Day +29

What a Beautiful Morning! Thank you Prayer Warriors for your prayers! We have been blessed with a miracle. Being home is so awesome for all of us. Erin slept 12 hours straight plus the few hours she slept yesterday afternoon. She is so happy to be home. She did manage to stay awake for most of the Ga game and celebrate their win. A wonderful ending to a fabulous day. Again we want to tell you all how much we were blessed by our homecoming reception. We were really blown away! Someone said it was like Extreme Erin Makeover and everyone was chanting, "Move that Van!"
We intend to spend a blissful day away from the hospital, since we will end up spending most of tomorrow at the clinic. We are finally getting to celebrate Laura's birthday. We probably won't hug her though since she was with 30,000 of her closest friends last night at the game. Yikes. Thank you for your continued prayers for Erin. We are praying for decreased stomach pain, decreased nausea, increased energy, a strong immune system and most importantly, very little Graft Vs. Host disease. The Dr told us a little GVH is good, so we know the graft is fighting any remaining Leukemia. But we certainly could do without much of it. Our main goal now is to stay free of germs and infections while her new cells do the hard work.
Wow, sounds like a lot of stuff to ask for doesn't it? But our God is up to the challenge. After all He is the creator and knows exactly what she needs! Praising God for miracles every day!! We love you, janet

Jesus said in John 14:11-14
"Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

Home Sweet Home!

Wow, What a reception!! We just came home to a huge bunch of people (100+) lining our street with banners and signs and balloons welcoming Erin home. That was so amazing!! A true picture of Heaven on Earth!! Thank you all so much for the fantastic homecoming reception. We cried buckets. You all are too much!! We were truly blessed by your love. I don't even think I can describe that feeling. The funny thing is, our road is being paved today and there are all these huge trucks lining the street too. The foreman had them all line up and honk as we came down the street. It was magic!
This morning Erin had a tearful parting from all the nurses that have taken such good care of her these past weeks. It has been a very emotional day. But now we are home and she is napping in front of the T.V. It's so great to have her home!! Our dogs are home too and it is wonderful.
Bless you all for keeping Erin in your prayers. We have experienced a miracle of God's mercy and we are so humbled by it. What an amazing God we serve. Halleluia! hugs, janet

"You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples." Psalm 77:14

AMEN AMEN AMEN

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