Some Update From Auntie Jenny (August 30)

Cassidy had a fun-filled day today starting with a cupcake-making session. CaCa made a dozen of colourful cupcakes and she offered the nurses the yummy treats. CaCa was delighted to chat with Dr. Hopyan for a long time. There's some interesting information that we found out from Dr. Hopyan - i.e. his father is the architect of our Wismer church. Dr. Hopyan clarified that there was no 'clean-up' surgery which had been thought to be scheduled. He also noted that the sensation of CaCa's leg is improving and that the dead tissue on the limb will peel off by itself. The chemo treatment will not prevent the healing of the leg.

CaCa took an art lesson with Charlotte, and she made two drawings, whose pictures are enclosed :D. She also played card games with aunties and enjoyed the company of Charlotte, Sylvia and Matt today!

We All Support Cassidy

Got some update from Carmen.


The doctor has said that another surgery would be done in about 2-3 weeks. There will be a, roughly, 35-week of chemo process.

The physiotherpist was there today to help CaCa to stand up. It's been very tough for Ca and she's been very tired afterward that she fell asleep very soon.

Cassisdy was quite emotional yesterday. She was crying a lot. She cried even when Auntie Connie and Uncle Leander were praying with her. And CaCa said she missed home, and she missed Church. She told Mama Carmen that she had been very patient but why did this happen to her. She said she's not a happy person anymore and that her heart was broken. She said she could not handle it anymore. My heart's broken too when i heard that as I knew she's been suffering a lot. She has been so brave and so tough!

Mama Carmen has told her that it's okay to cry. We all have our emotions, and it's fine. I think it's fine too, we all have our emotions and we can let it out, just that we don't sin by doing so.

She went to make some cup cakes this morning and she was cheered up a bit. She said she had to save one for Dr. Hopyan! How nice!

Hope that she can have better mobility and will not be staying in the room all the time!

Ah Ca, we all miss you very much! And we are all praying for you and supporting you! We are sure Jesus will carry you through all these!

An update from Uncle Leander...

Uncle Leander was with Mama Carmen when they saw Dr. Baruchel, Cassidy's oncologist, on Wednesday. Below is a brief report of what the doctor said. Cassidy has moved to the 7th floor already on Wednesday after winning 3 Bingo prizes, and Papa Andy says today that her Chemo has already started yesterday afternoon. Let us continue to pray for CaCa as she goes through another round of Chemo.

Here's Uncle Leander's message:

The initial chemo was not very effective with only 23% of cancer cells killed, according to the prelim pathogy report. The orginal intention was to reduce the tumour size with the initial chemo so as to facilitate the surgery, but it unfortunately did not turn out to be so.

Given this situation, it is of paramount importance to try to root out the cancer now so that it would not cause any further problems. There are 2 possible causes that the initial chemo didn't work well :

1) The cancer cells simply did not respond well to these 3 drugs

2) The blood clog in & around the tumour inhibited the access of the drugs, thus limiting its effectiveness.

It is Dr. Baruchel's hope that it is the 2nd reason that caused the issue with the growth of the tumour. So, he decide to continue with the same regiment of drugs to hopefully root out any remaining cancer cells in the body, now that the blood clogged tumour has been removed. Let us all pray fervently that God will heal Cassidy entirely of this cancer through this 2nd round of chemo using the same 3 drugs - A+P, then M.

But we have to bear in mind that it is possible that the first reason may be the cause to the lack of response to those 3 drugs. Hopefully, again, with the Lord's mercy, that it is not the case. However, should it be detected later that there is cancer in other parts of the body, then 2 other new drugs will be added. These are the 2 new drugs being used in the clinical trial right now. However, since these new drugs are only under clinical trial, it is not sure how much more effecfive they are. But there are known down sides with 1 of these 2 new drugs, that is, it raises the infection risks by 3 times. It is with this reason that Dr. Baruchel decide not to use them now because of the still massive open wounds that Cassidy still has in her leg. In his words, if there should be massive infections, it would be life threatening. So, it is to avoid this risk that the 2 new drugs are not used now.

Let us pray continually for His mercy that Cassidy's cancer can be healed by this new round of chemo, and the leg be healed too.

We got a little shocking news

Lab report for CaCa's tumor is showing that only 23% of tumor cells were killed and there are still 77% active. These are not good numbers and the doctor is going to start Chemo real soon.

