Pictures!

It was so nice out today so I decided to get outside and take some pictures! Enjoy!

Look at him! Who couldn't love a face like that! :)

I was so happy that I got a picture of the bee before it flew away!

Ramblings

Well hello everyone! I'm sitting here in the basement with my parents and were all watching game one of the stanley cup finals. Very exciting game so far! Anyways, so we were just sitting down here and mom mentioned to me that I should write a blog. I told her that I would but I really didn't have anything to write about so she mentioned to me that a few of you had some questions from our last post. Mainly, many of you wanted to know if we bought the pot. The answer to that question is no we did not buy the pot! Although I would not be surprised if we haven't heard the end of that thing it may show up again!! :) Now that that is clarified we can move on to something else! Today is dads birthday! We really didn't do to much today because dad has a cold and is not feeling very well but like a said were watching a hockey game now so I'm sure that will make him feel a little better! In all seriousness though we would really appreciate prayers that dad would get feeling better and that his cold does not get to bad. It would also be appreciated if you could pray that the rest of us don't get it! Were going to be very busy this week getting ready for Justin and Ashley's wedding next Saturday so were hoping that dad will get feeling better soon! Well thats really all that I have to say! Have a good weekend everyone! Elisabeth

Good Till The Last Drop!!!

Well we just got home from Iowa City. Luckily all dad had to do today was get blood work done so the day wasn't as long as they usually are. After we got done at the hospital we went to Dillards in the mall for awhile so mom could look for some shoes for Justin's wedding. We got a really good kick out of when we went through the kitchen section in the store though because there was a pot there that mom really liked. She kept talking about how it was so cool and how it would match the kitchen so well! She really liked it until she asked dad and me what we thought of it. Well in response to this question I told her that it looked liked the thing that you throw dead peoples ashes in. Now while mom and me were contemplating this dad said you know your right maybe you should get that now and then someday when I die you can just throw me in there and just set me up next to the coffee pot!!!! Now I'm going to stop right now and just say that we are not planning on him dying anytime soon it was a figure of speech!! Anyways while me and mom were looking at him not even believing that he had just said that, he went further he said yeah just set me up right next to the coffee pot for everyone to see me! Oh, but be careful just watch one day Elisabeth is going to go in and make coffee and just when its done your gonna hear silence and then WHOOPS!!!!! OH DAD!!! Then the next thing you'll hear is do you want one lump or two!!! Now to get this part you have to understand that dad is always calling himself a lump all the time since he can't do very much right now!! The moral of this story is that apparently according to dad he's good to the last drop!!! Anyways this was one of the conversations that we had today and maybe you won't think it's funny, but it gave us a good laugh! Well us and the salesman who I think frankly probably thought we were crazy!! :)
TTFN! Elisabeth

When faced with difficulties you can either laugh or cry we choose to laugh.

Update from Elisabeth

Hello! Well we have had a good weekend so far! Yesterday we were able to go to Gavin and Helen's last soccer game in the morning and then to their piano recital in the afternoon. We had so much fun watching them they were so cute! Dad was happy to be able to get out of the house and do something and he was so proud watching the kids. Other than that we have laid pretty low this weekend dad was pretty tired today so after church this morning he decided to come home and just lay around. The blackhawk game is also on right now though so he has something to do!!!! Dad has to go to Iowa City tomorrow but he isn't going to see the doctor he is just going down for some test that he has to have done before the transplant. Hopefully tomorrow will be a shorter day so he does not get so tired. Well other than that nothing really new is happening at our house! Elisabeth

Oh and just in case anyone wanted to know the balckhawks did win today, although dad wants me to clarify that he is still a stars fan! Apparently I've gone to the dark side since I like the hawks!!! :)

A Day With Dillan!

We were able to get to spend the day with Dillan yeserday and had so much fun! Just wanted to post some of the pictures! -Elisabeth

A Few Good Naps!!

We wanted to forget all about the medical stuff and have "normal weekend". Saturday---We went to the farmers market with friends and then for a short ride in the country (but had to make a donut run first) Wanting donuts is normal for me!! Then took a nap. Worked in the yard. Took a nap. Worked on the patio. Took a nap. Sunday---- Took a nap. Went to Lowes. Took a nap. Fixed the picnic table and step. Took a Longer nap. Sunday Lance was so tired that he had to start out the day with a nap(till almost noon)!! But we are still so thankful for an almost normal weekend!! Lance wanted to do some things around the house.... something normal. It did feel good to accomplish a few things. Yes he did get tired and had to rest(many times)and the work times were much shorter than they used to be and the rest times much longer (he never used to take breaks, unlike me!!) but he looked so happy! He always works so hard and takes such good care of us, so to be doing a few little projects really made his day. Realized there are so many little things to be thankful for, even just the ability to be able to have the strength to do a little job. The time to just be together......at home!! We thank God for each day, and thank you all for caring and praying for us!! -----Penny

