Clinic Day

Greta had her lab work today which told us, as we expected, her counts have bottomed out again. Although we were surprised that her hemoglobin level was pretty low since she'd been so active and happy lately. Still we decided to hold off on a transfusion and see how things look on Tuesday. So now we're back to clinic on Tuesday and if counts are back up by then, chemo on Wednesday.

Yesterday, Greta had her first day with her new babysitter and I was able to get in a few hours back at work for the first time in 8 weeks. It was a nice break, but I missed Greta like crazy (and was a little worried too). She's been my little shadow at home all day every day that it was a little sad to leave her. But she did great and played with her new friend and all went well for both of us.

Thank you for the continued thoughts, prayers, cards, words of encouragement. They help more than we can say.

Love,
Kristi

Four Down

Greta finished her fourth round with flying colors. She had no poor reactions to the chemo treatment and ate, slept and played well for the five days at the hospital. Her counts were already down before her treatment was over this round, so we are expecting a little longer recovery time. Her doctors are still planning to treat her aggressively and the next round is scheduled for July 2nd.

As of right now, no further tests are scheduled although we've been told that they will probably perform another scan on Greta after this or her next treatment. For now, we are planning on enjoying our play time at home and praying for her continued healing.

The Betz Family

Holding Steady

Greta's enjoying her stay at L'Hotel DeVos, this afternoon she's just starting the 3rd of 5 medications that she'll be receiving during this 4th round of chemo. She's tired, it's hard to relax and nap when you're not in your own bed. She's enjoying riding her IV pole around the hallways whenever someone's available to push her! We'll try and get a picture of that and post it here soon.

Greta's really got the routine down:

Step 1: She greets everyone with a cheerful, flirty "Hi!" when they come in, then
Step 2: Extends her arm for the blood-pressure cuff. Once that's done,
Step 3: She raises her index finger for the pulse-ox check, then
Step 4: Lifts her arm and points to her tiny armpit for the thermometer.

She entertains everyone, her smiles are infectious!

Her appetite is fine and she's in good humor for the most part, Kristi and Randy and other family members continue to rotate so she's always got someone with her, and Gavin gets to come and visit in the afternoons.

Still looking forward to (hopefully) getting her home Sunday evening.

Have a great weekend, friends. See you soon!

And on to Round Four...

We're back today for the fourth round of Greta's chemo treatments. She was admitted this afternoon and should start chemo later tonight. This is another five day round so if all goes well we hope to be home by Sunday night.

Greta is in good spirits and still lots of smiling and laughing even though we suspect by now she knows when we're heading to the hospital. Many of the kids here "ride" their IV poles around the hall. Greta decided she would give it a try today and she seemed to really enjoy having Daddy push her around while we waited for our room.

Randy, Gavin and I are all hanging in there. Gavin had a wonderful birthday party and has gotten a lot of play time with friends, neighbors and grandparents. Randy has gotten to start his golf league and softball league the last few weeks and we have found someone to watch Greta a couple days a week while we are home so I can get back to work for a few days here and there.

Our "normal" has changed quite a bit, but we are getting into the routine and hopefully we'll get Greta healed quickly and this will all be a memory some day!

Take me Home!

Greta got an "early dismissal" tonight, coming home Saturday evening instead of her anticipated Sunday discharge. Hooray!

Big brother Gavin had a fantastic day with a small group of his friends at a local gymnasium to celebrate his coming birthday. He spent a lot of his day trying to understand that he's not 5 just yet...one of the pitfalls of an early birthday party!

Ho-Ho and Grandma Betz spent some quality time at the hospital with Greta, so that the rest of the Betzes could party like rock stars. Greta's appetite is much improved and she's getting her fight back after having her transfusion.

Doctors are still somewhat perplexed about what to do next. Still need lots of prayers for guidance and good decision-making, so please keep them coming!

