Happy New Year's Eve!

 

We can't believe that another year is coming to an end.

2013 can be described in many ways. At times, it was hard, difficult, lonely, and filled with long, never ending days. At other times, it was happy, joy filled, and peaceful.

Looking back:
We rang in 2013 at home together. In April, Elena was able to return to school and church. Elena reached the one year anniversary of her bone marrow transplant. Liv graduated from fifth grade. Elena graduated from eighth grade. We spent a wonderful summer together doing all the things we couldn't do last summer. We went on a trip of a lifetime - Elena's Make A Wish trip to Hawaii. This fall, we slowly adjusted to new schools, new grades, and new schedules.

One thing we have come to realize is that every year is filled with joy and pain. What we are learning is how to continue to see God's faithfulness and blessings in both, how to see joy in each new day, how to appreciate the little things, how to let go, and how to breathe.  

No matter what challenges we continue to face, we are thankful for our many blessings.
We know that God is faithful and promises to carry us through the hard times. We are thankful for your presence in our lives, for continuing to ask how we are doing and how our girls are. Thank you for faithfully praying for our family. Your presence and prayers continue to encourage us daily.

We wish you a healthy and blessed 2014. We pray this new year will be a wonderful one!
As we move into a new year, we hope to use this blog to document many new joys and happy memories that we can look back on in the years to come. 

In Him,
The Tates

"Trust in Him at all times, pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge."
Psalm 62:8

Cooley's Fundraiser for CURE TODAY

Are you wondering what’s for 

lunch today or dinner tonight?!

Have Cooley’s Pizza and help support 

CURE Childhood Cancer

CURE Fundraiser at Cooley’s Pizza

TODAY- Tuesday, October 29th 

All Day

In Honor of Elena Tate and Abby Boone

25% will go to CURE Childhood Cancer

You can order online at http://cooleyspizza.com

or call:

Suwanee Location   

1120 Peachtree Ind. Blvd.

770-904-6463      

THANK YOU Andy and Courtney Cooley!!

Thank You!!

The girls from the 2011 CURE Initiative photo shoot - before Elena relapsed in 2012

Thanks to our generous family and friends, we have met our goal of raising $2000 this month for CURE Childhood Cancer's research initiatives! Thank you for making a difference is the lives of children as CURE works to find better treatments for childhood cancer and most importantly to find a cure!

Thank you for loving us through the good and the bad! 
Thank you for joining us in the fight!

 Here's another picture from the 2011 CURE Initiative photo shoot.

Just because September is coming to an end, doesn't mean you still can't donate.

The girls' elementary school (& where Christy works) is have a Hat Day this Friday, September 27th, where students can donate $1 and wear a hat to school. All proceeds will be donated to CURE.

CURE's September Initiative: CURE's "Kids Conquer Cancer One Day at a Time" continues all month. Click here for more information or to donate:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/elenaandoliviatate/2013-cures-kids-conquer-cancer-one-day-at-a-time

In Him,

The Tates

"For I know the plans I have for you." declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Tate Girls Day with CURE Childhood Cancer

Today is the day! 

Elena and Olivia are being honored today by CURE Childhood Cancer for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. 

This past week, we learned about three more children who have been diagnosed with cancer. One is our cousin, Sophie. Today, she is undergoing brain surgery at Texas Children's Hospital to remove a tumor.  

We hope you will share our story with your friends and family. By doing so, you will help us raise awareness about childhood cancer.  We ask that you join us in this fight and consider donating to CURE in honor of our girls, their fight, their perseverance, and their grace.

Please help us in our goal to raise money today in our girls' honor to help fund research that will lead to better treatments and cures for pediatric cancers. 

Click here for more information or to donate to our cause.

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/elenaandoliviatate/2013-cures-kids-conquer-cancer-one-day-at-a-time

Thank you for your continued love, support and prayers!

In Him,

The Tates

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 

1 Corinthians 13:13

We Invite You to Join in the Fight

September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
CURE's Kids Conquer Cancer
One Day at a Time

In our last post, we shared with you the great and not so great things going on in our lives.

