Day +27

Hello Prayer Warriors, Thanks for the continued prayers. Erin had a couple of bouts of nausea last night but slept pretty good after that. She finished her 2 miles again yesterday. What a feat that is for these patients. They brought in a bucket-o-pills this morning and Erin is really trying hard to face them down. She will probably get platelets today since they are 14 this morning. She also has to get a nebulizer treatment of some sort that prevents pneumonia. It is a once a month treatment and replaces the antibiotic she used to take for that. So that is a good trade I think. Her nurses bought her a gift today. A white coat like the Drs wear. She has been thinking for a year and a half that she has earned her degree from Emory and deserves a white coat to wear. So they got one for her and told her they would embroider it for her. She is thinking hard of something cute to put on it. "Dr Butts" need not submit any entries! Anyway, we are so thankful to our Lord for His unfailing grace toward Erin. We have been surrounded by His angels this whole time in the form of great nurses, super Drs, and a loving community of friends. We are blessed and humbled. Thank you just doesn't cover it. blessings, janet

"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 perfecter of our faith." Hebrews 12:1-2

Day +26

Dear Prayer Warriors, What a nice night Erin had, we both slept good for a change. The nurse still came in a lot but Erin wasn't waking up in pain or trying to find a comfortable position... she just slept. Maybe the fresh air did her some good. We went outside the last 2 days for a little fresh air. We just found a bench under a big tree and watched the people walk by. That is such a fun thing to do. She walked her 2 miles again yesterday and her energy and spunk are definitely making a comeback. Her labs continue in the right direction and we couldn't be more thankful to our Sweet Lord for His healing. Some of the Drs are just chalking it up to youth but we all know it was a faithful God's Divine Intervention!! Erin has been in the lion's den, in the fiery furnace, in the belly of that whale and God saw her need and brought her through for His Glory. Thanks be!!
We are still looking at getting out of here by sat. I told them we had a game to watch from home!! Thanks for your prayers!! We don't have any weight lose to report today. They stopped the albumin/lasix combo since she is almost back to where she started, so I don't look for anymore gigantic losses but we are thankful she no longer has so much fluid discomfort! Wow, what a crazy thing that was! Hope you have a blessed day! hugs, janet

"Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God." Daniel 3:28

"I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is a living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions." Daniel 6:26-27

"'When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord." And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land."

Our God rescues!! Amen

WooHoo Day +25 9/9/9

Happy 9/9/9 Prayer Warriors, We have alot to be thankful for today. Yesterday Erin lost 6 lbs and today she lost 4.3 lbs!! She has her ankles back!! God is Glorious!! Her liver enzymes are still going down and finally her Bilirubin is starting down too. Everything is going great!! You won't believe how far she walked yesterday.....2, count 'em, TWO miles!! That's determination!! Now we are just in the process of weaning the pain meds and converting IVs to pills. They are hopeful that we can go home by the end of the week. We are so ready, it's been 33 days so far. After we get home, we will be driving into the clinic 3 days a week to check labs and get platelets or blood as needed. We are anxious to get this first 100 days overwith since that is the time of greatest risk for infection. Erin's appetite continues to improve and she has started craving things. That is a wonderful sign! Thanks again for your faithful prayers throughout this ordeal. We have been so blessed by your encouragement and love. blessings, janet

"I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High." Psalm 9:1

Tues, Day +24/update

Good Morning Prayer Warriors, We are praising God this morning for decreased pain overnight. They turned down her pain pump yesterday because we were so worried about the amount of sedation. She seemed to tolerate it well. They also started steroids again which may have helped with the pain. Anyway, she was able to get a whole mile done!! Can you believe it?? She also ate an apple!! WooHoo. I told her an apple a day keeps the Dr. away! She didn't sleep well last night. She gets up every hour for something, but I don't think it was pain related. I think she just gets tired of the bed. They have already given her platelets early this morning. I haven't seen her numbers yet but we are praying they are continuing to go in the right direction. So, we are starting the day in good spirits. The first thing Erin did this morning was drag her pump over to my side of the room and eat one of the little powdered sugar donuts I had been munching on yesterday. Bless her heart, she is hungry. Of course I offered more healthy selections for her but she just had to eat that little donut. I said, Way to Go Erin!! I take it as a sign of good things to come! A little sugar does a body good. Obviously God is blessing her recovery, so keep the prayers going, we want to go home!! love you, janet

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Psalm 34:8

Update! 6 lb weight lose today!! Yes!!

