'Lots of Locks of Love'

Well, Thursday, August 13 was a big day for Julia, when she finally decided it was time to give her gift of love to someone she has never met, or probably, will never meet. A gift that would certainly help someone gain the confidence to go in public after chemotherapy. A gift that would help someone get in front of a camera to take pictures with their families after chemo, or a gift that would help someone keep a low profile after their health was compromised by disease. A gift that was inspired by her own mother's valiant battle with Leukemia, which eventually took her mom's life on July 9, 2009. Julia's gift was something she would give from her head and from her heart, to support a cause that she trusted and believed in. She had not cut her hair in 3 years, and during Christi's journey with Leukemia, she discovered 'Locks of Love', an organization that accepts donated hair, to be used in the manufacturing of wigs for cancer patients who have lost their hair after a strong round of chemotherapy.
Julia was quite nervous, as the time neared for her to go to the Hair Salon. I told her that she really didn't have to do this, but she insisted that it was something that she wanted to do. Equipped with her personal assistant and photographer, her sister Lisle, Julia left telling me to say goodbye to her hair. Her appointment was at 10:00 a.m.
When Julia walked into the Hair Salon, the stylist was eagerly awaiting her arrival, and she was seated immediately. The time was here - clip, clip; chop, chop !! No turning back now .....
The stylist began by combing out her hair, which was already washed, and then put it in a pony tail. She then braided Julia's hair to have more control when she got ready to put the scissors to it !.
As the scissors neared her hair, Julia took a deep breath and held it as the scissors began to cut her 3 years of growth. As the scissors cut through her hair, Julia began to get comfortable, and let out a sigh of relief, just as the last cut was being made. What she had set out to do some time in the past, had now come to realization. 3 years of hair growth was about to be handed to her in 1 single braid, that will be used to improve someone's quality of life, after cancer has gotten ahold of them, and some of their dignity has been taken away by the after effects of chemotherapy.
From this point, the stylist would shape the remaining hair on Julia's head to give a pleasant, easy to manage hair style. Julia approved, and was proud of herself for her accomplishment !


See you in 3 years, Julia . . . . keep up your great work !!

My Mom

My mom was such an incredible person. I can't even imagine how amazing heaven is for her.

Obituary

Christi Holt Bleile, beloved wife, daughter, and sister, joined her Heavenly Father on July 9, 2009, after a heroic, hard-fought battle with leukemia. She was surrounded by her loving family. She was a faithful servant and devoted disciple of her lord Jesus Christ, and she touched many people with her selfless devotion to her family and friends.
Christi was born in Abilene, Texas, on March 8, 1963, to Layton and Melba Holt. She attended Abilene schools until the family moved to De Soto, where she graduated from De Soto High School in 1981.
Christi married the love of her life, Rick Bleile, on October 10, 1987, and the family made their home in Midlothian, Texas. She was a stay-at-home mommy to her precious daughters, Lisle, age 17, and Julia, age 10. In addition to her husband and daughters, Christi will be deeply missed by her parents, Layton and Melba Holt of Lake Cedar Creek; sister Marcia Pair and husband Morris of Clyde, Texas; sister Marianna Fielder and husband Eugene of Oklahoma City; brother Gary Holt and wife Penny of Plano, Texas; seven nieces and nephews; and many dear aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.
A celebration of Christi’s life will be held on Saturday, July 11, at 2:00 P.M. at The Oaks Fellowship in Red Oak, Texas, 777 South Interstate 35E, Red Oak, Texas. Click here for a map.
*To get directions to the church, after clicking the link to the map, you may click "Get Directions" and enter your address.*

"It is finished"

Christi slipped peacefully into heaven this morning at 4:15 am surrounded by Rick, Julia, and Lisle. We will update this later as to the time and place of her memorial service which will most likely be on Saturday.
Thank you for your continuous prayers for her and for all of us.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Christi's journey still continues, although not without bumps in the road. As of this date, her leukemia blasts make up 85% of her white blood count, and continuing to increase. Yesterday, the doctors increased her medications for pain and anxiety so that her pain is under control. She is now sleeping most of the time.

Marcie and Marianna stayed with her the last two days and nights, and have now gone back home. Someone stays with Christi around the clock. We are so grateful for a strong supportive family.

Julia spent several days with Marianna in Oklahoma City, and just returned Monday with a new 11 week old puppy, a Bischon Frise, for the family. He is so cute, and will give them lots of pleasure in the future.

Please be in prayer that God's will be done over the next several days or weeks, and that Christi's suffering can be ended. Her faith has been strong throughout this whole ordeal, and she is comfortable with whatever God has in store for her.

Thank you all for your support.

Layton

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Friends and family who have faithfully followed this blog - I apologize for the great delay of this entry. We were told on Friday, July 3, that Christi's leukemia is once again active, and her peripheral blood leukemia blasts were measured to be 25%. We hoped and prayed that it had lost its energy, with this application of Mylotarg, which we had hoped to call the 'Wonder Drug', and the answers to our problem. Unfortunately, this disease, as I have described as 'relentless' in other writings, has a grip on my loving wife, and won't let go. We have had conversations with the doctors, and they tell us that they have run out of tools in their arsenal at Baylor to stop this. They are presently looking at other possible alternatives to try and drive this thing away, but have said that they haven't seen anything that would fit the criteria that we need. Christi has had so much chemotherapy at this point, that the next round would certainly prove fatal, thus leaving us short in the quest for the possibilities of another transplant. I am not saying that another transplant would NEVER be possible, but Christi would have to gain tremendous strength, in a very short period of time, for that to even be considered. Christi's sister-in-law, Penny, has scoured the internet for possible alternatives, and has presented her findings to Dr. Vance this morning, for his review. We are hoping that there could be something that he possibly overlooked or didn't realize, that may help us. We will be looking at any and all possibilities, in the next few days in a futile attempt to find anything that may save her life. One of the biggest tools, and quite possibly, the ONLY weapon we ever did have, is the Power of Prayer. God has brought us a long way through this journey, and and I refuse to say that His work is over. In the past 48 hours that I have spent with Christi, I have certainly felt His presence. However, I am reluctant to say what I have experienced in fear that I may be creating false hope. In short, I am not afraid to say that I do believe in miracles, and one could be in the works as I write. Let us pray . . . .

Zero blasts, day 13/14

June 29th- I arrived yesterday and Christi was feeling pretty well. We chatted and she took a couple of naps. I ate the most magnificent salad from her tray. Christi is still having difficulty eating and is still on IV nutrition. Blood counts were still at the bottom, so she's receiving blood. We watched The Bachelorette and she was able to stay awake for all but the final rose ceremony. Go figure. Monday night we both got a pretty good sleep as Christi was up only a few times.

June 30th- Still zero counts today, so Christi received donor platelets. We got out of the room and walked downstairs and outside for a little bit and to the gift shop where Christi picked out a cute new purple knit cap. She walked most of the way and finished the trip in the wheel chair. She took a good nap after that and drank a little broth for lunch. At supper time she was able to eat a bowl of cantaloupe and watermelon without any trouble. Yeah!!! We saved the rest in the frig in hopes to make a repeat performance tomorrow. I will go back to Oklahoma City in the morning and will be taking Julia, Christi's youngest, with me for the July 4th weekend. We have big plans with a parade, fireworks, picnic, Rachel's birthday party and a theme park and concert at night. Rachel is excited to have Julia visit.
Marianna