We are thankful that Ellie was healed.  That cancer has stayed away.  That she is thriving and doing good. We are also thankful for the doctors and nurses and for medical technology.  We are thankful for volunteers at the hospital who spend hours trying to bring joy into the lives of sick kids. 

We are thankful that we have learned many lessons - and are continuing to learn so much!  We have learned to reset our priorities.  We have learned what is truly important.  We have learned to not sweat the small stuff so much.  We have learned to be grateful for each day, each hour. 

Most importantly, we have learned to put our faith in God completely.  We have had to lean into our faith and know that God has a plan.  We may not understand it, but He is in control and His plan is perfect.  We have learned that God truly loves us with an everlasting love. 

Thank you for following our journey.  We are blessed by you!  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forver."  Psalm 118

November 12, 7pm:  We just returned from Ellie's appointment at Children's Hospital and we found out that the spot on her lung is gone!  Everything was all clear!  Praise God!!

Here we are at the hospital.  It is a new hospital policy during the flu season that everyone wears a mask.   

Here is Ellie during her CT scan.  She laid perfectly still so they wouldn't have to sedate her.  She was a very good girl and simply did whatever they asked of her.   She amazes me with her strength. 

They think the spot on her lung was because of the cough she had.  I secretly know that even if there was something more sinister there, the power of prayer made it disappear!  Thank you so much for always being such incredible prayer warriors for us.  I received so many texts and emails today.  Thank you!!  It is incredible to me that we are coming up on our 2-year-anniversary of this journey and we still have such amazing support from all of you.  I cannot believe that you have all stood by us through this entire journey.

I am just so overwhelmed with relief and with joy.  I know that we will always have the thought in the back of our minds that her cancer could come back.  I'm sure that won't ever go away, but I am so thankful that - for now - we are in the clear.

I am also so thankful for my other kids.  Last night, as I was giving into worry and shedding a few tears, Mitchell (15) told me I needed to let God take over.  He then suggested that we all pray over Ellie together.  So we sat on her bedroom floor and prayed around her.  Thank you, Mitchell! 

Today, after we learned that Ellie was ok, I shed a few more tears.  Ellie asked me what was wrong.  I told her I was happy because we had been so worried that she was sick.  She said, "We? Not 'we' because I wasn't worried at all!"  I guess I need to learn a few things from my kids!!

Thanks again to all of you.  We are blessed!!

"I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart."  Psalm 9:1

I just want to get the tests done and know - one way or the other - what is happening.  It is much harder to not know and worry.  It has been on my mind since her appointment.  Especially at night, I lay in bed and think about the "what if's?"  I think hearing the word "cancer" for the second time would be worse than the first time because we will know what is ahead of us.  The first time, it was a blessing to be so naive.  But, I am prayerful that we will not hear that word and that the spot will be gone!

I will keep you updated after our appointment on Thursday.  Thank you always for your prayers and support.  We are blessed by you!!

Thank you to all of you who left comments after we found out about the spot and comforted us.  Mary guided us to the phrase, "Let go, let God."  And Rod and Shar reminded us of Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus." 

October 22, 8am: Yesterday was our long day of tests and scans at the Children's Hospital in Omaha.  Here is Ellie the night before.  I had told her to get a few toys together so she would have something to play with during the hour long trip.  She worked busily and then announced, "I'm ready!" and had 3 backpacks full of toys!

Ellie wasn't allowed to eat before her tests, which is always one of the hardest parts for her.  But, as always, she was a trooper about it. 

Here she is having an abdominal ultrasound. The ultrasound was very thorough - and long!  They really checked every part of her abdomin for over an hour.  Ellie was very good about laying whichever way they wanted her to: on her side, on the other side, on her back...  she just went along with everything and didn't complain.   She did tell me several times during the test, "I sure am hungry!"  Other than that, no complaints! 

Here is Ellie being lined up for a chest x-ray.  Tom went in with her for this test (usually only one parent can go in for each test, so Tom and I take turns).  When Ellie got out of this test, the only thing she told me about it was, "They took off my shirt so they could put another shirt on me (the hospital gown) and it wasn't nearly as cute."

Here she is getting a sticker for being good during the x-ray.

Below is Ellie getting her blood pressure taken while Tom reads her a story.  Ellie has a cough right now so she could not enter the oncology floor.  They cannot have anyone sick, even a little bit sick, around the kids receiving chemo.  So we were shuttled to a back room to have our vitals and check-up done.  That was disappointing to Ellie because there is a large play area and art center in the oncology area.  Instead, we sat in a small room as the doctors and nurses came to us.  That made the day seem a little longer.

Our doctor came to visit with us to go over all of the test results from the morning.  She said that they can see a small spot on Ellie's lung.  Because she has a cough, they aren't sure if it is simply a viral infection from her cold or it if is something more serious.  They cannot do any further tests until her cough is completely gone.  So they have lined up a CT scan in 4 weeks.  Of course, that seems like an eternity to me.  I am hoping her cough clears up well before then and we can move that appointment up. 

We just have to be positive and believe that that spot is related to her cough and not to something more menacing.  Her blood count was good and all of her other organs looked clean.  We just have to keep the faith that the spot on her lung will be gone when we return for the CT scan.  I must admit though, I cannot stop thinking about it.  It would truly be my worst fear coming true. 

But, as always, God is in charge.  I know that He knows what is best and I know that we must trust Him.  We do trust Him.  And we thank you for your continued prayers and for your support. 

Thank you also to my friend Connie - who has been going through radiation herself - for passing on this verse to me in Ellie's honor:  "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish it's work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  James 1:2-4

October 8, 5pm: Ellie had a haircut today.  This was the 2nd haircut of her 4+ years.  If you remember, the first one she had was after she started chemo and we knew her hair would be falling out.  We cut off her very long hair so that it wouldn't be so traumatic for her when it started falling out.  Her hair began growing back around August of last year.  We have just let it grow since then.  It has grown like crazy in these 13 months!  It was all different lengths and pretty shaggy, so we went in and had a trim today.  Ellie got the royal treatment.  Here she is under the dryer (while reading a magazine!).  And here she is after the cut.  I was just so excited that she needed a trim!

Other than crazy hair, Ellie is doing great.  She is feeling good and being a typical 4-year-old.  Over the weekend, her siblings, Mitchell and Lexie, attended the homecoming dance at their school.  Not to be outdone, Ellie chose to put together a festive outfit herself.  Notice the Husker cheerleading uniform, leopard tights, floral shoes, the boa, the 20 necklaces, the stickers on her arms...  she was very proud of her attire!  Lexie couldn't believe I would let her be seen like that around the other kids going to homecoming, but in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter?  You have to pick your battles, right? 

Ellie has been in a great, fun mood and feeling really good.  She has been cracking me.  Like when I took her to the children's museum a few days ago.  We we were in the bathroom and on the wall there was a poster advertising having your birthday at the museum.  Ellie asked me what it said.  I read, "Have your birthday here."  She said, "Why would anyone want to have their birthday in the bathroom?" 

I must admit that I have been having some fears lately.  The weird thing is that I was so strong when Ellie was going through the major things. I just knew that everything would be ok. Now that she is fine, I am paranoid.  That makes no sense!  For example, she had a bad headache last week.  I could not sleep because I kept thinking that she must have brain cancer.  Or when she had to use the bathroom 4 times at the musuem.  I wondered if she had a form of bladder cancer.  What is wrong with me?  I should be so relaxed now that we are over the worst of this.  I have no idea why I am now paranoid.  

I am sure my fears will be put to rest when Ellie goes back in 2 weeks for her full day of scans and tests.  I'll keep you updated on that appointment.

In the meantime, thank you so much for your prayers and support.  We truly know how blessed we are.  Thank you for being such incredible prayer warriors for us!!

I'll leave you with Lexie's confirmation verse.  She gets confirmed in a few weeks and recently picked this verse, "I have called you by name.  You are mine."  Isaiah 43:1 

September 18th 5pm: Ellie had a radiation checkup yesterday.  She goes for these checkups every 6 months.  Since it had been awhile since she had been to this hospital (she had radiation in a different hospital than she had chemo in), I was trying to help her remember this hospital on our drive there.  She said she couldn't remember going there.  As we pulled into the parking lot, she said, "Oh wait!  I remember this place because I threw up in their parking lot!"  She said it so matter-of-factly that it made me laugh!

Her checkup went great.  Her radiation doctor thought she looked really good and even released Ellie from returning for more checkups!  We were very excited about that.  Ellie still goes in for chemo checkups every 3 months, but she won't have anymore radiation checkups.  When someone ends radiation, they ring a special bell that symbolizes to everyone in the hospital that someone has completed radiation.  When Ellie ended her radiation treatments, she was too weak to ring the bell, but yesterday, she rang it loud and clear to the applause of all of the doctors and nurses!

We also found out that Ellie is 35 pounds.  If you remember, when we started this journey, Ellie was 30 pounds.  She then lost almost 10 pounds through surgery, radiation and chemo.  She has been fighting her way back to 30 pounds.  It's fun to have her getting well past that 30 pound goal!  Her new goal is to hit 40 pounds because that is when she can get a booster seat.  Most of her friends in preschool already have booster seats and Ellie is anxious to join them!  

After our doctor appointment (which is about an hour from our house), Ellie and I jumped in the car for a 2+ hour trip to watch her siblings in a cross country meet.   Mitchell and Lexie ran on a golf course and when we arrived, Ellie started running and running.  It was fun to watch her go from a stuffy hospital to running free in the course of an afternoon!

Thank you so much for your continued support of us.  I am so thankful to have such prayer warriors in our corner - even when I am not updating as much.  Thank you!  We are so blessed by you!

We continue to thank God for healing Ellie.  Yesterday, when Ellie was given the green light to not return for checkups, I called Tom and started to cry.  Of course, he thought sometime must have gone wrong at the appointment, but actually it was just such relief.  Each milestone that we pass is such a blessing.

God is so good!  Go God!!

"Those who worship Him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."  John 4:24

August 30, 12pm:  Ellie is doing really good right now!  She is loving preschool and dance class.  She is also having a great time in our neighborhood.  There are 15 girls in our circle and she simply needs to step outside to join the fun!

She is feeling very good and has lots of energy.  In fact, I think she is 100%.  It is fun to meet some new moms and kids through preschool.   Ellie looks so "normal" that they don't know our story.  You can't look at her anymore and know right away that she has battled cancer.  That used to be the case and people could tell she was a sick little girl just by a glance.  But now, upon meeting her, you can't tell that she has been through this journey.  It's fun to just be anonymous and not have someone know our story.  It's nice for Ellie to just be one of the kids. 

She made me laugh the other day when I took her to the Children's Museum.  At the museum, there was a play store, a restaurant, an airport... and also a hospital.  Ellie looked at that play hospital and then looked up at me.  She rolled her eyes and said, "Now why in the world would I want to go in there?!"  I guess she decided that she has seen enough of the inside of hospitals - she didn't need to go into a play one!

As always, thank you so much for your support.  It has truly meant the world to us.  I will continue to update this site.  Thank you to those of you who have encouraged me to do so.  I will just not update as often.  Thankfully, I don't have much to tell you!  Ellie goes in for a radiation check-up in September, but that is it for doctor's appointments in the coming weeks. 

We are blessed by you.  Thank you!!

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."  Psalm 46:1

August 13, 9am:  Please forgive me for not updating for a few weeks!  We have been having a busy summer and, thankfully, I haven't had much to report. 

Ellie is doing great.  Feeling good and having fun.  It's much different than last summer when she was finishing up chemo and was so weak.  We are enjoying this summer much more!

Ellie went to preschool open house yesterday and will start again next week.  She is very excited!  She has been having fun swimming, riding her bike, playing outside and going to the park. 

She is now in a routine of only going to the hospital every 3 months for check-ups.  So we don't do that again until October.  I am very prayerful that I have nothing to report, medically, until then!

I am struggling a bit with what to do with this website.  I'm not sure if I should continue to update - just not as frequently as it has been in the past, or shutting it down, or, I have had people ask me to put the website in book form to, hopefully, help other families who will go through the same journey.  I just don't know what to do.  I will pray on that.  I am so thankful to all of you who routinely get on the site and I apologize that my updates have slowed down.  You all have been so faithful to us and I just don't know how to "end" this story and website.  I need some guidance!

Thank you for always being by our side through this journey.  We have been so very blessed by all of you.  I just don't know how we would have possibly gotten through everything without you.  I know we are not out of the woods yet: Ellie's cancer can come back.  She has a higher rate of getting cancer than the average person.  She will live with one kidney and a re-connected intestine and could certainly have complications from either of those things, but I truly believe we have put the worst part of our journey behind us.  I just have to believe that. 

I thank God everyday for allowing Ellie to stay with us.  And I am so hopeful that He will continue to keep her on the path to recovery. I pray that He continues to heal her and make her stronger and stronger. 

I know we didn't always understand why we were sent on this journey, but I do know that God was with us and so were you.  Thank you!!!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."  Proverbs 3:5-6

July 27, 8pm:  We are home after a long day at the hospital, but we have good news.  All of Ellie's scans and tests were clean!  The doctors thought everything looked great. 

First, we found out that Ellie has grown 2 inches and gained 3 pounds since her last appointment.  That alone was exciting for us.  Then Ellie had many scans and tests.  Here she is playing a game with her siblings during a break.

Here is Ellie during some of her tests.

Ellie had a ultrasound of her heart and she thought her heart looked very funny.  It wasn't heart-shaped at all!  Here she is holding up a picture of her heart.

Ellie was a great sport throughout the day.  She was hungry because she couldn't eat until after her CT scan which was at about 11am, but other than that, she was a trooper!  

Thank you so much for the prayers and thoughts sent our way today.  We felt like Ellie would get a good report, but it always makes us a bit nervous.  In fact, Tom and I talked on the way home about how exhausted we felt.  Even though we hadn't done anything strenous, we think it is just the stress of the day and the fear that they will find something that makes us tired by the end of it.  

As always, we were overwhelmed by seeing the other children at the hospital and meeting different families.  It is truly hard to believe how many little children are battling cancer.  Unfortunately, the chemo floor was very busy today.  It's almost too much to bear sometimes.  Seeing all of those children who are bravely fighting.  Our prayers go out to them all.

We are very appreciative to you for your support and to God for allowing us to come out of this tunnel on the other side.  We are very blessed.

