HOME!!!!!!! :))

Liz became sick with a common cold about seven days ago.  On Tuesday night the dreaded fever broke out and we were instructed to "bring Liz to the ED."  She was not happy about that;  Fevers really scare here.  They put her on an antibiotic soon after we arrived because she had a bad cough and crackle in her lungs.  The xray showed she was clear but they continued to treat her for possible viral pneumonia while waiting for her blood cultures to come back.  They were negative so we were allowed to take her home Thursday, late afternoon.
Lizzy's ANC (immune system) is falling rapidly.  She is now at 560.  500 is the no one can visit without the flu shot, free of any type of sniffle or cold, and she cannot go anywhere without a mask.
We have a lot of plans for this Thanksgiving but things are going minute by minute at this point.  Please pray that she/we get to do all we want to do as a family.
Lizzy has her next big chemo date Tuesday, November 23.  Please pray that she will be well enough to go ahead with these procedures  and she will still get to spend her holidays with family.
Blessings to everyone and have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving.
Christine

Gap Give & Get Supporting LLS

If you shop at the Gap, go to this link and print off the coupon. You receive 30% off and Gap gives to LLS for research for blood cancers!

Thanks!

Gap Give & Get Supporting LLS

Tackling Leukemia @ Sycamore High School

Sycamore High School will host Tackling Leukemia this Friday, 10-29-10, against the Mason Comets
in honor of Joel Brown, Liz Lothrop, and Leah Jordan.  Come out and enjoy a great game for a great cause.  All proceeds will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Shirts will be on sale for $12 at the game.

Down, Angry, and Scared ... but NOT out!

Joel visiting Liz two weeks ago when she was having a bad reaction to the chemo.  Both of them were on steroids .....  just guess how many bags of popcorn they ate?!?

We have just gotten horrible news.  Joel Brown, Lizzy's good friend and classmate, has relapsed.  We are in disbelief.  We have seen this "relapse" happen time and time again on the Oncology floor but never believed that it would happen to Joel or Liz.

Joel will go in this Friday for a bone morrow biopsy and be admitted for the Induction Phase.  This phase is to get Joel back into remission, it is a 29 day cycle.  Joel will take the same treatment route that Lizzy took.  He will go through Induction of 29 days, Consolidation of 58 days plus delays, Interim I of 58 days plus delays, Delayed 1 of 58 days plus delays, Interim 2 of 58 days plus delays, and Delayed 2 of 58 days plus delays.  Yes, you got it ... without delays it is another unfathomable 319 days of very intense chemo.  I'm sorry, but I am really having a hard time understanding why a child or any one for that matter has to endure this cancer trip once let alone twice. If anyone has the answer to that one, please help me out here.

Please keep Joel and his family in your prayers and wear Orange this Thursday for Joel.  It will be his last day of school for possible the rest of this school year.  He will need a lot of support, prayers, and love from his friends.

Prayers and blessings for the Brown's

Two Year Anniversary

Wow!  Today marks Elizabeth's two year anniversary from diagnoses, what a road we have traveled.

We could never have made it this far in the "cancer" journey without all of the prayers and support we have received from our family, friends, and even strangers. 

Our lives have taken on a "sea change" several different times during the course of two years. These transformations or marked events have been ones of sadness and joy.  We have lost ones that we came to know and love.  We have seen their struggles and they have seen our struggles.  We have seen into some of the darkest times of each families life.  But, with that being said we have grown in ways that are ineffable/indescribable.  We have been tested as a family, in our faith, and in our marriage.  It has not been an easy road and one that we certainly would have never chosen on our own to participate in. But it has been one that we would never exchange because of those experiences our individual growth and the growth our family has experienced.  

We have become closer and have realized what is important in life.  What use to stress me out now is not even a minor speed bump in the road anymore.  Life is much fuller and a lot less petty.  I wish everyone could have the liberating mind set that I have from things in life that just do not matter in the big picture.  My hope, wish, and prayer is that our family never forgets these lesson as time goes on.  To go through such a life changing ordeal and lose the valubale lessons that you gained would be a terrible loss.

After tomorrow, we are down to only four hard chemo treatments and of course her daily chemo.  When we received her protocol or treatment plan for the previous 2.5 years, I  never thought we would see the light at the end of that very long tunnel.  We are so close now that not only can we see it . . .  we can smell it. February can not come soon enough.  I never thought that I would wish time to go by quickly, after all it is a wonderful gift from God, but I am so ready for her and for all of us.  Please keep her in your prays and pray for minimal side effects from the Vincristine.  Last month was a real terror for her and the pain was just incredible.  The side effects of this chemo will hit seven days from tomorrow. Please remember her on that day and bring back "Orange Tuesday".  When you where this color on Tuesday you will be remembering her and all the ones that struggle with Leukemia.

