Gloria

It has been a big year for our (little) Gloria. 8 years old, so big but yet still so little too. We are all so happy that she was able to make her first communion all healed from the surgery and feeling mostly normal again. What a great blessing. God's timing is so perfect.

And speaking of His timing, of all our children, she is the one who adores every baby she sees and always wishes for us to have another. So it would be fitting that a few weeks after her surgery we would find out her prayers have been answered, and she has a new baby coming to our family to coddle all her own! God hears your prayers, sweet girl!

We had followup appointments with her out of town specialists last week. This spring has been such a whirlwind. Just when one thing settles down, something else picks up. So these appointments caught be by surprise. 2 months already?! We saw the surgeon, who was amazing, but who we also hope to never have to see again. We also saw the pediatric oncologist (photo from the special child-sized door into his waiting room). He will be monitoring her over the next few years to make sure her tumor does not grow back and that if it does, it is still benign. This had not even occurred to me as a possibility...once benign, always benign, right? So we still have a bit of a road ahead with regular MRI's, urine tests, etc. But we are in God's hands as we always have been. So I trust that where this road leads, he will guide us. But I certainly pray that we will someday soon say our goodbyes to the oncologist as well. He is the most amazing doctor I have ever met, by the way, so gentle and caring. I guess you have to be pretty amazing to work with such sick children every day. God bless our Gloria!