an update on mark & prayer request

I've been getting lots of emails lately asking how Mark is doing. We feel so grateful to have such supportive people in our lives & that you take the time to write & let us know that we are being prayed for & thought about. Thank you a million times :)

There has been a change in Marks health over the past several months. We have noticed that he is getting sick more & that his need for blood transfusions has increased. Mark remains strong & positive & at this point, it has been a bit of a "waiting game" to see what the Aplastic Anemia, is going to do next.

One of the horrible things about this disease, is that you have so many questions that remain unanswered. There are so few people that actually get aplastic anemia (1 in 1,000,000), that even the doctors don't know much about it. In all the time that Mark has had it, we have never even met anyone else with the disease.

This is so hard for me to ask, but could you please pray for my strength? Day to day it's been a hard lately. I can't imagine my life without Mark & even if I think about it for a moment, my heart just breaks. I keep so much inside that there are very few days in the past month or so, that I don't wake up with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I also feel so guilty for these feelings. I want to be strong for my family & to have faith that God is in control. It's just so hard not to be scared to death of what the next day will bring.

At this point, all I know to do is pray, have faith in God, to be thankful for every day....and pray some more.

Thank you so much for your support. It means more to me than you will ever know.

XXOO

Time for daddy to take over potty training...

I never imagined that potty training would be such a challenge! My son Christian is now 3 & 1/2 and has been going pee pee in the potty for quite some time.
But....when it comes time to poop......that's a whole different ball game. It has been a HUGE challenge!
So, the last time we were at the Pediatricians office, his doctor suggested that we allow Christian to "watch" us when we are going. I was not to hot about the idea of giving up my private time in the bathroom but....well lets just say, you get desperate.

Yesterday I made my daily trip to the restroom with my 3 year old right by my side. When I was finished, I zipped my pants up and said, "See Mommy is a big girl!"

By this point, Christian looked pretty puzzled. I squatted to his level and said, "whats wrong buddy?"
He said, "Momma...Where is your pee pee?"
I said, "Momma doesn't have a pee pee because I am a girl & girls don't have pee pees."
Christian thought about this for a moment...then he said, "Momma, I'm going to tell Daddy to go to the pee pee store and buy you one."

I think that was my clue that it's time for Daddy to take over! I can't wait to tell him about this when he's about 17 :) LOL

Getting back to normal after a hard week

Through out my life I have heard the saying, "God will never put anything in your life that you can't handle". I've also heard, "Whatever doesn't kill you will make you stronger". These statements certainly took on a whole different meaning in late 2002.

I never believed in love at first site, that is, until I met Mark in early 2002. My Mother was working at a cigar shop in Sawgrass Village & I had gone to visit her one afternoon. I walked in the door, and there he was! Our eyes locked, we were introduced to each other by Mom, and then we had a conversation that lasted for about 3 hours.

When I was driving home that afternoon, I remember thinking about how handsome and sweet he was & that I didn't want our time together to end. It was just one of those moments that you wish that you could "freeze time".
Well, it wasn't long before he was calling me & we were having our three our conversations every day. If it wasn't on the phone, we would meet at the very cigar shop that we met at & just sit & enjoy each other for hours. I woke up every morning thinking of him, and went to sleep every night thinking of him. It didn't take me long to realize that I had met my soul mate.

During this time, Mark had been building a new house. In late 2002, he moved in to his new home & invited me over to see the house. I was so happy for him & couldn't wait to see the home that I had heard so much about. He picked me up & drove me to his home...and I never left. It's funny...he never officially asked me to move in...but, he never wanted me to go home. Life was just perfect...

A few months after we had moved in together, we had been doing some work in the yard & I noticed that he was getting out of breath. I was a little worried, but then just thought, "maybe it's because he's getting a little over heated". I didn't realize it at the time, but Mark was really worried. You see, he had been diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia several years earlier, but had been in remission for six years. This feeling that he was getting of being "out of breath" was the same feeling that he had when he was first diagnosed.

We sat down that evening and decided that it was time to make a appointment to see what was going on. At the time, I really had no idea how serious this horrible disease was. I thought that if someone had anemia, they just needed to up their iron intake. Boy did I have a surprise three days later when we walked into the doctors office. I remember when the doctor walked in with Mark's lab results in his hand & told us that Mark's Aplastic Anemia was back. Looking back, I still didn't know how serious this was at that moment. It wasn't until we got home that night and I Googled "Aplastic Anemia". I was devastated, and so scared about what was to come.

When I came out of the office that night, I found Mark on the sofa staring off into space. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and asked, "Have I ruined your life?" I said, "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me!" I put my arms around him and we cried together. This was the beginning of our fight with Aplastic Anemia. You can read more about our fight in a previous blog post HERE.

Fast forward to last week...

Mark got sick...really sick. We went to the doctor they wanted to put him in the hospital immediately. He had an upper respiratory infection, a fungal infection on his leg, and his blood levels were critical. Well if you know Mark...he was not about to let the doctor put him in the hospital. He told the doctor that there was no reason for him to be admitted & that he could come to the hospital every day & come home at night. So, that's what we did for a week, and then on the weekend, we had a home health nurse come into our home.

