A Bit of Good News

Just wanted to post really quickly with a short update...

Thank you every one who is praying for Elizabeth. We truly may be witnessing a miracle!

We met with Dr. Marcio Malogolowkin today at Children's Hospital Los Angeles before Elizabeth started day 1 of her round 4 chemo. This is the short story:

Dr. Marcio and Dr. Stein (the CHLA surgeon, most famous for leading the twin separation surgeries that go through the hospital... which is most of them!) as well as the CHLA radiologist think that there is not, nor ever was, peritoneal tumors. They believe that all we are dealing with are the liver metastases. What had been interpreted as peritoneal tumors at UCLA(tumors of the abdominal lining) may be simply small bowel loops. They also think that Elizabeth may not have the 15-20 "lesions" in the liver, either. These are opinions based on the imaging taken in March and May. The only way to be sure is to do surgery and actually look at the organs.

The surgeons at UCLA back in March also said they didn't see the peritoneal tumors, until they met with the UCLA radiologists and oncologists who conviced them otherwise. This whole issue of widespread metastases could simply be one doctor's mistaken opinion... and we're praying it is just that--a mistake.

If the tumors are confined to the liver, our prognosis becomes much much improved!! If we ARE dealing with peritoneal tumors, they haven't changed during chemo, which could be a bad thing. BUT, the fact that there is no change (neither in size nor density) makes it very likely that they are NOT tumors. If they were actual tumors they would have responded similar to the liver tumors.

We thank God everyday for giving us our daughter and we pray that we are making the best decisions for her. We are so grateful for being led to Dr. Marcio and to a facility that will never give up on Elizabeth. We pray that this is truly the good sign that it seems to be.

BRACELET UPDATE: Bracelets should be here in another 2 to 2.5 weeks. We ordered plenty!! Everyone who contacted us by email to place tentative orders will have priority. We got a volume discount which made our total cost $2.50/bracelet. The following colors/sizes will be available:
adult baby blue (no child sizes were carried by the manufacturer--sorry!)
adult white
child white
adult pink
child pink
We will be contacting everyone who made "reservations" in order to confirm what you want (changes are fine!) and get your address.
IMPORTANT!!! This is NOT a fundraiser. This is simply an "awareness" campaign. We would love for everyone to wear a bracelet as a reminder to pray for our princess, and to help spread her story when others ask about your bracelet.

Anyone in the LA area can donate to the Children's Miracle Network at Costco during its annual fundraiser going on NOW. You know, those hot air balloon cutouts that you put your name on?! The Children's Miracle Network supports programs at Children's Hospital Los Angeles (as well as some other "Children's Hospitals" around the country). Elizabeth liked signing the large pink one with a "thank you" (available for a $25 donation... smaller ones are available for $1) and seeing it posted on the Burbank Costco wall!

Thank you all again for your prayers. We hope that Princess Elizabeth will get her miracle and be an inspiration to other people faced with this crisis.