One Year Ago Today...

• We thought we had a child with internal bleeding from a bruise caused by a fall 5 weeks earlier.
• We had a CAT Scan scheduled for the afternoon, to see what was wrong.
• We fully expected that they would keep her overnight to "fix" the bleeding.
• Our little girl wasn't able to eat anything, because she had to have anesthesia for her CAT Scan and they were fitting us in and the only time available was in the afternoon.
• We fretted about the anesthesia, because of the "risk" involved.
• We had a three year old with developmental issues that had her in Speech Therapy, Physical Therapy and Early Intervention (School) to try to help her "to be the best she could be".
• Our three year old had beautiful long curls.
• We had no idea what a blog was and how it worked.

By the end of the day:

• We had a 3 year old who probably had cancer.
• We had an appointment the next day with an Oncologist (now that is a scary word for a parent).
• Her developmental delay issues didn't seem so bad.
• We had many phone calls to make to grandparents, aunts and uncles.
• Our life was upside down.

In the past year:

• Rebekah has endured 14 rounds of chemo and 31 radiation treatments.
• Rebekah spent 72 nights in the hospital.
• Rebekah has had 3 rounds of scans.
• Rebekah has had 50 days with at least one anesthetic, some days it was two or three.
• Rebekah has had 3 Trips to the ER.
• Rebekah has had 6 Blood Transfusions and 4 Platelet Transfusions (that was actually really good).
• Rebekah has had 61 days of Antibiotics
• Rebekah has had 114 GCSF Shots to help boost her immune system
• Rebekah has had 35 weeks of supplemental nutrition (and counting).
• Rebekah lost her hair.
• We've watched as other families suffered the loss of their child to cancer and other families struggled just to keep their child alive.

Today:

• Rebekah is cANCER FREE.
• Rebekah is back in school and enjoying it.
• Rebekah is back in Speech Therapy, Physical Therapy and we've added Occupational Therapy.
• Rebekah is getting her hair back.
• Rebekah has a lot of energy and spunk and in so many ways seems unaffected by the things she has been through in the last year.
• Rebekah is eating several times every day.
• Rebekah has a constricted tear duct, but no vision issues that we are aware of.
• Rebekah's hearing is in tact.
• We understand terms like Ewing's Sarcoma, Malignancy, Neutropenia, ANC, RBC, WBC, Platelet Count, Hemoglobin, Hematocrit, Transfusion, CAT Scan, PET Scan, MRI, Panorex, Civo, Propafal, Relapse, Recurrence, and Remission.
• We have figured out how blogs work and have made many new friends because of it.
• We have made many new friends because of this journey we have taken.
• We have learned to love our kids and love on our kids everyday.
• We have learned that we never know what tomorrow (or the next hour) will bring, so we have to live (really live) today.

Tomorrow (and the future):

• We never know what it may hold, so while we know there are many possibilities we have to deal with the realities. There is no sense in fretting over the possibilities.
• Rebekah will hopefully be able to eat enough on her own so that she can have her feeding tube removed.
• Rebekah may have vision issues - anything from cataracts to blindness.
• Rebekah may have hearing issues in one or both ears.
• Rebekah will likely need reconstructive surgeries as her jaw grows so that the function of her jaw is corrected.
• Rebekah will likely have dental issues - anything from really needing to be diligent in caring for her teeth to having her adult not come in on the left side.
• Rebekah will likely have learning disabilities, so we need to be prepared to "work" through those.

It has definitely been a roller coaster ride. We have learned many things, many of which we would rather not have had to learn. We have made it through the last year by trusting in God to help us through it and thanks to the prayers, concern and assistance (financial and emotional) of so many of our friends (those we knew a year ago and those we've met throughout the year). Thanks for your part in that.

It is proving to be an emotional week for us, so please continue to pray. Praise God, Oliver is home after his second transplant.