Much love,
Kari

Minor Setback

Greta was feverish and a little too listless yesterday for comfort, so Randy and Kristi took her to visit the ER at about 3:30pm. Once there, doctors started her on antibiotics, and did a lot of testing to rule out possible infection. All of the lab results have come back clean so far, and her fever is down now. By yesterday evening she was more comfortable and settled into a room, probably to stay until sometime Sunday.

She's receiving a transfusion this afternoon, she needs to get her counts back up to where she can handle her next round of chemo. It looks like doctors will likely push her next treatment, which was supposed to be this coming Monday, back a little to Wendesday. This is only a small delay, and very common for kids receiving chemo - considering all of the great news we've been blessed to have these past several weeks, small setbacks like this are to be expected. Greta continues to be a standout little patient!

To those of you who we are planning to see tomorrow; our plans are still "on", and seeing you is something we're all very much looking forward to.

Thank you, once again, for all of the prayers and messages of support!

Greta's Family

Quick Trip to the Clinic

Greta was back at the hospital this morning for her lab work checked. Thankfully it wasn't necessary for her to get a transfusion today so we are back home already. As expected her white blood count is low so we'll be keeping her at the house for the rest of the week. We're back at clinic on Friday again for another check.

Otherwise, Greta is still upbeat and has the energy of any other 18 month old. We're so thankful for that! Big brother Gavin had her belly laughing last night, jumping out at her from around corners in our house.

We all appreciate all the offers to help with everything, as soon as we can come up with anything else we need, we'll be sure to ask!

Thanks
The Betz Family

Fun Days at Home

We're enjoying our time at home this week, in between the rain storms, we've been able to spend a lot of time this past weekend outside playing. Greta is a hard girl to keep down! She is definitely our dare devil child, she is a going concern which keeps us on our toes at all times. This weekend she climbed up the slide on the play set all by herself and then attempted to climb down via the rock wall.

We go back to clinic tomorrow morning and we expect that her counts will be down. Hopefully there won't be any need for any transfusions this week, but we'll find out tomorrow for sure. Otherwise we're going to get to enjoy the rest of the week and weekend at home.

We would like to again thank everyone for the prayers and generosity the past 6 weeks. Thanks also to our neighbors for keeping our grass trimmed!

The Betz Family

They're Home Again

Hello Friends,

Greta is back home again, she was discharged yesterday after completing her third round of chemotherapy. Kristi tells me that she's doing really well, and as I spoke with her Mommy she was in the background, happily babbling as she played with a ball.

We don't have the ultrasound results yet, the test was done yesterday before Greta left the hospital, and as soon as results are available we'll be sure and post another update.

Now we're back to "wait and see" mode, back to the clinic on Tuesday for labs, and then back in for 5 days on June 16 for another round of chemo. No CT scan has yet been scheduled at this time.

Please keep up the prayers and happy thoughts; we're so terribly grateful for everyone's support and friendship!

Love,
Kari

Ever tried to keep an 18 month old down?

This stay has proved to be a little more challenging now that Greta is motoring again. As any of you that have had a toddler know, staying in one place for any amount of time is not an option. And being attached to an IV pole is proving to be difficult for both Greta and Mom and Dad.

Greta's chemo started about 4 am Tuesday morning, so we'll be staying at the hospital until Thursday. There is a small amount of blood in her urine, so the doctors have decided to perform an ultra sound Thursday to make sure her bladder is functioning okay. Otherwise Greta is reacting well to the chemo again, her appetite is good and her mood is amazing considering everything she's been through.

Again thanks for all the prayers and support!

Ding Ding - Round 3

We are back at the hospital for Round 3 and Greta is ready. This time the stay will be 3 days and the chemotherpy will be the same as the one used for the first treatment. We are hoping to get similar results as we did after the first time. Speaking of results, the CT scan results are in and there was more shrinkage. The tumor shrunk from a thickness of 15mm to a thickness of 10mm. Again the doctors are very happy with the progress and have actually referred to her as their little "miracle" child. We are so thankful for all the prayers and are looking forward to going home after this round of treatment.

The Betz Family