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Wednesday, March 11, 2009 3:15 PM CDT

Today has been a great day! Lauren done very well this morning! We got to the hospital at 7:30 this morning for her MRI. She seemed to be so calm and not nervous at all. They ended up letting her go to sleep before they put her IV in. They give her "gas" through a mask that lets her go to sleep. Then they put her IV in and continued with her scan. After about an hour or so, they called me to come to recovery. Lauren was sittin up in bed eating Froot Loops when I got in there. She woke up great and was in the best mood. After I got her dressed, they asked her if she wanted a wagon to ride in or would rather have a wheelchair. She chose the wheelchair. She thought it was cool to get to ride in one of those. We then went to the cafeteria and ate breakfast. We came back over to the Grizzlies house to chill out for a while. Lauren was still pretty tired. After an hour or so, they called us to let us know that we could come on over to the hospital for Lauren's MIBG injection for her scan tomorrow. We went, Lauren got her injection, and then our favorite Ms. Lisa took out Lauren's IV for her. Boy was she glad to get that out! Ms. Lisa and everyone in Nuclear Medicine could not get over how big and grown up Lauren is now. Many of them have seen her since we first started coming down here. They all still want to see her as little Lauren. We are now back at the Grizzlies House for the rest of the evening.

Thanks so much for signing Lauren's page. She loves to read them and see who all has checked in. We love to read them too! :) We have the best friends and family that anyone could ever ask for. We thank God for each one of you. Thanks to all of you who have always been there to help us and pray for us. You could never know how much it means to us. We Love You!!!!!

Chasity, Jody, Lauren, and Madie Grace

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 5:04 PM CDT

Whew! What a long day it has been. We left the room this morning at 8:20am (9:20 your time at home)and it is now 6:00 pm (7:00 your time at home)and we just got back to the Grizzlies House. Lauren went and had her assessment done first thing this morning. She had decided that she would just let them draw her blood this morning and not get the 3 day IV access like she usually does. She didn't want the bother with it. She was such a big girl, sat still, but very red faced, and they drew her blood with no problem. She had also grown 3 inches since we came last year. I could tell that she had grown because most of her jeans are too short on her now. We then went to the cafeteria and had a bite of breakfast. Dr. Richard, one of the drs. from Bone Marrow Transplant that remembers Lauren very well) came and sat with us. He called Natalie, our dear dr. friend that moved, on his cell phone and we all got to talk with her. We really miss her not being here. We ate and Lauren then had an ecko/ekg done on her heart. All looked well. After that, we went back to the cafeteria to eat again. While there they called us to come to clinic to see Dr. Richard. We went back to clinic and Dr. Richard informed us the Dr. Santana(the head Neuroblastoma Dr at St. Jude) wanted to meet with us after Lauren's scheduled hearing test because he would be out of town later this week. So, after the hearing test, which went well, not change since last year, we went over to meet with Dr. Santana. When he walked into the room, Madie was sitting upon the exam bed and he asked her if she was the patient. Madie nods her head yes and he begins asking her questions such as "how have you been, how old are you now, what grade are you in, etc." Madie just answers each question like she is the patient. Dr. Richard then snickers and asks him if he realizes that she is not the patient and that Lauren is. Dr. Santana, I think, was a little embarrassed. He had not seen Lauren in like 2-3 years. It was funny. Madie being herself went along with it all. Dr. Santana did give us great news! He informed us that since Lauren has been 6 yrs now in remission that if all scans were good and the same, that this would be her VERY LAST scans ever!!!!! WOW! This is what we have been waiting to hear since the very beginning. However, it may seem strange, but it was a little sad too. Lauren was afraid that she would never get to come down here again. She really loves this hospital. She still has to have yearly labs and exams, but no more scans. Isn't God sooo good?!

Continue to pray for Lauren as she will be put to sleep at 7:45 am (8:45 your time at home) to have her MRI done. She will also be having a temporary IV put in to use later on tomorrow for her MIBG injection. Thanks for all your prayers thus far. It is all of them that has gotten us this far. We love you more than you could ever know!

Chas, Jody, Lauren, and Madie

Tuesday, April 29, 2008 8:21 AM CDT

Hello all! I cannot believe how cold it is this morning! Only 32 degrees! That is the bad thing about this time of year. You never know what the weather will bring. Madie has been wanting to go swimming since the first warm day we got this year. Lauren and Madie have enjoyed playing outside so much. We cannot wait for summer! The girls are excited about school ending soon. They actually get out in May this year. It has been a while since that has happened. It is ususally June. Mom is excited about school being out too! I have enjoyed going though. I am excited about this fall and getting to start clinicals. I know it will be tough so I will have to pray hard for God to help me through. Madie is in the Spring Variety Show this year. She is a Pre-K dancer. Lauren was a little disappointed that she wasn't in it this year. She was in it last year though and I had to explain to her that we had to let other kids have a chance to be in it too. She was fine with that. Lauren has been having some trouble with her stomach again. I have been giving her Immodium every morning before school and it seems to be helping her. She is getting embarrassed about having to go at school. She is afraid that the kids will make fun of her. Please pray that God will touch her. I couldn't help put to post the new pics. I thought they were so cute! The girls absolutely love facial mask and all that fun girly stuff. Thanks for checking in on us.

God Bless,
Chasity

Friday, March 28, 2008 1:05 PM CDT

PRAISE GOD!! WE ARE HOME SAFE AND WITH GOOD REPORTS!!

Lauren had her EKO/EKG done. They said that she had a pretty heart. When Lauren told us that she got to see her heart, Madie asked her if she saw Jesus in there. It was too cute! We saw Dr. Richard (a clinic doctor) and Dr. Santana (neuroblastoma doctor). Dr. Santana took a look at Lauren and said she was perfect. According to all scans, everything was great! Praise God! They even added that next time she comes for check-ups, she will only have to do 2 scans from then on. She will have only a MRI and MIBG done. Lauren also had her hearing test done. She only has mild to moderate hearing loss in high frequency sounds. These are sounds that are hardly there anyway. Everything else was good. We arrived home around 1:00 this morning. The trip went good. God is so awesome! We have so much to be thankful for and we are reminded of that everytime we get to take Lauren home from St. Jude. God has really blessed our family! Thanks to everyone who checked in on us and signed the guestbook for Lauren. Most of all, thanks so much for the mighty prayers. They worked! :) Thank you God for taking care of Lauren this week and being by her side. Thank you for taking care of us and bringing us home safe. Most of all, we thank you for the healing of our precious angel. She is truly a mircle from you!

Thanks to All,
Chasity, Jody, Lauren, and Madie

Thursday, March 27, 2008 10:48 AM CDT

Good morning everyone! Just wanted to give a quick update. Lauren has just finished her MIBG scan. She done great! She actually fell asleep and took a nap during the scan. We are getting ready to go to clinic at 11:30 (12:30 @ home) to see the Dr.
We had a little bit of a schedule change for today. We had to be here at 8 this morning for Lauren to have an ECHO/EKG done on her heart. This is something that they do with all kids who have had chemo & transplant. They do one before, and do one for a follow-up later. She hasn't had one since 2003 so they decided to do one this morning (last day great timing!) She also has to have a hearing test done at 2:00 (same thing, just a follow-up). So looks like now we will be pretty late heading home. Well hope all is well there, and we sure can't wait to get back!!!!!

Lots of Love!!!
Jody, Chas, Lauren, Madie

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 6:55 PM CDT

Woo Hoo! Another day has passed! Only one more day and one more scan to go. Lauren is scheduled for her MIBG scan tomorrow morning at 9:30. We get to sleep a little later too! She went over this evening and had her CT scan done (which is a breeze compared to the others). She also had her IV taken out. Hooray!! She is much happier without it. Her and Madie went into the gift shop today and picked them out something. Of course, Lauren picked out a baby doll. Madie picked out a stuffed cat. We left the hospital and went and got supper. Now, we are back at the Grizzlies house waiting for tommorrow to come.
We went over to clinic today to tell one of Lauren's favorite nurses goodbye because she will not be at work tommorrow. She informed us that Lauren's bone scan from Monday was ALL CLEAR!! THANK YOU JESUS! It's only what was expected though. We do have another clinic visit before we leave tomorrow. The doc should have the result from all other test except the MIBG. They usually call us at home about that one. We already know that things are still good.

Looking forward to coming home,
Chasity, Jody, Lauren, and Madie

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 10:43 AM CDT

Lauren has completed her MRI. She done absolutely great! We are not suprised though, right? Thanks so much for the prayers. They worked once again. She was a little nervous but was such a big girl. She went right to sleep and woke up this time wonderfully! She says that she liked going to sleep and wanted to do it again. Ha! She liked how she felt when she woke up. They did mention that next year when we come back that she could try it without going to sleep. We have to go back to the hospital later today for a CT scan and her MIBG injection. She will have her MIBG scan tomorrow and then we will be heading home. Hooray! She has to start drinking her contract for the CT scan at 12:15. She hates that stuff! Thanks for all the prayers, keep them going, and I will update again later today!

Love to All,
Chasity, Jody, Lauren, and Madie Grace

Lauren has read each guestbook entry. She has enjoyed them sooo much! Thanks!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008 8:22 PM CDT

Well, we are winding down from another day. It is 8:20 and the girls are tired. We did not do anything special. It was way too windy to go to the zoo. I think it hit about 70 today though. The wind was cool. Lauren and Madie has enjoyed staying here playing all day. They have met all kinds of new friends and have played outside on the playground. We walked over to the hospital for a little while. Lauren had to pick up her contrast that she has to drink for tomorrows CT scan. We got to visit with some of our favorite nurses. Lauren is broken hearted to find out that her favorite Natalie (Nurse Prac) has moved away. We miss her! We came back from the hospital and eat pizza from the pizza party. And no Jeff, I didn't get any pizza with pineapples. They didn't have any with pineapple. Darn! Ha! Ha! We have an early appointment tomorrow. Starting bright and early, at 6:45, we have to be at the hospital. Lauren has to be put to sleep tomorrow morning for her MRI. Her MRI is scheduled for 8:00am which would be 9:00 back home. We are 1 hour behind time here. Lauren is a little nervous about having to go to sleep. We haven't heard anything yet about the bone scan. We are supposed to visit with her doctor from clinic before we leave on Thursday. He should have some results from some of the scans. Thanks for checking in on us. Lauren is enjoying the signings. She says thanks to everyone and she loves you! The rest of us do too!

Chas, Jody, Lauren, and Madie Grace

Tuesday, March 25, 2008 12:33 AM CDT

Not much going on today. Dad got up early, like at 6:30, to go work out in the exercise room downstairs. The girls and I stayed in bed and slept in. We got up about 8:30 and went downstairs to have breakfast. They have cereal, toast, bagels, muffins, donuts, pancakes, coffee, milk, juice, and hot chocolate. We ate and have just hung out here today so far. Lauren and Madie have enjoyed playing video games, coloring, and playing with other kids. We are now back in the room. Both girls are sitting reading books for now. Lauren loves to read. She has found a couple of Scooby-Doo books from downstairs that she is reading now on her bed. Madie is sitting in the closet reading her book. They both have been good girls. They are supposed to be having a little pizza party here at the house this evening. Lauren wants to go eat pizza. Her IV is still doing good in her arm. She cannot bend her arm though because they put it right where she bends it. Next time, we will know not to do that again. In her hand or forearm seems to work the best. They gave me heparin and syringes last night from the medicine room. That way, since Lauren has no appointments today, we can flush her IV with the heparin ourselves here. That way, we don't have to go to the hospital just to get it flushed. But anyway, things are going good. Just long days here. Thanks for signing the book. Lauren has enjoyed reading the entries. I will update again soon!

Love to All,
Chas, Jody, Lauren, and Madie

Monday, March 24, 2008 12:35 AM CDT

CAN WE SAY WHAT A BIG GIRL!!
We are back at the Grizzlies House now. Lauren did EXTREMLEY well this morning! We had to be at the hospital this morning at 7:30. She had to go to assessment triage first for her weighing/bp/etc. After that, she had to get her IV. She had been dreading it all night last night and this morning. But, being such a big girl, she sat super still and never even cried!! She was sooo proud of herself and of course Mom and Dad were too! They got the IV in but had to move it around a bunch because Lauren's vein kept rolling around. She just sat there so still and watched everything they were doing. She never shed a tear. She wanted me to make sure to tell everyone what a great job she did!
After she got her IV, she had to go be injected for her bone scan. They have completed the new building that they were building last time we were here. It is called the Chili's Care Center. Chilli's restaurant helped build it. This new building is the new place for all scans (MRI, CT, Bone scans, PET scans, MIBG, etc.) and radiation. The building is super nice! They also built a new cafeteria. It is wonderful! Anyway, she went and ate breakfast after her injection. Then, had her bone scan at 10:30. She laid super still and done a wonderful job. She is amazing!
All her lab work from this morning was fine. So far, so good! We got her schedule for tomorrow and of course have had schedule changes. She has nothing scheduled for tomorrow. So, we are going to have to try to find something to do tomorrow to keep these girls occupied. Lauren has to be careful with what she does because she still has her IV in her left arm. We hope to be able to keep this until Wednesday so she will not have to be stuck anymore. She has to have contrast for all her upcoming scans. The weather down here today is very pretty but kinda cool. I don't know if we will get a chance to do much outside, like the zoo trip, but we will have to see. Keep signing the guest book because Lauren LOVES to hear from everyone. It makes her feel good knowing that people check in on her and read how well she does. We love you all and keep praying! They work!!

Love,
Chas, Jody, Lauren, and Madie

Saturday, March 22, 2008 8:39 PM CDT

Hey everyone. Hope everybody is doing great. Things have been going pretty good around here. It's actually been feeling like spring the last week or so, but I think they are saying it could snow a little bit in the morning. The girls are really looking forward to the warm weather so they can stay outside more!
We will be leaving for Memphis right after church in the morning. We have our Easter play at 11:00 and hope to be packed and ready to go as soon as we are done. We are just going down for Lauren's yearly scans, and the last one is scheduled for thursday. She is just a little nervous so please pray that God will give her that peace that He has so many times before. We will try to update everyday, and sometimes it takes a couple of days to hear any results. But we are sure everything will be fine.
Hope you all have a Blessed Easter! Just remember what it represents!!! HE WON THE VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!

With Love,
Jody, Chas, Lauren, Madalyn

Wednesday, March 5, 2008 5:25 PM CST

Hey everyone! Hope everybody is doing great! All is good here at home. Lauren and Maddie are doing fine. Dad has just about healed up from all of his sickness. We have a trip planned for Memphis at the end of the month. I think the first day for scans is the 24th. Lauren has four days of scans and we hope to get to come home that thursday evening. We do look forward to getting to see everyone though. It's been a year since the last check-up. But that is a BLESSING and we thank God for how far He has brought Lauren. There was an article in the paper this week about a young girl named Erin Page. She is in Nashville, and has really been fighting a tough battle. Please keep her and her family in your prayers as well as all of the kids at St. Jude. God bless! www.caringbridge.org/visit/erinpage

Jody, Chasity, Lauren, Maddie

Friday, February 15, 2008 9:22 PM CST

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY LAUREN!!!!

Today is our little girl's 7th birthday. Wow! How time flies. Lauren's birthdays are so special. It's almost been 6 years since she was diagnosed with cancer. Look at where God has brought her today. So much has happened in her life in 7 years. She has endured much more than I have in my lifetime. What a miracle she truly is!

Lauren has been doing great. She and Madie had their Valentine's parties at school today. They didn't have school yesterday cause of snow. Lauren was glad that she got to have it on her birthday. She is having her birthday party tomorrow. She chose High School Musical as a theme this year. She is excited about her party but not feeling real good tonight. I pray that she is much better tomorrow!

Keep Dad in your prayers. He has fractured his right ankle. Fell on it, broke it! Then on top of that, he is sick with the flu or something. It going around bad. I will post some birthday pics soon. Thanks for checking on Lauren.

Chasity

Friday, December 28, 2007 10:23 AM CST

I know if you are reading this, you are probably in shock! I am finally updating this site! Wow! I wonder if anyone even get on her site anymore. Lauren has been doing great! She is loving school and doing very well. She amazes me how well she has learned how to read. She loves to read! Madie is enjoying school as well. She has learned so much too. Mom, on the other hand, is enjoying school, but probably is not enjoying it as much as the girls are. I feel I have learned a lot too!

For those who may not know, we were informed in Sept. that Lauren only has to go to Memphis now ONCE A YEAR!!! Woo Hoo! We are due back in March. She really misses everyone there though. Last night, I had showed her a picture of Caroline and Alex, her Ms. Terri's kids, on a Christmas card and she started crying! She said, "Mom, I just miss them so much!"

I hope all had a good Christmas. We sure did! The girls got all they wanted and more. We have so much to be thankful for. It's so hard to believe that this year is almost gone already. Time goes by way too fast! Lauren is already making plans for her 7th birthday, which is not until Feb.

Thanks for keeping a check on us. I apologize for not updating like I should. I will try my best to do better. I am also going to try to get new pics on here. Be sure to check them out.

Love to All,
The Collins Family

Thursday, July 5, 2007 10:11 AM CDT

Hello all!
We had a great 4th of July. We went to my mom and dad's house and had a wonderful time. Lots of the family was there as well as friends. We had tents set up outside, played horseshoe, and the kids enjoyed playing on the slippingslide. The food was great too! We had a few fireworks last night and the kids made smores over the fire. How blessed we are!
The luncheon with the Crabb Family went great! They done a wonderful job with the food and all the arrangements. We enjoyed getting to meet the Crabbs. Lauren got to talk with Jason quite a bit. He was very nice and so down to earth. Lauren, I believe, developed a "little crush". They are such a blessed family and their talent is beyond words. I was thrilled when I had heard that they were coming to do this for St. Jude becasue they have been such a blessing to us through their music. I was glad to be able to tell them how much we appreciated what they do. The singing was marvelous! I felt like that I had been to a revival after leaving that night. I didn't want it to end. Just looking around and seeing what all God had done, just in our small community, was overwhelming. How awesome God is!!
We are getting ready to leave for the beach. We are all excited about going. The girls love the beach! Mom and dad does to because we can pretty much just lay around and eat! Doesn't get much better than that!
Thanks for checking in. Please keep Sophie in your prayers. For those of you who may not know, Sophie is an 8 month old little girl, from Pound, who has recently been diagonsed with Neuroblastoma. Sound strange doesn't it? That makes 3 now who have developed this beastly disease right here in our close community. Keep her and your family in your prayers as we know the road they are on.

