Line is Good

Greta's line test went fine on Wednesday. There was no evidence that the line was clogged so that means that we can continue to keep the line in and she won't need to get peripheral blood draws each week. That's good news for Greta and for us, I don't think she would appreciate the pokes every week. Our next clinic visit is Wednesday at which time she'll also have another CT Scan her first of many scans post transplant.

Greta continues to do amazingly well and we couldn't be happier!
The Betz Family

Holding Steady

Greta had another clinic visit today. They weren't able to pull any blood off her Broviac so she had to have a drug inserted in her line to clear it up. That worked and an hour and a half later she was able to get her blood drawn for labs. Her doctor is concerned that maybe this could be an on going thing so she's going back tomorrow to have a dye test. This will show if there is any other blockages in the line or blood clots. If there are any blockages, we may be talking about removing her line sooner than later. Otherwise her clinic visit went great. Her counts are still holding steady so she didn't need any transfusions.

Greta is scheduled for her first post-transplant CT scan next Wednesday. She'll be getting scans every 3 months and then at longer intervals for a while. We'll be crossing our fingers and saying our prayers that these scans continue to come back clean.

All in all, Greta is still continuing to amaze us all with her speedy recovery and her happy spirit. We are so blessed!

The Betz Family

Continuing to Amaze

Greta had her ENT visit yesterday and clinic visit today. Both went as well as we could have hoped. The ENT said Greta looked good and she shouldn't need to come back in unless she started showing signs of Sinusitis again. Her clinic visit was great. Both her platelets and her white blood counts went up again on their own. She'll now only need to be seen once a week. We are thrilled with her progress! She looks better now then she has since all this began!

A very happy Betz Family!

Doing Great

Greta had her fourth clinic visit Monday and she is still doing wonderfully. She didn't need to have the neupogen after all, her ANC had gone up slightly so we're holding off to see how she does on her own this week. All her other counts are either holding steady or improving so she went the whole first week without any transfusions. We're also going down to only 2 clinic visits this week and cutting out a couple doses of some of her meds. She'll go back to her ENT on Wednesday to see if her Sinusitis is clearing up and then clinic on Thursday again. We are thrilled with how well she is doing at home and couldn't be happier.

Please say a prayer for Greta's friend Rosie. She didn't get good news on her MRI last week and is being sent to St. Jude for treatment soon.

Love,
The Betz Family

One Week Already...

We've been home with Greta for a whole week today. She is still doing very well. She had another clinic visit on Friday and her white blood count and her ANC went down (indicating her ability to fight off infection). She'll be going back in on Monday and will probably get her neupogen dose then which will help bring that back up. Her hemoglobin and her platelet counts were still pretty good so hopefully she won't need a transfusion tomorrow.

We had a surprise this weekend. My sister Kari sold her home and bought a new one in Caledonia. She managed to sell her house and move without our parents or Randy and I knowing about it. Gavin and Aidan are very excited as now they live only a mile apart. Congrats Aidan and Kari on your new home!

I'll be heading back to work this week (in between clinic visits). Greta will have her baby sitter Jessica back watching her again so I'll be able to get back to work and hopefully a little more normal schedule.

We've gotten through the first 25 of 100 days already! Couldn't have done it without the support of our friends and family. We are so thankful for all of you.

The Betz Family

Good to be Home

Everything is going wonderfully for us. Greta has had two clinic visits since returning home on Sunday. The first was a quick one and her counts were all great so we were sent home. Today's clinic visit was a little longer as she was due for one of her IV medications, but still her counts were great. She'll be back again to check on Friday morning.

Greta has adjusted to being home very well. She's back to ruling the family and driving Gavin crazy. We were able to enjoy some time outdoors yesterday which was fabulous. She took a little walk around our neighborhood and then played a little kick ball with mom. (Not too vigorous, those platelets are still a little low!) All in all things are going better than we could have hoped.

With love,
A very happy Betz Family

We are Home!!!!!

We waited this time to be sure we were out the door and home before posting the good news. Greta was cleared to go home around 11:00 am today and we were walking in the door at about 12:30 pm. When we arrived her Welcome Home sign from her first return home visit in May was out front along with a bunch of red heart balloons courtesy of Aunt Kari. Gavin was anxiously awaiting his baby sister's return as well.

Once she got inside Greta and Gavin got right to playing and soon all the toys were back out. She also enjoyed running around on the new floors. It sure is nice to have everyone home again. And what a nice day to be home. We certainly are happy to see the blue sky and sunshine again.

We return tomorrow to clinic visits. She'll be closely monitored the next few weeks to make sure she's getting enough nutrition and hydration while we're home. She'll also be getting more platelet transfusions until her platelets engraft. Those take a little longer than the white blood cells. In about three weeks when we shouldn't need as many transfusions, she'll be getting her Broviac removed. We are excited for that change.

We're almost at day 20 of the first 100. We hope the next 80 go smoothly! Hopefully the next few weeks, months and years there will be little to update on!

Thank you all again for your love and support. We cannot tell you how blessed we feel. This is a real eye opening experience and honestly it's one I'm glad we were able to have. We will forever be changed by it.
With love,
The Betz Family