Emily’s Smiles through Difficult Trials

Dawn just called after Emily’s visit with Dr. G. It seems that her chest lines have infection and 2 are clotted. She was headed to the imaging dept. for them to inject dye to locate the blockage. Dr. G wanted Emily to be admitted but they talked him into letting them stay at the apt. since it is so close. After the blockage is located they will proceed with trying to unclot it. Please pray that they get it unclotted so they do not have to be replaced. It appears that the reservoir is ok which is a blessing!

Eddie plans to come home this evening so he can go to work and Emily & Dawn will have to remain in Durham at least until Sunday. Emily is disappointed that their family getaway at Camp Debbie Lou has to be postponed. Hopefully they can go at a later date. They took off quickly to Duke and don’t have the laptop with them so updates will have to be done via telephone and may be a little delayed getting online. Keep checking and ALWAYS REMEMBER, “No News is Good News”.

Love, Stephanie

As most of you have already heard, Eddie & Dawn had to rush Emily back to Duke during the night. They got to the ER around 3:45 a.m. and remained there until about 4:00 p.m. this afternoon. Emily spiked a very high fever of almost 104 and Dr. G said to bring her straight to Duke. They have the fever down and have done tons of blood work, tapped the reservoir, cultures, etc. and have sent them back to the apt. to rest and wait. They will take her to meet with Dr. G first thing in the a.m. and if all is well, will hopefully come back “homie home” tomorrow afternoon.

Emily has been doing very well with this last round of chemo and is eagerly awaiting Thursday this week. On Thursday she, Trey, Eddie & Dawn will be going to Latta, SC to a family camp (sorry, I forgot the name) where they will enjoy a long weekend of fishing, crafts, games and relaxation. They will be able to attend church at the camp and just have a wonderful, Christian family atmosphere. Thanks to Amy Rutherford for making this possible!!!!

I know everyone is wondering why pics haven’t been uploaded in a while but I’ve been so busy at the beach working that there hasn’t been time. Please bear with me and I will hopefully get some uploaded within about another week. There are lots of great pics to share dating back to the Relay for Life, Myrtle Beach Weekend, Mountains and July 4th at the beach!!!
Love, Stephanie

Please pray for Chance’s parents, Brian and Desirae, and their family for peace and comfort. Chance was healed July 6, 12:00. He is in heaven playing today.

Brain and I had spoken on the 6th or 7th. I was going to call Brian and Desirae when Eddie and I heard from Dr. G, and the MRI results. We were talking about the next step if this chemo drug did not show positive results. Their next step was treatment in NY in mid to late July. This last week happened so quickly, I pray for strength for Desirae and Brian.

Today we found out Emily’s MRI info was stable, no new tumors were detected, and no increase to size. Emily started another week of Topotecan, and Pharmacokinetic study. I am not sure of the next few weeks, the Dr. may add an oral chemo drug as well. We were just happy about the news today and we will get more news in a few more days. We pray for the Drs. who try so hard to heal these children. They spend so much time away from their own families to help all of us. We pray that this new drug will be a break through in helping Drs. treat and heal their patients.

Emily had a great week back at Homie Home. Saturday the 30th, we talked with some of our church family and Iris at the hot dog and huge bake sale to help with the funds for Iris Maley’s upcoming lung transplant. I just had to buy one of those cakes to start off our week at the beach! Sunday after church we had a neighborhood cookout at Audrea and Brad’s home and the kids had the best time. Alot of great food and even a pie eating contest for the kids and water balloon fight. We arrived at the beach on Monday morning ready to play in the sand and waves. Emily and Trey had a great time playing with their cousins and friends. Tuesday afternoon we all drove down the beach to Aunt Stephie’s office and had a fourth of July cookout and watched the fireworks that Surf City had over the waterway. The Party was fun and the food was yummy! Wednesday through Friday we played at the beach, went for ice cream, played at the beach house and ate all the time!! It was so nice to spend some quality time with our close friends too. Its been a while since we’ve been able to spend some time with our friends and we’ve truly missed it. Thank you all for taking time to stay with us, play, eat, talk – it was good to be back among friends!
Friday night Emily wanted to spend the night in her own room so we left and she rested and played at home with Trey on Saturday. Saturday night she came down with an earache and a cold. She was up most of the night and early Sunday morning until the drops I found ( I am so glad I packed) finally started to help. I thought if I have to take her to the hospital, Dr. G will never let us leave again! Sunday we were packed and headed back to Durham. Eddie will be back home on Tuesday afternoon and for now Emily and I plan to be back “homie home” after treatment on Friday or Saturday morning. Thank you for the many thoughts and prayers for Emily and our Family .

Love, Eddie and Dawn