Thanks!
Chasity

Friday, June 29, 2007 11:41 AM CDT

Hello all! It's been a while since the last update but we seem to keep busy all the time. Lauren is doing great! She is enjoying being out of school but she does get easily bored during the day. We have spent quite a few days at the pool. Madie just turned 4 yesterday so we are trying to get things ready for a birthday party today. We couldn't have her party yesterday because Mama has went back to school this summer and I had class last night. She is having a Hula girl party. Tomorrow, we are very excited to get to participate in a benefit singing for St. Jude. The Crabb Family is coming to Bulliet Park, in Big Stone, for a benefit singing for St. Jude. The Freemans as well as some local groups are participating. We have a scheduled luncheon tomorrow afternoon for all the St. Jude families in our area as well as The Crabb Family. Lauren is so excited to get to meet them. They have always been one of our favorite groups! Saving lives, Saving Souls is the "theme" of this singing. Let us agree in prayer that we can reach people first of all, reach their hearts about God and what He can do, and second, reach them about St. Jude and how important it is that we continue to support such a wonderful place. Thanks for checking in and I will update soon. Hopefully with some new pics too!

Chasity

Saturday, March 31, 2007 8:25 AM CDT

UPDATE 04/06: I got a call from one of the doctors in Memphis this morning. The rest of Lauren's scans showed no change!! Thank You Jesus!! They said that they would see us in about 6 months. We give God all the praise and honor for our little miracle. Have a HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!

Well, we are home. Actually, we got home on Thursday. The trip went great except for on the way home. We got caught up in a HUGE traffic jam from an accident that had happened. We ended up having to take a bunch of side roads to Nashville because they had the interstate closed. It usually takes a little over 3 hours to get to Nashville from Memphis. Well, it took us about 5 hours to get to Nashville. It was very frustrating but we just thank God that we made it home safe.

Lauren had her clinic visit on Tuesday. The results from the MRI had not changed. It basically just showed the places that they had been watching for the past 4 years now. Can you believe that Lauren has been out of treatment now for 4 years?! The end of April will make it 4 years. Her urine test (VMA/HVA) that they measure to check for Neuroblastoma was lower then last time! Both of her levels now are normal. Thank you God!! The results of the PET had not came back yet. She didn't have her MIBG until Wed, which she did great! Lauren laid perfectly still again for another 45 min. scan. Dr. Hale was out of town, and is supposed to call us with the results of these scans some time this week.

We thank each and every one of you for all your prayers for Lauren. We can see so many times that God has worked in her life and your prayers have seen her through. We love you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!

Chasity

I will post results as soon as we hear back from Memphis!

Tuesday, March 27, 2007 12:05 AM CDT

Hey to all!! So far, the trip has been a great one! Last night, we went over to Mrs. Terri's house so the girls could play together. They are so cute together and play like they have known each other forever. Mrs. Terri took us to a place here in Memphis to eat Mexican food. It was great! It reminded us a lot of Monterrey back at home. We sat outside and ate and had a great time. We will sure miss them back home. Thanks Mrs. Terri for yesterday. You always go out of your way for Lauren and we could never tell you how much we love and appreciate you! You are definately one in a million and you mean so much to us!!

Today was a great day! Lauren had her PET scan this morning at 9:00. I had to wake her up at 6:00 a.m. so she could drink her contrast that she has to have before the scan. She really hates doing that!! Then, she had to get back up at 7:00 and do it again. We had to be at the hospital at 7:45. They let Lauren try her scan today without being put to sleep. We wasn't sure how this was going to work out. She had never done this scan before without going to sleep. She assured us that she was very capable of doing it. She had to lay still, without even talking, for 25 minutes while they scanned her head and abdomen. She did excellent!! She never moved or offered to talk. Then, she had to lay still for another 20 minutes while they scanned her legs and feet. She could talk during this time but she had to be still. She done GREAT! I was so proud of her:)

We have to go back over to the hospital at 1:30, today, for her injection for her MIBG scan and for a clinic visit. Hopefully, they can tell us the results so far. I just know things are going to be just fine. She has her MIBG scan tomorrow and then we can head home. Keep up the prayers because they have sure helped Lauren a bunch! Thanks to all who have signed the guestbook. Lauren loves to hear me read them to her and it helps her so much.

To my kindergarden class:
I miss you. I love you. Thank you for calling me today! You are very sweet. Thank you and I will be back on Friday to party!! I can't wait to see all of you.
Love,
Lauren

Monday, March 26, 2007 12:45 AM CDT

Just wanted to let everyone know that Lauren is done for the day. Everything went fine this morning with going to sleep. About the best she has done since we have been coming back for checkups! No news yet on the MRI. We go to clinic tom. to see the Dr. after her PET scan. We are going to go out and eat with Ms. Terri (laurens favorite nurse) this evening so Lauren is very excited about that! She loves to do anything with Ms. Terri !!
Keep Praying!! God Bless!!

Lauren and Family

Friday, March 23, 2007 1:00 PM CDT

We are headed for Memphis on Sunday, the 25th. Lauren has to be at the hospital bright and early on Sunday morning. Please pray for Lauren. She is nervous about the trip. As she is getting older, she is knowing more about what is going on. She gets really nervous now. The past two times she went, they put her to sleep for her MRI and to put her IV in. When she went to sleep, she threw up while asleep, and they had to suction out her lungs. They don't like it when this happens because of the the fear of her aspirating into her lungs and it could set up pneumonia. They think she is doing this because she is getting so nervous and her stomach gets so upset. So, just pray that God will give her peace and comfort and she won't be so nervous about things. Also, pray that God will keep a hedge about us as we travel down. We will keep you updated as to how things are going and any results we get while we are there. We love each of you!! Thanks and God Bless!!

Chasity

Monday, February 19, 2007 11:10 AM CST

Hello all! Things have been continuting to go great around here. We have had some snow but Lauren was glad it came when it did because she got out of school on her birthday. Lauren celebrated her 6th birthday on Thursday the 15th. She had her birthday party on the following Saturday. She did end up having a puppy party. She had a wonderful time. She ended up with lots of money to go shopping on. Lauren LOVES to shop so she is excited about going and spending "her" money. Another exciting thing happened on Feb. 7th. Lauren lost her 1st tooth! She had been waiting for her teeth to get loose for some time now. Some of the kids in her class at school had already lost several teeth and she was feeling left out. Well, it didn't take long for her to notice that she had a couple of loose teeth. She lost her bottom tooth and was so excited! She told everyone that she thought the tooth fairy ought to bring her about $100 for her first tooth. I had to explain to her that $100 was a little much for a tooth and that $5 would be a great deal. She ended up getting $10 though because she worked so hard that day cleaning and polishing it up just for the tooth fairy. It seems funny that I got a little broken hearted over her losing her 1st tooth but I realize that it is just another part in her life that is reminding me that she is getting to be a big girl. Thank you God for giving us the opportunity to be her parents and for the priviledge of seeing her grow up to be a big girl. It's amazing how much our lives have changed 6 years ago from now. Lauren has definately been a hero to us. I thank God for giving her to me because the fact that she is mine, I realize things about life that I would have never seen otherwise. Thanks so much for checking in on us again. Lauren enjoys reading messages from the guestbook on here. She is now big enough that I can read them to her and she knows what they are. We love each of you and God bless!!

Chasity

Tuesday, January 16, 2007 9:48 AM CST

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and a great New Year. We sure did! Boy, was Santa good to our girls! They really enjoyed Christmas this year. Mom and Dad did too. It is such a joy to sit back and watch them and not forgetting to thank God for each moment we have with them. Lauren also did a great job in her Christmas play at school. Some of you may have seen it on channel 10. She was a great christmas tree. I will post a picture on here as a tree. She is still loving school. She doesn't like getting up early anymore to go but, overall, she loves it! She is so smart and has done exceptionally well. I can't get over how much she can read already! They have started the Math-A-Thon at school for St. Jude so we are going to try hard for this. Most of the kids in Lauren's class seem excited about it too! I hope that the result will be great this year! Lauren is making plans for her birthday coming up. It's hard to believe that she will be 6 years old next month. Time sure does go by fast!! She is wanting to have a puppy birthday. Ever since Simba came along, our dog, Lauren has been quite the dog lover!

Thanks for checking in. I know updates a few and far between anymore. I apologize! We ask for you to keep praying for all those at St. Jude. We still keep all of our St. Jude family in our prayers always. We will never forget any of you. Thanks again and God bless!!

Chasity

Saturday, November 11, 2006 12:56 AM CST

Hello all!! Jody has really been on me hard to get a new journal entry on here. I am finally getting it done!!

We never got a call back from the doctors. However, we got better news in by mail. Lauren is not scheduled back to St. Jude until March 07. Instead of having 4 scans and staying for 5 days (which is our usual visit), she only has 3 scans and staying for 3 days! Hooray!! So, we get to wait another 6 months before we have to go back. Evidentally, they must have decided that what showed up bigger is probably nothing of concern and will just recheck it again the next time. I could have told them that much. God has healed our Lauren and she is fine. But, I guess they have to look at it medically. Thank God we know not to look at it just medically. We look at it from God's view! Lauren is a miracle. She is still enjoying school. Her class is preparing for a Christmas play. She is excited about that! Her teacher wanted her to do a singing part, but she told her "I don't think that part is for me." She is funny about doing things like that in front of lots of people. So, she has a few speaking parts and recites a little poem at the end. She is sooo excited about Christmas. I have already had to get out their Christmas movies for them to watch. We have also started listening to Christmas music too! Boy does Christmas come early! Lauren has not asked for much were as Madie wants everything she sees.

Thank you so much for keeping a check on Lauren. Most of all, we thank you for your prayers. We know that God has heard each of them. Keep praying for each and everyone at St. Jude. Prayer is the only thing that can help them endure each and every day. Thanks again and we love you!!

Friday, September 29, 2006 8:20 PM CDT

Well, we are home! Thank you God for watching over us coming back. The trip home was much better than the trip going I'd have to say. Through it all, God watched out for us and kept us safe. God is good, all the time!! We got home late last night. The girls were thrilled to get home and so were mom and dad.

We got a call from one of the doctors from St. Jude this morning with the results of the MIBG scan. I hope I can explain this to everyone's understanding. If you will remember, Lauren had some biopsies done serveral times a while back and actually had a few lymph nodes taken out of her chest. The reason was because they kept lighting up on the MIBG scan and they were not sure exactly if it was active Neuroblastoma or just non-active NB cells collecting. All of the biopsies they done all came back to be non-active NB (they call this Ganglioneuroma). It is nothing to worry about. It is not active cancer. Well, Lauren has two spots showing up on her MIBG scan that seem to be lighting up brighter this time than last time. One spot is on her Vena Cava and the other is right along her liver. The one on her Vena Cava has never been biopsied because they don't feel comfortable doing needle biopsies around this area. However, the one along her liver has been biopsied and came back as Ganglioneuroma. They don't seem too worried about it because her blood work is good and her urine tests came back being lower than ever before. So, the plan is to decide whether or not to do another biopsy soon or just rescan Lauren in another 4-6 months. They will let us know in a week or so. It's nothing major but they don't want to let anything go underlooked. That's why St. Jude is such a great hospital! They definately look to the bottom of every situation.

Thanks again for checking in on us this week and especially for all of your prayers. As soon as we find out the plan, we will update and let everyone know. Thanks and love to all!!

Chasity

Tuesday, September 26, 2006 2:41 PM CDT

Well, two days down and two more to go. Today was an easy day and went well. Lauren is feeling much better today! Thank you Lord!! She did well yesterday with her bone scan. She laid still and did great! Today, she had a CT scan done. She had to drink contrast 3 different times this morning before the scan. She really didn't like doing that but she knew she had to. Lauren was a big girl about it and got it all down. Go Lauren!! After her scan, we got to visit with a few people that we have met along the way. We got to see little Mighty Macy, which is now getting to be a big girl. We also got to see Landon, which is getting bigger also. They both look great and seem to be doing good. It was great to get to visit with them and see them again.

Lauren had a clinic visit today. We met with a couple of the doctors and they had good news to tell. All of Lauren's scans so far all look good. Everything looks good and seems to be normal. Her blood work was great and her urine test, the one that measures the amount of neuroblastoma, was as low as it has ever been. THANK YOU JESUS!! How we love to hear the good news!! God is so good and we could never thank Him enough for all He has done for our Lauren and our family.

It is a beautiful day here in Memphis and we are planning to spend the rest of the evening at the zoo. The girls are excited! It's not too hot here and not too cool. The temperature is about perfect. (higher 70's to lower 80's)
Lauren's most favorite nurse, Ms. Terri, is meeting us at the zoo with her daughter Caroline. Lauren and Caroline love to get together and play whenever we are here. They play together so well and get so excited whenever they know we are getting together. Thanks so much for checking in and most of all, thank you for all of your prayers. We Love you!!!

To Mrs. Collins's Class:
Thank you for checking in on me and for the phone call. I miss all the kids in Room 14 and I love you. See you soon!!

Love,
Lauren

Monday, September 25, 2006 12:05 AM CDT

Well, we are here in Memphis and it has been eventfull getting here! We left the house Sunday morning around 4:30 a.m. We like to leave early so the girls can sleep most of the trip. Well, after about an hour from leaving home, Jody mentioned that he thought the van was driving funny. He finally pulls into the first rest area that we come to to check things out. For those of you around home, it was the first rest area that you come to on I-81. Well, good thing that dad decides to pull over because as soon as we stopped, the back tire went flat. So, here's dad having to put on a spare tire and I am trying to help out. To make a long story short, dad got the spare tire on, we found no place that had the kind of tire we needed, so we met Pappy in Duffield (about have the distance from where we were to home) and he exchanged vans with us. So, we ended up having to bring Jody's parents van to Memphis. It ended up being an 12 1/2 hour trip, instead of an 8 hour trip, but we made it safe and sound. Thank you Lord for watching out for us again!!

Lauren was due at the hospital this morning bright and early. We had to be there at 7:00 a.m. Since we were here in March, 6 months ago, she had gained a pound and GREW 2 INCHES!!! I knew she was getting bigger but geez!! She's getting to big to fast. They called Lauren back to have her MRI this morning and I was going to go back with her until she went to sleep. As I got up to go with her, Madie started crying for Mom to stay with her. Lauren was a big girl about the whole situation and said it didn't matter to her who went back and that Dad was just as good as Mom. So, I stayed with Madie while Dad got to go back with Lauren. Lauren was a bundle of nerves. She was so nervous about going to the hospital and getting her scans today. I and Dad reassured her that things were going to be ok and it was the same ol' same ol' that she has done over and over before. I think that she's just getting older and knowing now what exactly is going on. When she was little, she didn't know what all was going on and didn't have anything to be nervous about. We, as parents, just have to pray that God eases her mind and comforts her. Dad said that he could tell that Lauren was fighting back tears a couple of times before she went to sleep. I couldn't imagine how scared she feels. I would be nervous too. Well, being so nervous, when they had put Lauren to sleep for her MRI, she threw up while she was asleep. She done this the last trip too. This can be dangerous if they don't get her good and suctioned out because it can all gather in her lungs. The doctor told us that she sounded a little wet in her right lung but good and clear in her left lung. He wasn't real concerned about it all but told us to come back to the hospital if she starts running a fever or acts like she doesn't feel well. She woke up a little winney but was pretty good overall. She wanted to go to the cafeteria and get a little something to eat. I asked her what she wanted and she said french fries. She eat a few but said that the ketchup burned her throat. She eat a few fries without the ketchup and some jello. Her throat is a little raw from throwing up. Just pray that her throat starts feeling better but most of all that she doesn't start running a fever or starts feeling bad.

Thanks so much for checking in on us. We will do our best to update every chance we get and let everyone know what is going on. Lauren got injected with "glow juice" at 11:30 a.m. We are due back at the hospital at 1:30 for a bone scan today. Two scans in one day! Whew!! She doesn't have to be put to sleep for this one though. It takes about 30 - 45 minutes but she always does a great job lying still. We get to stay in the room with her. Keep praying that God will watch over her and comfort her and we will keep you informed as the week goes on. Thanks and God Bless!!!

Chasity

Thursday, August 24, 2006 9:55 AM CDT

Well, as I type this, my big girl is at school. Lauren has started Kindergarden and she LOVES it!! On the first day, she walked right on in, sat down, and began coloring. She didn't even know that I was still there. (Of course I was, taking pictures). I was so proud of her. She loves her teacher, has made best friends, and has already had 2 boyfriends!! She is so funny! Madie has done great with sister being gone. You ask her if she misses sissy while she is at school and she replies, "Nope, not at all." I think she enjoys the time she gets to play with her toys alone and being alone with mom. Madalyn is such a great kid. She can entertain herself so easily. Lauren, on the other hand, wants someone to play with all the time. They are both getting ready to play soccer. They are excited about that. We, also, have a new addition to the family. (No, it's not a baby). The girls got a puppy. It is a black and white Shih-Tzu and his name is Simba. He is so cute! The girls love him and he loves them too! Things have been going great!!

We are due back in Memphis the last week of September. Once again, Jody and I will spend our anniversary at St. Jude. This year will be 10 years!! It's been great! Lauren will undergo all of the usual scans and tests. She is glad, however, that she doesn't have to get anymore shots. She's excited about getting to see everyone again. She will also get to miss a week of school, which I don't know if she'll be glad about that or not. Hopefully after this trip, we can move up to only going to Memphis once a year. That will be great!

Thanks everyone for checking in on us still after all this time. Keep up your prayers for all those at St. Jude and all those kids everywhere fighting cancer. I hope and pray that one day, if this world goes on, that there will be a cure for Neuroblastoma. Be sure to check out the new pics and God Bless !!

