sat 5/31

Happy Saturday everyone, Erin is doing well today. She is smiling and eating and playing lots of backgammon. It makes such a difference to have Laura home! Erin is entertained! During the week, Laura is working (babysitting) and so Erin gets bored with just the T.V. and me. Thank you all for the prayers, I can see the difference from day to day as I offer prayer requests and you all faithfully help me pray. Isn't it amazing to watch? God is so good! Each day is a blessing filled with hope! And His mercies are fresh every day! Thank you Lord!

"For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath." Deut 4:31

Blessings, janet

Fri 5/30

Hello everyone, Can you believe May is practically over? We are glad to see it go because we are really looking forward to July and this gets us one month closer! Is that bad? Anyway, bring on June! Erin is feeling SO TIRED today. Just laying around is wearing her out. I figure her numbers must be low. I think there is a fatigue that goes with chemo that other people just can't imagine. Just moving from the couch to the kitchen table is a chore. Her stomach has moved into second place behind the fatigue, so I think that is good. Maybe they will give her blood products on Monday. That should help. Thank you all for caring so much about the details of Erin's ordeal. I know I must bore you to pieces some days but I am just trying to keep you in the loop. We are so thankful for all your prayers, cards, and gifts. The timing is always perfect to keep her spirits up. We are blessed to have you all loving on her. Thank you so much!

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:28-31

Blessings on you! janet

Thurs 5/29

Hello Prayer Warriors, Thanks for checking in with us. Erin still has a pretty bad stomach ache. She says everything tastes the same..like dirt. I guess that is common with chemo patients. It doesn't keep her from beating us all at Backgammon though, or at least trying. She is getting a lot of reading done also. She is on top of her summer reading assignment so I hope all you Peachtree Ridge students are too. She can't wait to get back to her normal life. The countdown is now 44 days until she should feel normal after her last chemo and have her central line out. Talk about goals, this girl has big ones. No pressure but she has things to do, places to go and people to see. She may never want to sit at home again! And I don't blame her! Thanks as always for the prayers for her healing and recovery. I think the one thing she has on her heart now is that her organs would be protected from any long term damage due to the chemo. It is hardest on the liver and kidneys, but can also effect the heart and brain. Please join us in praying for protection from these side effects. Love to all, janet

"Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well." 3 John:2

Wed 5/28

Good morning. Sorry about the low spirits yesterday. God in His infinite wisdom sent my friend and some family over at just the right moment to pick us up. My friend Ramona (Ramonja) said one of the things she had heard from another friend to pick you up when you are down is to count your blessings using the alphabet. So I started this morning at 5:30 and it took me 2 hours to find something for every letter but it worked! God changed my heart and lifted my spirits. For instance, I was stuck on "I" for the longest time and then I remembered Itching-Erin is not itching this time like she did last round, so that is a huge praise. Coming from the chief back scratcher, it is really huge! Anyway, thank you Lord for the alphabet blessings! The chemo Erin got this last round was royal blue and so we have been mercilessly teasing her about being "blue", royal blood, Queen Erin, smurfy, etc. But as you can imagine, it ain't easy being "blue". We just got back from the clinic and her numbers were fine, we have to go back on Monday. She is feeling o.k. today, still nauseous but o.k. considering. Thank you all for your encouragement through the rough days as well as the good! We are blessed!

"May my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word. May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise. May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous. May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight. Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me." Psalm 119:169-175

Love to you all, janet

Tues 5/27

Hello everybody, Thank you for your prayers! We feel them. Erin is feeling nauseous today and she says everything tastes really weird. I have to force her to eat something so her pills won't hurt her stomach more than it already hurts. I guess it is just par for the course. She is so tired of all this. It is hard to see the end from here. She told the Dr. she wanted to skip the rest of the chemo (thanks Jeff!) and he told her absolutely not. He said the reason they are achieving the success they are is because they follow the protocol to the letter. He said other cancer centers have tried to cut corners because they feel sorry for their patients when the chemo is so rough, but that they don't get the higher cure rates when they do that. It was just what she needed to hear because she was ready to throw in the towel a couple of days ago! I know one more round sounds like it should be encouraging, and it is to you and me, but to Erin it is torture. All our spirits are in need of a lift, so I guess that is our prayer request today. Thank you so much for standing firm on that prayer wall for Erin. We are blessed!

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 15:5-6

Thanks again for all the love and encouragement! You all are the best! love, janet

Home Again Home Again!!!

Hey gang....Bill here,

So happy to report we are back home this evening! Round 4 is in the books and we have one round to go!! Erin did pretty well the last 2 days getting in 2 miles yesterday and another mile today. Once again the three sisters provided the entertainment for the staff as they found very creative and different ways to do each lap including speed walking ( got to move those hips), Charlie's Angels (crouched with hands clasped like guns covering each other as they moved from one position to the next), longest stride contests, one piggyback round, break dancing, grapevine walk, lunges....well you get the idea. One of the staff actually snitched on me for taking a shortcut through the kitchen on the speedwalking round!!

All in all even with the nausea and body aches over the first few days this round seemed to be more emotionally challenging than physically. I think the sadness of missing out on so many things that over the past 5 months including her friends wedding this weekend just caught up with her. We figured out that she has been in the hospital 60 days since we started and that doesn't include the twice weekly clinic visits during the times she has been recovering at home. Needless to say that we are thankful to be closing in on what will hopefully be the final round of treatment on the way to being completely cured. If all goes according to plan, we will have 3 weeks of recovery at home before round 5. Our prayer for the coming days is for Erin to continue to have minimal side effects as her counts come down and that her counts will return to normal quickly so she can have some freedom before the final assault and stay on schedule to get done with no delays. We are thankful to God for all the blessings he has provided us on this journey including the presence of so many faithful friends and strangers who always seemed to lift us just when we needed it most!

"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." - Hebrews 12:1

Thanks for being our cloud of witnesses that help us to persevere!

Blessings..... Bill

Sun 5/25

Happy Sunday, Erin is feeling better today. Yesterday she was just down because she was missing another important event, her friend's wedding. I tried to figure out how to sneak her out but it just wasn't to be. It is hard to be sick and watch the rest of the world go on with life and you be the one stuck on the sidelines. But I praise God she is able to be patient for His timing. Anyway, the cloud passed and she feels better today. They did an x-ray last evening to rule out any sources of infection. They still don't think she has one but they have to check all possibilities. We are still hoping to go home tomorrow evening after her last dose of chemo. Please pray that we can go home, it's just easier to rest at home. Thanks for your prayers for the nausea, whatever combo of pills and prayers she is on is working! God has been so faithful to Erin during this whole process and we are grateful to be witness to the stream of miracles He is providing!

"Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples." Psalms 77:13-14

Yes, He performs miracles every day! We just have to watch and believe! love, janet