Anna Rose

For those of you who feel moved to do so, I would encourage you to pray for this little girl, Anna Rose. Anna Rose is a gorgeous little girl, and you can read about her at that link, her caringbridge, and here, her family's site. Her father tweets @weloveannarose. Anna Rose has ATRT, the same type of pediatric brain cancer which James had.

For those of you who may have joined us recently, ATRT is short for atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor. ATRT is a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer that occurs primarily in children, most often quite young children. Atypical means precisely what it always does, i.e., strange, unusual. Rhabdoid is the tumor type (rhabdoid tumors occur most often in the brain and spine, but can occur elsewhere). Teratoid is the word I didn't know when we started on this journey and received James' diagnosis. According to Google, teratoid means monster-like. And that is precisely what ATRT is, a horrific, monstrous form of cancer whose victims are the most vulnerable among us. ATRT requires one of several highly aggressive treatment plans, one of which Anna has endured, and ones which provides no guarantees. I cannot imagine what they have been through. Please keep Anna and her family in your thoughts and prayers.