Those not so great things:

• trying to meet the demands of school work and homework
• nightly trying to keep up with multiple classes and multiple assignments
• not knowing how to best help our girls learn, retain and process information
• feeling overwhelmed because our girls feel that way
• feeling helpless because our girls feel that way
• the harsh reality that every school year, every transition, every assignment, every test, will be hard for our girls

Watching our girls' struggle daily because of the harm their brains suffered is our reality - that is our life. The very procedures that saved their lives, Liv's brain surgery and Elena's chemo and radiation, hurt them. We grow tired of these not so great things. 

It is hard.

It hurts. 

It also fuels us to fight. 

We fight for the girls to receive the best education possible.

We fight to learn more about their disabilities.

We fight to help fund research that will lead to better treatments and cures for pediatric cancers. 

Because you know us, you are already fully aware of the statistics. 

In the next 12 months, 12,700 children will be diagnosed with cancer.

80% will survive - 20% will die

Cancer is the #1 cause of death by disease of children.

Today, 46 families were told, "Your child has cancer."

Today, 7 children took their last breath.

3 out of 5 children suffer from long-term side effects from cancer.

That is Elena and Liv's reality.

For the fifth year in a row, we have been asked by CURE to share our story. It is an honor to join such an amazing organization in raising money to fund research that will lead to better treatments and cures for pediatric cancers.  In the years since our girls' diagnosis' , there has been little improvement. One of the factors for this is the severe lack of awareness of childhood cancer and the severe lack of funding.

Only 3% of federal funding for cancer research is focused on childhood cancers.

Childhood cancer is not one disease. 

There are more than 25 different types, each requiring their own research. 

Childhood cancer is not the same as adult cancer. 

Separate research and treatments are required. 

This year, CURE is funding $2.5 million in research spanning 13 major studies.

During Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and beyond, CURE Childhood Cancer is committed to educating people about childhood cancer and empowering them to fight back. So how does childhood cancer become a priority cause in this country?  The journey begins with each of us.  We need your help to raise more funds and more awareness.

This year, CURE Childhood Cancer will honor Elena and Liv on September 16th.

You can find them on CURE's web site www.curechildhoodcancer.org

blog http://www.curechildhoodcancer.org/news-resources/blog

and here http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/elenaandoliviatate/2013-cures-kids-conquer-cancer-one-day-at-a-time

As we have in the past, our goal is to raise as much money as we can to help fund research that will lead to better treatments and cures for pediatric cancers. Childhood cancer is severely underfunded and will never make the progress it needs to without money for research.

We hope you will help and share our story with your friends and family and ask them to join you in donating in honor of our girls, their fight, their perseverance, and their grace.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us, care for us, and encourage us.

In Him,

The Tates

"For I know the plans I have for you." declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Great and Not So Great

Since our last post in July, many things have happened.
Some great, some not so great.

The great things have been:
receiving some good news about Elena's test results - her heart, lungs, and thyroid are all working well - huge praise!
great counts for Elena at her August clinic visit - they were the best they have been since transplant - another praise!
hearing the news that Elena does not have to go to the clinic for THREE months! A first in FOUR years! Praise God!

going to the park and pool

back to school shopping

meeting new teachers
going to Louisiana for our niece's wedding

seeing Christy's brother and his family who live in Colorado and
filming a commercial for CURE that will air on 11Alive during the month of September, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

The not so great things have been:
trying to meet the demands of school work and homework
trying to keep up with multiple classes and multiple assignments nightly watching our girls' struggle daily because of the harm caused by Liv's brain surgery and Elena's chemo and radiation
not knowing how to best help our girls learn, retain and process information
feeling overwhelmed because our girls feel that way
feeling helpless because our girls feel that way
the harsh reality that every school year, every transition, every assignment, every test, will be hard for our girls

(pictures of all of this would be bad!)

Once again, we are growing really, really weary of the not so great things. 
We continue to try to choose joy each day, but finding that joy in the midst of the chaos, anger and sadness is hard.

Please continue to pray for us.

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God." Romans 8:26-27

In Him,
The Tates

One Year Appointment Update

Thank you for your prayers today for Elena's one year BMT appointment!

Many prayers were answered! Praise God! All of Elena's appointments went very smoothly. The best news of the day... Elena was officially discharged from the bone marrow transplant team! For the next year, she will be monitored by her leukemia oncologists. After that, she will then be transferred to the survivor clinic! At that point, she will be under the care of the childhood cancer survivor specialists at Aflac Cancer Center at Scottish Rite. 

