No news yet.

Well, I know its sounds like a tease, but nothing to report yet. See I was originally told it would be a couple weeks to get the results of Dogger's bone marrow biopsy. Then someone told him he'd find out at his first doctors appointment (Wednesday). Well, they aren't done yet. It takes at least 10 days - 2 weeks to get the results. So that puts it at next week for his next doctors appointment.

So, things continue to go well and we continue to wait.

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY

Tomorrow we find out the results of Dogger's bone marrow biopsy. I know, I said a couple of weeks. Well, thats what I was told. But according to Aunt Glenda, tomorrow is when the news should be known.

Fingers crossed? Check
Prayers said? Check
Additional prayers said? Check
Ready for the news? Sorta, but lets go

So if you hear a loud scream tomorrow afternoon...you'll know why. It's because I'm doing the happy dance and disolving into tears of joy, gratitude and unbelievable thanks.

So thank you for all the wonderful words and prayers. They've been of unbelievable relief and are so deeply appreciated.

Much love! L

Things continue

This has been a busy week and again, I'm so very glad that my Aunt Glenda is here. It's been so wonderful! I'm looking forward to getting to spend some time with her this weekend and I'm going to hate to see her go.

Tuesday was the biopsy and that seems to have gone well (all things considered) and we now wait to hear what the results are. (Again, we're looking for "C's" cells in there...keep that in your prayers.) Wednesday he had his first post-transplant consult with our doctor. She's very pleased with how he is doing. He's "textbook". She's already starting to ween some of his medications off and is just very happy with how well he's responding to everything. So fingers are still crossed, but all things are looking very good. YEAH! AND he now only has to go in for labs Monday, Wednesday & Friday's instead of daily. YEAH!

That's my update for now. I'll be able to share more next week.

Thank you for keeping Dogger and us in your prayers. Much Love!

Day 30 and counting

Wow! Hard to believe, but we are at the 30 day mark! Lots of things are going on right
now...L O T S !

Last night Aunt Glenda arrived! YEAH! What a wonderful sight to see her at the airport. I wanted to cry. Just knowing that he's in good hands when I can't be there, I can't tell you how well I slept last night, truly, for the first time in a long time. I truly admire my Aunt Glenda. She's a stunningly beautiful woman, inside and out. She's so strong. She's lived her life and makes no bones about it. She's definitely the type of woman I hope that I am or become. (I hope that makes sense.)

Anyways, she arrived safe and sound last night after a very long flight. We got the chance to visit for a bit. While I was getting her, Dogger was back at Moffitt. The doctor's wanted to see him when he called in to let them know that his face was pinkish (kind of like a mild sunburn or windburn, depending on what season you're currently experiencing). Turns out it was the beginning of graft vs host disease. This is something they told us would most likely happen and that the longer out you went without it, the smaller the odds of it happening. Well, Day 30 and we're there. But we're taking it as a sign that things are working and something is happening for the positive (please Dear God, please). The doctor said that he'd see Dogger the following day and they'd get him started on medication to take care of it (prednazone).

So today was his Bone Marrow Biopsy. This is where I'm going to take the opportunity to say, please say a prayer for Dogger. The doctors office told us it would take a couple of weeks to get the results (that saves me from biting my fingernails for a bit). But when they get the results, they need to find Christian's cells growing, multiplying and doing their thing. (Between Dogger's cells and Christian's, they need to find Christian's. This means that the transplant is working and doing what its supposed to do.) So please think C's cells in there.

The biopsy was uncomfortable and he's feeling it this afternoon, but he's got some pain medication to take and will hopefully be back up to speed in a few days. They also took some skin samples from his chest as well to study and mark. The doctor got him started on his meds for the gvhd and he started that this afternoon.

So hopefully by this weekend he'll be feeling better. Spirits are still good and all things considered, we definitely count ourselves very blessed and fortunate to be the recepients of so many prayers. We know the power of them and are very grateful for them.

Thank you for all of your good thoughts. We hope that you are receiving back what you are providing to us many times over.

Much love, L

Day 20

Today is Day 20 and (knock on wood) everything continues to go smoothly. So far, still no signs of any problems, reactions or graft vs host disease. (Thank you God for answered prayers.) His white count is at .61 today and when he hits 1.0 Dr. Fields will look at releasing him! So we're getting closer. It may be as soon as this weekend (wouldn't that be just lovely!).

He's decided that his first "real meal" will be my Baked Turkey Taco, so I'm going to get that all ready to go and then just pop it into the oven to finish it off. He's now detached from his IV lines from 6p-6a and they've stopped giving him IV fluids so long as he consumes at least 2 liters of fluid a day. He got his first unattached night of sleep last night.

We're getting closer! YEAH!

Day 12

Wow! Today is only Day 12 and the doctors are telling Dogger (especially since he asks them everytime he sees them) its possible he could be released as early as this Friday! So we're supposed to talk to the social worker today about the apartment and get the details. Fingers are crossed, it would be wonderful to get him out of the hospital and into a more home-like setting, but it justs add a new layer of work for me. All the wonderful people who've agreed to be caretakers, now may be called upon sooner!

We'll see...unfortunately this is one of those things that you don't know until the last minute. That makes it easy for anyone to plan on a ticket...yeah right. But the good news is he's doing great, feels good and is ready to get out and get on with life. Life. What a beautiful word!

Yeah!