Another day, another miracle

Even though the weather is quite gloomy outside today, I can't help but be cheerful. Elizabeth and I cuddled all night in her bed and her breathing and heartrate have been pretty much perfect. Her respirations are strong and even with no sign of fluid in her chest as of yet--thank God!! Her heartrate is in the 80s and 90s every time I check, and we haven't seen any huge fluctuations the way we were seeing just a couple weeks ago. Even her pulse-ox is reading better than it had been in quite some time, up to a range of 94-98 (off oxygen) when before she ranged high-80s, low-90s. This is GREAT, especially since Elizabeth has decided that the dry nasal passages was getting a little uncomfortable with having the oxygen canula on.

Even Elizabeth's cheeks look a slight bit fuller today--I had to have Elizabeth's dad come take a look to make sure I wasn't seeing things, and indeed, they do seem fuller to him as well. Elizabeth is drinking about 10 oz. of fruit smoothie each day, to which I'm adding about 10g of protein (powder form) so that she can get some amount of nutrition. Of course, nothing but the best for the princess, so the smoothies, although homemade, are put into a recycled Robek's Juice (a chain like Jamba Juice out here) cup complete with lid and straw so that Elizabeth will think I'm going to Robek's every morning... I would if it made her any happier, but this arrangement works out well, and this way I can add more protein than they do.

Today Elizabeth requested chinese food, and ate about five bites of rice and sweet and sour chicken. And, of course, she did have the requisite Junior Mints and Jelly Bellies today as well. Thankfully all of our amazingly wonderful friends and family who visit Elizabeth all the time are keeping our stock of candy (as well as food for the rest of the family, too) steadily filled.

Yesterday when Elizabeth and I were taking our warm Aveeno bath, I asked Elizabeth what advice she'd give a kid who just was diagnosed with cancer. She said,"I'd say be true to yourself and be brave." Elizabeth is still very much herself and very much here.

Please keep praying. Elizabeth needs to get stronger before we can really consider any of the other alternative treatments out there and before she will be able to take her full course of supplements from Mannatech (I'm only able to get a few things into her each day right now). Even megadoses of intravenous vitamin C would cause fluid overload in her little body and is out of the question. We consulted with Oasis of Hope Hospital (the most reputable alternative treatment center in Tijuana, Mexico) and their treatments for Elizabeth would be IV vitamin C, laetrile (B17) (which doesn't really have a lot of proof that it works any way), and ozone treatments. 12 days there, 6 weeks home, 6 days there, 6 weeks home, 6 days there, and done is the course of treatment... for the bargain price of just under $25,000. Anyway, Elizabeth would have to be a lot stronger in order to take the treatments due to the volume of liquids and her inability to readily clear them right now. But it is an option we are keeping in mind for possible use later down the line if we can get there.

She just won't stop fighting. Please pray that God will continue to use her as an example. He has brought us this far for a reason.