I'm glad you asked, but I'm sorry it has taken me this lng to respond!  We will head off to Branson Thursday morning at 6 with our junior high and high schoolers.  Our plan is to return the next day! Tuesday will be just as full of energy for our elementary and middle schoolers.  We'll head off to Hotsprings for pizza and miniature golf somewhere around 9am!

Are there any activities/trips planned for the youth group during springbreak?

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisa Crook (ADE) [mailto:Lisa.Crook@arkansas.gov]
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 4:04 PM
Subject: Update on Lauren Crook 1-12-06


Just wanted to give everyone an update on Lauren for this week.  She finished her last chemo on 1-4-07 and her last radiation 1-8-07 (Praise).  She is still experiencing pain in her mouth and throat.  It is not the mouth as much as her throat.  The treatment builds up lots of mucus, which causes her to cough.  Her coughing makes her gag and of course you can figure out the rest.  Trying to eat and then swallow with all of this against you is very hard for her.  I think sometimes that alone makes her to give up on eating.  We do better some days than other.  The doctor told us the radiation works up to 12 days after the last radiation treatment.  Last night she ate a little better than the day before.  She ate a little of vegetable soup, baby rice cereal, cream puffs and Starbucks.  Please don't think she ate all that, I only mean she ate a couple of bites from those items, which is good.  We pray each day brings a new day for her.  I know she is experiencing depression. She does not tell us this, but I can see it.  Last night I saw her laugh and get really tickled, which felt wonderful.  Her little sister Leah (who must have blonde roots) was trying to read her thermometer, and told us that her temp was 88.6.  The look on Lauren's face was priceless and then Leah said, "oh, I have it upside down".  We all laughed and told Leah I hope she was not considering the medical field as a career choice.  If you don't know Leah, all I can say is imagine Lucy as being a nurse and that would describe Leah.

We want to say thank you to Paul for taking Lauren to her treatment last week.  Also, my mother has been wonderful.  She is 77 years old with Macular Degeneration of the eyes, which means she has a hard time seeing, but she has faithful helped us take care of Lauren.  She was with Lauren while Lance slept in the day time and with her while we were both at work whe Lance went back to work after Christmas.  This helped us to continue to work.  I know it is has been hard on her to see Lauren this sick.  Taking care of a sick family member, can take its toil on a person.  I noticed in myself, the days Lauren did better, I had a better day.  If we had a bad night, the next day I was down.  So, I know it is hard on my mother to spend so much time with her and see Lauren's ups and downs.  We feel so blessed to have my mother here to help.

How I wish that I had my little problems to worry about again, like how we would make 2 practices at the same time, what was for dinner, is the house cleaned, etc.  Just be thankful for those little things, that seem like monster problems.  Don't fret over such minor issues and be thankful for your family.  Enjoy each and every moment with them.  Go home and give them hug and tell them you love them.

We are so blessed to have so many people praying for us.  You guys have faithfully continued to pray for Lauren and us.  We know that God is hearing those prayers, because we have seen many answered prayers. Lauren is doing good according to the doctors and according to other people who have experienced these treatments. Please join us in prayer as Lauren goes Wednesday for scans.  We pray they are 100% clear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please pray for:

1.  Clear scans 100% cancer free
2.  Healing from treatments
3.  Next treatment plan
4.  Care takers
5.  School

Please remember in prayer Shane Jackson a 15 year old with a brain tumor.  He lives in Tacoma, Washington.  His family is friends with my brother-in-law Kyle.  Kyle has asked that we add him to our prayer list. Also, remember Summer Russell in prayer.  They have seen so many miracles in Summer's life as well.  We praise God.  Please take time to read her website www.caringbridge.org/visit/summerrussell
<http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/summerrussel

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisa Crook (ADE) [mailto:Lisa.Crook@arkansas.gov]
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2006 8:19 AM
Subject: Update on Lauren Crook 12-22-2006

A Fathers Perspective: (from her father, Lance)

Lauren will have 19 radiation treatments out of 27 and 4 chemo treatments out of 6 by the time you read this.  Physically, she has been taking it pretty well.  She has not had any sickness from the chemo yet,other than fatigue.  We are constantly looking for new solutions, ointments, gels, etc... to battle her mouth sores from the radiation.  Due to everyone's prayers, the Lord has led us to a "new" oral-strip  that dissolves on the tongue.  She has lost (7) pounds since last week due to not drinking and eating enough.  The sores in her mouth contribute to the lose of hunger.  It's not so much that she's lost her appetite, more so - it just hurts to eat or drink.  Thankfully, the new oral strips have been helping.  Her facial swelling is down and seems to continue to decrease weekly.  She has lost some of the hair at the base of her neck behind her head.  Luckily, her long hair covers up the missing spot well and you wouldn't even notice it at all looking at her.  Mentally she has her ups and downs.  That is to be expected, though.  I heard someone ask her how she was doing once and she stated that she was blessed that she wasn't having the bad sick spells most people have to endure undergoing chemo.