Perhaps the best news for Elena was that she can get her ears pierced (again!) and stop taking the weekend antibiotic Bactrim. We will also be going to our pediatrician in a couple of weeks to begin Elena's re-immunization process. Remember the BMT process wiped out Elena's entire blood system, she now has to get all of her infant immunizations again. 

We will have to wait a couple of weeks to hear the results of Elena's pulmonary function test, echo and blood tests. We did receive her routine blood counts which were good even though her ANC went down some.

Thanks again for praying!

We will post pictures from Elena's Make A Wish Hawaii trip real soon. We will also be soaking in as much summer lovin' as we can in this last eight days before school starts!

In Him,

The Tates

"I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High." Psalm 9:1-2

One Year Appointment for Elena Today

Today we will be returning to Egelston for Elena's one year post BMT appointment.
We ask for prayers for all appointments to be on time and go smoothly. Please pray that Elena's bloodwork will come back clear, that her counts will be great and that all tests will have favorable outcomes. Today in addition to blood work, Elena will have an echo and a pulmonary function test.

We thank you in advance for your prayers!

In Him,
The Tates

"We wait in hope for the Lord, for her is our help and our shield." Psalm 33:20

What a Difference a Year Makes

Today is Day +365!

Today is the one year anniversary of Elena's life saving bone marrow transplant!  We can't believe it has been a year!

At this time last year, Elena was in the hospital.  During the days before her transplant Elena received both chemo and radiation. This was to kill any cancer cells in Elena's body and also to help prepare Elena's body to receive the new, healthy blood stem cells. These days were very hard on Elena physically and mentally. We had lost our summer and joy was hard to find.

We all continued to struggle over the next 87 days as Elena fought to recover and come home.  We were feeling overwhelmed, scared, and sad.  Liv was lost in the storm of it all.  The 189 days that followed Elena's return home were spent with Elena unable to attend school.  More challenges to overcome, more opportunities to choose joy! 

We asked you for your prayers, for our focus to remain on God moment by moment, day by day.  Our friends reminded us that God is faithful.  He knows what we need before we ask, and He is able to do more than we can ask or imagine.  We asked Him to direct our steps every day.

We shared with you a list of specific prayer requests. Do you remember?

Here's the list and added updates:

That God will protect Elena from the potential long-term side effects she could face from treatment. (such as damage to the brain, heart, liver, bladder, kidneys, thyroid and other glands, and eyes (cataracts), risk of other secondary cancers, and more)  
.:. so far so good, keep praying .:.

That Elena will not develop any complications that will lead to time in ICU or other problems (such as VOD pneumonia)
.:. answered - Praise God! .:.

That Elena won’t be allergic to anything she is given
.:. answered - Praise God! .:.

That God will help Elena deal with having to stay on the BMT hall and not being outside for 4-6 weeks 
.:. answered - Praise God! .:.

That God will help all of us deal with the time apart, and that it will pass quickly
.:. answered - Praise God! .:.

That God will keep us from getting sick during this time
.:. answered - Praise God! .:.

That God will use us to share His love with others we meet in the hall and in the hospital, to encourage them and/or to point them to the source of our hope – Jesus
.:. answered - Praise God! .:.

That God will protect Olivia during this time
.:. answered - Praise God! .:.

That God will help Elena need as few transfusions as possible and let her counts rebound as quickly as they can
.:. answered - Praise God! .:.

That God will guide all our nurses and doctors to take great care of Elena
.:. answered - Praise God! .:.

That God will help us get the rest we need throughout this time
.:. answered - Praise God! .:.

WOW! It is amazing to see how God has worked in our lives!

Now, a year later, we have the gift of another summer! We have new joy and a new appreciation for life!  We are so happy to be together as a family and are enjoying life.

We know that God brought us through this past year to today. We know these truths remain - God is faithful, He knows what we need before we ask, and He is able to do more than we can ask or imagine. 

We continue to ask Him to direct our steps every day.  We continue to lean on Him and on you when fear and doubt creep into our thoughts.  We are so very grateful to Him and to you.  There are no words to completely express our thankfulness to you for your prayers and your steadfast love.