This is very hard on Carmen because blow after blow of undesirable outcome in Cassidy's treatment is wearing her and all of us down. Carmen feels that it is very hard to breath when she thinks of all the unknown CaCa is facing, and Dr. Jesse also felt a my heart stopped when I heard of the news. Let us pray for Carmen to continue to be able to draw strength from God when Cassidy is in bigger needs of a strong mommy to bring her through the hard days.

Cassidy's leg needs further healing but with Chemo starting soon, the healing will stop and end. Pray that God guide the medical team to be able to juggle between medical decisions. Instead of the much stronger new chemo drug that was originally considered, the doctor as decided to just use the "AP" chemo drug for the time being due to the worries of Cassidy's weak body. Even with the old AP drug, Cassidy will again become neutropenia and that can be really crucial for the healing in her leg as well as overall health. Therefore, your fervent prayers are much needed to uphold her at this crucial time.

Pray also for smooth transfer from 5th to 8th floor in the next couple of days. Pray for peace and comfort from God to Carmen, Andy and Aaron.

"...we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:2-5. May the Word of God comforts and encourage us all.

CaCa is a little sad.

CaCa's body is doing fine these couple days, her leg was looking better when Dr. Jesse saw her on Friday night and her body is ok. But Mama Carmen reported that CaCa told her daddy yesterday that she was not too happy because she was feeling that things are too difficult for her. I guess we can all imagine young Cassidy being stuck at the hospital for all these weeks and could only tour within the 200ft around her hospital room, it would have been very boring and sucks the happy spirit out of the little princess. Let us pray for God to comfort her soul and if God willing, may CaCa's body gets well that she can take a break from the hospital or at least to be able to enjoy more mobility even if she has to stay a bit longer.

But then Dr. Jesse thinks, if CaCa is feeling bored and wants to get out more to enjoy life, that means her body feels better to her so that she feels she should be allowed to go places. So although it breaks my heart to hear her sadness of being stuck where she is, it also assures me that her body is doing better and better. Let's pray for God to give Mama Carmen, Papa Andy, GorGor Aaron and us all the right words to encourage CaCa with and be able to do the right things at the right time to cheer her up while she works hard at getting well.

Dr. Jesse strongly believes that God makes no mistake. If He allows all these onto our little princess, He will definitely make good use of them. And I trust that CaCa will come out of this ordeal a much stronger soldier in the army of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Celebrating CaCa's getting out of bed!

Not only CaCa's leg is getting better, her body is also getting stronger. As of about 7pm tonight, Cassidy was out of her bed and sat in a wheelchair to roam around the 5th floor. God is AMAZING!

Cassidy is very brave in letting the nurses help her into the wheelchair, although it hurt a bit , but she was really glad to be our of her bed and her room. She's gone into the playroom, grabbed a few books to read. And we also sat by the window for a while so CaCa could look out onto the street where cars and flags are moving. Because all CaCa's IV were unplugged while she's out roamming around, we could not be out "on the road" for too long, but CaCa was out for about half an hour before she started to feel pain in her back and leg and needed to go back. As her body gets stronger and her leg heals better, we're sure to see CaCa up and jumping soon. Stay tuned!

Brief Update on the Status

Mama Carmen said Ca is doing much better today. Her appetite is good! Thank God that Ca is better and better day by day!

The Oncologist, responsible for Ca's case, is back and the doctors decided to wait another week before the chemo starts. This is to let CaCa build up a stronger body first. We know that God is in control of everything. We are sure the doctors will do their best and make the best decision for Ca.

Chemotherapy will begin soon.

Cassidy's oncologist will return from vacation next week and Dr. Hopyan told Papa Andy that Chemo will start soon in the next couple of days. Dr. Jesse believes this is good news because that indicates that the healing of Cassidy's leg is good so and her body is strong enough for chemo. We praise God for Cassidy's progress and let us continue to pray for her strength and health.

Uncle Chester made CaCa some yummy macaroni today and daddy says she ate quite well this afternoon. She was also wide awake and watching TV when Dr. Jesse saw her in the evening.

