donor not A+

Good morning Prayer Warriors, Thanks for the love and prayers. Erin got some news yesterday. The donor they had lined up couldn't donate until Sept. So they found another donor. This new donor is also a 10/10 match but not the same A+ blood type. This means Erin's blood type will convert to the donor's type. I don't know what that will add to her recovery but we are very thankful they found another donor so quickly who is available right away. Erin will check in to Emory on Thurs to start the process. She will get a different central line, 6 days of chemo and then one day of rest followed by the donor transplant. Then we wait for the engraftment, which can take a few days. Engraftment is when the donor cells get set up in the marrow and start producing new cells. It is going to be a long journey! We praise God for all of you, ready and willing to journey with us. Erin plans to hit the mall today. A little shopping therapy. We have family coming up this weekend to see Erin, so she will be a busy girl. We like to keep our minds busy so don't dwell on the upcoming days. Peace, janet

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:15-17

Rainy day

Good Morning, What a good rainy day activity - the movies. Going to see Harry Potter today. Erin is looking forward to going out but not so much sitting on her sore biopsy for 2 hours. We are so thankful for a little normal time today. Thank you all for the prayers that keep us going. Blessings on your rainy day activities! hugs, janet

"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we my share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:7-11

I often wonder what God's purpose is in all of this. But if this is discipline, then we are looking forward to peace in the harvest!!

biopsy day

Hello Friends, Erin had her 8th bone marrow biopsy today. I was thinking about how scary the first couple of biopsy prodedures were and how used to it we have become. What a crazy thing to be "used to." Erin did very well. Her favorite PA was there to do the procedure which always is a comfort. Erin is currently sleeping the good sleep. Great news is that she gets a few days off of her bucket-o-pills because her numbers are up. She also has permission to go to the movies!! WooHoo. It will be nice to be normal for a couple of days. We don't know when they will admit her for the transplant but I figure very soon. Thanks for the prayers. God is Good!! All the Time! blessings, janet

"Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world." Isaiah 12:4-5

short day

Hello Prayer Warriors, Well today ended up much shorter than we anticipated. We had 5 appts spaced from 8-4 but we just kept going to each dept and asking if we could be seen early and they all said yes. So, we got home by 12:30. What a praise, we were dreading a long day. We will get results from all the tests in a couple of days but it was mostly prep work for the transplant so we don't think there will be any problems. Erin's numbers were good so they scheduled a biopsy for tomorrow morning at 9:30. Please pray for an easy procedure and perfect results. Then we should be ready to schedule the transplant.
Last night when I was trying to go to sleep, the Lord reminded me of how many times He has saved Erin. I can count 5 times, but I am sure there were many times I never knew about. Then He reminded me of the verse in Hebrews that says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. So I need to TRUST that He will save her again. Afterall, He is the God who heals! Amen! Thanks for the prayers. We love you for keeping the prayer lines open!! janet

Monday

Good Morning, All is well here, just hanging out. The youth kids did another incredible video a la the Office for Erin. The casting was great and the writing was hilarious. It gave us all a good laugh. What a hoot. We definitely have some actors/producers in the making. We will be able to say we knew them when... Thanks everybody, it made Erin's week!! One of our dear friends sent Erin a jar of sawdust from campmeeting. It made me cry. What a sweet gesture. Erin has had to miss 2 campmeetings in a row and it breaks her heart. So at least she has some sawdust to keep her company. Thank you to everybody else who has kept up the prayers for Erin. We are so thankful to have you all lifting Erin's name up to the Lord faithfully every day. God is good.
love, janet

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Galatians 6:9-10

You all do us a world of good!!

Sunny Sunday

Good Morning Friends, Yes, Monica is right, Bill cleaned the windows and everything looks so bright this morning. What a beautiful day the Lord has made, we are rejoicing. Erin feels good this morning except her thermostat is off kilter. She gets hot in some parts and not in others. She has moments of nausea too. Normal is so hard to define anymore. However, compared to the worst days, she feels great. She is still confined to the house though since her white count is still extremely low. I know she would love to be out and about but we can't risk it until we get a good lab result. Her next appt is Tues. She also has to get an EKG, Echocardiogram and CT as part of her prep for the transplant. So Tues will be a long day. Thanks for all your prayers!! We feel surrounded by your love. Blessings for the Sabbath, janet

"Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, not your son or daughter, not your manservant or maidservant, not your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, not the alien within your gates. so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day." Deut 5:12-15

