How's Ava doing?

I'm sure many of you are wondering how Ava is doing!  Short answer: she is doing GREAT.  It's hard to believe that this girl - who played hard over last weekend - is so sick.  She's been carrying a mass the size of a softball in her pelvis and the shock that this is cannot be described.

Besides the trauma of all the needles, Ava has been incredible.  We chose the theme "Ava fierce and brave" for a reason.  On the days when we were getting one piece of bad news after another, she would cry, ask questions, accept it, and then move into the new space of reality with spunk and laughter.  In short, she has been delightful.  Big Bo, Holly, and I are treasuring this time with her even though the circumstances are the worst.

This weekend is free.  Yesterday we visited the Peabody, the Pyramid, and rested.  Today we plan to visit the zoo and rest some more.

Ava is very anxious about tomorrow and her procedures.  Please pray that she'll be able to enjoy this day and that her mind will be calm.  She has done an amazing job verbalizing her feelings and frequently says, "I'm scared."  We assure her that this is normal, and remind her each time that she can be both scared and brave at the same time.

Physically, Ava is operating on a smaller amount of energy and has lost weight in the last two weeks.  Mostly, she appears healthy, but we can see in her thin frame and under her eyes that she is not well.

Overall, she's been an incredible model of how to be strong in the face of adversity, laugh at the same time you cry, and saying hard things.  I want to be more like her.