If you believe in the power of prayer...

Thank you all so very much for keeping little Emma Taylor in your most fervent prayers. She won't even be two years old until August 31, and already her little body is having to go through so very much. I am sorry to say that over the weekend the prognosis actually worsened. In addition to the discovery Friday of a large cancerous tumor where one of her kidneys was supposed to be, doctors have also detected several spots on her lungs that they believe to be cancerous as well. Yesterday Emma went through a battery of xays and other tests in preparation for today's surgery. The doctors ordered these tests because the tumor may be attached to a main artery, making the surgery itself all the more difficult. So early this morning they will begin the surgery to remove the tumor; they believe the procedure could actually take most of the day. So as often as you may get the chance today, her mother Jan and the rest of her family and all the rest of us who are her church family would so very much appreciate your ardent prayers in her behalf. Thank you from the bottom of all our hearts.

Some background information for your prayer efforts: Jan Taylor is Joy Parker's sister, and has been pretty regularly attending our church for a couple of years now. Last week Jan noticed that Emma wasn't holding down her meals very well and was losing what appetite she had. So Jan scheduled a doctor's appointment for Emma on Friday, but after finding a lump just below Emma's ribcage Thursday night, decided to rush her to Vanderbilt Children Hospital. Doctors attending to her there discovered a large tumor where one of Emma's kidneys should have been. (The other kidney is OK, and doctors haven't determined whether Emma was born with only one kidney or that the tumor has overtaken the kidney.) Multiple tests were run and are still being run. Needless to say, Jan is rather distraught--as surely all of us would be upon being the recipients of such news.

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Some of our prayers for little Emma Taylor have already been answered! After over five hours of surgery today, doctors at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital are confident that they have removed all of the fast-growing tumor that was located where one of her kidneys was supposed to be. Of course, they also removed some of the area around the tumor--a lymph node and such--as a precautionary measure. The surgeons had warned Emma's mother Jan that the surgery could last up to twelve hours, but following the procedure told her that it was not as complicated as they had thought it could be. Emma will be in recovery for a few hours this afternoon before her family can see her. Please do continue to pray for her; she's still facing rounds of radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the spots they've found on her lungs. And again, all her family and all the rest of us who are her church family so very much appreciate your ardent prayers in her behalf.

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