After the flood

Dear Prayer Warriors, Thanks for the prayers. After the flood waters calmed down, we made it to and from the clinic with no problems. Erin had a great report. Her platelets were 58! That is a praise since she has been needing them on a regular basis, maybe now her body is catching up and producing it's own. She didn't need anything today except labs. She has a slight rash that may or may not be the start of some GVHD. It doesn't itch so we hope that is as bad as it gets. She hasn't thrown up in several days, so she is feeling pretty good. Now we just need to wean the pain meds a bit and see what happens. Thanking God for that fairly normal feeling. Woo Hoo! Hope you all stay dry today. hugs, janet

"And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all the living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on earth.'" Genesis 9:12-16

Thank God for the rain!

Sunday

Dear Prayer Warriors, Thanks for your prayers. We are having another rainy day inside. Erin is doing o.k. She is catching up on phone calls and e-mails. So thankful she feels up to that. She has been letting all her communications slide while she hasn't felt well. She is starting to ask when she can go somewhere. I consider that great news. Of course she can only go places that don't have crowds. We might try to hit a movie matinee. Germ-X in hand. We are really hoping her pain continues to decrease so we can ease her off of her pain meds. Then she will be able to stay awake for a whole movie. Another clinic day tomorrow. We are still going 3 days a week until they get her prograf to a therapeutic level. Then we can back down to 2 days a week. All in all, fairly normal progress I think. We feel blessed to be in the "normal" group after all the complications she went through! Hope you have a blessed day as well. love, janet

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him." Psalm 103:11-13

Sat +35

Happy Rainy Saturday Prayer Warriors,
Thanks for praying for Erin, she had a good night. No big plans for today, which is great. We are so happy to just sit at home and play games and watch endless (did I say endless?) hours of Food Network. Erin falls asleep with that channel on every night and I go up in the middle of the night to give her pain pills and the T.V. is still on. I hope she turns into a great cook by absorbing all that info subliminally. It would be nice if one of us could cook. We have been blessed by the ladies at our church cooking wonderful meals for us over the course of all our hospitilizations. God blessed us with great cooks at our church. I think it is a prerequisite to Methodism.
Thanks again for the prayers for decreased pain, decreased nausea, increased energy and total healing. You are so dear to us for interceding on Erin's behalf. To God be the glory. hugs, janet

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." Romans 8: 26-27

Day +34

Dear Prayer Warriors, Thanks for the prayers. Erin is having a much better day. We just got back from the clinic. She had to have labs and visit the PA. All is well. Her platelets were low at 25 but they feel like she can wait til Monday to get more. They took some labs to check her chimera status (?). We looked that up and found out Erin is a mythical creature that breathes fire and has the head of a dragon, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpant. The medical term means someone who has 2 distinct types of DNA in their body which is strangely true right now. Weird huh? She will have to put her photo on the wall in her classroom when she teaches mythology again. Thanks for checking in. As always, we are praising God for family and friends who have seen us through this. You are our angel wings! We love you, janet

"He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." Psalm 91:11

"Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" Hebrews 1:14

Thurs

Dear Prayer Warriors, Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. Erin had a bout of nausea last night after she took her pills, so I don't think any of them really got absorbed. So unfortunately, she is having a rough morning. Please pray for her pain today. Anytime we have a setback like this with her pills, it takes a while to get caught back up. Amanda's husband Kyle had emergency wisdom teeth removal yesterday and was in bad pain. So they spent the night here and today we have our own little hospital ward. Thankfully Laura had a short day and came home to hang out with Erin. Actually I think she wants Erin to do her homework! Ha! Sisters are always trying to work the system. Our praise for yesterday is that Erin got on the treadmill for 20 minutes. That is great considering she hasn't walked her mile in a few days. It's just ups and downs around here. Thanking God for following every down with an up. Did that make sense? Blessings on your day! janet

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." Psalm 90:1-2

Day of rest

Thank you Prayer Warriors for checking in. Erin had a good night and is taking advantage of a day off from the clinic to sleep in. Praising God for rainy sleepy mornings. We start home infusions today but other than that I think Erin has time to rest. Nothing new to report which is also a huge praise. God is taking sweet care of His girl! Blessings on your day, janet

"The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." Matthew 7:25

God is our Rock and Erin is a Rockstar!!

Another long clinic day

Hello Prayer Warriors, Thanks for the prayers. We feel them!! We had another long day at the clinic but today Erin felt better going in so it was manageable. She needed the old antiviral med since she had the reaction to the new one. And she needed platelets, which takes 1.5 hours, so we just got home. Home health will come tomorrow to start the antiviral at home. That will be nice. So we have 2 days off and we go back on friday for labs. We have a big praise. They had told us they wanted to do a bone marrow biopsy on friday to check on her disease, since she had a bit left before the transplant. We questioned them today, as I always do, and asked if it was necessary since it wouldn't change our plan of care and they would definitely do one on day 100. They said o.k., so no biopsy on friday. You can't possibly know how excited Erin was to hear that. Since she has had such stomach pain, she didn't want to lay on her stomach for the procedure and she didn't want a sore backside for the next week either. Thank you Lord, we trust you have this disease wiped out and the Drs can just wait to find out at day 100. So thank you all for your support. We finally got Erin's pain back under control and she is eating a little and we are thrilled. As always, please pray for decreased pain and nausea, increased energy and no GVHD. Blessings on you for being a blessing to us. love, janet

"I will make a covenant of pease with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety. I will bless them ... I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing." Ezekiel 34:25-26

I love a good shower of blessings!! Bring it on Lord!!