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Wednesday, June 20, 2007 - 8:02pm

We will not sugar coat. Without question this has been the single hardest day of our lives. The diagnosis, while not what we wished for, is still something that we can come to grips with and are committed to fighting. Watching our child suffer as she tries to recover from her surgery is simply something we were not prepared for. Her biopsy ended up going a lot longer than planned. They got through it with no major concerns, but the length of the surgery required even more irrigation of the brain and it was explained to us that when this occurs, it places "horrific" (in Dr. Iskandar's words) trauma and strain on the brain and body, making for a more difficult and challenging 14-24 hours after procedure. There is no way we could accurately describe what the last 5 hours have been like. Our spirits have been lifted a bit in the last few minutes after Dr. Iskandar visited us in PICU and reassured us he still anticipates a full recovery from the procedure in the next 3-4 days, and most likely a turning of the corner in the next 12-14 hours. It is going to be a long night....

Wednesday, June 20, 2007 - 1:18pm

The biopsy procedure is complete. We just met with Dr. Iskandar. He informed us that Hailey does in fact have the low-grade glioma (pilocytic astrocytoma), not the germ cell tumor we were hoping for. She is still in surgery getting her port inserted. Once she wakes up a little bit, Dr. Iskandar will exam her to ensure that she doesn't have any neurological issues from the surgery. He will mainly be looking to make sure that she can move her arms and legs and eyes. If so, all signs are there were no complications from the procedure. She'll be in the PICU tonight and we will be staying with her.

Once the final pathology report is in we'll meet with the Oncology Team to disuss a treatment plan.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007 - 9:33am

Hailey went into surgery about 30 minutes ago. I got to hold her in my arms until she drifted off to sleep. The O.R. nurse just called and said they just started and she's doing fine. We are surrounded by Hailey's grandparents and auntie Amy. We'll post another update after we speak with Dr. Iskandar. Keep the prayers coming!

Shannon

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 10:37am

Hailey's brain biopsy was moved back to Wednesday morning at around 8:30 a.m. It was the only way to get the port and the biopsy done at the same time, which is the most humane way to do it for her. So today we are just passing time at the hospital trying to keep Hailey happy and entertained. Faith is still arriving today and we will then all be able to hang out and play as a family. Tomorrow morning more family will be coming and together we will all be praying for a safe and successful procedure for Hailey, and most importantly, a comfortable and speedy recovery.