Our beautiful missionary daughterMarch 11, 2009
Sara received her mission call on Wednesday, March 11 of 2009. What a sweet and willing attitude she had in receiving this call. Everyone in our little family gathered and the mission call was opened. To our surprise and delight, Sara was called to the Thailand, Bangkok mission. Not a place we had even thought of ... and cousin Kami became the 'closest' with a guess of the Philippines. :-) Sara accepted the call and is very much loving and enjoying her time as a missionary to the people of Thailand. Despite the monkeys (which love to attack), the cockroaches, bugs for snacks, and the heat ... she believes she is in Paradise. Her service blesses our lives every day.
While awaiting Taylor and Sara's return from Provo that day to open the call, our distraught hearts were again searching for answers in the best treatments available for Lauren. We had been hoping otherwise (and even being led to believe otherwise), but knew we were in a 3rd battle for our angel daughters life. After 2 weeks of rushing around with testing, scans, MRI's, and x-rays, we again were devastatingly confirmed --- facing another battle for her life. We had secured treatment in Denver, Colorado and were awaiting being measured for radiation (again!) We had high hopes, but were very frightened as Lauren grew more and more ill. I held her head in my lap as she slept and David continued to press forward in new treatments. While we did so, the phone rang.
On the other end of the line was our (brilliant and amazing) doctor at PCMC -- after consulting many medical professionals and doing his own evaluation of the emergency scans and MRI the night before, and lacking any 'treatments' for this 3rd onset; his advice was to "Give her morphine and let her go." He was confident she would be gone within weeks, if not days.
We didn't inform our children. It just didn't seem fair or appropriate . . . especially with that big white envelope from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Mission Department sitting on the table.
That's the ultimate exercise for a heart -- receiving two calls like that in one day. (Thinking about it today has made me feel like I've run a marathon.)
Gratefully, David didn't take "no" for an answer, and neither did Sara. Sara accepted, and we searched and found a remarkable treatment that extended Lauren's life for another 7 months. And, not only did it extend her life, but that treatment helped her to be the ONLY person ever to achieve a 3rd remission from that cancer. Lauren's heroic fight and survival not only earned her the honor, but made it possible for any children who present with her cancer to be given this 3rd regimen first. This will likely save many children from ever having to face the cancer a second time like her, and will also save them their hair, their immune system, and their ability to actually eat and not have to throw up all the time. And, many other cancers that aren't responding to their chemotherapy treatments are getting a chance to try this regimen in hopes of seeing some success. She showed a different way to fight and win. We are grateful to the doctors who always believed in her as well as the man at Sloan-Kettering in NYC who designed that treatment.
While number 4's onset was so unwanted and brought the final 'death sentence' ... we feel the number 3 is something to celebrate ... as will all of the other kids who suffer less because of Lauren and her willingness to consider life worth fighting for. This bitter-sweet anniversary marks a most bleak and yet quite beautiful day. God's hand has been over us all ... and now our prayers are for both of our missionary daughters.
While awaiting Taylor and Sara's return from Provo that day to open the call, our distraught hearts were again searching for answers in the best treatments available for Lauren. We had been hoping otherwise (and even being led to believe otherwise), but knew we were in a 3rd battle for our angel daughters life. After 2 weeks of rushing around with testing, scans, MRI's, and x-rays, we again were devastatingly confirmed --- facing another battle for her life. We had secured treatment in Denver, Colorado and were awaiting being measured for radiation (again!) We had high hopes, but were very frightened as Lauren grew more and more ill. I held her head in my lap as she slept and David continued to press forward in new treatments. While we did so, the phone rang.
On the other end of the line was our (brilliant and amazing) doctor at PCMC -- after consulting many medical professionals and doing his own evaluation of the emergency scans and MRI the night before, and lacking any 'treatments' for this 3rd onset; his advice was to "Give her morphine and let her go." He was confident she would be gone within weeks, if not days.
We didn't inform our children. It just didn't seem fair or appropriate . . . especially with that big white envelope from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Mission Department sitting on the table.
That's the ultimate exercise for a heart -- receiving two calls like that in one day. (Thinking about it today has made me feel like I've run a marathon.)
Gratefully, David didn't take "no" for an answer, and neither did Sara. Sara accepted, and we searched and found a remarkable treatment that extended Lauren's life for another 7 months. And, not only did it extend her life, but that treatment helped her to be the ONLY person ever to achieve a 3rd remission from that cancer. Lauren's heroic fight and survival not only earned her the honor, but made it possible for any children who present with her cancer to be given this 3rd regimen first. This will likely save many children from ever having to face the cancer a second time like her, and will also save them their hair, their immune system, and their ability to actually eat and not have to throw up all the time. And, many other cancers that aren't responding to their chemotherapy treatments are getting a chance to try this regimen in hopes of seeing some success. She showed a different way to fight and win. We are grateful to the doctors who always believed in her as well as the man at Sloan-Kettering in NYC who designed that treatment.
While number 4's onset was so unwanted and brought the final 'death sentence' ... we feel the number 3 is something to celebrate ... as will all of the other kids who suffer less because of Lauren and her willingness to consider life worth fighting for. This bitter-sweet anniversary marks a most bleak and yet quite beautiful day. God's hand has been over us all ... and now our prayers are for both of our missionary daughters.
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