This Friday is the Mason-vs-Sycamore Game at Sycamore.  The cause is "Tackle Leukemia" and the proceeds will go to the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society.  The honored heros of the event are: Liz, Joel, and Leah!  Joel came in to meet Elizabeth when she was diagnosed and Liz went in to meet Leah when she was diagnose.  "Pay it Forward" as they say.  These three have a bond that others cannot understand and it is a beautiful thing to see.

Shirts are being sold through Sycamore High School.  They only ordered 400.  The Shirts are long sleeved and $12 each.   

Blessings and prayers,

Christine

Looking for Good Help!

Everyone is just splendid in the Lothrop household  Liz continues to be healed by God, through your prayers, and the wonderful doctors that God has so graciously put before us.

Jim is adjusting nicely to college life.  I never hear from him so I guess that is a good thing.  Randy keeps reminding me to open up my fingers and let go, not an easy task for a mother.  Jimmy has had his first round of mid-term exams.  He said it is a bit different than high school.  I do believe that I have said those exact words to him at some point in time but like most kids, he did not adhere to them. He wishes he would have now.  Live and learn, right?!?  He is doing well with his Eosinophilic disease too.  As long as he continues to stay on the steroids he seems to be doing well.

Here is where the title of this entry comes into play.  A few wonderful women and myself are looking for good strong men and women to help us put together a 5k walk/run race for  August 2011.  The money raised will go toward the Light the Night walk in Sept. and hopefully a few other avenues.  If you would be willing to help us in this endeavor please let me know.  I will be having a meeting at my house to brain storm and divide up into committees.  We are thinking of having it like a little festival with food, games, the run/walk, corn hole tournament, etc.etc.etc., so if you are interested in joining this fabulous team for a wonderful cause please let me know asap and come with some ideas!

Please continue to pray for:
Liz, that she keeps responding well to her treatment and she stays in remission.
Joel Brown, that he stays in remission and the immature cells in his spine are nothing.
Jim, for his Eosinophilic disease, that the steroids continue to help his condition.
That our faith in the Lord will always remain strong and continue to grow stronger.

May you feel the love of God as we have over the past 24 months; it is ineffable in all the ways that we have felt God's love, peace, strength, hope, and presents.

Blessings,
Christine

Thank You!

Thank you to everyone that came out and walked Thursday with Team Blazin With <3 love.  It was a wonderful time and a big success for everyone.  We have almost reached our goal of $15k.  If you have not donated and would like to, you can go to our page and still donate.

Liz continues to get better each day. Her mental strength and awareness on the court is coming back  and also giving her confidence.  God has given her an uncanny strength and I am so thankful to him for everything good and bad in our lives.  He is there in our joy to celebrate and there in our sorrow to carry us.  God is something to be in awe about!

Elizabeth's body seems to be handling her dosage increase of her daily chemo, but only  blood work will show what is going on inside her.  She has blood work on Monday to see if  her body is handling the increase and if she is ready for her next big treatment on  Tuesday, September 28 at 2:00, with Vincristine, otherwise known as "Mean Christine". The side effects have a delayed onset of 7-10 days.  She usually goes down pretty hard for about 24 to 48 hours with joint pain, eye sensitivity, bone pain, nerve pain, nausea, headache ...... it is just not pretty.  Please pray for side effects to be minimal and with a miracle, none at all.

Jimmy is doing well from his surgery last Monday.  His esophagus is looking better and the visit with Dr. Putnum went well.  He said that the top of the esophagus looks great and that the congenial web that they stretched the first time has not grown back nor has the strictures (scaring from the disease) come back. The middle looks good, some small strictures are still visible but pliable.  The bottom still has a lot of the Eosinophilic disease.  Dr. Putnum believes that because he is tall, the inhaler contents that he swallows is not reaching to the bottom part of the esophagus.  We are waiting for the biopsy results to be read and then we will go from there.  The two thoughts are: 1) Jim will continue as is and be re-scoped in December to see if any difference has been made to the lower part of his esophagus, 2) adding a daily liquid steroid to his regime for the rest of his life and be re-scoped in December.  If the liquid steroid is add and it does not work then we will have to start looking into his diet and taking food groups away.  Please pray that the inhaler works completely on his disease and he will not have to add a different drug to his system nor take away food.  FYI  Jimmy, as of today, is a full fledged college student ....Go Bearcats!  He is loving it and his big sis, Catherine, is taking good care of him,  showing him where all of his classes are and around the campus in general.  I just love my kids!

Please continue to pray for the families, children, and staff on A5.

