Week 50 fo 54 weeks of treatment
21 of 40 radiation treatments
Then Jesus said, "Woman, how great is your faith! Let it be as you wish." And her daughter was healed at that moment. (Matthew 15:28) Hi from Jacksonville,
I hope you are all doing well. We are doing great, thanks be to God.
A year ago today I was sitting in the waiting room of Miami Children's Hospital with Raymond and Abi (my father in law) ready to go home from our 5 day stay from Bella's "virus". They wanted to do an MRI of her spine before they discharged her. I was sitting there quietly just relaxing. I look up and see Ray and Abi walking toward me with a doctor. When they approached me I smiled and was ready for her to say everything's great you can go home. Well what she said was "We found a mass on Bella's spine. It is wrapped around her spine which is why she is paralyzed". Than she continued talking but I heard nothing. Mass, what are you talking about? A tumor, WHAT???? Are you telling me my daughter has cancer. "She said yes and it was 95% chance it was malignant. We need to rush her to emergency surgery to remove it, so come with me now to meet the Neurosurgeon and sign the papers." I looked at Raymond and Abi and no one could speak. I felt as if I had been swallowed by the floor and this was a nightmare that I would wake up from. The doctor continued talking about what type it could be, that she will be okay, etc. etc. and I was no where near this earth. She finally said to me "Are you listening?" I told her no I wasn't, but let's just go where we need to go and do what she says we need to do. We met with the Neurosurgeon and signed the papers. We asked him if she would ever walk again and he said probably not. We asked him is she going to die? He said no. We asked him to just take good care of her. We called family and friends and this is when our cancer journey began. While they were prepping the OR she was still under anesthesia in ICU. We were able to be with her and had a priest come anoint her and pray over her. Than she was wheeled off to surgery. After surgery it was determined that the tumor was so big and involved in her spinal cord that they only took enough off to do a biopsy and release some pressure off her cord. He told us she would never walk again and that it will take a few days to determine what type of cancer it was. They were going to do a PET scan later to see if it had spread, which we all know it did spread to 8 areas. At that moment we didn't know what to do. Not only does our daughter have cancer, but now she is going to be paralyzed too? One is awful but both? Our precious little girl who was running and swimming at camp a week earlier was going to have to watch her friends play while she sat in a wheelchair. On top of that receive chemo and radiation? We had nowhere to turn but to God. That was the best decision we ever made.
What a difference a year makes. She is not only walking but running, she had cancer in 8 areas and now she has none!
We are coming down the final stretch of her treatments and we are so thankful to all of you for your support and prayers. Bella is doing amazing and is tolerating her treatments very well.
Please continue to prayers for no side effects and that her cancer NEVER returns.
Love,
Shannah and Raymond
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