Though many of you already know, here is an update on my angel baby niece, Bree Cook. She was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer on Monday night. Kari called her pediatrician because Bree developed shiners that wouldn't go away. Upon examination, Dr. Carroll noted that her left kidney was slightly enlarged. Thank heaven that her doctor is both qualified and in tune with the spirit. He consulted with a specialist who then recommended they go directly to the ER. It was there that they did blood work, an ultrasound and a CT scan. The tests revealed a 5 cm X 6 cm malignant tumor (located between her left kidney and adrenal gland) called a neuroblastoma. For further info on this type of cancer, cut and paste the following link into your browser:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroblastoma
Though this is an aggressive type of cancer, it is treatable. Unfortunately, it has metastasized and she is in Stage IV. But doctors believe chemotherapy will fight it. They did a bone scan today and found cancer in a portion of her orbital (eye) bones--hence the black eyes. It is also in several of her lymph nodes, the pancreas, liver and bone marrow. But the fact that it is, so far, only in the calcified portion of the eye bones is a very good thing! It will then be easier to treat. She will have a more in-depth bone scan on Friday, and we should also get the results from her biopsy. It will then be determined whether she is considered to be at an Intermediate Risk or High Risk...yet another classification.
PLEASE, PLEASE keep her and her sweet family in your prayers. I believe in miracles... especially when collectively we have FAITH. We hope to set up some sort of care page for updates in the future. Either that or blog posts. That way, it frees up Kari and Justin from having to repeatedly update everyone via phone. THANK YOU to all who have already lent a helping hand and for your faith, fasting and prayers.
17 comments:
Hey I am so sorry to hear about Kari's baby. I will definintely keep her and her family in my prayers.
Kristin, it's Becky (McCleve) Traeger... I just heard. Please tell Kari and Justin that Bree is in our prayers as well as their whole family!
Kristin,
We will definitely have little Bree in our prayers along with her parents and the rest of your family. Miracles happen all the time, and our Heavenly Father is aware of her and her parents. Stay strong and know that she will be taken care of.
Love
Amanda Stephens
My heart aches for Bree, Kari, and the rest of the family. It must be such a trying time. They will be in our fasts and prayers. I will call the temple here in Houston and put Bree on the temple roll.
Please keep the updates coming because I don't want to overwhelm Kari. Tell her I'm thinking of her.
Wow, so sorry to hear that! We will keep little Bree & your family in our prayers. Let me know if there's anything we can do. Faith can work miracles...
Luv ya!
Becca
my heart aches for your family. i hope all goes well and will definately keep them in our prayers.
Hey Krisin - I didn't know you had a blog! Yay! It was good to see you at the hospital today, although I wish none of us were there. Bree will fight this and I think we'll all be spiritually stronger for it. I know I will for sure. We love you guys and are so glad we have a mutual sister in Kari! :-)
Ps - how to you know brent and holly? I dated him back in the day...crazy!
We are praying for beautiful Bree and Kari and Justin and Bree's brothers. I'll be sure to tell my parents and Cheryl to pray for them also. We'll also call the Provo Temple tomorrow to have her name put on the prayer roll.
We were so thankful that you got some good news today. Looking at the pictures of Kari & your Mom holding sweet little Bree gave me the biggest lump in my throat. How blessed we all are to have the Power of Prayer and the comfort of our Faith. We will continue to keep that sweet little Child of God in our prayers, and pray for your family's comfort and peace. We love you so much. Nana & papa
Dear Kristin:
Happy Birthday to you! We're so glad you were born, we're so thankful Tim found you; We're so grateful you are Corinne's Mommy! We're so lucky to have you a part of our family.
We Love You--Nana, Papa & Kyle
Thank you for keeping us updated.
I agree, a little faith goes a long way. Baby Bree is in our prayers. Give our love to the Cook family.
Love you, Wendi
Hi Kristen, We love your blog. Thanks for letting people know about Bree. The more prayers for this precious baby, the better. We feel like you and all the Smiths are a real part of our family and not just by marriage. Corrine is adorable and these 2 little girls will be best friends forever. What fun they will have growing up so close in age. Bree has so much love to give and recieve and the Lord is very aware of how much we need her. We are grateful for His love and tender mercies in behalf of Bree and her mom and dad and brothers.
Hi kristin this is Amber White. I saw your blog from Amanda's. Are you related to the cook's or the other side. Tyson Cook was just at our house on Tues. He told us about this sweet baby girl and our thoughts and prayers are with this family.
-Amber
P.s. How do you know Karlie and Bryce? Bryce is my cousin. Such a small world.
kristin i'm so sorry you and your sister and family have to go through this! we'll keep you in our prayer and have faith that everything will be ok! we love you
Kristin,
This is Katie Ctibor Layton. I was on someone's blog and read about Kari's sweet baby. There was a link to your blog, so I hope you don't mind that I will be visiting your blog for updates. My heart is breaking for their family. Your testimony reminds everyone that miracles definitely happen. I will not forget to pray.
Katie
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