THANK YOU

First of all, Susan and I would like to express our deepest thanks to all of you who have shared such love and concern for Ashley and for our family. Many of you have e-mailed us wondering how Ashley is doing. I know that many of you are praying for her, and are soliciting the prayers of others as well. I cannot even begin to tell you how comforting it is to know that so many people care, and that so many wonderful people are lifting us up before the Father.

THE CHEMO BEGINS

On Wednesday, September 19, we went to Children's Medical Center to file a bunch of paperwork related to Ashley's treatments. We also picked up her initial supply of VP-16 (chemo pills), and submitted the necessary information for Ashley's approval to be treated with thalidomide. The government has put into place a very stringent application and approval process for a patient to be treated with thalidomide in order to control its distribution, due to the thousands of birth defects back in the 1950's and 1960's attributed to the use of the drug by pregnant women. We waited around for awhile to see if the approval would be faxed back the same day. It wasn't, so we went on home.

We called the clinic the next day, Thursday, to see if the thalidomide approval had been received. It had, so we went back to Children's to pick up Ashley's thalidomide pills. Ashley began taking the VP-16 pills on Wednesday, September 19, and the thalidomide pills on Thursday, September 20. She takes one VP-16 pill (50 mg) every night, increasing the dose to two pills each Saturday and Sunday. After three weeks, she gets a one-week break from the VP-16. She takes two thalidomide pills (50 mg each) every night, seven days a week, without a break.