That is the 4th commandment. It's good to review those now and again.

sleepy sat

Good afternoon Prayer Warriors, We are getting a late start because the girls stayed up watching movies last night. Erin feels well, which means we all feel well. It is amazing how Erin's symptoms affect the rest of us. When she feels bad, we all feel bad, and when she feels good, the sun shines brighter and everybody smiles. So it is a good day! Praise the Lord for good days. Thanks for the prayers, God is faithful to listen! love, janet

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all the nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him." Psalm 67

Hello bloggers, Thank you for your prayers. Erin is feeling good this morning. She had a good evening too, no bone pain or nausea. Yeah, God is good. So we are looking forward to a good day, a few visitors and some Canasta! We didn't have to go to the clinic today which is a nice break. All in all , not much to report. Thanks for checking in though and continuing to pray for Erin. She is such a trooper through all of this, always a smile. Blessings, janet

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22

Praising God for the Spirit so evident in Erin and all of you!!

Rainy day

Good Morning Friends, All is well so far today. Erin had a good day yesterday until bedtime and then she returned her pills to the bucket! You know what I mean? Boo nausea!! So we are spending today hanging out like yesterday. Good job on the peer pressure though, Erin did walk on the treadmill for a bit last night. She frowned the whole time, but she did it. I really couldn't tell if she was walking like an Egyptian though. No hand movements anyway. Let's hope she walks on it again today. She really looks forward to hearing from you all on the blog, e-mail, or facebook. So, keep up the encouraging words. Thanks and God bless you for the prayers!! love, janet

"But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him. and his righteousness with their children's children - with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts." Psalm 103:17-18

I love this verse because it reminds me of the heritage of faith we have from our families. Praising God for obedient parents and grandparents who taught us how to love God. Without our hope is Jesus, how would we bear this time of trouble?

Just waiting

Good morning, thanks for the prayers. Erin is doing fine this a.m. but actually had a pretty painful evening. Her bone pain was really acting up. She seems to have a harder time in the evenings with nausea and pain. Bone pain, as you may recall, means her marrow is starting to produce cells again which is why her numbers are starting to creep up. We hope that the chemo wiped out all the leukemia cells but we won't know that until her next biopsy. So thanks for the prayers for pain relief and no nausea. Erin has been keeping herself pretty busy with all this new cable to explore and movies she has or has not seen before. We also play alot of cards. She doesn't have alot of energy so I haven't been able to get her to walk her laps. Maybe you all could encourage her to walk!! Nothing like peer pressure! Thanks for the prayers. We are so lifted up by your faithful encouragement and scripture references. Blessings, janet

"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 15:4-6

clinic day

Hello Friends, Thanks for checking in, all is well today. Erin had bone pain last night but seems o.k. today. We just got back from the clinic and her numbers were up a little. White count 0.8, platelets 43. So we are o.k . til next week. Hopefully, we won't have to go in sooner. She had a low grade temp last night but it didn't get high enough to call the Dr. It was lower this a.m. thank the good Lord. So, we are hoping to just rest this afternoon. Bless you all for your prayers. Keep 'em coming. There is power in prayer!! love, janet

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Hanging out

Hello Prayer Warriors, Thanks for praying that hedge of protection around us. We feel very secure in God's arms. Each morning we face this decision. We have the choice to fall apart or the choice to trust God for His love and protection. Sounds like an easy choice but I tell you, it can be very difficult. There is a verse that says God's word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I remember someone once explaining that the reason we don't get a big light to see what is far ahead is that we are to trust EVERY SMALL STEP to God. He gives us a small lamp to see the steps we need to take now. If we knew what was up ahead we might not lean on Him for each individual step. So this is our faith walk, more like a marathon really. Knowing the God we serve makes it easier to continue to choose Him every day instead of the chaos of this world. And believe me, the chaos is knocking on our door rather loudly! So we stay in the word and trust in a Savior that loves us. Or as my friends at work call it, my "bubble!"
Erin is feeling well today. She is enjoying some Gilmore Girls reruns and catching up on her e-mails etc. Thanks for keeping up the prayers!! blessings, janet

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. I have suffered much; preserve my life, O Lord, according to your word. Accept, O Lord, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws." Psalm 119:105-108

