Painting

We made it through the weekend without Lance having to go up on steroids!! I would say the rash is pretty much the same.....but it hasn't got any worse. Lance spent most of the time this weekend lying on his stomach or side as the rash is the worse on his back and if it gets warm it flares up more. So between steroid cream, benydryl, sleeping pills, baking soda baths and aloe gel with Lidocaine he made it through the weekend! By last night he thought the itching is maybe a little better, comes and goes instead of constant so that is an improvement! Rashes are hard they can change so quickly and with GVH it can happen really quick. I know itching and rash might not seem like much after what all Lance has been through but with GVH it can turn serious so the doctors don't take any of it lightly. Thank you so much for your prayers

Elisabeth and I have been working in the garage..... Nothing we were just doing for fun.... it was a must! We ended up with mold growing on the foundation walls in the garage... we have a gopher (chipmunk thing!) that has tunneled toward the garage foundation... and with all the rain a few weeks ago and all the humidity.... well I guess that it was just the right conditions... Any way the last couple weeks Elisabeth and I have been cleaning out and throwing away moldy things, bleaching and power washing the walls and now painting with this water/mold blocking paint! The sad part is that working in the garage is like one of Lance's favorite things to do and he can't be in there...Doctors orders! Mold and dust spores are really dangerous for him! All these years we have Never had any mold issues.....well anyway we will get a clean garage out of it! NOTE!! Lance has always kept an organized garage (we tease him about all his lables!) but since Lance hasn't been able to work out there much in the last two years things pile up. So .... thought I'd post a couple pictures of my AWESOME worker! We both worked but Elisabeth did all the hard parts!! Like all those shelf on the one side of the garage can't be moved so she had to climb in and paint around all of them!! She never once complained! We would run in and put lotions on Lance.... and then paint.... that was our weekend! The bright side was it kept me too busy to bug Lance by looking at his rash every few minutes!! Elisabeth and I listened to the Christian Radio and were encouraged by all the messages and songs reminding us to Praise and Trust God!! It is so hard for Lance not to be able to help.... but that time is getting closer.... look at all that God has brought him through... God is so Faithful.....Thanks again for all your prayers! ---Penny

P.S. I wrote the blog this morning but after Lance being up and more active today he's itching pretty good tonight and his rash has spread some.... please continue to pray that it heals with the topical stuff.... soon! Thanks!!

Update

Quick note on how Lance is doing.... he felt a little better this morning but starting itching more as the day went on. Talked to Iowa City and they said we can try some topical steroid cream to see if it will keep the rash under control if that doesn't work he will have to up the oral steroids again so please pray that the cream works. Nothing serious at this point but after months of trying to get off steroids Lance really doesn't want to have to up them again.... he is still on lots of meds. and they won't lower some of them until they can get him off the steroids successfully so that has been one of the goals for months now. Thank you for praying!

Cory had knee surgery on Thursday he had a torn Meniscus. On Saturday before his surgery he ran 10 miles out to our house and back he really likes to run and we are hoping he will heal well. They had to take out quite a bit more than anticipated but he should be okay ,he had the other knee done in high school and that healed nicely so praying this one will heal just as quickly. Thanks again for your prayers! --Penny

Prayer Request!

Update and prayer request! Lance had his appointment yesterday in Iowa City we were so excited that he made it 4 weeks without having any surprise visits! Doctor said he is doing well and that we can continue to lower steroids, only every other day now and then stop after two weeks if he is doing well. A good appointment overall. They did give him a lecture or two about all the things he still needs to be cautious of.... no dirt, dust, mold, germs, not to overdo it.... just a reminder that even though he is doing well, his immune system is still not up to power yet.... After we got home yesterday Lance starting itching some... and it has gotten worse tonight... with a little more rash... Please pray that it resolves quickly (LIKE TONIGHT!) He really doesn't want to up his steroids again after almost getting off.... but we don't want to let the GVH get out of control either.... praying for wisdom.... Thanks for your prayers! --- Penny

Just another update....

Well it happened again....time got away from us and unfortunately we haven't posted in awhile....anyways here is the latest update from our family! :) First of all I guess I'll start with dad, he has been doing pretty well coming off all the steroids. Mostly just tired especially the few days right after his steroid dosage changes but he is doing well with it. Please continue to pray that everything stays on track so that we won't have to go down for a surprise visit to I.C! We really are enjoying the month off of not having to go down there! :) Ok ,lets see whats next.... well a couple of weeks ago was my grandpa's 75th birthday and almost all of the family was able to come down to celebrate with him! It was a lot of fun getting to see everyone again! Lots of laughing and stories were going around which is always something to look forward to! I'll post some pictures from the party below. I'll also post some pictures of a 5k that Cory and I did! Well I think thats pretty much everything from here! Have a good weekend everybody! Elisabeth

P.S. If you click on the pictures they get bigger so you can see them better :)

Getting ready to blow out the candles

Uncle Jeff was even able to come to the party!

All the grandkids

Cory's in the black

You can't see me very well but I'm in the black t-shirt.

Cory ended up getting 2nd in his age devision!

A picture after we ran. Were kind of wet if you can't tell, it decided to start pouring down rain about half way through the race.