From My Brave One entry

Well I think our biggest fear has come true, I just read an article in the Desoto Times Newspaper about appeals and the man that is in prison for hurting my daughter will have his appeal case heard in January. I do not know how to act at this time, I just have to be strong for my daughter and pray that our justice system does the right thing. Please keep us all in your prayers.

Thanks for our Jon Jons Miss Jeanie

Jeanie bought the kids some PJS to wear on Christmas Eve, here are some pics of them

Re-Trans Christmas Party was a hit!

We had such a good time at the Christmas party this year, I think we all know how to have a BIG time!!

My Brave One

Since I posted that picture of Sydnie earlier it has me thinking of just how remarkable she really is. She is the bravest little girl that I will ever know. She has grown up so much and I am very proud to say that she is my daughter.....she is quite the young lady. I met my husband Stephen when Sydnie was about to turn 3. He has been such a great influence in her life and we had it all going for us. Stephen and I got married on June 11th 2005 and Sydnie was 6 years old at the time. On June 16th our whole world was flipped upside down when we learned that Sydnie and our two neices had been victims of sexual molestation. At the time I was 25 years old and thought that I had been through a lot of heart ache as a child and young adult until someone elses pain became my own. Our whole family had to go through the process of police, CPS, counseling, and court and it was far from easy. Most children who are victims of sexual molestation know our have know the person who has done this, and yes this was the case for us as well. I am not going to mention the persons name but he is where he should be serving time in Mississippi. The whole process was so hard for us all and I can't even begin to think of what my sweet baby went through. I did and will continue to get her the help she needs and will do the best I can to make speak out against this evil crime. Sydnie is now 10 years old and in the fifth grade in Southaven. She is an A and B student who loves to skate, play softball and dance with her friends. I am so so proud of who she has become and despite the pain that we all went through dealing with this I know that it has made us a stronger family who can just about cope with anything. The power of prayer is strong and God is good.

My Blue Eyed Girl

Sydnie's eyes are so beautiful in this

picture...I just had to share with you guys!!

Growing Growing

The kids are growing so fast, we love to goof around and take fun pictures...they got it from mom :)

Good News on Ethan :)

DAY +8......WE HAVE AN ANC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
***********************************************
We woke to AWESOME news! His ANC was 192 at day 8, WOW! Or should I say UNbelievable! They expect an ANC around two weeks in a typical bmt fashion, but sometimes sooner, we'll take it. Even though I get that 'too good to be true' fear going. This time it feels different though since we already have some engraftment and we are only wanting to suppress him, get a boost, and we saw his donor cells increase with steroid alone, plus Cytoxin is designed to wipe the slate clean AND we don't care if it is donor or Ethan making red cells or platlets we just need donor lymphocytes!-that was a mouth full, sorry. Ethan ate pizza and chocolate pudding last night and did fine with his fluid restriction. This morning his outs were not as good as his ins, not sure why but he always gets puffy with blood products and no Lasix. We will watch him close, as usual.
*****************************************************************************
The ticket to getting out of here is above 500 on ANC three days in a row, no pain med.s, and I think that is it. It is too early to think about going home but we can dream. I can't wait for the kids to join us but we will not let them near him until they have been isolated for a while. We take NO chances! We just can not wait to be together soon, I pray they do not get sick or it could take a long time to pass around 4 children

Ethan

Please continue to pray for Ethan and that his body does not reject this bone marrow transplant. Here are a few pics of him....he is such a strong little boy!!

Ethan

Here are a few pics of Ethan, please continue to pray that his body will not reject the marrow transplant. He is starting to feel the effects of the chemo....poor baby boy.

Ethan's Story

Saturday, August 4, 2007 9:44 PM CDT
Ethan was diagnosed with this rare disease on August 1, 2007. He started getting sick on July 25 when it all began. He had a fever that sent us to ER, the next day in the Dr. office we learned all three cell linages were low. This caused total painic and a trip to Children's Hospital. We knew what the diagnosis was because 5 years prior his sister was dx with hlh. There is no TEST for hlh. Everything else has to be ruled out, like every infection or virus or malignancy.
This disease is a deffect in the immune system. Something, usually a virus or infection, starts the immune system attacking the foreign matter. Once it begins it can not stop or turn itself off. It starts to attack everything including the blood and organs, sometimes the cns can be affected and the brain. Ethan's liver and spleen began to swell and was all the way down into the pelvis and his liver was close to failing, he was yellow, his eyes were yellow, his skin tone was so pale. He received 3 blood transfusions, 3 platelet transfusions, and a broviac placed in his chest.
The chemo and steroids were started on August 2. The next day the swelling was starting to decrease, and he has responded great to treatment. The only cure is a bone marrow transplant or the disease will return, the next time with avengence.

function launchWindow(){
openWindow('/tellafriend.php?sitename=ethanlee',550, 630, 'popup');
}

71275 VISITS FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS
HELP SOMEONE ELSE WHEN THEY NEED IT MOST
Tell a Friend about CaringBridge.
Help CaringBridge provide this free service to others who need similar support.
TRIBUTE DONATIONS TO CARINGBRIDGE
Read the caring tributes in honor of Ethan's.
Make a donation in tribute to Ethan's to provide CaringBridge to all families who need it.
EMAIL AUTHOR
dlblank@showme.net
HOSPITAL INFORMATION
Children's Hospital St. Louis MO United States





COPYRIGHT POLICY PRIVACY POLICY TERMS OF USE CONTACT

Please Pray for my cousin Ethan

- DAY 3
*******************************
Quick update: Yesterday, Cytoxin went well, it was a two hour infusion- we have to change his diaper at least every two hours and check to make sure the bladder isn't bleeding (another lovely side effect). His test dose of ATG went great and so we continued with the full dose. It was uneventful until it was over. He was really irritable but had a couple reasons-#1 no sleep because of so many vitals, and #2 no poop for lack of exercise. After the latter was accomplished he felt better. Until he had a slight fever-only 99.7 but it caused some rapid breathing and uncomfort. Once Tylenol took care of it he slept well. I was afraid his face was looking like Kristan's when she got these nasty drugs; very swollen. I will post on the photo page one of her when she was in the unit.
***************************************
This morning he looked SO good, Up talking and eating and playing. He looks like Ethan again. This is getting scarier as the days go on. The drugs are coming at him each day and bringing his counts down to 0. He will be susceptible to even his own body causing him an infection. This overly cautious germ-o-phobe personality we have will be good for this journey. He was hooked up to chemo from 10 am to 8:30 pm last night. Please keep the prayers strong! Pray THIS bmt is a success-maybe we left that "THIS bmt" to be successful in our last prayers; we must have only said for THE bmt to work.

Happy Halloween

The kids had a great time dressing up and getting loads of candy, they will be bouncing off of the walls for a full year now!!

Halloween at Re-Trans

We dressed up again at work this year and had so much fun, here are a few pics from the day.

Happy Halloween

Love

Sydnie and Gavin love to play with Caden, I took a few pictures the Monday night of them in action.

Monkey Business

Caden loves his stuffed monkey, he laughs and talks to it when we put it in front of him. It is great entertainment for us all!

First trip to Walmart

Stephen and I had to get a few things at WalMart and decided to take Gavin and Caden along, this was Cade's first trip to Wallyworld

Memphis Madness

Stephen and I took the kids to Memphis Madness last night. I think everyone had a great time....here are some pics from the night.

Memphis Madness

We took the kids to Memphis Madness last night and had a blast. Here are a few pictures from the night.....Enjoy!