Carli called from camp...had about an hour to rest so she was going to do so...at least that is what she told me! Made me feel better, anyhow. Kelsie has been busy working...at least that is what she told me....ha ha. Tara came home to take Kelsie to Grove City for registration tomorrow. Should be some good sister time. Carli will come home on Sunday, and her treatment will be on Monday next week. Please keep her in your prayers so that she will be able to go without fear. After the last time and ending up in the ER, she will have some apprehension, I'm sure.

Also keep Ted's second cousin, Wes, in your prayers. He is in the final stages of a brain tumor, his parents are dear friends of ours, and his two children are good friends of Carli and Kelsie. Life is so short.

Ted and I have had a great week, and spent some nice time with my sister Susan and her husband Tom. The weather was beautiful and it wasn't too humid. Was so great to have some "down" time. Even though we were relaxing, Carli is always on my mind. I have a hard time giving this situation over to the Lord...I guess I like to be in control, and this certainly has been a situation that I can't control! I am sure that some day I will see the lessons learned...as for now, I am trying to learn what it means to "trust".

Carli did go to camp! yea! I talked to her when she was on her way, she said that she was tired but excited to be going to Friedenswald. She took a different route so that it would be easier to pull off the road if she got tired or sick. She took Ted's car and enjoyed having cruise control. We are praying that she has a great week with the high school kids.

Ted and I are enjoying a week at the beach. Hopefully we can relax knowing that she is OK and that Kelsie is working and staying out of trouble :)

Beth

Carli with our niece, Sarah, the flowergirl at Amber's wedding last Saturday.

Today is day 4 of this chemo round for Carli. Since neither she nor I are very photogenic at the moment, I have included a couple of Amber's wedding photos. Arn't they a good looking trio? Not that I'm biased. (Notice the matching necklaces---thanks Amber). Carli has the toxic waste dump syndrome today yet with funky chemical tastes, blahs, easily fatiged, etc. but looks better than yesterday and day before. Currently she still plans to leave tomorrow am for Camp Friedenswald if she is feeling strong enough. She assures me she won't go if she is not feeling up to it. She's 21---it is her call; and the change will do her good. She will most likely be gone before Beth and Kelsie and company return from Hilton Head. Next week, as soon as Beth recouperates from her drive home, we will return south together. So, if we do not have time or memory to post anything tomorrow, this may be the last update till July 1st. God bless all of you for your concerns and prayers. Till we meet again, as Spock would say, "Live long and prosper". Or maybe "Nanu, Nanu" for us Robin Williams fans. tg

Chemo number 4 was yesterday. Not the smoothest. Today was the followup to get the bone marrow stimulant. Carli gave everyone a bit of a scare by having an attack of pain in her chest and difficulty breathing, so we got to visit Wooster's ER for an hour and a half. Good news is all her vitals were ok the whole time, her ECG is fine, chest radiographs were clear and even showed signs of lymph node shrinkage compared to prior pictures. Bad news is no conclusive evidence of what caused the pain. Carli and the cat are having a shedding competition but so far the cat may be winning ( or would that be losing?). Carli's hair is still thinning but she expected to have nothing after the second treatment. She asked Angie at Quintessence when she should just buzz it off but that is not yet. So next time you see Carli, she may or may not have her hair. Her big drive at the moment is to get back to Camp Friedenswald this weekend to be there for High School Camp next week. She says she actually takes breaks now when she is working there (unlike past years) and the director is very supportive. Continued thanks for everyones' prayers, notes, food, etc. Next scheduled Chemo is for Monday, July 2nd.

Captain's log: stardate 4783---oops! wrong narative. Tis dad's turn to update this site. It is Monday and Beth and Kelsie are at Hilton Head Island with 3 of Kelsie's co-graduates. We had an enjoyable weekend centered on our niece Amber's wedding. We had the whole family together briefly as Tara was a bridesmaid plus we hosted my nephew Christopher and his wife and two adorable daughters, Sarah and Abbigal. (Sarah, age 4, was the flower girl). Carli is trying to enjoy her last "feeling better" pretreatment days by exercising at the YMCA (thanks Darrell) and sunbathing. This round of Chemo for her will be tomorrow, Tuesday. Pray for a smoother ride after.

She's home! She had a great week, and really didn't want to come home. Was with Junior High kids and had a terrific time. Tomorrow is Amber's wedding, then she has another treatment on Tuesday. Ted will be home with her as I am taking Kelsie and 3 friends to the beach. Hopefully this treatment will be better than the last, especially since I won't be here...that will be rough to be so far away, but Kelsie has been looking forward to this trip for months.

Pray for a good treatment, and contentment while she is at home. And, by the way, she still has hair! It is thin, but looks fairly normal!!!!

No news is good news...at least that is what I am counting on!!

Yea! Just like last time, she feels better today (Sunday)! Went to church for the first time since her diagnosis. She didn't have the energy to both stand AND sing, but she did well. Came home, packed, rested a little, and drove to camp. She gets so excited to go. She called and said that she was there safely and that she was tired and going to rest.

