Dear Friends & Fans,
As we start our 10th month of fighting cancer with Jessie we are so blessed to have all of you in our lives. People we may never personally meet, lifting Jessie up to the Lord in prayer is such an amazing portrait of God’s loving family supporting a little sister in big need. Most nights we scan Jessie’s Facebook posts to witness God’s love in action, your posts and your prayers minister to us too. Some days it’s hard to find the strength for new words to pray beyond…”God please heal Jessie”…then we read that so many are praying on our behalf and it casts a large blank of peace, love and hope upon our hearts. Thank you! Since day one, we have anchored ourselves in Deuteronomy 31:8, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Honestly, there have been some days of fear and discouragement but they are so few compared to the ones of hope and strength we experience knowing God already knows the path ahead of us and simply asks us to walk in faith. Having friends and fans like you give us fuel to keep going.
Sweet Jessie is fighting hard as always. She inspires us on a daily basis. She remains so positive even after:: 40 rounds of radiation, losing all of her hair, 9 months of chemo/meds, 100+ doctor visits, 10 MRI’s, 50+ blood draws, having to drink special water, watching her diet, taking eastern pills, not being able to see straight and dealing with muscle fatigue. While all this has been added to her plate, she still loves to learn, help her little bro with homework, hang with the family, cuddle with Mr. Moe, visit her coaches, read her devotional, stuff JoyJars, visit kids fan pages, plan for the gala and sneak a little sweet from time to time=). Yes, we know sugar is not the best for cancer but a little reward is ok with us.
This next week is big for us as Jessie has another MRI (11/16) to see if the swelling/fluid is down enough to travel to Denver for Christmas. If the swelling/fluid is still there the doctors will perform a surgery to add a shunt in her head to open up the ventricle that allows normal brain fluid to drain. We will also see if the tumors are staying put.
If you do live in Orange County, we truly hope you can join us for the NEGU Gala on January 21, 2012. It’s going to be a great night and help raise the support to further Jessie’s wish. You can sign up online at www.negugala.org. If you desire to make a year end donation to help Jessie spread more hope, love and joy in 2012 you can also at www.negu.org. Thanks again for all of your love, prayers and support.
NEGU,
Erik & Stacey Rees
