all dishes being 475 calories, and Liz had her sushi. From there we went and had a manipedi which is a mini manicure and mini pedicure and WE all loved it! We meet her uncle, Dave, at the 6:00 showing of La Nouba, cirque Du Soleil. It was Awesome! The top photo was her favorite part of the play. These people are incredible to watch!
She is still asleep but will be going to the Disney Gaming Arcade today with Patrick and two of his friends.
We leave for Fort Myers tomorrow morning to see Grandma and Grandpa Westhoven, Aunt Patti, and the Blakster.
Blessings to all and I hope the weather is starting to get better for all of you.
Christine

Oh What a Day!

We spent Monday, all day, at Disney! I was so proud of Liz; this is the longest day she has had since before her diagnoses. She lasted EIGHT hours!
We rode all the adult rides and some of the more mellow rides. The mellow rides were for me but I did ride the bigger ones too! Don't worry doc's, they were not THAT big of an adult ride so Liz was safe :)
God gave us a beautiful day to tour around the world, Disney World that is, but is sure felt like the world. To see Elizabeth so carefree and feeling so well is such a joy and a gift.
Tune in tomorrow to see what she does today!
Blessings,
Christine and Elizabeth~Grace