Abby's Journey Archive

Please pray for Abby's Uncle Roy (my sister, Shelly's husband).  He was admitted to the hospital in Sierra Vista a few days ago with heart problems.  He is on his way to the Heart Hospital in Tucson right now in stable condition.  Pray for the doctors there to have wisdom in recommending the best diagnosis and course of treatment for him.

I wanted to post this earlier but just didn't have time.  This message is from the friend of Taryn's who ran in the Cancer run in the UK:

Right at this very moment I am extremely proud of myself, a rare occasion, but I have just completed my first Race for Life, in aid of Cancer Research. It was the most trying and deliberating physical event I have ever had to face and overcome.

It was in Leeds today at 11am, and the sun was high, bright and hot (a first for English Weather). There were over 3,500 participants, all women, racing in Aid of Cancer Research…all I can say is I was overcome by emotion, pride and love. At the beginning of the race as we (all 3,500) lined up, including some local celebs, we all stood strong and proud, families, spectators and event organisers stood cheering and we all just got caught up in a enthusiasm that came from deep within, each had a story, each had lost…it was like a united family…and for the first time in a long time I saw people I could relate to, and..well…I was very emotional as the horns blew…

I was stopped after the first km to interview for Calander news, after getting to know and interviewed prior to the race. After 2 km I felt like I couldn’t go on…I can’t describe the pain I felt in my heart, my chest and my shoulder, but it hurt...A LOT... The sun was relentless beating down upon us and I was starting to lose my drive, but something kept me going, something more profound than anything…My mum, and Abby… It sounds odd, but in my weakest moments, when I wanted to quit (I had a thousand reasons already in my head why it would be OK if I didn’t finish) but I repeated ‘mum’ and ‘Abby’ over and over again…I looked around and saw the inspiring image of hundreds of people running with such determination I knew I couldn’t quit, and I didn’t. I slowed down, however kept pace and determination right through to the finish line, where I was greeted by cheering crowds (felt quite special lol) and the TV crew again, who once again asked me how I was feeling. They had to stop filming at one point because I was so overwhelmed with pride and emotion, of knowing I had just completed such a difficult task for myself, for my mum, for Abby, and everyone else out there...I helped give hope…that helps me a great deal...

The crew were great, they took care of me, as I was racing alone, they were surprised but impressed, so I kinda got a big head...lol...

We went to Phoenix Children's Hospital early this morning for Abby's MRI which was done outpatient.  She made it through without any trouble, and was even able to get her IV inserted after they had started the sedation, so she didn't need to worry about another needle stick.

After the MRI was done we proceeded to Dr. Shafron's office and met with him.  They gave us the results of the MRI on disk instead of as films.  He read them, and they reveal that there is a new "area in question" in a different spot in the right side of her brain.  It is far enough away from the original tumor site that Shafron would not have seen it in the surgery.  It was not on any of the pre or postoperative scans, which implies that it is new.  It is not very big.

Along with this came the news that there is a possiblity that St. Jude's hospital in Tennessee might have a trial open that we could participate in.  Shafron said the initial results from this trial are better than any he has seen, and our hemocs are also very interested in this.  Abby would have to go to Tennessee to participate--she could not do it here.  We're still not sure if she qualifies for this.

The question that remains there is whether or not she needs a second surgery, and if that affects her qualifications for the trial and the timing.

We meet with our hemocs late this afternoon.  Please pray for this meeting.  Thanks.

Boy were we tired.  Abby and Josiah slept almost 12 hours last night, we weren't out of bed until about 9:00 AM (DC time).  Abby was quite perky this morning, so we decided to attempt sightseeing, even though we had some time constraints.

We caught the bus to the Metro, and got off at the Arlington National Cemetery stop, where we picked up a Tourmobile.  This proved to be a nice way to get a good view of lots of places in DC there, though we didn't have time to ride the whole tour.  Abby and Josiah got a big kick out of Mr. Lincoln's statue.  I was once again struck by Lincoln's second Inaugural address, it is such a poigniant message.  He clearly was a man of God, understanding that God's ways are not man's ways.  We also got to walk through the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial.  Boy was it crowded--I shudder to think of how busy it will be in the next few days.

We picked up the Tourmobile again and took it to just outside the White House Visitor's Center.  It was hard not to go in, but our time was running short so we proceeded to the Federal Triangle Metro station and rode back to Georgetown. 

When we got to the airport I called the doctor's office to confirm our appointments tomorrow.  Abby has an MRI scheduled early (we have to be there at 6:30 AM), and then we will meet with Dr. Shafron again.  Please pray that the MRI will clearly show if there is tumor that needs to be removed.  Pray specifically also for the radiologist that will be reviewing the films.  We are quite concerned that such a large component could have been missed the first time around--like I mentioned before, had we not gone to DC we would have never considered that there was any left.

If I haven't mentioned lately, thank you also so much for your prayers.  They mean more to us than you can imagine.