Inspired daughter-in-law....

Hi everybody, I've been given the privilege to add a new post to Lance's blog page. I know it 's been awhile and although I might not make mention of everything that has happened over the last few months, hopefully I can hit the highlights as well as give an update on how things have been going for Lance, Penny, Elisabeth and the rest of the family. First of all, let me begin by saying that we have been so blessed to see Lance make leaps and bounds beyond what anyone expected. He has been back to work full time since January (full time for Lance is not the typical 40 hours, most HR people far exceed that!). He has been able to be around more people, especially his family, and he is going above and beyond in keeping that positive attitude that we all know and love about Lance. The truth of it all is, Lance may look the picture of good health and great disposition, but he is not out of the weeds yet. If anyone knows Lance like we do, he has such a will of determination, courage and strength that even on days when he is experiencing pain from his GVH (whether its in his eyes or on his skin that day) or practically falling over from fatigue, he always manages to keep himself going, to keep a smile on his face. The last thing he ever wants people to hear from his mouth is how bad it really is, but rather how blessed he is for what God has given him and amazingly when he asks for strength, its always there. When talking to Penny and Lance, you hear about the difficult trials that they have to face on a daily basis, but how they can give examples of God's love for them, in carrying them through all of this, is so awesome! It sounds so cliche` but you really can see the beauty in a disease that is so ugly. I have gained so much more love and respect for Penny and Lance through all of this and I think I can speak on behalf of myself and the other sisters when I say that we have been so blessed to marry into a family where a mother and father can have so much love for their children and even more for each other. They have taken Christ's love and poured it into everyone around them!

At this time I want to ask specifically for any and all of you to really take a moment to pray now for Lance's ongoing struggle with GVH. They have recently been told once again that this is something he may have to live with for the rest of his life. It seems like an easy acceptance when just a year ago it was still questionable about whether the cancer would take his life, but more than anything Lance would like to see a light at the end of this tunnel or even a sense of peace in dealing with the GVH. I love the verse in Hebrews 4:16 (NLT) "So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." Might I also add, the entire family is so grateful for your prayers, letters and encouragement that you extend to Penny and Lance, it keeps them going daily!

Now onto the "fun" stuff! I'd like to look back over the last few weeks at some of the neat things happening in the family and how Lance has been able to get his life back. As I personally look back, it makes me feel emotional to think that just over a year ago, I was wondering if my kids would ever get to just "hang out" with Grandpa anymore and how much our lives could change. But now I still have the echo ringing in my ears from a couple of weeks ago, as Grandpa Lance was cheering for his grandson Gavin (9 years old) - "Let's Go, buddy!", when Gavin scored a first place finish in the State 25 freestyle swimming event and broke a local record that was over 25 years old. It was Gavin who right away said, "Grandpa, did you see me, cause I broke that record for you". Having Lance there meant the world because Lance is no stranger to the sports arena coaching youth of different ages and sports as well as mentoring his own gifted sons and daughter. So when Grandpa listens, gives advice and encourages, it means so much to the kids. We were all so lucky to share in Gavin's success that day, sisters cheering on the sidelines, his loud-mouthed mother :), anxious Coach-Dad, an awesome aunt who captured it all on film, two Grandma's who couldn't keep their eyes dry :) and the lucky grandpa who waited til eveyone was quiet for the buzzer to cheer the loudest, "Let's go, Buddy!" It was an awesome day! Gavin ended up with 3- first place finishes and 3 new records for the YMCA (VERY rare!). Many of the records he broke were held by kids for many years and who have now gone onto to be great swimmers and one is actually trying out for the olympic time trials in Omaha this summer.

Gavin with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Elisabeth and Dad at State!

Our 5-year old daughter Evie was also able to have some special time with Grandma and Grandpa for a whole weekend! She was so excited and the one-on-one time was so good for her. Even though we missed her, we were so happy to know she was able to have such a neat experience.