We saw the chemo doctor the other day and she stated that once her treatments were over January 5, 2007 she would be given about a month break and then she would be started back up again on another chemo plan. This surprised both of us. We weren't aware that there was another plan after the initial plan. The new plan will cover three addition months of treatment in a series of (4) days in-a-row treatments with a (3) week break in-between each (4) day treatment plan.  I don't know what type of chemicals she'll be on at this point or if they will cause the sickness problems or loss of hair.

I really feel Lauren is prepared for the worse mentally.  I've caught her writing in her journal a couple of times and caught glimpses of her writing about the hair she's started losing already and based on the joking manner in how she wrote about it, it seems as if she's accepted the fact that it may all come out eventually. She has always been so strong that way.  I believe she is a realist in that manner.  She knows what could possibly lie ahead based on conversations with her doctors and she has made peace with the fact that God is in control.  I say that because I also caught a glimpse in her journal stating along the lines, "I understand that these things are part of Gods master plan for me." Footnote: She knows I was looking at her writing in her journal!!!  I would frequently mess with her on getting that book out of her hands. :-)

We were hoping to get Lauren back in school this spring but the doctor didn't feel she could physically do both so she won't be able to go back to school until later.  The doctor felt it was a better idea for Lauren to devote all her efforts in getting well first before going back to school. Just the fact that the doctor said she would be ready to go back during the summer break just increased my faith that she believes Lauren will be able to pursue a normal life after the treatments.  She wasn't saying, "Well, you may want to look at devoting your efforts elsewhere or you may "not" want to spend the time and money on that right now." No, she confirmed the Lord's will in my mind. Therefore, she should be able to start back during the summer break and pick back up full-time the next fall semester. 

The fact that she would have to undergo additional treatments didn't seem to bother Lauren like I thought it would. I think she would prefer that the swelling was all the way gone and her face rash cleared up before going back anyway.  This would also give her time to get rid of the trach from her neck. We talked about some on-line courses she could probably handle during the spring semester. She, so much, wants to stay caught up with her girlfriends so she can still attend classes with them at the same academic level eventually. 

There is no doubt that everyone's prayers have caused the Lord to look down upon Lauren in favor and bless her.  Those of you who have been reading the updates know all of the blessings she's received and continues to receive.  I can look back even as she was growing up and see the Lord's work in preparing for this event in our life.  He's made Lauren physically active her whole life, which has helped her body recover as well as it has.  He's made Lauren very mature for a young lady to be able to mentally handle this event in her life.  He's placed good friends in Lauren's life to support her during this event in her life.  He's provided a wonderful Church family in our life to support us in this event.  He's provided my family with a young Christian women who has accepted Christ as her personal Savior and given her a heart full of Love to withstand satans temptations.  He's provided Lisa a job with flexibility. He's provided me with a job that has good insurance.  He's placed events within my company that have led me not to be transferred from this state when the department I work, it has always believed in transferring as a means to further your career.  Now due to the changes within our organization, you don't have to transfer to advance your career near as much.  There is so much more at my work, He has done to prepare for this event in our lives that I can't mention them all. Therefore, the Lord kept us where we needed to be so we could get the best hospitalization for Lauren.  A year ago we would have had to have gone out of the state to have these surgeries. This is not a coincidence people. 

It is my hope that Laurens testimony touches someone's life and makes them understand that bad things don't just happen to bad people.  I don't think for a minute that Lauren brought this upon herself.  I find myself thinking that we all sin and "YES" the Lord will forgive us of our sins if asked, but there are still consequences for our sins. Could this have been the result of "MY" sin?  It is inevitable, we brought this sin (no matter what disease) into our lives when Adam defied God and bit into the forbidden fruit.  The question isn't why has this happened to me, the question is will you be prepared when it happens to you.  Lauren is!  She knows, no matter what, she is prepared.  She only hopes her suffering will convict someone else into realizing they are eternally lost unless they accept Christ as their personal Savior and in doing so - they will defeat the very Sin satan has used against you to bring about JOY!

