Annabelle's Day

Yesterday was Annabelle's day. We thought it would be her last day up and running around for a bit so we took the opportunity to do whatever she wanted. We left the hospital and headed for Hogle Zoo. Every little girl needs to go to a zoo before starting her fight. Then she fell asleep in the car and we headed to my friend Jessica's. Annabelle was able to enjoy a few hours of normal non-hospital kid life. She played in the yard with her friend Kailey and Jessica took care of me with homemade soup and hugs and a chance to get away from Annabelle for a few minutes to have my first cry since hearing the C word (Cancer). Josh and Zack gave Annabelle a Priesthood blessing and then we headed to meet up with Kim, Bev, Ashley, Hayley (Josh's parents and sisters) and Layla at Chuck E Cheese's. Annabelle's dream came true! I also arranged to have the Chuck E mascot himself come to see Annabelle. She got balloons, free tokens, a stuffed animal and lots of prize tickets. It was great! Just what she needed. Then we headed to a motel for the night. Annabelle was excited to sleep in a motel, what a goof.

We got up this morning and came over to check in for surgery. We thought we were all set to go and then Dr Brockmeyer came in with some news....GOOD news. He spoke with the pathologist again and then a pediatric oncologist (Cancer Dr) and they weren't convinced that it was the most extreme type of small round blue cell tumor. There is a possibility that it is a type they could shrink before removing. GREAT news! It would still have to be removed and her spine would still have to be taken care of, but it would be much less risky than the HUGE surgery they had planned for today. We might still end up with that procedure but there is a chance that we won't! She is in surgery right now and they are just taking a larger piece for biopsy and doing a lumbar puncture to get some spinal fluid. They will test the spinal fluid to see if there are any cancer cells in it and check the biopsy to determine the specific type of tumor which will determine our plan of attack. She will go to a regular room after surgery today, not the ICU and should be up and moving around soon.

Annabelle is doing well considering everything. She is such a tough kiddo. We have a lot of faith and are refreshed with today's good news. We are in cancer fighting mode and have our game faces on.

The one thing I want to say to all parents is hold your little ones (and not so little ones) tight.....and then hold them tighter. Kiss their sweet cheeks and run your fingers through their hair. You never know when they might wake up with a sore shoulder and 5 weeks later turn into a cancer fighter.