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!

Maybe a little to clean!!

I've waited a couple extra days to be sure before posting an update.... but Lance has slept all night for three nights in a row now without us having to get up and put creams on for the itching AND his rash is definitely looking better!! Iowa City has told us that he can't go off his steroids completely if he still has any rash. Thursday the 8th is the day he is suppose to stop steroids completely so we are praying it will be all gone by then!! We have gone through lots of steroid cream, three bottles of aloe, a large box of baking soda and many many Vitamin E capsules (my newest idea several days ago was to cut them open and put the oil on Lances rash) ..... but we haven't had to up the oral steroids!!!! Thank you all for your prayers!

Well I'm telling you we have one clean garage!! Don't know how long that will last but it looks good today! Funny thing happened... Elisabeth and I were just finishing up out there and decided to scrub his work bench with Lysol... Well we scrubbed and scrubbed and were so proud of how clean we got it! We got off all these old stains...old paint, glue... all sorts of stuff that had been there forever, stuff from all Lance's projects... We brought Lance out to show him and he took one look at it and said it doesn't look like I've ever done anything.... He didn't look happy like we thought he would!! I guess when it comes to a man and his work bench sparkling clean is not a good thing! ---Penny

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.

Exciting News!

We are SOOOOO Excited! Doctors said today that Lance doesn't have to come back down to Iowa City for ONE MONTH!! Lance has had blood work and or doctor appointments weekly or every other week depending on what has been going on for the last two years....and of course many times daily while hospitalized. So this feels like a big step forward! His blood work looked pretty good today and he only has a little GVH symptoms (mainly dry mouth and slight rash) so they said we could give it a try! They want him to continue lowering the steroids gradually over the next month, so if he has any flare ups we are to call but otherwise he doesn't have an appointment for a whole month! The last thing they said to us today was, "Don't touch anything....get out of here!!" They still don't want him exposed to anything...... but overall it was a great visit! Praise for this encouraging news!! ---Penny

Overdue Update

The joke is since Elisabeth is the only one of our kids who is still living at home, when anything is missing or broke or just didn't get done.... She did it! But as much as I'd like to blame this very late blog update on her....it really isn't her fault!! Well anyway.... Lance's last appointment was July 13. Doctors decided to not drop his steroid dose anymore for a couple of weeks to hopefully let his body adjust. The last month has been pretty tough at times. He keeps pushing himself and smiling even when we know he doesn't feel like it, he has had an amazing attitude! We head back down wednesday to Iowa City and we assume they will lower the steroid dose a little more, so please pray that it will go better so they can get him off them soon. They did have to up his anti-rejections meds because he isn't absorbing enough into his blood stream. This med is really hard on him, causing tremors among other things.... We know we have to be patient, it just takes time to get off the meds... so please continue to pray for protection for him not only from the Graft vs. Host disease but from all the side effects of the meds, and of course sickness.

July 9th was our 32nd anniversary!! It was also two years since we found out about the Luekemia.... We really have so much to be thankful for....just having another year together is amazing! I personally want to thank Lance for his great attitude...... He has held me up and helped our whole family with his great attitude and smile! Yes even his teasing has been a blessing but don't tell him I said that! We both want to thank you all once again for being God's hands and feet to us.... praying for us... encouraging us.... Thank you!
----Penny