Update as of Monday June 19, 2006

Hello Everyone,

A lot has happened since the last post. Where to begin?
Well, as most of you have seen from Rick's post, the wine tasting event was unbelievable! It was very impressive. Thank you everyone for being a part of it. Thanks for your support and generosity. And thank you for your continued prayers. We hope everyone had a lot of fun.

And what a well done video. Thanks Ted.

Now on to the most important thing in the world--Maria.

Maria graduated with her class from Kindergarten at a mass at St. Raphael's. She helped bring up the gifts at offertory. She was so happy and she walked with a big smile. She felt proud. Mom and Dad were the ones that were the most proud. That image will be in our minds forever. It was so nice to see all the parents and get pictures. We just had to get a picture of Maria with Mrs. Ritzler, Maria's teacher. She has been such an inspiration to Maria and our entire family. Thank you Mrs. Ritzler, you have made a great difference in Maria's life. We love you.

Maria is having fun. She runs around the neighborhood and even jumps on the lawsuit trampoline in the neighbors back yard. She is almost running like she used to.

Quick medical update -- Maria has lost more hair in the spots where the radiation affected her. She is now 100% off of her Steroids and is only taking Tarceva and Imodium. She gets tired less often, but still gets tired about every 3-4 days. We have a home health care agency that comes to the house once a week to draw blood. This is nice because that way Maria doesn't have to go to the hospital and feel uncomfortable. -- end of medical update.

Last week Maria and her family went to the Great Wolf Lodge with her cousins from Virginia. This is something that Maria has been asking for and asking for and the day finally came! For those of you that have never heard of the Great Wolf Lodge, it is an indoor water park located 45 minutes away in Sandusky, Ohio. We spent the night there. She loved it! It was the first "vacation" she has been on in about 2 years... but don't worry, because we are going to go on a whole bunch this summer.

Make-a-Wish had two wonderful volunteers come to visit Maria and ask her what her wish is.....Disney to meet Cinderella of course! We don't know the exact dates yet, but she is so excited she can't wait.

Maria has to go back to St. Jude next week for one day for her regular check up and a detailed MRI...please continue to pray that the radiation and Tarceva is working and that the tumor is shrinking. Just to give everyone a baseline to work from, we have been told that the first MRI is expected to show no shrinkage and maybe some growth from irritation, but we believe that will not happen.

Father’s day-- It was a sad day on Sunday. Sure, dad was happy to get up and make breakfast for the kids and get a hand made card from them, (drawn by Maria, but it was from all of them) but I could not get out of my head all day the pain I saw my daughter go through the last few months. She was happy for me that day and told me that I didn't have to shave because it was father's day. She is so beautiful. I love her so much. How many times a day do I wish I could take the tumor from her? A father is supposed to protect his daughter. How can I protect her from a tumor? You feel so useless at times. But that doesn't stop me from holding her, loving her and finding the best care for her I can.......and of course, prayer. All day, everyday.

So what is next for Maria? Well, a perfectly normal, fun, happy summer. That is what we hope for.

Thank you everyone for your participation at the wine tasting and thank you for your continued prayers.

God Bless,
Ed and Megan