Have a very Merry Christmas from my family to yours.

God Bless!

Lance     

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisa Crook (ADE) [mailto:Lisa.Crook@arkansas.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 3:59 PM
Subject: update on Lauren Crook 12/6/06

Sorry I have not sent out and updated in email regarding Lauren.  I feel like sometimes we have over whelmed you guys with our request.  We could never express our gratitude towards everyone for all that you have done for us and most of all your prayers.  Most of you, we don't know.  I have heard from several people, saying they don't know Lauren, Lance or myself, but now feel like we are all good friends.  Lauren has become a household name for many.  They were asking how is Lauren Crook, now they ask how is Lauren.  They feel she is part of their family.  Wow, amazing how God works.  Our mail carrier is earning their wages with our mail. We receive several pieces of mail a day for Lauren with cards, gifts, and money.  It really is touching.  I have heard or read articles about American people being self-centered and uncaring.  I guess they don't know all the wonderful people that I know, because you guys are such a blessing to us.

Lauren started her radiation treatment last Monday.  Today is her eighth radiation treatment out of 27 and one chemo last Thursday.  Tomorrow she will have a chemo and will have 4 more to go.  It is nice to check them off as we go.  The final treatment January 4!  She seems to be doing well.  You just don't realize all the medicine and procedures involoved. The radiation being on her head can cause several health issues.  Dr. Lance has all of her medicine lined up on the kitchen counter with a piece of paper underneath listing its use, amount, time and so forth. Lance is back to work.  Lauren and Leah both have been worried about him being off from work.  UPS has been wonderful.  This time of the year is their busiest time of the year.  They keep an engineer on duty 24 hours to ensure you guys receive your "Christ"mas packages on time.  The month of December, Lance is working nights and sleeping in the day time (praise).  He then gets up and takes Lauren to her treatment.  My mother stays with her in the daytime and as we know Grandmothers can be a push over.  We have to make sure Lauren is drinking, eating, taking temp, walking and so forth.  We remind her to do what Grandma says and she seems to so far.  I told mom this will be tough love, meaning you have to force her to do things she might not want.  She seems to be doing well with the treatment.  Some nights she can't sleep and we were told to give her Benadryl (that was a blessing, because some nights she was not sleeping).  She does not want to sleep in the bed.  Her and I are sleeping in the family room.  Sunday night we had a rough night, but things were better on Monday.  I have a hard time sleeping in the recliner.  I made Lance get his hunting cot out with his nice thick cozy sleeping bag.  We are ready for bed and Lauren decides she wants the cot.  So, I am back on the couch.  She has experienced a little upset stomach, tired, sleepless nights, and depression.  She is given steroids the day before and day of treatment.  We have been told coming off of these med's make you upset, angry, and depressed.  Monday she did not want to go and receive treatment, that was hard.  We just keep reminding her that God is going to get her through this and remember "I can do all things Christ Jesus which strengthens me."  She agreed and we continued forward.  A friend from church talked with Lauren before her treatment started and she talked about her treatment when she had breast cancer. It did seem to really help her and make her realize others did it and she can do it.  Lance received a call last night from Dr. Stack.  He told Lance she was on his mind and wanted to check on her.  How many doctors do that?  We are blessed to have him.

She really has enjoyed her company.  Our youth director brought his 2 month old baby one night and Lauren really perked up holding her.  One of her basketball coaches came by last night and she really talked with him.  I guess we are just old hats and nothing is new with us.  I enjoyed listening to her speak and see her smile.  She must be feeling better, because she is on to Leah for wearing her earrings, shoes, jersey and borrowed one of her many purses and of course Leah says Lauren said it was ok.  I think Leah asked for permission when Lauren was in the hospital.  Sisters, what can I say!

We ask that you pray for the following:

100% cancer free;
Reacts good to the treatment;
Her mental and physical condition;
School; and
Us as a family.

If God brings us to it, He will bring us through it!

