Update on Katie...

Hi, all! Thank you for your outpouring of support for my friend, Katie, and her family! Andy and I stopped by Emory Friday afternoon to visit Katie and her husband, Jacob. Katie seemed in good spirits, but I know the most daunting task in front of her and Jacob is to be away from Merriwether for the next month or so. I am attaching a message from Jacob with the contact information for them. Katie is no longer allowed to have visitors, since chemotherapy will be doing a number on her immune system. Thank you for your prayers, and I know that Katie's family covets every one! I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, and don't take for granted every second that you have with your loved ones! Here is the message from Jacob:
This is a strange message to send at Christmas time, but I do not think there is any time when sending a message like this would not be strange. I used to send group e-mails all the time when I was living in Scotland, and I guess in a way my sending this message from Emory University Hospital is like once again writing from a foreign country. This past Wednesday my wife, Katie went with her mother Melody to her grandfather's (Don Thomas, Melody's father) family medical practice. Dr. Thomas, or Papaw as he is known to Katie, determined that Katie had strep throat. Because Katie also had an extremely high fever, Papaw also took a blood sample from Katie. In doing so, he determined that Katie's white blood count was abnormally high. He immediately sent her to Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton. Melody called my cell phone and left a message informing me that they were going to the hospital. I happened to be finishing some training for my work just as Melody was leaving me the message and I rushed over to the hospital at once. At Hamilton they took some more blood and determined that Katie had some type of Leukemia. We were placed in an ambulance and driven down to Emory University Hospital that evening, Wednesday, December 20. The following day the staff here performed a bone marrow biopsy on Katie and determined what type of Leukemia she has: Acute Myeloid Leukemia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acute_myelogenous_leukemia). Katie's course of chemotherapy started at 8:20 last evening. She will have seven days of chemotherapy. In two weeks Katie will undergo a second bone marrow biopsy designed to determine where Katie's white blood cell and platelet counts stand. If they are at a good level she will have two more weeks of recovery and at the end of January be free to go home. Once Katie is in remission she will have a series of follow up sessions, hopefully at Hamilton Medical Center, designed to track her progress and ensure her recovery is on track. I am staying with Katie here at the hospital and Katie's parents and sister, Annie and brother-in-law Jonathan are taking care of our daughter, Merriwether. Please pray that God will heal Katie. Please pray that he will protect our precious little girl and let her know that even though her Mama and Daddy cannot be with her they love her. The oncologist told us today that we cannot have any more visitors here in the hospital room because Katie's immune system is too vulnerable to outside bacteria and infections (no live flowers allowed on this floor for that reason). We covet your thoughts and prayers. Please let all of your praying friends, all of the intercessors and believers, know about Katie. I know that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Our mailing address is:
Emory University Hospital
Katie Whitlow, Room E617
1364 Clifton Road, NE
Atlanta, GA 30322

The direct hospital telephone room number is 404.712.3617
My cell phone number is 706.260.7351
Thank you for your prayers.
God bless and Merry Christmas.
Jacob Whitlow