Chasity

Wednesday, June 21, 2006 9:43 AM CDT

Hello all! Wow, how long it has been! I didn't realize how long it has been since I last updated. The last time I wrote, Lauren was getting ready to go to the doctor over her stomach. Well, we went and he did give us 2 kinds of medicines to try. One is over the counter and is for lactose intolerance. Of course, this did not help her. I knew she wasn't lactose intolerant. The second one is for IBS and I haven't even give it to her yet. We have just tried children's immodium and it seems to help some. The doctor said that he has seen kids who have had radiation on their abdomen and it takes years for things to get back to normal. And Lauren's surgery on top of that could prolong things even more. God will heal her in His time.
We all took a vacation to the beach! We always told Lauren that when she was well and got her line out, that we would all go to the beach together and she could play in the sand. We went the first week in June to North Myrtle Beach. How much fun it was! It just didn't last long enough. Lauren and Madie has a ball swimming in the pool and playing on the beach. My mom and dad went as well as Jody's mom, dad, sister, and niece. We stayed in one big condo together and had a great time. They had fun looking for shells and Lauren even brought a hermit crab home.
The week we got back from the beach, Lauren went to school! She got to go to a Kindergarten readiness program. She went from 8:30-12:30 and got to be familiar with the school and what school will be like. They even got to go on a field trip to McDonalds for breakfast and then to the local library for storytime. She was so excited because she got to ride a school bus! She loved school! Their were 12 kids who participated. The teacher bragged and said that these 12 kids were the best that had ever walked through that school. Of course, I felt proud. Lauren says that she is all ready for school now. Mrs. Collins is her teacher this fall and Lauren was sooo excited about that. Madie did good with her sister being gone. We walked Lauren to her classroom, told her bye, and left. Lauren had no problem with staying. She did great! We were leaving and Madie says, "Mom, I don't want to leave sissy all by her self." I had to reassure her that it was ok and that Lauren wanted to stay. I told her that there were other kids there and the teachers and that sissy would be fine. Madie was then ok with leaving her sister behind.
Madie is getting ready to have her 3rd birthday on June 28th. We haven't decided yet as of what kind of party it will be. Madie really don't care what kind she has. She is fine with anything. She is so easy going and care free about everything. She also wants to be just like her big sister. They are so cute!!
Things have been going great for us! We still thank God and give Him all the honor and glory every day. We don't have to be back in Memphis until the end of September. Then, hopefully, after that, we can start going once a year! Continue to pray for all those still fighting. Thanks for checking in!!!

Chasity

New Pics :)

Friday, April 28, 2006 9:45 AM CDT

Well, I am finally updating. Jody got on to me the other day because I haven't been keeping up like I should. Things have been going great around here. There has been a lot of talk about going to kindergarden lately. Registration is coming up and Lauren's aunt Mary Beth brought her a form the other day to get her physical. Lauren is actually starting to get excited the more she thinks about it.(Mommy and Daddy get more and more saddened). It's just so hard to believe that she is that big already! Madie Grace says that she is going to school too. She will be so lost without Sissy. Maybe a couple of days at pre-school a week will help out. Then, Mommy might can get back into school herself.

I got the opportunity to talk to Julie Dietz (Westin's mommy) yesterday. What a wonderful opportunity it was to talk to someone with a very similar story but, most importantly, agreeing together that God is the true physician. We were talking about how odd it was that 2 babies, 20 miles apart, had the same type of cancer. We or any doctor or scientist doesn't know how or why but, I know someone who does. God has a reason and we truly believe that there is a plan for these kids. Lauren, Westin, and Clay will come together one day with an awesome testimony that the whole world will be amazed to hear! Thank you God for giving our babies the priviledge and opportunity to do a work for you and to be an example of your Almighty Power. How blessed we are to be the parents of these miracles!!!

Please keep Lauren in your prayers Monday. We will be taking her to see a pediatric gastrologist in Johnson City. Pray that there is something that they can give her to help her bowels. It would be great to have her straightened out by school time.

Thanks so much for checking in on Lauren and for all of your prayers. Keep each and every one of these precious St. Jude children and families in your prayers every day. Prayer is what gives them the strength to carry on another day. God bless you!!!

Thursday, March 30, 2006 9:56 AM CST

UPDATE: Another prayer request for Megan Wright. She is a 6 year old, first grader, at Wise Primary. Her and her family are on their way down to St. Jude. She has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Please God, touch this little girl and give her family strength.

Well, the word from St. Jude is in and Lauren's MIBG scan was stable as last time. Nothing had changed! Did we expect anything different? Thank You God for the good reports once again!! We truly are blessed to have such a miracle living among us. We had a woman come to our house yesterday, Wednesday, from Johnson City Children's Hospital. They are raising money and trying to get all the support they can to build the new children's hospital. She wanted to use Lauren's story as an example of how important the children's hospital and the St. Jude affiliate clinic really is. I gave her some pictures of Lauren when she was undergoing treatment there and boy did it bring back so many memories. Good memories and of course bad ones too. The most important thing is, that looking back, I can see how God has worked in Lauren's life. It is truly AMAZING how so many times, during her battle, that you can see how God moved in each and every situation. We had met a family while we were in Memphis this past time and the papaw could not believe that Lauren was a Neuroblastoma child. He was talking about what a blessing it was to see her and how well she is doing and looks. Neuroblastoma is a beast and it's not very often that you hear success stories concerning children with Neuroblastoma. But, with God on your side, there is nothing that we can't overcome. I thank Him and praise Him for all He has done. I thank Him for all of the support and prayers that have been said and done for Lauren. There is definately power in prayer and prayer changes things. Please continue to pray for all of the kids who fighting to live just another day. The hospital seemed so crowded during our time there. We met several different families, all with different stories, but they all need a special touch from God. Remember them in your prayers. Thanks to all who have prayed for Lauren and for us. We love each and every one of you!! May God Bless You!!!

Thanking God daily,
Chasity
(New Pictures)

www.caringbridge.org/visit/clayhart -(ALL)
www.caringbridge.org/visit/westindietz -(Neuroblastoma)
www.caringbridge.org/tn/destiny -(ALL)
www.caringbridge.org/visit/landonpitre - (Neuroblastoma
relapse)
Plese pray for Laura Wampler. She is from Norton, Va and has been battling ALL for quite sometime now. She desperately needs our prayers. They are trying to get her healthy enough for her to undergo her 2nd bone marrow transplant.

Saturday, March 25, 2006 7:20 PM CST

Home!! At last!! Just wanted to let everyone know we made it home alright. Wish we could have brought the weather with us. When we left it was really nice in Memphis, and we came home to cold and snow! It was a long, long trip home. Maybe because the girls asked if we were almost home yet about 500 times!! They didn't decide to sleep until about an hour from home. God brought us back home safe and sound and thats all that matters!

We havn't heard about Laurens MIBG scan yet, but we should find out mon. or tue. Thanks so much for your prayers! I wrote earlier this week that God had given Lauren such a peace all week long. But he also blessed mom and dad with the same peace and strength. I'll leave you with these verses someone shared with me tonight! God Bless All!!

ISAIAH 26: V.3 - Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on the: because he trusteth in thee.

v.4 - Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.

PHILIPPIANS 4:7 - And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus

Thursday, March 23, 2006 4:34 PM CST

Last journal from Memphis!! Everything has went great today. Lauren finally got to get up with dad and eat breakfast this morning. That was the only day this week that she could have anything during the morning before scans. We went to clinic today and met with Dr. Susan. She gave us copies of Laurens scan reports, and lab work this week, and told us everything was good. (which we already knew thanks to the special friend. Thank you Natalie). Lauren also had her injection for her MIBG scan tom. She has that scan at about 11:30. It usually takes about an hour, and then after that we should be headed back!! Continue to pray for all these children. Some are doing great, some are having a hard time, but ALL need our prayers!

THANK YOU LORD FOR YOUR BLESSINGS ON ME!! YOU ARE WONDERFULL ALL THE TIME!! YOU ARE OUR STRENGTH!!
YOU ARE OUR PEACE!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TOUCH ON
OUR FAMILY THIS WEEK!! AND THE PEACE THAT YOU HAVE
GIVEN LAUREN EVERY DAY!!

Love You All

Wednesday, March 22, 2006 4:07 PM CST

Hey everybody. Well day 3 is just about gone! 2 more. Today has went by good. Kinda slow, but still good. Lauren had her CT scan this morning. It only takes about 10 min. so we didn't have to stay at the hospital to long today. After the CT we went upstairs to fourth floor to visit Cory. She was one of Lauren's nurses we she had her transplant, and has always been special to us.

We also found out today that the bone scan came back fine!!! Thank You Lord!! We haven't heard about the CT yet, but we go to clinic tommorrow and meet with the Dr's and let them see Lauren.

We also got to talk to Westin's mom today and he is doing great. He should get to head home before to long, and do his treatments at Johnson City. (St. Jude Clinic).
www.caringbridge.org/visit/westindietz

Hope everybody is having a great day! GOD BLESS ALL!!!!!!

John 16:33

Love, Jody, Chas, Lauren, and Madie (rotten)

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 5:43 PM CST

Hello everyone. Well we now have another day about gone, and things are going fine. Well, actually things are great!! Lauren had her bone scan today, and she done it without being put to sleep! What a big girl!!! If we had only known that this morning she could have went ahead and eat. She finally got to eat about 12:30 so that wasn't to bad. We don't get to meet with the Dr. in clinic until thur. but a very special friend of ours, told us today that everything was great on Laurens MRI. Thank You Lord!!! (and thank you special friend)

Well tommorrow all Lauren has is her CT scan. It only takes about 15 min. The worst part of that is getting up early to drink that contrast. That should be fun for mom and Lauren, I think dad and Madie should be able to sleep right on through!!!

We got to go up and visit Westin Dietz today! He is still in ICU, but he was having a really good day. Lauren took him and elmo balloon. She also got to see Clay Hart today. She has been waiting to meet him. Please continue to pray for these children.

Also please lift up the name of Laura Wampler. She is from norton, and goes to the Christian School! We talked with her dad last night, and she has been in the hospital for some time now. They are a wonderful family. Please pray for them. GOD BLESS EACH OF YOU!!!!!

www.caringbridge.org/visit/clayhart
www.caringbridge.org/visit/westindietz

Love You All

Monday, March 20, 2006 11:33 AM CST

Hello from Memphis! We had a good trip! Long, but safe! We left at about 5:00 yesterday morning, so the girls slept most of the way! Lauren has already had her MRI this morning, so we have 1 down 3 to go. She has a bone scan tue, ct scan wed, see the Dr. on thur, and her MIBG on fri. Everything went well this morning. She now has her I.V. so just pray we can make it most of the week with that one. It's been a rainy day here so far, so looks like we won't get to make the zoo today! Lauren's favorite Ms. Terri is going to come see her today so she is excited about that.

Please pray for all these children here. We met a family this morning that just got here thursday. They have a 17 month old little girl "Shelby" who has a very rare brain tumor. They have only seen 16 cases of it here since 1985.

God is Good!!! "ALL THE TIME"

Love, Jody, Chas, Lauren, Madie Grace

Thursday, March 16, 2006 9:31 AM CST

It's been another great week here in Virginia as we are getting ready to travel to the big city of Memphis. Lauren is a little mixed on her emotions. She is so excited about getting to see all her favorite people at the hospital but a little nervous too. It's nothing but the same things that she has done since day one but I can definately see where butterflies would still develop. I know that I would be nervous too. Please keep Lauren in your prayers for God to give her peace and comfort. Pray for traveling mercies upon us too. Like I said before, we already know what the results are gonna be because God healed Lauren a long time ago. Thank you Lord for being so good!!

Please continue to keep Clay Hart and Westin Dietz in your prayers. Hopefully, we will be able to visit with both of these families sometime during the next week. Clay seems to be doing great, all but some side effects from steriods. He has been such a little trooper! God has definately had His hand upon him! Westin is impatient at the hospital, in Memphis, right now, but seems to be improving. Thank God! He has 3 drain tubes right now and has been receiving blood to increase his RBC (red blood count). He has also started chemo. Continue to pray for him and his family as they are just beginning their jouney. Without God, nothing is possible. Prayers are the only thing that we can give to these families that can make a difference.
www.caringbridge.org/visit/clayhart
www.caringbridge.org/visit/westindietz

Thanks for checking in and we will keep you updated while we are in Memphis!


Believing God For Our Miracle,
Chasity

Monday, March 6, 2006 11:17 AM CST

UPDATE: I have just gotten word that another one of our local babies has just found out that he has cancer. If all my info is correct, his name is Weston Diets. He is 19 mos. old and from Big Stone Gap. He has been diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. I don't know any of the details about it all. Please pray for him as well as his family. If any of his family reads this, please feel free to email us or call. Our email address is at the bottom of the page. I would be more than glad to talk to you. God, please touch this baby!!

Hello all and thanks for checking in. Lauren had a great birthday. She was so excited about turning 5 years old. It kind of makes Mom and Dad sad that she is 5 now and will be going to school but we just thank God that she gets the chance and is able to go to school! I posted some new pics of her birthday so you'll have to check them out. Lauren continues to do great! Other than the usual "bugs" that get spread around here, she has been doing and feeling fine. Her and little sis, Madie's, daily routine around here is waking up in the morning, putting on dress-up clothes, eating breakfast, playing babies, changing into other dress-up clothes, eating lunch, playing house,changing again but this time make-up goes with the outfit too, eating supper, playing again, bath time, eating a bedtime snack, and going to bed. This is usually what happens everday around here. They are good about playing with each other though. Of course there is the occasional quarrel between them but nothing major. They are so cute and quite the entertainers!

We are due back in Memphis on March 20-24. The time has went by so fast. Lauren is excited about going and seeing everyone. It's great to know that she is more excited and happy about going than she is scared. Lauren gets a little nervous but who wouldn't. I know I sure would. It calms her to know that they will put her to sleep before giving her an IV though. I'm so glad that it can work out that way for her. She will have a MRI, Bone Scan, CAT Scan, and the MIBG scan. We are also scheduled to meet with the surgeon who done Lauren's last surgery. Ever since her surgery, which has been 3 years ago this month, she has had bowel troubles. It seems like that her food just digests too fast or something. She has loose bowel movements 9 out of 10 times and keeps gas a lot of the time. Her tumor was wrapped around many of the nerves and things that are around her bowels and it was a good possibility that she would have nerve damage to some of those. With Lauren starting school this fall and things, I just wanted to meet with the surgeon to see if he had any suggestions that we could try for Lauren. Please pray that God will heal Lauren of this completely. Pray for her as she undergoes another round of weekly scans. I know what the outcome will be because God has healed Lauren from her cancer. Thank you Lord!! What a mighty God we serve!!

Continue to pray for little Clay Hart and Macy Morgan. Pray that God will give their families strength to endure another day!!
www.caringbridge.org/visit/clayhart
www.caringbridge.org/visit/macymorgan

Wednesday, February 15, 2006 11:28 AM CST

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY TO OUR ANGEL LAUREN!!!!!!!

Wow!!! Where has the time went? I cannot believe that Lauren is already 5 years old!! The first thing she asks is, "Do I have to go to school tomorrow?" She thought that as soon as you turn 5 that you have to start school. She was relieved when she found out otherwise. She has decided on a tinkerbell birthday party. It was quite a big decision on what the theme was going to be. Dad and I took the girls down to Pigeon Forge this past weeked for Lauren's birthday. She wanted to go down and swim and boy did she do just that. They went swimming as soon as we checked in. They swam for about 2-3 hours then we got ready to go out for dinner. Of course Lauren picks Red Lobster as the place we should go to. It is still considered her favorite place to eat. When we returned from dinner, they went swimming again. They swam until bed time and got back up at 8:30 and went at it again. They had a good time. We left Pigeon Forge and drove to Johnson City. The girls wanted to go eat at Chuck E. Cheese. They played there for a while and then we went over to the Ronald McDonald House to visit. What memories it brings back for Mom and Dad. Lauren, however, did not remember much of it. Then, we walked over to the hospital and visited the nurses there. How great it was to visit with them all and they just couldn't get over how much Lauren had grown. It has been almost 4 years since Lauren was first starting her journey. It was 10 days after her 1st birthday when it all began. Look at how far the Good Lord has brought our little girl. How could you not look at Lauren and see that she truly is a miracle and know that it was God who healed her? I thank God every day that I look at Lauren for what He has done. He has given us a living miracle. We tell people now what all God has done for her but one day, Lauren will be able to stand and give her own testimony. What a testimony she has to give!

Please continue to pray for all those who are battling everyday at St. Jude. They need our prayers as well as their families. Happy Birthday Lauren and Mommy, Daddy, and sissy love you more than you could ever know!!!

Special Prayers:
Macy Morgan: caringbridge.org/visit/macymorgan
Clay Hart: caringbridge.org/visit/clayhart

Thursday, January 12, 2006 8:55 AM CST

Well, I figured that I have put off updating for long enough now. I really have been meaning to now for about a month but I always find something else to do instead.

The holidays went great! The girls had a ball! They got everything they wanted and more. The hard part was finding a place to put everything! It took me 2 good days to get everything back to normal. Lauren was so broken hearted when I started putting up all the decorations. Christmas is definately her favorite time of the year. She got to play the part of Mary in our Christmas play at church. She was so excited and done a very good job. Madie, on the other hand, is a little bit skiddish and didn't want to be in the play. However, she did and still is walking around the house with a blanket over her head (like a hood), holding her baby doll, and pretending that she is Mary carrying baby Jesus. These girls are absolutely the light of my life and of course their dad's life too!

Lauren is starting to make plans for her birthday coming up here soon. She has mentioned a couple of party themes that she would like to have (Little Mermaid and Tinkerbell) but she hasn't decided on anything definate yet. This is a big party for her ya know. She's gonna be 5 years old! It's so hard to believe that she is already that big.

We have gotten a little bit of snow. Just enough for the girls to get all excited about going out in it to play. The last snow we got was about 3 inches. Daddy took them out and helped them build their first snowman. What other kind of snowman would you expect to see in our yard but a Tennessee snowman. He was really cute with a UT hat and orange buttons down the front of him. They rode the 4-wheeler and had a great time.

We still have a couple of months before we are due back in Memphis for check-ups. We are supposed to go back on March 20. We thought a lot about those who have spent the holidays down there this year and those who have lost loved ones this year. Please know that you were in our prayers this Christmas as well as each and every day.

Thanks for checking in on us. I will try to do better about geting updates on here!!

