Hannah Update 3.10.08

Today we went for our first appointment with the radiologist at UAMS CARTI. They did a new CT scan and made a “mask” that Hannah will wear every day as she has her radiation treatments. She will have her first treatment this Thursday afternoon at 2:30, and then will have a treatment every week day for the next six weeks. Of course, they took us through the complete list of all possible side effects. She will probably begin the Temodar medication next week, after she’s had a couple of radiation treatments.

Hannah has been feeling very well, and we even all went to church together (for the first time in a long time) yesterday morning. However, she did have a little bit of a headache yesterday afternoon, and then had another headache today, with some nausea. This, of course, has us somewhat concerned, and tomorrow they will be checking her new CT scan from today with one done while we were at Children’s to make sure there is not any new swelling occurring. I spoke with a neurologist at Children’s late this afternoon who said these symptoms could be a result of weaning off the steroids she’s been on. She may also have just gotten carsick on the way home from Little Rock today. She has really been looking forward to starting back to school tomorrow and getting back to a sense of normalcy, and we pray that she will be able to do that.

Bethany also has been feeling great, and went to school all week, with a day off on Friday for snow. However, yesterday afternoon she developed a case of pink eye. So…she stayed home from school today, and we got her some eye drops, which hopefully will clear it up soon.

Some specific prayer requests:

· Please pray that Hannah’s headaches and nausea will subside, and that the new CT scan does not show any additional swelling in her brain. If there is new swelling, we may have to return to the hospital.

· Please pray that the radiation treatments will go well, and that the side effects will be minimal, particularly when it comes to hair loss.

· Please pray that Hannah will be able to return to school tomorrow, and that she will be able to get caught up on all her work.

· Please pray that Bethany will recover quickly from pink eye, and that none of the rest of us will catch it from her!

Thank you so much for everything…we will keep you posted on how we are doing!

God is good…all the time!
Jill & Brad