Lance, Lisa, Lauren and Leah

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisa Crook (ADE) [mailto:Lisa.Crook@arkansas.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 2:40 PM
Subject: update on Lauren Crook 11/28/06

November 28, 2006

Lance (Dad)

First and foremost, I want to continue to express my gratitude for all of you who have been lifting Lauren up in prayer. I ask the Lord every night to bless you for taking time out of your day and night to pray for Lauren. I want to also thank you for the flowers, cards, letters, money, phone calls, visits (one person even walked over 5 miles to visit Lauren), books, CD's, DVD's, food, offers to help around the house, helping with getting Leah to games and practices and my mother-in-law to doctors appointments and other items that you have been sending and helping with. You just don't know how these gifts of love, no matter how trivial they seem to you, mean to us. I especially wanted to thank my managers at UPS for their continued support and patience. We could not have gotten through this without their understanding and support. I know Lisa is just as thankful for her company's support as well.
 
Yesterday, we had to be at the hospital by 6:15 AM for a CT scan on Laurens abdomen and chest to determine if the cancer had spread. Needless-to-say, we were on pins and needles waiting for the 10:45 am appointment with the Professor of Internal Medicine Director, Division of Hematology/Oncology to discuss the test results and Lauren's Chemo plan. Praise the Lord, they were all clear!!!! Dr. Hutchins then proceeded to explain that Laurens particular cancer is very rare and as a result, there are not a lot of case studies to compare. In other words, if this were colon cancer or breast cancer, there have been thousands of case studies on different treatment plans (Chemo/Radiation) to analysis the healing data to determine what the best type of treatment plan would have been for the particular type of cancer in question. For example: Chemo vs. Radiation separately or combined, internally or externally, which type of chemo drug to use, which type of radiation treatment to use, etc. Therefore, Dr. Hutchins basically informed us that they were giving us the only treatment plan that has been used on this type of sarcoma tumor. Since there were not a lot of case studies she couldn't give us the reassurance we were hoping to hear on the success rate for this type of treatment. She said for all she knew the odds could be very high that the tumor could come back based simply on the fact that there isn't enough information out there on this type of tumor to make an educated guess. Can you imagine what Lauren was thinking hearing that? I know what I was feeling listening to it.
 
She then went into the possible side effects with Lauren, which was similar to the radiation treatment side effects. (Possible loss of hair and fingernails, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, anemia, pain and possible central nervous system problems and infections. With radiation she also will have skin rashes, severe sore throat from being raw, possible tooth decay, taste bud changes, dryness of mouth from loss of saliva glands and white blood cell count and platelets to reach low levels.) Through all these examples, Dr. Hutchins noticed a small smile at the corner of Lauren's mouth and asked her if she was smiling. Lauren motioned yes (still has tracheotomy in neck). Dr. Hutchins then asked if that meant she was ok with everything because Dad didn't have a smile on his face. She once again shook her head yes. WOW! I am so proud of her. Their plan is treat to cure.  They do have case studies that have shown people with this type of cancer that were treated and cured with this treatment. The bottom line, is they just don't have enough data to give any odds. Lauren's chemo will be given in the form of an IV. She will have a low dosage starting Thursday once a week for six weeks.

After Dr. Hutchins left the examination room, I noticed Lauren tightening up and could tell she was thinking about something intensely. I asked her what was wrong and she just said she didn't want the cancer to come back. I told her that she had to put her total faith in the Lord and He would take care of her. I reminded her about everything she had been through up to this point and that if He had wanted to take her, He could have done so many other times but chose not to. I told her that He had special plans for her and would get her through this. She seemed to relax after that. I told her it was natural to have doubts and fears and that I ask the Lord every night to forgive me of those doubts and fears and to blanket us with his assurance to ease our anxieties. I ask every night for Him to surround us with a hedge to protect us from evil and harm, to rid the devil from our lives and rebuke his presence from Lauren. I pray every night for the Lord to continue to use Lauren to bring Honor and Glory to His name. I pray every night that if it be His will, to use her for years to come through her testimony and to bring Honor and Glory to His name.  Lauren started her first radiation treatment yesterday at 1:30 PM as well. She will have 27 treatments Monday - Friday not including weekends or holidays. Therefore, they should be done by January 4th. Please pray for Lauren during this period in her life for ease of treatments, success of treatments and for her spiritual well being.
 
