Pictures from Triliium Lake...

Day 124

Natalee is still getting stronger and feeling better. Before her surgery she had a lot of pain in her back due to what later we found out was the tumor that was pushing on her spine, then later it was the bone cancer which has constantly caused her discomfort. Exciting news: the past four days she has had no pain on her spine. That is a good indication that she has to be getting better. To what extent we don’t know for they didn’t do all the testing that they did at the end of her first round. That will happen at the end of this 3rd round which began this past Thursday. They did do an EKG and an Ultra Sound on her heart plus a Thyroid test.

Some of you may be wondering about schooling. Every day Natalee has a tutor who comes to the home and teaches her for an hour on Math and Language Arts. Then the last two hours of school 5th & 6th period she attends Science and History. The school has been so accommodating and wants to help Natalee be a part of the school experience. They are taking in the account that there will be times she will be missing her classes and will be lenient when it comes to her homework.

To celebrate the first week of school a friend invited her over for a sleepover. I told them she would not be able to make it through the night. Much to our surprise she stayed through the night and did so well. That is progress!

I would like to share one thought. The emotional and physical storms that our family has experienced from the beginning have settled. We have adjusted and learned to handle what comes our way. Part of this journey is seeing the tender mercies in the daily events of our lives. I feel God has given us comfort when we’ve needed comfort, opened doors and lightened our paths when we have had to make difficult choices. Our eyes have been opened to a clearer understanding, and I feel His grace upon us. We have been attended with so many kind-hearted people that have reached out to us. We are not free from worry but our burdens have been lightened, that I could say, we have peace. Natalee ceases to amaze us with her calmness and inner strength that she carries.

Day 111 - No News is Good News

I am sure that many of you are wondering and worrying about Natalee since I haven’t posted any updates for several weeks. With the adage, ‘no news is good news’ that is true is this case. Just to give you a little window, sometimes with me coping as the mother of a cancer child, I chose to let this area go.

Natalee is done with her 2nd round. It has been 3 ½ months since all this has begun. We were given a wonderful gift from John and Patrice Parsons who have a mountain home at Government Camp, thank you my angels. We were able to stay there for almost a week, it was a wonderful retreat for our family. Nat's sisters, Janna and Britanee were able to stay there before they took off for college. They have been a real life saver during this time and have lifted our spirits so much, as also Nicole (our senior at Southridge HS). Natalee has not been as sick this time around but has experienced a lot of fatigue. Last round she always felt like she was going to throw up and hurt all the time. The doctors have said that because of the cells constantly changing, each round she will react differently, so we don’t know how she will be from round to round.

Tomorrow we are meeting with the teachers, principal and A house counselor to discuss how Natalee can hopefully attend a few classes. It is all an experiment at this stage, but the intent is for her to attend 2 classes at the end of the school day mainly for connections and then be tutored at home for the other required classes.

Check in a few more days and we hope to have some pictures from our beach and mountain trips!

There are many people that are reading Natalee's blog, to all of you, you are our friends, thanks for caring.