Chasity

Tuesday, November 8, 2005 9:40 AM CST

Things have been going great around here. Lauren is soooo excited about Christmas apporaching! She is wanting to get out the decorations now. Everything that she sees on TV is what she wants for Christmas. It gives Santa a good list of things to choose from though. Madalyn is just a repeat of the big sis. Whatever big sis says or does, you can guarantee that little sis will say or do it too. They are quite cute and quite the little energizers! Madalyn has given up her passy now. She was so attached and we thought that it would really be tuff to break her from it. She did great though! She whinned for it the first night before she went to bed but then went to sleep and slept all night long and never cried for it again. Of course big sis was such the encourager telling Madie that she was a big girl now and that she didn't need it anymore and could do it! However, just yesterday, Lauren found a passy under their bed and of course said, "Here ya go Madie." I about died! Madalyn didn't want to give it up but did and nothing else was said about it. Lauren has been going to storytime up at the library and loves it! She calls it "Library School." It has gotten her a little more excited about going to school next year. She does really well and I really don't think school will be a problem for her next year. Maybe a problem for Mom, Dad, and Madie Grace having to send her but as for Lauren, she will do great! She is quite the talker and makes friends very easily.

Thanks for checking in on us! Keep praying for all those at St. Jude every day. Believe me, miracles do happen!!!

Chasity

Friday, September 30, 2005 2:13 PM CDT

Thank You Lord for another safe trip and good reports!!!
We offically got word on Wednesday that the MIBG scan remained unchanged and her urine levels were better than they have ever been before. There are two different levels that they measure. The first one has been normal now for a while. The second has always been a little elevated. The last time it was checked, which was in May, it was 20. This time it was 13.8 and normal is 13.5 or below. So, needless to say, we were just thrilled about this as well as how everything turned out. Lauren has to start all over with her immunizations though. Transplant usually wipes out all of the ones that the kids get as a baby. Lauren got 5 of them while we were at St. Jude, goes back in 2 months for 5 more, and then has to go back for several more a few months after that. Bless her heart!! There is no other way around it though. She has to have them and better now instead of all of them right before school. She still has one of her bandaids on her leg and it has been a week since she got them. Lauren really hates taking off bandaids!! So, we are letting them fall off on their own time. She is so funny!! It was rather a great week in Memphis. We do not have to go back for checkups for 6 months!! Yee Haw!! Finally got to the 6 month stage. I think she is scheduled for sometime in March. That will get us through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and her birthday. Thank You for all of your prayers, as once again, that is what got Lauren through. Thanks again!!

Mom

Prayer Request:
We met a new family during our visit. The Morgan family had just arrived with their 8 month old daughter, Macy. She is absolutely adorable!! They are from Missouri and she has a Wilms Tumor. Macy underwent an operation while we were there to remove the tumor and her right kidney. Everything went great and little Macy just trooped right through it. However, the cancer is in some lymph nodes in her adbomen and she has a mass on her lung as well. She has to have chemo and radiation. If the chemo do not shrink her mass on her lung, she will have to have another surgery. Please pray that Macy will respond well to Chemo and that she does not have to have another surgery. She is just precious and I know God can make her a miracle just like He did our Lauren.

New Pics
GO BIG ORANGE!!!

Thursday, September 22, 2005 10:37 AM CDT

Well, just two more days to go!! We have just about made it through another trip to the big city! This one hasn't been all that bad. We talked with "Dr. Natalie" this morning, and her and Dr. Hale had just looked a Laurens scans that she has had so far this week (MRI, Bone Scan, and CT) and they said everything looked fine. THANK YOU JESUS! She still has her MIBG scan tom. but I think they are going to let us go when it's over, and call a let us know about it next week. We haven't had much to do yesterday and today. The only thing she had yesterday was her CT scan which only takes about 15 min. Today she has to go over at 1:00 for her MIBG injection, and then we are done until tom. When we got done yesterday, we went to the Childrens Museum with her favorite Ms. Terry. She is Laurens favorite sedation nurse. As long as Ms. Terry is there I think Lauren could do anything without mom and dad! After that we all went out to eat and then went back to her house for a while so Lauren and Caroline could play. She is really like family to us, and we are so thankful for her! Pray for Lauren tom. She will have to be put to sleep for this one. Also remember each one of these children down here. Everytime we come back we always meet new friends, and other people that are just getting started. They are at a place we were 3 1/2 years ago. A place were your life has just changed in a big way! God Bless!!

Lots Of Love,
Jody, Chas, Lauren and Madie (Ms. Rotten)

Tuesday, September 20, 2005 4:26 PM CDT

Hello everyone! Well I guess it's been a while since we have last updated, but everything has been going great! Lauren has been doing wonderful. We have all just been enjoying the summer. We are now back in Memphis, just for Lauren's normal checkup, and we should get out of here sometime friday! She had her MRI yesterday, and her bone scan today. She got a little sick yesterday, as soon as they put her to sleep for the MRI, and some of it got into her lungs, so she had a little bit of a cough, yesterday evening and last night, but it seems to be gone today. Today she done her bone scan (45 min.) without being put to sleep! First time she has ever stayed awake for that scan. The Lord always strengthens her the same way he does mom and dad! Well she has her CT scan tom. and then her MIBG scan is friday. We don't see Dr. Hale until friday, but sometimes we find out the results a little sooner! (Sometimes a little bird tells us)! As soon as we here we will try to put it on here! Continue to pray for Lauren! God has blessed us so much, but it's still trying everytime we come down here!!

Lots of Love,
Jody, Chas, Lauren, Madalyn

Wednesday, August 24, 2005 10:10 AM CDT

Wow! This summer has really flown by. I cannot believe that it is almost over. Looking at the pictures that we took at the beach on Lauren's Make-A-Wish trip really make me want to be there again. Lauren is continuing to do just great! She has really enjoyed the summer. She got really bummed out when she found out that the pool has been closed until next summer. It breaks my heart to think about after next summer she will be starting school! I really don't know how I will cope with it. I guess just like all the other mothers who have to send their babies :( Lauren has gotten to go to DollyWood several times this year and has had a ball. I don't think that she is really afraid to ride anything. She is all about excitement and fun! She thinks it's so funny because I am afraid to ride the Ferris Wheel. Of course, Lauren is not afraid at all and here I am panicing every time that we have to stop. She says, "Don't worry Mom. I'll hold your hand." I rode one time and that was the last. Anything but the Ferris Wheel for me!! Madie is doing great too! She is just a little repeat of her sister. Anything that sissy does, Madie has to do too! For the most part, they get along good and play good together, thank goodness! They are quite the entertainment around this house!!

Our trip back to Memphis is slowly approaching us. We are due back on Sept.19th. Please keep Lauren in your prayers. We are expecting nothing but great things though. Continue praying for all the St. Jude children and families as well as all of those out their fighting to live another day. One day, we will see no more sickness or pain, Thank You Lord!!!

Thanks for checking in,
Chasity
(new pics)

Tuesday, July 19, 2005 10:35 AM CDT

This summer has been great! Lauren and Madie have had so much fun. It has been wonderful just to be able to let Lauren go and do whatever she wants to. She has enjoyed swimming sooo much. She has already declared that she knows how to swim! Lauren has been doing and feeling great! She is such a great big sister and loves her little sis Madie so much. She takes great care of her and protects her in any way that she can (even from Mom and Dad). Lauren does not like it at all when we try to disipline Madie and tell her not to do something. Then, usually, Lauren ends up in trouble too! Those two are something else. Lauren has decided that she does not want to go to preschool this year. She wants to stay home with Mom, which is fine with me. We were going to send her if she agreed and wanted to go. If she wants to stay home with Mom, hey, that is fine too! However, she does want to play soccer this fall. So, I guess we will let her play. Lauren always wants to be doing something all the time. She definately has tons of energy and it is great that she has a little sis with the same amount of energy because it gives Mom a little break sometimes. They can keep up with each other. Madalyn turned 2 years old on June 28. She had a Dora party. Yes, another Dora party was given. Lauren kept asking if Dora was going to come to Madie's party like she did at her party. We had to explain that Dora couldn't come to everyone's party. They had a great time. It is so hard to believe that they are already as old as they are. Time sure goes by fast being a mom. I love it but I wish that I could slow down the days that I have with them. After all, I try to cherrish each and every day that I spend with them. We are scheduled to be back in Memphis on Sept. 19-23. They have Lauren scheduled for the usual scans. At least we can get through the summer and not have to worry about going back down there. We figured that they would let us go a little longer this time before they made us come back but I guess not. After this time, I am going to make a suggestion that we go to 6 months in between checkups. After all, we know that Lauren is just fine, Thank You Lord!!!

Thanks for checking in on Lauren. It has been a while in between updates but things have been going great and we have just been enjoying the summer. I hope everyone is doing as well as we are and God Bless you all!!! Never give up prayer for all the kids and families at St. Jude!!


Love,
Chasity
(new pics!)

Friday, May 27, 2005 10:52 AM CDT

Update: It breaks my heart to say that yesterday, Monday June 6, Emma Grace Hampton has went home to be with Jesus. Our heart doesn't break for her but for her dear family. We love you Barney and Trish! We will never forget those beautiful baby blues dear sweet Emma Grace!!! God Bless You and we are praying hard for you!!! www.caringbridge.org/ar/emmagrace

How great it is to be home!!! Disney was wonderful and Memphis was great at the end but nothing beats home sweet home. We arrived home around 12:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Both grandmothers were waiting on Lauren when she got here. Madie Grace was asleep in bed. Daddy could not stand it and had to wake her up. She was glad to see all of us but I think she was REALLY glad to see her sissy because she was the only one she reached out to for a hug. Madie was sooo tired but you could tell that she was happy to see us home. Lauren was glad to be home too. She loves pulling in the driveway knowing that her Nana and Me Me are waiting for her inside. She gets sooo excited!!

Lauren has done great with her recovery. She was a little sore for a few days but seems to be much better now. She actually let me take her bandaids off last night in the bath tub. If there is one thing that Lauren does not like, it is taking a bandaid off!! She says that she would rather get an ouchie than take off a bandaid. She is so funny! Before we left Memphis, the doctors wanted to make sure that Lauren's incisions looked alright before letting us go home. Lauren pulled up her shirt and was more than willing to let them look. One mentioned that we should take the bandaids off so they could get a better look. Lauren looked at him and said, "Oh no you're not! You are NOT taking MY bandaids off!" He just kind of laughed and said, "OK, OK. You can take them off later." She made it very clear to them that no one was going to mess with her. Dad and I cannot help but to laugh and we can't really blame her sometimes for getting upset. So, we just basically let her say and do whatever she needs to.

Thanks again to all of you who have been praying for our little miracle Lauren. She is truely a miracle. I could never express how blessed we are to see Lauren and all that she has been through and look at her today. God has truely worked a miracle in her life and she will have an awesome testimony one day. Please remember all the St. Jude kids and families in your prayers every day. You can never really understand it all unless you have been there and have seen what these kids go through every day as well as their families. It is sooo hard to believe that there are that many kids fighting just to live one more day. Please remember little Miss Emma Grace and her Momma and Daddy every day too. It was great to get to visit with them and they really need our prayers. They are such sweet christian people. Emma Grace sure has been fighting an uphill battle now for quite sometime. God is definately keeping her in His arms. Pray for this family. www.caringbridge.org/ar/emmagrace

Thank you so much for checking in on Lauren. We have not heard exactly when she will have to go back for check-ups yet. They did say that they would see no reason for her to come back any time soon and they would leave her alone for a while now. So we are hoping we will not have to go back for 6 months. We are just going to enjoy the summer at home and not even think about doctors or hospitals. Lauren plans on doing lots of swimming and playing outside. Thank you God for our Miracle!!!!!!!!!

Thanking God Every Day,
Chasity, Jody, Lauren, and Madie Grace

Monday, May 23, 2005 4:54 PM CDT

Praise God!! Praise GOD!! Well the pathology report is back and no neuroblastoma cells found anywhere! We were not even expecting to know until tommorrow, but the report came back today and they called us to BMT clinic to let us know. Our favortie Mrs. Natalie always takes care of us!!

We still have to stay for Laurens visit tommorrow with Dr. Davidoff, and he wants to see another chest x-ray before we RUN back home.

Lauren is doing great today, and is just about back to her old self. Running, playing, and fighting with dad!

Thank you so much to each of you for your prayers! So many times we have had little set backs, and things come our way, but God has ALWAYS been there, and has continued to bless Lauren every step of the way!

Love You All
Jody, Chasity, Lauren, Madalyn

Saturday, May 21, 2005 5:47 PM CDT

Hey everyone. Just wanted to drop a little note to let everyone know Lauren is out of the hospital. Her chest x-ray today was a lot better and just about all of the air and fluid in her chest seems to be gone.

She rested good today, until they came to take he i.v. out. She layed still to let them do it, but she sure let them know that she didn't want to! Other than that she has been great. She hasn't said to much today about being sore.

We don't have to be back at the hospital until tuesday, so she should get to rest good for a couple of days. We are all ready to head back home. We miss Madie so much! Lauren got upset today when she heard us talking about aunt Lisa's wedding. She said she promised her she would be there! We told her aunt Lisa understood, but she was still a little mad!!

Thanks so much for your prayers! Continue to remember each one of these children here!

Love You All
Jody, Chasity, Lauren, and Madalyn

Friday, May 20, 2005 6:53 PM CDT

Well another long day in Memphis has came and gone. Praise God, Lauren came through her surgery just fine! Dr. Davidoff said everything went really well during the procedure, and he expects Lauren to be up and about in a couple of days. He was able to remove three lymph nodes all together, and they were all pretty close together, around the outer lining of the heart.

Lauren did have some air build up in her chest cavity, but it hasn't gotten worse since she was in recovery. The Dr.'s expect it to go away in a day or two. She just had an x-ray a little while ago they said it looked the same as the first one today. She has rested good most of the day. When she is awake she is very sore and doesn't want to be touched other than mommy. She was able to go to fourth floor (bone marrow transplant) so she has had her favorite nurse Cory there to take care of her.

If everything goes as planned Lauren should be able to leave tommorrow. We will see Dr. Davidoff again in clinic on tuesday and they should have the pathology report back.

Continue to pray for Emma Grace. She seemed to be doing better this morning. Also remember Trish and Barney (her parents). I can't even imagine how worn down they are right now. They stayed in the waiting room with us this morning while Lauren was in surgery, and we are so thankful for them.

Continue to pray hard! And always remember He is there even in the midnight hour!

With Love,
Jody, Chasity, Lauren, Madalyn

Thursday, May 19, 2005 5:33 PM CDT

Well we have almost made it another week here in Memphis. The last couple of days have been kinda slow since we didn't have much going on at the hospital.

We met with Dr. Davidoff today to talk about Laurens surgery in the morning. He said he expects everything to go fine, and wants to keep things as quick and easy as he can. He says from studying the film he thinks there are a couple nodules (lymph nodes) in the chest cavity area that he should be able to get to kinda easy. But as he said, your just not sure untill you get in and look. He is still planning to do everything with the scope procedure, and would only make an incision if some sort of saftey issue came up. He expects Lauren to be out of the hospital by sunday, but wants to see her again the first of the week, to do another chest x-ray and make sure things are fine before we go home. He also said the pathology report should be back sometime tuesday.

Lauren listened good today when we were talking to Dr. Davidoff, because she asked "do I have to have another surgery"? He told her it would be nothing like her last few, and he would do everything he could to make sure she didn't hurt much afterward.

She doesn't seem to be to worried this evening, but pray that in the morning God will give her a peace from the moment she wakes up. Also pray for Dr. Davidoff and those around her tommorrow that God will guide their every touch.

Love You All
Jody, Chasity, Lauren, Madalyn

Wednesday, May 18, 2005 6:54 PM CDT

Hey everyone! Hope all is good with each of you. Things are going good here, just trying to stay busy finding things to do for a couple of days.

Lauren is feeling alot better today! She hasn't said much at all about her back being sore. We went to the zoo yesterday evening and I think she walked enough to get the stiffness out. We had a fun time, and it got her mind off the hospital.

We didn't have much going on yesterday. We had a clinic app. at 9:00 with Dr. Hale and "Dr. Natalie" as Lauren calls her. After that we were able to try and go visit a little bit. Lauren had to go see her Ms. Lisa (she does her mibg scans) and then we went to fourth floor to visit Cory and Jessica. They took care of Lauren when she had her transplant, and have always been very special to us. We will always be thankful for them!

Natalie called us this evening and said Laurens bone marrow test came back NO DISEASE! Thank You Lord! They did send some samples to California, to check a few things for Dr. Santana but those results won't be back for a couple of weeks. We meet with Dr. Davidoff tom. at 1 and then he will do Laurens procedure fri morning 7:30.

Continue to pray for Emma Grace. She is still fighting hard in ICU, and seems to have a different battle everyday. Pray that God also strengthens her parents daily! Her caringbridge site is ar/emmagrace.

PSALM 91:11

Lots Of Love
Jody, Chas, Lauren, Madalyn

Monday, May 16, 2005 1:07 PM CDT

Hello form the big city of Memphis. We made it in at about 12:00 last night (long trip). Thank you Lord for a safe trip!

Well we were up early this morning to be at the hospital by 7:30. We met with Dr. Santana at 8:30 to discuss how we kinda expected to go with things this week. He seemed pleased with how great Lauren was doing. He said there is no big concern over the MIBG scan, but still is looking forward to the biopsies on friday, just to make sure of things.

Lauren then had her bone marrow check at 10:00. Her "best pal" Natalie was with her for that so that made us feel alot better. She woke up a "little" grouchy, and sore in her back, but has already went back to sleep here at the Grizzly House!

We go to B clinic tom. and then nothing else until thursday.
Lauren is scheduled for the procedure with Dr. Davidoff on friday morning 7:30. She will have to stay overnight, but hopefully just a night or two.

Continue to pray hard! That's what keeps us going each day. God is always so good!!

Lots Of Love
Jody, Chasity, Lauren, and Madie Grace (at home with her nana, and meme!)

Saturday, May 14, 2005 11:46 PM CDT

Hey everyone! Just wanted to drop a little note to let everybody know we made it back from our Disney trip, and are now getting ready for the long trip to Memphis.

The girls had a great time this past week and done about all they could handle in a week's time. They were ready for bed every night! (So were mom and dad).

We will update with plenty of stories later, but it is 1:00 a.m. and we still need to unpack a few things and pack a few more. Pray for Lauren this week, that God will give her Peace with each day she is there! She will have her bone marrow check on mon. morning.

Lots of Love

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 6:16 PM CDT

OK....we have gotten word from the docs on what we do next. Looks like we will be going back to Memphis for a brief visit. Not before we go on our Make-A-Wish trip though.

Everything for the Make-A-Wish trip is now final. We are leaving on May 9th and returning home on the 14th. Lauren is soooo excited about going to Disney!!! I am sure Dad and I will be exhausted after chasing these two wild girls for 6 days! We are all really looking forward to going and just letting Lauren do just whatever she wants to do. After all, she deserves it!!!