"Praise the Lord, o my soul.  O Lord my God, You are very great, You are clothed with splendor and majesty."  Psalm 104:1

July 26, 9pm:  Thank you to everyone who came to visit us at the Relay for Life.  We had a great time.  It was a very moving event.  The evening started with the survivors lap.  It is very powerful to see all of the survivors walking together as a group.  There were hundreds of them - every age, race, gen

der, ... cancer doesn't discriminate.  It was very poignant.  We think Ellie was the youngest survivor.  We didn't see anyone else who looked younger than her.  Actually, we didn't see anyone even close.  Ellie walked with my dad, who is a cancer survivor too.  Here is a picture of them (Ellie's curls are courtesy of Lexie).  They are both wearing survivor t-shrits.

We enjoyed walking around and looking at the luminaries and talking to friends.  Here is my mom, brother Jeff, and nephew Max, at our tent site. 

Here is our family.  We wore our, "Team Volk" t-shirts.  We had those made for Tom's first marathon and now wear them whenever we need to pull together as a family. 

Unfortunately, there was a storm during the event.  A downpour was accompanied by thunder and lightning.  We did have to finally give up and head home.  Mitchell and Tom refused to leave and stayed the entire night.  They walked most of the night and tried to light luminaries as the rained stopped and they dried out a bit.  They came home after the 6am closing ceremony.  I think they had a great father-son night. 

 Thank you also to everyone who donated to the American Cancer Society in Ellie's name: Papa Boo & Grandma Kate; The Gude Family; The Fahleson Family; Jeramie & Amy Swanson; Addie Scheve; The Bohling Family; The Melony Martin Family; The Frenzen Family; and two anonymous donors.  We are very thankful for the donations that will help the American Cancer Society do more research to help try and find a cure for childhood cancers.  Thank you so much!

Tomorrow morning we head to Omaha for a full day of scans and tests.  The hardest part for Ellie will be that she will not be able to eat anything.  I will let you know how the day goes.  We are not anticipating any negative news, but this day of tests is always a bit scary.

Thank you to everyone for all of the support and prayers.  We are so very blessed!

"Take courage, it is I.  Don't be afraid."  Mark 6:50

Thanks also to the prayers that went to Mexico on Mitchell's behalf.  Here is a photo of him when we picked him up.  He spent 10 days in Mexico on a mission trip and had an incredible time.  He loved it!  He learned how to speak several phrases in Spanish so he could communicate as his group passed out Bibles.  He learned, "Do you know Jesus loves you?",  "Do you have a Bible?",  "Can I give you one?"  He also gave a testimony - through a translator - of how his faith has grown because of Ellie's battle with cancer.  The entire trip really touched him.  I am prayerful that his group was able to do wonderful things for the Kingdom of God in Mexico!

I will post pictures from our event tonight.  Ellie then goes back on Monday for a full day of scans and tests.  It is her 3-month appointment.  She has been so energetic and healthy, that I cannot imagine they will find anything negative.  I will let you know how that day goes.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers for Ellie.  We are very grateful.  We are excited to go back to the Relay for Life tonight with a healthy child.  Last year, she was bald and didn't have much energy.  It will be fun to celebrate tonight.  An especially poignant time of the evening is when the cancer survivors make a lap. They all wear purple shirts and walk as a group.  It is powerful!

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

July 12, 7pm:  We are gearing up for the Relay for Life again this year.  The Relay for Life is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.  At this event, our team takes turns walking all night.  The walk is illuminated with luminaries that each have the name of someone who has battled cancer on them.  It is a beautiful, poignant walk.  Here is a picture of Ellie from last year.  She is sitting on my dad's lap, who is also a cancer survivor.

We will have a tent at the event and we would love to have you come visit us.  The Relay will be held on Friday, July 24th, starting around 6pm.  We will be there all night!  It will be held at Haymarket Park and our tent will be at site #8, which is on the north side of the park.  We have also set up a website in case you would like to donate to the fundraiser.  You can visit the site at: main.acsevents.org/goto/elliegrace.  Our team goal is to raise $1000 this year.  

We thank you in advance for any prayers or donations for this cause.  And we'd love to have you come visit us!

On a different note, if you happen to have any extra prayers this week, can you send them south of the border for me?  Mitchell is on a 10-day mission trip to Mexico.  I know it will be a life-changing event for him, but I also can't help worrying a little bit too.  He was thrilled to go and was learning how to say "Do you know Jesus loves you?" in Spanish so he can say that to the kids there.  Tom and I are excited for him to have this experience.  We are prayerful that God can use this group of kids to further His kingdom and then that He brings them home safely. 

Thank you for your support and prayers on our behalf, always.  You are such a blessing in our life!

I'll leave you with an excerpt from our Pastor, who is with the kids in Mexico and is keeping a blog for us.  Of their devotional time today, he said, "This morning we read from Job and talked about faith that is not tied to circumstances but rather it is founded on the character of God."  I thought that was so profound because our faith truly cannot be tied to circumstances, which change all the time, but only in God's character because that never changes.

July 5, 4pm: Thank you so much to everyone who joined us for our "Freedom from Chemo" party!  We had over 150 people join us!!  We were overwhelmed with having such supportive friends and family.  We are truly blessed!  Thank you to all of you who have supported us through each step of this journey.  We know we can never thank you enough, but we hope the party was a small way to show our gratitude.  It was an amazing night and we loved spending time with you!

I have created a website with a few photos from the party and the weekend.  There were too many to post here!  You can visit it at: Freedom from Chemo. 

Once again Tom and I were reminded of the incredible blessings that have come from our family's cancer walk.  If we hadn't have gone through that tunnel, we wouldn't have been able to build such strong relationships and friendships.  We feel very blessed and we thank God for each of you!

We are so thankful that God never left us... and you didn't either! 

"I will never leave you or forsake you."  Hebrews 13:5

July 1st, 9am:  We went to the Children's Hospital in Omaha yesterday for a check-up for Ellie.  It was her 6-month check-up since her surgery in January.  During that surgery, they removed part of her small intestine.  Yesterday we talked about the 4 vitamins that are absorbed in that part of her small intestine.  Her surgeon felt that enough of her small intestine was left to still absorb those vitamins.  Beyond a multi-vitamin, she shouldn't need to do any additional vitamin supplements or worry about not receiving the vitamins her body needs.  So that was good news!

Her surgeon was very pleased with how Ellie looked.  He said he couldn't have asked for better recovery.  He felt like her re-attached intestine was working great and he thought it all looked good. 

We go back in a few weeks for rounds of scans and tests to make sure cancer is still at bay. 

So for now, we celebrate!  Thank you to everyone who has responded to our RSVP for the party for Ellie and for YOU!  We will be having our "Freecom from Chemo" party on Friday night, July 3rd, from 5-10pm.  Please email me at: dvolk@neb.rr.com if you want to join us and I'll email you back directions and details.  It will be our chance to thank all of our supporters in some small way.  We are really looking forward to showing our appreciation and gratitude.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of Ellie's last chemo treatment.  We are so extremely thankful that Ellie has come so far.  What a joy to celebrate the passing of that anniversary.  We praise God for all He has done in her life.  What a blessing! 

Thank you also to all of you.  We have been so blessed by all of you for the prayers and support we have received.  We are overwhelmed with gratitude.

I will post pictures after our party Friday night.  I am looking forward to spending time with all of you.  

We thank God for strengthening Ellie.  We pray that He continues to do so.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Philippians 4:13

June 24, 8am:  Ellie continues to do great.  She has tons of energy and is growing like crazy.  She is having a fun summer.  We were in chemo at this time last year, so it is fun to have such a different summer this year!

Speaking of chemo, July 2nd will be the anniversary of Ellie's last chemo treatment!  To celebrate, we are going to have a party.  We would like to invite anyone reading this to join us!

We are going to celebrate on July 3rd from 5pm - 10pm.  Please join us anytime you can stop by.  If you can make it, please e-mail me at: dvolk@neb.rr.com and I will get directions and details to you. 

We are very excited to thank everyone who has been so wonderful in supporting us through this ordeal.  This party will be one, small way that we can show our appreciation.

Thanks so much for being such an incredible support system for us.  We have been very blessed through this journey.  Amazingly so!  We thank God for you.  We also thank Him for never leaving Ellie and allowing her to heal and recover.  God is so good!!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forver."  1 Chronicles 16:34

June 8, 11am:  I know it has been two weeks since I updated.  Please forgive me!  We are in full-throttle summer mode and time slips away.  For example, this last weekend, Mitchell had 4 baseball games (congrats to Lincoln Lutheran for winning the tourney!) and Lexie had a track meet (congrats on winning triple-jump, Lex!).  It's just a crazy time.  And, for Ellie, that means attending a lot of events.  She is so good and never complains about going to everyone else's things, but we felt it was time for her to have "own thing".  So she started dance class.  She is very excited and it seems as though that once-a-week class can not arrive soon enough for her.  To watch 3 and 4-year-olds learn jazz, tap and ballet is quite a thing to behold.  Most of them aren't even facing the right direction.  And then they get distracted by their own reflection in the mirror and need to spend a few minutes making faces at themselves.  It's hilarious to watch.  But Ellie loves it!  And she is so excited to have her own thing.

For the last two weeks, we have been focusing on trying to give back.  We would love to have Ellie's cancer be used for good, somehow.  Ellie was chosen to be the Ambassador Child for the Optimist Childhood Cancer Campaign.  We are hoping that her face can help the Optimists raise money to help other families who are facing this horrible disease.  Ellie was in a newspaper article last week and in a clip on the news.  The picture above is of her being filmed for that.

She also attended "Bash at the Beach" which was a sand volleyball tournament that helped raise money for childhood cancer.  Ellie went to just say thanks to everyone who participated and volunteered.  Here is a picture with Ellie (in the hat, being held by Tom) and some of the players.  Ellie had a great day and was covered in sand when it was over!

As far as her health, Ellie is doing really good.  She is very strong and full of energy.  She seems to catch colds easily and not be able to fight off the little things, but otherwise, she is doing great!  She is eating like crazy and seems to really be growing. 

She will be heading back for checkups soon.  She will have her 3-month full body check and scans in the next few weeks.  She will also have her 6-month checkup after her January surgery.  I will let you know when we go in for those appointments.

A few other things on the July radar: July 2nd will be our 1-year anniversary of being done with chemo.  I can't believe it has almost been a year!  We are so excited to mark this milestone.  In fact, we are tentatively planning a big party on July 3rd.  We would like everyone reading this to join us!  Mark your calendars and I'll keep you updated on details.  Also in July, we will be participating in the Relay for Life again.  This event raises money for the American Cancer Society.  We will have a webpage up soon about that.  Last year, Ellie was completely bald at the Relay for Life event and tuckered out easily.  This year, it will be fun to have her attend again with much more energy!

Our hope is that something good can come from Ellie's journey through cancer.  We are very prayful that Ellie will have no more bouts with cancer and that we can move forward and try to help other families dealing with this issue.  It's such a horrible thing to go through and we want to try and help in anyway we can. 

Even though I have been so bad about updating the site, I thank you for your continued prayers and support.  I know those don't stop!  You have been so faithful about praying for Ellie and all kids with cancer.  Thank you!  I know we would not be planning a party to celebrate Ellie being done with treatments if it wasn't for the incredible support we have received.  I truly believe in the power of prayer.  We are grateful to you for uplifting us.  We are thankful to God for allowing Ellie to stay with us.  We hope He can now use her to help others in some small way.

He has been so incredibly faithful to us.  We are grateful.

"I have loved you with an everlasting love.  Therefore, I have continued my faithfulness to you." Jeremiah 31:3

May 22, 10am: Just a quick update.  I wanted to answer a question we received on the comments section today about RJ.  He was a 4-year-old little boy I told you about who was battling cancer.  RJ did go to heaven.  If you want to read his story, you can visit: www.caringbridge.org/visit/rj2.  RJ was a very brave little boy.  Because his cancer made his legs so sore, he told his dad that when he got to heaven, "I want God to rub my wegs."  I am sure RJ's leg pain is gone and he is running all over heaven!  Thank you to all of you for your prayers for him and his family.

May 21, 1pm: Today was Ellie's last day of preschool.  When we got home, she wanted to show me a scrapbook that her teacher had made for her about the school year.  It was very cute, but it did stop me in my tracks.  The first page featured a picture of Ellie from the beginning of the school year.   I had almost forgotten that she ever looked like this.  When you are always looking forward and moving ahead, you almost forget where you came from.  I am so focused on the healthy child in front of me, that I don't even think of her ever looking like this. 

What a difference a school year can make!  Below is Ellie today.  As I burst into tears looking at the scrapbook, Ellie asked, "Don't you like it?"  Of course, I loved it.  I was just so overwhelmed to think of where we are today.  Ellie has come so far.  I learned of a new child diagnosed with cancer recently (pray for Jacob!) and while reading his story of having the port put in and the needles, chemo... I almost can't believe we went through that same thing.  As you are going through that journey, you simply focus on the next hour, the next day and put one foot in front of the other.  You do what you have to do to get your child through this horrible situation.  But then, something like today happens.  Something that makes you stop in your tracks and realize how far you have come.  It makes you think that you may have actually made it through the tunnel and are coming out the other side.  

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.  We know we would not have made it to today without you.  We are very blessed.  And, of course, we praise God.  He has been so good to us.  I'm sure most moms didn't go home from preschool today and burst into tears, but I know just how extremely blessed I am to be picking up that little girl from preschool.  And I know that I am going to cherish each and every day that God allows her to stay with us.  We thank Him for the miracle of simply surviving. 

"God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance."  2 Corinthians 9:8

May 13, 8pm:   Please forgive me for not updating for almost 2 weeks!  With two        teenagers and a four-year-old, sometimes time gets away from me.  And I guess that's a good thing.  Life is returning to normal and we aren't constantly thinking about illness and doctor's appointments.

Ellie is doing amazingly well.  She is growing like crazy!  I swear she looks bigger every day.  Her hair seems to grow more each day and she is getting stronger and stronger. 

Here is a picture of Ellie right before her school program on Friday.  She is wearing the t-shirt the entire school wore.  It says, "Plug into the Power of God."  Love that!  She had practiced and practiced the song her class was singing in the concert.  She sang it everyday in the car and around the house.  But when her class got on stage, she just stared at the girl next to her.  Everyone around her did all of the actions and sang, but Ellie - who usually sings her way through most days - just stood there.  After the concert, on the car ride home, she sang the song at the top of her lungs!  You just gotta love four-year-olds!

I am also including a photo of Ellie with Lexie and our niece, Katie.  We attended Katie's high school graduation this weekend.  Congrats Katie!

