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Humbled by the Holidays

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end;
They are new every morning;
Great is your faithfulness.
'The Lord is my portion,'  says my soul,
Therefore I will hope in him." Lamentations 3:22-24

What a humbling holidays we have had. It is truly mind blowing to stand here in my shoes and see all the generosity that has been thrown our way. For a lack of a better vocabulary, cancer really sucks. It is so easy for my mind to travel that direction and for tears to come because I do really hate cancer. I hate it for my daughter, and I hate it for everyone else who has to come in contact with it. I hate watching my family suffer because I know they are suffering right along with us. But as much as I hate all of this, I really love what I'm witnessing. A community that has totally come together in faith and prayer and love for us, for Sloane, and for all of our family. I do hope my family feels as lifted in prayer as Austin and I and the girls do. 

The outpouring of love is extraordinary. I have never felt so connected to so many people. So many things have been done for our family in the past weeks that I find it hard to remember this is real sometimes. We will never be able to thank everyone enough for the financial support you have given our family. Many organizations have sent us gifts for both the girls and they may not see the kindness but Austin and I do, and we are so very thankful. Project Joy, Angels of Hope, The Aidan Brown Foundation, Cookies for Kids' Cancer, Riley Hospital for Children and to everyone else who has made this holiday season very special to us, we thank you from the very bottom of our hearts. 

Sloane finished her second round of chemo yesterday. No immediate complications and we got to do the chemo outpatient as we were hoping. We know we have a rough week ahead of us and we cling to all of your prayers to carry us through. Next on our schedule is an eye exam under anesthesia (EUA) on January 9th. This will be a really big day for Sloane as it will let us know if the chemo is working. We should see shrinkage in the tumors which would mean the chemo is doing its job. Depending on how the tumors look, the ophthalmologist will inject local chemo into the tumors itself through her eyes. This will all depend on how they are measuring. 

Prayer requests for the next week or so: Please pray for Sloane, please pray for good hydration, less constipation, and no fevers. Please pray for me and Austin that we find peace in each other's strengths to get us through this difficult week ahead. Please pray for our friends and family that are helping us out so much at home. Lastly, please pray for everyone's health, we need our family and friends healthy to continue to support us as best they can. 

St. Lucy, Pray for us. 
Blessed Father Solanus Casey, Pray for us. 

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