January 7, 2011

Rejoice!!!! Rejoice!!!! The Lord God Almighty Reigns!

Well my friends...today is indeed a day to celebrate!!  All my tests and scans came back CLEAN!!!  This means no evidence of disease in my body!  Praise the Lord...He truly knows the plans He has for me and He isn't done with me yet!!!  We are going out to dinner to celebrate and back home to watch the Aggies play football..Gig 'em!!!  Beat Tigers!!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, first, to God for His power  and work in restoring my health, then to all of you who have prayed for me and my family.  Our powerful God behind those prayers is awesome!!!! 

Not to put a damper on my day ... please continue to pray for mommy and daddy as they have lots of information to consider and decisions to make regarding the next step in my treatment.  Lord, work in them in such a mighty way that they know beyond a shadow of doubt the road we will take! 

Praise God...Praise Him....Prise Him!!

January 3, 2011

When my heart is overwhelmed lead to the rock that is higher than I.....

Happy New Year to all of our family and friends! Words cannot express the thankfulness We feel for all of the many ways you have ministered to our family this past year. We are thankful for the meals, the endless laundry you have washed and folded, the time spent cleaning our house,  the financial gifts that have truly helped ease the medical expenses, the gift cards that have given Jason and I much needed date nights, taking our kids to school and picking them up, the parking tokens, those of you that have spent hours at the hospital helping make the time go faster for Halie as we have waited for endless test, labs and hospital stays. Thank you, for the prayers, the shoulders to cry on the ears that have listened and prayed with and for us. Thank you. You have been the hands and feet of Christ for this weary family. Thank you to those of you who have given so much time and effort to raise money for Neuroblastoma research!  (I am excited to take the check to TCH this week Morgan!)  I feel quite reflective as I look back over 2010! My emotions have run the gamut. This journey that has taken us from our comfortable life to a roller coaster of emotions that often leave us feeling like we have been ransacked by a tsunami but, it has also taught us great truths about God and I feel I can confidently say with Job "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you". 2010 was a year of pain and suffering but it was also a year of great triumph. In May our daughter was given a 10-15 percent survival rate after her diagnosis to 6 months later being No evidence of disease. There have never been sweeter words to my ears. So, now after 5 rounds of high dose chemotherapy, a 9 hour surgery, 12 rounds of radiation and a stem cell rescue we begin 2011 at Texas Childrens hospital getting scans that will determine the next path God will carry us through. Today as write this I am sitting in the family waiting room of the Pacu as they take bone marrow from each of my daughters hips to determine if their is any new growth. We are praying that she will be no evidence of disease following her scans and tests this week. I have to confess I am tempted to fear. The seemingly endless what if's and the realities of this disease are lurking in my mind waiting to overtake my thoughts and then I am reminded to look to Christ.  My hope, Our hope is in Him.  Not the protocal as thankful as we are for it, not the doctors as appreciative as we are for there tireless and often thankless efforts to help our children, not in the ch.14.18  which as terrified as I am of it ( a later blog) is so promising.  My hope is in Christ.  He alone is my refuge.  I know now what it means to hide in the cleft of His rock.  I never really understood it before but now I do.  He is our shelter in the storm. He is the immovable shelter, the strong arms that hold you up while the storms rage and threaten to knock you down and overwhelm you.   He will carry our family through this week.  He will give us the strength to get up in the morning and endure 3 more scans, test & injections and do it again the next day...  even if my tears have to come along with me.... (thanks mom)  Please pray this week.  Here are specific request:
Bone Marrow Test (free from Cancer)-- Today
Tuesday -- Echo, Ekg, Bone Scan ( pray that the treatment we have done so far has not damaged her heart, that there has been no new growth in her bones)  No evidence of Disease!
Thursday -- MIBG scan and CT Scan ( Pray that there is No evidence of Disease and that the spot in her lung is gone. 

Thank you for your faithful prayers.
The Pigott family