Blessings and prayers to all of you.

Christine

lizzy2010

Enjoy a video that was made for Randy to share in Romania with two churches and at a college youth rally. It shows a bit of Elizabeth life and journey over the past several years. She has come a long way, through some really tough and dark times. We pray she is on the other side even though she still has a life struggle ahead of her.

Please come out and join us Thursday for a walk to celebrate, honor, and remember all survivors and victims of cancer. Lizzy always tells me that cancer is a word, not a sentence.

If you can't make it on Thursday, come out for the last fling in Glendale for LaLaPalooza. It is a fundraiser with the proceeds going to Team Blazin with Love. Liz and Joel will be MCing this event, it begins at 5 p.m. in downtown Glendale.

Blessings to all of you ~ Christine

Fun times!!!

 Elizabeth's first day of her Sophomore school year, YEA!!!!!  No more wigs to school.

 Her birthday hat at Mongolian Grill....SWEET SIXTEEN!!!

 Elizabeth back on the court.....she made it over and the opponent missed the block.  Score a point for Liz!!  Her back is to us and she is wearing the two white knee supports.

Her special shoes from Catherine and James.  They designed them and had "We Believe" inscribed on them.

life is good and the Lothrop's are a very blessed family.  Two years ago we were unsure of her next breath but the Lord is good and we owe him it all!

God's blessing to all of you. In our prayers ~ Christine, Randy, Catherine, James, and Elizabeth Grace :)

update :)

I see it has been awhile since the blog has been updated.  We were informed by Ashley Schaefer, founder of Layups for Leukemia, that we needed to do so :)

Elizabeth is doing fantastic.  You would never know that she is going through treatment for Leukemia, but trust me, she is.  Her hair is now about an inch long with beautiful curls just like she had.  However her hair is much darker than before.  No biggie, at least she has hair, she said.

Elizabeth tried out for the Mason Volleyball team and made JV.  She is extremely pleased to be a part of the team and is looking forward to working her way back into full time play and hopefully varsity next year.

Tomorrow is Mason's first day back to school and we are thankful that she is able to start school and stay in for the entire year.  Liz will miss every 29 days due to Vincristine chemo and Interthecal Methotrexate chemo (chemo in her spine).  These two chemo's are given at Children's.  Liz will receive both chemo's Tues. Aug. 31.  This will be her first missed day of the year.  She will remain in treatment until Feb. 17, 2011.
  
We are in the countdown phase for her every 29 day stuff.  She has seven more times for the Vincristine.  Here is a reminder of the side effects for this chemo: constipation; hair loss, nausea, vomiting, severe allergic reactions (rash, hives, difficulty breathing, tightness in the chest, swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue), cough or sore throat, fever or chills, hearing changes or loss of hearing, mouth sores, muscle weakness, numbness or tingling of your fingers or toes, pain in the bones, muscles, or jaw pain,   seizures, stomach pain, trouble urinating, unusual bruising or bleeding, vision changes or loss of vision.


Interthecal Methotrexate is given every 90 days in her spine.  She is put to sleep for this procedure and only has three more times for this nasty procedure and chemo.  Pharmacology 101 for Interthecal Methotrexate: dizziness, drowsiness, headache, swollen tender gums, decreased appetite, reddened eyes, hair loss, blurred vision or sudden loss of vision, seizures, confusion,weakness or difficulty moving one or both sides of the body, loss of consciousness.

Elizabeth takes Mecaptuprine pills daily and Methotrexate pills every seven days.  Side effects of the Mercaptopurine are:  diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, stomach/abdominal pain, weakness, skin rash, darkening of the skin, or hair loss, mouth sores,fever, sore throat, easy bruising or bleeding, pinpoint red spots on the skin, yellowing of eyes or skin, dark urine, painful or difficult urination.  Mercaptopurine causes myelosuppression, suppressing the production of white blood cells and red blood cells. It may be toxic to bone marrow. 
 
Side effects from the Methotrexate pill are:   anemia, neutropenia, increased risk of bruising, hair loss, nausea and vomiting, dermatitis and diarrhea. A small percentage of patients develop hepatitis, and there is an increased risk of pulmonary fibrosis where dry cough can be an important sign.The higher doses of methotrexate often used in cancer chemotherapy can cause toxic effects to the rapidly-dividing cells of bone marrow and gastrointestinal mucosa. The resulting myelosuppression and mucositis are often prevented (termed Leucovorin "rescue"- as this is the folic acid based drug used).


