December 2010 Update!

Hi Friends,

I am very thankful for each and every one of you, your prayers, love and support over this past year! You truly have lifted my spirit and put smiles on my face over and over again. :)

Yesterday morning I met with my oncologist, Dr. Gottlieb. He was giving me the results from a CAT scan that I had done on Thursday. What he had to say was fantastic and a gift from God!!!! He looked over all the results and said that there was no enlarged lymph nodes showing and that he was very pleased with everything!!! He did mention that there was a cyst showing on my one ovary and that they will do an ultrasound in the near future. Dr. Gottlieb also let me know that he will be retiring this month and the next appointment I have will be with a new oncologist, Dr. Kerr.

My next Rituxan maintenance chemo is starting in March. I will have one intravenous treatment each week for 4 weeks. I normally feel great through each of those treatments and I am so thankful to God!

I am praising God for His miraculous touch on my life!!! I hope to continually honor Him and to give Him all the Glory!!

I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas from our family!!

Love,
Amy

~Isaiah 43:1-3~
He who created you, He who formed you, fear not for I have redeemed you. I have summoned you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the mighty rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flames burn you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

from Amy

Praise be to God!!!!! Ben and I went to meet with the Dr. this morning and he told us that there were no signs of Lymphoma from the scan!!!!!!
There was something showing on the middle of my right lobe (lung) that he thinks is probably from the illness I have been fighting for the past few days. He is cancelling my Rituxan treatment for tomorrow morning and is starting me on antibiotics today.
On August 28th I will have a chest X-ray done and will meet with the Dr. again on Monday, August 30th, to see if the X-ray looks clear and I feel better. If all looks great I will be having my first Rituxan treatment on Tuesday, August 31st.
We are praising our Heavenly Father for His healing touch on my body and for all the provision for us this past year!!!!!!

Thanks to all of you for your prayers, support and encouragement!!!

PRAISE GOD!

Amy's facebook status today:

"I am praising God from whom all blessings flow!!!!! Ben and I met with the Dr. this morning and he told us that the results from the CAT scan showed no signs of lymphoma!!!!!! We are so thankful to all of you for your prayers and encouragement this last year!! ♥"

Amy--we rejoice with you!!!!!!!!! I think I speak for hundreds of people--here in Lancaster, PA and around the country (and apparently, the world)...who have been following your blog, when I say that we are celebrating and thanking God for the amazing news today. Those who have followed your blog from afar and those of us who have watched you up close have witnessed a woman seeking to trust her Creator, her Keeper and Sustainer, despite the fact that the battle involved Stage 4 Lymphoma. Amy, you have been a radiant example to me. You have had a peace about you that can only come from knowing God. Over and over again you said and showed that your biggest desire through this intense hurdle was to point others to Jesus. Thank you for living out your faith. I am so blessed to know you as a friend and sister in Christ.

August Update

Happy Summer to everyone! Just wanted to give you a quick overview of what will be happening in the next few weeks.

This Thursday, August 12th, I will be getting a CAT scan at 11:20 am.
On Monday, August 16th, I will be meeting with my oncologist, Dr. Gottleib at 8:15am and he may be giving me the results from my CAT scan. And then on Tuesday the 17th I will be receiving my Rituxan maintenance treatment at the Infusion Therapy Center at 8am. The IV will take anywhere from 3 1/2 hours to 4 1/2 hours.

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer! Thanks for all your continued prayers!

I want to finally update all of you dear family and friends on the most up to date news with what has been going on in my life.

I am so excited to report that my last chemotherapy session was February 9th as most of you already knew.

I met with Dr. Gottlieb on Tuesday, March 2nd and he told me that he was very happy with how well my body and the cancer in my body responded to all the chemo. He didn't use the word remission, but from what he told me he made it sound like that is what he believed. I will have a CT scan sometime in July and then in August I will begin my first of four Rituxan maintenance treatments at the infusion therapy center through an IV. They will be every six months for two years.

In the beginning of March we went with friends to Cancun, Mexico and traveled at no cost to us. They had a timeshare for us to stay at and enough frequent flyer miles for us all to fly. They wanted to bless us with the trip to celebrate the end of my chemo. We had an awesome time of relaxation in the sun!!