Thanks so much for your continued prayers and support.  We are extremely blessed by you.  I felt incredibly blessed as we celebrated Mother's Day.  To have three healthy children is something I will never take for granted.  I thank God every day for healing Ellie and allowing her to stay with us.  We praise Him every day we get with each of our children.  It was truly the best Mother's Day gift I received: to simply be a mom of three healthy, "normal" kids.

"For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your good and not for harm, to give you a future with hope."  Jeremiah 29:11

May 1, 10am:  Yesterday was a very long day of tests at the hospital for Ellie, but the news was all good!  We started with scans and x-rays in the morning.  The hardest part for Ellie was that she couldn't have anything to eat beforehand.  She was very hungry through all of the tests.  We were then given time to go have lunch.  After lunch, we met with Ellie's chemo doctor and she read all of the tests from the morning and gave Ellie a check-up. 

She felt that Ellie looked great.  The tests showed no signs of cancer or anything negative.  Ellie's remaining kidney is working well and has grown to a larger size to handle the job that two kidneys used to do.  They also took a very close look at Ellie's intestine which was operated on in January.  Everything there looked good too.  It was all good news!

Ellie also has grown.  Finally!  She is now 31 pounds.  That was a milestone for us because Ellie has never been over 30 pounds.  She was almost there when she was originally diagnosed with cancer and then through surgery, radiation and chemo, she lost about 8 pounds.  She was working her way back up to 30 lbs when she had her surgery in January.  That took her back down in weight.   So she is now - finally - over 30 pounds!  We were excited about that.

Although she was hungry, Ellie handled all of the tests very well.  She let the doctors and nurses do whatever they needed to do without complaint.  Once again, she amazed me with her courage and strength.  I can't believe what that 4-year-old can handle. 

Here are a few photos from the day:

Scans...

scans....

and more scans....

X-rays...

Getting a break to play...

Trying to catch bubbles that the doctor was blowing for her...

We are so extremely excited about Ellie's results.  I was on the verge of tears most of the day because I was fearful that they would find something bad.  Each test made me nervous.  But God is so very, very good!  He allowed Ellie to be free of illness.  We feel so blessed.  We are thankful and grateful beyond belief.  We are praising the Lord!!

And thank you for all of your prayers.  We felt enveloped in prayer and support all day.  Thank you!!  We have truly been blessed with our prayer warriors.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." 1 Chronicles 16:34

I will keep you updated!  Thanks for your constant prayers and support.  We are blessed by you!!

"I will never leave you or forsake you."  Hebrews 13:5

April 25, 4pm: Here is a picture of Ellie at the dentist with our great dental assistant, Sarah.  She had her first dental check-up this week.  We found that Ellie actually had 2 cavities.  We were told that those could have occured because of her chemo treatments.  Chemo drugs make the mouth very dry and not much salivia is produced, making it easier to get cavities.  We went ahead and had both of the cavities filled right away.  Ellie was a trooper about it all.

Next week Ellie goes in for a complete workup at the hospital.  She will get a chest x-ray, an abdominal ultrasound, blood workup and a chemo checkup.  I'll keep you updated on it.  They just want to make sure everything still looks good. Her appointment is Thursday. 

One day this week, Ellie went with me as I took Lexie to both an orthodontist appointment and a chiropractic appointment.   As we were leaving the second appointment, Ellie said to me, "You mean no one is going to do anything to ME?"  She was so surprised to have gone to two medical offices and none of it be about her.  It was a nice change for her!

"Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name, make known among the nations what He has done."  Psalm 105:1

April 21, noon:  We had an amazing time in South Dakota this weekend for the Make-A-Wish fundraiser. The theme was "Pretty in Pink" and we had pink treats, balloons, lemonade... everything pink! It was a celebration for Ellie's recovery and a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish. Many people came out to help us celebrate and Make-A-Wish raised quite a bit of money. Ellie and I shared our story and we were overwhelmed with the support we received. The room was filled with our "Ellie Grace Prayer Circle" bracelets. Many people whom I have never met, but who have been following the site, came out to meet us. It was incredible and we had a wonderful time. I am, once again, amazed and humbled by the generousity of others. This journey has certainly taught me how incredible people really are. Thank you to all who joined us!

Here is Lexie and me with the organizer of the event, Carol. Carol did so much work to make this event happen. I actually only met Carol at the event. She was moved by Ellie's story and organized the entire event without knowing us. You did a great job, Carol, and we thank you!!

Here is Ellie being sung to by Miss South Dakota, Alex Hoffman. Alex was so sweet to come and join us at the event. She treated Ellie like a princess and was so good to her. Ellie was in heaven!

Here is Alex and Ellie after Alex gave her her own crown! Thank you for your generousity, Alex!!

Here is Ellie with all of the "princesses" as she called them. We had beauty pageant winners from across the state come to celebrate with us. Thank you to all of the girls! Your being there meant a lot to us! Notice how they are all wearing pink! They were all very sweet to Ellie and made her feel so special.

We also celebrated with my family while we were in South Dakota. My dad retired after being the head athletic trainer for South Dakota State University for 42 years! Here is Mitchell and Ellie at his banquet. Congrats Dad!

I also have some other fun news. If you have been following the comments section of this site, you read a wonderful entry from a gal named Cindy. She decided to name her baby Ellie Grace, in part, because of our Ellie Grace. The new Ellie was born on Friday and here she is....

We were humbled and blessed to think that our Ellie could have influenced their decision a little bit. We are so excited to have a new Ellie Grace in the world. Congrats Cindy! She is beautiful!!

For "inspiration" today, I am going to put some of the lyrics that Miss South Dakota sang to Ellie. She sang, "You are a Masterpiece" by Sandi Patti. There wasn't a dry eye in the house when Alex sang it. You can google the rest of the lyrics, if you want. They are powerful! Thank you Alex. The song was perfect. Here are a few of the words:

Before you had a name or opened up your eyes
Or anyone could recognize your face.
You were being formed so delicate in size
Secluded in God's safe and hidden place.

With your little tiny hands and little tiny feet
And little eyes that shimmer like a pearl
He breathed in you a song and to make it all complete
He brought the masterpiece into the world.

You are a masterpiece
A new creation He has formed
And you're as soft and fresh as a snowy winter morn.
And I'm so glad that God has given you to me
Little Lamb of God, you are a masterpiece.

April 13, 9pm: We had a great time at the Make-A-Wish fundraiser. Here are Lexie and Ellie watching the Hannah Montana movie (or "Hannah Tana" as Ellie says). Ellie was interviewed at the event by a radio station, but she only nodded or shook her head as she answered questions. That doesn't work too well on the radio! The event was great and raised quite a bit of money for Make-A-Wish. We were very excited to be a part of it!

Ellie is feeling really good and had a wonderful Easter. Last year, she was so weak at Easter and didn't have much energy to find Easter eggs. This year, she ran all over finding eggs. She loved it! Here are a few photos from Easter. We loved watching her excitement. We are just so thankful to be in a completely different place than we were last year, health-wise. What a difference a year makes!

To all of my South Dakota friends, there will be a fun celebration in Brookings on Saturday for Ellie and for Make-A-Wish. A wonderful friend of my mom's has organzied a celebration for Ellie and her recovery. It will also be a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish. Here is a flyer with the details: Pretty in Pink! Ellie and I will share our story at the event and we'd love to have you join us.

As always, I must thank you for your support. It has meant the world to us. Tom and I were a little emotional on Easter Sunday just thinking of how blessed we are. Foremost, that Jesus rose that day for us. That is the biggest blessing of all! We also are so blessed to have our girl with us 15 months after she was diagnosed with cancer. We know a big part of the reason she is here is because of our prayer warriors. How grateful we are to have the support system that we do. So many people praying for her. It is a bit overwhelming to think about. Especially when I get e-mails from people who have never met Ellie, yet they tell us they are praying for her. It has truly taught us so many lessons. I am constantly amazed at the generousity and compassion of others. It certainly makes us want to be better people. What a blessing you all are for us!! Thank you!

"He is risen!" Matthew 28:7

April 9, 11am: Ellie continues to improve. She is getting stronger and starting to get her spunky attitude back. It certainly took her some time to recover from this last health issue, but I think we are almost back to normal.

Ellie has also been chosen to be the "poster child" of the Make-A-Wish fundraiser that I talked about in the last journal entry. I will take a picture of her by the signage that has her picture on it when we attend tomorrow so I can share it with you.

We are feeling so amazingly blessed right now. I am almost overwhelmed with gratitude. Especially as we approach this Easter weekend. I think about how God sent His only Son to die on the cross for our sins and it certainly makes our hardships and sacrifices seem insignificant. What we have had to bear is nothing in comparision.

I truly appreciate your continued prayers and support. Thank you so much!

"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 21

April 2, 5pm: Ellie is doing great! She is eating well and gaining strength every day. I think her face is starting to look fuller and she is feeling really good.

Here is Ellie with Mitchell and Lexie at my Grandma Addie's 90th birthday party. My grandma is an amazing woman and we were so thrilled to celebrate with her. I am prayerful that those incredible genes have passed down to Ellie and that she also sees 90. Wouldn't that be great?!

If you live in the Lincoln area, here is a link to a flyer about an upcoming Make-A-Wish fundraiser: Make-A-Wish. They will be showing the new Hannah Montana movie. It should be a great time for the girls in your life! I will be taking Ellie and Lexie.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers for Ellie. We are so appreciative that, even though she is doing much better, you continue to pray for her. We are extremely grateful for our circle of supporters. You truly lift us up.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

March 25, 1pm: Ellie is doing really good. She is recovering from her latest surgery well. I think we may have our girl back. She was doing so good at the end of 2008, but then we had our setback in January and the surgery to remove her port this month, but I think now we are truly back to, almost, normal. She is gaining weight and feeling wonderful. She has a little catching up to do. She is now one of the shorter kids in her age group, but I know that will come. Before she was diagnosed with cancer, she was always one of the taller kids. But she lost 14 months and is now a bit smaller. I know once she has a chance to really start getting stronger, she'll be fine. We are just happy to have a healthy girl!

In our excitement of starting our year off with a surgery, I forgot to update you on our Make-A-Wish fundraiser. We had raised $1000 through our Mary Kay fundraiser and then Tom and I matched that so that we were able to send $2000 to Make-A-Wish. I asked Kiley from Make-A-Wish to give us an idea of where the money would go. She said that they had two families who were going on international wishes. Our money would cover 9 passports, enhancement gifts, and the sendoff parties for those families. Kiley said, "Your donation will help Shelby and Manizha's wish come true!" So thank you to everyone who donated to our fundraiser or prayed for our success. I am so grateful that, together, we were able to help two other children fulfill their wishes!

Thanks also for your continued prayers and support for Ellie. We are so extremely grateful to you! We feel very blessed. I cannot help but stare into those big blue eyes of hers and thank God that He allowed her to stay with us. I am thankful for each and every day with her!

"He is your praise; He is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes." Deuteronomy 10:21

Of course, after everything she has been through, we can deal with a little rash.  We just felt bad she was so uncomfortable.  Today, she is much better.  The rash is almost gone. 

Other than the rash, Ellie is doing great.  She is really getting her strength back after this latest surgery.  She's been in a great mood.  In fact, last night she was running around, singing, giggling and being a crazy 4-year-old.  It was great to see!

As always, thanks for your continued prayers.  We are extremely appreciative.  To those of you in Lincoln, please take a minute to grab the paper and read about another 4-year-old with cancer, RJ.  He is losing his battle and he and his family could use our prayers.  For those of you not in Lincoln, you can go to our paper's website at www.journalstar.com to read about him.  Thank you.

"Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."  1 Corinithians 15:57

March 13, 7pm:  We are home from the hospital and Ellie is doing great.  She handled today like a true pro.  They were able to take the port out without any complications.  Ellie handled the anesthesia well and had no problems. 

Here is Ellie washing up her baby because her baby was going to go into surgery with her. 

Here is Ellie in her hospital gown ready to go into surgery.  Ellie was so excited to get her port out that she really didn't get nervous.

Here is Tom saying good-bye to Ellie as she is rolled away to surgery.  Ellie did get a little scared at this point, but she was still a trooper.

 Here is Ellie right after surgery.  She was very groggy for a few hours after surgery. 

Tonight, Ellie is feeling great and having no bad side effects.  The area where her port was is very tender and she has some prescription pain medication, but otherwise, she is doing great.

Thank you so much for your prayers for Ellie today.  Even though it was a simple procedure, it is always scary to have your child put under anesthesia and wheeled away for surgery.  We appreciate the support and prayers!

We are praising God tonight!  How exciting to have the port out and have this chapter closed.  We are so very hopeful that this will be Ellie's last surgery.  We are looking forward to a new chapter!

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!"  1 John 3:1

March 12, 2pm: We are very excited because Ellie goes in to get her port removed tomorrow!  Ellie is really looking forward to having it out of her body.  I'm not sure if she has figured out that it must be removed by surgery, but she is just excited to have it gone.  As she says, "No port means no butterflies!  And butterflies are my NOT favorite thing!"  (A butterfly is a large needle with "wings" on the sides of it.  They insert the large needle into her port and then snap down the wings around it.  They use this to give her chemo or to take blood.)

We go to Children's Hospital early tomorrow morning and they will first give Ellie a full check-up to make sure she can handle anesthesia.  The actual surgery will only take about 30 minutes.  If Ellie handles it all well, we should be out of the hospital in the afternoon.  It sounds like a very simple procedure.

The picture today is of Ellie with her cousins and uncle.  She was able to go visit Tom's      sister and family over the weekend.  She loved being on the farm and was able to see brand new baby cows.  And, as you can see, she was pink and sparkly - even on the farm!  Thank you to Jan, Craig, Katie, Jamie and Emily for taking such good care of her!

Thanks so much for your continued prayers and support!  We are extremely blessed by you!  I'll update after our day of surgery tomorrow.  We are very grateful to finally have the port out and put this chapter - hopefully - behind us.

"The Lord lives!  Praise be to my Rock!"  2 Samuel 22:47

March 6, 10am: I am a little blurry-eyed this morning as Ellie is still having issues with nightmares.   She is really having trouble sleeping.  She cries out in her sleep and whimpers a lot.  She seems to be scared and having very bad dreams.   I'm not sure if it related to everything she has gone through or not.  She cannot remember her dreams in the morning.  We are anxious for this phase to pass as we are all exhausted!   Besides the restless nights, Ellie is doing really good.

