Please Pray for Callie

Cute little Callie!

I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a while. Life with three kids is busy; good, but busy! And in the last few weeks our little world was shaken by cancer in our friend's family - the Cochrans. On Monday, June 20th, they found out that their little girl, Callie, who will be 2 in August, had a tumor in the back of her head. They went to Cooks Children's Hospital that night and the next day they did more tests to plan the next step. On Wednesday the 22nd, Callie underwent surgery to remove the fist sized tumor that was displacing and surrounding the back of her brain. The surgery went really well and they were able to remove all of the tumor. The tumor practically fell out because it was only attached to the brain stem in one small spot - a very good outcome for this type of cancer which usually has many attachment points. Callie's recovery from the surgery has been up and down. She could open her eyes and mover her body, but she was in a lot of pain and was uncomfortable. She also has had problems swallowing, and with excess fluid on her brain. She had lots of ups and downs over the next week -good days and bad, but is now doing well considering all that she has been through. Now she can talk, walk with help and play. She still has a feeding tube because of her problems swallowing, but they hope that she'll be able to swallow soon and have it removed. She still has a long road ahead of her, though. Her tumor was identified as a stage 3 anaplastic ependymoma, which is the more aggressive of that type. She will have to endure 6 weeks of radiation that will take place in Houston. She did have a Lumbar Puncture or LP and found that her spinal fluid was clear of cancer cells, a HUGE praise! As of right now she is still recovering at Cooks, but will travel to Houston in the coming weeks to have her radiation treatments. Please join me in prayer for this sweet little girl and her family. We've known the Cochrans for about 8 years and it's been so hard to see them have to go through this. They are a great Christian family and they have been a great testimony of how to rely on God even in the tough times. My prayer is that Callie will have complete healing and that God will be glorified by the miracle of her healing! And please pray for Callie's big brother, Carson. He's been here without his famliy for most of the time they've been at Cooks, and I know it's been hard on him and his mom and dad. Thank you for your prayer support!

The Cochrans: Carson (4), Courtney, Phil and Callie

If you would like to keep up with Callie and her journey you can go to:

www.caringbridge.org/visit/calliecochran . There is an online journal with all the details of her story so far. They ask for your email address so they can send you emails when the page is updated, which has been almost every day. There are also many specific prayer requests if you would like to continue to pray for her. :)