However, upon returning from Florida, we have to turn right around and go to Memphis. We are scheduled to be in Memphis on Monday, the 16th. Whew!! Talking about not getting a chance to catch our breath! Dr. Hale called us yesterday evening and said that they all had gotten together and talked about what they thought would be the best approach for Lauren at this point. After going over scans, they all agreed that the 2 lymph nodes that they had been watching all along had gotten a little bit bigger this time compared to the last scans. They also showed a little brighter on the MIBG scan this time too. So, after concluding that, they want her to have her bone marrow checked again. This will happen on Monday, the 16th. They don't suspect anything to be in her marrow or anything. They just want to do a routine check. If results from this come back negative, which we know they will, then Lauren will have both of the lymph nodes in her chest removed. Dr. Davidoff, the surgeon who done her last abdominal surgery, says that he can take both of these out, with a scope, with little or no problem. The doctors all agree that this very well could be Ganglionoma growing. Dr. Hale explained to me on the phone that doing needle biopsies, as in the past, are reassuring but that there could be say 5 active NB cells lurking around in there that they could miss everytime with a needle. So, by taking these out, they will know a definate answer to what they have been scratching their heads about for so long now.

We are not going to tell Lauren about the trip back to Memphis until we are on our way there. She gets upset about things and if we tell her now, she will think about it from now until then and we don't want anything to be bothering her during her trip to Disney.

Please pray for Lauren during her procedures. We know the outcome will be fine because we are standing on the word of God. He always comes through for her so we are not thinking otherwise this time either. Just pray for things to go smoothly and for our traveling mercies. God will work everything else out for us!!!

Thanks and much love,
Chasity

Friday, April 22, 2005 3:07 PM CDT

HOORAY!! HOORAY!! WE ARE BACK HOME!!!

We arrived back home this moring at around 2:00am. Things went well during our trip. Lauren was such a brave girl on Monday morning. She was dreading going to the hospital sooo bad because she knew the IV was going to happen. Nurse Becky did such a great job! She got it in on the first try and it also stayed in for 3 days. So, Lauren only had to get the one IV and was able to keep the same one the whole time. The "magic lotion" worked great too! It numbs her skin before they have to stick her which makes it a lot more comfortable getting the ouchie!

Her scans came back good! Praise the Lord!!! The CT and PET scan both came back exactly the same as last time. Her MRI showed a lymph node in her chest to be a little enlarged. Her MIBG was slightly brighter in her chest (showing the enlarged lymph node) and her spot in her abdomen where she has always still had scar tissue from old tumor. Her blood work was great and her urine test that measures the NB levels in her body came back good too! Thank you God for that!!! The NB doctor that Lauren sees was out of town this week so they want to wait to meet with him to see when we have to come back down. Dr. Hale, Lauren's transplant doctor, did not seemed to concerned about her MRI or MIBG being a little different because of Lauren's history of the Ganglionoma (which is NB tissue that is not cancer). The biopsies that Lauren has had done in the past has shown to be the Ganglionoma. He feels that this is what is showing up on these scans. Ganglionoma can grow with Lauren as she grows. It is no danger to her as long as it doesn't grow too much and starts pressing on things. That would be the only problem that could occur and then would require Lauren to have to have surgery to remove it.

The doctor is supposed to call us on Tuesday or Wednesday to let us know that next plan. Dr. Hale says that we will either just keep watching Lauren and do check-ups again in probably 3-4 months or so or they may decide to do another biopsy just to make sure that they are not missing anything or nothing is developing. We are not concerned about it being anything because we are trusting that our Almighty God has healed our angel a long time ago.

It was so good to talk to Emma Grace's mother and father while we were in Memphis. They are such sweet people and it is not fair that little Emma Grace is having to fight another battle when she should be home. Here she is cancer free and having to deal with this issue with her lungs. Please keep them in your prayers as Emma Grace is slowly starting to show some small improvements every day. Hang in there guys!! We Love You!!!

It was sooo great seeing all of our old St. Jude friends. We love each and every one of you and thanks to all of you for what you do for us. You could never know how much you mean to Lauren and us! Thanks a bunch!!!

Saturday, April 16, 2005 9:38 AM CDT

Well, I am sitting here trying to make myself get up but I can't seem to do it. We are leaving in the morning for Memphis and I need to start packing. I really do not enjoy packing at all. This time, I will have one more to pack for since Madie Grace is going on this trip with us. We have only taken her once when she was only like 2 months old. Lauren is so excited that her little sis is going along this time. She can't wait to show her everything and everyone! Dad and I really dread the trip down. We are going to try and leave real early in the morning, like before daylight, in hoping that the girls will sleep most of the way. Lauren is real nervous about this trip. She is very aware that she has no line now and has to get an IV. At first, she said that she wasn't going. After telling her that we have no choice about it, she has agreed to go if she can scream really loud when she gets her IV. We have told her that she can scream as loud as she wants to and she seems to be ok with that. Hold you ears Memphis!!! Please pray for traveling mercies upon us and that Lauren will do ok with everything. We know that results will all come back just fine. After all, God has healed our angel a long time ago. It will be 2 years since Lauren has been off treatment the first of May. Thank you Lord for all that you have done!

Please pray for Miss Emma Grace as she is continuing her battle with this infection in her lungs. She has been in ICU now for 2 weeks and has been on a roller coaster ride with improvements. www.caringbridge.org/ar/emmagrace

Pray for another NB child that we met. Her name is Hallie and she is needing a second bone marrow transplant. They are going to have to find a donor this time around. www.caringbridge.org/la/hallie

Thanking God for His Grace and Healing,
Chasity

Monday, March 28, 2005 10:01 PM CST

Well, the arm has healed and the pins are out!!! Lauren got her cast of the 18th. Everything went great and her arm is back to normal. She is still using her left hand to do a lot of things but the right hand is coming back around. We were glad to have the cast off by Easter.

Lauren and Madie looked beautiful Sunday morning in their matching dresses! The kids got up a sang a couple of songs at church. It always makes me cry to see my baby girl being able to get up and do things for God. Not only at church but here around the house. She knows who healed her and has made her all better. I am sooo thankful to be sooo blessed. I never fail to thank God for healing my baby and blessing her life the way that He has.

Our return to Memphis is coming upon us real quick. We are scheduled to be down there on April 18-21. Lauren will have a PET scan, MRI, and MIBG scan done. Of course along with blood work and the usual. She also needs to get her immunizations updated since she was unable to get them all when she was a baby due to her diagnosis of cancer. We will probably let her receive them while we are down there. I REALLY dread that!! Dad does too! He keeps making the comment that he is not going this time because of the shots and her having to get an IV since she has no line. Of course he is just joking and would not miss going. I was waiting for Lauren to ask the question about not having a line and how she would get her sleepy medicine. We were sitting at the table the other morning eating breakfast and she popped the question. "Mom, since I don't have a line anymore, how will they give me my sleepy medicine?" I was like, Oh no!! Then she looked at me and said, "They will put it through my IV right?" I said yes and explained to her about the cream that they would put on her hand to make it numb so the ouchie won't hurt. She said, "I know mom." She is such a big girl. She never ceases to amaze me!

Thanks for checking in on our angel. Please continue to keep all the St. Jude kids and families in your each and every prayer.

Chasity

Monday, March 7, 2005 9:46 PM CST

Well, not too much has been going on lately. And I have to say, Thank Goodness!!! Lauren has been adjusting just fine to her broken arm. She has had 2 xrays since the surgery and the doctor says that everything looks great! She finally got her fiberglass cast last Tuesday. She told everyone at first that she was going to get a "Go Big Orange" color cast but she ended up picking the bright pink one instead. She has enjoyed letting everyone sign it. The plan is for Lauren to get her pins out and cast off on Friday, March 18. We didn't think that she would have it off by Easter but looks like she will. It will almost be 6 weeks then. She's a little nervous about getting the pins out. They are going to put her to sleep to keep from dramatizing her so much. However, she can't wait to get rid of the cast!!

Thanks for checking in on our little angel and continue to keep her in your prayers. Also, never forget all the kids at St. Jude who are still continuing their battles and for those families whose little ones have went on to be with Jesus. Pray for another one of our NB friends who has recently relapsed. Her name is Hallie. She's precious!! www.caringbridge.org/la/hallie

Thanks and God Bless!!!
Chasity

Sunday, February 13, 2005 5:16 PM CST

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY OUR ANGEL LAUREN!!!

Well, I was hoping to report in about the great time Lauren and her friends had swimming on Saturday but unfortunately, things got changed. On Thursday night, Lauren's Meme and Pap came out to see her and Madie. Lauren and her Meme were playing, just like any other time, and Lauren fell backwards and tried to catch herself with her arm and POP! Unfortunately, the pop sound that we heard was her arm. We immediately looked at her arm and noticed that her right elbow looked real funny looking. Since she only cried for a couple of minutes, we thought that maybe she only dislocated her elbow instead of a break. Dad and I took her to the hospital and x-ray seemed to show a very bad break. The decision was that Lauren needed surgery to fix the arm. They put her arm in a temporary splint and we took her to Johnson City Hospital. That is where Lauren had all her chemo so we were very familiar and comfortable about treating her arm there. We got there at about 2:30 am on Friday and at around 6:20 am, Lauren was having surgery to fix her arm. She broke it right above the right elbow so she had to have a couple of pins put in to keep it together to heal correctly. She done great and never had to have any pain medicine after surgery except one dose of Demerol. She is soooo strong and brave. Bless her little heart that she had this happen to her after she was so excited about her swim party. She was ok with the fact that we would have to reschedule the party though. She is doing great expect for getting used to having to use one hand which is her left hand. Things are a little hard for her right now. I am sure it won't take her long though to get back to her old self. Nothing has ever kept her down before. Thanks to God for all of that!!!

Please pray for Stanton's family as he went on to be with Jesus this moring around 2:00 am. He was so precious as well as his sweet family. We love you!!

Tuesday, January 25, 2005 12:50 AM CST

Hello to all! What a cold week it has been here in Southwest VA. We finally got a few inches of snow this weekend. Lauren, of course, had to go out in it. There was really not enough to get to sleigh ride but all she wanted to do was make snow angels. Madie seen big sis outside and she had to go too. We only let them stay out for about 10 minutes though because it was only like 20 degrees outside. Their little cheeks were as red as cherries.

Lauren got to go swimming for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Her cousin, Haley, had a swim party for her birthday. Lauren was so excited! She done really good for her first time in the water. She was a little scared but we were proud of her. She felt like such a big girl! Lauren's birthday is coming up on Feb. 15th and, of course, she wants a pool party too. How could we do anything else? I have a feeling that we will be doing a lot of swimming this summer. Thank goodness that her MeMe and Pap have a pool at their house.

We are going to try to get Lauren's Make-A-Wish in gear. We just have to send in all of the paper work. She's really excited about getting to go to Disney and meeting Cinderella. They are supposed to try to fix her up a breakfast with Cinderella. We are ready for a true vacation!!

Please continue to keep all of our St.Jude families in your prayers. There have been many who have lost their babies and many who are continuing to battle every day. We love you all and think of each of you every day.

Thanks for checking in on our angel and continue to pray for her.

Chasity

Friday, January 7, 2005 11:04 PM CST

UPDATE 1/14: *Please keep the family of Dylan Wells in yours prayers! I got a call from momma Cindy this morning saying that Dylan had went to be with Jesus. Dylan passed away last night around 10:50. Cindy seems to be having a very difficult time as I cannot even begin to imagine her feelings. The only comfort is knowing that Dylan is no longer suffering and is all better. We will miss our little buddy but we will see him again one day. We Love You Dylan and Mom!

Hello to all and a late Happy New Year!!!

Lauren is continuing to do great! She enjoyed Christmas soooo much! Her and Madie got everything they wanted and more. Lauren woke up on Christmas morning and came into the living room to see what Santa had brought her. She made the comment that even though she was bad sometimes, Santa still brought her lots of presents. Dad and I just laughed. She had enjoyed being line free, not to mention that Mom has really enjoyed it too! Bath time is not something we dread anymore. We brought her line home and I thought that Lauren would play doctor with it. She absolutely loves to play doctor but, she doesn't even want anything to do with it. It's like a part of her that she doesn't want anything to do with anymore.

We are not scheduled to be back to Memphis until April. So, we have a long time at home to sit back and relax. However, we do miss everyone there. It might seem funny to hear that but, some of the people at St. Jude are like family to us. Please keep our St. Jude families in your prayers. Some are doing great and some are not doing so good.

Thanks for checking in on our little angel. May God bless you and your family!

Special Prayer requests:

Dylan Wells: At home on hospice. Last time I talked to mom, Wed. the 5th, Dylan was not waking up and barely responding to her. His blood pressure was not good and they were to increase his morphine.

Stanton Haynes: Received news that the Neuroblastoma has spread and 80ack in his bone marrow. They are trying high doses of chemo and he is already feeling effects of it on the first day. They need his marrow to be clear so they can move on to transplant. www.caringbridge.org/la/stanton

www.caringbridge.org/ar/emmagrace
www.caringbridge.org/tn/tyler

Monday, December 20, 2004 10:31 PM CST

OK....I am sooo sorry about the delay in the update. The worst part is that I have no excuse for the delay except for just being lazy and not getting it done. Good news seems to travel fast though so most of you probably already know!

THANK THE GOOD LORD THE LINE IS OUT!!!!
The scans were all the same, thank you Jesus! Friday, December 17th, was the day the line came out. Lauren was soooo afraid. That was the scaredest that me and Dad had seen her in a long time. She didn't even want to go into the room. We could not blame her for being scared though. After all, she has had her line ever since she can remember, and taking it out was like removing an arm or leg to her. Dad and I had to eventually hold Lauren down to get it out. But no sooner than I grabbed a hold of her arms and Dad her legs, it was out! She never knew it was over until we told her. And then, the crying stopped. She was so proud and is now glad that it is gone. We did bring it home in a baggie. I've had people tell me that we should hang it on the Christmas tree. It now feels like that our battle has come to an end. Having that line removed was like drawing the final line. It is the best Christmas present indeed!!! God is so good!!

It was great to see some of our much loved St. Jude families during our visit. Please continue to keep all of them in your prayers. Especially over the holidays as they try to make things the best they can being away from home. And to all of our families who have lost their loved ones this year and in the past, we are continuing to keep you in our prayers as well. Pray for Dylan Wells, the little boy who I have mentioned before. While we were down there, his mother, Cindy, received the news that no parent wants to hear. They are very special to us and need our prayers.

Thanks to all who have been checking in on our angel. She is such a trooper. Thanks to those who have signed the guestbook. We love to hear from each and every one of you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Finally New Pics!!!

Other prayer requests:
www.caringbridge.org/il/aarondhunter
www.caringbridge.org/ar/emmagrace
www.caringbridge.org/la/stanton
www.caringbridge.org/tn/tyler

Friday, December 10, 2004 11:07 PM CST

Our special little buddy, Aaron Hunter, has won his battle and is now in heaven with Jesus. Aaron passed away December 10th, at around 4:30 am. Praise God that he no longer has to endure anymore. He will always be a special part of our lives and we thank God that we had the opportunity to met such a special little boy! We love you Aaron and can't wait to see you again one day as a healthy boy!! Please keep mom, Marilyn, and his 2 brothers in your prayers. I can't imagine having to deal with losing a son or brother. May God give them peace and a great source of strength to get them through each and every day. We love you all!!!

We will be leaving for Memphis on Sunday, Dec. 12th. Please pray for traveling mercies on us and for good news that the line is coming out this time! We don't care to bring the line home, but not in Lauren. We want to bring it home in a zip-lock baggie! Thanks to all for checking in on Lauren and for your continued prayers. We love you!!

Prayer list:
www.caringbridge.org/il/aarondhunter
www.caringbridge.org/ar/emmagrace
www.caringbridge.org/la/stanton
Dylan Wells

Monday, November 29, 2004 10:59 PM CST

Hello all!! We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving as we did. Lauren was counting down the days. She is really getting into the holiday spirit. She is so excited about Christmas. She gives whoever comes to our house a tour of all the Christmas things that we have out. And of course Madie is following right behind big sis.

We did get the schedule in the mail, finally! We are to be in Memphis on Dec. 13-14. However, they do not have her down on the schedule to take her line out. The doctor already told me that if things were still good that they would take it out, so we may end up having to stay until the 15th. It will be worth staying an extra day though. Lauren has had her line now for almost 3 years now! It's time for it to come out!

Please continue to keep all of our St. Jude families in your prayers. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about each and every one of them. There are so many that are continuing to fight their battle. I thank God everyday for what He has done for our angel. To all of our St. Jude friends, we love you and are continuing to keep each and every one of you in our prayers daily. Just keep trusting and depending on God. He is the only source of peace, strength, and comfort.

Here are a few of our friends that are going through tough times right now. Please keep them in your prayers and let them know that you are praying for them by leaving some words of encouragement in their guestbook. Thanks and God Bless!!
www.caringbridge.org/il/aarondhunter
www.caringbridge.org/ar/emmagrace
www.caringbridge.org/la/stanton
Another one is a boy named Dylan Wells. He does not have a website. I have mentioned him before a while back. He has had reaccurance of brain tumors here recently. The doctors say that the reaccurance is not the same type of cancer that he had before. They cannot do anymore radiation because he has already had too much. It would kill him if they were to do anymore. They did surgery and took out what they could get to. Scans showed, after surgery, that he had 4 more small tumors in other places on his brain. They are not sure as of what to try in the chemo department. However, he is undergoing chemo now. Please remember Dylan and his mother Cindy.

Monday, November 15, 2004 10:36 PM CST

Hello to all and thanks for checking in on our angel. Lauren is continuing to do great! She is getting so excited for Christmas. She is already watching Barney and the Wiggles Christmas movies. She wants to get all the decorations out now. I keep telling her that we will get everything out in just a couple more weeks. We usually try to get things out around Thanksgiving. That seems like a long time to her though. Her and her little sis, Madie, keep us busy all the time. There is never a quite or dull moment in our house anymore. They do play together real well most of the time. Lauren is such a little mommy and protects her little sis. She gets real mad at Mom and Dad when we get on to Madie for something. Now anytime that Madie gets in trouble, she runs to big sis for a hug and some comfort. They are so cute!! Being a Mom is such a blessing!!

