Update 01-02-2009 6:37PM EST

• This will be our last update on this blog post since we are now at home.
• Emily Grace slept really well last night.
• We slept as well as we could in the hospital.
• She ate good and was able to poopy to satisfy the doctors.
• She has only had to take motrin for pain for the past 24 hours or so.
• She has a good sized incision. It is scary to look at for Mommy and Daddy on their little girl. The surgeons are happy with the way it looks though.
• We decided to come on home today after being discharged midday.
• We ate lunch with TL and Gina at Elijah's in Wilmington before leaving town.
• We took our time on the way home and stopped a few times to let her walk around a bit.
• Got home around 6PM.
• She has had a shower and all is well.
• So good to be home!
• Please continue to pray for Emily Grace's pathology report, followup MD visits and her post-surgical healing.
• We would like to personally thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this tough time. It is hard to do since 100s of people were praying. Please know that your prayers made an impact this week.

Update 01-01-2009 3:30PM EST

• Emily Grace had a very rough night with pain (post-surgical). She would sleep for a few hours and wake up hurting with pain due to her surgery. We are all exhausted as a result.
• Today she is doing much better. Her pain is under control and she has spent a good deal of time awake and walking around.
• She spent a good amount of time in the playroom today.
• We may be discharged tomorrow if she can eat good and everything else checks out.
• We will probably stay overnight at TL and Gina's home in Southport before heading home. We just want to make sure Emily Grace is ready for a 4 1/2 hr drive home.

Update 12-31-2008 9:50PM EST

• We are all so ready to go home/leave the hospital.
• More tests come back negative (that is a good thing in medical speak).
• Some family left today and more came in to visit. Most family and friends left late in the afternoon. Good to give us some time alone!
• Jimmy Britt has been such a huge support for us.
• Emily Grace had an xray for some testing with results pending.
• Mr. Manney took Emily Grace in a wheelchair too and from her xray. He was an amazing support for her. He was funny, compassionate and patient. He asked Emily Grace what she wanted to eat when she left the hospital. She answered, "Bubble gum ice cream." He later gave her $5 to buy her some ice cream when she left.
• Dr. Macintyre, the emergency room physician who first saw Emily Grace this week, came by to check on her. He is an amazing doctor. If he hadn't ordered the CT scan, we would not be this far a long at this point.

Update 12-31-2008 12:00PM EST

• Emily Grace wants to tell everyone that "I want to go home tomorrow, I have stitches and Happy New Year."
• We will not be going home tomorrow.
• Emily Grace woke up every few hours overnight with pain, but she is doing well.
• She was able to walk down to the playroom and color for a while. She then walked all the way back to the room. http://brightkite.com/objects/641c31b4d74c11dd84f8003048c10834
• She can now have a popsicle once every couple of hours. No food till tomorrow at the earliest.
• Thanks again for your continued prayers and support. I had a call from Greece today about her. That really makes us all feel better.

Update 12-30-2008 9:36PM EST

• Emily is receiving pain medicine periodically.
• She is having pain from the surgery. To be expected, but this is so hard for Mommy and Daddy to see.
• Also, very hard for us to see her so hungry and not being able to eat yet. Just a few ice chips.
• The cath has been pulled, but she is having problems peeing (related to the pain from the cath I think).
• Family and friends have left for the night. Time to wind down.
• Grabbed some new DVDs from the van so Emily Grace can watch on the XBox 360 in the hospital room.
• Dad bought O'Charley's for us to eat tonight. A nice change from burgers and fries.

Update 12-30-2008 2:46PM EST
Emily Grace is out of surgery. Everything went fine. She is doing fine. The surgeons removed the large simple cyst attached to her left ovary. They also biopsied a few other small ovarian cysts and removed her appendix just to test and prevent future issues.

Looks like we will be in Wilmington for a few more days so Emily Grace can heal up enough to leave.

We are so happy (of course). Thanks to all who have prayed for Emily Grace and our family. We ask for continued prayers for a speedy recovery and that pathology reports come back negative. Your prayers have made a REAL impact.

It is times like this that show me God's enduring love and and compassion.

Update 12-30-2008 1:10PM EST
Emily Grace is in surgery now. If things go as planned, she will be out to recovery around 2:15PM. We will be able to see her by 3PM I am guessing.

Original Post: 12-30-2008 7:40AM EST
Good Morning,

First of all, let me say how much we appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers over these last couple of days. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful, faithful family and friends.

Emily Grace has been diagnosed with a "simple cyst" in her abdomen. There is a ob/gyn oncologist and a general surgeon following her, and they are planning surgery sometime today or tomorrow. As of right now, we are not sure if the cyst is attached to an ovary or part of her bowel. The CT scan and the ultrasound showed she has a cyst on her right ovary, but it is small. There seems to be no solid tissue or blood vessel involvement, which is very good news. The doctors are going to talk to us more about the ultrasound results and plans for removing the cyst. Emily Grace is having pain off and on, and when she is in pain, it is severe. She is getting Morphine for the pain and hasn't been allowed to eat since being admitted. Please pray that the doctors don't find any cancer, that her reproductive system will be intact and undamaged by this, the surgery will be simple and certainly for her pain and recovery. Right now we're praying that nothing changes; that the cyst remains just a "simple" one, and there isn't any complications with it, especially cancer.

The doctors and nurses have been wonderful, including the emergency room staff in Southport. They have gone beyond their call of duty to help us and to make Emily Grace comfortable and make her feel at ease. We believe God is working in this situation already and has been since the beginning. Please also pray for the staff and doctors taking care of Emily Grace. This is the scariest situation we have faced as parents and we firmly believe God will see us through this and heal our baby.

Thank you all for your support. You can't imagine how much each one of you mean to us. We will post updates on this blog as they develop.

Mark and Lisa