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 7, 2011
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
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
December 25, 2010
Happy Birthday Jesus
I hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas. It was an early morning as my brothers, sister and I could not wait to see what was waiting under the tree. I got a barbie jeep :) It is so much fun but a little too cold outside for me today. Feeling like Christmas though. Hot cocoa maybe a fire.... uhmmmm. So, I have been playing with my barbie airplane and barbie car. So fun. I am mostly so thankful to be home for the holidays. It is the greatest. I wanted to update all of my family and friends about what is going on at my house. So here goes..... I got 2 weeks off from clinic Thank you Jesus. I have been transfusion free since I was released from the Bone Marrow Transplant floor. My counts have been slowly recovering on their own. Hemoglobin (Red Blood) over 9.2 and Platelets 130 also, my ANC is a whoppin 2800. What a gift the Lord has given me. Healthwise I look great. My weight is up to 40 pounds. I have been running and playing and having a normal holiday. (which is why I have not posted lately) I am doing so great Mommy and Daddy got to go out on a date night and we stayed with Nana and Papa Pat last weekend. I am having such a wonderful holiday being home. Tuesday I start my scans... GFR which test my Kidney function. The rest of the scans are coming up after Jan 1st. I will post them soon. Please keep me in your prayers we need No Evidence of Disease to qualify for Immunotherapy. The rest of my family likes having me home. I think my big brother is out in the back shooting paintballs at my daddy. They look like they are having a blast. Kyle is enjoying his new outdoor ride F150 Truck and Chloe has been riding her cool new bike all afternoon. I think we are all about to take a break and watch a Christmas movie, light a fire and have cookies and cocoa..so I have to go but have a Merry Christmas I love you all. OH! If my sweet friends from Methodist are reading. Your kindness really blest us. We love the gifts. Thank You!!! We are truly overwhelmed by your thoughfulness. God bless you all and enjoy Christ's Birth.
December 6, 2010
Sugar Plum Fairy???? Prince???? Flower Fairy????
WHAT??!?!?! Can you believe some members of the Nutcracker Ballet were at the hospital today???? Me either!!!!!! They asked if they could color with me and visit...."Oh YES!" I said. How cool. God has given me such a happy day. He made clinic go by SOOO fast. I was too thrilled to care how long I stayed or what the doctors wanted from me! By the way....I have two whole weeks completely OFF!!!! Praise the Lord!!!!
December 4, 2010
A quick note from Mommy...I love her :)
Good morning friends,
I was online this morning ordering our cookbook through Lunch for a Cure and wanted to share the info with you. The website is www.lunchforacure.org. It is a cookbook that was created by neuroblastoma families and all of the proceeds go towards Neuroblastoma research. Halie submitted a few recipes for the cookbook. This year the focus is on the new immunotherapy clinical trial chapter 14.18. This is a clinical trial that Halie will, Lord willing, be a part of early January. It is only available right now for children who have NED (No Evidence of Disease) at the initial scans after transplant. Halie was NED going into transplant and will rescan in the next few weeks to find out if she qualifies. Stage IV Neuroblastoma has a high relapse rate and this new clinical trial has proven to raise survival rate 20 percent which gives her a 66 survival rate over the next two years. She will be scanned for 5 years but the trial was so effective they stopped the clinical trial early to open it up to more patients. We have prayerfully considered whether this is the right thing to do as the process involves 7 additional hospitalizations and is incredibly painful for Halie and information is not available for the benefits for past two years. Please take the time to read on this trial. My prayer is that is that our friends and families would support this cause. With Christmas coming up what better way to show love to others than giving the gift of hope. John Piper wrote an article titled, God Wills Disease Why Should We Try to Eradicate It? In the article he states when Paul taught that the creation was subjected to futility (Romans 8:20) he also taught that this subjection was "in hope that the creation itself will be set free from it's bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God (verse 21.) There is no reason that Christians should not embrace this futility lifting calling now. God will complete it in the age to come. But it is a good thing to conquer as much disease and suffering now in the name of Christ as we can. In fact, I would wave the banner right now and call some of you to enter vocations of research that may be the means of undoing some of the great diseases of the world. This is not fighting against God. God is as much in charge of the research as He is the disease. You can be an instrument in His hand. This may be the time appointed for the triumph that He wills to bring over the disease that He ordained. Don't try to read the mind of God from his mysterious decrees of calamity. Do what he says. And what he says is: Do good to everyone". (Gal 6:10)
I was online this morning ordering our cookbook through Lunch for a Cure and wanted to share the info with you. The website is www.lunchforacure.org. It is a cookbook that was created by neuroblastoma families and all of the proceeds go towards Neuroblastoma research. Halie submitted a few recipes for the cookbook. This year the focus is on the new immunotherapy clinical trial chapter 14.18. This is a clinical trial that Halie will, Lord willing, be a part of early January. It is only available right now for children who have NED (No Evidence of Disease) at the initial scans after transplant. Halie was NED going into transplant and will rescan in the next few weeks to find out if she qualifies. Stage IV Neuroblastoma has a high relapse rate and this new clinical trial has proven to raise survival rate 20 percent which gives her a 66 survival rate over the next two years. She will be scanned for 5 years but the trial was so effective they stopped the clinical trial early to open it up to more patients. We have prayerfully considered whether this is the right thing to do as the process involves 7 additional hospitalizations and is incredibly painful for Halie and information is not available for the benefits for past two years. Please take the time to read on this trial. My prayer is that is that our friends and families would support this cause. With Christmas coming up what better way to show love to others than giving the gift of hope. John Piper wrote an article titled, God Wills Disease Why Should We Try to Eradicate It? In the article he states when Paul taught that the creation was subjected to futility (Romans 8:20) he also taught that this subjection was "in hope that the creation itself will be set free from it's bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God (verse 21.) There is no reason that Christians should not embrace this futility lifting calling now. God will complete it in the age to come. But it is a good thing to conquer as much disease and suffering now in the name of Christ as we can. In fact, I would wave the banner right now and call some of you to enter vocations of research that may be the means of undoing some of the great diseases of the world. This is not fighting against God. God is as much in charge of the research as He is the disease. You can be an instrument in His hand. This may be the time appointed for the triumph that He wills to bring over the disease that He ordained. Don't try to read the mind of God from his mysterious decrees of calamity. Do what he says. And what he says is: Do good to everyone". (Gal 6:10)