They also did the leech therapy on Cassidy and gave her transfusion today, but CaCa's face is looking much better than any day in the last 2+ weeks. Dr. Jesse saw her with a nice pink glow on her face, and daddy also says that CaCa was feeling itchy at the stitches in her leg, that means the skins are healing around the stitches. Let's continue to pray for good healing for the rest of her leg especially in the lower leg so that CaCa can begin rehab soon and be up and around.

Mama Carmen has gone home for better sleeps and Papa Andy is staying with CaCa tonight. Let us pray that both mommy and daddy get some sweet zzz and CaCa also sleep tight tonight.

BTW, CaCa will soon move back to the 8th floor before her chemotherapy starts, let us also pray for a smooth move and Papa Andy's strength to help move all CaCa's stuff from the old to the new room.

Hoping to entice Cassidy's appetite (Aug 14)

Cassidy had a good night sleep last night and was only waken up by the nurses this morning around 9am. But at around 5am, she called for the nurse herself to help her poop. This was the first bowel movement in 2 weeks. This tells us that her tummy is starting to work and that the nurses are saying that we should try to make Cassidy eat as much as she can so to build up her strength. Cassidy ate a big breakfast but skipped lunch, may be her body is still trying to catch up for her eating, and also because her tummy was hurting this afternoon, Cassidy was not too keen to eat anything the whole afternoon. But the good thing is that she started to drink the nutritional supplement milk that the nurse brought her, we wanted to get her the strawberry flavor but they only had vanilla today, hope they get more strawberry ones soon so CaCa can have the favor she likes most.

Still no words from the surgeon about the next surgery, let us continue to pray for God to guide everyone to the best thing at the best time. For the mean time, they just kept ordering leech therapy and transfusion for Cassidy.

Please pray on for Cassidy's body to recoup and for Mama and Papa to remain strong and courageous to go through all coming things with Cassidy.

Doctor still having hope.

Cassidy's condition has been stable for the last couple of days. Leech therapy and transfusions were ordered from time to time. And Cassidy also got to look at her leg and the leeches, we all think she is a super brave girl. Mama Carmen says Cassidy was crying a little yesterday morning because she was a little sad about having to stay in the hospital for too long and that she is hoping to get her happy life back. Although no one can promise her of doing that anytime soon, but Mama Carmen helped CaCa to pray and told her to ask God for what she is wishing for and God will be able to help her. Then CaCa was basically in a good mood in the afternoon. Dr. Jesse also brought her 2 new friends - The Pinky Happy Flower & The Yellow Smiley Duckie. They are towel washcloth that CaCa and Mama can use to wash their face in the hospital and later at home when they come home.

Dr. Hopyan has seen Cassidy's leg yesterday and says it's still stable and they can still wait. Let us continue to pray for a miracle on Cassidy's leg that she can avoid the next surgery. And if it is God's will for her to have the next surgery, let us submit to that and pray that Cassidy has a strong and healthy body to endure it. It has been quite a few weeks since Cassidy has her last Chemo, but with the open wound in her leg, the doctors cannot order Chemo for her. Let us pray extra fervently that God will take away any microscopic cancer cell in Cassidy's body so that her body remains strong and good without Chemo, it would be best if she can avoid all further Chemo altogether. However God has planned on Cassidy, let us have faith and trust in God that He will carry her through all the way no matter what.

Cassidy is having a catherer on so she does not have to get up to go to the washroom. However she is very sensitive to the tube in her and is very nervous that the tube may not work and she might wet her bed. So she is not too willing to drink or eat because she knows that any liquid she takes in will make her wet the bed. Let us pray that Cassidy get used to the catherer soon so she won't have to hold her pee which makes her feel her tummy blowing up.

Mama Carmen was having a bad headache last night so she went home to have a better sleep. Let us pray that it was nothing big and that she gets to maintain her health so she has the energy she needs to care for CaCa. Also, Mama Carmen has not been eating too well lately, let us pray that she builds up her appetite to eat more good and healthy food to keep her energy up. Remember to pray for Papa Andy's health so he also be able to look after Cassidy, Aaron, Mama Carmen and also take care of his business and their home. Super daddy is on overdrive, let's charge him up with turbo fuel with our fevent prayers.

Cassidy is Out of ICU

Hallelujah Praise the Lord! Cassidy has been discharged from ICU around midnight last night. Although there are still many uncertainties and unknown factors and conditions of her leg, her body is at least much stronger than before that she does not need to stay in ICU. We shall continue to pray for her body to regain strength that is much needed for the coming days of treatments and recovery.