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith..." Hebrews 12:1-2

Sunday at the clinic

Hello and thanks for the free time suggestions. Sounds like fun. We had a clinic appt today and I am so glad we did. Erin was feeling short of breath and tired, pounding headache and pale last night and this a.m., which means she needed blood. Two units later and she feels so much better. It is amazing how quickly that helps. Her platelets were up on their own a bit from 31 to 40 and her white count crept up to 0.6. Every little bit helps. So, she isn't climbing fast, but it is a start. Our next appt is Tues for labs. Until then, a few movies, some card games and rest. Thanks for checking in. Thanks bunches to those of you able to give blood this morning at church. We love you for helping us with prayers!! God is infinitely pleased to hear from you! Blessings, janet

"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer..."
1 Peter 3:12

saturday

Hello Prayer Warriors, We are so thankful for you all. Yeah for more map stickers in Asia! Thanks Amy. Erin is doing well this morning. Last night she got nauseous and couldn't take her nighttime bucket of pills. That's probably why she feels o.k. this morning. Sometimes you just have to say no. Bill, Amanda, Laura and I went to clean out Erin's room at school. We have never seen so many pens and paper clips in our lives. Erin was so sad that we had to move all that stuff out. She really wants to be able to go back to teaching this year, but the Dr said no. As a matter of fact the Dr said we have to treat Erin like a newborn baby when she has her transplant. She can't be exposed to anything until she is reimmunized 6 months after the transplant. She will have to have all the "childhood immunizations" all over again. Anyway, lots to learn. We are eternally grateful for your company on this journey and blessed by your love, janet

Not sure this scripture matches the note today but I couldn't get it out of my head, so here goes:

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18: 3-5

clinic day

Bless you Prayer Warriors for keeping that pager buzzing. We feel your prayers every day. We just got back from the clinic and the big orientation meeting with our transplant Dr. She was very thorough in her explanations and patient with our questions. We are set to go as soon as Erin's numbers come back up to normal. Her counts were a little further down today, we will recheck on Sunday. This waiting game is hard. As soon as her counts are up, they will do another biopsy to check on the leukemia. If it is gone or nearly all gone, they will start the transplant chemo. On the transplant day, they retrieve the cells from the donor and transport them directly to Emory. She will receive them on the same day they are collected unless they are from a donor overseas. The next 3 weeks are the miserable period of time in the hospital. Please pray for easy side effects at that time. After she starts to recover from that, we will be watching for graft vs. host disease. That could last from 3 months up to 3 years until her donor cells and her body come to a truce. It is all quite scary but we will just take it one day at a time. That is probably more info than anyone wanted but we want you all to know how to pray. Blessings on you for your faithful concern and prayers!! love, janet

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

A good day for movies

Thanks for all the prayers. Davis informed Erin last night that someone in Uganda is praying for her. We will get the world map back out and put a star there. Thanks Davis. We will take all the prayers we can get. We need to keep God's hot line busy 24/7. Erin feels well today, so far, praise the Lord. Hoping tomorrows numbers will be up. I know she would like to get out of the house a little before we go in for the long haul. We are supposed to meet with the transplant Dr. tomorrow and get details. We are anxious to get this process started. The sooner the better. Please continue to pray for our donor. I know this must be a little scarey for him/her as well. We have a huge praise that we didn't even know we should be praying about. Bill's company was having lay-offs today and Bill did not get laid off. Wow, God is so good. He is covering all the details around us. Can you imagine how many things He takes care of that we don't even know about every day?? Glory! love, janet

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:25-34

Friend Day

Thanks for the prayers dear friends. We are so blessed by your thoughtfulness and faith. Erin seems fine today and is currently playing cards with her friends. Yeah for friends who can play in the middle of the week. Last night she didn't feel too good and added to Bill's incredible throw up stories. If you know Bill, he is always full of great stories of people throwing up. Andrew Cioffi at Glisson for instance, sorry Brent! Anyway, poor Erin. But she did get the giggles afterward, so it wasn't all bad. Unfortunately, today is the day Erin's hair decided to give up hanging in there. So Laura cut most of Erin's hair off. Let's just say, we told Laura not to quit college!! Thank the good Lord it happened on "friend day" so she hasn't spent too much time thinking about it. God is good and His timing IS PERFECT!! Blessings, janet

"Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8

Clinic Day

Hello Prayer Warriors,
Thank you so much for the prayers!! Erin had been feeling good the last couple of days and then last night she started feeling dizzy and weak. We just figured she needed blood products today. When we go to the clinic she was feeling so bad, they rushed her back to a recliner to draw her labs. When the results came back, there didn't seem to be a need for blood. Isn't that cool how God just fulfills our needs before we even know we need something? Anyway, they gave Erin some IV fluids since she was symptomatic and she felt better quickly.
When we got home, the cable guy was here fulfilling Erin's dream. We got "real" cable instead of the $10/month kind. She figured that if she was going to be housebound for a year, she would need more "serious" entertainment. All in all a good day. Thanks for your continued prayers. We go back to the clinic on Fri to meet with the transplant Doc to get more details on timing etc. Praising God for people who devote their lives to helping others fight cancer!! love, janet

"May my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word. May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise. May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous. May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight. Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me." Psalm 119:169-175

Good Monday

Today is a good monday. Erin is feeling well and we are praising God for that. We go to the clinic tomorrow for labs and a Dr visit. Hopefully she won't need any blood products since she is feeling well. Thanks for checking in, I am so glad I don't have anything to report. We are thankful for some "down time" as we just wait for the next thing we have to do.

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:14

Happy Sabbath

Hello and thanks for the prayers. Erin is doing well. She was "up" all day yesterday and didn't seem to feel tired or bad until I made her do laps around the inside of our house. Then she got really tired. Bill estimated that 60 laps around our house would equal 21 at the hospital. She did 20 and sat down. But considering she hadn't walked in a few days, it was a start. Maybe today we can double that #. We are thankful she is not feeling nausea or pain right now. We take each good day and praise the Lord for it. I know your prayers have helped. Blessings on all of you for your perseverance with us in prayer. hugs, janet

"Is any of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:13-16

Early Morning Revelation

Good Morning Prayer Warriors, God is so good. He gave me an early morning revelation about the biopsy results. First He let me know He is STILL WORKING! How awesome is that!! He knows the desires of our hearts and our human impatience. Yet His timing is perfect, so we wait. The other thing He showed me is that the Docs were too early with their biopsy. Erin still has her hair, that means the chemo hasn't peaked yet. The Mylotarg ("smart bomb") wasn't given until day 6. So if they predict results on day 14, shouldn't they wait until 14 days after the big bomb? It all makes perfect sense at 5 a.m.! Either way, it gave me the peace I was struggling to feel yesterday and for that I am thanking God this morning. He is so patient with me.
Erin feels pretty good this morning, just facing her pills and playing a little Skip Bo with her fam. Thanks for checking in. Please keep the prayer lines busy. We love you for your faithful support! hugs, janet

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake , I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cointhians 12:9-10

Long Day

Today was a long day at the clinic. Erin had a 10 a.m. appt and we just got home at 5:30. She needed platelets but that's all. We got the info on the biopsy and were disappointed to hear that itwas not clear yet. They will repeat the biopsy in a couple of weeks when her counts come back up. Please pray hard that the leukemia is again in remission by that time or Erin will have to go thru another round of chemo before the transplant. I asked if the chemo was still working now and might clear up the remaining cells before the next biopsy and the PA said he didn't know. We need all you prayer warriors to keep up the dialog with the Great Physician and help us petition for another miracle!
Erin is feeling o.k. today, just worn out from a very long day at the clinic.
Blessings on you, janet

"Hear O Lord, and asnwer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul." Psalm 86:1-4

home again

Blessings on you for your prayers! Erin got home yesterday about 1 p.m. and felt great all afternoon. She woke up feeling good but is now down with stomach pain after her bucket of pills. She managed to beat us all at cards first though! I got a surprise this afternoon. Amanda and Kyle decorated our bathroom with scriptures some of you sent in to encourage us. It is wonderful and I needed it so much. Thank you all for the lovely scriptures! God is so generous to give us such caring friends and family. Wow, I am overwhelmed!
"I thank God every time I remember you...And this is my prayer; that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:1,9-11
Thanks again for the love, janet

Waiting to go home again

Praising the Lord for a beautiful morning and the opportunity to go home again. Erin just has to prove she can take her pills and hold them down. She walked 4 laps yesterday after the biopsy. She only did that because they told her she might get to go home last night if she walked. Well, as always the left hand and the right don't always have the same info. So, Erin had another long night in here. The transplant Doc came by last night and told us they are very happy with the donor selected. They can only tell us their gender, age and if they are local. Unfortunately, she didn't know that info last night but she did know that the person is A+ blood type, so Erin won't have to convert her type. And you know she is happy being A+ because she has always strived for A+s in school. She identifies with her blood type!! She also said there are 10 markers on the cell and this donor matches all 10 so that is awesome!! They hope to get the bone marrow biopsy results today and if all is neg, we will get the donor going with further testing, hoping to do the transplant in a month. Everything is up in the air until the donor is ready. Please pray that the donor is ready and willing and HEALTHY!! Praising God for people who are willing to give such an amazing gift!!

