Ellie Grace Volk

May 2nd, 2pm: Ellie continues to do well.  We did have a bout with ear infection and sinus infection since I wrote last, but she handled it well.  In fact, she didn't complain at all, but she had a cold that wouldn't seem to go away.  I finally took her to the doctor and the doctor said that Ellie's ear was "Husker Red" and she couldn't believe that Ellie hadn't been complaining.  She said Ellie had to have awful headaches and ear aches.  But not a peep from Ellie for a week - she is a tough cookie.  We have that all cleared up now and Ellie is doing great.  She has tons of energy and eats like crazy!  

Last weekend, Ellie was a flower girl in my cousin's wedding.  Here she is in her dress.  She loved being a "princess" for the evening!  Thank you to Ann Parr and Chet for allowing her to be a part of the celebration.

This morning, Tom ran the Lincoln 1/2 marathon to raise money for Make-A-Wish.  Here we all are after the race.  It was a great morning!

Ellie will be going in for her round of tests on May 12th.  She is on a routine of going in every 3 months right now.  If you remember, she had some spots on her lungs in October, which we went back and had checked a few weeks later and they were gone.  Praise the Lord!  In January, she was given a clean report.  So I am believing that this check-up will also be clear.  She will have several tests done that day and I'll keep you updated on that.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support.  I truly do not go a day where someone doesn't ask me about Ellie.  That is so amazing to me considering we started this journey over 2 years ago!  God has truly blessed us abundantly with such a strong circle of support.  I do not know what we would do without all of you.  You are a blessing to us and we thank God for you!!

In honor of the marathon this morning: "Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us."  Hebrews 12:1

April 10, 2pm:  I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!  We had a blessed, fun, relaxing Easter with family.  Here are a few photos:

And now we are off to a busy spring.  Here is Ellie at Mitchell's golf meet this week.  Next week, Mitchell has 3 golf meets and Lexie has 1 track meet.  Ellie will get to attend all of them!  That is what happens when your siblings are 10 and 11 years older than you!

I will keep you updated on Ellie's next check-up.  She is due for her 3 month scans and tests this month.  The hospital hasn't called us with our date yet, but I'll let you know when we are going in.

Thanks for your continued support!  We wish you an incredible spring week!

He is risen!                                                        

March 30, 10am:  I cannot believe it has been almost a month since my last update!  Please forgive me!  I know many of you check this site frequently and I apologize for not having more consistent updates.

Thankfully, I don't have much to tell you!  Ellie continues to do great.  She is strong, healthy, vibrant, and eating like crazy.  She runs all day long and chatters non-stop.  Life is good!

She is enjoying the great weather we are finally having and wants to be outside all day.  She is also beginning to spend time at Lexie's track meets and Mitchell's golf meets as both seasons are now underway. 

We are looking forward to Easter and celebrating Jesus rising from the dead.  Ellie has been singing a "Hosana!" song she learned in Sunday School all week!  What a wonderful time of the year!

I will update next week (I promise!) with pictures from Easter. 

Until then, blessings on your Holy Week.  We continue to thank God for you and your support.  It truly means the world to us.

I will close with Ellie singing her Easter song for you.  Hopefully I can figure out how to put this link here (notice at the end when I motioned for her to smile!):

 Ellie singing

The song: "Hosana!  Hallelujah!  He saved me and I got the joy of the Lord in my heart!"

March 3, noon: Thank you for all of the well wishes for Elllie's birthday!  She had a wonderful time at her Princess Tea Party birthday party.  She is so excited to be 5! 

And we are so excited too!  I don't remember the last time Ellie was this healthy.  She is truly the best I have ever seen her.  She is a ball of energy!  She is eating like crazy and full of life.  It is so much fun.  We are feelling incredibly blessed right now!!

Here are a few pictures from her birthday. 

The day after she turned 5, she was staring off into space a little bit. I asked her what she was thinking about. She said, "I was just thinking about when I was 4.  I can barely remember it!" 

She felt like I should take her to Kindergarten the day after she turned 5.  She doesn't understand why she needs to wait until the fall - she is 5 afterall!  She keeps telling me that she shouldn't be going to preschool because that is for 4-year-olds.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support.  We are so extremely blessed by you.  We feel so supported and loved.  We are grateful.

"I have loved you with an everlasting love."  Jeremiah 31:3

February 22, 7pm:  I wanted to post a quick update.  I realize it has been almost a month since my last update.  Fortunately, I don't have much to tell you.  Thankfully, Ellie continues to be doing very good.  She is feeling great.  In fact, we went to Kindergarten Open House last week.  Here is Ellie in her future kindergarten room.  She will start in the fall and she is so excited.

She is also counting down the days until her 5th birthday which is on March 1st.  She cannot wait! 