Last Dr. Visit

We have not posted for several days as Elisabeth is visiting at Bob and Laurie's in Chicago, the cousins had a band concert she wanted to be at. And neither Penny or I could figure out how to get on our own blog site without our resident computer girl. (miss you Elisabeth) We realized today that one of the computers is programed so you just click on it and the others don't, so when she gets home I will need another IT class. My appointment in Iowa City went well on Thursday Dr. Jamieson who is my main Dr. spent a lot of time talking with us about what our options are and the direction they recommend, I found it and Penny did too just kind of comforting to have everything laid out a little more. Pretty much they think I will have the transplant in about 2 months. The reason for the delay is I have started to respond to the new Chemo pills that they put me on, our questiion was, Well why don't we just stay on that then? And she explained that they do not believe it will work very long apparently over the last several weeks they have been monitoring the amount of " Blasts " in my blood and they had been growing fairly rapidly. When you get "Blasts " thats bad it means the Leukemia is growing very rapidly that was why they were thinking I needed the transplant so fast, they wanted to do it before it gets completely out of hand. Well the new drug is slowing down these "Blasts" so they think it will buy some time so they can continue with the other drugs that are getting rid of other infections they don't want to deal with at transplant. The new drug I am on is the 2nd generation of Gleevec which is the drug I was on first that is the "Miracle" drug for CML Leukemia patients it works on 80% of the people and for me it was working for about 3-6 months before it failed. Their feeling is the second one will do the same thing but if they could get me into even a slight remission on that drug it increases the chances of killing off the most leukemia cells during transplant. About 80% of the people who have successful transplant still get Graff to Hoist disease to some extent and it can be anything from 6 months to a year of being sick to chronic lifelong side effects some of which are pretty bad so I am very happy that they are being cautious and while anxious to get started still want to be patient for the best possible outcome. I am feeling pretty good just seem to get a little more fatigued than before but I'm still on a lot of medications so its probably mostly from that. We had a visit yesterday from Justin and Dillan had a great time, went down and saw the baby ducklings and Dillan fed them, she is adorable. (calls me granpop) We continue to feel very fortunate for good Drs. and lots of support from friends God continues to take care of our needs and all in all lifes good! When Elisabeth gets home I will have her post a blog that is more fun I believe she is the better writer in the family. Have a great weekend.
Lance

Update

Hello again!! Well so far it's been an uneventful week at our house. Nothing much going on right now! Dad has been really tired the last few days so he has had to rest more when he gets home from work. When he is not resting though he has been trying to walk more so he can build up his strength before the transplant so this might also be one of the things making him more tired. So we have been basically sticking close to home the last few days. He was able to get out for awhile on Sunday though, when he went to church and then afterwords took mom out to lunch for mothers day. Other than that nothing new has happend!! Oh, except that one of our friends came over and mowed the lawn yesterday for me since I'm not supposed to yet with my wisdom teeth so I for one was very thankful to him!! (thanks Matt) Dad is going back to Iowa City on Thursday to see his regular doctor for a checkup but were not sure if we will actually find out anything new yet. Well thats all from our house!! Elisabeth

Elisabeth

Well we layed pretty low today Elisabeth had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled yesterday. She is doing well, her cheeks have swelled up a little she looks a lot like she did when she was little girl. Chubby cheeked but cute still. She is hungry can't eat any solid food yet and that is a real problem for Elisabeth who normally eats like a horse. Penny took Elisabeth to Cedar Rapids Friday and they pulled them there. Tomorrow is Mothers Day so we hope all you Mothers have a great day.
Lance

Iowa City visit.

Hi- We had another long day in Iowa City today, Unfortunately we just did not find out much, they are just watching and waiting right now. They are going to go ahead with more testing on the boys this week, the original testing they had was just to see if they match which they did, but now they will have to do a lot more testing to see how close they match and also who will be the closest match to me. They start out with more blood tests and then will follow up with physicals etc. They did a lot of blood work on me today and are planning a lot more tests liver, lungs, heart, just precautionary stuff plus they need base lines for after my transplant. Its so they have a way of judging if any damage is done after the transplant. I still feel real positive about the outcome and am looking forward to getting started. They can't plan on a date until after all the results of the current tests are in. Dr. Silverman is my transplant Dr. a very nice little lady from Portugal her best guess is sometime between 4-8 weeks from now, she seems confident I'll be okay. We went for a walk around the little pond by our house when we got home tonight it felt good to get outside and I need to get more exercise I am an official lump, gotten pretty lazy lately. Penny and Elisabeth are keeping really busy taking care of everything I again feel very blessed to have them.
Lance

A Busy Week

Yes we are OK..... Some have called to see if we are ok since we haven't updated for awhile. But our best blogger, the birthday girl was busy!! Lance's parents came Friday evening and were able to stay and spend part of Elisabeth's birthday with us on Saturday, they were on their way home from visiting Lance's brother Troy in Geogia. What fun for Elisabeth to get to see them as well as all her brothers and their families! Lance and I so enjoyed all the kids being together, we just love to watch them all tell stories and all the little ones running around. What a joy!!

After so much fun Lance was pretty wiped out Sunday and went to bed early tonight. He keeps saying it is so worth it to see everyone. Just watching all the kids and grandkids together is such a blessing.

Today I took Elisabeth to Cedar Rapids for a consultation with an oral surgeon and she will have her wisdom teeth taken out Friday (all four teeth are impacted). Wednesday is our appointment in Iowa City with the transplant team and some test so it is a very busy week. We would sure appreciate prayers for wisdom for the doctors for Lance and for Elisabeth surgery. Thank again to everyone for all your love and prayers!! -Penny