My heart is heavy this morning too because I lost a college friend to cancer yesterday.  A beautiful mother of four.  She had beat cancer once and was a survivor.  It returned and was very vicious.  Cancer is such a merciless thing.  It doesn't care how old you are, or how many children you have counting on you, or what incredible things you have done for those around you, or what amazing potential you have.  It just doesn't care.  It attacks and leaves so many victims in its' wake.  I hope, in our lifetime, we see cancer wiped out. 

Thank you for your continued prayers for Ellie - and all cancer patients.  I know that with God we can overcome this killer.  There isn't a single thing on Earth that is a match for God and for the power of prayer.  Thank you so much for being vigilant prayer warriors.

I am prayerful that when my friend got to heaven, she was embraced by God and heard Him say what we all hope to hear, "Well done good and faithful servant!"

March 2, noon: Ellie turned 4 yesterday! We were so thrilled to see that milestone. To have her celebrate another birthday was just amazing. Last year, when she celebrated her 3rd birthday, she was in the middle of chemo. It seemed like her 4th birthday was very far off. She has been through a lot in 4 years, but she is certainly a stronger person because of it.

Ellie was very excited about her big day. We had family and friends celebrate with us and Ellie had a great time!

Here is Ellie and Lexie among some of Ellie's gifts.

Here is Ellie with a birthday cupcake.

Blowing very hard to get those candles out!

Ellie falling asleep on the couch after the party. It was a wonderful, exhausting day!

Thank you so much for all of the well wishes for Ellie. We are thrilled to be celebrating with her. Along with turning 4, Ellie is also feeling much better. She is eating quite a bit and becoming much stronger. I think we almost have our old Ellie back!

We praise God for restoring Ellie from her latest health issue. He has been amazing to her and continues to love her with an everlasting love. How blessed we are!!

I had a friend e-mail me a passage from Rich Warren about the struggles we face here on earth. Here is part of his message:

"The reason we face struggles is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making our life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.  We may live on earch for 60 to 100 years, but we are going to spend trillions of years in eternity.  God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.  We are made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense." 

Ellie's situation may not be the most comfortable or the happiest, but we are so very hopeful that it will allow all of us to grow in character.  We are also prayerful that it touches other people in some way.  Whether you simply hug your kids more or that, perhaps, you might come to love Jesus the way Ellie does.  We would be humbled to think that God would use Ellie to bring others to Him.  But wouldn't that be wonderful?

"Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved."  Psalm 80:3

We are extremely grateful that she is doing much better.  They have decided that since she has regained so much of her strength, they are going to take out her port.  That will happen on March 13th.  It's an outpatient surgery and shouldn't be too difficult.  I will be excited to have the port behind us!

Thank you for your continued prayers.  We are very thankful to be on this side of our latest health issue.  We are praying for no more complications for Ellie.

We are so very grateful for all of the support we have received.  It has truly been amazing.  I know we don't deserve such generousity and kindness, but we are very thankful to be blessed with it anyway.  You all have been so good to us.  We are appreciative and humbled.  Thank you.

"I trust in God's unfailing love forever and ever."  Psalms 52:8

February 18, 11am: Ellie is doing really good right now.  She simply gets tired quickly.  We are trying to get back into a routine a little.  She went to daycare on Monday for two hours so she could attend the Valentine's Day party.  Those two hours completely wiped her out.  Yesterday, she went back to preschool for the first time since she got home from the hospital.  Those 3 hours exhausted her too!  It will just take some time to get her strength back.  Today, we are recouperating and allowing Ellie to rest and get stronger.  We are also having a little issue of Ellie's system not quite working correctly since the abdominal surgery.  She is on some anti-diarrhea medicine and, hopefully, that will improve her condition soon.

The picture I am including today is of Ellie in her room.  Several of you asked me to post a picture of Ellie's room.  You said you wanted to see the paint job Ellie and I did when we got home from the hospital.  It is so very sweet of you to follow Ellie's world so closely.  I am constantly humbled by the generousity and kindness of all of you.  It's amazing to me.

Thank you for the continued support.  We are so incredibly blessed.  The verse today is Ellie's memory verse from Sunday School: "I am the good shepherd."  John 10:11.  We are so very thankful that God is her shepherd and is keeping a faithful, watchful eye on her.  We know a good shepherd keeps his flock close and constantly watch over his sheep.  We are praising God because He is Ellie's shepherd!

February 15, 5pm: Ellie is doing remarkably good.  She has had a couple of great days.  She is eating well and getting her strength back.  We even ventured out today to go to church and Sunday School.  Ellie loved being back with some of her friends.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us through this leg of our journey.  It has been quite an incredible few weeks and we know we could not have gotten this far without prayers and support.  We are very grateful.  Thank you!

And we certainly thank God for allowing Ellie to survive this crisis.  He has been so good to us.  We praise Him!  A line from one of the songs we sang in church today was, "Who am I that He would know my name?"  That really struck me because it made me think that out of all of the billions of people that are alive, God knows Ellie's name.  Not just knows her name, but knows everything about her.  Not just knows everything about her, but made her.  He knows every little detail about her and is with her every single minute.  That is amazing.  It's too much to even comprehend.  But how reassuring and comforting it is to know that He loves her with an everlasting love and will never leave her.  It's incredible.

"I will not forget you.  I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands."  Isaiah 49:15

February 12, 11pm: Ellie had the best day she has had since surgery today.  I think we are over the hump.  She is really doing well.

We went to Omaha today to see the surgeon and he thought she was perhaps a little behind on recovery, but he said that she had major surgery and it would simply take awhile to recover.  He said that the surgery was a lot for a 30-pound 3-year-old to deal with.  He felt she looked a little too skinny and a little pale, but he wants us to just give it time. 

So, that's what we will do.  We will continue to give Ellie TLC and get her stronger.  I was very relieved to hear that nothing was wrong with Ellie.  We simply need time to recover.  I think that's good news!

Here is Ellie today at the hospital.  I find myself saying so many prayers while I am walking through the Children's Hospital.  Everywhere you look, there is a little boy or girl who needs some type of medical attention.  It can be overwhelming.  Today as we walked by the surgery waiting room, I saw a mom break down as she waited for news on her child who was in surgery.  I was sitting in that waiting room just a couple of weeks ago crying too.  We saw kids in wheelchairs, kids on oxygen, kids being wheeled in and out of the surgery area.  It is truly an amazing place.  On one hand, we are so thankful the Children's Hospital exists, but on the other hand, it's too bad that it has to.

Each time I am at the hospital, I am thankful for the issues Ellie has.  It always could be so much worse.  We will take the burden we have been given and carry it gratefully.

We are thanking God tonight for allowing us to have Ellie one step closer to recovery.

"When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart."  Jeremiah 29:13

February 11, 9pm: I think Ellie has begun to turn the corner and is on the road to recovery.  She had a good and bad day.  She goes back and forth between being good: walking, eating, alert... and bad: no appetite, lethargic, temperature....  She went back and forth between those two all day.  But, the low times were not as low as they have been.  She wasn't as bad as she has been the last few days.  In fact, I didn't give her any pain reliever today.  That is the first day without that since we got home from the hospital.  Here is Ellie after her bath tonight.

I am very excited we are going to the doctor tomorrow.  I am anxious to see what he says.  I will certainly update when I am back home tomorrow night.

As always, thank you for your continued prayers.  We are blessed to have our prayer warriors!

For inspiration tonight, please read the poem that Judy Mullins posted on this site under the comments.  It is beautiful.  Thank you, Judy! 

February 10, 11am: Thank you so much for your prayers for Ellie.  We certainly feel them! 

I did talk to the surgeon yesterday and he put Ellie on a different medicine.  It seemed to really do the trick.  Ellie was walking around, laughing and eating.  It was quite a turn around.  Here is a picture of Ellie during that time.

But, she quickly began to get lethargic again and started to spike a fever.  Although she was still on the new medicine, it didn't seem to help anymore.  We watched her fever through the night and it seems to be back under control.  But today she is very lethargic and has no appetite again.  In fact, she and I were going to go visit her preschool class today so Ellie could attend the Valentine's Day party.  Ellie said she didn't think she could handle it.  She was having trouble standing and fell a few times when she tried to walk.  So we just dropped off the Valentine's for her classmates and went home. When we were at the school, I thought Ellie would get excited and want to stay, but she just said, "Please take me home."

One thing that hurt my heart a little today: when Ellie needed to take some medicine, she said to me, "I wish I was a different kid so I didn't have to take so much medicine."

We will continue to keep the faith that Ellie will get stronger.  I will be talking to her surgeon again today and she sees him on Thursday.  We will just continue to take good care of her until then.  It is going to be 60 degrees here in Nebraska today, so Ellie and I will get some time outside.  Perhaps some fresh air in her lungs will do her good.

I know we are dealing with some issues here, but I am still so grateful.  Our situation could be much worse.  If Ellie's intestine had burst, we would have a very sick child.  Or we could have had a reoccurence of cancer.  So we will take the symptoms we have and be grateful it is not worse.  I know that Ellie will turn the corner and be back to her perky self soon.

I certainly believe in the power of prayer and I thank you so much for your prayers.  We are blessed by you!  I keep thinking of one of my favorite verses, "Be still and know that I am God."  I know that God is in charge here.  He has the steering wheel and He will lead us out of this small valley.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid." John 14:27

February 8, 6pm: I apologize for not updating for a few days.  I kept waiting for some better news to share.  Ellie actually is still very weak.  She cannot seem to recover from her surgery and her stay in the hospital.  She doesn't have an appetite and certainly isn't getting enough calories.  I am trying to sneak them in however I can.  Our kitchen is stocked with protein shakes, malts, Boost, Ensure, PediaSure... anything to get some calories in Ellie.  But she always takes a few bites/sips of things and then says she's full. 

She is scheduled to have a follow-up visit with our surgeon on Thursday.  I am going to call him Monday morning and see if we can get in sooner.  I'll keep you posted on that.

Here is a picture of Ellie with some sweet things she received from her Sunday School class.  The class made signs that said, "God Bless Ellie",  "We Love Ellie", and "Get Well Ellie".  All of the kids signed them and they took pictures of the kids holding up the signs.  Ellie received the signs and the photos in the mail.  Ellie loves the pictures and carries them around all day.  When she sleeps, they are on her nightstand.  Thank you so much to the preschool Sunday School class at Christ Lutheran!  It was a very sweet gesture and Ellie loves it!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.  I went to watch Lexie dance this weekend at a ballgame and I was stopped every few feet by someone asking about Ellie and telling me they were praying for her.  It is an amazing feeling to be so enveloped by well wishers.  We have certainly been blessed with an incredible network around us.  Thank you!!

We will keep you updated on Ellie's strength and her recovery.

"You armed me with strength for battle."  2 Samuel 22:40

February 6, 2pm: Ellie is doing good.  She is just so weak and frail still.  She doesn't seem to be recovering as quickly as they said she would.  Her surgeon felt that by Thursday (yesterday), she would be well enough to go to preschool.  She is not close to being able to go anywhere.  One thing we are dealing with is that she just doesn't have much of an appetite.  Nothing sounds good to her.  Whenever anything does sound good, we will run to the grocery store and grab anything she wants.  But then she will take one bite and be done.  I am scared to weigh her because I think she has actually lost more weight.  It's hard to bounce back when you aren't eating! 

This picture shows Ellie last night on the way to bed.  We were heading upstairs when I got sidetracked with one of the other kids.  When I turned back around, Ellie was asleep on the stairs.  She gets tired very easily!

Thank you for your continued prayers.  I know God will see us through this.  I am prayerful that Ellie will begin to get her appetite and strength back. We have faith that she will begin getting stronger very soon.

"And who of you by worrying can add a single hour to life?"  Luke 12:25

February 4, 11am: Ellie seems to be stronger today.  She is talking a lot more and much more animated.  She is still quite weak, but certainly better than she has been.

The picture today is of Ellie among some of the cards she has received from other children.  I love the things that Ellie receives from other kids because they are so heart-felt.  Having a child write, "Ellie, Jesus loves you!" in sweet handwriting is so touching.  Ellie loves these cards and notes.  She has me read them to her over and over. 

Several parents have told me that their children pray for Ellie and that it is so much different for the kids than praying for an adult who is sick.  When it is "one of their own", children are more affected.  I would love to think that God might use Ellie's illness to help other kids talk to Him more in prayer.  It would be wonderful to have God use Ellie in that way.

Thank you so much to Ellie's classmates at Messiah Lutheran Preschool for all of the cards.  Ellie loves them!  Thanks to Christ Schools for the packet of notes and the book.  They are very moving and precious.  Thanks to Patty and Ellie's friends at daycare for Ellie's "Get Well" book.  She loves to look through it!  And thank you to the neighborhood kids who have walked over with gifts, cards, and flowers for Ellie.  What an incredible neighborhood we have moved into!

God has surround Ellie with such an incredible network.  We are very appreciative.

This morning I am also so thankful that Ellie is only dealing with the recovery of this surgery.  Last January when she had her tumor and kidney removed, we helped her heal from that surgery with the knowledge that she would soon start radiation and chemo.  It was a bit daunting.  This time, we know she only needs to recover from the surgery and then simply get stronger.  It's not nearly as overwhelming.  I have to tell you, when we were in the hospital last week and they were doing tests to figure out what was wrong with Ellie, I just kept praying that it not be cancer again.  The thought of starting radiation and chemo again is almost more than I can bear.  I cannot imagine putting Ellie through everything again.  I thank God that we don't have to.

God has truly been so amazing to us.  We are blessed beyond belief.  I am so thankful to all of you for your support, prayers, thoughts, notes, cards, ...  thank you!!

This verse was in one of the cards the kids sent, "...He who watches over you will not slumber."  Psalm 121:3

February 3, 1pm: Ellie is a little better today.  Still very weak.  But her spirits are better. She is still struggling to walk, but she is willing to try more than she was yesterday.  Ellie lost about 5 pounds last week.  I know that doesn't sound like much, but when you are 30 pounds to start with, that's like losing almost 20% of your body weight in a week!  It will just take her some time to recover.  

I told her I thought we needed a fun project to make us feel better so she and I decided to paint her room.  She has been wanting us to paint her room since we moved in in August.  We had all of the supplies and were just waiting for some time to do it.  With us being home all week to take care of Ellie, we have nothing but time!  She got very excited about the idea of painting her room and it really seemed to make her feel better.  Here she is painting away.

Thanks so much for your continued thoughts, prayers and support.  It means the world to us!  I will update later today to let you know how she is.