Thank you again,

Lance

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisa Crook (ADE) [mailto:Lisa.Crook@arkansas.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 9:20 AM
Subject: Urgent prayer for Jamie Asbury


I know that I have asked you guys for so many prayers, but I asked you guys to please remember Jamie Asbury in prayer today (11-28-06).  Jamie attends our church.  Her and her family are very good friends of ours. Jamie is 22 years old and has crippling arthritis since she was an infant.  She has been through numerous surgeries.  She wears a boot on her foot to help her walk and protect it.  Her bones are very brittle. I was told this morning that Jamie is in the hospital and has staph in her bad foot.  They will be doing a bone scan today and if the infection is in the foot, they will have to amputate the foot.  She has a 3 year old little boy as well.  Also, her grandmother has cancer and was in the same hospital during the time Lauren there.  We all visited back and forth.

Please, please, please remember them in prayer.  Her parents Rodney and Mary Asbury as well as her family needs our prayers.

Lisa

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisa Crook (ADE) [mailto:Lisa.Crook@arkansas.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 2:47 PM
Subject: update on Lauren Crook 11/22/06

Today Lauren had a doctor's visit with Dr. Stack.  His statement, "I hope you believe in miracles, because you are one".  Yes, we firmly believe in the miracles that our Lord can perform.  If you don't, then you need to look at Lauren and talk with Dr. Stack.  Dr. Stack said, "she was well worth the extra hours".  We can't say thank you enough, to all you wonderful people praying for us.  We believe in the power of prayer.  Prayer changes things.  We still need your prayers.

They removed Lauren's feeding tube this morning, which she was elated. She has been eating a little at home (don't tell on us).  She had my mother mix-up frosting that we use for our Christmas cookies and has been eating that (Grandmother's are a push over).  I told her that she is not setting a good example for her own clients, when she becomes a Speech Pathologist.  She reminds me of her not having food since October 29 and she is hungry, with a smile.  This morning at the doctor's office they checked her swallowing with applesauce and while they stepped out, Lauren is eating all their test foods.  She was so ready to remove that tube. The trach was not removed.  They want to cap it off and make sure she can go 24 hours with it capped off.  Pasta Jacks here she comes for lunch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lance asked Dr. Stack about the other CT scans they did and he said they looked great.  He did not see anything and no new growth (praise).  Dr. Stack was very pleased with her progress.  Lauren really likes Dr. Stack.  That is nothing against the other doctors, but he is her favorite doctor.  We are glad he is back at work.  We are blessed to have such good doctors and medical staff.  We appreciate what these men and women have done for Lauren.  Also, we are thankful for their families sharing them with us.  I know Dr. Stack has a family and he is away from his family a whole lot.  So, we say thank you to his wife and children as well.

Lance and Lauren visited the staff from the 6th & 4th floor at UAMS.  We wanted to say thank you to them as well.  Also, Lance visited with some of the families we met while we were there.  We are sadden that many of them will spend the holidays in the hospital.

We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.  This all happen so close to "Thanksgiving".  I don't think by chance!  Lance and I can't say thank you enough for all the prayers.  We know you guys played an integral part in praying for Lauren.  You have been such Mighty Prayer Warriors for Lauren and us.  You have been a part of a "Miracle"!  We have said it was miracle all along, Dr. Stack confirmed it and we hope you see it.

Lance and I want to say thank you UPS and the Arkansas Department of Education, places that we work for your continued support.  We work for really great people.

Please don't stop praying.  We still have a long ways to go.  We need as many people as possible praying for Lauren.  Don't remove us from your list.

Please pray for:

Clear CT Scan of chest on Monday 11-27-06
Trach to removed soon;
Healing of surgery;
Energy and strength;
School;
Best treatment plan (starts Monday); and
100% Cancer-Free

Also, remember Lauren in prayer regarding her spirits.  I have never seen her cry during this time.  She tries to stay strong.  The last couple of days, we had some melt downs.  I know that it was probably good for her to release those emotions.  Crying is good for us.  It did not take her long to get on top and she was feeling better.  We appreciate those cards and we try to share your emails with her.  They really lift her.

We hope everyone has a wonderful "Thanksgiving".  During your celebration stop and think about all you have to be thankful for and give thanks to God for them.

