Fun hotel boat ride to end our trip

Dragon fire in Diagon Alley

Thank you!!

Thank you for the AMAZING outpouring for her sweet 16!! My sisters organized a $16 for Elizabeth's 16th, which is on Monday, the 25th, and we have been totally overwhelmed by the support and generosity. There are no words to express our gratitude! (Really!!!) We are so excited to show Elizabeth on the morning of her birthday her incredibly special gift (from all of you!!) for her sweet 16!💕💕💕

Rough Friday, great Saturday

We got a call late Thursday that Elizabeth needed a platelet transfusion first thing Friday morning. We rushed up to SLC early, got our appointment done and rushed back home for her other appointments that day. We were both worn out (especially Elizabeth) and got zero things done that I'd planned, but we packed late Friday and early Saturday and here we are! Horray!

Orlando!

Sweet 16!!

Elizabeth's birthday

In honor of Elizebeth turning Sweet 16 we have set up donation accounts. We are so grateful to those that have asked, "How can I help?" The donations help relieve the cost of medical expenses, gas money(so many trips up to Salt Lake), food and other expenses.

There is a Venmo account and GoFundMe. (Links in comments)

Please continue to pray for the Conlee Family. Pray for healing, comfort, and guidance through her medical procedures . The prayers truly help.

love from friends

Another cancer Easter

Last year we were get chemo in Easter and I never dreamed that we would be back in cancer life again this Easter. We had a wonderful weekend with family and were able to go to church. We were blessed this morning by an amazing gift from our wonderful neighbors. They sold yard butterflies to show support for Elizabeth and donated all the proceeds to our family to help cover the many extra expenses of cancer life. They also gave Elizabeth a beautiful Easter basket with little eggs filled with messages of support and encouragement for Elizabeth. They gave us treats and Elizabeth's favorite candy as well. Of course this brought me to tears. Thank you, amazing neighbors and friends!! We couldn't get through this without your love and support! 

Neuroworx

Elizabeth was able to go to her physical therapy at Neuroworx today. It was the first time she's been back since scans almost a month ago. I don't think they anticipate her to make much progress over the next several months of treatment, but hopefully she can maintain how far she's come. We love the people there! Elizabeth's feeling all the effects of chemo after just one round, but she continues to stay positive. Thank you again for your love, support and prayers. We deeply appreciate it!

sweet prayer shawl

sweet prayer shawl

This arrived in the mail yesterday through a connection with friends in Seattle. (It's a hand made prayer shawl.) We are so touched by the number of people praying for Elizabeth, including many who don't even know her. We are thankful for your faith and prayers and pray for you too!

A little pick me up

One day before a break

Elizabeth's getting day 4 chemo today and after tomorrow we get a little break. Horray! This week has been crazy adjusting back to cancer life. Elizabeth's port is still swollen and sore because she's only had it a week. Day 1 accessing her port went well. (They have to get a 3/4 in. curved needle through her skin and into the port hub. We use numbing cream to take the edge off the pain when they insert it. Once the needle is in and secured, it's much like having an IV and not too uncomfortable.) Day 2 of accessing Elizabeth's port was a disaster...I guess her port was a bit more swollen than Day 1 and it took 3 tries and several hours to get it in. It was KILLING me to see Elizabeth go through this and I was praying so hard that the experienced nurse they finally went and got would get it in. (She did!) We also learned that Elizabeth does need ALL the anti nausea pills they're willing to offer. She suffered really bad nausea for day 1 and part of day 2 until we could get on top of it. Now she gets what we call "all the drugs" and it's made an amazing difference! Day 3 accessing her port went well and her nausea was the most controlled it's been yet. She's been sleeping, eating, and even felt good enough to go to the Olivia Rodrigo concert last night!🙏💕 We were so thankful! We are starting day 4 chemo right now.

What we were hoping for

Thank you for the fasting and prayers!! The scans showed no other signs of cancer in her body, outside of her lungs. We are thankful for this blessing! She's starting chemo in 30 min. We are going to try it outpatient, so LOTS of driving between SLC and home. The doctors have been telling us that most people tolerate this chemo better. It works on a slightly different mechanism to kill the cancer cells and sometimes this is what people need. We are PRAYING they are correct and she feels not as sick as before and that this chemo gets rid of her cancer once and for all!! Love you all and thank you again💗💗💗

PET scan

PET scan day

Here is the PET scan machine...it's a big trailer just outside the hospital and is specifically for cancer.

