Update from Elaine

Dear Friends and Family,

We enjoyed a fun and busy weekend of normal chasing to and from activities, relaxing with a movie, enjoying the gift of dinner at Pizza Hut from a friend, shopping for homecoming dress fabric and going to watch Kate's friend from the oncology clinic sky dive with his oncologist. While the gray over- cast PA day and the cloud cover never lifting caused them to cancel the jump(rescheduled for later this month), the time visiting with and making new friends was good.
*Praise for normalcy and fun times.
*Please ask that Kate will feel good and be able to enjoy Homecoming festivities on Oct. 7th.

Kate's checkup yesterday revealed that after last week's RBC transfusion her hemoglobin did not come up much. We will go to Children's tomorrow for another RBC transfusion. The nurse practitioner hoped to wait until Monday to do another transfusion, but called me this morning saying the oncologist thought it best to do it this week. The hope is that the transfusion will help the extreme fatique, which is obvious since Kate only lasted a half of a day in school again today. They determined that since last week's transfusion did not seem to make much of a difference that Kate needs more units of blood at a time. Thus, we will be in Pittsburgh all day as each bag of blood takes 2-3 hours to infuse.
*Please ask that Kate's heart and spirit are encouraged. Her spirits really plummeted on Sunday night. The rapid thinning of her hair has been very disheartening and she is already weary of not feeling well.

Special thanks to family and friends who have gone out of their way to show special love and attention to Maggie. She loves to get mail and has been thrilled to find cards and e-mails addressed only to her :) She has enjoyed the special inquires as to how her basketball games are going and has been delighted by some very thoughtful suprises along the way that have made her feel so special.
Maggie had an asthma attack at the end of her basketball game last week. This was scary for her as she has not had an attack since she was diagnosed with exercise induced asthma two seasons ago.
*Please ask that this remains in control and that her inhaler treatment continues to be effective.

I was blessed today with a "girls day out" with two of my dear friends from childhood. We grew up together in the same neighborhood and attended K-12 together. It was a treat to get out and relax and visit over lunch together.
*Praise for the countless expressions of love, encouragement and care of our thoughtful friends and family.

Again, thank you for walking beside us even in the little details of our daily life.

With joy,
Elaine

The Dillon Address

Incase your needing Elaine, Kate and Maggie's address it's:

Dillon
209 Chapel Drive
Ellwood City, PA
16117

Update from Elaine

Dear Friends and Family,

Just wanted to let you know that Kate did have a RBC transfusion on Monday. Our appointment at Children's was at 9:30 am and we finally got home at 4:45 pm. It was a long day, but Kate and I enjoy just sharing that time together. Because of previous allergic reactions to the blood products, they give Kate Benadryl prior to the transfusion. This always wipes her out and makes her a little on the edge.
*Please ask that with the RBC transfusion, the respite for now from the radiation and the fact that next week will be her week off of chemo before the next dose that Kate's energy level will pick up.

We learned yesterday that Kate has another UTI. That only increases her fatique level. She has had to miss part of the school day both yesterday and today due to the discomfort and increased fatique associated with the UTI.
*Please ask the that doctors will have wisdom into the cause of the recurring UTI's. There are questions as to whether these could be related in some way to the tumors and nerves they may be pressing on.
*Please also ask for special comfort for Kate, as she has been very down the last couple days about the reality that she must once more face losing some or possibly all of her hair.

Maggie continues to score a couple of points each basketball game-which always brings a smile of delight to her face.
We are thrilled that her ballet teacher of years past, has come back to teaching. She is a wonderful Christian woman, who Maggie adores. We are thankful to have this special person back in Maggie's life. She loves Maggie well and is very sensitive to the fact that this is quite a road for Maggie to journey as well.

I am enjoying being back in the classroom and substituting again. Our school is a real source of encouragement and support for the girls and me.
As for sleep...with the arrival of Grace my sleep needs are even more challenged. I thought it would be easier to let a puppy cry herself to sleep than it was to let my girls as babies cry themselves to sleep.. While I have remained firm in not taking her out of her cage, I have found myself sitting on the floor next to the cage in the middle of the night and calming her back to sleep. It's a good thing she's so cute :)

We are also thankful to have my Mom and Dad back in town, after they had been on their Alaskan cruise to celebrate their 50th.
*Praise for parents who are a real support and help on all levels for the girls and me.

Again, thank you to each of you for being there in countless ways for Kate, Maggie, and me. Emails, card and phone call come just when we need them most. Your prayers are sustaining us.

Love,
Elaine, Kate and Maggie

Kate's Rainbow

Kate's beautiful rainbow of flowers.


Genesis 9:14, 15

When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with everything that lives.

First Day of School

Where did summer go? It's always great when your kids keep letting you take that traditional first day of school picture. It's even better when they let you do it of them together!

Scriptures to Share

Psalm 31

Psalm 91

Romans 5:5

I Corinthians 15:57

She's Here !!!!

She's here!!!

On Sunday September 10th, our home was blessed with "Grace".

Isn't she cute !!! :)

The Bichon Frise

(Bee-shahn Free-zay) made it's first appearance in France but also became popular in Spain.

The Bichon is a small, sturdy, white powder puff of a dog whose merry temperment is evidenced by her plumed tail carried jauntily over the back and her dark eyed inquistive expression. Gentle mannered, very sensitive, playful and affectionate. A cheerful attitude is the hallmark of this breed.

Update from Elaine

Thursday, September 7, 2006

Dear friends and family,

Yesterday we celebrated the last radiation treatment for now. The doctor's projection is that he will probably treat the whole spine down the road a bit. We first need to get a base line on how the chemo is working on the nodules that are not being radiated.

We did blood counts yesterday as well and found that Kat'e hemoglobin has dropped already (since last Thursday's count)- which is a primary side effect of the VP 16 chemo and the fact the radiation hits the bone marrow where the RBC's are manufactured. They also did a retic count. A retic count tells you whether the body is making red cells. Kate's count is low. Therefore, her oncologist does not think her hemoglobin will recover by next week. Thus, they are anticipating that she will need a transfusion of RBC's on Monday. Her appt. is 9:30. We know from past experience this usually takes a better part of the day. Even though we don't look forward to the long day-it's a good quality time for the two of us together. With the low hemoglobin and radiation fatique is increasing and Kate is often cold. She's making good use of the soft warm cuddly blankets she recieved last time :)

*Please ask that if Kate indeed needs the transfusion, that there will be no allergic reaction. That only happened once the last go round, but was no fun.

We are thankful for a wonderful Labor Day weekend and especially the gift of a visit from two special friends from Texas who are very much like family to us. Their visit was an encouragement and truly met the needs of our hearts.

Maggie had her first basketball game on Tuesday and was thrilled to score 4 points!
*Please ask that we are all sensitive at helping Maggie to have some of the lime light too, during a time when so much attention is focused on Kate.
*Praise for the sweet and sensitive sister Kate is and how she goes out of her way to make Maggie feel special.

*Praise for the anticipation of Grace's arrival on Sunday. We have done some pre-shopping preparing our new puppy layette :)

I'm feeling a little weary emotionally but find the prayers and countless expressions of encouragement really do carry me.
* Praise for the wonderful friends and family God has surrounded us with.

Thank you for standing with us,

Elaine, Kate, and Maggie