Allow me to share with you a quote my friend Sara sent to me today:  "The will of God will never take us where the grace of God cannot protect us."

February 2, 10am: Ellie is doing good.  She is just so weak.  After being so sick for 3 days before she went to the hospital and then laying in a hospital bed for a week - she is just fragile now.  She also didn't eat for 5 days in there.  She is so thin and weak.

She needs to walk, but she doesn't want to.  The doctor told us she needs to be up several times a day walking.  She cries whenever we try to have her walk and she tells us her legs are too tired.  We are slowly working on getting her stronger.  The doctor has told us that she will need this week to recover and we are planning on just taking care of her this week and building her back up.

On a positive note, the rash on her tummy is better and doesn't seem to be bothering her.  And the rattling in her lungs is much less. 

Now that things have quieted down a little, allow me to express my gratitude to all of you for everything you have done for us over the last week.  We have received so many calls, e-mails, cards....  it has been amazing. 

And, of course, thank you for the prayers.  We feel so uplifted.  It has allowed us to simply focus on Ellie and not worry.  We know we are enveloped in prayer and it allows us to deal with the task at hand.  In fact, we had several nurses tell us they enjoyed coming into our room at the hospital because we were so calm.  They said they were used to working with stressed out parents.  We could be calm because of the prayers that surrounded us.  We were also calm because we know that God never left us.  He held Ellie in His hand through all of this.  He knew she was going to have this set-back.  In fact, He knows how this story is going to end.  It is not for us to second guess, worry, be stressed....  it is our job to simply trust in God and believe in His plan. 

And we do trust Him.  We know God only wants the best for us and will guide us down the right path.  We trust Him and His plan for us.

This verse conveys that wonderfully.  It was sent to Ellie by a sweet little girl named Emma.  Ellie received it in the mail written on pretty pink paper.  Her mom said that Emma picked this verse out all by herself and wrote it out for Ellie in her best penmenship: "Never will I leave you.  Never will I forsake you."  Hebrews 13:5

January 31, 10pm: We have Ellie at home and she is doing pretty good.  She seems so fragile and weak.  She is very thin and she tires easily.

She also has developed a reaction to the surgical tape they used over her incision.  Her tummy has broken out in a red rash that itches her terribly.  There isn't much they can do for her.  They took the tape off, but don't want us to use any lotions because they could seep into her incision and cause infection.  We have a prescription for something she drinks every 12 hours.  That doesn't seem to help a whole lot and it seems to wear off too quickly.  We are hoping her rash is better tomorrow. 

I will write more tomorrow.  Thank you for your prayers and support!

January 31, 10am: The doctor just left our room and has released Ellie to go home.  Her temperature broke during the night and she doesn't seem to have as much rattling in her lungs.  I had her up and walking about four times this morning.  That also seemed to help her.

Here is a picture of the kids this morning after Tom and the older kids arrived at the hospital.

We'll update after we get home today and let you know how Ellie's homecoming goes.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers!!

January 30, 5pm: Just a quick update: although we were hopeful that Ellie could go home tonight, she will stay in the hospital one more night.  She has a fever she cannot seem to break and she still has the rattling in her lungs.  They felt one more night would be beneficial. 

We, of course, want whatever's best for Ellie.  So I will stay with Ellie in the hospital tonight.  Tom just left for Lincoln to be with our other kids.  We have been taking turns staying in the hospital each night.  It takes a bit of juggling to have one child in the hospital in Omaha and two others going to school in Lincoln.  Each night, one of us leaves and attends games and performances that the older kids have and then we take them to school in the morning and head to Omaha.  Each day Tom and I have spent the day with Ellie.  The next night, the other parent heads to Lincoln.  We are looking forward to rejoining our family together this weekend!

Here is a picture from today.  My good friends came  to Omaha today and stole me for lunch.  It was very nice to be out in the "real world"!  Thank you Julie, Sara & Vicki!

I will update later tonight.  The doctor will be stopping by later to give us an update on Ellie's progress.

January 29, 11pm: I am sorry I have not updated yet today.  We had a very big day! 

First, Ellie's little system is working.  Her reattached small intestine seems to be performing.  The doctor was happy with all of the "stuff" coming out of Ellie.  Because of that, he allowed her to start eating some food.  Ellie had a blast picking out her menu.  She hasn't had solid food in 5 days and she wanted one of everything.  It was great to see her eat!

We also were able to get rid of the oxygen mask.  Ellie had been taking such shallow breaths and not getting enough oxygen.  Because of that, she had to have oxygen on for the last few days.  Today, she was doing much better on her own and was able to take it off.

She took four separate walks today, too.  We would walk around our floor and visit the playroom.  The walks really seemed to do her some good. 

If Ellie continues to improve at the rate she currently is, we may be able to go home Friday night or Saturday morning.  We are anxious to get home! 

I will update you more tomorrow.  Before I go, allow me share a great passage with you.  On this site, our friend Brent referenced it on a comment he posted.  We looked it up and really liked it.  Here it is:

"Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasing God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  Isaiah 40: 28-31

January 28, 10pm: Ellie is doing good.  She still has the tube going down her throat and cannot eat.  She doesn't like that.  And she still has the rattling in her lungs.  She seems to be coughing quite a bit more and is hopefully getting rid of some of the stuff in her lungs. 

One good sign: the nurses can hear gurgling in her abdomen.  We are waiting for her system to begin working and that is a sign that it is.

Here is a picture of Ellie with me tonight.  I actually celebrated my birthday in the hospital today.  Not exactly how I planned to spend this day!  But, I feel like I really got a gift.  I have Ellie on the road to recovery.  I just keep thinking of all of the positives: we caught this in time; we have an amazing surgeon who saved her life (twice!); we have one of the best Children's Hospitals in the country just down the road from us; we have an incredible group of family and friends who are helping us so much; ....  I could go on and on! 

I know that we are truly blessed.  That may sound strange coming from a mom of a child who has had two major surgeries before her fourth birthday, but I feel so incredibly blessed.  Thank you to all of you who are leaving comments for us on this site.  I love reading them at the hospital.  They truly give us strength.  And for all of the phone calls, e-mails, texts, ...  we are humbled by all of you who have truly shown us what it means to reach out to others.  We are very grateful!

"For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust." Psalm 71:5

* An answer to prayer!  I was just finishing typing this and ready to hit "Publish", when Ellie's surgeon came in and examined Ellie and decided to take out the tube going down her throat.  That tube was so irritating to her.  We are thankful to have it out!  Ellie should get a great night's sleep now.  I'll update tomorrow.

January 28, 2:30pm: Just a quick update: Ellie is doing very good. She is much more alert today. Below is a picture of her from this morning. We took her out for a ride around the hospital in a wagon.

The only concern they are having right now is that they want to keep Ellie's lungs clear.  They can hear a little rattling going on in there.  They are having her blow bubbles to keep her taking deep breaths.  They also want to have her sitting up as much as possible and even walking.  We did walk around the room a little bit and Ellie didn't like it at all.  We will try again later.

The other thing we are dealing with is that Ellie has a tube going through her nose and into her stomach.  They are pumping out all of the fluid that had accumulated in her system when her intestine was blocked.  Because of that, Ellie is not able to eat or drink anything.  She is starting to ask for some of her favorite foods and cannot understand why we won't feed her.  We are hopeful that she can get rid of that tube later on tonight or tomorrow morning.

I will update tonight.  Thanks for your continued prayers and support!

January 27, 10pm: Ellie had a very restful day. She is on morphine and was able to sleep most of the day. The surgeon came in and felt she was doing very well as far as recovery. We now need to allow her time to heal and allow her body time to begin "waking up" as the nurses say. Basically, we need her intestines to wake and begin working. They need to see that her rejoined intestine will perform the function it needs to and that food moves through her body. The doctor told us that all of that will take quite a bit of time. Ellie will not be able to even start eating or drinking until at least Thursday. And she will be very sore for the next few days too.

I wanted to share a few photos with you from the last 24 hours:

Ellie in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

Wheeling her away for surgery.

After surgery.

Mustering a smile tonight.

Ellie is being remarkably brave about everything. She is letting the nurses and doctors do whatever they need to do without complaint. I am, once again, amazed at her courage.

We will continue to update tomorrow. Their goal is to get her up and walking. That seems like quite a feat right now, but I am sure she will be much more alert and strong tomorrow.

I cannot tell you how enveloped in prayer we feel. I think you have managed to surround the entire hospital with your prayers. Thank you. We know we could not face any of this without, first of all God, and then without the support of all of you. It is more meaningful to us than you will ever know. We are extremely blessed!

If you look at the left hand side of this website, you'll see the verses we found for the hospital room we had for Ellie's last surgery. This time she is in room 623. It proved to be a more difficult task to find an appropriate verse for that number. We decided to get creative and transpose numbers. We were then able to claim Psalm 23:6: "Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

January 27, 6am: We had an unexpected day yesterday. We went to our doctor to see what he could figure out with Ellie's vomiting and tummy aches. He sent us to the hospital in Lincoln. Through a series of tests, it was discovered that Ellie had an obstruction in her small intestine. They wouldn't know more until they did an exporatory surgery. It was decided that we would head back to Omaha to see the surgeon who performed the surgery to remove her tumor and kidney. They felt that the obstruction had something to do with scar tissue from that original surgery and wanted that surgeon to take a look.

They decided to move Ellie by ambulance from Lincoln to Omaha since she was already hooked up to a few machines. I ran home to quickly grab an overnight bag and come back to ride in the ambulance with her. One funny thing: I asked Ellie what she wanted me to bring from home for her and she said, "Just fireworks." Not sure where that came from, but it certainly did lighten the mood!

By the time we got Ellie in the ambulance, she was in a lot of pain. She was going down hill quickly. They had put a tube down her nose and into her stomach and they where pumping out quite a bit of green-ish black liquid. She had bile backed up in her system. They had been pumping it out for hours and there was still more. She handled the ambulance ride pretty well, except that it was very bumpy and she was in pain.

When we arrived in Omaha, we were met by Ellie's surgeon. We have great confidence in this man and trusted what he had to say. He quickly examined Ellie and said that she needed surgery right now. This was about 7pm. He said there is a saying in medical school: "Don't ever let the sun set on an abdominal obstruction." So Ellie was prepped for surgery.

Tom and I could not believe we were going through this again. It was very deja-vu. To be at Children's Hospital and to be getting Ellie ready for surgery again was something we would have never expected when we started the day.

We stood in that same hallway right outside of the surgery area and said goodbye to Ellie again. They promised to take good care of her. I had to watch them wheel my baby away again for surgery. I just couldn't believe it.

The surgeon appeared about 90 minutes later to say the surgery was over. He told us what he found out: Ellie had some scar tissue from her original surgery and a band of scar tissue had wrapped itself around Ellie's small intestine forming a loop with the intestine. The scar tissue had pinched off the intestine and it was completely dead in that loop. He had to cut out 2 feet of her small intestine (he said it was about 1/4 of her entire small intestine). He re-attached the two ends together. While he was in there, he also took out her appendix. He said the appendix has no known function and he wanted to try to minimize Ellie having future abdominal surgeries by removing her appendix.

Our surgeon told us that we were very lucky that we caught it so quickly. He felt the intestine was close to bursting. If that happened, it would leak bile into her body and we would have had a very sick child.

We were then able to go see Ellie and she actually looked good. Her color had been so bad before the surgery and she was in much pain. She now looked much better and was resting comfortably.

She had a really good night. She is, of course, on quite a bit of pain medication and mostly sleeping. About 2:30am, she decided she had had enough of the tube down her throat and she pulled that out. So the nurses had to put it back in, which Ellie didn't like. But otherwise she had a restful night.

We were told to expect about a week's stay in the hospital. They want to make sure that Ellie's body is functioning well and that her newly joined intestine is performing properly before they will release her.

I don't have any pictures for you today because I am in the hospital on a laptop. But I will get some up here soon. I will also continue to update you on Ellie's progress.

Thank you so much to our family and friends who continued to text and call us all night. We are so thankful for the prayers and support! We thank God that we caught this quickly and that it appears Ellie will have a full recovery.

Thank you to our friend Rhonda who sent this verse to Tom last night as we waited for Ellie's surgery to be done: "Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup. You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me, even at night my heart instructs me, I have set the Lord always before me, because He is my right hand, I will not be shaken." Psalm 16:5-8

Here is a picture Tom took with his phone when we were in the ER on Saturday. 

I'll update as soon as we know anything.  Thank you so much for your continued prayers!

January 25, 1pm: Just a quick update to let you know what is happening in our house.  We spent the better part of yesterday in the emergency room with Ellie.  She suddenly started yelling that her tummy hurt.  She fell to the floor and was rolling around in pain.  She started saying, "Mommy, I need a doctor!"  Now, I have to tell you, Ellie can handle quite a bit of pain because of everything she has been through.  When she says she is in pain, I believe her and know that she is serious.  I grabbed her, pajama-clad, and threw her in the car and took her to the emergency room.  During our ride, she began throwing up continously.  Once we got to the emergency room, she began passing out.  She was extremely lethargic and couldn't keep her eyes open.  They did some tests on her and couldn't find anything wrong.  We had just had a CT scan 10 days ago, so we felt confident that they weren't going to find any surprises and they didn't.  They couldn't see anything that would be causing her problems.  They sent us home last night and told us to keep an eye on her and to come back to the emergency room if we needed to.  Otherwise, we are to go to our doctor on Monday. 

I stayed up with Ellie all night and she continued to throw up.  She would sleep for awhile and then wake up and throw up.  She would then go back to sleep.  That went on all night.  This morning, she is still complaining of stomach pain - just not as severly as she was yesterday. She is also still throwing up - just not as frequently.  We are hopeful that it is something simple, like stomach flu, and not something more serious.  (Can you believe we are hoping for stomach flu?!)

We will keep a close watch on her and keep you updated.  Thanks so much for any prayers you can send her way!

January 23, 3pm: Ellie is doing really good right now.  For some reason, her appetite has increased and she seems to be eating quite a bit more.  We are thankful for that!

A year ago, we were just starting radiation.  Radiation was one of my least favorite things during this journey.  It just seemed so cruel.  I know it was necessary and only helped Ellie, but I didn't like the process.

Originally, we were told we would have 20 days in a row of radiation.  In the end, they decided 6 days would suffice.  That was a blessing! 

