6-25-09

MaryKate was admitted to the hospital early this morning.  Her last round of chemo went really well.   She felt good and didn't really have any problems until last night.  She ended up with a fever and a few other small problems.  This is concerning because her white blood count is really low - hers is 200, normal is about 5000.  She is getting antibiotics and they are running a few tests.   She feels pretty crummy.  Thank you for your prayers.

June 17,2009

MaryKate started  her fourth round of chemo on Monday, and we will go home late Thursday or on Friday.  This will most likely be the last round as there really is not any evidence that these drugs are effective on synovial sarcoma.  Her doctor has been very helpful, has consulted with multiple other doctors and just returned from a seminar in Atlanta where this topic was addressed.  All of the studies that have been done regarding the effect of chemo on this type of cancer have not shown a difference in outcome between those who receive chemo and those who don't.   It's not clear that it is NOT working either though...  so it has been a tough decision to decide whether to continue or not.  We are really thankful for the great team of doctors that we have had both in Texas and at Doernbecher.  They have been humble and honest in trying to give the best advice they can in a case that does not have easy answers.  

The nurses here are wonderful!!!  We have become friends with many of them.  We have also met quite a few families that we have connected with over the past four months.  One teen, Ian - 16 years old, passed away last night.  That was really rough on our "group" up here.  Ian played the violin and was a really nice kid.  He played cards with the group of teens that first night we were up here for MaryKate's first round of chemo.  Keep praying for ALL the kids and families up here.  There are so many stories, new diagnosis, kids in all levels of treatment, kids finishing their treatment and ready to hopefully move on with their life -  but with a forever different outlook.  So many people's lives changed forever, and many who don't know the Lord.  Thank you for your continued support and prayers.  

We are so encouraged by all of you.  You have held us up in prayer and we have felt it.  God has been faithful and shown himself to us in the middle of suffering.  He is there, He sees our suffering and walks with us.  He gives us joy, and strength in the middle of uncertainty.  We have felt loved and taken care of each step of the way.  Our faith has grown by leaps and bounds and our confidence in Him has grown.  We want MaryKate to be well and continue to pray for that, but even more that our faith grows and that our outlook is forever changed to reflect Christ more.  That we can see and reach out to so many hurting people around us.  THANK YOU for caring for us and reaching out to us.  It has meant so much to all of us.          Julie

life after surgery

Lately, I have been adjusting to using one arm, it's really amazing all of the things that you can compensate for using teeth, body weight, etc...! Right now, I'm focusing on catching up on school that I've missed, and getting healthy as soon as possible. I also started an art class this last week, and I really excited,it should be a lot of fun (even if it's awkward for a little while.

Also, we're trying to decide on prosthetic options, chemo, and a couple other things that we're not sure about quite yet. Anyway, thank you so much for all of your prayers and support, it really means a lot, and I thank God every time I think about it.

May 26, 2009

MaryKate had a round of chemo starting last Monday and was released from the hospital on Thursday. It was pretty hard on her and she had a rough weekend. We appreciate your continued prayers for her recovery. The current plan is for three more rounds of chemo (four days in hospital then two weeks recovery = one round). It is not entirely clear that this chemo is effective on her type of tumor. The final pathology results showed that the tumor that was removed was still quite healthy, but there was some evidence that there might have been some effect from the chemo she had before surgery. At this point her doctor feels we should continue with the chemo, to address any cancer cells that might remain, even though the benefit is a little unclear. Thank you for your continued support and prayers - they are encouraging to all of us. Julie

April 22, 2009

It is great to be home and have our family around us!  Marykate's surgery was April 8th - a Wednesday.  She was released from the hospital a week later, on Wednesday the 15th and we flew home on Thursday the 16th.  She was feeling good enough to go to the Viennese Ball (a formal - ballroom type dance) on Saturday the 18th!!!  We had purchased tickets to this event back in February and did not expect to be back to use them!  Ashley, Jessica, Marykate, Jonathon, Mark and I all attended.  We had a really fun time, although Marykate slept until 2:30pm the next day.  Things  have been going quite well, except for phantom pains that have become more troublesome.  We are still waiting for final pathology on the tumor, but are expecting to start with chemotherapy again - possibly next week.  She will start therapy tomorrow and we have started looking into a prosthetic.  

Thank you for all your prayers, comments and posts.  They have encouraged us and we've looked forward to reading them.   

Marykate was discharged from the hospital today around 1 PM. We will actually be able to keep our return flight time that had been randomly picked before we left! This was a real surprise - especially since surgery was delayed a whole week after we arrived here. Overall, things could not have gone better considering what we came here for. We had a great team of doctors and felt that all of the decisions that were made, the actual surgery, the healing and management of the first week etc... all went really well. We all felt calm and confident in our Lord. There were so many "little" things where He showed himself faithful to us during this whole time. We have been so blessed to have all of you - your prayers and support have meant the world to us! We can actually look at this and "Count it all joy" - knowing that God will use this to perfect us in Christ and make us more like Him in the time to come. I know my faith has increased as I have seen Him allow a difficult situation, yet walk with us in it. I would love to be more specific but for lack of time I can't right now. We are so excited to get home and see everybody and GET ON WITH THE WONDERFUL LIFE GOD HAS GIVEN!!! We'll see you all soon. Julie

Today, I was discharged from the hospitial! Our plane tickets are for tomorrow afternoon, so we will be home tomorrow night!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to see everyone again! Marykate