Elizabeth gets an IV contrast injection and also has to drink some contrast. She said the taste isn't bad when she drinks it, but she just dreads it because she knows she'll be sick. We know from past experience that she'll usually be throwing up after all the contrast she's had put in her body. 😝😔 I can't be in there with her during the scan, so I sit just a few feet away inside the hospital and I can see the machine out the window next to my chair for about 50 minutes while they run the test. Elizabeth said the scan isn't too bad, but when I asked her to explain it she said that they strap your arms and legs to the "bed" and you get a pillow, but no music or shows. (I'm glad she thinks it's not too bad...sounds crummy to me, but this girl isnt a complainer.) The worst part is that we don't get results for a few days.

I am working so hard to focus on Christ and put my trust in God's plan for us. When it feels like too much (like today) I remind myself that Elizabeth was Heavenly Father's daughter before He sent her our family and she is just as precious to Him as she is to us. (I know more precious even, somehow in a way we can't comprehend.) I have faith that Elizabeth will feel the strengthening power of Christ's atonement and angels are with her always through this incredible trial. I have been reading the story of Moses in the Old Testament in the first several chapters as Exodus and I am inspired by the stories that illustrate God's incredible miracles...from the saving as Moses as an infant, to his leading the children of Israel out of captivity and providing food and water in the wilderness, it is powerful evidence that God is in the details of our life. We can trust in His goodness. Our hearts and prayers go out, especially, to those dear cancer families that we love who are walking a similar path, but I can't close any of these posts without telling you that we are praying for you too. We know that many suffer quietly, often with unseen burdens. Christ is the answer. Thank you, thank you for all the love, support, and prayers. We couldn't do this without you!

Plans

Cancer plans: Scan on the 5th to see if there's more cancer elsewhere in her body. 5 day chemo starts Thursday. Back to visit with the lung surgeon a week from Thursday. Thank you for the prayers...It means everything!! We are praying that they don't find more cancer and for a miracle of healing. This is a time of great anxiety and I am carried by the prayers and support of family and friends (YOU!) and constantly focusing on Christ--his miracles, mercy, and plan for each of us. We are thankful for General Conference this weekend and the blessing of revelation through prophets to help us strengthen our faith and focus on Christ. https://youtu.be/sYJGvUfeeS8

Happy plans!! Elizabeth turns 16 on April 25th and the Dr's have been great to work with us in finding a way to get her to have an awesome birthday. We are taking a family trip to Universal Studios Orlando! We will arrive the evening of the 23rd, rest and get to our hotel in Universal on the the 24th and spend the 25th and 26th in Universal. Elizabeth's Make a wish trip was to Orlando and we spent an amazing week at Give Kids the World Village http://www.gktw.org/ and got 2 days in Universal and 3 days at Disneyworld. Elizabeth LOVED Universal and we're so excited to have that to look forward to.

Staying hopeful

If you're reading this, then you've heard that Elizabeth's cancer is back. She had some nodules visible on her routine lung CT and so she had a lung biopsy done on Wednesday, the 30th, that showed Ewing's sarcoma cells. We are heartbroken, but Elizabeth is staying positive. She is truly amazing. I was really down right after her surgery when we were in her hospital room and she wasn't really awake from her sedation yet, but Elizabeth woke up and was so positive and just seeing her like that cheered me up. She was surprisingly lucid and cracking jokes and laughing. She really hated the chest tube She had to have overnight following surgery, but, thankfully, her lung recovered well and she was able to get it removed first thing Thursday morning and we were heading home at lunch time. Now the plan is to do a full body scan next week to see if there's cancer anywhere else and she'll start chemo no later than April 11th. I've looked into treatments around the country, but we are feeling like we'll stay here because her mental and emotional health are a big factor and she's got so much support here.

PLEASE pray that there is not cancer anywhere else and that she responds well to chemo. I know God is a God of miracles and He can heal her. We pray daily for a miracle of healing for Elizabeth. We are already overwhelmed (again) by the outpouring of love and support. Thank you for the prayers. Thank you for everything. We love you!

Here's the chest tube She hated😝