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Galatians 6:9-10

Blessings on all of you for continuing to pray for Erin!! May your harvest be plentiful!! love, janet

Yeah for Steroids!

Praising the Good Lord, We are so thankful Erin is feeling a lot better today. They started her steroids (always the last choice for nausea control) around 8 p.m. and by 10:30 she was hungry. She ate pears, peanut better and peas. She slept well and woke hungry again. No nausea today. Then the PA came in a said we have to have a bone marrow biopsy today. Bummer. The one day she feels better they want to do that!! We are hoping they can put it off because the first Dr said 21 days and now this one says 14 days. Who to believe?? Besides, tomorrow is 14 days, not today! Grrrr. Anyone else confused??
Another praise is that her blood cultures came back negative. Please pray that the bone marrow is easy and comes back negative. That will set the stage for the transplant. Thanks for the nausea prayers, God is faithful!! We are so grateful to have so many prayer warriors lifting Erin's name before the throne!! Blessings on you all, janet

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess...Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:14,16

CT clear

Update for today. Thanks for the prayers. The CT results are clear which is a huge praise!! Now we are working on getting her pain and nausea under control. God is in control, we just have to be patient. Keep praying, hugs, janet

Roller Coaster

Hi guys.....Bill here,

Well, the last 24 hours have been up and down. Erin slept until noon yesterday after the long night in the ER. When she woke up, she was so brave to try to get her bucket of pills down and the dreaded yuckee Posi (anti-fungal) and shortly afterward threw it all up. By late afternoon they had gotten the nausea back under control and she ate a pretty good dinner and was able to keep it down. Last night she got up and got a little dizzy/light-headed and then got a bad headache. They gave her a second transfusion of platelets last night. On a lighter note, one of our favorite nurses from the sixth floor came up this morning to tell Erin that she had a room ready for her downstairs "where she could be with her friends". Our other favorite nurse who had moved up to the 7th floor was "fighting" over Erin to keep her on 7E. They have all been so good to us and I know Erin appreciates them so much!

This morning after the second transfusion, her platelets are up a bit from <4 to 25 but she is still having a slight nosebleed. The PA thinks the headache may be mostly a sinus type issue but the doctors ordered a CAT scan just to make sure there is no bleeding in her brain. They just took her down to radiology. Our prayer request this morning is for Erin's headache to subside, for clear CT results with no hemorrhaging in her brain, and for her to be able to recover comfortably at home. We are hoping that she will be able to go back home tomorrow if all goes well.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." - 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Thanks for continuing to hold Erin up in prayer and for your tremendous support!

Blessings.....Bill

Back in/Fever

Thanks for the prayers. We have a new one to add to the list. Erin came down with a fever last night. And when your counts are zero, fevers are serious. So we came to the ER last night about 1030 and got admitted, Unfortunately we had to stay in the ER for 4 hours because they said they didn't have a room for us. No matter how hard they try, ERs are full of germs!! Yikes! We finally got to a room at 3 a.m. Her platelets were less than 4. Way too low!! It figures since she was having some nosebleeds. We thought we could wait til our Sunday appt but it was a good thing we didn't have to. She got platelets last night and may need more tomorrow. We are in E701 but hopefully only for a couple of days. Her mucositis is kicking in and her stomach is really painful so it is hard for her to eat or take her bucket of pills. Please pray for reduced pain, ability to eat, encouragement to face more hospital time. It was so nice to be home for 2 days but it makes it that much more of a bummer to come back when she was just settling in to her own bed again. I praise God for the intricate body He has given us that can warn us when things aren't right. And for the knowledge He has given the Docs to treat the symptoms. Please pray that the Lord gives our Docs wisdom and our nurses skill and compassion. Blessings on your Sabbath and thanks again for the prayers! janet

“In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.”- Isaiah 12:4

4th of July

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments. They truly keep us lifted up. I think it was not a typo that Robin wrote Erin got a "God" nights sleep. We know He is blessing her rest. She slept well again last night. We are all taking turns sleeping on her floor next to her in case she needs something. I think it helps her rest better. She isn't feeling so great today yet. She has a nose bleed today that is worrying her. Her platelets were 59 on wed and 34 on thurs, so we figure they are very very low today. She is scheduled to go in tomorrow morning to the clinic so I know she'll need some platelets by then. A huge thank you to all of you who regularly give blood and platelets to the Red Cross. Erin is blessed by your generosity. Jesus said "It is more blessed to give than to receive." That is true, but Erin is very blessed to be receiving at this time!! You are literally saving lives by giving blood!! We are so grateful!

