Another Quick Trip

Greta had another blood draw today and the results came back great again. She'll go back on Tuesday to the hospital to be seen by her Doctor for her monthly check up. I'm expecting we'll also find out about her next CT Scan too since we're coming up on 3 months since her last one.
We took Gavin, Greta and their cousin Aidan to Craig's Cruisers this week to celebrate Gavin's 6th birthday. I have a cute video of Greta dancing on the DDR video game, if I can ever figure out how to post a video, I will add it. She and Gavin also loved play mini golf. Greta's technique is to hit the ball, pick it up and drop it about a foot away from the hole and then knock it in. Gavin and Aidan like the go-carts best.

We also were able to get out on the lake in the boat this past weekend. Greta is definitely a water baby. She loved riding in the boat and playing in the water. We're hoping to get out again this weekend.

We hope everyone is enjoying the summer as much as we are!
Love,The Betz Family

Still Good!

Greta had another blood draw today and after a few tears, she was back to smiling and saying bye-bye to the nurses as we left. The good news came a couple hours later when the results came back that her platelets still remain at a nice healthy level. We'll be back next week for another check.

We're hoping for nice weather this weekend so we can take Greta and Gavin on their first boat ride in almost 2 years. We think that would be a nice Father's Day gift to Daddy.

Happy Fathers Day to all you dad's and grandpas!

Love,
The Betz Family

Good Results

I am happy to share with you that Greta's platelets were still very good yesterday, they continue to stay high and for that we are very grateful! So we headed off to Grammy and Opa's for the weekend. Greta not only is doing well, but she looks great. She finally got her appetite back and it's starting to show. Her face has filled out as well as her belly!

Side Effects

Greta came home from the hospital last Wednesday night after having her IVIG treatment. She was given a drug to help counteract the migraine like headaches and nausea the IVIG can cause. Sunday evening about 24 hours after her last dose of medicine, Greta started complaining that she had a boo boo and was holding her head. She started trying to cover her head with her blankie and kept laying down. Moments later she started vomiting. After an hour or so and 3-4 occasions of vomiting, we called the hospital.

The doctor put Greta back on her medication, the tough part was keeping it down for it to start working. We think she stopped after about the 12-15th episode or so. She slowly started to act like herself again and by 10:30 she seemed to be feeling better and went to bed. As always any time anything out of the ordinary happens, we start thinking the worst. It's hard to watch her in so much pain and feeling helpless to stop it. Tomorrow Greta has her blood draw again to check her levels. Hopefully her platelets continue to hold steady after the IVIG treatments. We'll keep you posted tomorrow on her results.

Thanks again for taking this journey with us and supporting us as we experience this new and uncertain world of childhood cancer. Please continue to pray that Greta stays healthy!

Love,
The Betz Family

Good News!

Greta had her counts checked today and the good news is her platelets are UP! So we are breathing a little sigh of relief. She'll go back on Thursday to be rechecked, but we are hopeful that she'll be able to keep them up this time.

Greta is doing so great, she looks good again, her bruises are starting to clear up and she skips everywhere she goes. She is having a great time at her day care (although we're told she sits in time out quite a bit for throwing toys at the other kids). We're hoping that being back around the other kids will get her used to sharing again. Gavin had his last day of school today and we got a great report back on his progress this year. He's excited for the summer and spending his days at day care with Greta and his cousin.

Thanks for checking up on us. We hope to be able to have good news again after her labs are checked on Thursday.

Love,
The Betz Family

We're Back In and Out Again

Greta had clinic again Tuesday. She unexpectedly had low platelets again. So she was admitted back into the hospital again Tuesday night. Her doctor decided to give her two more doses of the IVIG to help fight off the virus. They hope that the extra dose will get her body to stop fighting off her platelets. She received the first dose Tuesday night and then another one Wednesday evening. Unfortunately her IV failed again in between the two doses so she had to have another IV started. Once again her veins were collapsing as soon as they got started. So after 4 tries and some mild sedatives, Greta was back in business. Unfortunately the 2nd round started much later than hoped so the Betz family had a late night at the hospital and we were finally freed around 11:30 Wednesday night. Needless to say we're a sleepy bunch today.

Greta goes to get her labs drawn again tomorrow (yet another poke) and hopefully her platelet count will have rebounded. The concern is if this doesn't work, the other options for treatment aren't ideal for a post transplant patient as they could reduce her immunity or her red blood cell count. So the doctors are working on other options at the moment. We are praying though that a plan B won't be necessary and that Greta will be on the mend soon.

Please keep her in your prayers as we continue down this road. We also ask that you continue to pray for our little friend Rosie who was sent home a couple weeks ago and has been given a couple months if not weeks as there is nothing more her doctors can do for her. Our hearts are breaking for her family.

Thank you,
The Betz Family