Update on Bethany

Caution: Hard reading ahead
My heart breaks for my friend Amy and her family, I just can not imagine dealing with this horrible cancer in their little three year old. I received an update the other day and wanted to share it with those that were wondering how they are doing. (For those of you that did not see my first post about Bethany, or want to still contribute for Project Smile, please click on this link.)

Bethany and her Mommy

Hello friends,
My husband and I went to Ann Arbor yesterday to meet with a few doctors. We were kind of hoping to get some good news. However, after talking to the doctors for over 2 hours the news is NOT good. Bethany will no longer be receiving any treatment. Her cancer has progressed so much that at this point, nothing would really help. The doctors went into great detail why she would not be able to get any treatment. Rather than just saying no, they actually explained it. We talked a lot about what other hospitals have and basically, there is nothing out there that U of M does not have.
She has cancer basically on every bone of her body except her hands and feet. 95% of her bone marrow on her left side has cancer in it and 50% on the other side has cancer in it. The cancer has done major damage in her skull area. The bones near her cheeks and sinus area have eroded and so even if they were able to get rid of more cancer, they would never be able to fix those bones. Those eroded bones in and of itself are fatal.
Basically, we are at the point right now, where we are really concentrating on keeping her pain free. She will continue to get transfusions for a short time, maybe a couple of weeks top. After the transfusions stop working, then she will have just a few days left.

I apologize if this is a very difficult thing to read. Trust me, I understand how emotionally hard it is to hear our story and what Bethany is going through. My own emotions are going through the roof. I HATE having to look at funeral homes for my 3 year old little girl. I HATE seeing her miserable. I HATE feeling stressed, confused, sad and really scared.

I continue to put my trust in God... I know He sees each of my tears and hears my heart cry. I will continue to turn my eyes on the Lord.

Please continue to pray... Please pray for my family. These next few days are going to be extremely difficult on all of us, especially Bethany's older sisters. They know that Bethany is very sick, but I don't think they have a clue what is going to happen.

Thank you all for your continual support and love shown through all of the mail. It really has brightened our day!

God Bless,
Amy