We have not heard yet as to when we have to return to Memphis. I am sure we will get the schedule in the mail here sometime real soon though. It will be great to get down before Christmas gets here and finally get that ol' line out! What a great Christmas present that will be. Please continue to keep all of the St. Jude kids as well as their families in your prayers every day. Prayer is what changes things!

Chasity

Friday, October 29, 2004 9:25 PM CDT

Well, at last the news is in!! We just got word today from Dr. Hale on the final decision. Hang on to your seats because this is some AWESOME news!!!!

Dr. Hale called today and said that he, Dr. Santana, and a couple of the other doctors have been looking at Lauren's scans. They pulled up scans from back in May up until now. He said that they have done some very precise measuring and comparing of these scans. Here comes the good part! I am so excited that it is hard to type! Now get this. He said that the tumor that is left in her abdomen has not grown at all. IT HAS GOTTEN SMALLER!!! So my next question was, How did the radiologists get that it has grown? He said that the only explaination that they could come up with was that they have measured by using the MIBG scan, which he described can be used only for technique, not measuring. The doctors used her MRI scans when they measured. But let me tell you one thing right now. There is no doubt in our minds that the hand of God was in this. The radiologists could very well have been right but God has been in this from the start. He is the one who changed this thing around for our baby girl. God gets all the praise and glory! Dr. Hale acted amazed and told me that he kept asking the doctors if they were sure that they were right. He said that they had no doubt in their mind and they were absolutely sure about it. THANK YOU JESUS! Our God is so big and so mighty. All He wants us to do is just believe in Him and trust in His name. I look at Lauren everyday and thank God for all He has done for her. She has been so blessed and we have seen God do wonderful things for her during her journey. But, the best thing is, He has never left her or us through it all. Thank you Lord!!!

The plan is to have scans done again around Dec. 15th or so. They want to get her in before Christmas. And as things will show to be great or better, they will take her line out for Christmas. What a present that will be! Thanks to each and everyone of you who has checked in on our angel. Most of all, we thank you for the prayers. Please continue to pray for her as well as all of the precious children at St. Jude.

Thanking Jesus For It All,
Chasity

Wednesday, October 13, 2004 11:06 PM CDT

Well, there is no other way to start this entry but to say THANK YOU JESUS!!! We got the news today that Lauren's biopsies came back clear! No signs of active NB cells, just all mature cells!!!

They are going to discuss with the surgeon, again, about doing a biopsy of the Vena Cava area. They feel that since this is the only area that he will have to biopsy this time that he might do it. He did not want to do biopsies this past time because there were too many areas and too much risk. Now, he will only have to deal with this one area. They are wanting to make sure what this area is made up of before they go and treat it. They do not want to make Lauren go through any kind of treatment if she doesn't have to. The spot on her Vena Cava that is lighting up on the MIBG scan may very well be mature NB cells too. The only way to know for sure though is to biopsy this area. They are supposed to let us know something as soon as they discuss things over with the surgeon.

We want to thank each and every one of you who have prayed for Lauren. Please continue to keep her in your prayers as well as the doctors who have to make all these decisions. We are just trusting in God that He will lead the way for us and work out whatever is best for our baby girl. He has been so good to us and this is just one more opportunity that we have been given to praise Him and thank Him for all He has done.

Please continue to keep all of the St. Jude kids and their families in your prayers. It was so nice to see some of them during our visit this time. A special prayer request for a little boy named Bobby Cash. We met him and his mother when we were staying at the Ronald McDonald House during our 4 month stay. He had a brain tumor, got into remission, and now the cancer is back. He really needs our prayers and you can read more about his story at www.caringbridge.org/ca/bobbycash.

We love and appreciate each and every one of you!!!

Giving thanks and praise to our Heavenly Father,
Chasity, Jody, Lauren, and Madie Grace

Monday, October 11, 2004 10:43 AM CDT

Hello everyone!! Hope all is great with each of you today!
It's another rainy day here in Memphis.

Last night was kinda rainy too! We were out in it at 1:30 this morning!! The fire alarms went off here at the house so we had to leave the building. It was pretty loud when it all started. It's a good thing mommy woke up when she heard it because daddy and Lauren would have slept right on. Daddy was calm enough to remember to get the room key and the car keys, so we got in the van, and out of the rain. Lauren got in the back and just kept on sleeping.

Lauren had her biopsies done this morning and everything went very well. We talked with Dr. Hoffer as soon as he was done, and he was pleased things went well. He decided not to try to biopsie the spot that was so close to her heart! But he did get 3 or 4 good samples from the other spot. As of right now, we still don't know when we will get to go home. Dr. Hoffer thinks the results should be back sometime tommorrow evening. After that they will all get together again to decide the next step.

Thank you Lord for guiding the hands of Dr. Hoffer today.
We are trusting You to direct us now, as You have every step of this journey!

Continue to remember our other friends that still need strength from the Lord daily!

Love Always,
Jody, Chasity, Lauren, Madalyn Grace

Saturday, October 2, 2004 12:54 AM CDT

UPDATE: We got a call this morning as to when Lauren will return to Memphis. Dr. Hoffer has agreed to do some biopsies of some areas. We have to be back in Memphis on Sunday, the 10th. She will have lab work and a doctor will check her out. On Monday, the 11th, Lauren has to be at the hospital at 8:00 a.m. for the biopsies. We definately have to stay until Tuesday so they can make sure that Lauren is ok to go home. We are undecided as of now on whether or not we will come home before the results are back or not. They said that results might be back Tuesday evening but probably not until Wednesday. Thanks for all the prayers for our angel and continue to pray for her and these results. We love each and every one of you!!!

We are now home. We got home this morning at around 2:30 am. Jody and I are a little tired but Lauren is going full blast as always. Of course, she slept the whole way home. It was so good to see Madie Grace. We all missed her so much. Madie was more excited to see Lauren than her mommy or daddy. She loves her sissy so much and Lauren feels the same about her.

Lauren had her bone marrow biopsies done yesterday morning as scheduled. She did really well. She complained of being a little sore yesterday but she is much better today. They send off for the official results of the marrow tests but the docs said from what they looked at there and from her MRI scan that her marrow was still clear. Praise the Lord for that! We also talked to Dr. Hale and Dr. Santana before we left. They had talked to the surgeon, Dr. Davidoff, and he does not think that he should open Lauren up and do biopsies. He feels that there is too much scar tissue and he does not want to mess around what is still attached to her vena cava. So, what do we do now?

They are going to talk to another doctor on Monday to see if he could do some needle biopsies of the areas that are away from her vena cava. They feel that he will probably agree because he has biopsied similiar areas on Lauren before. If the biopsies come back to have active NB cells in them, then Lauren will have to have a more extensive treatment which means starting chemo again and probably another transplant. If they come back to be mature NB cells or just scar tissue then they still feel that they should treat the area that is around her vena cava because it has gotten bigger. There is no way that we can tell for sure if that area is active unless that area can be biopsied. Since it can't, they do not want to take the risk to just leave it alone. A less extensive treatment will be used for this. Possibly a MIBG treatment in Philly and/or radiation to this area again.

We are supposed to hear from St. Jude on Monday to see if and when the biopsies will be done. They don't want to wait no longer than a week. Just pray that these will come back to be not active NB cells. God already knows what will happen and we are just trusting in Him to guide us through no matter what we have to face.

Trusting In The Name of Jesus,
Chasity, Jody, Lauren, and Madie Grace

Thursday, September 30, 2004 6:12 PM CDT

Well, we are currently still in Memphis. We were hoping to get to start home today but plans for us have changed.

Tuesday was such an easy day for Lauren. She had blood work done and all of it came back great! Everything was completely normal and where it should be. She had a CT scan done, which she just hopped up on the table for just like a big girl and done so well. It came back with results the same as last time.

Wednesday was also a great day. She had her MIBG scan done and may I add WITHOUT sleep medicine!! Go Lauren!! She was such a big girl and laid so still and good. Needless to say, Mom and Dad was so proud of her and so were all the nurses. She ended up at the end of the day with a bag of bubble gum and suckers, a dress up set, a pillow case, and a princess quilt. They spoil our little girl so much when we are here but that is alright. She deserves every bit of it! The results of the MIBG came back the same as last time with no change.

Today, Lauren had her MRI done. We tried to do that one without sleepy medicine. They gave her some Benedryl to try and make her drowsy but boy did it do the opposite. She would not shut up and you cannot talk during a MRI. So, she ended up having to have sleepy medicine today. We met with Dr. Hale(bone marrow transplant doctor) and Dr. Santana(Head Neuroblastoma doctor) today for results of Lauren's scans. The CT and MIBG results came back all the same. No change in them since last time. However, there was a change in her MRI. Lauren has always had some places to show up on her scans. She had never been totally clear. She has been almost a year and a half now without treatment and there has never been any change in these places until now. The MRI is showing a lymph node near her heart to be almost double in size since last scan (back in June) and some other places to be a little larger. There are some places that have stayed the same too. The next step is finding out for sure what this means.

Tomorrow moring, at 9:00, they are going to check Lauren's bone marrow again since she hasn't had it checked since April. They don't think anything is going on in her marrow but they want to check and make sure. They are also going to met with Dr. Davidoff (the surgeon that did Lauren's last surgery here) and see if he would want to go in and do some biopsies of these areas that are appearing bigger. They don't want to do needle biopsies because these areas are along Lauren's vena cava and other major blood vessels and we definately don't want anything to go wrong.

Please pray for Lauren and the results of these tests and the decisions that have to be made by these doctors. We are leaving this all in God's hands as He has made the decisions all along. We should know what the doctors decide sometime tomorrow evening. We will let everyone know when we hear.

Leaving It All In God's Hands,
Chasity and Jody

Tuesday, September 7, 2004 11:50 PM CDT

Well, everything is still going great around here. We are anxiously waiting to go to Memphis. Usually, I am dreading the trip but this time is different. I know in my heart that things are going to be great and Lauren will finally get her line out.

Over Labor Day weekend, we took Lauren to Tweetsie Railroad. She had a great time. The weather was awesome, not too hot and not too cold. We enjoy so much taking her places and just watching her have a good time. We have started making arrangements with the Make-A-Wish Foundation too. Not definate for sure yet on what Lauren wants to do. She says she wants to go to Disney World and the beach. She has said that when she goes to Disney World that she wants to meet Cinderella and sing and dance with Raven(a girl on the Disney Channel). So, I don't really know what she will have in mind to do. I just want her to have a blast at whatever she decides to do.

Little Sis Madie Grace is doing great too. She wants to be like big sis more and more everyday. She is always trying to do everything that Lauren does. Sometimes that's ok and sometimes it's not! Lauren is really going through a stage right now to where she thinks that whatever she does or says is alright. A difficult part of the terrible three stage I guess. It's hard for me and Jody not to laugh at some of the stuff she says and does sometimes though. She is just so smart and very clever!

Lauren is scheduled to start scans on Sept. 28-30th. Please keep her in your prayers. I am expecting a miracle and for the doctors to be amazed. Scans are going to be clear this time! Thanks for checking in on us. Also, please continue to keep our St. Jude families in your prayers also.

Trusting in the name of Jesus,
Chasity

www.caringbridge.org/il/aarondhunter
www.caringbridge.org/ar/emmagrace
www.caringbridge.org/la/stanton
www.caringbridge.org/tn/tyler
www.caringbridge.org/la/zoie

Tuesday, August 3, 2004 10:23 PM CDT

It's been a little while since that last update but things are still going great. Lauren has really enjoyed not having to return to Memphis every month like we had been. We don't have to be back down there until Sept. 28 so we still have a while. We have enjoyed being able to stay home and do nothing. We are still trying to convience Lauren that getting her line out will be a good thing. She is getting better at the idea but she's not real sure yet on exactly why she just can't keep it forever. We have to realize that she has never known life without it and doesn't know how good it will be not to have it. She doesn't know any other way. No more dressing changes and no more flushing with heparin every day, Wow!! How great that will be. And at last, get to go swimming for real like a big girl. She will love life lineless!

We were busy with bible school last week. The theme was Camping In Canaan. The church was decorated so cute with camping items all around. Lauren thought it was the greatest thing that she got to sing up on the stage in a real boat! Madie enjoyed riding the train every night. We had a lot of fun!

Please keep Aaron Hunter in your prayers every day. His cancer has once again returned and it is back in his marrow, spine, legs, and now his liver. His mom has said that the doctors have told her there is no more that they can do but just buy him time for a while. We know, though, that God can make a miracle happen. He is the true physician and only what He says matters. Pray for little Aaron's miracle and pray for mom's strength to get her through this tough time each and every day. They have been special to us since we met them in Memphis a year and a half ago.

Continue to keep Lauren and all of her St. Jude friends in your prayers. Thanks for checking in on us and we love all of you!!!

Chasity

www.caringbridge.org/il/aarondhunter
www.caringbridge.org/ar/emmagrace
www.caringbridge.org/tn/tyler
www.caringbridge.org/la/stanton
www.caringbridge.org/la/zoie

Sunday, July 4, 2004 5:38 PM CDT

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!

Lauren is doing great! I had actually talked to Dr. Hale last week. He told the news which we had alreay heard that Lauren's scans were all the same, no change. Her MIBG scan has always lit up but they seem not to be too worried about that anymore. She has been a little over a year now without any kind of treatment and nothing has changed in that time period. PRAISE GOD FOR THAT!! Nothing new but the spot they biopsied which showed to be only mature cells. Dr. Hale says that he feels that the area that still lights up on the MIBG is also mature cells. Mature cells will light up too. Lauren will have scans in Memphis again on Sept. 28-30. If all is well, then they said that they will take out her line. We are trusting in our Mighty God that He has healed our Lil Lauren and her battle with cancer is over.

Little Sis, Madie Grace, just celebrated her 1st birthday on June 28. Boy, has time flown by our what!! She is sooo sweet and Big Sis Lauren just loves her too death. She is always trying to be the protector. Madie is walking now and into everything! Lauren is good with her though and Madie thinks that her Big Sis is just "The Stuff."

We have had so many of our St. Jude families having to battle their fight with cancer again. Our hearts have been so burdened for them. There is not a day that goes by that we don't think about each and every one of them. After all, it seems that they are just a part of our family. We met a father at St. Jude who said it best. He said, "You walk into St. Jude with one child and you leave with so many more." We could never say how thankful we are to have Lauren at home and doing so well. I have often wondered why some kids do so great while others have to keep on fighting the way that they do. Why do some get their healing here on Earth while others have to be taken from us to get theirs? God has a reason for everything and He knows what is best for us all. My heart and prayers go out to all the St. Jude kids as well as the families.

SPECIAL PRAYER REQUEST:
Please pray for a precious sweet little girl named Zoie. The docs have pretty much said that there is not much more that they can do for her. She has the same diagnosis as Lauren. She had fought a tough battle with this nasty disease and has been such a fighter. God has brought her through so much. She is in a lot of pain right now and needs a special healing touch from God. Please pray for her every chance you get and also for her parents. God can work miracles!!!
Here is Zoie's website. www.caringbridge.org/la/zoie Drop by and leave her parents a few words of encouragement. They are facing a hard time in their lives right now.

Other sites to visit and prayer requests:
caringbridge.org/ar/emmagrace
caringbridge.org/il/aarondhunter
caringbridge.org/la/stanton
caringbridge.org/tn/tyler

Friday, June 11, 2004 8:19 PM CDT

Well, we have just returned from Memphis again. This time, Lauren had a MIBG done and another MRI. Praise God the MIBG has not changed!! We never fail to give God all the glory. We haven't heard about the MRI results yet but I am sure that things are ok since the MIBG was fine. We are waiting to hear when we have to go back. Hopefully it won't be for a while and we can consider taking the line out soon.


Lauren is doing great! She is putting on weight and her hair just keeps getting more curly the longer it gets. Baby sis, Madie Grace, will be celebrating her 1st Birthday the 28th of this month. Boy, time flies by sooo fast!


There are still several of our St. Jude friends that still need our prayers. We got to see a some of them this visit. Their addresses are: caringbridge.org/il/aarondhunter
caringbridge.org/la/stanton
caringbridge.org/ar/emmagrace
caringbridge.org/la/zoie
Please keep these kids and their family in your prayers.

Thursday, May 13, 2004 10:37 PM CDT

I realize that it has been a while since the last update. The nice weather leads to playing outside during the days and too tired at night to do anything. Lauren has been doing great!!! Her and Daddy actually made a trip to Memphis last week without Mom! Yes, it was hard since I have always been with Lauren through everything since the beginning. It was great for Dad and her to get away by themselves and spend a little quality time together just them. They went down for one night and Lauren just had to have a MRI done to check the spot that they just biopsied last month. Thank the good Lord, everything was still the same! Nothing had changed!!! We haven't heard yet when they will check her again but we guess that they won't wait too long. Lauren was such a big girl though getting on the plane without Mommy. I figured she would want Mommy to go but she had no objections of just going with Dad. She waved and said, "Bye Mom, see you tomorrow." I was really glad. I explained to her that Mommy had to stay here and take care of Madie and she said ok. Lauren acts like such a big girl and is really getting to be a big girl now. She had gained 3 pounds since her last visit which was just a month ago. She had also grew an inch. God had done great things for our angel and He will continue to do so throughout her life. We give Him all the praise and glory!!!!

Please continue to keep our St. Jude families in your prayers. Each and every one needs a special touch from God's almighty hand. I will leave some addresses in case you want to read about any of them.

caringbridge.org/ar/emmagrace
caringbridge.org/la/zoie
caringbridge.org/il/aarondhunter

Lots of Love,
Chasity

Sunday, April 11, 2004 11:07 PM CDT

PRAISE THE LORD!!! WE GOT GOOD NEWS!!!

Sorry it has been a while since the last update. We did make a trip back to Memphis. Lauren was scheduled for her biopsy on the 5th. On the 6th, they checked her bone marrow since it had been a while since she last had it checked. All the tests went good except Lauren waking up from sleepy medicine extremely grouchy. That is understandable though. I would be grouchy too! Her back was a little sore on Tuesday after they checked her marrow. We give her Tylenol and she was much better the next morning.

On Friday, Dr. Hale called us with the results. He said that the biopsys that they had collected were NOT CANCER!! It is just soft tissue made up of mature Neuroblastoma cells. Mature NB cells act like normal cells so they are not cancerous. It's the immatue NB cells are the nasty ones. The tissue is not attached to anything. Her bone marrow came back clear too! Dr. Hale probably thought that I had lost my mind because I was crying and could not say much of anything but THANK YOU JESUS!!

