The worst of the worst? Maybe. A blessing in disguise? Definitely.

Over the last nearly 7 month, because of its prognosis, I have often heard that DIPG/DMG is the worst of the worst.

But over the last 7 months, I have seen worse.

I have seen other children with cancers loose limbs (arm or leg) because of the disease and they will need a wheelchair, walker, prosthetic, or other such supports for the rest of their lives.

I have seen other pediatric cancer patients suffer horrible side effects from their treatments - surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy, or a combination of these.  Children who have allergic reactions, chronic side effects, cachexia, seizures, depression, and more.

I have seen children and their parents tolerate 4-, 6-, even 8-week in-patient hospital stays at a time for complicated procedures such as multiple surgeries, bone marrow transplants, and more.

I have seen families separated for treatments for not 2 or 3 weeks, or even 2 or 3 months, but for 15-, 16-, even 18-month treatment protocols.

And I am not blinded by the fact that I have also seen other DIPG families, too, suffer through some of these same things and more, such as spinal taps, shunt placements, t-cell harvesting, and more.

But since Esther's diagnosis, she has not had to endure chemotherapy, transplants, transfusions, amputations, traditional surgeries, extended hospital stays, and so on.  Thank you, Lord!  We have also had several big blessings in disguise for the Desrosiers family such as our first ever family vacation (Esther's Make A Wish trip to Disney World.  The Desrosiers children finally have a mommy who is able to take care of them more than she is taking care of work.  The Desrosiers are finally eating whole, organic foods and mommy is also able to spend more time researching and shopping for these foods, as well as more time in the kitchen prepping and serving healthy meals.  And, most importantly, on an eternal level, the Desrosiers are much more aware of and driven by the fact that no one is guaranteed tomorrow, so we'd best use the time we have as if we'll be meeting Jesus today.

So in this season of Thanksgiving and Immanuel (God with us) at Christmas, we truly have a great deal to be thankful for.

Remember, happiness comes from what happens to us, but Joy is a choice. God is already in tomorrow.  And God is always good.