September

Hannah's last appointment went pretty smoothly. Her blood counts were way down this time. We're not sure why. They have been good for the past several months, so it is odd that they dropped to about half of what they had been.

Getting a flu shot isn't fun for any of us, but adding it to the end of an appointment full of pokes did not make Hannah happy at all! She let the whole wing of the hospital know that she wasn't happy about it and it took three of us to hold her down. You would think that a little flu shot would be no big deal compared to what she's used to getting.

After Hannah's appointment we were able to visit with some sweet friends who were also there for treatment. In this picture, Hannah is curled up in my lap, still recovering from being so upset. After she felt better, she loved getting to spend time with Hannah Cate.

We took a walk in the garden and it was decorated for fall. 

When Hannah was really mad during her appointment, she yelled at Eric and me, "I quit!! I'm never coming back here again! I'm going to tear all the numbers off our wall at home and throw them away! I quit!" Once we got home, though, she was excited to turn the number 12 over and count down for just 11 more.

Lauren lost her two front teeth and is pretty proud of it. She just wishes the two new teeth wouldn't grow in until Christmas so she could sing the "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" song.

We Are Counting Down

   Even though we are disappointed that our trips to Atlanta won't end any time soon, we've decided to count down Hannah's remaining chemo appointments. We made these fabric numbers and hung them on the wall of our dining/living room. Just twelve more to go!!

   Hannah had her yucky appointment this past month where she has to be sedated. She knows what all this entails and dreads it. For some reason her blood sugar has been dropping during these appointments. This time she wouldn't wake up from being sedated. It was a little scary for us. We are glad that she only has to have this done every three months!

One Year To Go... But Not Really

Hannah had her first August appointment this morning (it works out where she will have two appointments this month). I had been so excited to post on here that she only has one year left for her treatment. While this is true (she will be finished with treatment next August), we have never gotten past treatment in our discussions with her doctors. They told us today that when she gets off treatment next year she will continue to go to the hospital for appointments and blood work every four weeks for ANOTHER YEAR after that. So we will be making monthly trips to Atlanta until August 2015, then every three months for a long time after that. The risk of relapse is highest in the year following treatment and gradually gets less with time. That is why she will be carefully monitored that first year off treatment.

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. I am thankful that such a great team of doctors will be carefully tracking her health. Only going once a month is better than going once a week like we did for six months - I am thankful for that. I just had it in my mind that I could kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel, that we had to just get through the next year. I'm feeling a little discouraged today. I hate it for Hannah. She dreads going to the hospital and getting poked. She won't be getting chemo in her body after this next year of treatment, which is so much better for her. But nothing will change as far as us scheduling our lives around these trips...finding someone to keep Evan and Lauren, Eric taking off work, the long drive, Hannah hating to go to the hospital, etc. It feels like this is never going to end.

We have chosen to be positive and thankful through this journey. We will continue to be that way - I just need a couple of days to get used to this new information and get it in my mind that this is the way it's going to be. I have to keep remembering all we have to be thankful for. It just feels a little disheartening today.

Hannah begged to get out of the stroller and run with us this morning. 

Thrift Shop

My kids don't even listen to the regular radio - but somehow they know every word of this song. I thought this video was hilarious! (And yes, we are in a restaurant.)

July

As usual, I am very late in putting these posts on here. This month has been good. Hannah has felt good overall except that her stomach hurts almost every day and is often upset. I think she is extra tired some days. Neither of our other kids still needed a nap at age four and she usually does. But if those are the only side effects of all the medicine she is taking, we are thankful!

Our sweet girl, Lauren, turned seven!

Hannah's chemo appointment was scheduled for July 5, so we went up early to try to make it a fun family time. Eric and I ran the (very wet and rainy) Peachtree Road Race on the 4th. We were able to run in support of the Lighthouse Family Retreat.

We watched fireworks between rain showers. 

Also, our kids have a new cousin - Hendrix Spurlock. Congratulations, Rocky and Whitney!

Asking for your help!

You could probably guess this post was coming. :)

This is where we ask for your help.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that Eric and I are training for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. We cannot believe that we are training to run 13.1 miles! It seems almost impossible! But when we think of what our little Hannah has had to go through this year (and the other families we've met in the same circumstances), it doesn't seem that impossible at all.

Unfortunately, most everyone's life has been affected by cancer. Will you help us by donating to this most worthy cause? Your donation will help bring support to those affected by blood cancers and help us reach the ultimate finish line of finding a cure for blood cancers. Just one example - research funded by the Leukemia and Lymphoma society is responsible for medicines like Gleevec. We personally know children whose lives are being saved because of this new medication. This is your opportunity to help save a life!

I hope you will consider making a donation. All donations are 100% tax deductible. To make a donation online, quickly and securely, please visit my TNT homepage. Your donation is appreciated more than we will ever be able to express!

If you know of anyone who would be interested in donating to the LLS mission, please forward the link to your contacts. We are incredibly grateful for your support!

Lighthouse Family Retreat

We had the privilege of attending the Lighthouse Family Retreat for a week in June. (I've waited to post about it because I was waiting to get some pictures in the mail.) It was one of the most wonderful weeks our family has ever had together! The LFR describes what their mission is as:
    "Lighthouse Family Retreat serves children with cancer and their families at a seaside retreat to help them laugh, restore family relationships and find hope in God."

We had heard from other families how great the retreat was, but we had no idea how much fun it would be and how good it would be for each one of us. There are no words to describe how amazing the volunteers were! We were assigned two families as our personal volunteers and there were many more there to cook, serve, do the music/worship, play with the kids and help with activities. There was a whole group of Summer Staff volunteers. These were college students who had given their entire summer vacation to serve the families at these retreats. This is a picture of just some the volunteers entertaining us at dinner:

We definitely had the best family volunteers assigned to us. Here is us with Nate and Lindsey:

We somehow didn't get a picture of us with our other family volunteers, Bob, Barb and their granddaughter, Molly. (I'm very sad about that!) Lauren and Hannah quickly became great friends with Molly.

Lauren and Hannah fell in love with one of the college volunteers, Carly. She spent hours playing with them and was so incredibly sweet! All of the volunteers took a week of their vacation time and paid their room and board expenses to serve families like ours for a week. Who does that? We are blown away from this and the love that was poured out on us!

Our kids had the best time playing with the children of the volunteers and other retreat families. They had lots of time to play on this big open area. There were games of football, nine-square and tag going on all the time.

This is the group photo of all the retreat families. Look how many people were blessed by this ministry!

We are so thankful to this ministry for allowing us to have a week to relax and have fun at the beach! Each morning the kids went to their fun activities and the parents went to a group time. It was such a unique and healing experience to be in a room full of parents who are also walking through this journey of childhood cancer. We enjoyed every minute of our week and hope to be a volunteer family one day!