Helen, our 7-year old daughter was also on the swim team and made great strides with her swimming abilities and competitive drive. She has always been our artist, but now we discovered a great athlete in there too and next year she plans on going to State for swimming as well.

Gwendolyn, 4, is our youngest and although she is our most petite girl, she has a fearless side to her and hopes to catch up to her siblings one of these days. She will start soccer for the first time in a couple of weeks and we can't wait to see her go!

Hayden (3) and Camryn (8 months) are Cory and Jamie's little girls and they are growing so fast too! Hayden is quite the conversationalist and if there was anything you ever needed to know, she will tell you! She also loves to play practical jokes (wonder who she got that from?) Camryn is working on crawling, but if she can't get where she needs to, she will definitely let you know, she may not talk quite yet but she knows how to communicate and if you want to keep her happy, don't hold back on the mashed potatoes!

Dillan (3) and Chayce (almost a year!) are Justin and Ashley's kids and they too are getting so big and learning so much! Dillan is the big sister looking after her little brother, Chayce. She loves being a big sister. Chayce will be celebrating his 1st birthday on March 31st surrounded by family and friends at their home near Waterloo, what a big milestone!

Penny and Lance are such proud grandparents and if the last month or so is any indication of how things will go for the next few years, Grandma and Grandpa will have many more grandkids' events to look forward too.

Aunt Elisabeth is also very proud of her nieces and nephews and makes time to be with them as often as she can. This past week has been a big week for her as she just started a different position at Emmaus in the Believers Stewardship Services department working as an administrative assitant for Drew Tuecke. This job has come with a huge responsibilty load but undoubtedly nothing she can't handle. If her time and energy spent being by her parents' side through the trials of dealing with Lance's cancer say anything about her loyalty and dedication, she will make one of their best employees yet. We are all so proud of Elisabeth as she steps out to take on this new role and blossom with confidence, she will do great!

Once again, thank-you to everyone for your continued support! Thank-you for keeping Lance and his family in your prayers, he would not be where he is without them! We hope to blog again soon!

-Nicole Hall

(Nathan's wife, and grateful daughter-in-law to Penny and Lance) :)

Latest news from the Halls

HI!!

Remember us!! We were just talking when we wrote the last blog that maybe people are tired of hearing updates on us... it is hard to know when to stop... But then I sat here this morning and realized that Lance has had a few steps forward since we wrote so I thought we'd share them.

Lance got two colds over the last couple months and some weird swelling in his arm, hand and then leg which might sound like a bad thing but the good was that he got over one cold before he got the next one and getting over them on his own is great!! The swelling wasn't a blood clot so that was a praise! He was so excited to be able to go home to Minnesota for the first time in three years!!! He has been getting out more now which is so nice, but sometimes a little scary with his immune system. And now the big news.......Lance started trying to work 5 day a week after the first of the year!!! It has been over a year and this is huge step forward for him! He is tired but so happy to be able to do this. His work has been awesome we are so thankful..... can't express that enough!!

He has also had a little set back.... He had to go back on steroids again for GVH that started to hit his joints and tendons. After two ultra sounds looking for blood clots and not much sleep from pain, I think he was relieved to know what the problem is and ready to feel better. Praying he can get off soon but it was needed for now as they didn't want any permanent damage. Although steroids lower his immune system even more so we pray he will not have to be on them long.....BUT...they do give him more energy!

I don't think even though the doctors tried to explain it to us that we comprehended what a long haul this would all be. But really God is so good because we realize now that sometimes you can only handle so much information at one time. Looking around at what is going on or what is ahead is not always a good thing.... I read the coolest devotional recently as God has been reminding me to keep my eyes, my focus on Him and not on the circumstances around me. It was so good for me to hear.... because as we have gone for many extra doctor appointments the last couple months and when I hear blood clot I tend to think the worse..... I needed to be reminded where to keep my focus...... Well, Here is part of it if you want to read it:

When Noah was commanded to build his strange-looking craft, he was instructed by God to make only one window in the entire ship. The window was to be in the roof (Genesis 6:16). There was just one way for Noah to look out of his craft, and that was up. The opening was actually a skylight toward heaven.

