Scope Complete, Greta's Resting.

Greta's scope and biopsy went very well today. She was in surgery for about 1 1/2 hours and the surgeon removed tissue from 5 areas in her chest. He said that by initial appearance that these could be all dead cells, but the pathology results will tell us what we are dealing with exactly. We expect results in about 2 days.

Otherwise, she came through pretty well, she has a chest tube in again, which was expected. They hope to remove that in a day or two. No word yet on when to expect her next chemo treatment. It's wait and see for now.

All in all everything went as well as we could hope today. For that we are very thankful.

Love,
The Betz Family

You Can't Keep a Good Girl Down.

We got the green light to come home today. Greta's counts went back up this morning and by 10:00 am she was back to the happy little girl we are so used to. It was as if someone flipped the switch. She had been laying down on the bed one minute and the next she sat right up climbed out and started playing with her toys and smiling for the nurses.

However, we did get some bad news. One of the screens they had done on Greta's stool came back positive for VRE which is a bacteria that is pretty harmless in healthy people. In fact it's possible to have it and never know it. However, the fact that Greta tested positive for it, means that she now must be in isolation when we are at the hospital to prevent other patients from being exposed to it. This means all visitors and hospital personnel will wear gowns and gloves when dealing with Greta and she no longer can take walks around the halls. When we go into clinic, she won't be allowed to play in the outpatient playroom with the other kids, she'll be put in a room immediately upon arrival and will stay there until we are finished.

We are terribly disappointed as Greta's favorite part of clinic is playing and walking around the halls, laughing and flirting with the staff. It will be difficult to keep her from wanting to go for walks and ride her IV pole when we are in for her chemo admissions. I guess we'll deal with that when the time comes.

For now we are just happy to have her back home again and to be able to enjoy this beautiful weather that we are having. We go back in on Monday when Greta will get her scan (if her counts remain up) and then will likely be admitted for her 11th round of chemo.

Please continue to keep Greta in your prayers as well as the other children at the hospital. We meet so many amazing kids and families that are also in need of prayers.

With love,
The Betz Family

One More Day?

While Greta's fever is gone and most of her cultures have come back and so far all are negative, the doctors want her to stay at the hospital until her white blood cell count rebounds. So now we think we'll be home Thursday morning, but only time will tell.

She is still sleeping most of the time, and when she isn't she usually is complaining about her next impending bowel movement. She did get up out of bed last night and played with some of her toys for an hour, so that was encouraging to see.

Please keep your fingers crossed that we are released tomorrow and hopefully we'll be able to enjoy this late summer-like weather while it lasts!

Love,
The Betz Family

A Little Under the Weather

As many of you know, there is a bug going around and we think Greta probably got it. She developed another fever Sunday afternoon and by 6:30 she spiked to 101.3 which means an automatic trip to the ER and an all expense paid, two night trip to Devos Children's Hospital. We got to the ER at 7:30 and quickly learned that Sundays are the busiest ER night as it was almost 1:00 am before Greta and I made it up to a room for the night.

Usually Greta is up and playing, but today she is spending the day laying in bed with her blankie and sleeping off and on. She still has a low grade fever and is receiving antibiotics in case she has any infections. We aren't used to seeing her so down and out, but we are enjoying the extra snuggle time we are getting today.

If everything comes back okay and there are no signs of infection, we should be back home by Wednesday at the latest. Our next trip back is scheduled for next Monday when Greta will have her video scope surgery and then be admitted for her 11th round of chemo.

Thank you for your continued prayers,
Kristi

Slight Change of Plans

Greta's MRI went okay yesterday, however due to the anesthia and lying flat on her back for a couple hours there was a situation where a small portion of her lung collapsed (which is pretty common). The only problem with this is that when she was recovering and the lung was inflating, she developed a fever, which is also pretty common. The unfortunate part is because there may be other reasons for the fever, Greta has to stay an extra day while cultures are taken and antibiotics are administered.

Greta's MRI results came back today and as hoped they were negetive, there wasn't any apparent extra tissue. This is great because with previous CT scans the large portion of the tumor was gone but there was area that was thickened. The thickening is now gone. Per the doctors the scan results were the best we could have hoped or prayed for. The next step is to do a scope with a video camera to take a look for abnormal looking areas around her chest. This will take place sometime in the next couple weeks before her next round of chemo.

We are extremely pleased with this news and are hopeful that this will mean no need for radiation. Although it may also mean extended chemo treatments past the initial 30 weeks so we may not be done by Greta's birthday and Thanksgiving as we had targeted.

