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.
