Having faith...

Last Tuesday night I got an email from my Visiting Teacher. They just found out that their 14yr. old daughter, Devree, has a brain tumor. The following Thursday, they headed out to Palo Alto to a Children's Hospital for surgery on Monday. Our amazing ward had a week and a halves worth of meals, transportation, and babysitting set up for their remaining children, 3 boys, in less than 24 hours.

Monday morning came...

Todd blogs...

It has taken awhile to get started with the surgery. We are in the waiting room for surgery, and there is a 60 inch screen on the wall with surgery numbers on it. Our number has been showing that Devree is prepared for surgery...

There are actually to anesthesiologists assigned to Devree’s team. She told us that Devree was cute as she fell asleep. She told them that she couldn’t feel the anesthesia at all, and then her eyes closed.Everything is going well. The report is that they didn’t scrub down and get ready for surgery until 10:30 AM. Dr. Edwards has another brilliant doctor from Switzerland working with him today. This other doctor works with Dr. Edwards occasionally on difficult cases. ... it is wonderful to have 2 brilliant doctors working on our precious Devree. We don’t expect to have any further information until after 2:00 PM our time...

This is a waiting nightmare! We got up at 4:30 so we could be here at 6 am. They didn't even call her till almost 8 am and then they decided to have her do another MRI...

Okay it is almost 2:30 and the nurse finally came in and said that Devree did fine (meaning anethesia is okay for Devree) and the procedure is done and now it will be 1 1/2 hours for the doctor to close and then he will come and talk to us. A few MAJOR questions we will ask. First "Were you able to get all of the tumor?" Second "Is the tumor cancerous?" The nurse said that a frozen peice of the tumor was taken and tested. This is just a preliminary test. The results conclusively will not be for 5 DAYS!!!...

In this hospital they don’t use the words, “Bad News”. They say, “Good News and Other News”. Well, we have “Good News”, and we have “Other News”.The surgery was successful. They were able to remove the tumor. However, the “Other News” is that there were pieces of the tumor that were connected to critical nerves that Devree needs. They also found another nodule, that was far enough away from the hole that they were operating through, that they could not remove it.

The tumor was cancerous and malignant, but we don’t know what kind of cancer it is at this time. We should know what kind of cancer it is within 48 hours. A board of Oncologists will meet on Friday to talk about Devree’s cancer. They will develop a treatment plan at that time.We know that you all care deeply about us, but we are taking a little time to digest this news...

Love, Todd

Everyone,Thank you so much for your support and prayers. We are grateful for the love and support in your words.

Love,The Hamblin's

I can't tell you of all the miracles I have witnessed in the past 5 days since this has happened. I know that God lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that He lives. I know that He is aware of all of us and the trials we face. He is mindful and merciful. I know that He has the ability to heal Devree. And I have faith that no matter what the out come...that He has a plan for all of us.

I would ask for your prayers in her behalf...prayers of peace and comfort for this sweet, righteous family. They love the Lord and have testimonies built upon a firm foundation. They know the Lord loves them and is mindful of them at this time.

'Be still...and know that I am God' is the scripture that continues to run through my mind.