A look here inside the McDaniel family home

Wow. We are home. I can not begin to tell you how happy we are to be back in Columbia again.

To catch you up on these past 48 hours...

Our happy news actually began on Wednesday. While the girls and I were busy packing and cleaning the apartment for our Thursday morning exit, Larry and Anna were saying "good-bye" to Caleb as he left for his 1st mission trip to Guatemala. Although the girls and I were so very, very sorry not to be here to see him off in person, we were able to give him our love and best wishes through Skype and the phone as he prepared to leave. We are so proud of him and pray God uses him and his team mightily while they minister there in that country.

Later that day, Anna and Larry headed down to St. Louis to greet....Joshua! Yes, our son is safely home from his time in China. We are so very thankful and happy to have him back home again. He had a very positive experience and we are grateful to each of the families that housed him and cared for him while he was away. (But mostly we are just very glad he is back...we really missed him!) :-) Joshua's plane arrived late in the evening and so Larry, Anna and he caught up together at a hotel for the night. And then, on Thursday - we flew in. It was wonderful having them there to greet us at the airport. What a ride home! Lots of hugs, catching up, laughter and LUGGAGE!

The reunion felt almost complete with a "welcome home" call from Haley who is down at the SBU working. She will arrive home next week for a few days off and we can't wait to have her here with us again.

The joy of our return continued on through Friday which was Anna's 18th Birthday! What a day! We celebrated with fun things all day long and ended with a great party, presents, cake and ice cream last night. She is such a gift to us. Our family would not be complete without her. She adds such joy and love to our family and we thanked God for the gift of her life when we prayed last night.

And so today is Saturday. The last 48 hours have been a whirlwind of catching up, laundry, b-day parties and mail to sort through. And through all this we are reminded of the precious gift of each day that our family has together.

Amanda is feeling well and - I am very thankful to report - all of her side effects from the chemo drugs have passed. She is very happy to be back home with her family, friends and dogs...(I am not quite certain if I have those posted in the same order she would! :-)

Beginning on Monday we will make appointments with Univ. Hospital here in Columbia for bi-weekly labs counts. We need to closely monitor her levels as those must be back to safe limits before we return to Houston. And, as is one sad reality of this re-occurrance, before we return to Houston we must schedule a surgery to re-place a port-o-cath for Amanda. She really hated the PICC line that was used during our treatment time in Houston. If you have never seen one it is a line place into a vein in her upper left arm which then leaves two capped lines hanging on the outside of the skin. They must be covered, kept sterile and flushed every 24 hours. It was really hindering to her in the way that she used her arm and in her daily activities. Amanda talked with her Dr. and told him that she preferred to use the port-o-cath and so he agreed to remove the PICC line and allow her to have a port replaced. She also decided that she wanted it done here in Columbia (her first one worked so well for her) and so it was agreed that we would have that procedure done before we returned in July.

At this time (and presuming that her counts cooperate and rebound as predicted) we are scheduled to return to Houston on the 13th of July. Scans will be done all day on the 14th. Those scans will determine Amanda's future treatment schedule. I can not express how desperately we need those scans and that day covered in prayer. The new cancer activity is in incredibly difficult areas...by the sciatic nerve, at the base of her spine, and small spots they are watching in the bottom of her lungs. We need them stopped...no, I just want them gone. I believe miracles happen everyday and I am asking for healing miracles on behalf of our precious daughter.

And so, home once again we have much to pray about and so much to be thankful for. I will continue to update as Amanda has lab results and we schedule her surgical procedure. And again I send my most heartfelt thanks to each of you who continue to pray on our behalf and show your thoughtful, loving support to our family. We couldn't do it without you and daily we are reminded that as a family we are loved and surrounded by faithfulness.

It is so good, so comforting to be home...

Amanda, Abby and Mom

(A very special thanks to the elves who came in with food and the gifting of vacuuming...it was wonderful to come home to!)