Prayers for Dailee

I have a favor to ask all of you, my wonderful friends of the blogosphere. My cousin, Julie has two beautiful, sweet (sometimes ornery!) little girls. Dailee is seven years old and her sister, Darcee, is four, one day older than Bear!

Last week, Dailee went to the hospital with what they thought was an abscess on her tonsil. What it actually was was a tumor in her neck the size of a fist. By Friday, she had been diagnosed with a rare, very aggressive form of cancer called Burkitt's Lymphoma. She had been given steroids when they thought it was an abscess (to reduce swelling) which unfortunately can serve to mask cancer cells in any biopsy or samples taken. Due to the aggressive nature of this disease, the doctors have decided to treat her as if her cancer were stage four. Last Sunday, she began chemotherapy. She received it every day for four days. On the fifth day, they flushed her system with fluids to make sure her kidneys were functioning properly. Since they were, she was able to go home Friday. She will have to get shots every day, to keep her white blood cell count up (and she is not pleased about this!). She will have to go back on day eleven for another spinal tap and then return on day 18 to start the process all over. This will continue for six months. (I hope I got all of that right, if not, Julie, let me know!)

She is seven years old. I cannot fathom having to tell one of my kids that we have to go back and do all of that painful stuff that makes you feel miserable again. And again. And again. Julie says that Dailee is doing okay, all things considered. She has started some nausea and headaches since returning home. She is really upset that her hair is going to fall out. She also won't get to return to the first grade this year. She will have a home bound teacher and her school teacher is trying to make it to where she can do that.

So there you have it. I am asking you to keep Dailee and Julie and their whole family in your thoughts and prayers. Pray for healing and comfort for Dailee. Pray for peace and strength and comfort for Julie, her husband and Darcee. Pray that they can meet their finances since Julie is taking Catastrophic leave from her job, which is unpaid. I'm sure that this is a burden for them as well.

Now, go hug your kids a little tighter. Give them an extra kiss and be thankful that they are healthy enough to drive you absolutely crazy! That is what I have had to do the past few days.

God is good, all the time. He answers prayers. Thank you all so much for your love and support.