Carmen's SMS says Cassidy asked about her leg twice last night and Papa Andy was keen and honest to her about her condition. Daddy also told her that we need to wait patiently and rely on Jesus to carry her through the next step. Only God would know how much Cassidy understands but one thing we are sure of, is that she has strong faith and trust in God. Carmen says she asked Daddy to pray for her right away after he told her of the situation. We can sure that our heavenly Father is pleased by little Cassidy's faith and her submission to Him. How much more should we learn from little Cassidy to pray and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us keep on the chain of fasting and prayers for Cassidy on her recovery and for God to guide the medical team to decide the best for her. Pray also for Mama Carmen and Papa Andy's health and strength in the coming days.

Doctor still hoping high

Cassidy's surgeon told Mama Carmen today that he is striving to hold up surgery until next week to decide how to best treat Cassidy's leg. Cassidy's hemoglobin went further down to 31 late last night and the doctor had to give her more blood product. But praise God that her blood level was gradually climbing back up to the 70's by the time Dr. Jesse left this afternoon around 4pm. And the discharge from her leg wound seems to have reduced. However, Cassidy was having fever this afternoon and had to be given Tylenol, there was still a very slight fever when Dr. Jesse left this afternoon.

But despite the fever, Cassidy enjoyed most of the day listening to Robert Munch's Audio Book on a CD, and there is a total of 42 stories told by Robert Munch himself. Cassidy already read most of the stories because she has most of the story books, but she was overjoyed to be able to hear those stories read to her by the author himself.

When Cassidy was not feeling too well today, uncle Gary taught her to squeeze something really hard so that it will take away some of the bad feelings, and uncle Gary gave his face for Cassidy to practice squeezing. Ouch, that must have hurt. So when you all see uncle Gary, remember to give him a kiss on his face so it gets better and be ready for Cassidy to squeeze the next time around. God does make great use of every single part of our body, that is one great way to glorify God with our body. Dr. Jesse also uses her strong waggling tail to make Cassidy laugh all the time, I guess that counts?!

Mama Carmen is very stressed lately and she was not having much appetite these days. Let us all pray that she remains strong and have courage from God to also take good care of herself so that she can provide care for Cassidy who needs mommy very much.

And then please continue your prayers for Cassidy's leg wounds to heal and for her lower leg to start working with the rest of her body. Pray fervently for God to grant wisdom and insights to doctors so that they can decide on the best treatments for Cassidy. And if it is the will of God, let us all proclaim healing and victory over sickness for Cassidy In The Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for He is familiar with suffering, He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.(Isaiah53:3-5)

Dr. Jesse would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been praying for Cassidy and her family these many months. God's love and blessings are so abundantly revealed through your continuous supports and prayers. May God bless all your hearts and your loved ones and may God reward everyone of you with His heavenly blessings and rewards.

On behalf of Cassidy and the rest of the Sheng's family, we thank you for your fervent prayers and all kinds of supports. Soon enough, Cassidy will be all better and be able to see you all and thank you all in person and to share with us all how she experienced the power and love of God through her sickness. Stay tuned!

Pray for the blood level

SMS from Mama Carmen last night says Cassidy's hemoglobin level has once again dropped to just around 34. That is really low because Dr. Jesse experienced hemoglobin at 50 a few years before and already needed transfusion. With the continuous blood lost in Cassidy, it is expected that her hemoglobin will drop but it should not drop to such a low level. Blood transfusion for too long can harm her heart and lungs, so let us pray especially for Cassidy's hemoglobin level to rise back to safe levels and that the doctors have wisdom to decide for the best treatments for her.

A Day filled with Cheers!

Cassidy's grand-auntie bought her a couple balloons to cheer CaCa up, she was very happy to see the balloons. Someone also got her a nice strand of Pink Hanging Butterfly and we hung that right with the balloons at where CaCa can see all the time.

Cassidy's heartbeat was very high in the morning but as the blood transfusion began, her pulse rate came back down to around 150+-. Doctor Hopyan is still having hope in CaCa's leg and is trying his best to keep as much of the leg as he can. So let us pray for God to grant extra wisdom to Dr. Hopyan so that he can make the best treatment plan for Cassidy.