In the book, Bittersweet, the author says, "Heartbreak brings us lots of places - to despair, bitterness, emptiness, numbness, isolation.  But because God is just that good, if we allow the people who love us to walk with us right through the brokenness, heartbreak can also lead to a deep sense of God's presence."  She continues to say she believes that God does his best work in our lives during great heartbreak and loss.  "I believe that much of that rich work is done by the hands of people who love us, who dive into the wreckage with us and show us who God is, over and over and over."

For us, these statements are so true.  We lived them.  Thank you for walking with us, and at times carrying us right through our brokenness.  Thank you for doing God's work and for showing us who God is, over and over and over!  We are so very grateful!

In Him,
The Tates

"Carry one another's burdens, in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."
Galatians 6:2

"I will praise you. O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you." Psalm 9:1-2

Make A Wish

Do you know where you were a year ago? We do!

We were preparing and packing for Elena's almost three month stay at Egleston and for her life saving bone marrow transplant. At this time last year, we were saddened about our lost summer and the time we would not be together as a family. We were scared about Elena's nine day chemo, radiation treatment plan and transplant. We couldn't imagine life a year later.

Today, here we are. A family together doing all the things we love to do. Not a day goes by without us giving thanks to God for this day, this moment, this summer, this life.  For He has blessed us with the love of family and friends who take such great care of us. He has also blessed us with experiences that would not have happened if Elena had not had cancer.

Tomorrow, we will be beginning one of those experiences. Elena has been granted a Make A Wish trip to Hawaii. We are so excited and very thankful for this once in a lifetime opportunity. We still can't believe it!

We ask that you please pray for safe travels, physical strength for Elena, daily protection for each of us, and a wonderful trip filled with lots of great memories.

In Him,
The Tates

"In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you."
Psalm 33:21-22

Family Time

In July, our summer fun continued with a trip to Louisiana. We spent time with our families and loved every minute of it.

We enjoyed our favorite Louisiana foods : beignets, shrimp po-boys, fried fish, pork roast with rice, turtle cookies, meatball stew, eggplant and shrimp casserole, and snow cones!! Boy was it good!!

We spent time together laughing, talking, playing, swinging, swimming, driving golf carts, shopping, fishing, and cooking. It was so much fun relaxing and simply being together. We are thankful for the love of our families!

Enjoy the pics!

 

 

 

We loved being "home" in Louisiana!

In Him,
The Tates

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13

Clinic Update and More Summer Fun

The blessings continue to come this summer at the Tate house!

The girls had great clinic appointments this week. Both girls were seen by their primary oncologists. We have been seeing Liv's doctor for nine years and Elena's doctor for four years.  It is still hard to believe that we have been a part of the AFLAC Cancer and Blood Disorders Center for nine years.  As hard as these years have been, we are so very blessed to live so close to an amazing children's hospital and pediatric cancer center.  These doctors, nurses, and staff are like family to us and truly love our girls.

Both girls were given good reports from their doctors. They are so very pleased with their progress and accomplishments both medically and personally. Since this was Liv's fifth year having clear scans, she does not have an MRI or go back to the clinic until summer of 2015! Praise God!
Elena's counts were good and she's looking good. She will continue to be seen monthly for now. Elena has reached her 11th month post transplant. Praise God!

We continue to fill our summer days with as friends, family, and fun and count our blessings every day.

We spent a fun filled weekend with the Hankinsons!

AT THE POOL

 

 

SHOOTING A BB GUN

a first for the girls

 

MAKING A CRAFT

 

LOVING ON COOPER

Thank you Phil, Cori, and Cooper for a fabulous 'staycation' weekend!

Can't wait til our next one together!

 

 

We also enjoyed a couple of days with

Grandma and Grandpa Tate, Aunt Natalie,

and cousin Sage from Louisiana.

 

Over the past year, Aunt Natalie has been hard at work on a very special prayer quilt for Elena. It was a huge surprise and is absolutely beautiful!

She had all of Mark's family contribute material to the project. It is an amazing work of art and love. It was fun to read all of the names and see how each person's fabric fit their personality or Elena's. We all LOVE it!

 

 

After time at the pool, getting yogurt and pedicures, going out to dinner, and watching a late night movie, they girls slept in!

 

 

Our summer fun continues next week with a trip to see our families in Louisiana. Thank you for continuing to surround our family with love and prayers! Thank you for rejoicing in all that God has given us this summer!

 

In Him,

The Tates

 

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Thessalonians 5:16-18