The secret.....is not to spend our time foolishly fretting about the storms which surround our ship, but, having taken note of those storms, to commit our ship to the great Captain of the seas. It is not the severity of the storm that is important, but the capability of the Captain.
---From: Early In The Morning --by Woodrow M. Kroll

I find that to just be the greatest thought! My God...."My Captain" is TOTALLY CAPABLE!! God is asking me...Where is your focus?.... Let it be on Him... Thanks for your continued prayers! ---- Penny

Good News!!

Today we got Lances Bone marrow biopsy results!! NO CANCER!! So excited!! And all the other results are in as well, Lance's blood and immune system is now 100% Nathans on every level!! On one of the blood tests they ran Lance scored a 88 and in a normal immune system it would be 700 to 1500, so his immune system is obviously still very low but compared to a zero last year it is growing! The anti-rejection pills he is on and the GVH lower his immune system so hopefully he can get off them and over the GVH and start getting better soon. But overall he is doing great!! It all just takes time. They sounded so happy when they called from Iowa City, it was great to hear good news!! We have said from the beginning that we are thankful that no matter what happens we know that we have a future and a hope with our God in heaven..... but hearing no cancer gives us hope for our time here together which we are thankful for each day!


Lance's sister Julie made him a scrap book recently (we think she made it at scrap book camp!) the whole book is such a great reminder of all God has brought us thru and in it she put one of our blog post written by Lance that we had not read in quite awhile. Here is part of the post for you all to read again.... it seems appropriate to post it again for Lance's One Year Transplant Birthday!! I cannot tell you how blessed we feel... how thankful we are.....It has been amazing watching God work..... Nothing!! absolutely nothing is impossible for God!

It's a Hat Trick
April 22, 2010

After no matches elsewhere the Hall boys shoot, they score! Can you believe Justin came back as a match today for me. The Drs. are all very happy we don't know what they will do now probably just more testing to see which is the the closest match. I must say when Nathan came back as a match I was thinking I wish another of the kids would match just so it would be more obvious Gods hand in all this to people who doubt. And then Cory matched. I thought to myself just think if all of them did. And they did, now after Justin match I am reminded of Gods word in Jeremiah 33:3 where he says: Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. I was given that verse years ago by my friend Louis Jensen when I was going through some things and it has always been a comfort to me but never more real than now when he abundantly answers our prayers and exceeds my expectations. I am so happy and humbled the way things are playing out, I told my Dr today that I'm thinking I will be healed, and there are much bigger things going on here than medicine........ ----Lance


That blog was written in April of 2010...... it was another 7 months before Doctors decided it was safe to go to transplant.... what a long road it has been since his diagnosis in July 2009. God has truly shown us great and mighty things!! We are so thankful to everyone for praying..... We truly know that God has used you all to literally pray us through..... The comfort we feel from knowing others are praying for us is amazing... Your love and support for our family is truly a testimony to the faithfulness of God and his people.... To God alone be the glory great things He hath done!

Happy 1st Transplant Birthday Lance!! And many more! ---Penny

Thanksgiving

Hello everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I know we did! All of my brothers and their families came over and it really was a great day! It really felt like the first "normal" Thanksgiving in a long time. It was so nice to have the whole family over and best of all Dad wasn't in the hospital this year!!! We've been thinking a lot lately about where we were at this time last year. Dad was in the middle of having his chemo treatments and then just a few days later he had his transplant. Wow can you believe on the 30th of this month he will be one year out from his transplant!! Where did this year go?? It seems so crazy that its been a year already since we all sat in Dad's hospital room watching Nathan's cells go into Dad and praying that the transplant would take. Things can change so much in a year! And as I sat watching the whole family here the other night just sitting around eating, laughing, talking, and playing games together I realized just how much we have to be thankful for this year. Just for starters Dad is still here!!!!! Around this time last year we really didn't know where we would be at this point. We didn't know whether the transplant would work or not and we didn't know whether or not we would all be able to be together this Thanksgiving. God has been so good to us! And even though we are not out of the woods yet we are just so thankful for all that God has done for us!