In Christ,

Lance, Lisa, Lauren and Leah

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisa Crook (ADE) [mailto:Lisa.Crook@arkansas.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 4:06 PM
Subject: Lauren Crook update 11/15/06

Lauren is home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Praise God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are so blessed to be home.  We are happy she is there, but scared as well.  She does not want her daddy to leave her sight or at least out of the house.  Lance (Dr. Lance as I call him) has done a wonderful job as her caretaker.  He has all her medicine and treatment schedule out and posted in her room.  All equipment is up and working, medicine laid out, etc.  It looks like a regular hospital room.  If any nurse or doctor came into her room they would be able to pick up and care for her very easily.  While I was gone to get all the medicine, Dr. Lance was assembling the room.  I walked into the room and saw her feeding bag hanging from a pole, like what I had seen at the hospital.  I did not remember them sending us home with a pole.  I looked closer and it was some rod from our garage, with a Christmas gutter hook, attached on top of the pole, holding the bag.  Then he had cord wrapped around the bars of the headboard holding the rod.  It works perfect!  His engineer mind at work.  So, you don't have stand there and hold the bag to feed her. Lance is great!  I am so blessed to have a husband like him.

She did come home with the tracheotomy.  Lance has learned how to suction her out, replace it (if it comes out) and clean it.  It requires cleaning twice a day.  This makes Lauren cough and that scares her.  She does not like to speak, because it makes her cough and it scares her. You can see why she wants her father so close.  Lance is sleeping by her bedside at home.  She uses her dry erase board to communicate or if you know sign language, she will sign to you.  Also, she rings her little bell and keeps you jumping.

Paul came over last night and watched movies with her.  Lance received a few hours of much needed sleep.  Paul is very familiar with what to do as well.  I think Paul needs to change his major from music to the medical field.  The nurses all told him that as well.  We are very thankful for Paul, Heather and my brother Lonnie.  They all took turns sitting up with Lauren and helping out while she was in Critical Care. 

We were told yesterday the pathology reports came back and the tumor is still a chondrasarcoma.  We are blessed that it is not another bad type of cancer.  Today Lauren had her CT scan to map out the area of treatment.  We do not know what the plan of action will be.  They are still waiting to hear from MD Anderson in Houston.  Things went well with the visit, but of course she is very tired today.

We ask that you please keep forwarding our emails to all the prayer warriors.  I can't even begin to tell you how many people contact us. Most of the mail we receive at home is from people we don't know.  I think every state in the union is praying for Lauren and so many from over seas.  I even heard that a man in the military stationed in Iraq is praying (they need our prayers).  I ask God daily to bless you guys as well.

We have become friends with a family in the waiting room and we were sharing our story and telling about Lauren's prayer warriors.  They asked how did we get so many people praying.  I told them I sent out emails and asked that people keep forward them, a friend contacted surrounding churches, the girls attend a private Christian school (those families churches), Lauren attends Ouachita Baptist University (private Christian school and they told their churches) and the word just got out.  They were just amazed.  Now, you might say you have too many and you are going to stop praying.  Please, please don't stop praying.  We still have a long ways to go.  The best thing you could do for us, is pray without ceasing.  It is amazing at how many people keep telling us, they can't get her off their mind (people that don't know us).  We know God is hearing those prayers.  So, many things have happen these past few weeks for Lauren and us, that only God can do.  It is even hard to describe.  We are speechless.  Yes, we know God is hearing those prayers.  Don't stop!

We ask that you please pray for:

Healing from the surgery
Treatment plan (she will react well and have no complications) Be 100% cancer-free Clean scans School (We are thankful for her being alive and school is a minor problem, but we know how important it is to Lauren)

Also, pray for my sister-in-law, Ann.  She is receiving chemo and is having some problems.  Our ICU waiting room friends and family of Peggy. She is 37 years old with 2 children.  She was in a car accident and in a coma.  They need your prayers as well.

Like Lauren told us, God spared her from last Wednesday, she will survive this.  You get to a point and say, "God here it is.  I lay at your feet".  Lance and I have decided it is all in God hands and we have to trust Him.  We have to take one day at a time and trust Him.  I am a scheduled person and have everything planned out for my week.  Well, this is an area that is changing.  We can't look at the whole big picture, you will drive yourself crazy.  We are taking one day at a time.  God is in control and He will take us one day at a time.  We can't worry about all this other stuff. You might be one person, but when you come together with all these other prayer warriors, you have created this awesome prayer warrior group for Lauren.  Thank you so much and please, please don't stop.  It is the best thing you can do for us.