They are still wanting to keep a close check on Lauren though. Dr. Hale says that Lauren will probably scan again in a month. One of the doctors at St. Jude, on this past trip, told me that Lauren is definately an unique little girl. God has worked miracles in our baby girl. He has kept his hands upon her through the begining and it is obvious that He is continuing to keep His hands upon her. Lauren is a miracle from God. Times do get trying and our faith seems to grow a little weary sometimes but we just have to remind ourselves that God is still in control. No matter the situation that we face, He is the one who we have to lay our cares upon. He has never failed us and He never will. THANK YOU JESUS FOR EVERYTHING!!!

Monday, March 29, 2004 2:07 AM CST

Well, I finally talked to Lauren's doctor from St. Jude on Friday. He and a couple of other doctors looked over all of Lauren's scans. Her PET scan and her MIBG scan were all the same as the lasts scans that she had done. We thank God for that! However, her MRI is showing something new. It was questionably visible on Lauren's last scans that she had done back in October. This time, it is still a little questionable on whether it has changed or not from the last scans. They say that they are not sure whether or not it is anything to be concerned about. The new spot does not show up on the PET scan or the MIBG. The reasons may be that it doesn't show up because it is so small that these scans are not picking it up yet or because it is not a recurrence. But, because it may be a concern, we are going back to Memphis next week. They have not told us her schedule to be definate yet but they are wanting us there on April 5 to do a biopsy of whatever this is. Dr. Hale says that it is showing up at the liver area and is easy enough to biopsy with just doing a needle biopsy. Thank God Lauren will not have to be cut for this. They are also going to check her bone marrow again since that have not checked it in a while. Dr. Hale explained that it may not be anything to be concerned about at all but, they are wanting to check and make sure. It's good to know that they take everything as a concern and don't let anything just slide by. We are fully putting our trust in God to see our angel through this. The devil will come at us every which way he can with those firey darts but, God is our refuge. It is through Him that we claim healing for Lauren. By his strips we are healed! God's word tells us that. Please pray for our angel and for God to once again see her through another battle in this awful war.

PRAYER REQUEST:

Please keep one of our dear St. Jude families in your prayers. Little Miss Emma Grace Hampton has recently found out that she has relapsed. She is battling Neuroblastoma as well. Pray for her sweet precious family as well as they are having to go through this all again. Most of all, pray for Emma Grace as she will begin a new chemo again next week. Pray that she will tolerate the chemo with no problems and that it will wipe out this horrible disease completely.

What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them (Mark 11:24).

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you (John 15:7).

Monday, March 22, 2004 10:17 PM CST

Hello from back in Virginia!! Boy, it's so good to be home again. We had a good trip but there's no place like home. We all missed Madie as she stayed here at home being spoiled by the grandparents. Lauren done really well with everything. She was a little unsure about everything the first day at the hospital but after that, she came around. She started remembering everyone and everything. We got to visit with a lot of our St. Jude families. It was great seeing everyone! We stayed in the new Memphis Grizzles House, which is very nice. It sure beat staying in the Marriott. It is right beside of the hospital and is only available to St. Jude families. Lauren enjoyed her stay there.

Lauren's scans all came back the same as last time. We thank God for that. Of course we would have liked to hear that everything was gone this time but no change is good too. That is a lot to be thankful for. However, we do not know when we will have to go back. The doctor that Lauren usually sees was out of town the week we were there so he didn't get to look things over. He is supposed to call us sometime this week and let us know when he wants Lauren to come back down. We were told that they would probably want her to come back down in 2-3 months to rescan because they will want to keep a close check on her since she is still not clear. I guess we will just have to wait and see what the doc says. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and for checking in on our little angel. God is continuing to keep his hands on her. Continue to pray for Lauren and the others that we have mentioned.

Hugs and Kisses,
Chasity

Thursday, March 18, 2004 3:43 PM CST

Hello all!! We are currently in Memphis and hopefully finished with all tests. Lauren might possibly have to have a second scan tomorrow but we are waiting to hear the news for sure or not whether she has to scan again tomorrow. So far so good! Praise God!! Her MRI still shows the original tumor that is on her Vena Cava but no new growth. Her PET/CT scan, which shows any active cancer cells is negative. We are thanking and praising God for all the results so far as He is the one who has everything under control for our little miracle. Lauren had her MIBG scan done today, which shows the NB cells and we have not heard the results of that one yet. We have a clinic visit tomorrow and will know about that one then. Lauren has done great with everything. Things have really went well for her. Her sugar was a little low on the first day of scans but nothing to set us back as last time. Continue to pray for her and the results of this last scan.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Miss Emma Grace Hampton had her scans done the first couple days we were here. It was really great to see her and her sweet family. However, the results of her tests were not what we wanted to hear. She was diagnosed with NB the same as Lauren. Her bone scan showed up some hot spots in her arm. They are coming back next week to do some more tests to find out the problem. Please pray for her and her family. www.caringbridge.org/ar/emmagrace

Spencer Becksted is a 4 year old who had a brain tumor which until recently was unoperable. It started growing back really fast and they done a first of the kind surgery and got all of the tumor. But, unfortunately, they had to cut his optic nerves to his eyes so he can no longer see and also suffered a stroke during surgery which has effected his right side of his body severly. He is looking at 1-5 years of rehab. He is currently in ICU and needs our prayers.

Dylan Wells is still undergoing radiation. He is doing well and looks great! Keep up your prayers for him.

One of our dear friends who is a doctor here at St. Jude has recently found out that she has a very rare elbow sarcoma. She is currently undergoing chemo and will have another surgery and radiation. She is having a hard time right now with chemo making her sick and needs prayer.

Thanks to everyone who has lifted our angel as well as those we have requested prayer for up in prayer. Most of all, we thank our God in Heaven for keeping his hand upon Lauren and watching over her. We love each and everyone of you.

Thursday, February 26, 2004 10:09 AM CST

Hello everyone!! We had such a great party!! Lauren absolutely had a ball. Dora was definately the hit of the party. Lauren was soooo excited! The look on her face when Dora came through the door was worth a million dollars. Lauren said, "I just can't believe that she is here!" It was great! Thanks to everyone who came and helped us celebrate our Lil miracle's 3rd Birthday!!!

Lauren has just finished her 12th and surely to goodness her last round of Accutane. Thank God for that! We now have 2 weeks before we have to be in Memphis. We are all really anxious to see what these next scans will show. We are only expecting things to be gone. We are hoping that it might be possible for Lauren to get her line out sometime soon. We are going to ask about that during our trip to Memphis. Since she is not undergoing any treatment anymore she won't be getting regular blood checks and things as much. It will depend too on how long apart they will plan her scans after these coming up. If they still want to scan her every 3-4 months, it might be a good idea to keep it a little while longer. If it is 6 months or longer, it would be great to get rid of it. Lauren could actually be a normal kid this summer who could go swimming and not have to worry about getting an infection. Bath time would be much better too. Lauren does not want to get it out though. She says she wants to keep it. I guess in a way that she thinks it is a part of her. She has had it as long as she can remember. We told her that she could go swimming, we could go to the beach and play in the sand, and no more dressing changes after bath time. She then will think about it but she still usually ends up saying that she wants to keep it. I think if she got it out though that she would realize how great it really is.

Little sis, Madie Grace, is doing just great! She doesn't seem like she is going to be quite the talker that her Big Sis is though. Lauren, when she was Madie's age, was saying 5 or 6 different words by now. Madie is saying hi and bye bye and will wave. She will be turning 8 months old on the 28th of this month. Time is really going by so fast. What a blessing both of these girls are!!!

We have another prayer request for everyone to keep in mind. Dylan Wells is a 10 year old boy who has a brain tumor. He just found out a couple weeks ago that his original tumor has spead and formed another tumor. He underwent surgery last Wednesday and it was successful. They got all of it but the original one they can not get all of. He already has had 32 radiation treatments from the first tumor. He now has to go through 32 more treatments where the new tumor was. The docs say that it can be very dangerous because too much radiation can fry your brain. They have no other choice because if they don't do radiation again, it will continue to spread. Please keep Dylan and his momma Cindy in your prayers. I talk to Cindy quite often and she is having a hard time dealing with everything. She is a single mom of 2 boys. They really need prayer!!

Thanks for checking in on us and we will update again before we go to Memphis.

Chasity

Thursday, February 12, 2004 12:23 AM CST

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY LAUREN!!!!!!!

We are making plans for such a big birthday party. Lauren's birthday is on the 15th. She wants a Dora the Explorer birthday and the party just wouldn't be complete without Dora showing up. Lauren is sooo excited. Last year, we celebrated her 2nd birthday in Memphis. So, we are having a big birthday this year because we have sooo much to celebrate about.


PRAISE THE LORD FOR A EXCELLENT REPORT!!!!

Lauren went back to Johnson City, the St. Jude affiliate clinic, to get blood levels checked to get started back on her LAST round, round 12, of the Accutane. Thank God that this is it. I asked about the urine test that they had redone. Her doctor was glad to say that it came back normal! This is the very first normal test since Lauren had been diagnosed. This urine test is much like the MIBG scan that she has done, which lights up all her NB cells, except that this is obviously done by checking her urine. It measures the active tumor making cells. We will all be anxious to see what the MIBG scan in March shows this time.

God has been so good to us. He has blessed Lauren and our family beyond measure. We could never thank Him and praise Him enough for what He has brought Lauren through. This past year has been one of the hardest years that I believe we could ever go through as parents. Seeing what all Lauren had to go through has definately made her my hero. She is unbelievable!! God has kept his hand upon her from the start and I know that he will continue to keep his hand upon her throughout her life. Lauren is definately special and what a testimony she will have one day!

Please continue to keep Aaron Hunter and family in your thoughts and prayers!!!

Thanks for checking in on our precious angel.
Chasity

Friday, January 30, 2004 11:54 AM CST

Hello all!! Things have been going great! Lauren is doing wonderfully. She just finished round 11 of her Accutane and only one more round to go. Praise God!!! Don't get me wrong, the med has been great, but it causes irritability and it dries her out sooo bad. Lauren recently had a urine test done that is routine with Neuroblastoma. It helps measure the amount of NB cells in her body. One of the numbers came back normal. THANK YOU JESUS!! The other number was a little elevated but they said that sometimes your diet can alternate the results. So, they told us to cut out her eating bananas and anything with vanilla in it for a few days. Lauren likes to eat bananas and loves vanilla ice cream cones so that was probably what made her test elevated. We have sent another test off for evaluation and should know the results sometime next week hopefully. They wanted to do another one to check it again in case it was her diet that elevated it. I will update as soon as we know something. We got Lauren's schedule for our trip back to Memphis. We are scheduled to be there on March 16-19. She is scheduled for MRI, MIBG, and PET scans. One scan each day. They have her scheduled as outpaitent for these. We thought that they may schedule her to be inpatient because of her sugar level dropping last time but we will see how things go. We will just make her eat lots of protein and carbs before she goes to bed.

Please continue to keep Aaron Hunter in your prayers. Aaron needs a healing touch from God. He and his family really need strength and to get them through each day. His mother is in Memphis with him while her other 2 sons are back in Illinois with her mother. It has to be very difficult for her. His website is www.caringbridge.org/il/aarondhunter. If you visit his website, leave a message in the guestbook to uplift him and his mother. They really need all the prayers and support that they can get.

Thursday, January 8, 2004 9:13 AM CST

Hello and Happy New Year to everyone!! We had such a great holiday! Lauren got more than enough presents. It was hard trying to find a place to put everything. She really enjoyed being with family and playing with all of her new things. She wanted to play with everything as soon as she opened it. Christmas this year was definately better and more enjoyable that last year.

Lauren has been doing great. Her bowel movements have not been the best the past couple of weeks but she is so used to it that she doesn't really know any different. However, this past Sunday, she had another episode with her sugar again. It was not as bad as the time in Memphis though. She woke up Sunday morning like she had not slept all night. She was soooo tired and could not hardly open her eyes. She was broke out in a sweat and her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes, when she did open them, were very dialated and her speech was slow. It was all the same things that happened the last time. I immediately made her drink some kool-aid and started feeding her anything I could think of. Jody had went and bought us breakfast so she started taking bites of it. It was really hard to get her to eat because she was sooo sleepy. Jody came into her room and he knew right away that her sugar was low and said we should take her to the affiliate hospital. Before we got there, she started coming around to herself. She had eaten peanut butter, suckers, bubble gum, potato chips, and drank kool-aid. We gave her anything she wanted. By the time they checked her sugar level there, it was up to 147! So, we came home and she has been fine since. However, she has had a head cold and did have an ear infection in one of her ears so they gave her an antibiotic to take for that. She has had no fever or complained with her ears hurting. I called Memphis to let them know of what had happened and to see if they could tell me the results of the test she had done there before we left. They are supposed to be checking on that for us and are going to call us back. We definately need to find out what is causing the problem. One of the docs there in Memphis did say that as far as he could remember that the tests for adrenal insuffenciey and her growth hormones all came back normal. They were going to try to find out definate for sure though.

Lauren goes back to the affiliate clinic at Johnson City today. They will check her labs to see if she is ok to start back on the Accutane (round 11). Continue to pray for Lauren and we appreciate all of the prayers that have been sent up for her. She has come so far in the past year. We know how blessed we are and realize where the healing hand has come from. It has come from no other than our Almighty God!! God is sooo good! We give him all the praise and glory!!!

Chasity, Jody, Lauren, and Madie Grace

New Pics!!

Monday, December 15, 2003 8:24 PM CST

Hello all!! Just updating on Lauren's current check up at Johnson City. She had to go last Thursday for lab check up to get started back on the Accutane. Everything checked out to be fine. Her counts are still good and we have started round 10 of the Accutane. She had also gained weight since last visit. She now weighs 29 pounds which is the most that Lauren has ever weighed. Right before transplant she was around 28 1/2 pounds. We were very glad to hear that she is gaining weight like she is. She has had so much trouble with her bowels since surgery that it has taken her a while to start gaining back. She was not too thrilled about letting the docs take a look at her this time. She was scared that she was going to have to get another flu shot. Mommy tried her best to reassure her that she did not have to have anymore shots but I don't think that she really believed me until we left there.

Lauren is very excited about Christmas and Santa Claus. She is asking Santa for a dollhouse which I am sure Santa will bring her. She also asked if Jesus was going to have a birthday cake on his birthday. So, we may have to buy a birthday cake for Jesus.

We hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!! Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

Thursday, December 4, 2003 12:22 AM CST

Hello friends and family! Thanks for keeping up with our little angel. Lauren has been doing great. She had a great Thanksgiving. We all eat too much but I guess that is what you are supposed to do. Her bowels seem to be doing better. She has not complained that her stomach is hurting hardly at all. Praise God for that!! She is so excited about Christmas. She enjoyed helping me put up the tree. Most of the ornaments are on the bottom half of our tree but that is ok. It's her tree anyway. We will definately enjoy this Christmas more this year than we did last year. It was hard to get into the Christmas mood last year because we knew that 3 days later we were going to Memphis. But by the Grace of God, he has brought Lauren through all of that. We can sit back this year with Lauren, our new little Madie Grace, and all of our friends and family and enjoy the holidays. We have so much to be thankful for and we owe it all to God!!!

ANOTHER PRAYER REQUEST
Please keep another one of our dear St. Jude families in your prayers. His name is Aaron Hunter and he is 5 years old. He has Neuroblastoma the same as Lauren. He has recently relapsed and it is back in his bone marrow. He will be starting chemo again on Friday. He and his family need lots of prayers. His website is www.caringbridge.org/il/aarondhunter. With God, all things are possible!!

Sunday, November 23, 2003 11:04 PM CST

Hello friends and family! Lauren is doing great! She got to go see Barney on Saturday in Knoxville. She loved it! We had planned to take her to see Sesame Street Live while we were in Memphis but, since we had to stay in the hospital, we were not able to take her. So when we found out that Barney was going to be in Knoxville, we had to make up for her not going to see Sesame Street. Lauren likes Barney better anyway. She had a ball! This may sound silly to some but we are very happy to say that Lauren actually had a normal bowel movement this moring. We could not remember the last time she actually had a normal one. It has been a very long time and she has had A LOT of problems with her bowels especially after her surgery. But PRAISE THE LORD the past couple of days have been great for her. We have been praying that God will touch her belly and her bowels. Everytime her stomach starts to hurt her she always asks mommy or daddy to pray for it. God has touched our angel so many times. We have so much to thank Him for. It will be so great to thank Him face to face one day for all he has done!

Please remember our St. Jude family, The Kistners, that I had mentioned before. We were so devestated to hear that Little Bailey passed away last week. She was a beautiful little girl but now she is a healthy beautiful little angel in Heaven. Pray that God will give her family strength and comfort during their difficult loss. We will miss her.

Sunday, November 23, 2003 11:04 PM CST

Hello friends and family! Lauren is doing great! She got to go see Barney on Saturday in Knoxville. She loved it! We had planned to take her to see Sesame Street Live while we were in Memphis but, since we had to stay in the hospital, we were not able to take her. So when we found out that Barney was going to be in Knoxville, we had to make up for her not going to see Sesame Street. Lauren likes Barney better anyway. She had a ball! This may sound silly to some but we are very happy to say that Lauren actually had a normal bowel movement this moring. We could not remember the last time she actually had a normal one. It has been a very long time and she has had A LOT of problems with her bowels especially after her surgery. But PRAISE THE LORD the past couple of days have been great for her. We have been praying that God will touch her belly and her bowels. Everytime her stomach starts to hurt her she always asks mommy or daddy to pray for it. God has touched our angel so many times. We have so much to thank Him for. It will be so great to thank Him face to face one day for all he has done!

Please remember our St. Jude family, The Kistners, that I had mentioned before. We were so devestated to hear that Little Bailey passed away last week. She was a beautiful little girl but now she is a healthy beautiful little angel in Heaven. Pray that God will give her family strength and comfort during their difficult loss. We will miss her.

