Hi guys.

The days continue to fly by, especially now that we try to resume all previous activities assumed by our fantastic houseguests.  Yesterday as the suitcases were packed, the loose ends tied up, and the sentimental words exchanged I was reminded of a favorite Bible verse.  In John 15:13 when Jesus was talking to the disciples about love he said, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends".  He was referring to himself while establishing a standard for us to follow even today.  This verse resounded in my soul as we said goodbye to them at the airport.  The children hugged my friend and her relatively new husband repeatedly.  It was the first time we had all met but they really impacted the kids and made a difference in their lives and ours.  They put aside their jobs, studies, and responsibilities to come and help in any way they could.  In a sense it was a ironic when you think about how many Americans travel to Africa on mission trips, but in our home for 5 weeks Africans came to minister in America. :-)  Thanks a bunch guys, we miss you already.

In other news, we are preparing for a long day at the hospital tomorrow with physical therapy (PT) in the morning, X-Rays, then clinic in the afternoon to get the results.  I get knots in my stomach just thinking about it but at this point there isn't anything we can do about it but continue to trust God in this unrelenting journey.  Everyday Victoria continues to make physical progress in her mobility.  In the picture here you can see her kicking the ball with her left foot while her left arm is out of the sling.  She has been able to lift her arm using the larger muscles but she still wears the sling most of the day.  She is also walking amazingly well considering the paralysis of just 7 weeks ago.  We are currently doing outpatient therapy 3 times a week in hopes of maximizing the chances of improvement.  It's difficult at home because she has to be supervisied constantly, especially when she is up and trying to walk with her cane.  She is feeling empowered by the strength she has regained so it makes it hard to keep her stationary.  It's like having a one year old all over again.  The phase when they learn to walk and you follow them everywhere to make sure they don't crash into something and injure themselves. 

Today she wanted to ride her bike with the boys which made me so sad.  She wants to be a kid and cancer continues to steal from her childhood.  At PT they have a bike similar to the one on the 4th floor Rehab center at the children's hospital, this is by far her most favorite kind of exercise.  When she is on the bike she can be free to zip around and play, it doesn't matter that it is actually exercise.  There is an organization in Winston-Salem that grants wishes to kids for equipment like this but it can take up to 6 months to fulfill the wish.  The therapist had us fill out the info and submit her request for a bike.  We are hoping she would be able to get a bike like this long before six monts because it is such a great tool.  Someone had found one of these bikes on e-bay but the seller lived in Maryland and did not want to ship it because of the weight and difficulty to disassemble.

Tomorrow will be a full day but I will try to post and fill you in on the test results.  Hopefully we can get some rest tonight, though we haven't had night nurses for several nights we are supposed to have one tonight.  We are waiting on her to show up now....

Thanks as always for the prayers and continued support.  There are a few openings on the meal schedule if this is an area you would like to help.  Just click on the link in the MY STORY section of this page.