Mon 7/7

Hello prayer warriors, Thanks for your support. I was beginning to sense a mutiny about cutting back on the blog, but we need to wean ourselves, so starting sat we will go to once a week. You all have been so wonderful to love Erin enough to even want to read all the blogs we have written. Erin had another good day. Her eyes are still a concern. She says they feel like she just got out of a clorine pool, sorta stinging and hurting. They have kept her on steroid drops during each chemo session, probably to prevent this side effect. So we made an eye Dr appt for friday. Please pray that her eyes clear up soon. Also please keep praying for outstanding numbers for wed so she can get her line out. She is so anxious to be done with that line. We are grateful for all your prayers. Your love has lifted our hearts and kept us focused on God. Thank you all , janet

"Love...always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Cor 13:7

Sun 7/6

Blessings bloggers, We are exhausted after watching the Wimbledon men's finals. Wow, what a match. Erin is feeling fine. Her eyes are a little hazy today. Don't know what that means but please pray that it clears up. We have been debating how long to keep up the blog. I guess we will keep it up a while longer, maybe go to once a week after this week. Is that o.k.? I can't tell you what a wonderful support this blog has been to us and what a great tool to keep everyone informed. It has been a ministry to us to receive your loving encouragement and to share our miracles and blessings as well. Thank you all for all the prayers. Please keep it up until we get the all clear from Emory. They will do a final bone marrow biopsy in a month. Then we only have 5 years until they say she's cured!! :-) I guess the relapse rate declines each year until the 5th year. Then it is the same as the average person. Maybe we can take a deep breath then, in 2013. Crazy isn't it? Actually my heart has been sure of her healing since the end of March. Now we just have to sit back and see what God has planned for Erin to do with this experience. hugs, janet

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19

Sat 7/5

Hello prayer warriors, Erin is doing o.k. today. She had labs done and her platelets were 7. Yes, just 7. So needless to say she got a unit of platelets. The nurse today told us they usually want her platelets up to 50 before they will consider taking out her line. So please pray for a huge jump in her numbers so she can get rid of this line. Other than that all is well. So again we wait on God's perfect timing and praise Him for his divine intervention on Erin's behalf. Each detail has been covered, each need taken care of before it is even known. What an awesome God we serve!! love to you, janet

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24

Happy 4th of July

Dearest friends, Our hearts are full of praise as we celebrate Independence Day. Not just America's but Erin's. She has felt good today and we just had a lovely family get together. Bill grilled out and we played cards and joker. And did I mention Mom's apple pie? Fun. Our Lord is so awesome in His timing. We have a clinic appt tomorrow morning. Erin may need platelets, we have noticed a few bruises. Then her next appt is wed. She is really hoping to get her central line out soon so she can go swimming. Right now we are just listening to Amanda play guitar and sing. Wow! All is well in the Blonshine house. Hope your holiday was fun as well. Hallelujah!! Thanks for checking in. Your support has been a tremendous boost to us all. Love , janet

All Is Well

Hi Guys.....it's Bill,

Thanks for all the positive posts....it feels great to be home with the chemo behind us! Erin has been doing really well! She got a good night's sleep and has had a good appetite today. There have been no significant side affects thus far which is a huge praise!! We are on day 10 of this round and based on the previous rounds, the low point usually occurs somewhere around day 12 to 14. We go to the clinic Saturday to get labwork. With her counts headed down, it's possible she may need platelets while we are there. She also received 2 units of blood yesterday before we left the hospital.

Erin has been busy planning our family gathering for the 4th. I think somehow this Independence Day has greater significance for her than in the past!!

While we will be counting all our blessings tomorrow we certainly will be counting all of you among them! Thanks as always and God Bless You.... Bill

HOME AT LAST!!

Dear Friends, We are done! Erin had her last chemo this afternoon and we are now home Praising God for His faithfulness!! All the nurses hugged her and cried with her as she left today. They said she was their favorite patient. They may say that to all the patients, but I don't think so. They said they had been talking about her and said even when she was at her low points and crying, she was also smiling and being very sweet to all the staff. Oh what a long journey. Erin says she is not over it until she feels better. Blessings on you all for walking this long journey with us. We love you and are grateful for all of you and all the prayers you sent up for Erin. Have a happy 4th of July! Love, janet

Halfway Home

Hey Ya'll.....Bill again,

Well, we got started on the chemo about 9:45 pm last night. It was a looonnnnggggg night! Initially, Erin had a severe headache which I think subsided about 11:00 pm after some pain med. The chemo is administered over 3 hours during which they must periodically come in and check her vital signs. Then when the chemo finished at 1:00 am, they started her on two units of blood because her H&H (red cells) were low. So, that was another four hours to complete with periodic checks to make sure she was okay. When the transfusion was complete around 5:00 am, they had to stick her arm to draw blood for labs which she hates. After that things quieted down for a while and she slept pretty much until 8:30 when she had some breakfast before starting the next round of chemo at 9:00 am. As I am writing this she is sleeping soundly which is a good thing. All-in-all, other than constant interruptions through the night, she did pretty well. No nausea and no stomach pain so far! When she completes this morning's round, she will have two more to go spaced 12 hours apart followed by the triple shot L-Asparaginase on Wednesday afternoon. If all goes well, hopefully, we will be headed home around dinner time on Wednesday to recover!

For those of you keeping score, her WBC was .5 yesterday, HGB ws 7.6, and her HCT 22.0. Her plateletes were 82. This is essentially day 8 of 9 for this round. We believe her counts are heading towards the bottom and then it will be a matter of waiting for them to come back up. Since it is a split round, we're not sure what to expect as far as how quickly her numbers will start to bounce back. The doctor told us yesterday that it may take longer this round just because her system has been hit so hard by all the prior rounds. Our prayer is that her counts will recover quickly with minimal side affects during the low cycle so she will have a few relatively good weeks before starting back to work in August. She will also have to be careful not to overdo (which I think will be very hard for her) for several months to really let her system recover from the chemical warfare that has been waged against it for the past 7 months.

As always we thank the Lord that he has blessed us with such an awesome group of prayer warriors to help us make this journey! We have truly felt His presence and yours throughout this process.

Our heartfelt thanks and appreciation go out to all of you.....blessings, Bill

"In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. " - John 16:23-27