Friday, November 14, 2003 2:17 PM CST

Hello everyone! Just writing to let everyone know that Lauren is doing well. She has not had anymore episodes with her sugar dropping since our visit to St. Jude. Thank God!! We have still not heard anything about the test that she had done on the day we left down there. I called about it yesterday but I had to leave a message and no one has called back yet. Hopefully we will hear something soon. Lauren has started back on the Accutane. She started it on Wednesday. This is her 9th round. We visited the St. Jude affiliate clinic in Johnson City on Tuesday. All of Lauren's labs were good. Her sugar was on the low side of normal but nothing they were concerned about. Everything checked out to be good. The only bad thing was that she had to get a flu shot. Needless to say, she did not like that at all!! They make all the patients get one. She cried for about a minute and made sure to let them know that it hurt! Lauren's Me Me and Pap met us at the clinic that day and we took Lauren to eat afterwards to her favorite place Red Lobster. She says that Red Lobster is her favorite place to eat. What a child she is! Thanks to everyone who have kept Lauren in your prayers and who have signed the guestbook. Please continue to keep Lauren in your prayers along with little Bailey that we have told about. She still needs everyone's prayers. We love you and God bless!!!

Thursday, November 6, 2003 0:04 AM CST

Thank you God for a safe trip back home! We arrived back at home on Wednesday morning around 2:30 a.m. We were sooo tired, needless to say, when we got here. Lauren wanted us to stay up and play with her. She was so excited to get back to her house. She got in the bed around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. Mom and Dad were about to go crazy!!! Nana and Papaw brought Madie home around 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday. We were so happy to see her. She is such a joy and the sweetest little thing! We are so blessed to have such beautiful and wonderful girls.

Our first day at the hospital was very scary!! We have probably not been that scared since Lauren had first been diagnosed. No one knew what was going on. But once again, our Almighty God picked our little Lauren up and brought her through another valley. God is sooo good!! We had to go to another hospital in Memphis on Tuesday for a special test to see if Lauren has the adrenal insuffiency that they think may have caused the problem with her sugar. If so, it can be taken care of by an oral steriod that Lauren would take everyday. We do not know when the results of the test will be known to us. Hopefully in a few days.

We also met with Lauren's doctor on Tuesday. He went over all of the scans with us again. Her CT showed nothing, her MIBG showed the lymph node in her chest that has always lit up before to be CLEAR now (Praise the Lord!!!)she still is lighing up in the area around the tumor that was left on the Vena Cava but it is lighter than the last scan, her PET scan was negative again (Praise God for that!!!), and her MRI was unchanged which means that her tumor has not grown or there is nothing new. We definately got good news!! The decision between the doctors is to keep Lauren on the Accutane for 4 more months. This will make a whole year on Accutane. Usually, kids only stay on it for 6 months but it is working so well for Lauren. She has not experienced any side effects while on the medicine except for extreme dryness of her lips and face. Her hands sometimes will peel too but nothing that we can't handle. We do not have to go back to Memphis for 4 more months!!! WOW! It seems like a long time away.

Lauren had a good time while at St. Jude though. She was impatient on Halloween so she got to participate in the activities that they had. The whole 4th floor, where Lauren's room was, was decorated in carnival theme. All the nurses dressed up as clowns and they had it decorated so cute. Lauren was a bumble bee. She looked really cute but she was so tired. She had to be sedated that day so she didn't get to enjoy things as much as we wanted her too. We did get to visit the zoo while we were down there. Lauren really enjoyed that. The day was nice but not too hot. It's such a joy to see her having fun and just enjoying life. We have sooo much to be thankful for. God is so good!!!

Please pray for one of our St. Jude families. The little girl's name is Bailey Kistner. She is 6 years old and is fighting a horrible brain tumor. She had been in remission for around 2 or 3 months and has recently relapsed. She really needs our prayers and a healing touch from God.

Thanks to all our friends and family for all of your thoughts and prayers. Please continue to keep Lauren in your prayers. Lauren is a miracle in the making. God is taking care of our angel and our faith rests assure in only Him.

Thursday, October 30, 2003 4:06 PM CST

Hello everybody!! Hope all is great with everyone! Well we have just about made it through this week. Just a couple of more days to go.

Lauren had her PET scan done this morning, so she is pretty much out of it for the day, after being put to sleep. We haven't heard anything about the scan today, but we did get great news about her MIBG scan yesterday!! Dr. Hale said everything looked better!! The lymph node that has always shown up in her upper chest is now clear!! She still did light up some around the spot of her original tumor, but it was less than the last time! Everything is continuing to get better, so they were very pleased with that!

As for what the next step is we are not sure yet! Dr. Hale is going to meet with Dr. Santana (the head of neuroblatoma), and with Dr. Davidoff (her surgeon), after she has her MRI. It is scheduled for fri. morning. They are condsidering a couple of different options. They may keep her on her Accutane, that she has been taking at home. They have also talked about changing to a differnt type of medicine, very similar to the Accutane. They are also looking at the possibility of having another surgery!

It looks like we will not get to come home as soon as we thought we might. Lauren is going to another hospital next tuesday, here in Memphis, to do some test about why her glucose was getting low. They have doctors there that specalize in that testing. She was off of her i.v. medicines today for her scan and her glucose stayed up good. So we thank God for that also!!!

Keep praying!! God has led us every step of the way, and we will keep looking to Him to guide us! Pray that He gives the doctors the wisdom and knowledge in whatever they decide to do next!

Thank you God for being our Shelter, our Rock, our Strength, our Peace, our Life!!!!

Tuesday, October 28, 2003 4:17 PM CST

Hello from Memphis!! Hope everbody is doing good at home. Well it sure has been a hectic few days since we got to Memphis on Sun. evening. What was supposed to be a 3 month checkup has changed alot the last couple of days.

When we got up monday morning at the motel, Lauren was feeling pretty good. She has had a cold the last couple of days, but it wasn't much worse that morning. We left for the hospital at about 10:30 to come over for her bone scan. She fell asleep as soon as we got in the van. When he got inside the hospital all she wanted to do was get in one of the wagons and go to sleep. We thought she was just tired from the trip, and the cold she has so we didn't think much about it. A little bit after 11:00 we went to get her injection for her bone scan. While the doctor was checking her before the injection Lauren woke up, but she couldn't see! She was having alot of trouble talking also. The doctor that was with her thought she was having a seizure so they rushed her back to clinic! By the time we got there Lauren could not see or talk at all! She didn't even know she was there. They started drawing blood work as soon as we got in the room. Another doctor came in and ordered an EEG and a brain scan! While he was telling us some of the things that it might be they came back with her blood counts! Her Glucose was only 22, so the started her on some sugar in her i.v. Within 1 minute Lauren was sitting up on the bed like nothing had ever happened!

So they put her in the hospital last night and she is going to have to stay a couple of more days while they run some test! They are almost sure what the problem is and it is nothing that can't be treated. So continue to pray for her this week! She is still going to have her scans this week as planned! She had a ct scan done today of her chest but we haven't heard anything yet!! She is feeling great today, back to jumping on the bed again!!

What a blessing it was for us to be able to lay over Lauren yesterday, and call her name out to the Lord! No matter when or where I am, my GOD is there for me! Thank You Lord!!

Thursday, October 23, 2003 10:52 PM CDT

Hello to all our friends and family. Thanks for keeping a check on our Lil' Angel Lauren. She is still doing good. Her bowels seem to show some improvement these past couple weeks. We just pray that things are on their way to getting back to normal. Lauren got her ears pierced last week! She was so brave. She has little diamonds and they look so cute. She shows them off to everyone.

We are going to start packing for Memphis tomorrow. We don't have to be down there until Monday but we will leave on Saturday and drive half way and stay all night. We will get up on Sunday and drive the rest of the way. This makes it so much easier on Lauren. An 8 hour ride is hard for a 2 1/2 year old to make so we divide it up. Madie will not be going with us. She is going to stay with Nana and Papaw Hamilton. Nana is taking a vacation that week. We will miss her sooooo much!! It is a lot easier on her and us if she stays here though. It's hard for her to ride that long and be drug around the hospital all week. Lauren seems to be excited to return to St. Jude. She says that she can't wait to see everyone there. It makes the trip so much easier when she actually looks forward to going. That says a lot for the doctors and nurses there at St. Jude. They make Lauren feel so comfortable and special. They are definately special to us.

Please keep Lauren and us in your prayers next week. Lauren will be sedated everyday next week except for Tuesday. She has 5 scans that she is scheduled for. We will try our best to inform everyone on any news that we get while we are down there. Sometimes it takes a while to get the results on the scans so we may have to wait until we get back home to know anything. We should be home on Friday evening, the 31st. Hopefully we will know something before we leave. Just pray that everything will go ok and that Lauren's healing will be revealed in these scans. We are only expecting good news and believing that God has healed her. Everything will go according to His plan. God is an AWESOME God and we will give him ALL the praise and glory!!!

Love,
Chasity, Jody, Lauren, and Madie Grace

New Pics!!

Wednesday, October 8, 2003 9:57 PM CDT

Howdy to everyone!! Sorry it has been a while since the last update but not much has changed until yesterday. Lauren is still doing really good. She is no longer wearing diapers anymore so she thinks that she is such a big girl now. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of her! She is getting so big. Madie is doing great too. She rolled over today for the first time. Mommy and Daddy are proud of her too! We went over and done an interview for the Ronald McDonald House last week. It is for a telethon that they will show on TV sometime in November. It will be aired on FOX39. We also participated in a radiothon for the house. It will be aired sometime before the telethon. They are supposed to let us know for sure when these will be. We will let everyone know as soon as we do.

Lauren is still having some problems with her bowels due to her last surgery. Her belly hurts her a lot after she eats. The docs say it will take some time for all of the nerves around her bowels to heal good. It has been almost 7 months now. Things have improved since then but we are waiting patiently for things to get back to normal.

Lauren had a doctor's appointment yesterday at the St. Jude clinic in Johnson City. All of Lauren's blood work came back good. All of her counts are back to normal. Praise God for that!! She has fully recovered from all the chemo and from transplant. She was given the ok to start her 8th round of Accutane which she will begin next week. After the docs in Philly looked at all of Lauren's scans and reports, they have decided not to accept her for the MIBG treatment. The qualifications for this treatment are for those patients who have had a relapse in their disease or if their disease has gotten worse during treatment. Therefore Lauren doesn't qualify for it. We are not disappointed because of this. It just isn't part of God's plan for her right now. Who's to say that she needs the treatment anyway.

We are scheduled to go to Memphis on Oct. 27-31. Lauren will have a Bone scan, CT scan, MRI, PET scan, and MIBG scan done. She will stay on her Accutane until then. If these scans come back better than last time, then she will just continue on the Accutane until time for rescanning. If they are the same or worse compared to last scans then they have decided to do a biopsy of the tumor that is left. It will tell them, for sure, if it is live tumor or not. Depending on the biopsy results determins what the next step will be. We have no doubt though that her scans are going to be better. We are trusting and believing that God has healed Lauren. Our faith is totally in God because he is the true physician. He is the one who will make our miracle happen.

Continue to keep Lauren in your prayers. We thank everyone for keeping up with her and for your prayers. We are so blessed to have such loving friends and family. A big hello to all of our St. Jude families. We love you and are praying for each and everyone of you.

Love,
Chasity, Jody, Lauren, and Madie Grace

New pictures!!

Saturday, September 13, 2003 10:41 AM CDT

Hello everyone!!! We hope this update finds everyone doing well. We all are doing good. Lauren is getting more and more rotten and more and more hair. Maddie is smiling and cooing and gooing all of the time. Lauren really loves her little sister. She hugs and kisses on her all of the time. I came into the living room today and she was sitting and reading Maddie a book. She is soooo sweet!!! I guess we should enjoy it now because I'm sure things will change once they get a little older.

Lauren had a doctor's appointment on Thursday at Johnson City. That is where she goes to the St. Jude affiliate clinic. Dr. Castellino had to see her to get her started back on her Accutane. Everyone there was so excited to see Lauren. They couldn't get over how big she had gotten and how much hair she had. It had been such a long time since she had been there. Lauren had just about forgotten everyone there. We went over and visited everyone at the Ronald McDonald House too. They all love Lauren and we think of all of them as family. They have really been good to us.

All of Lauren's blood work looked good. Her counts are doing good. Her white count is still not what is considered normal but it is on its way. We did get info about what they have decided to do. She has started back on her Accutane. She will stay on it until she gets rescanned at the end of October. She will have another MIBG scan done then. This is the scan that lights up all of her Neuroblastoma cells. We are praying that this scan will be negative this time. Even if it's better then hopefully they will just keep her on the Accutane until she becomes negative. We are just trusting the the Almighty God to let this scan come back negative.

If it was to come back the same or worse, then the MIBG treatment in Philadelphia is open and as of right now, Lauren has been accepted for it. It is a special radiation treatment that will require Lauren to have another bone marrow transplant. For this treatment, they will inject her with the same thing that they inject her with for the MIBG scan. Whatever they use to inject her with sticks to the Neuroblastoma cells and lights them up. During the treatment, they will tag this injection with a high dose of radiation. This way, everywhere the Neuroblastoma cells light up, she will get a high dose of radiation there. However, the radiation does go throughout her blood stream and her whole body. This is the reason she will have to have her bone marrow transplant. Her counts will be wiped out again like they did during her bone marrow transplant.

We are asking that everyone pray about this scan and for Lauren. God knows everything she has been through already. We are asking Him to let this be at its end. Lauren is very strong but she has been through so much already. No matter what, we know that God will be with her and us. He has been so good and he has touched Lauren in so many ways. We know that he is not done with her. God leaves no works only half way done. We just pray that Lauren will be through very soon.

Thanks everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers. Prayer is what makes the difference and has gotten Lauren to where she is today. We love all of you!!!

Chasity, Jody, Lauren, and Maddie Grace

Thursday, September 4, 2003 2:35 PM CDT

Hello everyone! We hope everyone is well and doing good. We all are doing good. Lauren is getting more rotten and Maddie is smiling and gooing all the time. We have heard from the doctors at Memphis.

Lauren's transplant doctor called yesterday. They have reviewed her past scans, the PET scan, 3-D MRI, and the Angiogram (not sure on the spelling). They have decided to keep her on the Accutane for 2 more months and have her come back to Memphis for rescaning. This should be scheduled for the end of October sometime. She will then have CT scan, bone scan, and MIBG done again. It depends on what these scans show on what Lauren's next step will be.

In the meantime, Dr. Santana, the head Neuroblastoma doctor, is going to talk to a doctor in Philadelphia. They will discuss whether or not the MIBG treatment study is open or closed. If open, will Lauren meet the qualifications for this treatment or not will be the question. If her scans in October are the same or worse, and she qualifies for this treatment, they want her to have this done. It is a special radiation treatment where they would inject Lauren with radiation instead of regular radiation where they use a beam. We should know if it is available and if Lauren would qualify for it sometime very soon.

If the MIGB treatment is closed or Lauren does not meet the qualifications, then the next plan would be for her to have surgery again. Her surgeon, by looking at the MRI and the Angiogram, says that he thinks he could probably get what is left on her Vena Cava. He said that it looks like a lot of areas are clotted off now (Not sure exactly what he meant by this). However, this would be Lauren's 4th surgery and they are trying everything else that they could do first.

If her scans in October are better, which we are praying and having faith that they will be, then they will just keep her on the Accutane for a little while longer. We are praying that her next MIBG scan will be negative meaning that all the Neuroblastoma cells are gone. God works miracles. We know this because we have seen his works many times before. Pray for Lauren and for her complete healing. She has been through so much and we don't want her to have to go through anything else. We are just trusting in God to take care of things. He has taken care of Lauren this far and He will continue to do so. God is so good and he will not let us down. Lauren will be our Lil Miracle!!!

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!!
Chasity, Jody, Lauren, and Maddie

Friday, August 29, 2003 10:22 PM CDT

Hello everyone!!! We just got back from Memphis last night. We had a good trip. It's not to bad knowing that you only have to stay a couple of nights. After spending 4 months down there, a couple of days seems like nothing at all. Praise the Lord we got good news!!!

Lauren has a MIBG scan done with every check-up which shows all of the Neuroblastoma cells in her body. Last time she had her check-up, this scan was still showing quite a few Neuroblastoma cells. That is why they decided to do a PET scan. This scan shows all of the ACTIVE cancer cells in her body. PRAISE THE LORD!!!! The PET scan came back negative. None of her Neuroblastoma cells are active. This means that they are either dying out slowly or they are so weak that they won't spread or reproduce. Lauren is not, however, cancer free. But, we thank God and give him all the glory of this good report.

Lauren also had a 3-D MRI scan done. It shows that she still has some tumor left. It is attached to her Vena Cava and the surgeon was unable to remove it during her last surgery. However, it was 30% smaller than her last MRI she had done. It may even be scar tissue or has calcified by now.

So, what is Lauren's next step? The doctors are supposed to meet again to review her scans. Hopefully, we will know something Tuesday or Wednesday. Her transplant doctor said that they have never really ran into a situation like Lauren's before and I don't think he really knew what to tell us yesterday. The Neuroblastoma doctor that he will meet with will know more of what to do. Her transplant doctor talked like they may just keep her on the Accutane and scan her again in 3 more months. We should know something for sure on Tuesday or Wednesday though.

Thanks to everyone who had signed the guest book. We love each and everyone of you dearly. Please continue to keep Lauren in your prayers. God had been so good and we give him ALL the praise and glory.

Love,
Chasity, Jody, Lauren, and Maddie

Wednesday, August 20, 2003 3:11 PM CDT

Lauren's transplant doctor called us on Monday, Aug. 18 and informed us that he had met with the head Neuroblastoma doctor and Lauren's surgeon. They all reviewed and talked about her last scans. The Neuroblastoma doctor wants her to come back and have a PET scan done. It is a new scan that will show all the live active Neuroblastoma cells that Lauren has. Her surgeon wants her to have a 3-D MRI so he can take a second look at some of the tumor that he had to leave in last time. Some of her tumor was attached to her Vena Cava and he was unable to remove it. He wants to see if maybe now it is dead and removable. We are scheduled to be in Memphis on Aug. 28. Lauren will have her scans done that morning. Please keep Lauren in your prayers and pray that God will reveal in these scans that she is healed.

Friday, August 15, 2003 10:23 PM CDT

We have just returned from St. Jude, in Memphis, for Lauren's 3 month check-up. Her scans are getting better, but she still has some live Neuroblastoma cells. She has completed her 6 rounds of Accutane which has helped her some. The doctors at St. Jude are getting together Monday, Aug. 18, to figure out what should be the next step for Lauren. We know that God is still in control. He has guided us this far and will continue to go with us no matter what we face next. Please keep Lauren in your prayers. Prayers and faith is what makes the difference!!

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