I am so thankful that she has camp to go to and feel needed. Sitting at home on the couch is not much fun after a few days. Plus, the folks at camp are an encouragement to her and I know that they also encourage her spiritually. What more can we ask? She was also excited that her cousin's daughter was going to be at camp this week!

She is planning on returning Friday and going to her cousin's wedding on Saturday. Another cousin will be staying here with his adorable little girls, so lots of family activity this week!! I will probably not be posting anything until she returns...don't think that anyone wants to hear what Ted, Kelsie and I are up to :)

Again, I cannot stress enough how much friends and family mean to us now. Your kind words, cards, meals, calls mean so much. Carli read this scripture this morning in church...2 Corinthians 12: 9,10. Her attitude is so positive...and that is half the battle!

Another day of not much energy, lying around, napping. Her stomach is feeling worse this time, might have to go back to getting the steroids the day after chemo. Hair continues to come out, but it still looks OK. She is hoping to keep it long enough to go to her cousin's wedding next Saturday.

Photos

I thought that you might want to see how Carli gets her treatments. The room is in the back of Dr. Stalling's office, and we are there for about 2 1/2 hours. All in all, we were at the office for about 4 hours, as she sees the doctor first. She is feeling good when she gets the treatments, so she doesn't look sick...that comes later. Today she is very achey, sore, nauseated and is trying to get some sleep, as she didn't sleep much last night.

Back to Dr. Stallings this afternoon for fluids, nausea med, and Neulasta. Tonight she is feeling sick, bloated, and very achy. The Neulasta is what he thinks is making her ache so terribly, but it is keeping her White Blood Count up, so he doesn't want to stop it. So, she just has to take pain medication and hope that it will subside in a few days. Her scalp "feels funny" tonight, so she is thinking that her hair will start falling out faster. She says that she wishes that it would just happen, so she could get on with the process. This afternoon quite a bit was coming out, but tonight not as much.

I thought that this would get "easier" as time goes on...little did I know that I feel it is actually harder. It is so hard to take her to the doctor knowing that she will feel terrible. I just keep thinking that the meds are working because she hasn't had any more fevers or night sweats. That is one good thing!!

She is really hoping to return to camp this Sunday, to get there before the campers arrive on Monday. She is going to help with the planning, etc, and not be a counselor. They are going to use her whenever she is able, and will be flexible when she isn't feeling well. Camp really does energize her both physically and spiritually. She had a good time with Janeth, from Tanzania, and thinks that this summer staff is a really good one. I think that everyone involved, campers and staff alike, will learn from having her there.

Treatment went OK, saw Dr. Stallings and all is status quo. Tonight is not so good, however. She said that she doesn't feel as bad as the first time, but not as good as the second time. She is having nausea and bloating, nothing tastes right, and she is trying to stay hydrated. She took Tylenol PM and hopefully can get some sleep. She said that for a few nights after chemo she really can't sleep, which makes the next day seem a little worse.

Tomorrow she goes back in for the Neulasta, which makes her ache all over. But, her counts are staying good and her H/H was better today than usual.

She is hoping to feel good enough to go to camp again next week. Time will tell. She was so happy to have gone last week that I really pray that she will make it. It does her spirits good!!

Carli is home safely and had a great time up in Michigan at Camp Friendenswald and at a friend's wedding. She felt good and enjoyed meeting the camp staff for this summer. Janeth Magiri, daughter of Mr. Magiri from Tanzania, is working there this summer. Her dad is the one that is doing amazing work with a Home Based Aids Program in Tanzania. Only God could have arranged for Janeth and Carli to meet at Camp Friendenswald! We met Janeth briefly during our trip to Africa, and then she spent time here in March with J and Liz Augspurger and ourselves. She is a very bright girl with lots of personality.

Carli is scheduled for chemo at 10:30 in the morning. I almost feel guilty that I have to take her and make her feel awful again. I am believing that her feeling better this weekend is a sign that the chemo is working!

I guess that no news is good news! Haven't heard from Carli since Saturday afternoon. She was on her way to a wedding and said that she was still feeling good. Hopefully she paced herself and had a great time. I will try to post tomorrow after she comes home...continue to pray for her...chemo is on Wednesday again...these weeks are flying by...

The Gerber Girls on Monday, May 28-Kelsie's graduation celebration! Tara, Kelsie, Carli

Carli left this afternoon at 2:15 for Michigan. It was hard to let her go as I hope that she feels good enough to drive home next week! It will be good for her to be with her friends, and it will be good for us to concentrate on Kelsie's graduation on Sunday.

She is just hoping that her hair looks normal this weekend. It started so thick that it will take a while to look thin!

Please continue to pray for her, as the chemo has lots of potential side effects. Each time she goes in I know that is on her mind. She is staying so positive for all of us, she doesn't say much about what she is REALLY thinking. We know that we are to trust in God, but it is so hard knowing that He is in control and has plans that we don't know. We know that He will get us through this, though!