I praise God for all He has done in my life and the healing that occurred in my body!!!! I want to thank all of you for your prayers, cards, words of encouragement, delicious meals and many gifts!!!!! I am truly blessed to have you all in my life!!

I will remember these last 7 1/2 months that God has brought me through for the rest of my life!

Amy's Hope Song ("Do Not Be Afraid")

Amy's Home

Amy's home from chemo. She looked great when I saw her around 4:30, but she said she wasn't feeling totally herself. Please pray that she gets the rest that she needs and feels stronger tomorrow!

Meals

Sorry for the last minute request-but Amy is getting another round of chemo this coming Tuesday, the 9th. Soup/Salad/Fruit meals would be great again this time!

Tues, 9: L. Hammack
Thurs, 11: B. Martin
Sat, 13: M. Heller
Mon, 15: L. Greer
Wed, 17: L. Herr
Fri, 19: D. Glass
Sun, 21: A. Weaver
Tues, 23: D. Strohecker

Please comment below if you are able to provide a meal for the Beachy family!

Only one more chemo session!!

My chemo went well on Wednesday the 20th. I felt a little sick and had some headaches, but for the ost part I feel so blessed with how God has continued to cover me with his protection and uplift me with His love! I constantly thank Him for the provision in my life.

Near the end of my chemo session on the 20th, a sweet older lady sat down beside me to get her chemo. She told me her name, but between my memory and the headache I had I forgot it a couple of minutes later and was too embarrassed to ask. She has had a really rough past year, because her husband of 60 years died in February, then in June she was diagnosed with cancer and in August she lost her sister who was her best friend to cancer. I hope to see her again this coming chemo session on February 9th because she told me she gets chemo that day too. She has really been on my heart and I want to be an encouragement to her.

I want to thank you all so much for your prayers, cards, notes of encouragement and all the delicous meals you have prepared and are still bringing. God has blessed me with the most amazing family and friends!!!!

Much Love,

Amy

Soup/Salad/Fruit Meals for Next Chemo

Amy found out today that she'll be getting another round of chemo this Wednesday.

In an effort to keep the family eating healthily, instead of dinners this time, the Beachy family would appreciate soup/salad/fruit.

Meals would appreciated:

Wed, Jan 20: A. McLennan
Fri, Jan 22: H. Honeywater
Sun, Jan 24: J. Miller
Tues, Jan 26: S. Huber
Thurs, Jan 28: D. Hershey
Sat, Jan 30: A. Benson
Mon, Feb 1: E. Kulp
Wed, Feb 3: E. Snavely

If you are able to provide a meal, please comment below.

Tumors are shrinking!

Thank you all for your prayers for me!!! I met with Dr. Gottlieb this morning at 8:30 and he told me that the tumors that are behind my stomach have shrunk about 90% from the first PET scan that I had back on August 20th and about 40-50% from the last PET scan on November 11th. He is very pleased with everything but because the chemotherapy shows that it continues to shrink the tumor he wants to add 2 more chemo treatments so that it can take care of the rest. If it would have shown that no change had occurred he would have started me on my rituxan maintenance treatments but he is happy with the changes that are taking place. So I have a chemo treatment this Wednesday the 20th at 8:30 am and then the last one will be February 9th at 9am.

Once again, thank you all for your continued prayers, love and support!!!! You are all a blessing to me and my family and I thank God for all of you!!!!

Love,

Amy

Right now

Amy is having her scan at 9am this morning. Please be praying for healing for her body from this cancer.

Amy's Sister Julia

from Julia's Leukemia & Lymphoma Society webpage:

My name is Julia Siegrist and I am training to participate in an endurance event as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. On May 15, 2010 I will be hiking the Grand Canyon. I will be completing this event in honor of my sister, Amy Beachy, who found out this August, the day before her 32nd birthday, that she has stage four non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cancer. She is my best friend and the most amazing sister I could ever hope for and she has inspired and encouraged me with her strength in battling her cancer. It is her courage in facing this disease that has motivated me to get involved and be a part of this cause. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line-a cure!

Please support Julia and her Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. Click here.

You can also email Julia at olivejewel@hotmail.com for more information.

Next Steps for Amy

Please pray for these next steps:
Tues, Jan 12- Muga Heart Test
Thurs, Jan 14- PET scan
Mon, Jan 18- meeting with the doctor to go over results

Thank you for your support, encouragement, and prayers!