For radiation, Ellie had to be in the room by herself, we couldn't be with her.  So we would get her all set in the room and then leave.  She would have to lay on this metal bed in this huge room, which was very sterile and cold.  It would take them a long time to line up exactly where Ellie should lay and where radiation would be administered.  After they had her all lined up, Ellie would have to lay perfectly still and we would all leave.  We could watch from a window.  Ellie looked so small in that room.  She only took up a fourth of the metal bed she was strapped to.  She would listen to the doctors and not move a muscle, but she would have a few tears that slowly fell down the side of her face as she laid there.   It was heart-breaking!

While she received radiation, we could talk to her through an intercom system.  I would read her books or just tell her stories.  Anything to take her mind off of what was happening. 

One of the reasons I didn't care for radiation is that it started so soon after surgery (which I know it needed to), but Ellie was so bruised and had many bright red scars on her body.  For radiation, they added to this by putting "X"s wherever they needed to administer radiation.  They put these "X"s on with a Sharpie.  She was already so beaten up and then they took a marker and wrote on my baby in angry looking "X"s.  I just wanted to grab Ellie and take her out of there!  Of course, everyone who worked in the radiation department was incredible and the technology is amazing.  I am not saying anything negative about any of that, I simply didn't want it done to my child.

The reason radiation needed to be done was to kill any microscopic cancer cells.  We had taken the tumor out and any little cancer cells that the surgeon could see, but we knew there were cells that we could not see.  They would radiate the area where her tumor had been and where any other cancer cells had been found.  It was a necessity to do the radiation.

After a radiation appointment, Ellie would begin throwing up.  Even with her prescription anti-nausea medicine, she would throw up many times.  She didn't get a break from this because radiation has to be done continuously.  So every day we would go back and subject her to this again.  One of the days that she had radiation, she also had chemo.  It was a long 6 days and quite a bit for a 2 1/2 year old!

One thing that I thought was interesting about radiation is that it stunts your growth a little bit.  So Ellie will be a tiny bit shorter than she would have normally been.  Because of this, they tried to do radiation evenly across her body so that she will not be lopsided. 

Because of the placement of her tumor, radiation had to be done very close to Ellie's right ovary.  As much as they tried not to, they had to damage that ovary and it might be difficult for Ellie to have children someday.  That is a tough one for a mom to take.  But I know that Ellie will not be dealing with that for 20-some years and we will cross that bridge when we get to it.  She will still have one good ovary and who knows what medical technology will have in store for us by that time. 

We are so extremely thankful to be talking about radiation a year later versus going through it.  We are grateful to be on the other side.  We are also grateful for your continued prayers and support.  I know I have said this before, but you cannot imagine how wonderful it is to go through your day and be stopped by people who ask about Ellie and tell me they are praying for us.  That is an amazing thing!   Thank you!!

We are thankful that God has truly answered our prayers.

"Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; by merciful to me and answer me."  Psalm 27:7

January 15, 2pm: Ellie's hospital visit yesterday went well.  It was just a long day for her.  She could not have anything in her tummy so we started the day with a hungry girl.  She was a good sport about it, though.

Here she is starting her adventure at the hospital at the wishing pond.

The nurses had her drink contrast liquid so things would show up well on her CT scan.  While she was in the process of drinking that, she had a check-up, they flushed her port, did blook work, and they put an IV in.  The IV was probably the hardest part of her day because they could not find a vein in her tiny hands.  They tried several and said that her veins are getting scarred from using them so much.  It was difficult to find one that worked.  While the nurses were trying several different veins, Ellie was not happy.  She cried a lot and kept saying, "Please don't do this!"  It just broke my heart.  Here she is getting the IV out, which was a much easier process.

After she drank the contrast liquid for 90 minutes, she had a CT scan.  She was great during this and laid perfectly still.  Here she is during the scan.

From her scan, we learned that everything looks really good.  They aren't seeing anything suspicious show up in the area where her tumor was and it all looks clean.  We were given the ok to schedule the surgery to remove her port.  That will most likely happen in February.  We are so excited!!

The only thing that is bothering the doctor a little bit is Ellie's weight.  We looked back in her charts and she is about the same weight that she was when she started this journey last January.  She lost quite a bit of weight during surgery, chemo and radiation.  She is now back to her starting weight - which is great - but she is now a year behind.  She weighs the same at 3 1/2 as she did at 2 1/2.  At her age, you just can't take a year off of weight gain.  But she has grown 2 inches in this year so her calories may just be going to her height.  They are going to watch her growth closely. 

We will keep you updated on when the surgery will be.  I just can't believe we may be closing the chapter on chemo and the port.  It really didn't seem like this year would ever get over.  We are so thankful that the doctors feel Ellie will not need any more chemo and that she is coming out of this long tunnel.   We thank God that he has lead us through this journey and hasn't left us for a minute.   

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.  It means so much to us!  Truly, we are very, very blessed!!

"Praise the Lord."  Psalms 113:9

January 11, 6pm:  Just a quick update to let you know that Ellie is doing really good.  A year ago, we would have been out of the hospital for a few days and we had a week to recover before starting chemo and radiation.  Radiation was truly one of my least favorite things in this whole journey.  I'll tell you all about that next week.

For now, we head to the hospital on Wednesday.  Ellie is getting many scans and tests.  It will be a full day for her.  But, the good news is, if everything looks good, they are going to schedule the surgery to take her port out.  That will probably happen in February.  That will be such a milestone for us.  It will mean that the doctors feel she will not need to go back to chemo.  We will also be glad to see it go for Ellie's sake.  Although she is used to living with a port, it hurts her when someone bumps it.  It is located near her armpit, so whenever you lift her up, you can feel it.  It's difficult to not accidently bump it or push against it too hard when we are lifting her.  She'll say, "You hurt my port!"  We will be glad to close the chapter on the port!

Today, I took Ellie to see the Sesame Street show that came to town (that's where she is in the picture).  At the end of the show, she turned to me and said, "Ok, let's go meet Elmo!"  I had to laugh because she had gotten so accustomed to meeting the characters at Disney World on our Make-A-Wish trip, that she thought we would do that today too.  At Disney, each show was followed by a backstage visit for Ellie.  She now just assumes that that is what we do after a show.  I told her that we would not be going backstage to meet Elmo.  She said, "But we always meet the people!"  Make-A-Wish was so good to us!  But I have to say, it was fun to be a "normal" person and not have a special issue that allowed us to go backstage.

Thanks for all of your support and prayers!  We will update and let you know how our appointment on Wednesday goes.  We are praying that all goes well and we can schedule the removal of the port. 

"I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us."  Isaiah 63:7

January 4, 10pm: A year ago today, Ellie had her surgery.  All day, I have been thanking God for allowing her to be with us today.  It seemed so unsure on Jan. 4th last year.  I know you can go to the beginning of our journal and read about the surgery, so I won't bore you with all of the details, but I will tell you a bit about how we were feeling.

We checked into the hospital at 10am for a noon surgery.  We had many scans and tests as they checked Ellie in and prepared her for surgery.  As noon approached, we were told the surgery before us was taking longer than expected and we would be starting mid-afternoon instead.  We had been in a small room waiting with Ellie and we asked if we could go out into the big lobby to wait.  Ellie was then able to run around and play with Mitchell and Lexie.  We were also joined by my parents, Tom's parents and Tom's sisters.  We all played with Ellie in the large lobby.  Ellie was in a great mood.

Finally, they came and got us about 4pm.  Our families were able to say good-bye to Ellie. Tom and I took her back to the pre-surgery area.  We gave her hugs told her how much we loved her and then we had to lay her on one of those rolling beds.  They promised to take good care of her and they began walking away with my baby.  I didn't know if she would make it through surgery and I couldn't believe I was letting them take her.  We watched her being wheeled down the hall.  They had given Ellie something to relax her, so the departure was easy for her - thankfully.  For me, it wasn't so easy.  I completely broke down.  I began sobbing and Tom had to hold me up. 

Tom and I stood in that hallway for some time. We prayed together and had some alone time.  Finally, we went back to the lobby to wait with family.  Shortly after they started the surgery, we were called into an office.  A scan of Ellie had shown a lump on her lung and they needed our approval to remove it.  If that lump was cancerous, that would mean she would have cancer in her kidney and her lung and her prognosis would be much worse.  We gave our permission and went back to wait.  Every hour, a nurse would come out to the lobby to give us an update.  Ellie's surgery ended up being 5 hours long.  Finally, the surgeon came out to tell us that the surgery was done and that Ellie was doing well.  He also had a camera with him and he told us he had taken pictures during the surgery.  He showed us a picture of Ellie after she had been opened up for surgery, but the tumor was still in her.  It was huge!  We could not believe that had been in her.  He showed us another picture after the tumor was removed.  She had a big opening inside of her and her organs are all pushed to one side.  They had been so crowded with the tumor in there.  We thanked him for saving Ellie and for being so thorough.  We know that cancer can be microscopic and he spent extra time making sure they had every little bit. 

They let us know that Ellie was on her way to Intensive Care and we could join her there.  We finally got to see her.  She was hooked up to many machines and she looked so tiny.  Our family members each get a chance to see her for a minute and then they left for the night.  I stayed with Ellie that night.  They only had a hard bench for me to sleep on in her room, but I didn't care.  I couldn't leave her. 

Neither Ellie or I slept much as she cried out a lot during the night.  She wanted me to hold her.  I wanted so much to pick her up and comfort her, but she was hooked up to too many machines.  I could only rub her and talk to her.  That night, I laid there and listened to the machines beeping in the other children's rooms who were in the ICU.  When one would start beeping a certain way, all of the nurses would go running into that child's room.  I could hear them working on different children and, for some of the kids, trying to keep them alive.  During the night, a helicopter landed on the roof and a new child was brought into ICU.  It was amazing to me what those nurses do every day.  It was very intense.  Thankfully, Ellie did not have any problems during the night.   Sometime during the night, our surgeon came in to check on Ellie.  He had just finished a surgery that he had started after Ellie's.  He had done 3 surgeries on children that day - each lasting about 5 hours.   Again, I was just amazed by what these medical personnel do on a daily basis.  We thank God for them!

So that was our day a year ago.  It was a long, exhausting day with so much emotion.  But we were thankful to have the opportunity to save Ellie.  Just a few short years ago, medical technology was not as advanced as it is now and who knows if we would have had the same outcome.  We thank God that He allowed us to find her cancer and that we had the technology to remove the tumor.

The pictures I am including today are of Ellie in ICU at this time last year.  I am writing this at 10pm and that is about when Ellie arrived in ICU.  The other picture is of her today after church. 

I have to tell you how we ended our night last year.  Early in the morning, the phone in our room rang.  Tom and I had been communicating by cell phones, so I couldn't imagine who would be calling our room.  I answered and a voice loudly proclaimed, "God is so good!"  I said, "Yes, He is!"  The lady on the other end, hearing my voice, realized she had the wrong number.  I assured her that it was a wonderful mistake because it was a great way to start our day.  Ellie and I were alone in the room as the sun was rising and that long night was ending.  It felt great to be reminded - even by a stranger - that God is indeed so good!!

"Weeping may remain for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30:5

January 3, 11am: We are so thankful to welcome in 2009!  Although we learned a lot during 2008 and had so many positives and blessings, it's still nice to get a fresh start.   I'm sure we'll remember 2008 as our "cancer year."  That is, thankfully, behind us.

Last year on Jan. 3rd, Ellie had been diagnosed and we were waiting for our upcoming doctor's appointment, which was still several days away.  Our appointment was to consult with the doctor who would do Ellie's surgery.   The waiting was very difficult.  We knew Ellie had this tumor inside of her and we just wanted it out.  Suddenly, on the 3rd, we received a call from Children's Hospital and the surgeon had an opening that afternoon.  They wanted to know if we could come to Omaha right away.  Of course we said yes and dropped everything. 

When we sat down with the doctor, he showed us Ellie's tumor on film.  He explained the surgery and told us what the process would be.  He is the only doctor at Children's Hospital who removes Wilm's Tumors.  He said he sees about 3-4 cases a year.  It's not very common.  As we talked about getting the surgery scheduled, the surgeon said, "What are you doing tomorrow?"  He happened to have an opening and he said "Let's get that tumor out of her."  We agreed!

We ran home and frantically packed.  We knew we would be in the hospital for about a week.  We called and got the kids out of school for the next day as we knew they would want to be there with us.  We called our families and many of them made plans to join us the next day.  And we created this website that night.  Very last minute.  We wanted a way to disperse information quickly.  I really never expected anyone besides a few family members to get on it!

As we got ready that night, we had a flood of emotions.  We were so excited to get the tumor out, but we also knew we were facing a major surgery.  We were very nervous and anxious about the next day.  I don't think Tom and I slept at all.

I will update tomorrow and tell you about our long surgery day last year on Jan. 4th. 

I also wanted to update you on our Make-A-Wish fundraiser.  We made it!  Thank you so much to everyone who contributed.  We are very excited that we are going to help fund the wish of another child.  I will keep you updated on where our money will go.  I am excited to find out how they will use it!  How wonderful that another child will be blessed.

A special thank you to all who joined our fund-raising efforts: Kim, Tracy, Janet, Michelle, Diane, Jenny, Jan, Amy, Sue, Wendy, Rita, Becky, Addie, Rita, Kim, Patricia, Kathy, Ann, Judy, Jamie, Nancy, Annie, Rhonda, Cynthia, Sally, Susan, Kay, Darla, Valarie, Becky, Jacqueline, Norma, Laura, Christina, Melony, Jennifer, Kelly, Cheryl, Patty, Bonnie, Allison, Nicci, Amy, Kerry, and Audrey.  We are very grateful to all of you.  Your generousity, kindness and compassion is overwhelming.  Thank you.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills - from where will my help come?  My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth."  Psalm 121:1-2

December 28th, 7pm: Today is the anniversary of Ellie's diagnosis.  One year ago today we learned she had cancer.  Allow me to tell you what our day was like last year. 

Over the Christmas break, I had been reading to Ellie and was rubbing her tummy.  I felt a lump.  We decided to take her into our doctor to see if it was anything serious.  He felt the lump and wasn't sure what it was, but wanted us to go to the hospital and have an ultrasound.  We went straight to the hospital and had the ultrasound.  As we arrived back home, the hospital was calling and wanted us to come back in the morning for a CT scan.  That was the first time we felt this might be serious.  We went back to the hospital the next morning and had the CT scan.  During the scan, Tom and I were able to be in the room with Ellie while the technician was in a separate room behind glass.  During the scan, Tom and I both happened to look back at the technician and we both saw his face drop as he looked at the screen.  He didn't have a very good poker face and we could tell that he saw something bad.  He came out of the room and was visibily shaken.  He told us he couldn't tell us anything, but that our doctor would call us soon.  He then told the nurse to get Ellie a gift.  She came back with a small teddy bear.  He said, "That's not good enough!  She needs a much better prize!"  We assured him that the bear was great and we left.  We were almost to the parking garage when the technician came running up behind us.  In scrubs, he had run through the entire hospital to get to us and give Ellie a better gift.  He had a huge box in his hand which held a beautiful baby doll.  He told us that she deserved a wonderful gift.  At the time, we thought that was a bit strange, but now we know that he had seen the tumor in Ellie.

