WOW!



We are thanking God for another spectacular appointment today!!  It was amazing! 

We were in and out of the clinic in record time.
Elena received her second flu shot - a booster. 
Her counts dropped a little, but her doctor said that was not unusual since she is back on Bactrim, an antibiotic which is used to help prevent pneumonia.
Her cyclosporine taper will continue as planned. Yay!
She gets to drop one of her daily doses of magnesium. Less pills!  Woo hoo!
She is not showing any signs of GVHD, which can happen as cyclosporine (the anti-rejection drug) is tapered. Praise God!
She does not have to go back for another BMT clinic appointment for FIVE weeks!

And, perhaps the best news of all...

For the first time in seven months, Elena will be eating take out pizza tonight!!

Yes, her doctor cleared her to begin eating take out food from some restaurants!  Such a simple thing in the past, but such a luxury now.

We continue to be amazed, humbled, and in awe of God's work in our lives.  The fact that Elena is here today and doing so well is miraculous. We are thankful that He has brought us to this day and has been there every step of the way.

We thank you for your continued prayers and presence in our lives!

In Him,
The Tates

"I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High." Psalm 7:17

Appointment Day Friday

We are happy to say that life is still happy at the Tate house. Mark and Liv are both feeling better, but Liv is still hanging on to a bad cough. Please pray for Liv to be 100% better really soon. In all of this, Elena has managed to stay healthy. Praise God!

Please pray for Elena's appointment this Friday, the 22nd. 
Pray for safe travels to the hospital and for the appointment to go by smoothly and quickly.
Pray that Elena and her counts and blood chemistry levels will be as spectacular as her last visit.

Still praying, believing, and choosing joy!

In Him,
The Tate

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7

Day +202

It is not very often that one can remember exactly what they were doing over 200 days ago.  Sometimes it is hard just to remember what happened last week!  For us however, July 25, 2012, which happens to have been 202 days ago, is still very vivid in our minds.  It is a day that we will remember and celebrate forever!  It was the day Elena received her bone marrow transplant. On Sunday when we were talking about the fact that it was Day 200 in Elena's BMT life, she said that she is simply happy to be alive. We are oh so thankful for that too! Praise you Lord!

There are times when that day seems like yesterday and there are other times it feels like a lifetime ago. It is absolutely amazing that we are where we are today - home, together, recovering, growing, strengthening.  There were moments throughout these last 200 days that we didn't know if we would survive the next hour, let alone then next 100 days! We will be forever grateful to God for seeing us through and to each of you who took care of us in so many different ways, including reminding us that God was still there - no matter what. Thank you for still taking care of us, for encouraging us and for loving us now in our new at home phase!

Overall, we are all doing well. Mark and Liv are battling colds, but it's not bad enough to keep them home. Please pray for Elena to stay free of any germs in the house. 

We are just continuing to enjoy each day and each other in the midst of the craziness that comes with life, work, and school.

In our last post, just over two weeks ago, we forgot to mention that another 'spectacular' part of that clinic visit was the fact that Elena's next BMT clinic appointment wouldn't be for another four weeks!  She is FINALLY at the point where her clinic appointments will be monthly! Amen!  Please pray that this will be a part of our new normal. Please pray for that appointment next week, February 22nd. Pray that Elena and her counts and blood chemistry levels will once again be spectacular.

Still praying, believing, and choosing joy!

In Him,
The Tates

"Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Spectacular

Elena's clinic visit was spectacular. According to our fabulous nurse practitioner, Elena looks spectacular and her counts are spectacular. We agreed that Elena is spectacular!

The day got even better when we received the news that Elena's adrenal gland is now functioning properly.  Praise God! Elyse said that her body no longer needs steroids.  Yay!!  Elena's body is finally at the point where she can stop taking steroids and begin the process of weaning off the anti-rejection drug. 

We can not express what joy we felt at the end of this day! SO many praises! Six months after Elena's BMT, we are finally at a turning point, a new phase.  Elena's body is not only stable, it is healing.  We are moving in the right direction.  We are on track for Elena to be off all BMT related medications and most if not all "isolation" restrictions by the beginning of April.  The idea of that seemed so very far away, even unattainable at times, and now it's possibly only two months away.  PRAISE GOD!

On the way to Elena's clinic appointment we heard the song One Thing Remains.
We love this song and talked about how amazing and comforting it is to know that no matter what - - God's love never fails.
On the way home, we heard the same song. We want to share the song lyrics with you.

