No chemo yet.

We were due at Phoenix Children's at 8:30 this morning for Abby's MRI prep. We arrived on time but they were running behind significantly. Abby proved she is becoming a real pro at having her port accessed--she complained only a little bit as Dr. Loomis (one of our favorite anesthesiologists) inserted the needle. She also pushed the first 4 ml of Propofol and off she went to dreamland.

The MRI took about 45 minutes, and we went for lunch and to A & P's office to check her blood counts in preparation for tomorrow's chemo.

However, Dr. Abella surprised us by expressing some concern about the mild cold Abby had caught. He felt it would be wiser to have her recover from it over the weekend and start her treatment next Thursday, rather than run the risk that chemo-induced neutropenia would cause the cold to develop into something much worse.

I can see God's hand in this--as Amy wrote earlier she has been fighting a nasty infection herself, and as I am writing this we are in *her* doctor's office for a followup appointment. We were not looking forward to trying to manage Abby's chemo if Amy could not be at the hospital.

Dr. Abella took a quick look at Abby's MRI and thinks it looks promising--though there a couple of areas of enhancement, they could be from radiation. We await the official radiologist's report tomorrow and may go for a PET scan to ensure the enhancement is not active tumor.

Thank you all for praying, especially for Deb and Irene from my office for organizing the round-the-clock prayer vigil that went on yesterday and today. What an honor that 63 people from over 10 states, some of whom we don't even know would take a half-hour out of their day (and night!) to pray for us.