We are home!

Back at Braes Meadow at last, praising God that EvanMarie is well enough to be home for the next week and a half before her next treatment begins. On Wednesday she had a couple of intense procedures to help determine exactly where the cancer has spread throughout her little body, and the results were as suspected, the cancer is nearly everywhere. BUT the good news is; the cancer is NOT in her brain or her spinal cord!! And it is NOT currently compromising ANY major organs! Thanks be to God.

Sleeping in our own beds for even one night now, is so, So, SO GOOD!! We are focusing our energies on praising God, and on relearning how to be together in our very own home. Our family is certainly living under a very “new normal”. Our diets, our lifestyle, and many of our habits will have to change as we adjust to battling cancer together. However, the most central things will stay the same. Love shelters us here, and the delight that EvanMarie brings each one of us just by being her spunky self has only increased! 

Being home has stretched us in ways we wouldn’t have expected. Our usual “open door policy” to all friends and neighbors is on pause right now as her immune system cannot handle the exposure. It feels odd to us to limit visitors to an "invite only" basis, but it’s very much in her best interest. That said, we’re hanging out in the fresh air as much as possible since we missed that desperately while we were in the hospital. If you do get a chance to see her, you’ll notice she still has hair on here head, and she doesn’t look particularly ill, but both of those things are subject to change, and that’s ok! EvanMarie has one of the strongest wills of all of our children, and I’m confident that same strength will serve her well in the fight ahead! 

To all of our beloved friends and family who have been praying for our little girl, and for us, her family — we have no way to adequately express our deep gratitude and appreciation. We feel so held up by our community far and wide. It has been a constant reminder to us that we are not alone, that God is with us, and that goodness and joy can be found in the most difficult of times.

Please don’t stop praying for EvanMarie!! Pray for her complete and miraculous healing. Pray for the healing of her body, mind, and spirit. And pray for us, her caregivers to be able to make important decisions with clarity and peace, and to continue to surrender ourselves and our little girl to the care of our savior Jesus Christ who loves her (and us) even more than we can imagine. 

In addition to the prayer to Blessed Stanley Rother, we humbly request you pray (as sincerely as you are able) the Surrender Novena [linked here] with us. We will begin this Sunday 10/12 and end on 10/21 which is the day EvanMarie will be re-admitted to the hospital to receive her “port” catheter, and begin her second cycle of chemotherapy.

This girl is a fighter (see her fighting face in the picture)! And our God is bigger than cancer! We have great hope. 

With love, 
Cana, Ennie, and the Hickman family

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