Merry Christmas!

It has been awhile since the last update.  Liz is doing fantastic!  
She is now down to seeing her Oncologist every three months.  She is 21 months off of treatment and still in remission.  We are so blessed and thankful for all of the support, out reach, and prayers over the past four years.  There is no way we can ever express or pay back our gratitude.
Liz is busy applying to colleges.  She has been accepted to UC, University of Tampa, and Akron.  We are traveling to Tampa, Jan 11-13, for a formal tour.  She also received an $11k "Dean Scholarship" for academics per year at Tampa!  She was so excited about this and we are very proud of her, however  I have
mixed emotions about her leaving.  All of her doctors are here, what if she gets sick again, what if she gets the flu, what if, what if, what if ???? Then on the other hand I want her to go and finally experience life.  She missed out on so much during her high school and I don't want to hold her back.  I sure am glad that I have these dilemma's to face :)


Jimmy continues on the "Elimination Diet" to figure out what he is allergic to and is causing the Eosinophilic Disease in his throat.  It is about an 18 month testing period.  We  know for sure he is allergic to egg and dairy just not sure what else.  It is a really hard diet to follow and very expensive, but necessary because the medicine was no longer working.  If I had unlimited resources, I would open a restaurant that was for people with severe food allergies.  We have no place that we can safely go out to eat, which was a family thing that we did with our kids every Sunday.  We would go down to UC, pick up Catherine and Jim, and then select a new place to go eat.  It was a great time to catch up on our college kids lives.  I guess we better be finding a new tradition.....
FYI for all who have participated in our Blazin run, we are moving it to October and it will be held at Kings Island.  We are excited about this new partnership and hope that the race will become much bigger.  This is what we had all hoped for from the beginning.  I will be updating our web page with more information as I get it so please continue to check the site:
  
www.blazinwithlove5k.wix.com/event

. Please pray for a cure and continued remission for Elizabeth
. The doctors, nurses, and staff that care for all of the cancer patients
. Pray for the Galley family.  Their 18 year old daughter was killed in a car accident 12-26-12.  To me, I cannot imagine anything more painful.  My prayers are with them.

We had a wonderful Christmas, even though Jimmy and I woke up with the "ugly flu".  We were all together and as long as you have that you have everything!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that you have a safe and healthy New Year!

Blessings and prayers ~ Christine

My Fundraising Page

My Fundraising Page

Life is beaUtiful :)

It has been awhile since the last update.  Liz is doing wonderful, PRAISE GOD!!!
We did have to have her ECHO and EKG redone two weeks ago and the results were "Beautiful" as Dr. Absalon said; thank you for praying with us for the best results possible.  We also had her eyes checked at Children's to look for any side effects of her radiation and chemo treatments and I am happy to say that the Ophthalmologist said her eyes were very healthy and did not show any signs of damage at this time.

Liz is busy being a senior.  She is filling out College applications, going to football games, running cross country, thinking about basketball season, and trying to figure out what she wants to be.  She is looking into Special Education which I think is wonderful.  Before she got sick she always wanted to be in the medical profession now she is unsure.  She said she had enough of hospitals and I guess I can't blame her.  I bet in the end, she will end of in the medical profession anyway.  It may be a second career, but she will be in it in some form.  Liz is looking mainly at UC and OSU.  My choice is UC of course and both Catherine and James attend UC and love it!

I want to thank everyone who came out to the 2nd Annual Blazin With Love 5k.  We had a great time and made a lot of money for research.  This is our big fundraiser for our Light the Night Team.  The Light The Night Walk for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society this year is Thur, Sept. 27, at the Mason Municipal Campus.  If you were unable to attend the race and would still love to be a part of the team you can go to:

http://pages.lightthenight.org/soh/mason12/christinelothrop

and join our team to walk with us that night.  If you would like to carry a balloon and receive a t-shirt, you can join the team  and become a Champion For Cures by raising $100 or more to help support the work of hundreds of the world's best and brightest researchers in their search for better therapies and cures for blood cancers.



Please continue to pray for Lizzy's health and that her cancer stays in remission.

For Jimmy as he, his doctor, and myself try to figure out what food/foods he is allergic to through the elimination of several food groups. Trying to cook without dairy, eggs, wheat, soy, nuts/tree nuts, fish and shell fish, it does present a few challenges.

Pray for all that are battling cancer. It is a horrible disease and one that just keeps rearing its ugly head. Everyday I hear of a new case or a relapse and everyday it brings me back to my knees.