Higher than the mountains that I face
Stronger than the power of the grave
Constant through the trial and the change
One thing remains
One thing remains
Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me

On and one and on and on it goes
It overwhelms and satisfies my soul
And I never ever have to be afraid
One thing remains

In death and in life I'm confident and covered by the power of your great love
My debt is paid there's nothing that can separate my heart from your great love

So, tonight, like last night, we go to bed overwhelmed and satisfied by God's love for us.

In Him,
The Tates

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

Enough

We are still working on finding peace and joy in every day as life seems to move full steam ahead even though we aren't ready and the pace we love is so much slower.  Having a three day weekend definitely provided some much needed rest, fun, and more time in our days to simply enjoy life. We filled our weekend with a little shopping, lots of laughter, movies, playing at the playground, jewelry making, a long walk on the Suwanee Greenway with friends, and an indoor picnic. Elena can't enjoy eating outside yet - - haven't figured out the whole 'how to eat when you have a mask on' thing.

We also enjoyed a great morning of worship together in the balcony at church. The sermon was "What To Do When You've Had Enough" - - how appropriate is that?!  Through Pastor Dean, we were reminded that God is always enough!

Below are the words from a song we sang on Sunday -Always by Kristian Stanfill:
My foes are many
They rise against me
But I will hold my ground
I will not fear the war
I will not fear the storm
My help is on the way
My help is on the way

Oh, my God
He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear
His promise is true
My God will come through always
Always

Trouble surrounds me
Chaos abounding
My soul will rest in You
I will not fear the war
I will not fear the storm
My help is on the way
My help is on the way

I lift my eyes up
My help comes from the Lord

This Friday, January 25th, will mark the end of Elena's sixth month post transplant.
These six months have been a war, a storm filled with trouble and chaos.  We have had enough.  But, we know, without a doubt, that His promises are true, He will not leave us, we are not alone, and He is our help! He has proved this over and over to us throughout this storm.

Many times God made Himself present to us through you - - your prayers, your calls, your notes, your gifts, your love, and your presence in our lives.
Thank you for staying with us - no matter what!

In Him,
The Tates

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2

Moving On

Here we are thirteen days into the new year and we have to admit we are kind of stuck.  We don't want to move out of our happy-all-stay-home-together-hibernating mode. Our time together during the holidays was so absolutely wonderful that we are finding it hard to move back into the daily business of coming and going to school (for Liv) and work.  What we have decided to do is to simply combine our have to do list with our want to do list and continue to enjoy our lives together.

One of the things on our 'have to do' list was Elena's clinic appointment on Jan. 10th.  She had a great visit!  Praise God!  All of her counts were up and she has been feeling good.  The doctors cut her steroid dose in half and will perform another adrenal gland test at her next appointment which is scheduled for Jan, 25th.  Please continue to pray for Elena's body to fully recover from the side-effects she is experiencing due to the prolonged use of certain treatment protocols.  Please also pray that we can continue to ween Elena off of some of the 13 pills she still takes every day.  Taking fewer pills will indicate that Elena's body is getting stronger and stronger; not to mention how happy she will be!  She is really tired of pills.

This weekend we also got to celebrate something from our 'want to do' list: Olivia's 11th Birthday Party!  She and some friends had a wonderful time sharpening their roller skating skills at Skate Country before returning home for cake and ice cream.  There is simply nothing better than watching one of your children celebrate another milestone in their life.  We look forward to many, many more!

So as we reluctantly leave behind the peace and tranquility of the past few weeks, we look forward to all of the new experiences that God has planned for us in the future. 

"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us."  - Joseph Campbell

In Him,
The Tates

"Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come?"    Ecclesiastes 8:7

Happy New Year!

HAPPY 2013!

We celebrate the start of this new year with joy and hope for the future. We are encouraged by Elena's progress and know that every day brings with it another step in the fulfillment of God's plan for our lives. Each day still has its struggles...questions of why and wanting everything to be normal again...but each day also holds promise and love. We have God's promise that he will never forsake us and a love for each other made possible because He first loved us. We are thankful for each new day given us and grateful for the many blessings continually showered upon us.

Thank you for being a part of our lives and for sharing this journey with us.

We wish each of you a very blessed 2013!

In Him,
The Tates

"We love because He first loved us."
1 John 4:19

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