Please continue to pray for her remission. That is the next big step toward the transplant. She hasn't lost her hair yet but we know that is coming any day now, it took about 14 days last time from the first day of chemo. If you know Erin, you know she has really been measuring her hair growth and been very excited to finally see it grow. So it will be a devastating day when it falls out again. On the bright side, that means the chemo is doing it's work and that is what we need it to do. Please pray that her spirits stay high even on the low days. Thank you!! We hope you all have a blessed family day today. Huge praise, Kyle got a job yesterday. He will be the band director at Loganville Christian Academy!! WooHoo!! Love to you all, janet

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." James 1:12

Home Sweet Home

Thanking God for the 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep in her own bed. Erin woke with very little nausea and the energy to take a quick shower. Now she is facing the bucket of pills!! I made her a tent (Stephen can imagine) over her mattress in the family room so the sun doesn't bake her. Takes us back to when the girls made tents all over the house with sheets and chairs! Fun. Anyway, thanks for the continued prayers for reduced side effects, complete remission and encouragement for the long haul ahead. We depend on the grace and mercy of our sweet Lord. Happy 4th of July. We are praying for "independence" from cancer!!

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:3-9

This refining by fire stuff is not for wimps!! Glory to God!! janet

Home!!!

Dear Prayer Warriors, Thanks for the prayers. We are home. The trip home seemed to last forever with the traffic and Erin's nausea. She is home being doted on by her sisters, laying on her bed in the middle of the family room. I have been running to a couple of pharmacies to find the unique meds they ordered for Erin. The dreaded "Posi" is hard to find! So we are just now settling in and ready to watch Dancing! Happy Birthday DL!! Happy 4th everyone! Praise the Lord with us for His unending mercy!! love to all, janet

Home today/Donor Found

Halleluia, we are supposed to go home today. Erin needs some blood first and we have to get all the ducks in a row as far as Rx and supplies. Thanks Jason and Jennifer for posting the sign on the Little Barn. That made me cry. Kim, thanks for the thought of getting more specific testing, but actually once you are on the registry they have all they need unless you come up on the computer search as a potential match, then they do further testing. However, yesterday afternoon the transplant coordinator called to say the donor they had picked out for her last time is still available. We didn't even know they narrowed it down to one donor last time. So we are set I guess. We don't know anything about the donor but that's the way they like it until you are a year out. So, Thank the Good Lord for his provision. Now we just have to get Erin into remission. They will do a bone marrow biopsy in a couple of weeks to check on that. Until then, the prayers are for no infections, no side effects, encouragement, and Remission. Thanks for taking the time to talk to God on Erin's behalf. It blesses us to know you are on our team petitioning the Great Physician for complete healing. We will post again later when we get out of this joint. hugs, janet

"Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people." For this is what the high and lofty One says-he who lives forever, whose name is holy: :I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the heart of the contrite....I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him, creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel. Peace, peace, to those far and near," says the Lord. "And I will heal them." Isaiah 57: 14-15, 18-19

rough night

Dear Prayer Warriors,
Thanks for the prayers. Erin had a rough afternoon and night. The mylotarg they gave her yesterday came with a bunch of side effects that could potentially hit any time within the first 24 hours. So even though she did o.k. during the infusion, we weren't out of the woods. After lunch she was hit with a sudden powerful headache and huge stomach cramps. They were able to help the headache but the stomach ache lasted throughout the night. She said it was the worst night of her life. Yikes! But we are praising God this morning that she is feeling better! We are still hoping to go home soon, but we don't know exactly when. Her numbers bottomed out this morning. WBC are 0.3 which is as low as the machine can count. So her immune system is zero. We still welcome visitors, but don't come if you are sick or have been near anyone who is sick. Happy July! Please keep the prayers coming for a healthy and willing donor, few side effects, and
a spirit of hope for Erin. We love you all, janet

"Sing to the Lord, you saints of his; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." Psalm 30: 4-5