Cassidy is such a nice and considerate girl, when the nurses were going to change the dressing on her leg, she asked Dr. Jesse if I'm scared of seeing her bleeding because she worried that the look of her wounds might bother Dr. Jesse. And when Dr. Jesse told her that I've got the bravery from her, I am not scared of her bleeding and Dr. Jesse got to stay by her side when they changed her dressing. It must have been hurting her when they do that or it must not feel good, Cassidy's face twisted a bit when she kept her eyes shut and endured the uncomfy feeling, but she did not even make a sound. Dr. Jesse thinks CaCa is the most brave girl in the world.

Cassidy is still facing surgery at any time now, we need to continue to pray for the healing and functioning of Cassidy's lower leg so that the parts that needs to be removed in the next surgery would be minimized or even to avoid further surgery altogether. Also remember to pray for Mama Carmen and Papa Andy that they have good health, eat and rest well so they have all the energy they need to care for Cassidy.

Dr. Jesse is bringing to Cassidy a few audio storybooks by Robert Munch, if you also have some story tapes, let Dr. Jesse know and we can group them together and bring to CaCa so that she can listen to them from the CD player she has by her bed. When Dr. Jesse left this evening, Cassidy gave us a big smile as she said goodbye to us, and her smile was just like a big sunshine that brightened up the whole room. Let us keep up our prayers for CaCa's quick recovery and be able to show everyone her big sunshine smiles.

Still having ups and downs

Cassidy is still in ICU however with stable condition. Dr. Hopyan is trying his best to help CaCa's leg to reach full function. Although part of her leg is starting to show signs of living tissue, there are still other areas of dead skins. Leech therapy was ordered by the doctor again hoping to reduce the standing blood and swelling in CaCa's lower leg, blood transfusion was also ordered to replenish for blood lost from the leech therapy. There are still many ups and downs that Cassidy has to endure, the surgery is still not a 100% completed yet, please continue to pray for Cassidy's strong body that she can withstand all these treatments or possible further surgeries.

The doctor has lifted her eating restriction yesterday so she is allowed to eat as long as her tummy can tolerate, it does take some time for her tummy to get working again because she has not eaten for so many days now. Pray that CaCa's tummy works well so that she can eat more and more of the good and healthy foods that may help her body to build new cells for the healing of her leg.

CaCa wakes up a few times a day but she complains of pain in her lower back for sleeping on it for too long. But God sends great nurses whom CaCa can trust to move her body and help her change position in bed so she does not have to put all her weight in her lower back and bumbum. Please pray that God's hands are always lifting Cassidy so when she sleeps, she can feel like she's lying on the soft and fluffy cloud that God has made and that her back won't hurt or bother her anymore.

And remember to continue to pray for Carmen and Andy. We praise God for moving the SickKids to allow Carmen and Andy a room on the 5th floor for them to stay while CaCa is still in ICU. Although the beds are tight, but they are willing to arrange the ins and outs of the other patients so to try to keep the room available for them so they can be close to CaCa in the hospital instead of running back and forth every single day. But it is physically and emotionally exhausting, especially for MaMa Carmen, to stay such a long period at such a confined space and having to see CaCa suffer and unable to help her. So pray that God continues to give MaMa and PaPa strength to go through this difficult time.

As the end of yet another week approaches, pray also for Aaron's safe return from camp and his great spirits as he comes home and to come see CaCa. Pray that God would teach him to be a special cheerleader for CaCa and to help keep her spirit up for speedy recovery.

The signs are good.....

After some unexpected delay, Dr. Jesse is finally back from the U.S. to see CaCa last night. Thanks uncle Chester for keeping the blog updated.

Cassidy is still in ICU but after a long day of special care by her surgeon Dr. Hopyan, the bleeding in her leg is controlled and CaCa's vitals are stabled now. Although the external skin of her leg are bruised by the bleeding, the internal function seems to be picking up now. The doctor and nurses reported "cap-filling" in her leg, that is the appearance of color change when her muscles are pressed, and that is a good sign for her leg because that means the blood is moving and her leg is "alive". It will take another long period for her old dead skin to heal and change, but that is all good.

