I really appreciate everyone's kind thoughts and words of encouragement. You guys give me the lift I need, which is why I chose to include you all in this journey.
The day we found out that Mia had the tumor, we wept and wept. Naturally I couldn't sleep so I surfed the tube like any other night and the movie "My Sister's Keeper" was on HBO; so I watched it and wept quite a bit more. But what I took away from that movie was not that my daughter was given a death sentence; it was that it is my job to give her the best life she can have for as long as that may be.
Now we were told by the team of doctors in Rochester that we could expect Mia to make a full recovery from this cancer, which is what we pray for, and so far everything is lining up that way. But with all the time that has passed, I have come to terms that it is a good possibility that Mia: will not live a long life, maybe not be priviliged to have her own children, enjoy the same childhood as her sisters; or that I will have to do the hardest thing for a parent - burying your own child.
These are consuming thoughts that I will be burdened with until I pass on some day. And the most incredible aspect through all of this is that we are actually lucky because the tumor could have been caught too late and her prognosis could have been much more bleak.
Now some of you have gone on how we are an inspiration, and I don't know that I'm confortable with that, because I've seen worse suffering than Mia's. There are so many more children in more fragile situations. If there is a silver lining to this dilemma, it's probably that I've re-realized how precious life is. Somewhere along the line, between mortgages and child care costs, I had forgotten about precious life and had basically lost my soul. I have been recharged spiritially and emotionally. I've become a better husband and father.
Thanks again for being good, kind, decent people in a world that lacks decency.