September 8, 2008 (Monday)

Finally, this week is here! The last week has seemed like the longest week of my life. Just waiting for Gracie to get on with chemotherapy. There were some times when life felt normal but seeing doctors and occasionally seeing the white tumor float in front of Gracie's iris reminded me that we were still waiting for chemotherapy to start this week so that we could get rid of it.

Today was so great! We really did not think that we would find anything with the EUAs today but I was still so nervous. We have had enough bad news in the surgical unit that it was hard to wait for news of the EUAs today. It was not really that long but Dr. O came back with all good news. In fact Dr. O had thought my son would have some muscle delays in the eye but she could not find any evidence of that!

Gracie received a spot at the Ronald McDonald House in Houston! So that helps to reduce the costs of staying away from home. They had wanted Grace and her mom at the House at 6PM however the EUAs took longer than expected. They could not get there until 8PM. I phoned ahead to make sure they could still get in. The manager was sympathetic and assured me that they would get in and a room would be ready. Grace and her mom arrived just before 8PM. There were little problems checking in. It is a great opportunity for us to have such a nice facility close to the hospital for Gracie to stay at. Tomorrow morning at 7:15AM Gracie starts testing on her kidneys. Then hopefully chemotherapy can start in the afternoon.

It is kind of tough to see all the other children at the Ronald McDonald House who are going through treatments. It hits home when you know that pretty soon Gracie will be one of those kids. Modern medicine is truly miraculous but that does not make it any easier to see kids suffer. We continue to hope and pray that Gracie's cancer can be controlled and destroyed quickly. We appreciate the love and support that we feel on a daily basis from people near and far. Thank you all so much!