Daily Miracles

Elizabeth has been eating around the clock ever since she got the go-ahead from the surgeons... Dr. Roman Sadarak (sp?) started as Elizabeth's least liked doc (he hasn't been very patient with tape removal in the past...) to her absolute favorite once he said she could eat whatever she wanted. Dr. Sadarak works very closely with Dr. Stein and has been checking on Elizabeth at least twice a day since she's been inpatient (and we think he even did the "closing up" in surgery). We like the surgeons. Not only do they give the go-ahead for eating, they are pretty incredible cancer-removers, too! Hmm, is there anything that they can't do?! (Don't answer that--I like thinking we're covered for now!)

Dad stayed with Elizabeth last night and will stay tonight as well. Rumor has it that discharge papers are in the works and Elizabeth may be sprung tomorrow!! (If anybody was planning on visiting Elizabeth, please please check to see if she has been discharged before coming... we would hate to have missed you!)

Elizabeth and her brothers enjoyed a very yummy pizza together in her hospital room for dinner tonight. Mom was just happy to have showered and put on clean clothes before returning to the hospital... the word GRIMEY takes on a whole new meaning when stuffed into a closet size room with no circulation for a few days!

So again, Elizabeth surprises everyone with her ability to recover quicker than anyone the docs have seen. We were told it would be at least a 2 week stay after surgery, and here we are, tomorrow will be day 9, and she will get to go home.

The sheer fact that Elizabeth is still alive today is a miracle. That she has made it past the 18 month mark with pancreatic cancer is a miracle. That she tolerates treatments so incredibly well is a miracle. And everyday she shows us that there are more miracles yet to come. I'm ready to add them all up and hope for one big miracle--the Giant of all giants--remission.

I (Mom) was reading on the net this morning about vaccine breakthroughs for pancreatic cancer... including for cases that were assumed foregone causes. It looks very promising. Johns Hopkins started the research with three pancreatic tumor lines that they pull from, but St. Vincent's here in So. Cal. makes vaccine from patient tumors to be used on that particular patient, so it couldn't be a better match. It's something we're looking into anyway. Just another example of how there are new breakthroughs literally every day. How close could we be to a real cure? We're ready to do whatever it takes to keep Elizabeth as healthy as possible so we can wait as long as possible for that cure to come. I've also started looking into glyconutrients as an alternative supplemental therapy.

Thank you for your continued prayers and outpouring of care and love.

Elizabeth's IV pole was the envy of every kid in the hospital with her funky princess cow in a pink fur coat attached--thank you Angel Pat. Her wall was brightly decorated with all the get well cards she received--thank you Angel Pat, Angel Barbara, and Uncle Dave, Aunt Tammie, Patricia, and Sandra. She had plenty of suncatchers to paint--thank you Moe--and lots of paper and stickers and books to keep her busy--thank you Grandma Kirsten. Elizabeth even had Barbie Elina Fairy/Mermaid to play with--thank you Uncle Luke--and a new Kelly doll companion--thank you Helena Montana. And just today she squealed with delight when she opened her new Princess Make-up kit and started doing her face--thank you Angel Janet. Yesterday she had a ball bringing up her balloon bouquet to her room from the front desk--thank you Aunt Amy and Uncle Greg. And her favorite visitor must have been dear sweet Belle (yes, she knows the REAL Belle... quite lucky, I must say, and yes, Belle is really just that pretty in person) who came with new books and read her a couple of them--thank you Belle! She also had spent today playing with an incredible pop-up book that looks more like a small doll house with fairies and princesses, and the Cabbage Patch Kid she has been asking for--thank you Sue and Chris. Carol from the 5W Child Life Play Room has been great, too, providing Elizabeth with activities to keep her busy during her entire stay.

Two years ago, Elizabeth had just started showing symptoms of something being wrong.

One year ago, we were told that Elizabeth had about 6 months left to live.

Today, we are told that unless we find a miracle, Elizabeth may have 3 - 6 months on the low end.

A lot has changed in two years.

A lot has changed over the past year.

Elizabeth continues to defy the odds and the prognoses she has been given.

We are praying for her strength to continue and for divine guidance in choosing our next path.
And that Giant of all giants... we are praying for remission.