Yours in Christ,

Lance, Lisa, Lauren and Leah

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisa Crook (ADE) [mailto:Lisa.Crook@arkansas.gov]
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2006 4:08 PM
Subject: update on Lauren Crook 11-13-06

November 13, 2006 10:30 AM
Lance (Dad)

First of all, our family would like to thank everyone for their continued thoughts and prayers. Over the course of the last 4 days, Lauren has made miraculous improvements due to your prayers. Even though we are still in the step down ICU ward, she has continued to make major strides in her recovery process. So much, they are looking at discharging her TOMORROW! Even though we aren't happy about going home with the tracheotomy after the incident last Wednesday, she is being sent home with a feeding tube and tracheotomy which we expected.  I will be receiving training on how to care for her tracheotomy inner canal tube (take it out, clean it out and re-insert it).  Just the slightest touch of the tracheotomy collar causes her to cough violently. Once, while her nurse was cleaning the tracheotomy, she coughed so hard it pushed the entire tracheotomy out of her throat leaving a gapping hole exposed in her neck. This scared Lauren tremendously. Needless to say, I've seen them insert the whole apparateous on numerous occasions now and feel confident that I would be able to do the same if this should happen once we get home.  We are setting up in-home nursing care where they will set us up on feeding supplies and the tracheotomy care package, cleaning kits, suction pump, etc...

We've already been contacted by the CARTI Clinic to schedule her for a CT Scan this Wednesday morning. They will be mapping the areas where they will be performing the chemo and radiation treatments. They came into the room with Lauren and spoke with her concerning the upcoming CT Scans. They said they wanted a scan of her chest as well. They made it sound like the chest CT scan was just routine, but she did say that the Doctor wanted to make sure her chest was clear. This upset Lauren and we can tell she is bummed out by this. This made us wonder if they thought there was potential for the cancer to have spread to the chest. We still do not know what classification the latest tumor is. If you re-call, they thought the original tumor may have been something other than the original diagnosis (Chondrasarcoma). They thought is could have been a Cordoma tumor instead which had the potential to spread to the lungs. Therefore, they sent it back off for re-classification just to make sure the original classification was diagnosed correctly which it turned out to be, Thank the Lord.  We are praying that the current tumor is a chondrasarcoma as well because they don't have the characteristics to spread like a Cordoma does. Please pray for Lauren that she doesn't have any complications at home or in transit between the hospital visits and home with her breathing. Please pray that her chest CT scan comes back ok. Please pray for a fast healing recovery span for her current wounds so they can start her next stage of chemo/radiation treatments. They will not start until the current wounds are healed properly because the chemo and radiation can affect the healing process making the healing process even longer. Please pray that Lauren is able to get her beautiful voice back once this is over. Please pray that she has a smooth chemo/radiation treatment session and last but not least, please pray that that cancer is eradicated or at the very least put in remission.

I also wanted to tell everyone about how things were progressing with the incident the other day. Not sure everyone knows, but I sat down with the hospital staff to review what happened and give suggestions on how I felt things could be improved to prevent this from happening to someone else. We discussed everything from lack of communication, devices during transit for emergency purposes (cells, walkie-talkies, etc...), trained nursing staff available to attend transits, nursing staff having the right/obligation to question transit orders, if they felt the patient was not entirely stable, portable equipment needing to be on periodic preventative maintenance inspections to eliminate potential equipment problems, such as, the ones we ran into, all clinic nurses being re-certified periodically on how to handle emergency situations, such as, knowing how to simply clear a clogged tracheotomy tube, etc... Below is an e-mail excerpt from a friend of the family who works at the hospital and has been instrumental in helping us address the incident we had last Wednesday to prevent it from happening to someone else.
 
"I won't bother you much more at work, but I thought you would want to know that my administrator (the one who made the phone call to the head person) told me a few minutes ago that he is trying to get approval to treat the event that occurred last week as what we call a "Sentinel Event" or "Near Miss Event".  What this means is that a policy or policies would officially change because of what happened to Lauren. This comes from JCAHO which is the health organization that sees that the hospitals and physicians offices are "obeying the rules" so to speak.  JCAHO is a really big deal.  I just thought you and Lance should know.  Lauren just keeps blessing others through her illness.  Like you said, we want to prevent patients and families from ever having to experience something so devastating and uncalled for."

Once again, through Lauren's suffering and pain, she is hopefully making changes in hospital policy that could change someone else life down the road.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.