August 28, 2008 (Thursday)

The great news continues today!! We were so worried that after getting our hopes up that Dr. P would find something in the EUA that she had not seen the day before and tell us that our only option was enucleation. However, the EUA happened ahead of schedule and when Dr. P came and spoke with us she told us that she thought there was a 50% chance of saving the right eye with chemotherapy! That is really exciting. I had been terribly sick over the last two days and so it was hard to be too overjoyed but it was a great relief to know her vision may be spared in both eyes. And yes we consider even the possibility of saving the sight in both eyes a miracle.

Our baby had gotten sick with strep throat earlier in the week, I

 had fallen ill early yesterday and today Gracie was becoming sick. The nurses thought that maybe she should not go under anesthesia however Dr. P insisted. Gracie went through everything fine and seemed actually quite chipper after the exam. Once we arrived back home we all went to our family doctor and got medication. Gracie needs to be better so that she can start chemotherapy as soon as possible. We are hoping to start Tuesday next week. Dr. M (our oncologist) should be calling tomorrow to give us more information. We are going to visit another oncologist, Dr. L tomorrow morning. Dr. L will be taking care of Gracie between chemotherapy appointments so that if there are any problems or additional monitoring that needs to occur we do not have to make the 3.5 hour drive to Dr. M.

We have been truly blessed and feel the Lord's hand in our life. We are grateful for our many friends and family members who have prayed for us and rendered such incredible service. We came home today to a sweet smelling, spotless home and beautifully cared for yard after being gone for a couple days. We have people of many faiths praying for us and following Gracie's story. We feel such strength and energy from you all. Thank you so much and please continue as your prayers are working!

Here is Gracie after her EUA today. She was pretty perky and really wanted a hamburger. I did not correct the red eye so that you can all see that the red eye reflex is still very much present in both eyes (its absence is usually what pediatricians look for in children and may indicate retinoblastoma). It's more visible if you click on the picture to see it large.