May God bless all of you with health and happiness!




Blessings ~ Christine









  

Liz and Joel, HHI 2012!

Can you believe it is that time of the year again?!?

We are once again doing the 5k Blazin with <3 run/walk and cornhole tournament. It will be held September 1, 2012. you can go to our web page:

http://blazinwithlove5k.wix.com/event

(by the end of June) read about our three honored heroes, the event, register for the race/walk or cornhole, and volunteer. You can aslo like us on face book:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Blazin-With-Love3/276684425682169

If you can not participate in the event and would love to donate, you can do so on this page.

Liz is doing great! She is 1.5 years off treatment, back to basketball, played volleyball, and is now running cross country! It is so hard to believe that she has gone through what she has and is now doing so well. There are a few long term side effects that we are dealing with, but we have our girl and with the prayers from all of you and the grace of our Father she/we will continue on and watch each other grow old!

We have lost too many friends along the way. Friends that become family on A5. This is why we continue to raise funds. Liz has been invovled in many campaings, with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Hoxworth Blood Center. Without LLS research and Hoxworth blood products, Liz would not be alive today.

We are thankful for so many things and we never take for granted her health. There is no cure, but with your help one day there will be! Last year you helped Team Blazin With <3 raise over $32,000 for research and we are hoping to do the same and more!

Many blessings ~

Christine

We Are Still Here :)

                                                    
I am sorry not to have posted since Nov. 2011.  I guess that is a good sign that Liz is still do GREAT!  


We took our long awaited trip to Hawaii at Christmas time, 2011.  This was the trip we were supposed to take the year (2008) Liz was diagnosed with Leukemia and our "new reality" began.  We had the time of our lives by celebrating Christ's birthday, Randy's parents 50th anniversary, and life! Maybe someday we will have the great blessing to return to Hawaii with our children and their spouses!

Liz had a fantastic experience on the Mason Basketball team.  The team won their GMC conference! Here is a picture of Liz cutting down the net.  Kayla McDowell, her friend and teammate, had to tell her how and what to do with the net.  She asked Kayla "Do you just drop the net (the part she cut) on the floor?"  Kayla responded with a laugh and said "No, you tie it on to your medal."  Liz took it all in stride and laughed at herself just like she always does.


Feb. 17, we celebrated her one year post treatment, YEA!!!!!!!!  I took her to Children's where they gave her seven different shots to re-immunize her, she is now up to date with her vaccines.  We also said goodbye to our fist Oncology Dr. we met that fateful morning at 4:30 am.  Dr. Jen has moved to Charlotte, NC with her family and will be working at a Children's hospital there.  I know that that hospital will soon realize just how blessed and lucky they are.   They are receiving one of Cincinnati Children's best doctors and we will truly miss her.

 Liz has her monthly check-ups that consists of blood work and a physical exam.  In Feb., her one year post treatment, Liz also had an EKG and an ECHO.  Her  ECHO came back with a low reading.  This means that there is a possibility that she could have some heart damage from the Doxorubicin Chemo that she received during certain stages of her treatment.  Dr. Absalon said that ECHO's can give false reads.  We will have a repeat ECHO in Aug. to see if it was a false read.  If it is not, she will be going on heart medication for the rest of her life.  Please pray, as we are, that the ECHO was just a false read and the repeat ECHO in Aug., comes back in the normal range.

We no longer live our lives by the second.  Sometimes it seems as though her diagnoses and treatment were years ago, but it only takes a second for that night to come rushing back with all of the horrific emotions and memories.  Unfortunately two weeks ago, Becca Kniskern, was diagnosed for the second time with Leukemia.  Becca, was diagnosed the same time as Liz in 2008 with ALL just like Lizzy.  The form of treatment that they had to go through can cause other forms of cancer.  Becca now has a form of AML (Leukemia).  You can follow her journey through her blog at: beccakniskern.blogspot.com.  Please join our family as we pray for her family, Trisha, Ethan, Lilly and Becca as she/they bravely fights this horrible battle again.

Please continue to pray for:

Joel and Maya as they continue on their way to a healthy life with healthy bone marrow growing inside their bones.

For Becca, that she wins this battle.

For Liz, that she remains in remission from this horrible disease.

For the patients, parents, and staff that are on A5.

For all who have lost their battle with cancer.

May God strengthen and bless your family as he has ours ~  Christine