Prayers and Praises

Dear blog readers,

This past week has been probably one of the most trying ones for our family. We've been through a lot this past year, with the passing of my Grandfather and Uncle and a cousin, but I'd like to ask for prayer for my little sister R.

You might remember me asking for prayer for her earlier this year when she had a really bad fever. R is twelve and has Down Syndrome, a disability that makes her act younger than she is and she has problems growing and processing things. This past Wednesday my sweet little sister R was diagnosed with Acute lymphoblastic leukemia and is even now going through Chemo as I write this. It was a shock to the entire family and the doctors- no one would have ever guessed. To think that R, who already has Down Syndrome, could get cancer, is mind blowing. It's terrifying. It's scary. It hurts inside more than I care to tell. She doesn't understand why she has to stay in a hospital, why she has to be hooked up to an IV or why she can't go home. She keeps asking about our camp trip we had planned, to which we had to explain we're not going on. R will be in the hospital for two weeks minimum as she goes through the first bout of Chemo treatment, then will continue to come back for visits that could last up to four days or so. If all goes well this will be a two and a half year journey to get her cancer free.

R really, really needs prayers right now. She doesn't understand really anything. But along with telling you this, I'd like to offer up some praises. I firmly believe that, no matter what the situation, good things can be found in it. There are many praises we  can offer up to the Lord right now in R's case.


1) They caught it before it got so much worse.

2) Her nurses are wonderful and she really likes them

3) Because she is disabled, R can only think about the problems right at the moment, not what the future holds. She doesn't worry about the next two weeks of Chemo or the next two and a half years as we work to make sure she doesn't get sick or get infected.

4) We live next to one of the biggest medical facilities in the Northwest and don't have to travel anywhere else to get her treatment.

5) They're letting us stay the night with her and even gave us a room for us to sleep in.


This is hard. It's hard on us, it's hard on my parents, it's very hard for R. We all love her so much, it just about breaks our hearts to see her have to go through this without any understanding of why. Please keep her in your prayers as we go ahead on this road. Please keep us in your prayers as we walk with her through this long journey ahead of us.

I want to leave you with this somewhat funny happening. Our sweet little R, in the middle of having to take such horrible medication and feeling so sick, decided to name her portable IV machine Wall-e from the movie Wall-e. She hates IVs to the core, but named him Wall-e so she can pretend he's her robot friend. How's that for an upbeat attitude?

Thank you so much for your prayers. We really, really appreciate it. God is good and will help us through this. It will be hard. It already is hard. We hurt, we're sad, but we know the Lord is good.

Thank you for praying for us.