Hello,
Just wanted to give an update about Elly… Her pain is becoming more manageable with another medicine added today to target pain from some severed nerves but it is going to be a hard road toward healing. Recovery from major surgery is exhausting on so many levels.

Today, Elly received the pathology report on the 7 lymph nodes that were taken: 5 sentinel nodes and 2 non-sentinel nodes. 4 of these 7 came back with invasive cancer cells so she will need to have a full axillary dissection of the lymph nodes in the right armpit. This means they will take the remaining lymph nodes in the area and women typically have about 20-40 in this region. The doctors are still discussing when this surgery should happen. Right now, it seems like they are leaning toward having Elly do chemo first before removing the rest of these lymph nodes but we are waiting for their decision.

How do we process this? By the GRACE of God! If you’ve seen the shirt we designed to support Elly, it says, “Elly’s Warriors: We Fight on Our Knees” meaning that we believe prayer is the one way we can come alongside Elly since we know the battle belongs to The Lord. She is a Wonder Warrior because of her faith!

Please join us in praying for: 
Peace for this unexpected result
Wisdom for when to do the surgery / chemo.

Elly has been through hard medical things before so she is not blindsided by the unexpected. But it’s still hard not knowing how to plan and anticipate the next steps. Please also continue praying for Alex and the boys as they navigate routines without wife and mom. It is tough on each of them. Please pray for their continued confidence in God’s hand throughout this journey.

Our whole family is grateful for each of you who have been bringing meals, volunteering time to help and generously donating financially. Your support brings moments of joy to Elly and Alex in spite of so much difficulty. Thank you for loving them so well.

We will update more as we receive further details.

Sincerely, Suzanne (Elly’s Sister)