In church this morning they were talking about being thankful in all our circumstances and I know for myself this is something that I am constantly working on. Thank goodness that we have a patient God! One of those circumstances that we would like to ask for prayer for though is that Dad came down with a cold on Thursday. It has continued to get a little worse each day and last night he started running a fever. We called down to I.C. this morning and they sent us to the emergency room so dad could get some chest X-Rays. Thankfully the chest X-Rays came back clear but they did find out that Dad has a sinus infection. They put him on some antibiotics, so hopefully that will help clear things up, but we would appreciate some prayer that the infection would go away quickly and that Dad would start feeling better soon. He feels pretty bad today and has spent the day in bed. His stomach has also been bothering him and we're hoping that this is just from the cold and not more GVH starting so we would appreciate some prayer for that also! Thank you so much for all your prayers! We'll write again soon! Elisabeth

Some results!

Just want to give an update on yesterdays appointment and thank you all for praying. It sure was a long day but it went well. Bone density test and lung test came out good. Lance would like to do better (SURPRISE) but the doctors were really happy with how well he did after all he has been through! All his blood counts looked pretty good, it does show that he has more GVH going on than last month which is why he hasn't felt to good but the good news is that it has not attacked any vital organs like the liver,kidneys or lungs. Lance was able to start getting his shots yesterday so that was a big step forward! Bone marrow test went about as well as a bone marrow can go as far as the procedure (not fun)... sure wish he didn't have to get those.....those results will not be in for a week or so. I know we might have mentioned this before but there is an interesting detail with the GVH and they reminded us of it yesterday, that GVH is where the new donor cells attack Lance's body as they realize it is not their body and want out! BUT in Lance's type of Leukemia they also realize that the cancer is not right and attack that so having a little GVH can actually be a good thing for a little while as long as it doesn't get out of control. So with as much GVH as he has had lately we are hopeful the bone marrow biopsy will come back with no cancer! They also decided to try and take him off his high blood preassure med so Lance is happy about that! They set up an appointment with an eye doctor to check the GVH in his eyes and also for any problems from all the meds. So overall it went well and now we wait for the rest of the test results. Waiting....Trusting and Thanking God ! ----Penny

Big Appointment!

We head to Iowa City tomorrow for Lance's BIG appointment. We would ask for prayer as it is a long day of testing. Lance is supposed to start getting his childhood immunizations tomorrow and get a flu vaccine. Besides the eye issues this month Lance just hasn't felt good (sore muscles, muscle spasms, tired, dry mouth.... just to name a few things he has had, he NEVER complains but we can tell he just doesn't feel good) Please pray that all the new cells will get along with Lance's body so there will be no more GVH issues!! There are so many side effects from all the meds that Lance has to be on until the GVH is no longer an issue. Don't know if all the problems this month are from the GVH or the side effects from the meds or both. It is a big step for him to start on his shots so please pray that they don't have to be delayed and that all the test come back "NO CANCER" and "NO DAMAGE"!!! Just can't believe that this month is his One Year transplant birthday on the 30th! Thank you all for praying for us.... This last month as Lance hasn't felt to good.....God reminded me that our circumstances might change from day to day or even moment to moment.... BUT God doesn't change!! GOD IS FAITHFUL ALWAYS!!!!!! Praise and Thank God with us for His Faithfulness to us!! ---Penny

Quick Update on Dad

Hey everyone thought I would write a quick update on how Dad is doing. By Monday morning Dad's eyes were a little better but still pretty sore, so we decided to call I.C. The doctors seemed to think that since they had gotten a little better that we would just watch it for now and see what happens. They did give him some allergy medicine because they thought maybe he has some allergy's along with the GVH. It seemed to help a little bit but his eyes are still pretty sore. So we would appreciate some continued prayer that his eyes would continue to get better and that he won't have to go back on any steroids! Thanks again for all your prayers! Elisabeth