After we got home from the CT scan, we received a call from our doctor and he asked us to come into his office to talk.  That was another sign to us that this wasn't good.   Now, let me tell you about Ellie's doctor.  He is a good friend of Tom's.  They were fraternity brothers in college and have known each other for years.  He had the unenviable task of telling his friend that his daughter had cancer.  We felt bad for him that he had to be the one to tell us, but we were also glad to have a friend tell us.  He took all of the time we needed and answered all of our questions.  In his career, this was his first case of Wilms Tumor, which is kidney cancer.  We learned that the lump I felt on Ellie's tummy was a large tumor that had started in her kidney (which are on the back of the body) and had grown through her body to be making that lump on her tummy.  We learned that the tumor had completely destroyed her kidney and that her body had been functioning on one kidney.  We were told that she would need surgery to remove the tumor and the kidney and we were given the date of an appointment with a specialist at Children's Hospital in Omaha.

I remember the drive home from the doctor's office.  People were out having fun... shopping, walking around, sledding... enjoying Christmas break.  I remember thinking, "What's wrong with all of you people?  Don't you know my child has cancer?!"  I couldn't believe the world was going on as normal.

We got home and sat Mitchell and Lexie down.  It was hard for them to comprehend that Ellie was so sick.  We sat at the kitchen table and talked for as long as they wanted.  They had many questions and we didn't have very many answers. 

We then started the phone calls to family and friends.  The first call I made was to my mom.  As soon as I heard her voice, I began sobbing.  I couldn't get any words out.  I heard her keep asking, "What? What?" but I couldn't talk.  Tom had to take the phone and tell her that Ellie had cancer.  We spent the rest of the evening and the next day making phone calls.  Tom did the majority of them since I was having trouble telling the story.  Each phone call brought new tears.  Just when we thought we were composed, we would re-tell the story to someone new and begin crying again.  I remember being in a bit of a fog.  It didn't seem like it was truly happening.  I could hear myself telling people that Ellie had cancer, but I don't think I was really believing it in my heart.  It seemed so unreal.  I was waiting to wake up from the nightmare or to get the call from the doctor's office that they had made a mistake.  But that call never came.

I really can't believe it's been a year since that day.  On one hand, it seems like just yesterday, but on the other hand, it seems like a lifetime ago.

We have learned so much during this year.  We have learned how truly great our God is.  He has blessed us immensely this year.  He has allowed us to learn many lessons.  We learned that God truly is full of love, mercy and grace.  He allowed us to keep Ellie.  We learned to lean on Him.  We learned to trust Him. 

We also learned to get our priorities in line.  We learned that you never know what the bend in the road may bring.  We are only promised today.  We learned to have faith and believe in miracles - against all odds.  We learned to see the positive and the blessings in all things.  Each day we had with Elile was a gift.  We knew that Ellie could have been taken from us at any point.  So any time we had with her was a gift.  Any time we had as a family was precious. 

We learned how truly amazing people are.  We could not have made it through this year without the prayers and support of those around us.  We always believed in the goodness of people, but this year showed us how incredible people truly are.  We are humbled by the generousity, compassion, and kindness of those around us - and of total strangers.  We were supported in a way we never expected.  It made us want to be better people. 

So thank you!  We are so grateful for the prayers, the cards, the gifts, the support, the kind words, the meals... everything.  You have blessed us.

"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."  Proverbs 3:5-6

 
 
Christmas Eve Day:

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!
 

"While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.  She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manager, because there was no room for them in the inn.  And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But he angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on who his favor rests.'"  Luke 2:6-14

December 19, 11am:  We went to the hospital on Wednesday for Ellie's monthly check-up.  I thought I would share with you a day in the life of Ellie on these days.  We are past anything too traumatic (like chemo or radiation) and are on to "easier" doctor visits (Ellie might disagree with that statement).  Since we don't have anything too graphic that we deal with anymore, I thought I would show you our day in pictures.  So here is our latest hospital visit:

Ellie has to wake up extra early to get to the hospital.

Ellie is a "big girl" (her words) and can take her anti-nausea medicine by herself.

I put numbing cream on her port so it won't hurt later when they put a needle in it.   

 Ellie's early morning drive to the hospital.  It takes us about an hour to get there.

We get to the hospital and Ellie gets weighed.  She has gained almost a pound since last month!

   
She also gets her height measured.  She grew a little bit!

Next she gets her blood pressure taken while they also take her temperature.

Ellie now has a little time to play a board game.

It's time to have her port accessed.  This is Ellie's least favorite part.  They need to put a needle in her port and draw blood out.  They also flush out her port.  During the flushing, Ellie gets a bad taste in her mouth.  The nurses say it tastes like pennies in your mouth during this.  

Smiles when it is all over and a band-aid is put on her port. 

Ellie has time to play again as we wait for the bloodwork report to come back.  She makes a new friend, Ava.  Ava was diagnosed with a form of leukemia in October.  Ellie and Ava are a week apart in age.  They decide to play that they are both doctors.

  
We go back in to see the doctor for a thorough check-up. 

After our appointment, we go to a fun restaurant and Ellie gets her favorite: garlic bread!

That was our day!  We were very thankful that Ellie had grown and that her bloodwork all came back looking great.  Next month, they have scheduled many scans and tests for Ellie.  It will be a full day and won't be as "easy" as this one was.

During this season, please say a special prayer for all of the kids who are in hospitals across the country as many of them will be spending Christmas in the hospital.  There are some amazing, brave kids facing some very scary things.  Please say a prayer for strength and peace for them and their families. 

We thank you for your continued prayers for us.  We are so grateful for your support.

This verse comes to you from Lexie: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28

December 14, 5pm: Forgive me for not updating for a week.  The time seems to be flying by right now, doesn't it?!  I will update more this week because we have a couple of events coming up.  First, Ellie goes in for her monthly hospital visit on Wednesday and then tomorrow, Ellie and I are going to be on the news doing a small interview about Make-A-Wish.  I'll let you know how both things go!

Speaking of time going fast, that is my biggest struggle right now.  Ellie was diagnosed last year right after Christmas and I promised myself that this year, I was going to slow down and truly enjoy the holidays.  I wouldn't rush so much or get caught up in buying presents, decorating the house, or all of the other activities that can get us sidelined from the real reason for Christmas.  Last year, I was so enveloped in all of those things and it all seemed important.  But then, just 3 days after Christmas, we were told that Ellie had cancer.  It made me really stop and think about what I had just spent the last several weeks focused on.  It was certainly a wake-up call. 

So this year, I was determined to focus on Jesus' birth; on my family; and on giving to others.  I still find myself being pulled in different directions, but I try to slow down and just refocus.  For example,  Ellie loves to redecorate the tree.  Now our tree has been decorated for weeks, but Ellie likes to pull the decorations off the bottom third of the tree and then she says to me, "Mom, let's decorate the tree again!"  Now, the old me would have (1) been upset that she "messed up" the tree or (2) been too busy to play the same silly game AGAIN.  But, this year, I happily sit down with her under the tree as she asks me, "Do you think we should put this bulb here or here?"  She loves to decorate it again and again.   Now, our tree is certainly not as pretty as it was when we first decorated it, but I just don't care.  I love Ellie's touches to it and the best part is that we are spending time together and having fun.  A "perfect" tree is simply not that important.

Neither are presents, the food we'll serve, the clothes we'll wear.... or all of the other trappings of the holidays.  It just isn't as important as Jeus being born.  Not even close!

In the children's message today at church, our Children's Director gave each of the children a small mirror that said, "I'll reflect Jesus!" on the back.  She explained to them that that is how we can show Jesus' love to others: by reflecting Jesus to them.  It can be easy things, like holding a door open for someone at a store.  Or sending a hand-written note to someone who would love the mail.  Or just extending courtesy to those around you.  Or sharing a smile with a stranger.  There are so many ways to reflect Jesus' love to others.  And we each have the power to share His love.

So let me share His love with you by thanking you and telling you how important you are to us.  We are blessed by your prayers.  We thank you for continuing to follow Ellie's story and supporting us.  We could not have endured this journey without you.  We are extremely appreciative to each of you.

"Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies."  Psalm 36:5

December 6, 9pm:  Ellie had a big day today.  First, we attended the Star City Parade this morning.  Make-A-Wish families were invited to view the parade from a skywalk above the street.  It was an incredible place to watch a parade (and very warm too!).  Here are Ellie and Lexie enjoying the view.

Next, Ellie had her Christmas program for preschool.  It was a sweet program.  Below is Ellie before the show.  I was the mom in the audience who kept crying.  I am sure those around me thought I must have been really moved by the program, but I just kept thinking how blessed I was to be sitting there.  To have Ellie be healthy and in a Christmas program.  It hasn't even been a year since she was diagnosed and there she was singing and doing her little actions.  It was amazing to me. 

Also today, an enormous tree was put up in the Old Post Office Pavilion in Washington DC.  It is covered in thousands of gold ribbons.  Each ribbon holds the name of a child who has battled cancer.  We purchased a ribbon and had Ellie's name put on it.  We had them inscribe, "In honor of Ellie who has bravely battled cancer.  You are our hero and we thank God for you."  After the tree comes down, they will send us the ribbon.

So, a big day today!  As I am writing this, Ellie is still twirling around in her dress from the Christmas program.  She refuses to take it off because she says she looks like a princesses (she even made Mitchell be the prince!).  

I am off to put her to bed and I will leave you with a verse my new friend Sally sent me in a card, "Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!"  Philippians 4:4

Thank you so much to all of you who are supporting our fund-raising efforts for Make-A-Wish!  I have had several people ask me to extend it past November since Thanksgiving snuck up on us.  So I will go into December with it.  We are only a few hundred dollars away from our goal of $1000!  Tom and I will match the $1000 so we can give $2000 to Make-A-Wish to help fund another child's wish.  If you want to contribute, details are on the entries below.  Thank you so much to: Kim, Traci, Janet, Michelle, Diane, Jenny, Jan, Amy, Sue, Wendy, Rita, Becky, Addie, Jennifer, Rita, Kim, Kelly, Patricia, Kathy, Ann, Judy, Jamie, Nancy, Annie, Rhonda, Cynthia, Sally, Susan, Darla & Kay!

As always, we thank you for your prayers and support.  We are very blessed by all of you and thank God daily for you.  In fact, tonight when I told Ellie it was time to say our prayers, she said, "Again?!"  To her it probably does seem like we are constantly thanking God, but we are so very grateful. 

Mitchell told me today that his favorite Psalm is Psalm 23.  Here's the first verse: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want." 

November 26, 2pm:  Happy Thanksgiving! 

Let me share a conversation with you that Ellie and I had.  I was explaining to her what Thanksgiving was.  I told her it was a day we came together and really expressed our gratitude.  I then told her the many things I am grateful for.  I asked her what she was thankful for.  She thought for a long time.  As she was thinking, I imagined what this little cancer survivor would say she was grateful for.  I imagined a very heart-felt, emotional answer.  She finally said, "I'm thankful for monkeys."  You gotta love 3-year-olds!

We have much to be thankful for.  During this journey, we have learned to be thankful for the little things.  Things like a healthy day or just some extra time together.  It doesn't need to be the big, grand things that we are thankful for.  Everyday holds many things to be grateful for.

There are small things everyday that should cause us gratitude.  But we have to slow down to see them.  I know that during these next 5 weeks, it will be hard to slow down.  It's hard not to get too busy.  But when we are so busy running here and there, we can't possibly notice all of the miralces and beauty around us.  If this journey has taught me nothing else, it has taught me to really appreciate what you have.  You never know what the bend in the road will bring.  Last year at Thanksgiving, we did not know that Ellie had a cancerous tumor growing in her.  I am sure I was concerned with what we were serving for the meal, what the decorations would be.... if only I had just appreciated the little 2-year-old who probably would have loved for me to simply play with her instead of run around trying to do too much.   We are only promised today.  And for being given today, we should be so grateful. 

We are also thankful for you.  During these last 11 months, we have been surrounded by such strong prayer warriors.  We are blessed to have God's people storming Heaven on our account.  We are so very grateful to all who have reached out to us.  Ellie's diagnosis left us devastated, but we were quickly lifted up by all of you.  We are forever grateful.

Most of all, we are thankful to God.  He allowed Ellie to be healed.  He continues to keep the cancer away.  He loves her with an everylasting love.  We know He never left her side thoughout this journey.

We wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever."  Psalm 118:1 

(Tom asked me to put all of Psalm 118 on here, but there isn't room - please read it when you get a chance)

November 24, 9pm: Ellie's doctor's appointment today went good.  They gave her a check-up and thought everything looked great.  In fact, she is getting taller and gaining weight. 

She had to have a few "pokes" today: she got part two of her flu shot; they flushed out her port; and they drew blood for her blood work-up.  She was a great patient, but she is getting tired of the shots.  Before they started, she said, "Please don't let them do this to me, Mommy!"  But she was a trooper and it was over quickly. 

The picture is of Ellie at the wish fountain at the hospital.  We always start there so Ellie can make some wishes first. 

We are so thankful that Ellie's check-ups continue to be positive.  We know there is a chance that the cancer will come back and we are extremely grateful for each month that the doctors tell us she looks good. 

Thanks for your continued prayers and support!  We are so blessed by you!!

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."  James 4:8

  
November 19, 2pm: Here is Ellie after she got out of the bath last night.  Lexie put her hair in a mohawk!

Ellie continues to do great.  In fact, she is gaining weight quickly.  She is back to 30 pounds.  She was 30 pounds before her surgery and the radiation and chemo that followed.  She lost almost 10 pounds and has been trying to gain that back ever since.  I think we are finally back to her starting weight!  She is feeling great and getting stronger. 

We go back to the hospital for a check-up on Monday.  I'll keep you updated.