To top it off, the day that I took Mark to the doctor, I received a call that my Mother-n-law had been admitted to St. Lukes hospital was sick. Then to really put the icing on the cake, the next morning, I got another phone call that my Father-n-law had fallen while walking the dogs, and was taken to the hospital & most likely had broken his shoulder.

Needless to say, I was a wreck! I put out a prayer request on my Facebook page. The next morning when I opened my email, I was so humbled by the response that I received by my request. I had a ton of emails letting me know that we were being prayed for, and offering help. God is so good...

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day and letting Mark and I know that you care. Even though Mark & I continuously live with the uncertainty of Aplastic Anemia, we feel so blessed. We have God, each other, a beautiful son, and such a caring network of support from our wonderful friends and family.
I am happy to report that after LOTS of IV antibiotics, 4 units of blood, and alot of prayer, my sweetie is doing much better! My mother-n-law is out of the hospital & my father-n-law did break his shoulder, but it wont require surgery.

You will never know how much your supportive words and prayers mean to me.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart...I love you guys!

XXOO,
Erica

Family

We had the best time last month visiting Mark's dad, brothers & step mom in Texas last month! I just got to go through some of the images from our trip & thought I would share a few special ones that I really love.

This group shot is 3 generations of Larson men!
(from left to right)
Eric (Mark's brother), Dad, Mark (my sweetie pie), Chris (Mark's brother), and Christian at the bottom (my other sweetie pie)









Mark's furry sister Missy :)


Mark's other furry sister Choula :)


We really had the best time visiting. It had been about 2 and a half years since we had seen everyone (looong overdue!) and hopefully, we will get back there to visit again really soon.

My Anniversary!!! Woo Hoo!!!

Well, Feb. is a really busy month for Mark & I. We call it our "Love Month" I know...it's just a little corny...but that's just us :)
We have Valentines Day, our anniversary & my birthday all in one month! Let me tell you, Mark stays very busy during the month of February.
This year we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary which really felt like a huge milestone for us. I couldn't help but to thank God for keeping him hear with me for another year. I didn't really want any material gifts...I am just really happy to have my family together plus, Mark has had a really good month!!!
Last week Mark surprised me & arranged a babysitter & took me to Ruth's Chris for dinner. We were actually able to have a very romantic dinner & grown up conversation (an added bonus with our 3 year old) at the very place that Mark asked me to be his wife. It was fabulous!!!

These our a few images from our wedding day. They were taken by Barbara Pickett who is a wonderful photographer that lives in Dunellon, Florida.
All of my wedding images were taken with a film camera & have had no edits in Photoshop.

Have You Donated Blood Lately?

My husband Mark is the bravest person that I know. Every day that I wake up next to him, I thank God for that unbelievable privilege. I know that may sound a bit extreme, but there was a time when I would cry my self to sleep because I didn't know if he would live to see another day.
Mark has a rare bone marrow disease called aplastic anemia. This basically means that his bone marrow does not make enough red blood cells (which supply your body w/ oxygen), white blood cells (which fight infection), or platelets (which clots your blood). Because you need these vital cells to live, Mark had to receive blood transfusions on a regular basis to stay alive.
Over the last five years, he has been through three different chemotherapy treatments to fight this horrible disease. Because only 2 out of 1,000,000 people have aplastic anemia, it is very hard to find doctors that treat him. For his first 2treatments we went to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. Unfortunately, both treatments were unsuccessful.
The third treatment was the most drastic & scary. We found Dr. Robert Brodsky in Baltimore, MD. at Johns Hopkins hospital that specializes in aplastic anemia. I will never forget the our first visit with Dr. Brodsky. He was telling us all about the risks of the treatment & he stated, "There is a 50% chance that you will die from this treatment". I lost it...I remember Mark just holding me as I sobbed saying over and over that he WOULD live through this treatment.
Mark did go through the treatment and today, is in what they call "Partial Remission". This means that his body is making cells, but his blood levels are not all within normal range. To Mark & I this is a success! There was a time when he would need transfusions every day to live & now he can go months without one.
Just last week Mark went from feeling good, to getting out of breath when he took out the recycling bin. We went to the doctor & sure enough, he needed a red blood transfusion. I always get nervous around the holidays because the blood bank can sometimes take days to get blood Mark's blood. During the holidays the demand for blood goes way up, and people aren't donating as much. There is nothing worse than waiting by the phone for the blood bank to call while your husband can't even get off of the sofa because he is so weak.
So, this week I'm going to Florida Georgia Blood Alliance to role up my sleeve. I wanted to tell you our story in hopes that you might do the same :o)
To everyone who donates blood, Mark and I would like to say thank you. You are a hero & are saving many many lives. Thank you from the bottom my heart. Without you & God I wouldn't have my Mark...*THANK YOU * THANK YOU * THANK YOU* :o)

My Family Jaguar & Urban Style

Well we finally got around to getting our family portraits done. We had Robin of Robin Adams photography capture our images. Robin does beautiful work in both portrait & wedding photography.
Check out her website :o) http://www.robinadamsphotography.com/
We started out at the Jaguar stadium & really got some great images :o)


Then, with a quick costume change, we headed over near the baseball grounds to capture my family urban style.


It was so different being on the other side of the camera. Robin captured everything I wanted & more!! Thank you soooo much Robin!!!