Wednesday, June 30, 2010

This Summer is Going to be a BLAST

From what we understand, from what the doctor said, Lisa is about 99% cancer free! The doctor couldn't see it, but the specialists that read these scans (CT and MIBG) on a regular basis see a trace in the bone in the area of her eye. We really did BLAST it with the fundraiser!

It's going to be another great summer. Thanks to all of you that kept her in your thoughts and prayers. Keep it up! This disease has a very nasty tendency towards reoccurrence, especially in cases where the kids have relapsed before.

To make the best of it, the agenda this summer includes: Camp Dearborn (Done), Rope swings, sand castles, boat rides and tubing and relaxing at the lake. Michigan Adventure in Muskegon, Traverse City, Mackinaw, Put-in-Bay, Topsail Island North Carolina, and anywhere else we can escape to! Life is good. Have a safe and fun summer!

Friday, June 25, 2010

06/25/2010 - Here are the results of Lisa's latest set of scans.

Mike here:
Lisa endured three separate scan sessions this week. 1 CT scan and 2 separate sessions of MIBG scans consisting of several scans each. Additionally she had a bone marrow biopsy. At this time it is unclear to me just by reading the text below, whether or not there is any discernible disease. I'm thinking there is, but that in and of itself is not bad news. She's clearly handling the treatments well and the disease is not only under control but it is diminishing. Seeing traces of the disease allows us to continue to "manage" it and treat it. We are very happy with the results!

Report -
MIBG: Striking interval response to treatment; previously identified focal area of increased radiotracer uptake involving the left occipital bone is now faintly visualized. No new suspicious areas of radiotracer uptake are identified to suggest disease progression scintigraphically.

CT Scan chest, abdomen, and pelvis: No evidence of disease progression with interval decrease in size of multiple retroperitoneal and pelvic lymph nodes as outlined above. Stable appearance of the multiple areas of lucency and sclerosis involving the spine, sacrum and bilateral iliac bones, which could relate to diffuse osseous metastatic disease. Suggest correlation with MIBG study to determine activity of lesions.

**UPDATE** 7:45 PM
Bone Biopsy is clear! Yea!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Quick Update

We have finally recovered from the excitement of the fundraiser but the last week of school and kids schedules kept us pretty busy...sorry for so few updates on the blog.

Lisa is doing the same, which is to say that aside from the lack of hair, she appears fine. She’s been running around like a “normal” 5 year old. She’s scheduled for a number of scans and such this week so by Friday we’ll have a good idea what’s happening on the inside. There’s a bit of mixed emotions on what we hope to see. If there’s some disease discernible then that’s not all that bad. It means that we can continue to treat and hopefully control it. If there is no trace of it [remission] then we do nothing but hope that it doesn’t get bloom again before the next set of scans which are scheduled every couple months.

We'll try to get back to a regular schedule of  blog updates as we settle into summer.

In the meantime, keep praying!!!  We could use some strength and guidance to understand what to do with scan results once they come back.

Monday, June 7, 2010

WOW....$20,621 raised

Thank You so much to all those who came out and joined us on June 5th, 2010 for BLASTnb.

BLASTnb, and our other fundraising activities in the past three months, have helped us to raise: $20,621 We are hoping this number will continue to grow with online donations and auction items! 

This money will be given to both Motts Children's Hospital and Rainbow Connection.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of our readers and supporters!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Made the Free Press today!

Awesome Link to Free Press Article About Lisa

Hope all of our readers willl be able to join us for the big day!  More info at http://www.blastnb.com/!

Two More Days!

Lisa is doing great.  Her counts came back and they are good.  She is only taking one maintenance drug and allergy medicine now.  YEAH!  Lisa and the rest of us are all looking forward to her Beat Cancer party....BLASTnb... in two days!

There will be 7 bands throughout day, motorcycle run, fun fair, dinner, princesses, cake walk, child id kits, amazing raffle baskets, gift cards, sports memorabilia and lots of fun for everyone:) Dinner tickets are going fast...if you plan on coming you can reserve your spot by purchasing tickets on our website or, for those of you in the area, we will have tickets available at the house.


Check out our website WWW.BLASTnb.com for more details. All of this is in honor of one amazing little princess named Lisa in an effort to raise money for Motts Hospital and Rainbow Connection. We want to make this day one that will not be forgotten..rain or shine hope to see you all there!!