From the Frontlines

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for our little girl! She made it through surgery with flying colors!

(Sorry if I am a little vague on this post--this post has been composed with lots of cutting and pasting of various emails I have sent out via Blackberry and my hands hurt.)

Emma went into surgery yesterday to remove a recurrent brain tumor. Surgery lasted for about 6 hours and she did very well. The neurosurgeon, Dr. Andrew Jea (a.k.a "surgery god" a la Grey's-of course) removed the entire tumor! He said he thinks he got it all. ALL of it! Best part is that Em still seems to have all of her motor functions intact though we are watching her eyes to see when the movement will return.

I am just thankful that she can still move arms and legs, swallow and breathe on her own, and we can still hear her sweet voice. Last night she was singing and clapping, and talking about snow. I know her guardian angels are talking her through this right now. She is so amazing!

We are still in the PICU, waiting on a post-op MRI this afternoon to see how her brain is doing and if all of the tumor is completely gone. After the scan we should move up to the recovery floor where we expect to be for up to 10 days.

The baby is due 8 days from now, but we are hoping that he will "stay in his womb" (ha ha) until we get home with Emma. Fingers crossed. As expected, we are exhausted! We stayed the night at the hospital, me at the Ronald McDonald House, stretched out in a bed; Mike in a chair all night by her bedside. Neither of us slept.

Thanks for keeping Emma in your prayers. When I get to an actual computer, I will elaborate on this post if I have the energy. We are still in good spirits, albeit exhausted, but super elated nonetheless! Go Emma! And thank you God!

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Prayer Request for Emma

I know this is really short notice, and I apologize, but I would like to make a request that everyone reading this prays for little Emma.

Our MRI scan on Saturday, November 7th, showed that the tumor has grown much larger than her last scan in September. So much so that it is causing hydrocephalus; blocking the fluid in the brain.

We met with doctors all day long today and made a plan. She is to be admitted at Texas Children's Hospital tomorrow and have immediate surgery to resect the tumor. We expect most of everything to be the same as last time: surgery length and recovery time, but now the tricky part is the actual surgery. The tumor lies on the surface of the brain stem, and the complications that arise when resecting a tumor from that area can range from hearing loss, mutism, vision impairment, paralysis and even worse-but we won't mention that. Scary stuff.

So I'm asking for prayers, to lift her up, to give us strength. Pray for doctor's steady hands and speedy healing. Make her whole again. Pray for our family, that our baby doesn't come early. We are due ten days from now, but I need to be with her first. Make her healthy so she can hold her new baby brother in her arms.

Thank you friends. We will keep you posted from the OR tomorrow and fill you in on the rest. Go Emma!

Super Emma!

I asked Emma what she wanted to be for Halloween this year and was surprised when I didn't get the obvious answer of "princess."

"I want to be a superhero!" she said. Little does she know, she already is.

Meet Super Emma and her fairy sidekick Thumbelina.

Sadly, I cannot find the really good photos that I shot of the Halloween carnival. When I find them, I will post.