Round 4 Begins

Back in hospital today for round 4. We really enjoyed our extended time at home for the holidays. Spent lots of quality time with family. Thankful and blessed still doing very well. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Only 2 more rounds after this one. Should be home by the end of the weekend. If all continues to go well could spend extended time at home again after this round. My cover girl shot for the Children's Healthcare of Atl. hospitals magazine comes out this week. We will take a picture of it and send out a post. Be looking for it and thanks for the continued prayers that have gotten us this far. Love to you all.

Merry Christmas from Home!!!

First, I want to thank you for all of the prayers that we may be home for Christmas. We went for a pre-Christmas check yesterday just to insure that we could stay home for the rest of the week. Doing WELL! Because Chloe is doing so well and we are at the halfway point, we are going to be able to stay home until the beginning of round 4 after the first of the year as long as no problems arise before then.

God is good!

Second, I want to thank you for helping us have the best Christmas Ever!!! We delivered the gift bags to the families on the 21st and it was such a joy to experience the real meaning of Christmas. They were so grateful. Even though I live on that floor 90% of the time, I had not met so many of the families due to being isolated with the kids being so sick. I talked with parents who have it much more difficult than we do. One parent let me know that her child may not make it until Christmas. Pray for these families and give thanks for your healthy ones.

God is good!

Third, I want to thank Lake Oconee for making this Christmas easier on these families by the visit from Santa and the Elves with gifts for all of the Children and families. They brought a lot of smiles to faces that really needed it. It was truly a day to behold!

God is good!

And last, Ray and I are 43 years old and both agreed that we had Christmas for the first time this year!

Merry Christmas from Ray, Stacie, Bailey and Chloe.

Enjoyed Relaxing at Home!

Enjoyed relaxing at home last week but back to the grind stone. Started round 3 yesterday and all is well so far. If things continue to go well we will go home this weekend and get to try being home for Christmas. Lots of prayers please!!!! We will come back on the 21st for a count check and to deliver the gift bags to the families on the floor here. A BIG THANKS to you all for helping make the bag project a success!!! We did reach our 20 bag goal! I know the families will be very grateful. The bag project grew into something much bigger for our families here. My long time friend Kim and her Lake Oconee community have gotten together to help provide Christmas for all of the families here on our floor. Not only will OUR gift bags be full of goodies from my family, sister Tammy and Niece Malorie, they will also contain much needed gift cards to Publix, Target and local restaurants from Lake Oconee. The children here will also receive toys and a visit from the elves. Thank you Lake Oconee!!! Looking forward to lots of joy on the 21st. We will post pictures.

Christmas is about helping others.

Thank you for having such big hearts!!! Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Time At Scottish Rite

WOW!!! This place is really decorated for christmas. Love riding around looking at all of the decorations when allowed to be out of the room. Have had a fever for last couple of days but if can keep it at bay hope to go home soon for our break between rounds 2 and 3. All in all blessed to still be doing well.

Christmas is so commercialized that our way of keeping things in perspective is to give back to a family in need at this time of year. Our plan this year is to give to the families here on the cancer floor of Scottish Rite. If you would like to be a part of this then please let me know by email, facebook or commenting on the blog. You can help support a family with this gift for around $20. We use an insulated market tote to bring food back and forth to the hospital on a regular basis (see picture above). This has been helpful in keeping things cool or warm while traveling. I can purchase these wholesale due to a small bag business I started late summer before Chloe's diagnosis. We plan to put hot chocolate packs inside. We have about 20 families here on the floor most all of the time. This would be a great help to them as it already is for us. We are blessed to have volunteers and past patients contribute regularly to needs on this floor. These families are in need of many things and this can help make their stay here a little easier.

Thanks from Chloe and all of her family for your continued support, love and prayers.

What A Big Sister!!!

Still at SR for a while longer. Leukemia does not know holidays evidently. Enjoying time together and continued good days is what we are Thankful for. Still doing well with the exception of a few sleepless nights last week. One night central line had to be repaired and the next night sick and fever kept us up. All is better and looking forward to seeing big sister this weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving to All! Enjoy the turkey but remember Thanksgiving is not a meal.

Back In Action

Back at Scottish Rite for about 3 weeks for the rest of round 2 of chemo. This is the strongest of the 6 rounds. Doing well so far. We had a big day yesterday. We were in a photo shoot here at the hospital for the front cover of the next issue of the hospital magazine. The nurses could not resist choosing her due to her contagious smile. We enjoyed some time outside yesterday afternoon at the KOI pond here at Scottish Rite. Nice to get some fresh air. Counts should be on the way down soon then back up for a break at home. Thanks for all of the prayers.

breezing thru!

Entered SR for 2nd round of chemo yesterday. All going well, breezing thru so far. We will be in hospital until tomorrow and then home again for a short break if still doing well. We will be back in for the long haul as of Thursday(about 3 to 4 weeks). This is the strongest and most intense of the 6 rounds so continue with all of the prayers.

Thanks again for all of your support!!!