My sister's friend needs prayers

[CherryCokeGrl]

She has been having back problems for a while now & then yesterday her legs started shaking really bad so they took her to the hospital. She was there all last night & has now been taken the very big & good hospital Shands in Gainesville, FL (the best place she can be right now). They are running a bunch of tests and keeping an eye on things. She is only 13 and I know she has to be really worried and scared so please pray for Katie and her family along with the medical team. Thanks everyone!! :)

[CherryCokeGrl]

I just found out some really hard news to take in... I'm trying not to cry as I write this :'( :(...

Katie's sister called us tonight to let us know Katie has cancer. They found a tumor on her spine after running some tests. They took her in right away to have surgery (in fact she is in surgery right now) to put a stint in so they can start chemotherapy right away. She is at the best hospital in the area so we are all trying to stay positive even though we are all worried and sad. :'( :'( Please pray for Katie, her family, and all the medical staff involved and that they will be able to give her the best treatment possible. I know the family has got to be very shaken up. I know all of us including my younger sisters are very worried/sad. I know God is in control and we are trying to think positive as hard as that may be right now. Thanks guys!!

P.S. They are not really involved in church so please also pray for that situation.

[LauraA]

I'm praying now for everyone! Please keep us updated.

This could be what will turn their hearts to Jesus.

[CherryCokeGrl]

Thanks Laura!

Here is an update:

Thank you all so much!! That means alot. We went up to see her in the hospital today and took her some goodies. She said she was doing okay but very tired and she was getting chemo treatments done. She is having trouble moving her legs since the tumor is pressing on her nerves so they are trying to shrink it.

[JeepGirl83]

Hi all! Would you please keep Katie in your prayers. Tonight she has had an extremely high fever so her parents have rushed her to Shands. Thanks for the prayers. Her sister is here spending the night with us. She and her parents are extremely worried. :(

Thanks.

[stephieg]

Praying for Katie.Praying for God's healing and comfort.Praying for the pain to cease and for her to get better.Pleaseeeeee keep us posted when you can ok.Lol and hugs for Katie and her family as they deal with this too.

[JeepGirl83]

The latest:

Sarah talked to Katie's sister today, who told her that Katie's tumor on the spine is large, like as large as a personal pizza (how she put it), and today Katie is back at Shands hospital getting more scans and tests done to see if the tumor has changed in size. Her mom is with her at the hospital. Please continue to pray that the tumor will shrink. We don't know today's test results yet, but I guess the tumor is larger than they thought. It is touching her lungs and other areas in her chest/back.

Thanks for the prayers.

Keeping the faith.

[LauraA]

I am continuing to pray for Katie. I can imagine how frightened she must be. And her parents, as well. I'd like to send her a card. Is it ok, Robyne and Sarah, if I send it to you? Would you take it along the next time you see her? (no hurry). I have your address and will send it if it's ok with you.

Praying Fervently,
Laura

[JeepGirl83]

Laura ~ I know she would love a card!! Yes, please send it to us and we'll be sure to pass it along to her. That's very kind and thoughtful.

Love ya!

[LauraA]

I'll put it in tomorrow's mail. And I love you, too! :)

[CherryCokeGrl]

Laura, that is so sweet of you to send her a card!! I know she will appreciate it! :) Thanks so much for all that you do! :)

[DawnAurora]

Praying for her.

[CherryCokeGrl]

Latest update:

Katie will be having surgery tomorrow morning I believe at around 8am EST. They are going to do a biopsy on Katie's lungs to see how big & how much the cancer has spread. As of right now the Dr's have told the family that they believe her cancer is in stage 4 (But they don't know for sure until they get in there). The family & Katie are going through so much right now and they could all really use a lot of prayers and also please pray for the medical team and that the surgery will go well and that God's mighty hand will be at work. He is in control and can take all of the cancer away if that is His plan. Please, Please pray for all of them!! We all really appreciate your prayers!!

P.S. Katie and her Mom were on the children's hospital radio fundraiser this morning and they did a fabulous job telling all about their situation and asking people to call in for donations. While they were on there Katie's Mom said the most important thing they need right now is prayer. The interview just really touched my heart and I know that all of us can help them out with that!! :) Thanks everyone!!!

[LauraA]

How did Katie's surgery go? I'll continue to pray for her. Is there a place that we can listen to the interview? Archives?

[CherryCokeGrl]

How did Katie's surgery go? I'll continue to pray for her. Is there a place that we can listen to the interview? Archives?

Hey Laura! As of yet I don't know too much about how Katie's surgery went. She is still in the children's ICU and will be there for a couple more days I think. I do know that when they opened her up they did find some dead tumors in her lungs that the chemo killed and they were able to take those out (Praise God!). I haven't heard how big the alive tumors are and whether or not she is still in stage 4. They have 3 more surgeries planned sometime within the next few weeks. When I hear more I will be sure to try & update on her condition. Please keep them in your prayers. Thanks!!!

