Praying for Baby Hannah…

Hannah one week ago

Many of you already know about baby Hannah and the tumor, but I would like to share how it all transpired, and give an update.  The first thing I would like to do is thank all of you for your prayers, as well as your e-mails, phone calls, and blogs, which helped get the word out about our little girl!  We ask you to please accept our gratitude for your prayers and support …1Thess. 1:2-4!

 

How we found out that our baby has a tumor…

Wednesday night Hannah’s fever was not going down with the normal Motrin or Tylenol and her diarrhea wasn’t getting any better.  Kelli and I thought it best to take her to the ER.  They ran many tests, such as blood work, a stool sample, a urine sample and X-Rays, but couldn’t determine what the problem was.  The next morning we took Hannah to her Pediatrician, Dr. Harrell, where he told us that this was more than likely a viral infection.  He then pulled out one of the X-Rays from the ER.  He said that something completely unrelated came up on the X-Ray and showed us what it was.  He said that it could be nothing, but might be something.  He told us to go to Mobile Infirmary and get an ultrasound.  The ultrasound tech told us to go back to Dr. Harrell’s office for the results.  There in his office he told us that our little girl had a tumor.  He said that he talked to an oncologist at USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital, and they said we needed to admit Hannah right away!  So we went home in tears, grabbed some clothes, made some calls, and drove to the hospital.

 

Friday’s saga…

We checked in that afternoon (Thursday 3-19).  They got us in and ran a CT scan.  The results were painful.  The doctor was about 95 percent certain this was a neuro blastoma tumor.  The bad news was that this tumor is cancerous and that surgery is imminent, “Maybe as soon as tomorrow,” they said.  However, if there was any good news it was that the tumor was very small by comparison to other tumors and there would be a good chance that it could be in stage one.  The CT scan also showed that the tumor is in one of the two adrenal glands and it was pushing down on the kidney and pushing up on the liver.  We learned this at about 12:30AM Friday morning.  The next morning the pediatric doctor came back and talked to us, then the oncologist, then the surgeon.  All with collaborating stories of the tumor and surgery.  We were told that they were going to move forward and operate at 11AM.  The time came and it was the most painful thing ever handing our little girl over to be operated on.  Here is a picture of her while the nurse was walking her into the OR.

The surgery was almost 5 hours.  They extracted the tumor, took bone marrow from both hips, and samples from the lymph nodes to see if it had spread.  When the surgery was over, the doctor said that it was as good a surgery as one could have.  She told us that her blood-pressure was good, her breathing was good, and she didn’t lose much blood at all!  She removed the entire tumor.  In addition, she removed one of Hannah’s adrenal glands.  She told us there was one spot of tissue near her back that had some calcification on it, and she wants to keep an eye on it.  However, the surgery was extremely successful!  The doctor said that she never gets to see a neuro blastoma this small. By the time she sees them they are four or five time larger, and are wrapped around the organs.  Hannah’s tumor was the size of a racquetball.  This was all on Friday.  Once the surgery was over they allowed us to see her in recovery, before they took her to ICU.  Here is a picture of her still out!

Hurry up and wait…

We have been in the ICU yesterday, last night, and all day today (Saturday).  It is very painful seeing her with all these tubes in her and hearing her moan in pain!  But we try to comfort her the best we can.  She is doing great!  I am so proud of her! She is so weak that instead of smiling at us when we say something to her, she has started doing a long blink.  In fact she has been doing so well in her recovery that tonight they took her out of ICU and placed her back in our regular room.  The only thing now is waiting for the results from pathology, running another CT scan, and praying for continued good recovery.  We were told just hours ago that upon testing her stool they discovered that she has Salmonella, and this would be the cause of her diarrhea and fever to begin with.  I have never been so thankful for Salmonella in all my life !  Here is picture of her in our room, Kelli is holding her.

She is tough, but tired and hurting!  She is still running a fever but other than that she is doing very well. She will be mpo for a few days, which means no eating or drinking, because her bowels have temporary paralysis from the surgery. Because of that, she has an IV and she has an NG tube leading out of her nose from her tummy that drains the gastric juices in order to relieve the pressure. If all things go well we will be home in about 10 days! I will make frequent updates as we know more.

Many people have asked how they can help us.  At this point, we just need your prayers.  My concern is that many people will pray but then forget, however we are asking for your prayers for weeks to come!  Please! Here is a prayer list…

1. Pray for the glory of God… we understand that all things are for His glory and His praise, both good & evil, tumors & good health!  We just want God to get every ounce of glory from this.  I read where John G. Paton said that he learned to keep his relationships with family & friends with an open hand, giving them all to God for His good use!  We want to have that mindset.  Hannah is His little one and we are merely her stewards and care takers, again for His glory!  We know that the tumor was there by design and was revealed by His design as well.  Just because we are Christians doesn’t mean we are immune to sickness, disease, and death.
2. Pray for her recovery, tests result, and cancer free.  Even as I type I am stopping and walking over to her bed because she is in so much pain.  She is doing well but still hurting.  They have her on morphine but we want her well enough to take her off of it.  The test results could be very bad, pray that they will good.  We are praying she is cancer free.  The one little spot that the doctor told us about may be a problem, but pray that it will not be!
3. Pray for finances/insurance!  We have insurance but we are going to have to pay 20% and we just want to be just that everything else works out right.  We do not want to have any surprises.
4. Pray for our Godliness.  We are doing our best to live out our theology.   Please pray that we will not concede to the pressures of our daily life, especially in the wake Hannah’s surgery and all!  “Be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer” 1Pet.4:7.

Again we thank the many of you, some we have never met, who have prayed for our Hannah!  God Bless you all!

Psalm 34:17-19

“The righteous cry and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.  Many are the afflictions of the righteous; But the LORD delivers him out of them all!”