Bittersweet...

Ok...A VERY QUICK UPDATE...

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

The good news...THE TUMOR IS NOT GROWING!!!! YEAH...Praise God! The tumor is exactly the same as it always has been...no bigger, no smaller...which leads me to the bad news. The tumor is not shrinking or in any way (at this point) being affected by the chemo. Although this is not exactly what we wanted to hear, we're just trying our best to celebrate in the good news. Afterall, it is possible that this tumor will never, ever grow again. Yes, of course we would love for this thing to shrivel up and die, never having to worry about it again, but God has chosen not to allow this to happen...yet!!!! I say yet, because we refuse to become discouraged, or lose hope that this could, and will, still happen! We remain to stay focused on the Great Healer...NOT on all the circumstances, or doctors reports, surrounding us. Besides...our fervent prayer remains to be, "Please heal her, Lord, however you choose!" This could mean he chooses to heal her by never allowing the tumor to grow again!

Anyway, I just wanted to update you on the results. I do promise that updating this site is #1 on my "to do" list for Monday, so stay tuned! Until then, I just want to thank all of you again (and again, and again....) for your many prayers, cards, phone calls, e-mails...EVERYTHING! We are so thankful for all of you. Much love to you all!

Looking for better day tomorrow...

Ok...I'm going to be honest...today was pretty rough. I could give you all the details of the day and keep you waiting, but BECAUSE I HATE THAT MYSELF, I'll get straight to the point...we know nothing yet and won't know results from the MRI until tomorrow. AHHHHH!!! Maybe God's just giving us time to get our chocolate...let me explain.

Here's how today went...Claudia is currently not sleeping through the night and so we had a hard time deciding whether or not to stay overnight in Indy the night before because she sleeps even less in a hotel...its "too exciting," new, etc. (There's many other reasons we decided against it this time, but will explain later.) So, long story short, we decided to drive down this morning. Bad decision. We got her to bed EARLY last night and still only got 2 1/2 hrs. of sleep...but we were there right on time (which is rare for us!)...only to find out that the MRI machine was broken! Nurses said it could be a wait of anywhere from 1 to 4 HOURS! So we waited...and waited...and, well, this was getting rough for a little girl who does't understand why she can't eat or drink. So after an hour or so, we ended up walking over to the cancer clinic and they decided to hook her up and give her chemo before the results. (Hope she needed it...well, actually I don't, but you know what I mean.) And remember...still not allowed to have any food or drink. So FINALLY, they got the MRI machine up and going. She hates these procedures but this time, she really got upset. She went to sleep screaming...and woke up screaming. SO HARD on my heart. And to top it off, because it was so late, there was no tech to read the results...meaning we have to wait until tomorrow. THIS IS TORTURE! Waiting for results is the absolute worst.

So what's this have to do with chocolate? I can't even count how many times we've been stuck in limbo waiting for results of all kinds and so we started a little tradition two years ago...we buy chocolate for these days we find out some kind of results to "celebrate" the good news afterwards (like days of MRI's, etc.)! Just a way to stay positive, I guess! Well, for the first time today, we forgot to get our chocolate! So maybe this is God's sense of humor...knowing we're going to get good news...we need our chocolate!!!! Ok, that's probably stretching it but, hey, let's stay positive, right?! Why do I have this feeling its going to be a very long night???

I will give you all an update as soon as we find anything out. Until then, just waiting...and praying...and hoping...and beliving for the best! Thanks again for all of your prayers! We covet them!

Big day coming up...SEPTEMBER 7th

Oh my! Its been waaaay too long. I think I start every blog out by apologizing for it taking so long to update...this one's going to be no different. Sorry everyone!

I've got so much to update and pictures to share...BUT...its been really crazy around here and I honestly don't have the time right now (which I promise to explain why later), but we have a very big day this Thurs. and I, once again, am petitioning for your prayers on Claudia's behalf.

She has another MRI this Thurs., Sept.7. Our utmost prayer is that the tumor is not growing. However, IF (and the dr's emphasize IF), this MRI looks good ("good" to the dr's being no tumor growth), this could be our last round (which is 10 weeks) of chemo!!!! And although we would be absolutely ecstatic for a report of no tumor growth, we are hoping and earnestly praying that this MRI would show that the chemo is actually "affecting", or in other words, killing the tumor. Even though this is a distant possibility, its not necessarily what the dr's are expecting, so yes, it would be a miracle....but, yes, I also believe and trust in a God that performs miracles! Furthermore, if the chemo shows no effect on the tumor by this MRI, most likely, the chemo hasn't done anything at all (this type of tumor has no pattern of growth, so its very possible that the tumor has just stopped growing for now...having nothing to do with the chemo). Due to the nature of this tumor, and if this is the case (tumor not effected), the future course of treatment will be extremely hard for the dr's to prescribe (like further chemo treatment, how frequent she will need MRI's, future radiation, etc). I hope this explanation was not too confusing...and btw, feel free to e-mail me with any questions you may ever have at sarahekessler@yahoo.com .

So anyway, we would be indebted to you if you would please join us in asking God for a miracle...HE IS ABLE...MORE THAN ABLE!!!!

Thank you sooooo much for your prayers and encouragement...they just mean more than words could possibly express. And I PROMISE, I will give an update ASAP!!!!

(And even despite my lack of time at the moment, I just can't leave you without a picture...or two of my "bald beauty"...and isn't she that...SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!)

This is her new, "you-can't-make-me-smile," look!

(From our trip in Michigan...which I will tell you all about next time!)