Lift Up Your Hearts!

There hasn't been a lot of Grace news recently (for which we are thankful), but Heather just posted an update and a new prayer request. In short,

On Wednesday, 2/4, Grace will have a long MRI, for which she will be sedated. (She normally does not get sedated, as she is so good at holding perfectly still (she usually falls asleep) but this one is very detailed and thus of long duration, too much to ask of any four-year-old.) They will be looking specifically for any changes in the size of her ear tumor, and especially for what is going on around her eye that they couldn't see well in her most recent MRI. Here are three specific requests.

• That there be no eye tumor at all, of any size
• That her ear tumor will have shrunk
• That the news about the above will be such that they will be able to take a break from the NF1 medicine to give her skin a chance to heal. One of its side effects is a very itchy skin rash. As Heather wrote, "With the dry weather, Grace's skin has really broken out. It gets dry and itchy, and then she scratches so hard that she makes herself bleed, and gives herself welts. So our nighttime routine involves slathering her with cortisone and Vaseline before she puts her pajamas on. I've also tried cutting her nails more often and filing them more often, but the thing that works best is just having her wear mittens to bed. Her pain tolerance is still so high that she doesn't really realize that she's scratching herself to excess."

Thank you for your concern and your faithful prayers. Sunday, February 8 will mark the second anniversary of Grace's bone marrow transplant, and on that front she is looking very well indeed.