Day One Update

Good Evening!
We are happy to say that Day 1 of Round Two was filled with answered prayers!

Tonight we are thanking God for:
A peaceful night's rest
An overall smooth, uneventful day at the clinic and in our travels
A great count report for Elena - her ANC was 1520!
Elena's body tolerating today's chemo very well (She was only slightly nauseous on the way home.)
The company of friends at the clinic
Having a wonderful homecooked meal to come home to and for the friend who prepared it
The strength, energy, peace and patience that can only come from Him
All of you who prayed for us throughout the day

We will go to bed tonight comforted in knowing that He will continue to be our strength and shield and that you are holding us up in prayer. We are not in this alone.
Thank you for continuing to show us that!

Looking ahead to tomorrow:
There has been a little addition to tomorrow's schedule - Elena will be having both of her knees x-rayed before her clinic appointment.  She has been experiencing knee pain for about a week. There is the possibility that it is being caused by a condition called avascular necrosis. It is basically bone deterioration as a result of poor blood supply. This can happen when children are on long term treatments involving steroids as well as some
kinds of chemo.

Please continue to pray for the following: 

Pray that every minute of our day, from the time we leave our house in the morning until we are all reunited in the evening, goes smoothly.
Pray that every needed drug will completely do the job it is designed to do. This week the drugs are Etoposide (designed to damage the DNA that tells the cells how to replicate) and Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) (designed to attack cells in their resting phase).
Pray that Elena will not suffer any further negative side effects now or long term from her treatment. These lists are overwhelming.
Pray for clear x-ray images of Elena's knees.
Pray for the doctors to know what the next step should be after seeing the x-rays.
Pray for continued rest, strength, energy, peace and patience for all.

In Him,
The Tates

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song." Psalm 28:7

Prayer Requests for Round Two

As we are about to begin round two of treatment, please join us in praying for the following:

Please pray for a peaceful night's rest.
Pray for Elena's body to be strong and ready for the drugs she will receive.
Pray that every needed drug will completely do the job it is designed to do.
Pray that Elena will not suffer any further negative side effects now or long term.
Pray that every minute of our day, from the time we leave our house in the morning until we are all reunited in the evening, go smoothly.
Pray for strength, patience and energy for all.

In Him,
The Tates

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped."
Psalm 28:7

Our First Week Home

We can't believe that it's been a week since our last post!
Our week has been filled with its share of ups an downs. It has been filled with work, school, cooking, cleaning, laundry - regular every day life. It has also been filled with Elena taking medications every morning and night, flushing her lines, trying to figure out how to best try to bathe when your chest can't get wet, an appointment at the clinic, Elena's hands and feet peeling, feet and knees hurting -  all daily reminders that life is not normal.

The best parts of the week:
*going to church together - all four of us! - a first since Elena's treatment began
*a night spent outside, enjoying a wonderful meal prepared by a friend, playing games, and jumping on the trampoline
*both girls going to dance class - another first since Elena's treatment began
*enjoying ice cream sundaes - all of the toppings arrived in the mail - all we had to do was add ice cream - a fabulous gift from wonderful friends!
*Friday night pizza and a movie

We are thankful to say we have been busy living.
Living our life.

Next week, we will still be busy living, it will just look much different. Elena begins round two of her treatment. We will be going to the clinic every day, Monday through Friday. While there, Elena will have to receive an hour of fluids, two hours of chemo and another hour of fluids. We are prepared for each day to be a long one.

Thank you for your prayers and your love!
We'll post specific prayer requests tomorrow.

In Him,
The Tates

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever."
Psalm 107:1

News!

Thank you for so much for praying for our family as we continue to try to live our lives at home, waiting and wondering.  Well, part of that waiting and wondering came to an end last night. Our favorite nurse practitioner called with the results on the MRD (minimal residual disease) test - - Elena's results show only .1% MRD!  Amazing!  While this means that there are still leukemia cells present in her bone marrow, the praise is in the fact that the first four weeks of chemo worked!  In those weeks, it was effective in killing the cancer cells.  When Elena relapsed, her bone marrow was made up of more than 50% leukemia cells. Her medical team is very happy with these results. So are we!!

So, what's next?  Elena will continue to receive more chemo. Her next round of treatment will began April 30th. They hope this will kill the remaining cancer cells or at least keep these cells from becoming active before starting the high dose chemo leading up to Elena's bone marrow transplant.