It's hard for me to beleive that she has so many "big girl" things going on.  Turning 5, registering for kindergarten...  She is also becoming so determined to do everything herself.  Instead of me doing things for her, she wants me to show her how to do it and she'll do it herself.  She'll say, "Just show me how, Mommy, because I can do ANYTHING if I just know how!"  She is becoming very independent!

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and thoughts for Ellie.  We are very blessed that Ellie is doing so well and that we are having these milestones.  I will post pictures from Ellie's birthday next week. 

We are blessed by you!!

Allow me to also send out some great news from Lexie.  She and her high school dance team from Lincoln Lutheran won the State Championship for their high kick dance performance this weekend.  Lexie was very excited!  She picked out the verse for me today:

"I will proclaim the name of the Lord.  Oh, praise the greatness of our God!"  Deuteronomy 32:3

January 30, 11am:  Ellie had her day of tests and scans on Thursday.  Everything went very well.  Below are Ellie and Lexie before we left.

As we approached the hospital, and Ellie saw it, she began to immediately throw up.  I just think she has had so many bad memories there that the sight of the hospital makes her sick. 

We went to the oncology department and they had to put us in a back room since Ellie was throwing up.  They couldn't afford to have her around other kids.  Even though we knew it was just nerves, we didn't want to take a chance that she could get anyone else sick.  When we have to sit in a back room versus the big play room, it makes the day go much slower!  We changed Ellie into hospital scrubs, since she had thrown up on her clothes and then she had to drink the contrast fluid for her CT scan for 90 minutes.  She had measurements taken during this time: weight, height, temp, blood pressure...  her goal of reaching 40 pounds wasn't met, she was only 34.  She actually went backwards a bit.  She is so active right now - which is great - but it is making it hard for her to gain weight.  She was really hoping to be 40 pounds - and eligible for a booster seat, instead of her "baby seat" as she calls it.  Hopefully we can cross that milestone soon!

We then went off to her chest x-ray.  Only one parent can go in for each test, so Tom and I take turns.  When Tom got out of the check x-ray, he told me that he had the most amazing picture.  He was taking pictures of her getting an x-ray when he noticed that she was covered in the cross.  We both love this picture.

After her x-ray she had a CT scan.  The results of both of those tests were good.  Everything looked very good.  There are still small spots on her lungs that they have continually watched, but they aren't concerned by them.  The doctors felt very pleased with her test results.

Ellie also had a needle put in her hand when we first arrived that they keep in all day.  They use that line during the CT scan to put some liquid in her to make the pictures better.  And they use it to draw blood for her blood workup.  They had taken blood when we first arrived, but after her tests, they said her first blood draw hadn't been sufficient and that we would have to do it again.  Ellie braved that whole procedure again.  They put some type of saline solution to wash the line and they tell us that it makes it taste like Ellie has pennies in her mouth.  As soon as Ellie tasted that, she started throwing up again.  That poor kid!

Lastly, she had a thorough check-up by the oncology doctor.  He felt she looked great.  Ellie did provide us with comic relief during the check-up.  As he was looking her over, he said, "Ellie, I think you are a remarkable girl.  What do you think you want to be when you grow up?"  Without missing a beat, she said, "A carrot."  Not sure where that came from, but it did lighten the mood!

After we were released from the hospital, Ellie was starving (she had to fast before the tests).  We were able to get her fed and get her some new clothes (since her others had vomit on them).  Tom teased her that that she must have thrown up just because she wanted to go shopping for new clothes. 

We were exhausted after the day.  Not because we had done anything physical, but it is emotionally exhausting.  It was nice to leave the hospital and have a relaxing meal with Tom and Ellie.  It was actually also my birthday.  It was not exactly how I wanted to spend my birthday, but I did get the best gift: a clean bill of health for Ellie!  I spent my birthday in the hospital last year too. That was after Ellie's surgery to remove some of her small intestine.  This hospital visit/birthday was much easier!

Thank you for you continued prayers and support.  It means so much to us.  We are always brought to our knees when we are at the Children's Hopsital.  Not only are we so thankful to be getting good test results, but also are so overcome with emotion for the other kids we see.  It is amazing to see such young patients going through so much.  And to see the lobby and waiting rooms full of parents and grandparents awaiting news during surgeries.  Such worry and sadness fills those rooms.  The doctors, nurses, and child life specialists who work there are amazing.  It takes a special person to make that hospital your everyday workplace.  They see so much.  But they are always so upbeat and excited around the kids.  They make Ellie feel so special.  I don't know how they keep themselves so positive.  They will say, "Oh my, it's Princess Ellie!  We've been waiting all week to see you!"  They truly have a gift.

We thank God to have another round of tests done and to have them be positive.  We are so blessed.  We thank God for allowing her to continue down the road of recovery. 

"And who is the Rock except our God?"  Psalm 18:31