Emily’s Smiles through Difficult Trials

Finally, a long awaited update on Emily. Sorry it has taken so long! I was sick, then Emily was gone, then I was gone, they do not have internet at home and when in Durham have not had time to drag out the laptop and do an update. So, all considered, we have had a busy few weeks to catch up on!

After recovering from the port removal surgery, Eddie & Dawn took Emily & Trey to the mountains for a few days. Of course they did their favorite thing – Gem Mining! I told Emily that when she found a diamond, it was surely meant for me! She just giggled. On their way home from the mountains they stopped by Duke to get Emily’s labs done and then headed home to Hampstead. Emily had a great weekend and was thrilled to get to go fishing again. Quite the little angler she is! She was even more excited when she got picked up at the dock early to go stay at Nana & Grandaddy’s new house and spend the rest of the afternoon playing with Shelby!

Emily, Dawn & Granny Mom headed back to Duke Monday afternoon. Emily was put to sleep and had an MRI done on Tuesday morning and of course more labs. Her counts are down very low and they must be cautious about who Emily is around so that she does not catch anything. With all the chemo she’s had, it has left her defenseless against normal childhood diseases such as chicken pox, which we understand is present at school these days! That means Emily can’t visit the classroom anytime soon for fear of catching them.

The MRI results showed the spinal tumors to be supressed from the radiation and chemo; however, the tumors in her head continue to grow. The Doctors are astounded at all of Emily’s accomplishments thus far and what a fighter she is. She is their little warrior! Emily will return to Duke on Monday to begin yet another round of chemo. It seems at this time, that they are going to do oral chemo twice daily and once a week injection chemo. They will get all the details of this on Monday. A new port will have to be implanted for the injections and they will find out when this will be done when they visit Dr. G again. Right now when they have to draw blood, etc., she has to endure them puncturing her veins wherever they can be accessed. This is very uncomfortable for Emily and burns terribly so the port will be much to her advantage. Pray they can find an easy route to implant the port around the scar tissue. Pray also that this additional chemo will aggressively attack her cancer and shrink the tumors on her spine and in her head. God is surely guiding her Doctors and using Emily as an inspiration for all to know that with HIM all things are POSSIBLE!!! As the old children’s song goes “He’s Still Working on Me”, I think this is so true for all of us as we continue to learn of God’s love and the important lessons of life through Emily.

Emily spends her days doing crafts and such during the week. She loves cutting, pasting, drawing anything, anytime and boy can she fill up their den floor with her creations! Today between the two of us we made a real big mess, so big that we kept losing her hot pink scissors because we either sat on them or they got mixed up with Emily’s papers! Mail is still an important highlight of her day. She still loves getting cards, notes and care packages that make her time funfilled during each day. A big thanks to ELONTHON for the care packages and cards you sent, she had a good time opening them! Had to give them a shout since Addison goes there and they plan for Emily to be one of their guests at their annual Elonthon where they raise money for Duke Childrens Hospital. I spoke about Emily to about 1200 students and faculty and had a video presentation about her in April at their 24 hour fundraising event. These kids raised over $125,000 for Duke Children’s Hospital.

Don’t forget that Halloween is fast approaching and Emily is looking forward to getting to dress up and venture out a little that evening. Pray also that she will get to enjoy this favorite highlight for every child in October. Until our next update, Emily wishes everyone a HAPPY FALL and hopes you all have your pumpkin decorations out and lots of candy ready for Halloween!

Love,
Stephanie

“While we try to teach our children all about life, Our children teach us what life is all about.” Angela Schwindt