Last but not least is her Pantinidime treatment.  This is a breathing treatment that prevents against bacterial pneomonia.  Side effects, of course there are side effects,  did you think there would not be??? Her they are: stomach upset, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, cough or a change in taste, tightness in the chest, breathing difficulties, skin rash

As you can read from above, she still is in a battle and the side effects of the chemo's she is still taking are horrendous but with less amounts in her body, she is better able to manage the drug.  Please pray for the side effects that can happen.  last time she received the Vincristine the side effects were ugly.  Some months are worse than others.
  
We continue to fight this battle and win.  We have lost some very wonderful children and friends afflicted with blood cancers.  We are still fighting and we will continue to fight to find a cure and possibly an easier protocol or treatment plan for those afflicted with blood cancers. 


If you have not signed up to walk or donate to Team Blazin With Love for the Light The Night event, please consider doing so and be a hero to some.  Please go to: http//pages.lightthenight.org/soh/ButlerCo10/LChristine


All proceeds go to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society for research to find a complete cure, the last 10 to 15%.


We have come a long way since Oct. 25, 2008.  730 days to be exact and are now down to 179!!!!!!!!  I know to some that seems like a long way away but let me tell you, that is just a mere blink of an eye.  We have been so blessed during those 730 days; in ways we can not explain or that one would even understand unless they too have to travel this road.  


Please continue to pray for Elizabeth's well being, 
that she stays in remission,
for minimal to no side effects from her medications, chemos, and anything else we may have to give her,
for her doctors, nurses, and caregivers,
for Critter, Bobby, and Ridgeway.


Please keep Jimmy in your prayers.  He will undergo surgery to have his esophagus stretched on Sept. 13.  Jimmy was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis three months ago.  He continues to do well on the Flovent steroid.  Dr. Putnum said he is allergic to proteins found in foods.  


Blessings and prayers to all of you.


Christine

We Are Still Here :)

Hello everyone! We are still here and doing great! Liz remains in remission and we are thankful and blessed beyond words. Life is precious and we remember this daily. Elizabeth continues with her monthy check-ups of blood draws and a typical physical. She has been completely re-immunized with all of the childhood vaccines. Seven shots in one day and she continued to smile, it is nice to know that somethings never change. We went to Hawaii over Christmas in 2011. If you remember, this was the vacation we were suppose to take Christmas of 2008, boy how things can change in an instance. We had the time of our lives and celebrated Randy's parents 50th anniversary and the gift of life. Liz made the Mason Basketball team in November of 2011. She loved every minute of it and it was wonderful to see her get physically stronger and be able to take care of herself on the court. The girls team was also the GMC Champs! Elizabeth had an ECHO and an EKG two months ago as part of her one year post check-up. unfortunately, the ECHO came back with a low read and will need to be redone in August. Dr. Absalon said ECHO's can give false reads so we are counting on this being a false read. A few of the chemo's that Liz was on during her treatment can cause heart damage. If so, we will deal with it when the time comes. Please pray along with us that her heart is in good condition and there will not be any damage now or in the future. We don't think of cancer every second like we use to, but it only takes a second for it to all come flooding back. Two weeks ago a little girl from Loveland, Becca Kniskern, was diagnosed for the second time with Leukemia. Becca was first diagnose the same weekend Liz was in 2008, with ALL, same as Liz. Becca and her family, Trisha, Ethan, and Lilly, need prayers for comfort, understanding, and peace. This has to be one of the hardest things to hear when you have been through it once. Becca has a form of AML (Leukemia) as a direct result from her treatment for ALL. When we discuss treatment for ALL, you know that there are risks of the chemo's giving you other forms of cancer, it is what we called a necessary evil. You really have no choice but to sign the consent forms, treat your child, and call on family and friends to pray for the best outcome. You can follow Becca's journey at: http://beccakniskern.blogspot.com Please continue to pray for: Becca, that she becomes cancer free for the rest of her life Joel and Maya, that they continue to grow healthy marrow from their donors. Jay Geisler, who has just undergone prostrate surgery today. Pray that the doctors removed all the cancer and little to no long term side effects. For all that live and work on A5. May God continue to bless all of you as he has so graciously blessed us. Blessings ~ Christine

My Fundraising Page

My Fundraising Page
click on the link to read, join our team, and donate :)
Be somebody's HeRo!

"Back to Life" vacation with the Brown family & friends! Celebrating Liz & Joel's good health thru the maintenance phase of their treatment

Welcome to our Team's Homepage

Welcome to our Team's Homepage
click on the link to donate to our team Blazin With <3 (love)

My Fundraising Page

My Fundraising Page

Click on My Fundraising Page to go to Lizzy's page and join and/or donate ;)

We are also voting on what to put on the new t-shirts. Cast your vote:

A) STILL FIGHTING STILL WINNING

B) FINISHING STRONG

C) FINISH STRONG