Oct. 30

Wow where do I begin! Its been awhile since we've posted and lots of stuff has been going on! Well I guess I'll start with the hockey game. A couple of weeks ago there was a game played by our Dubuque hockey team (the Fighting Saints) to benefit cancer and a jersey was donated in my Dad's name. We weren't sure if Dad would be able to go to the game because of the big crowd but he ended up being able to go and had a ton of fun. Nathan, Gavin, Helen, Mom, and I also went along it was a fun night for everyone! Dad was even able to catch up with a few of his old hockey buddies! I'll post of pic below of some of them with Dad! It was so nice to be able to get out and do something normal again and we were so thankful to get to go!

Lets see what’s next.....well we had some company yesterday! Ashley, Dillan, and Chayce came up for the day! Jamie, Cory, Hayden, and Camryn also came over in the morning to see everybody, and so Hayden could play with here cousin Dillan! They had so much fun playing together and decorating Halloween cookies! Its hard to believe how fast they are growing up! It was so cute to watch them run around together! I'll post a pic below of the two little partners in crime! :)

Dad went to the doctor again a little over a week ago and everything continues to be going pretty well. Next month will be a BIG appointment with another biopsy, lung, bone, and heart test, and he's also getting all his childhood vaccinations again! It will be a busy day for sure! One thing they were able to tell from all his blood test this time was that his GVH is flaring up again. Its funny how they can tell that even before he has symptoms but sure enough this week he has been having more GVH issues again. It has mainly hit his eyes this time which makes opening them uncomfortable and makes it hard for him to see. This problem started to get worse over the weekend so Mom is going to call the doctors in the morning to see if they can give him any other eye drops to help him. So we would appreciate some prayers that they can get this problem under control and that he won't have to go back on any steroids! Well I better get going! Thanks again for all your prayers! Elisabeth

The game!

Cousins :)

Lemonade Stand

Hello again! First off a quick update on dad. He is still doing great! He hasn't had to go back on any of the steroids and is sloooowwwwllllyyy starting to get some of his energy back...well that is the energy he had when he was on the steroids. He was really tired right after they took him off of them. Dad has even been able to go into work part-time again which is a huge blessing and he is really been enjoying being able to go in again! Other than that though things are pretty much the same at our house :)

In other news, last Friday Nicole and the kids had a lemonade stand to raise money for the America Cancer Society! The kids had so much fun and they even raised quite a bit of money! They invited their friends and neighbors to come over and their big slogan was "Kids Against Cancer"! I went over to help in the afternoon and it was so much fun to watch them! They did a great job! Anyways I thought I would post a picture below of them and their friends! Have a great night everybody! Elisabeth

Update on Dad and a little football stud :)

Hello again! Well its been a little while since we've posted and our favorite tv show (hawaii-five-O) starts in a few minutes but I thought I'd write a quick update! Dad has been off of the steriods for a little over a week now and seems to be doing pretty well! He still has to use his steriod creams and eye drops but so far thankfully, everything seems to be staying under control! This is such a answer to prayer! The last time he tried to go off of his steriods it definitely did not go this well! We are going back down to I.C. on Wednesday so we it will be interesting to hear what the doctors have to say...especially since cold and flu season is going to be starting up again soon.

Well its starting to feel like fall again, colder weather, shorter days, and lets not forget that football has started back up! :) We not only have the Vikings and Hawkeyes to watch this year though...we also have Gavin to watch! Yep, Gavin is old enough to play tackle football this year! Hard to believe how fast he is growing up! He plays for the patriots and so far this year they are 2-0! He is doing soooo good! Even scored a touchdown his firstgame! And not only is he a super football stud now but if you ask me he's also the cutest one on the team to! :D And if you don't believe me I'll post some pics of him below so you can see for yourself :) Have a good night everyone! Elisabeth

Ready for the kick off

Action Shot :)

Number 40 ready to go!