Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Two Years Ago...

Two years ago today, we got the news that Greta had cancer. The next day I sent out this email to everyone in my contacts:

We are in need of a miracle. Some of you may know, some may not, but we need some prayers for our little Greta. She is currently in the hospital with a cancerous tumor. The tumor is outside her left lung and has caused it to collapse. Greta will be starting a chemo treatment tomorrow afternoon so the next 3-7 days are critical as to how she responds to the chemo. The doctors have told us that this is a treatable cancer, but with her age, it could require 6 months to a year of to treat. Please, please include our family in your prayers.
The Betz Family.

We got our miracle! Thank you to all who followed our story and prayed for Greta's healing. We are truly blessed and we are so thankful for every day we have to share with both of our kids. We've been privileged to meet many families during the past two years that are fighting cancer. We've unfortunately have met many kids that lost that battle and were taken from their families too soon. We hope that you will continue to pray for those families too.

This is the time of year that many communities hold a Relay for Life campaign to raise money for cancer research. We know without this funded research, we may be telling a different story today. We need to continue to fund that research so we can help the families that are getting the unfortunate news today that we received two years ago.

Greta's grandparents are taking part in the RFL in Clarkston, MI and are taking donations. Please go to the website below and donate if you are able. We are also planning on participating in the RFL in Rockford, MI where we hope Greta will be in the survivor lap.

Thank you again for your prayers, for celebrating with us and for your support!
The Betz Family

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Sorry for neglecting to update the blog, I had updated the carepage and forgot to paste it onto here as well. Our apoligies for leaving you hanging for so long! Here is the post from March 18th:

Miss Greta's scans came back great. She is still cancer free and we are relieved again! She was so brave yesterday and such a good girl and did both her CT and Bone Scans without sedation. She was amazing. The good news now is she won't have to go all day without food or drink for her tests.
A thank you to the child life staff at the hospital who go out of their way to make sure Greta always has a good time at the hospital and made sure she was comfortable with and during her scans. They are amazing people who don't just make the hospital time tolerable, they make it fun. So much that Greta asked to go back today

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Scans Tomorrow

We're heading back tomorrow for our day of scans at the hospital. We go in at 8 am so Greta can get an IV set and an injection for the bone scan. Then we have to keep her entertained and without food or drink until 1pm when she'll get her bone scan and her CT scan. The good news is that she is due for some vaccinations tomorrow so they can give them to her while she is sedated for her scans.

Please pray for Greta tomorrow that her scans come back normal!

Thank you!

The Betz Family

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Happy "Birthday" Greta!


Today marks the ONE YEAR anniversary of Greta's stem cell infusion, when she got a fresh start after beating Ewing's Sarcoma.

She is a very different girl from the one who came home from the hospital last year!

Lots of honey blonde hair is coming in, and Greta gets more talkative and animated every day. She has the greatest sense of humor, and is an absolute joy to be around. She is going to give her brother a run for his money :)

Thanks for all of the continued prayers, love and support - we are counting our blessings by the truckload for our healthy baby girl.

Much Love,

Kari

Monday, December 21, 2009

Busy, busy, busy...

Things are getting so busy these days, I sometimes forget to update on Greta's progress! We had Greta's monthly clinic last week and everything checked out great. She'll go back again mid-January at which point she'll be about one year post transplant. What a great milestone! I can't believe it's already here. Last year at this time we were all anxious and apprehensive about the transplant and here we are already a year gone by! Unfortunately for Greta that means she'll be ready to start getting her vaccinations again. But it also means that her clinic visits could be 3 months apart rather than every month. Amazing!

Greta is also very busy, busy, busy! She does not ever stop going and she does not ever seem to stop smiling. She takes joy in every little thing she does. It's a trait I hope to learn to pick up myself. She and Gavin are very excited for the upcoming Christmas celebration. They are counting down the days until Santa comes to visit!

We hope everyone has a wonderful, blessed and safe Christmas holiday and New Year!
Love, The Betz Family

Friday, November 20, 2009

And the Results are Good!

Greta's scans came back and she is still cancer free. So we are worry free for 3 more months until the next tests. Thanks so much for all the positive thoughts and the prayers!

We hope everyone enjoys Thanksgiving, we sure will!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Scan Day

Today was Greta's 3 month CT and bone scan. Once again it was a long day at the hospital, started at 8:30 and home at 3:30. Greta did great though and is probably the best 3 year old at entertaining herself in a small closet sized room that I know! Now it's the waiting game for results. Which means anxious days at the Betz house.

In other news, Greta celebrated her 3rd birthday yesterday. What a great milestone for all of us. It was over 18 months ago that Greta started treatment. In those days I sometimes questioned whether this was a birthday we'd ever get to celebrate. I tried to push those thoughts out of my mind as quickly as they came in. They mostly came in moments when I'd be shopping and pick out something for Greta for the next season, or the next size up and wonder if I should even buy something she may never wear. But I shook those thoughts and filled her closet with clothes for the next year or two in advance.

We had two celebrations, a family party on Friday and on her birthday we took Aunt Kari and Aidan to Chuck E Cheese, something she wasn't allowed to do while she was under going treatment. She had a great time and I'm sure we'll hear the pleas to go back a lot!

We are thankful for the prayers for good test results and we'll report back as soon as we get them.

Love,
The Betz Family