Labor Day/Laura's Birthday

Happy Birthday Laura!! WooHoo 22!!

Thanks for checking in everyone, we value your prayers and encouragement. Amanda spent the night last night with Erin and said Erin was up every hour trying to leave the room. So at 3:30 a.m. they left and walked 3 laps. She has already walked 4 more. Now, as Brittany mentioned, it would seem that she feels good if she is walking, but actually, she is forcing herself beyond a normal person's limits. The nurses all comment that they get chills seeing her out of bed. She really is doing it only by the grace of God. Her pain pump is really high. If you know anything about Dilaudid, you will be surprised to hear she is on 1.2 mg/hr plus can push her button for 0.4mg more every 10 minutes. That's enough to put a horse into a coma. Yet she pushes through to do the walking. We are praising God this morning for another 2.5 lb fluid loss. Isn't God amazing?? Her numbers look pretty good except for her Bilirubin which is climbing a bit. She got platelets yesterday and this morning to keep them at a reasonable level. Erin is still only able to take small amounts of liquid, so Amanda made her a smoothie this morning and she drank a few sips of it. We use V8 Fusion and a banana and some of the protein powder they want her to drink. She says it's delicious. I guess the prayers requests are still the same, decreased ascites, decreased pain, protected organs, increased appetite and a working GI system so she can eat. Blessings on you, janet

"He said to me; 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.'" Revelation 21:6-7

Sunday Day +22

Thank you Prayer Warriors for your continued prayers. We thank God for each of you as we start another day in need of prayer. Erin had a yucky day yesterday. She had 3 bad bouts of nausea and a lot of pain throughout the day. They had taken off her Scopolamine patch 2 days before because it was drying her mouth out so bad. I think it caught up with her and that caused the nausea. So we got another one last night. They also increased her basal rate on her pain pump. Unfortunately, that put her to sleep which means she couldn't cheer for our Dawgs. That caused our Bulldawgs to lose. Poor dawgs. Anyway, in between her pain, she pushed herself to walk 11 laps. She is amazing. Her liver enzymes continued to drop today and the biggest news is she lost 3.5 lbs today. Halleluia!! We are all very optomistic that this tide is turning, but we still have a ways to go. Please pray for decreased pain, decreased nausea, decreased ascites, and increased energy. The Drs all keep saying walking is her best therapy right now. I know that she only gets it done by the grace of God.
Hope you all have a blessed Labor Day. Hug each other for us, janet

"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" Isaiah 30:18

Game Day, Day +21

Dear Prayer Warriors, Thank you so much for the prayers. Erin had a fitful night again. She has found a way to lessen the pressure on her organs; she stands at the sink and leans forward. Well you can imagine how tiring that is every couple of hours. The big news is she lost a pound. She had steadily been gaining fluid with the ascites and I won't tell you the big number but losing some is AWESOME! Thank you Lord!! I pray we have finally turned the corner on this VOD. Her liver enzymes were down a bit yesterday too, which is wonderful. We got a visit from the liver Dr and the kidney Dr and they were both spouting procedures and tests, but they can't scare us! We have seen the devil and his name is Cancer. We have proclaimed Victory in the name of Jesus and moved that mountain out to sea. We just have a few details to clear up and then we are blowing this pop stand!! Another praise is that she walked TEN laps yesterday! Can you believe that? Amanda bribed Erin by saying she would run a mile for every lap Erin did. Now she is probably regretting that offer. Please pray for decreased ascites, decreased pain, ability to eat and drink and energy to get out of here. Blessings, Janet

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

We will no longer be a slave to cancer. AMEN!!

One day at a time Sweet Jesus, that's all we're asking from you.