Thanks to all of you who are supporting our fund-raising efforts for Make-A-Wish.  I appreciate the thoughts and prayers for our efforts - in addition to those who are contributing to the fund-raising.  We are getting closer and closer to our goal of raising $1000 through Mary Kay (details in the entries below).  Tom and I will then match that $1000 so that we can give $2000 to Make-A-Wish.  Thank you to those who have contributed: Kim, Traci, Janet, Michelle, Diane, Jenny, Jan, Amy, Sue, Wendy, Rita, Becky, Addie, Jennifer, Rita, Sally & Kim. 

Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers and support.  We feel so blessed.  For you to lift Ellie up and pray for her is amazing.  Thank you!  We are constantly reminded of how blessed we are by you. 

I just opened my Bible to find a verse for today and I opened to John 6:30, where a crowd is asking Jesus, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you?  What will you do?"  I think that verse is perfect because I think that even though we don't live in Bible times where big miracles were witnessed, we still have miracles happening all of the time.  Miracles happen around us every day.  We just have to believe.  I know Ellie's healing is a miracle.  I know medical technology is a miracle.  I know the fact that anyone found this little website - which we set up at the last-minute the night before we went into the hospital - is a miracle.  It's a miracle that God's people come together to pray for their own.  It's a miracle that today someone, somewhere will decide to trust in God and become a Christian.  Miracles are everywhere.  We just have to look for them.  And believe.

November 12, 10pm: Ellie is doing really good.  She is feeling great and has tons of energy.  We are so thankful!  God is granting wonderful healing.

Thank you so much to everyone who is supporting our Make-A-Wish fund-raising efforts through Mary Kay.  I met with Kiley, from Make-A-Wish, today and we discussed what we are trying to do through this website.  I am so excited to think that we might be able to help another child have a wish granted.  Thank you to all who are supporting us in this campaign.  All profits from my November Mary Kay sales will go to Make-A-Wish.  You can visit my site at: www.marykay.com/dvolk.   

I also want to thank all of you who are praying for Ellie.  I have to tell you, every day when we are out running errands or attending one of our children's events, we are approached by people who ask about Ellie and tell us they are praying for us.  It is an incredible way to go through a day.  Having people tell you they think of you and talk to God about you?!  It's amazing!  We have been incredibly blessed - thank you!

We also have funny moments each day.  Not a day goes by that Ellie doesn't get called "him" or "fella" or is somehow referred to as a boy.  She usually just looks at me and smiles.  We don't correct people because we don't want anyone to feel bad.  We just smile.  But every now and again, she gets tired of it.  The other day, a lady came up to me in a store and said, "What a good helper he is!", pointing to Ellie.  I said, "Yes, she is a good helper."  The woman continued, "He's a good boy."  I guess Ellie had had enough of this game, because she said, very loudly, "I'm a girl!"  But most of the time, she just smiles and then giggles later to me about someone thinking she's a boy.  Thankfully, she thinks it's funny and it doesn't hurt her feelings.

We are just thankful that Ellie is doing so well.  God had been so good.  I can get overwhelmed sometimes thinking about the "what if's" of this journey: What if they didn't get all of the cancer out during her surgery?  What if the cancer comes back?  What if she can't live on one kidney?....  but I just need to remember that God is in charge.  He knows where this journey is taking us and He knows the outcome.  He made Ellie and loves her.  He has plans for her that we don't know.  We just have to trust in Him.

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; that I know very well." Psalm 139:14

November 5, 2pm: Ellie continues to do great.  She is feeling wonderful and gaining strength.  We are going into cold and flu season, which makes me a little nervous because the smallest thing can be a setback for us, but I am confident we can go through these next few months staying healthy.

Tom & I have been doing a lot of thinking about ways we can start to return all of the kindness and generousity that has been shown to us.  We have been so immensely blessed during these last 10 months and we want to start to do good for others. 

Our first thought was to raise money for Make-A-Wish.  They were so incredible to us and we would love to raise funds to help another child have his/her wish granted too.  Tom & I decided the easiest way for us to raise funds is through my Mary Kay business.  So, for November, I will be donating my profits to Make-A-Wish.  I will include my website in case you want to do some fun holiday shopping and support a great cause - www.marykay.com/dvolk.  I talked with Kiley, the VP of Make-A-Wish of Nebraska, and she and I came up with a goal of raising $1000 through this fundraiser.  Tom & I will also match that amount so that we can give Make-A-Wish $2000 to help another child have a wish granted.

I am very prayerful that this does not sound like I am soliciting sales.  Mary Kay is simply the best way I have of raising funds for Make-A-Wish.  I am very excited to think we might all be able to come together and make a wish come true for another child!

Thanks for your continued prayers.  It is amazing the support we have been shown.  It is truly overwhelming.  We are more grateful than you will ever know!

I will leave you with the verse Mitchell picked for his confirmation this past weekend: "Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."  Psalm 23:6

October 30, 3pm:  Ellie had a long day yesterday.  It was a day of many tests.  But the good news is that all of the initial results look good.  We will get the official results in a day or two, but her doctor thought everything looked great.  What a blessing!

It was an exhausting day for Ellie.  She wasn't allowed to eat anything and she was very hungry.  And then she had to drink the contrast liquid for the CT scan and she didn't like that.  They also needed to put an IV in her hand; access her port (meaning put a butterfly needle in it); and give her a flu shot in her leg.  So three "pokes".  She did not like that either. 

But she was a real trooper.  She had a good attittude throughout the day.  The picture above shows her during her CT scan.  She has to hold her hands above her head while they insert her little body into the big machine.  She then has to hold completely still.  I was able to stand by her head and hold her hands during the test.  The technician said he has never had a three-year-old who he did not need to sedate for the scan.  Unfortunately, Ellie has had lots of practice at this and laid perfectly still.

During her check-up, we learned that Ellie has gained two pounds.  That is the most she has gained since her surgery and chemo!  We were excited for that good news.

I felt Ellie deserved a treat after her long day of tests and scans.  Here she is at the store with her find. 

It was a long day, but we are very excited that everything looked good.  We are so very thankful that Ellie seems to be coming out of this long tunnel and we are thrilled to be seeing the other side!  I am so grateful for each healthy day.  Each of those days gets us closer and closer to Ellie being declared cancer-free.  We praise God for that.

Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts yesterday.  We really do appreciate it!  We feel so uplifted in prayer.  Thank you.

"There will be showers of blessing." Ezekiel 34:26

 
October 28, 1pm: Ellie and I head back to the hospital tomorrow for a series of tests.  She is having a CT scan, lung x-ray, blood work-up, and some other tests.  They just want to make sure that everything continues to look good.  If the cancer were to return, it would most likely be in her remaining kidney or her lungs.

The hardest part of the appointment for Ellie will simply be not eating any food and drinking that icky contrast liquid.  We will let you know how it goes when we return home.

Ellie continues to feel great.  She has a lot of energy and seems to be filling out.  Her hair continues to grow too!  The picture today is from a party she had at school this morning where all of the kids were supposed to come dressed as an animal. 

Although I always feel a little anxious when we go in for tests, I will continue to remember what the Lord has said, "Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid."  John 14:27

Monday, 7pm:  Please forgive me for not updating while we were on our trip.  We left our hotel room early in the morning and did not return until late at night.  But, I knew you would understand!

The picture I am including today is from Tom's parent's 50th wedding anniversary party that we recently attended.   Tom's mom, Stella, kept her wedding dress, a bridesmaid's dress and a flower girl dress, in perfect condition for 50 years!  At the party, Lexie modeled the bridesmaid dress, her cousin Jamie modeled the bridal gown and Ellie was the flower girl. 

October 3, 8am:  Ellie's hospital visit went great.  In fact, we had a pretty easy day.  They didn't do any scans - Ellie goes back in a few weeks for those - they simply did blood work and gave Ellie a check-up.  Here she is getting her blood pressure checked.  Everything looked great with her blood counts and her check-up!

Last night we attended a Make-A-Wish fund raiser.  Willard Sorority and Zeta Psi fraternity at Nebraska Wesleyan University held a fund raiser for Make-A-Wish and chose Ellie as their sponsor child.  They had a BBQ, a dunk tank, and Disney music playing.  We had a great time and we were so impressed with all of the college kids we met.   Here is Ellie in a Tinkerbell costume that was presented to her from Make-A-Wish.  The Willard girls gave her the Daisy Duck.
A few fire fighters also stopped by.  They gave Ellie a ride around the block in the fire truck.She loved it!

The other night Ellie and I went to speak to a local fraternity and a sorority because they will be having an upcoming fundraiser for Make-A-Wish.  We wanted to thank them in person for raising money for such an amazing organization.  If Ellie's story can help anyone or inspire a group to raise funds for Make-A-Wish or cancer research, we are happy to help!  We are excited to begin paying back all that has been given to us.  We have been thinking of ways we can volunteer and do good.  Much has been given to us through the last 9 months and we cannot wait to begin helping others in some way. 

Ellie has been granted a wish through the Make-A-Wish organization.  When our wish granter, Sarah, came to visit us, Ellie told her she wanted to "see where Mickey lives."  So we will be heading to Disney World in mid-October.  Ellie is so excited (as we all are!).  We have made a count-down calendar so Ellie can see the date get closer and closer. 

Before the exam, while we were waiting for the doctor, Ellie grabbed a notebook and said to me,"Ok, I'll be the doctor,  you be the kid!"  She then proceeded to ask me a series of questions as she furiously scribbled in her notebook.  ("Ok, Kid, what did you eat for breakfast?....")  It was both funny and sad that she knew the doctor lingo so well. 

The picture I am sharing tonight is of Ellie and Lexie with one of Ellie's Polly Pockets.  Ellie said to Lexie, "I sure wish I had a doll that looked like me - that had the same hair as me."  So Lexie gave one of Ellie's dolls a buzz cut.  Ellie loves it!

 September 4, 1pm:  Ellie's appointment yesterday went great.  Everything looked really good and her blood work was, in the doctor's words, "fantastic."  We were very excited.  The only setback we had was pulling into the parking garage of the hospital, Ellie started to throw up.  She usually threw up during her treatments at the hospital and now when we return, even without her getting any treatments, she throws up.  As soon as she saw the building, she started.  It's almost like a conditioned response.  Once we got over that, she was good.

We head to Omaha tomorrow for a chemo check-up appointment.  She will not receive chemo, they simply want to see how she is doing and will do some tests on her.  I will update when we return home.

Here is Ellie after her bath last night.  Her hair is growing more every day and she continues to fill out.  I'll be anxious to see how much weight she has gained tomorrow.

As always, thanks for your continued support!!  You are a blessing to us.

"And God is able to make all grace abound in you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."  2 Corinthians 9:8

August 27, 7pm: Ellie continues to do good.  Her hair is growing too!  I tried to get a photo of her hair for you.  It's a little hard to see in a picture.  She also heads back soon for more tests.  I will keep you updated.

Today I received a call from the American Cancer Society and our Relay for Life team was named the "Rookie of the Year" team for our fund raising efforts for our first year joining this event.  That is only because of all of YOU!  Thank you!  The American Cancer Society had a banquet where they talked about Ellie and our team.  We thank all of you for your generous donations to the American Cancer Society on Ellie's behalf.  We were so moved by the incredible outpouring from all of you.  We are very grateful!

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.  We appreciate all of you and feel truly blessed by you.

August 22, 2pm: I apologize that I have not updated for a week.  Our internet was down while we moved and we just got it up and running again.  We are in the new house and living out of boxes.  I cannot seem to find anything!  But it is great to be moved and I am sure we will eventually get settled.

August 14, 11am: Ellie is doing good.  She gets stronger everyday and she  continues to feel great! It's hard to tell from the picture, but her hair is growing too.  It's very light and hard to see in the photo.  

She is very excited because we are moving this weekend.  In our current house, Ellie and Lexie share a room.  When Ellie was born 3 years ago, we told Lexie it would be a temporary situation.  Then, for the last 3 years, we have found different reasons and excuses why it was not the right time to move.  This journey with Ellie has taught us that you cannot put your life on hold.  You need to stop with the excuses and get on with your life.  You just never know what the bend in the road might bring and you need to live each day fully.

So, we found a house we love where all of the kids will have their own rooms.  It has been fun to have something other than chemo and doctor appointments to think about for the last few months.  It's been a welcome distraction.

Ellie redesigns her new room every day.  She can't decide what color she wants.  Yesterday she told me, "I want all of the colors except black, brown and orange."  That should be an interesting room!

I will let you know how our move goes.  We are excited for the fresh start this will bring.  It seems as though we almost have a new beginning.  I have to tell you, our current house holds many great memories for us, but it also holds many memories of taking care of a sick baby.  Many days were spent with Ellie being sick from radiation and chemo in that house.  It will be nice to move on. 

We are very grateful for the chance for a fresh start.  God is so good!!   Thanks for your continued prayers and support.  We are extremely appreciative to all of you.  You give us more strength than you'll ever know. 

"What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"  Micah 6:8

August 8, 4pm: Ellie continues to do great.  She is feeling wonderful and has lots of energy.  Her hair grows a little more each day.  It is very blond and it looks like she has a short buzz cut.  Tom has been calling her Billy Idol.

She is enjoying the end of summer: riding her bike, swimming, going to the park....  It is so much fun to watch her do "normal" kid things.  She loves anything active and seems to be going full speed all of the time.  After seeing her go through periods of having no energy during her treatments, we love seeing her have so much spirit!

Thanks to everyone who continues to donate to the American Cancer Society in Ellie's honor.  A special thank you to Roe Eidsness, Linda Becken, Jon & Jennifer Backencamp, and Kevin & Paige Yost.  The total we have raised is: $3861. Our goal was $1000!  Thanks so much to all of you for your generous donations.  We are excited to raise money for cancer research.  We praise the Lord for the medical advances that have been made through research. 

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." Psalm 150: 6

August 1, noon:  Ellie is regrowing hair!  She has a light blonde layer of  fuzz on her head. It grows a little bit more each day.  We have been calling her our own little Chia Pet.  We are constantly rubbing her head as it feels so soft.  Last night she feel asleep as I was rubbing her head.  We are excited to see something as positive as hair growth happening!

Ellie's energy level is also high.  We can tell that we are getting further and further away from her last chemo treatment.  She is feeling great and, for some reason, feels the need to run everywhere. Walking takes too long! 

We are extremely grateful!  We thank all of you for your support and prayers.  We are really looking forward to this new, fresh start.  From here on - prayerfully - Ellie will continue to gain strength, grow hair, gain weight, and get her energy back even more.  It's time for renewal!  God is so good!!

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus." Romans 15:5