Answered Prayers

I wrote about my niece Savannah in this post back in November. But, I'll give a brief summary of her situation in case you don't feel like going back in time:

At just 6 months old, Savannah had to have her ovary and fallopian tube removed due to a 5 lb. (that's right, 5 freakin' lbs.) cancerous cyst on her ovary. She is the youngest patient EVER to have this specific type of germ cell ovarian cancer. She has had to have monthly CT scans to check for more tumors. It appeared that the cancer was in remission after she celebrated her first birthday in late May. She is now 14 months old.

Last week, she had her routine CT scan and they noticed several growths on her remaining ovary. They also noticed fluid in or around her kidney. The entire family prayed all day until the radiologist came back and said the cysts were follicular (aka non-cancerous) and the fluid in the kidneys. We wiped our brows and praised God that she was okay.

The next day, my SIL got a call back from the docs at the hospital and Savannah's bloodwork came back abnormal. She had elevated levels of AFPs (Alpha Fetaproteins) which are cancer markers. This meant one of three options: (1) she had a tumor in her liver, (2) that her liver is sending these proteins to fight off a germ cell tumor in another part of her body, or (3) a lab error and/or the levels rose for no good reason.

Savannah was in the hospital all day today under general anesthesia for a full body CT scan. No masses were found. Also, her bloodwork came back normal.

It is amazing how some prayers can be answered. It never seems to work when I pray for myself but maybe it only works when I pray for others?

Anyhow, a weight has been lifted. I can't handle anymore loss this month.