Bailey Update

Just a brief update on how Bailey is doing...(if you want the details, please let me know and I'll give you the information for her website)...

Here is a look at the time-line thus far:

Prior to March 11 - generalized knee pain for about six weeks in our otherwise healthy and very athletic ten year old, no cause for concern, she was doing a number of sports and it appeared to be an over-use injury, no reason to suspect anything out of the ordinary

Sunday, March 11, 2012 - took her to a Children's Healthcare satellite location for x-ray on her knee because the pain was continuing to worsen...expecting it to be a sports injury (a trip in the afternoon followed because our youngest child sliced his head open and needed stitches...our first double-ER visit day)

Monday, March 12, 2012 - Disturbing phone call from our (normally calm) pediatrician in which she suggested with some certainty (and panic in her voice) that it was a bone tumor, made an appointment to see a surgeon, who was also concerned and scheduled an MRI

Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - MRI...results indicate need for further examination

Thursday, March 15, 2012 - Biopsy in the morning; cancer diagnosis (Osteosarcoma) in the afternoon, in less than five days we went from a completely "normal" life to the parents of a child with cancer, in less than a week, our entire lives were changed forever

Friday, March 16, 2012 - chest CT shows no evidence of visible metastasis

Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - bone scan showed no evidence of visible metastasis

Friday, March 23, 2012 - port placement surgery in the morning and first round of chemo that evening

We are now one full week out from her first chemo. The first few days were rough, but she seems to be doing much better. The nausea still comes and goes and her fatigue is quite evident. Prior to cancer, this child was non-stop...up in the morning with a smile on her face ready to take on the day...and full of energy all day long. This change is a bit difficult for us to get used to...watching her so sick and not wanting to do much more than lie in bed watching t.v. She will have a full three weeks off after this chemo...which has been really nice. She'll have time to start feeling better and we'll all have some time away from the hospital. The next session though will be three weekends in a row...which I suspect will be very difficult and it is looming like a bit of a dark cloud in my mind. We are trying to just enjoy these few weeks.

We continue to covet your prayers: for full and complete healing the first time around, for surgery options (which are quite complicated and emotionally stressing) and that God changes our hearts and gives all six of us the strength and peace to meet the ever-changing things our family is facing...