The prayers are working and we are so thankful for the miracle that we have received. Thank you all!

Love the Betz Family

Snuggling with Daddy

We're back in for Greta's 10th round of chemo. As I write this she is snuggling on Daddy's lap with her blankie and baby close by. Greta has been doing well on her treatment once again, although she's a little more low key this morning. Who can blame her though, she's been without food or liquids since midnight so that she can be sedated for her MRI later today.



The MRI should hopefully show whether there is still any tumor tissue still in her chest and if there is, a scope will be scheduled in a couple weeks to biopsy the tissue and see if it is still Ewings Sarcoma. This won't mean that her cancer is back but that there is still tissue leftover from the tumor. This will allow the doctors to determine whether or not Greta will need radiation or to continue with maintenance chemo.



Greta's hemoglobin level went down already during this round so she'll be getting another transfusion before we leave the hospital. This will be her 9th blood transfusion in all. We appreciate anyone who has donated blood. I myself had it done the first time ever this summer and although I was a little nervous, it turned out to be pretty easy and painless.



I know we fill you in a lot on Greta's status and her strength, but we've also had a lot of questions about how Randy and I are holding up. We are doing pretty well considering. It's not much fun to split our family up while we are in for treatment. But the time we are all home together is cherished so much more.



Thanks again for your continued prayers and support. We are all grateful for them all.



Love,

Kristi

Clothes for a Cause

Kristi had a great idea for a cute logo T-shirt for kids (and grown-ups!) who have fought cancer and won - so I turned her idea into an opportunity to help support Helen DeVos Children's Hospital:

http://www.cafepress.com/GretaGirl

Check it out!

Back to a Routine

Greta will go back to DeVos this weekend for her next round of chemotherapy. She's doing pretty great, and surprisingly has suffered few side effects from her treatments. She hasn't lost any of her hair, which has always been pretty sparse, so the photos probably look like she has. She hasn't really lost any weight - but she hasn't gained much, either - essentially, her size is as if she took a time-out from the growth spurt that most 1-3 year olds go through; we're all looking forward to getting through the course of treatment and watching her flourish and catch up!

She does some of the same things Gavin did at her age - standing with her back against the living room wall, waiting for one of us to say "GO!", and then take off running from there, through the length of the first floor, into the kitchen. She loves Kraft Singles - "cheese" is one of her best words, and not because she's so used to having her picture taken. Though - she gets a lot of that, too!

Big brother Gavin is fully into his school routine now - he didn't quite make it on the bus that first morning, but with Mom's help he did manage to get off at his stop later that day - not without Mom getting on, herself, to look for him! The neighborhood 'big kids' are looking out for him, now - we certainly wouldn't want him to accidentally get chauffeured through all of Caledonia!

Mom and Dad have found some help to look after G-Girl during the day and are trying to get more time in at their respective jobs. It looks like this is to be the way things are until about Thanksgiving time - and Greta's 2nd birthday - what a gift - no more chemo! :)

Thank you, Anonymous, for your comment - it's easy for me to forget that people are curious about how she's doing on a day-to-day basis. I got to spend the evening with Kristi, Randy, Gavin and Greta this past Monday, and I'm happy to report that everyone is doing very well.

Happy Thursday!
Kari

Checking off one more treatment....

We are back home again after our Labor Day weekend hospitalization for chemo. Greta once again did a great job putting up with being stuck inside for 3 days. This time, however, her red cell counts and her platelets both dropped before we left, so the doctors decided to give Greta a blood transfusion to give her a boost and save us from spending all day there this Friday.

With her platelets being low, we have to keep her from falls and tumbles to reduce her bruising and bleeding as her blood doesn't clot as well right now. That's quite hard to do with a toddler who seems to enjoy wrestling her brother! She's actually pinned him a few times!

This morning Greta, Dad and Mom got to send Gavin off on his first bus ride to his first day of school. He is starting Young 5's today, and gets to ride the bus all by himself. That includes a transfer at another school. Yes, Mom is a little nervous that he'll make it there okay, we considered trailing him in the car!

We're excited to tell everyone that we've found someone to care for Greta during the day a few days a week, so Mom and Dad can get back to a bit of a normal work routine. We're hoping to only need some help just to get through her remaining treatments (just about up to Thanksgiving), because we think that once her immunity is no longer compromised by the chemo, she'll be able to join her pals at her usual daycare on a regular basis.

Hope all of you got the new school year off to a smooth start at your homes!
Team Betz