The journey is over!

Well that's it. This weeks' scan showed that more than 80% has been removed and that the rest will just be monitored over the next 10 years or so. Saskia will have to go for regular check-ups once every 3 months, but that's nothing compared to what we were told initially.
Just over 6 weeks ago we got news that no parent want to receive and six weeks later we got the all clear. We still cannot grasp the magnitude of what actually happened but we thank our God that he provided us with the strength that we needed. Remember the poem "footprints in the sand"? He certainly carried us through these difficult times.

We thank you all so much for all of your support, your prayers, your hugs, your cards, your well wishes, your shoulders and just your "you". It is fantastic to see and feel that we were not alone in our struggle. Our blogs have been viewed well in excess of 2300 times from 17 countries all across the world, this in itself is truly amazing. We received well wishes from total strangers. We just cannot start to describe what this has meant for us.
We will post one more blog somewhere in the new year to try to put to words what pulled us through, so watch this space, but for now we wish you all a blessed 2012!!!

What a week!

After the operation, Saskia stayed for 1 day on intensive care, after which she was transferred to the normal day ward. She remained in a bit of pain, but that was to be expected. There was still a drain in her neck and doctors said that as soon as that one could be removed, she should be able to go home.
The doctor who assesses the follow on treatment after the operation came on Tuesday morning. She indicated that she was very happy with the result and the likelihood of need for chemo therapy has been reduced to nearly zero!!!
In order to confirm this result, Saskia will have to undergo one more test (a CT scan), which will be done on Wednesday 28th December. On Thursday 29th December we should know the outcome.
That same day (Tuesday) the drain was removed and she was ready to go home. Saskia remained having some pain and a sore neck, but as the week progressed all that faded away. Most likely as well because Saskia now understands that her journey with cancer is nearly over.
We will continue to update this blog until the final results on 29th December, but it seems that all the prayers has worked and her journey was a remarkable short one with a very happy ending.

The Operation

Well today was the day. We "checked in" at about 7am and and we both were able to follow her to the operating theatre untill she was in deep sleep by 09:15. As you can imagine we had some difficulty leaving her in the care of the doctors. The operation took up to five and a half hours, but the doctors declared it a complete success! They said that as far as they could see it, at least 95% of the tumour was removed. According to the doctors it was an operation in "tiger land", meaning that all the major arteries and nerves run through that area. Hence the long duration.
She is now on the intensive care unit and is still drifting in and out of pain, but expectations are that she can go tomorrow to the daycare recovery ward.
Thank you all so much once again for your continuous support and prayers. She has been and still is in God's hands and He has given us all the strength and encouragement to face this journey from the beginning.

Tomorrow is the day

Over the course of last week Saskia has been to hospital twice. Last Wednesday for a scan just to confirm that nothing unusual has happened and that everything is ready for tomorrow, and today to give a bit of 'emergency blood', just in case for tomorrow.
We are all very anxious and have full confidence that tomorrow's operation will be a success on all frontiers.
People from all over the world are praying for Saskia and her doctors and we just cannot describe what this does for our spirits. Thank you all so much once again.

Saskia feels soo much better and is soo much more confident about tomorrow. It is such a change with last week. She is a beautiful and courageous girl

Awaiting the operation

Well finally the date for the operation has been set: Saturday 10 December.
Saskia has been trying to go to school, but she starts to feel more and more uncomfortable with her neck. Last Tuesday we went back to the hospital, because her neck was constantly hurting and today she got an ultra sound to see if the tumour had changed since the last test. She got some pain killers prescribed and Saskia hopes she can go to school tomorrow.
Today Saskia followed Melanie and her grandparents to town for some Christmas shopping and what a surprise! She met up with Jaimee who handed her a bag full of cards and presents from her previous school Tyndale. This brightened her day and certainly made her forget the pain!
When she returned home, she got an extra surprise: another lot of angels from her present school was awaiting her there!
All those cards and angels will follow her to hospital, so when she awakes she will see all those well-wishes and prayers.