"Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

-Gordon B. Hinckley



Sunday, August 4, 2013

GREAT NEWS!!!

After a six-month waiting period, we just re-scanned Kaitlyn on Friday and there is no change in the size or shape of the lesion on her brain. This is excellent news and an answer to many, many prayers. We feel so very blessed that she is well and that we can continue to watch and wait. Now we can wait for a year before re-scanning her. I feel much more at ease with waiting now, as well, because the lesion has not changed in 18 months, which means it won't grow in drastic proportions overnight. As long as we keep an eye on her over the years, I don't feel anything is going to spring up and surprise us. What this means for the future? It just means we continue to live life one day at a time and have faith that God knows who we are and will help us through our challenges. We also look at life with an eye more toward enjoying the moments we have together as a family, no matter how long or short they may be. Thank you all again for your prayers and support!!!

Monday, March 4, 2013

A Short Time Away

I realize it has been awhile since I have written. As you may well imagine, a lot has happened in that period of time. My daughter and I flew to Minnesota where she was given every test imaginable at the Mayo Clinic. They gave us excellent information on her headaches and how they are NOT related to the tumor and that was priceless. Now, with just 400mg. of Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) a day, her headaches are gone and she does not wake up in the middle of the night anymore. The downside of going to Mayo was that since the follow-up MRI was done on a new machine (previous ones done in Denver), the measurements were off. They showed 8mm growth and urged an immediate biopsy. With a heavy heart, we returned to Denver and met with the doctors here. They had a different diagnosis - we needed to re-scan on the same machine to get an accurate reading and they felt strongly that since she as yet had no symptoms (headaches ruled out now as tumor-related), a biopsy would be ill-advised. So, we watched and waited another two months. Her most recent scan came back totally stable, with no growth at all since May of 2012. HUGE sigh of relief!! The lead oncologist talked to us and said, now that we have these results, he does not feel overly concerned about our little girl. He actually mentioned that he felt that way from the start, but the onc heading up our case didn't bother to pass that on (I try not to think about that injustice too much, given the end result we have been blessed with). So here we are, a perfectly healthy little girl with something in her head, but it's not growing and it's not affecting her in other ways. Needless to say, we feel VERY, VERY blessed. Who knows what lies ahead, but I think a deep breath and maybe even a Hallelujah shout are in order.

I can't tell you how glad we are to put 2012 behind us! May God bless all those wonderful kids out there who haven't as yet been released from their challenges. I pray for the strength of Heaven to sustain them.

If anything changes in Kate's condition, I will post it here.