What if she’s an angel?
Hello all, we hope and pray that this update finds you healthy, happy, and at peace with those you love.
Each night as we get to writing this letter and ask God to direct our thoughts and use this email as an instrument of His love and peace, Christine and I sit and reflect on the day and whether anything noteworthy occurred since our last update. In the whirlwind that is Catie’s Story, we haven’t had a day yet that didn’t have some “news” in it….today was no exception.
On to the news….the bonescan that Catie had on Monday came back with a couple of “abnormalities” on her lower left leg. We are still awaiting a definitive judgment call from Hershey on what they are…could be a stress fracture from the extra strain the left leg endured while the pain prior to surgery was impacting her right leg, or it could be a metastasized growth…..once again, we will see.
As far as her treatment plan, Catie looks to be entering the St Jude’s protocol for ATRT tumors in the 3rd week of July…….originally, we thought that this treatment would be at CHOP, now, it looks as though Christine and Catie may be in Tennessee at St Jude’s. We figure with the one shot we have at this to go where they came up with the treatment plan. While I would miss them, we owe it to Catie to give her the best of the best. The protocol calls for 6 weeks of 5 times a week radiation therapy to the entire cranial-spinal area, and then a rest for 4-6 weeks before 3 or 4 high dose chemotherapy and stem cell recovery treatments. That should end the treatment sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, what a wonderful gift their return to our home will be!!
The Catie Fund is in the process of being established as a 5013c (allows for tax deductible donations), we will keep you posted.
Thank you again for your willingness to be part of writing this story through the time and efforts and prayers that you continue to bless us with, we are forever grateful to you for your love for our little girl. Catie and I have a new favorite song, (thank you Kathleen and Emily Brady for finding another tear jerker to keep my eyes continually moist!) The song is called “What if she’s an Angel”, and this is the last stanza:
A little girl in Daddy’s lap
Hidin’ her disease with a baseball cap
You can change the channel–most people do
But what if you were in her daddy’s shoes?
Maybe she’s an angel sent here from Heaven And she’s makin’ certain that you’re doin’ your best To take the time to help one another Brother, are you gonna pass that test?
You can go on with your day-to-day
Tryin’ to forget what you saw in her face Knowin’ deep down You could’ve been her saving grace What if she’s an angel?
Thank you for your prayers for our Angel…..she blesses us each day, and we send her blessings along to you…we pray that they continue to make a difference in your lives.
God Bless,
Christine and Kevin
