Thurs 4/24

Good afternoon prayer warriors, Erin is still itchy and uncomfortable. She had a 2 Benadryl night and is longingly looking at another little pink pill. How miserable to be sick and itchy all over. She doesn't have much of an appetite either. I am just trying to push the water to keep her flushing out all the chemicals. Oh, but being at home is wonderful. No one waking us up every few minutes for something, vitals, labs, chemo etc. That gets old fast! You gotta know that if I am over it, Erin is WAY over it. So this morning I woke up with hives on my arms. Yes, you who went thru the hive weeks with me last summer know the drill. I figure someone somewhere is getting married, or I have developed an allergy to raspberries, or I just have sympathetic itching for Erin. Go figure. You Moms out there know how we empathize with our kids in every situation. Well I truly have felt nauseous, tired, and achy with Erin all along. Wish I could do all of it for her! Well, God is certainly by her side carrying her through all these side effects and for that we are thankful. We are also grateful to you who daily lift our burdens to God!

"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens." Ps 68:19

" Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Gal 6:2

Thanks for everything. love, janet

Wed at home

Hello Prayer warriors! God is good. Just got home an hour ago. Thank you Lord for that! Erin had another very itchy night. We love Benadryl! She pretty much itched the whole way home and I had to grab her hands to stop her. I threatened to put her in mittens or a straight jacket. Of course Benadryl works, but it also puts you to sleep, so you don't get to eat or walk, so we are trying to use it in moderation. So far Erin's numbers are good but they should go down over the next few days. So we will not be out and about for awhile. We go back on Mondays and Thursdays for labs. We met a couple of young people her age today that are in various stages of the same disease. It puts into perspective how far we have come and how good Erin will look in a few months. Please add Brie, Adriano, Andrew and Megan to your prayers. So much cancer!! But our God is bigger than all of it and His mercies are unfailing. Thanks for your faithfulness in prayers for Erin and our whole family. We are humbled by your love. Blessings, janet

Tues 4/22

Good morning! Wish I could say all is well, but frankly, Erin had a hard night. She broke out in hives last night from who knows what. So add itching to the nausea to the overall not so good feeling. Yikes. So they gave her Benadryl and that helped the itching, then they gave her ativan to help the overall yucky feeling, so she did sleep a little between interuptions. One more night and then we can go home. Please pray for the hives to go away, the nausea to go away and the overall terrible feeling to go away. Also please pray that she can eat today. Yesterday she only ate a little cup of peaches. She slept so much she only walked 4 laps and that was by force. She is so over all this and I don't blame her. On the bright side, because you know God always provides a bright side, we only have 3 more chemo doses to go this round and then we go home. Come quickly summer, we want to be done. Thanks for all the prayers, we depend on them.


"Is any one 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." James 5:13-15

We are thankful for a God of miracles! And we can testify to the many He has already provided. We know His plans for Erin are mighty and we trust that someday this will all be a distant memory that fuels her testimony. Love, janet

Halfway Home

Good morning friends -

Well we are half-way through round #3. Erin had her spinal tap yesterday afternoon. She had a bout of nausea in the middle of it and felt the affects for a while afterwards but for the most part did pretty well. She was able to eat some dinner and even walked her mile plus 4 bonus laps after doing 2 miles on Saturday (always the overachiever)!! The past two nights Erin has been able to get about six hours of undisturbed sleep which has been a real praise. The nurse has been giving her a small dose of Ativan along with the night chemo which keeps the nausea at bay and lets her sleep. Besides the nausea which is being controlled pretty well, the only other side affect so far has been hiccups. They started up while we were walking last night and they were pretty loud...sort of echoed down the hallway. The nurse saw me jump out at Erin from around a corner to scare her and I was pretty sure she was going to have me taken away...but then she jumped out at Erin around the next corner! It was pretty funny and we had a good laugh...and it seems that Erin's hiccups went away at that point. Erin pointed out to me that they have video cameras covering every hallway and that I might want to keep that in mind next time I decide to demonstrate my "speedwalking technique"....the secret is in the hips you know!

Today's word is miracle and we thank God and praise Him for the miracles that He is doing in and through Erin as she weathers this storm and for the promise of miracles to come!

"Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced"
- 1 Chronicles 16:12
"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted."
- Job 5:9 & 9:10

Blessings - Bill

Sun 4/20

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Erin is now getting her 4th dose of chemo for round 3. She felt pretty crummy last night and they had to give her a sedative to help her sleep. Today she is doing o.k. so far, although she has to have her spinal tap today and is dreading it. Hopefully they will wait until after lunch. Please pray for skill for the PA and good results for Erin. We are thankful for a loving God that hears our prayers and answers with perfect timing in His great mercy! Blessings on you all for your prayers!

"Answer me quickly O Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord, for I hide myself in you. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble." Psalm 143:7-11

Wow, does His word ever fail to move? Love, janet

sat 4/19

Blessings, Erin is doing well. Some nausea but not too bad, just trying to sleep and keep herself distracted. We are thankful to be on the 6th floor with the group of nurses who know us. We keep them well stocked in chocolate so they will love us. You would be surprised at how many people benefit from M&M therapy! Thank you for all the prayers!! We are blessed to be surrounded by your love.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." Hebrews 10: 23-24

Thanks for spurring us on and keeping us hopeful in Christ! Your comments really do boost our spirits and give us encouragement! Love, janet

Round 3

Hello friends...Bill Here....


It has been a while since I posted the update but I look forward to reading your posts every day! We got the call this afternoon that they had a room for us and to come to the hospital. As I write this, we are waiting in admissions for our room to be cleaned. We're headed back to room 615 with all our round 1 & 2 staff friends on the 6th floor! It may sound funny, but it is comforting to be among the folks that became like family during the 6+ weeks we spent here for rounds 1 & 2.


So, we expect to get started tonight on round 3 of chemo which should take 5 days of treatment and then, hopefully, 3 weeks of recovery at home. Our prayer is for smooth sailing through this round with no nausea or other side affects. The extended break has been a true blessing for Erin as she has enjoyed a taste of getting her life back and being out in the world among all her friends and loved ones. It was a much-needed opportunity to recharge her spirit and ours and we are thankful for it.


As we head into this next round we thank God for the many many blessings he has bestowed upon us....the awesome news of remission is a gift from God that gives us hope for the future and the love, prayers and support that all of you provide is a constant source of comfort and encouragement. We pray God's continued blessings on each of you! - Bill