Please pray for our upcoming appointment on Wednesday, April 25th.
Pray that we will be prepared to ask any necessary questions.
Pray for continued protection from anything harmful to Elena while she is back at school and church and trying to live a "normal" life.
Pray for daily frustrations and aggravations from things not being "normal" to lessen and for each of us to handle these daily reminders with grace and patience.
Please continue to pray for Elena's doctors to have God’s perfect wisdom in every decision they make regarding her treatment. 
Pray that God will ultimately use all of this treatment to rid her body of cancer once and for all.

In Him,
The Tates

"Look to the Lord and His strength, seek His face always."
1 Chronicles 16:11

A Good Day

Thank you for your prayers! Overall, it was a good day. It was a very long day, but good. Many praises for a good ride to the hospital despite the morning traffic, Elena's counts are continuing a slow but steady rise, and there were no complications with Elena's sedation!

We arrived at 9:00 am and were quickly called to the back. There, we had to wait a long time. Elena's doctor decided to give her chemo today to treat her brain and spine. That order had to be placed and prepared. Elena ended up not being sedated until 11:50 this morning!!
By then, she was pretty hungry and tired of waiting. While sedated, they performed a bone marrow aspirate and the lumbar puncture to administer the chemo.

We will not know the results from today's bone marrow test for about a week. We were told that the marrow is sent to a lab in Seattle. This lab has very sensitive equipment and will be able to identify any MRD down to .01 % - pretty amazing!

Elena was also told that she can resume all regular activities including going to school!! She will have to continue to practice really good health habits to protect herself. Please join us in praying for a hedge of protection to surround Elena as she goes about her everyday life. She's thrilled, we're nervous!!

Elena's next appointment will be next Wednesday at 1pm. We will hopefully find out the results from today's test, as well as hear what our next steps are in terms of Elena's treatment.

So as we wait, we will enjoy each moment, each day and we ask for you to continue to pray for peace, patience, and joy to fill our hearts and home!

In Him,

The Tates

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Praises for Today and Prayers for Tomorrow

Elena is amazing!

Despite daily reminders that this fight is not over just because we are home, Elena continues to be her determined, joyful self. Today, she walked 1.6 miles on the Suwanee Greenway! She was focused and worked hard with her home bound teacher this afternoon. She tries to be content despite her current limitations. She helps us continue to focus on the joy that can be found in each day! Praise God for the sunshine regardless of the storm!

Tomorrow, we will be heading to Scottish Rite at 8:00 am for Elena's 9:00am appointment. She will have her counts checked, a physical check up, and be sedated for a bone marrow aspiration. This test will be used to determine if Elena is in remission.

Please pray:

for an easy ride to the hospital despite morning traffic

for Elena's counts to be where there are supposed to be

for no complications with Elena's sedation

for there to be NO MRD (minimal residual disease) found in Elena's bone marrow

for peace and patience in the waiting for the test results

for us to continue to find joy in each day

In Him,

The Tates

"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you." Psalm 55:22

Peace - Patience -Trust

Home - what a wonderful place to be!

We are home and so enjoying settling back into our old and familiar routines!

What are we having to learn - peace, patience, and trust.

These are things we have struggled with.

These are the things we need.

We met with Elena's bone marrow transplant doctor on Thursday. She was full of wisdom and personality. We like her a lot. She shared a lot of information with us. She also laughed and joked. We liked that! We know what lies ahead will be hard, really hard. We need peace to fill us. We know that what lies ahead still needs time to be put in place. We need patience. We found out that many potential bone marrow donors have been identified as matches for Elena. We need to trust.

The goal - a bone marrow transplant that will lead to Elena's complete healing - will take time. Now that donors have been identified, they have to be "activated". They have to be contacted, agree to further blood testing and typing, be available in the coming weeks/months, and agree to be the donor. So many variables.

Peace, patience, and trust - so needed.
Every minute, every hour, every day.

We remind ourselves. In His time, not ours.

Not an easy thing to do.

Next steps:

Wednesday, April 18 - Elena will have a bone marrow test to determine if she is in remission.

Wednesday, April 25 - A meeting with Elena's primary oncologist to determine what our next steps are. We know it will involve at least another month of chemo leading up to the transplant. We do not know the timing, the drugs, or the details.

Enjoy THIS day - Each day!

Thank you for your love and your prayers!

In Him,

The Tates

"Look to the Lord and His strength, seek His face always." Psalm 105:4