As far as the radio interview (She did it the day before her surgery) goes I'm not sure if you can listen to the families interviews. I didn't see anything on their website but I might just have missed it. I did find a picture section and there are lots of pictures from the interview station including Katie Morales' picture. :)

The link to some pictures from the radio interviews are here: http://ktk985.com/pages/2897384.php

The stations home website: http://www.ktk985.com/

[LauraA]

Thank you for the update. I'll keep praying. I'll look at the pictures on my next break. Thank you!

[CherryCokeGrl]

Our neighbor Katie will be having surgery on Tuesday (tomorrow) and on Thursday. They are very serious surgeries that will hopefully remove some of her cancer (hopefully all of it!). They are going to be doing a spine surgery where they will try to go in & remove her spine tumor and also put in a metal rod. They are also going into her lungs to try and remove the cancer from there if they can. They are going to keep her in an induced coma for at least the first 4 days. There is a big chance that if anything goes wrong she could be possibly paralyzed. The spine tumor is in a very bad location to operate on so they are going to try and do their best. Please keep Katie, her family, and all of her medical staff and Dr's in your prayers!! We all really appreciate it!! I will try to update as soon as I receive more news. Also, Katie's 14th Birthday is on Oct. 30th (Thursday) so it makes it an even tougher time to be going through all this. Thanks everyone!

[LauraA]

I'm praying for Katie now and will keep her lifted up over these next few days.

[CherryCokeGrl]

Hey guys, thanks so much for all the prayers they mean a lot. I still haven't heard very many details but I heard Katie's surgery on Tuesday went okay. They discovered once they opened her up that the spine tumor was much larger than expected. They were able to get about 2/3 of it out during a 6 hr surgery. The rest they had to leave in for the time being. She was supposed to have surgery yesterday to try and finish up but Katie has been running a very high fever & her platelets were really low. They discovered last night that she now has pneumonia and they decided that they will not do any more untill at least Monday. Everything now rests on whether Katie is feeling better or not. She is awake now but in a lot of pain. They did take out her breathing tube since she isn't having surgery in the next couple days. I will let you all know if I hear any more details. Please pray that she gets stronger and that she will be able to fight off the infection. Thanks everyone!!

[LauraA]

Heart hugs to Katie! The poor dear to be going through all this, and at her age. Praying fervently for her!

[DawnAurora]

Thanks for the update - we will keep praying.

[CherryCokeGrl]

I don't know many details, but Katie is having surgery again today. She is doing a bit better so they decided to go ahead with it. Please pray that everything goes well and that they are able to remove all the cancer. Thanks everyone!

[Lindleigh]

I know what it is like to have a child with cancer so I can truly relate to what her family is going through. My prayers are with her and her family.

[CherryCokeGrl]

UPDATE: Last week Katie went in for that second surgery to finish what they had started. She was in surgery for 12 hrs and since she had been sick with the infection they were going to do more but decided that 12 hrs was already long enough. They finished getting the spine tumor removed and put in 2 metal rods for support. They tried to clean out most of the tumors that were in her lungs. I'm not sure if they were able to get all of that. They also had to remove 4 of Katie's ribs because the cancer had spread to those as well. She will have to wear a brace to help with that. My sisters and Mom went to see her a few days ago and she was very tired and weak but seemed to be doing okay. She is supposed to have more abdominal surgery done later on to help her posture but they want to wait & see how things go. She will start back on her chemo tretments I believe sometime in Dec. or Jan. but for now they are taking a break.

Katie has just been through so much and at such a young age it just breaks my heart. She sure is a fighter though and always has a positive attitude. She should be returning home again sometime this week. Please keep the prayers coming!! Thanks everyone!

[LauraA]

Sarah, this just breaks my heart. Katie is at an age where she should be giggling and jumping in the leaves. It doesn't seem fair...but who said life is fair, right? It's just so sad and I hurt for her something terrible. But getting a grip on myself....I know that the Lord will use this for His perfect plan and glory will go to Him in all things. I'm praying often for Katie. Thanks again for the update. We all appreciate it.

[CherryCokeGrl]

Update:

Finally a bit of good news... Katie finally came back home today (she had been at the hospital since Oct. 27th)!! She should be here for a little while. I'm sure that she is very happy to be back in her own bed again!!

[DawnAurora]

How close are you to her? Could you go give her a big but gentle hug from all of us??

[CherryCokeGrl]

Actually she lives right across the street. :) I probably won't get a chance to see her over the weekend but I will definitely have to do that... a hug from all of you guys! :) She would LOVE that!!

[drake71449]

hey cherry coke tell her that she is an amazing brave young lady and that she is incredibly blessed by God....i know its sometimes hard to see how blessed we are but...she truly is and she definitely has a guardian angel watching over her

:p