This makes Dr. Jesse remember how important it is for our hearts to be fully changed for God despite our external appearance. God looks at people's heart, not the external features, our outter shell may look bad but God is pleased by our repentance and change in our hearts.

Although it got us all anxious but Dr. Jesse thinks it's a good thing for Cassidy to be moved into ICU after seeing the nice and tender nurses in the ICU last night. I think God wants the best care for CaCa and the closest monitor on CaCa to make sure she gets the best of what she needs in recovery. Also Dr. Hopyan was staying by CaCa's side the whole weekend to make sure things are fine with her and that her condition is stabled. The ICU nurse who just took her new shift after the weekend says Cassidy is doing fine and she didn't see why Cassidy was put into ICU. So that tells us that Cassidy is much better now and that she might get moved out of the ICU soon. Praise God for such an arrangement for Cassidy so that she gets the best care while she was most needing it. God's plan is always the greatest.

Please continue to pray for the network of veins and nerves to build up in CaCa's leg and foot so that the healing is speedy. And also pray for the strength and peace in Carmen and Andy. If it is within God's plan, we pray that Cassidy gets moved back to regular room so mom and dad can be with her more and over the night.

Stay tuned for updates and please refrain from calling or visiting until further notice. Thank you all for your concerns and support, let's speed up Cassidy's recovery by fervent and continuous prayers.

Update of Cassidy's Condition

Latest update...

Cassidy was supposed to have an operation at Toronto General hospital yesterday, at 8:15 am, for the purpose to help the in-flow and out-flow of the heart. However, the operation was unable to carry out as her blood count was too low.

She is still in ICU. Blood transfusion has been doing from time to time. Owing to the high rate of her heartbeat, the doctor has decided to concentrate on the inflow and outflow of the heart.

Today, the surgeon was in ICU, for 2 hours, helping Ca to stop the bleeding. We know that the heart rate is stable now. Please continue to pray for CaCa! We know God is with her!

Also, please pray for Carmen and Andy for a peaceful mind and heart. If possible, please try to check on this blog for updates, we will try to keep the status of Ca up to date. We all know that everyone cares very much about the situation and love them very much, however, cell phone is not allowed in ICU, where Carmen and Andy are at most of the time. Further, it may be difficult for them to tell the situation repeatedly.

Thanks for your continuous prayer and support!

Cassidy in ICU now.....

SMS from Carmen.....Cassidy is still not in stable condition, they have moved her into ICU already. Please continue to pray for God's healing on Cassidy , strength and peace onto Carmen and Andy.

Pray for the leg to work

Cassidy is being closely monitored today for the doctor worries that her lower leg is still not having good outflow. It is time that we pray fervently for God to help Cassidy's new leg to work and there will be no need to amputate.

Pray also fervent for Carmen as she is very very burdened by Cassidy's unstable condition, pray for God's strength onto Carmen & Andy as they are now staying by Cassidy every moment also praying for her recovery.

Daily Update of Cassidy's Condition

SMS from Carmen says:

More leeches this afternoon (to help drain the blood). Critical team and emergency team came to see CaCa as her blood count dropped so much & bleeding quite a bit.

Lots of doctors & nurses are taking care of Ca. More morphine to relieve pain & blood transfusion this evening.
(End of message)

Please continue to pray for the recovery of Cassidy. Your prayer support is very much appreciated. Thanks!

On the other hand, please refrain from visiting Cassidy UNTIL further notice. We understand that many of us would really like to see Ca and ask how she is doing. I would like to do it myself too! However, visiting her is really NOT recommended at this point of time. Please allow her time to rest and recover.

The Toes Are Wiggling!!!

A brand new dawn @ 7:00am. Dr. Jesse just came home now after making sure CaCa is all settled into the Monitoring Room.

So here you are a further detailed update on Cassidy's condition.

Cassidy's surgeon came to meet us just after midnight to ensure us that everything went well. Then we got to see her around 2:30am in the recovery room. And her toes were already wiggling.
The next step is for the newly connected lower leg to recover and build up new veins and nerves that it will become a fully working limb. Cassidy's body is now supplying blood well to the operated leg, we call that in-flow. And the circulation of blood from the lower leg back to the heart is still weak, and that is the out-flow, but that is all expected. Excess blood needs to be drained and there are devices doing that now. Also the surgeon ordered a Leech to help drain the blood, and that was done and finished by around 4am this morning. (If you are really brave, look up what a leech is)
Most veins and nerves in Cassidy's leg were peeled off and removed with the tumor and only 1 set of veins/nerves are preserved, but new ones will grow and before long, a whole new network of veins/nerves will start to build and her blood circulation will pick up again.
The coming 2 days will be very very critical for Cassidy and for her new leg to begin working. The surgery was very successful and things are looking good, but the doctor says there are still risks. So let's pray for Cassidy to have NO INFECTION, NO COMPLICATION especially in this critical period, and thus we ask everyone to refrain from visiting until further notice.

Some side notes:
Cassidy was operated in O.R. Room J, and that's like God telling us that she was in Jesus' room the whole day long, what more can we ask for?
There were about 19 person in CaCa's surgical team, including a medical student who came to see the surgery in the evening.
Cassidy was very thirsty after surgery and she drank lots of water, which would help her circulation.
Doctor says it will take some times before her guts start functioning at full capacity again, so let's not cook too much goodies for Cassidy just yet, that might irritate her stomach, but you are welcome to continue to make yummy good eats for Aaron, Andy and Carmen, and of course, Dr. Jesse....hahahaah

The Surgery is Done! Thank God it was Successful!

A call from Dr. Jesse, and SMS from Mama Carmen said the nurse called right before 10:00 pm and told them the surgery was done and successful! Everything went well! Praise the Lord!

It will be roughly 2 hours before CaCa is out of the surgery room.

PLEASE NOTE: Please DO NOT go visit CaCa UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

Please continue to pray for the recovery of CaCa and pray for the Sheng's family!

The care and love from everyone are understood! However, it may still take some time before CaCa can start eating and also, she is still weak. Also, please DO NOT call them for now. After such a long day, they all need rest and need to take care of CaCa. Your prayer is more than enough for now.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support in every way!

Cassidy's In Good Hands - God's Hands

Praise God for Cassidy's bravery. Cassidy has gone into the O.R. this morning around 8am, Mama Carmen has gone in with her for her induction. Cassidy first didn't want mommy to go in with her because she worries that mommy would cry. But then when we all laughed at mommy after she changed into a white coverall "space shuttle bravery suit", Cassidy was laughing with everybody and went into the O.R. prep-room with mommy with cheers. We'll put up the picture of mommy in her Space Shuttle Bravery Suit later, so stay tuned.

There are about 10 brothers and sisters here at SickKids supporting Cassidy, Mommy, Daddy and GorGor by prayers and praise songs. Everyone brought song books, guitar and a nice voices and God gave us our own private room where we can sing, pray and do whatever together. God not only takes care of Cassidy, He even prepares the best for us all.

Cassidy's surgery is estimated to be 13 hours, and we need your support of prayers. Pray that God will do the surgery by His own healing hands through the doctors and pray that Cassidy has a sweet dream with Jesus during her surgery.

Cassidy was still having a little fever when she went in, pray especially for God to restrict any complications and to break down any tricks of the devil, so that, by His will, Cassidy will have a successful Rotationplasty procedure.

Update as of August 01, 2007 @ 4:30pm

It's been confirmed that Cassidy has been admitted at SickKids and her surgery will go on at 8am tomorrow morning. Praise the Lord because that means we don't need to wake CaCa up in the middle of the night to go to the hospital by 6am.

However there is a slight drawback about the condition of Cassidy's leg. The extra swelling in the last few days has increased complexity for the Rotationplasty procedure and the doctor and social worker are saying that the worse case may be to amputate CaCa's leg. Mama Carmen is very worried. It took her a long time to think through the Rotationplasty option and she is struggling to accept yet another unthinkable outcome of surgery. Let us pray for God to calm Carmen's heart so that she can have peace in her heart as she preps Cassidy for the big day tomorrow.

Carmen worries that there may have been some wrong decisions made for Cassidy in the last few days that caused the extra swelling and brought on the extra complexity for surgery, but let no one look back to the past but only look to what is ahead. "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Phil 3:13-14

Much prayers are needed to uphold Cassidy and her family, let us all humble ourselves and rest in God's sovereignty.

SMS from Carmen: Aug 01 @ 11:00am

".....the doctors are checking Cassidy now. She's not that well. She probably needs to stay."