***NEWS***UPDATE***NEWS***

I'm very sorry that I have been so remiss in keeping this blog updated. Dogger was home by early May and went back to work 3 weeks ago. The fact that I was able to keep him home almost 6 months, well I was surprised.

He had 6 month CT & PET scans done about 2 1/2 weeks ago and we've been waiting on the results...he finally got them yesterday for our oncologist.

DOGGER IS IN REMISSION!

It's a first...EVER! For the first time since diagnosis in 1999, Dogger is officially in REMISSION!

Thank you so very much for all of your kind thoughts, prayers and words. We know that this would not have been possible without so many people, known and unknown, praying for him. And thank you seems like so small of a way to repay that kindness.

We now look forward to all the time in the world! The first big peak has been climbed. And now we make our way to the next peak...the "c" word. Cured.

News and Updates

We're still waiting on Dogger's full biopsy results, the first go round shows that his Bone Marrow contains no cancer cells! This is HUGE! This means that his body can only reproduce healthy cells to go out into his body and fight off the cancer that is hiding there. But he continues to get stronger and healthier day by day and that's what we're working towards!

He's in the hospital right now. He went in Thursday morning. He had an appointment with our oncologist and wasn't feeling great, so he got there early. They immediately got him into the hospital as it was obvious he had an infection and needed to get treatment. (He picked up something and the infection had settled in his nose.) They started antibiotics, did CT and CAT scans and everything is clean. One of his blood cultures did test positive for infection, so he's been on 3 different types of antibiotics to treat it. His nose is almost back down to normal and is clearing up well.

Depending on how things go this morning, he may be released today. He's being very good and not getting impatient about coming home because he wants to get this cleared up properly before leaving the hospital. I'm very proud of him for that!

We should know the rest of his biopsy results I would think by next week. So fingers crossed that there are still more donor cells than his and that his disease is either holding or retreating. But the fact that his bone marrow is clean is the first big step on this path. I'm so thrilled I can't put it into words!

Thank you for your prayers, loving thoughts and phone calls. We know the power that prayer can hold, and we are forever grateful for every single one.

A side note, my dear friend Emily & her wonderful husband are on this walk and if you would please add them to your prayers, I know it would mean a lot not only to us but to them as well. She and her wonderful husband are "good people" and I know it would be of great comfort.

Thank you, as always. With love, Dogger & Lee Ann

Step 2 out of 4

Well, we've done steps 1 and 2 on Friday. Friday morning Dogger had his EKG, I got to be in the room for that...it was neat to watch! And then he had his Bone Marrow Biopsy. The doctor who did it, Laura, was wonderful! She said I could stay in the room, so I sat in the corner out of everyone's way and Dogger's eyeline so he wouldn't worry about me.

Dogger said as far as these things go (and he's had some really bad experiences with them) this was as close to painless as you could get. They were very pleased with the amount of fluid they were able to extract for testing (last time they barely got a couple of drops!) and the core sample they took for testing looked great too! So all in all it went very, very well. We should get the results in about 2 weeks. They'll be checking for donor cells vs his (chaimerism), any signs of the cancer and graft vs host disease. So fingers crossed and prayers said that everything continues to come back with good news!

Monday he goes back to Moffitt to get his Hickman line removed. He's all done with his IV's and once that's out, he'll be able to take normal showers again! I can't tell you how much he's looking forward to that! (And he won't be so self-conscious about what shirts to wear so you can't "see" it.)

He'll also have his 90 day full body CT scan this week, it was scheduled for Friday with Moffitt, but we're trying to have it done here in Sarasota. I've got to call and get that scheduled. Thursday he goes back to see our Oncologist for the first time since January! Everyone is looking forward to seeing him and how well he's doing and looking. He'll see them weekly for labs and followup and then our doctor at Moffitt once a month for follow-up.

So we move closer and closer to the healing stage as we make our way back to "normal".

Thank you, as always, for all of your prayers, love and good thoughts. We know how invaluable they are, have been and continue to be.

With love...Us

Onward...

So after Friday, Lee is pretty much done with Moffitt. They've released him to our oncologist for his labs and appointments and follow up and they'll see him once a month. Boy things happen fast!

We go Friday for his EKG at 10 and then he has his 90 day post-transplant bone marrow biopsy. The results for the biopsy will take 2 weeks to get again. So please, say a little prayer that things continue to look good.

We have to get him scheduled for a full body CT scan so they can compare 'before' to 'after' and see how things look. That won't make me on edge at all!

Thank you for your continued prayers. We know what a huge impact we've seen with them. They are, as always, appreciated.

He's Home!

He's home, he's home...he's really home!

Dogger was released from Moffitt Wednesday (5/11) night. He had to be out of the apartment by Friday, so it's been a busy couple of days. But he's home and very happy to be home! We're all happy he's home! He's doing well. He's still got his Hickman line and has to do his magnesium IV's every day. But they're quickly working on getting him transitioned over to pills and then they'll remove the line.

He's still going 3 days a week for labs right now. And this Friday (5/20) he'll have an EKG and another Bone Marrow Biopsy. (Please keep fingers crossed and prayers said that the biopsy results continue to be good...more donor cells than his cells and no sign of the cancer.) They want to do an EKG because he's got a heart murmur and it gets exacerbated when his levels drop. So they want to take another look at it to make sure of how its responding. Then next week he'll have a CT scan to see how things are going internally.

Beginning the 23rd he'll go back to seeing Dr. Chu every other week. The schedule will eventually work out to Moffitt for weeks 1 & 3 and Dr. Chu for weeks 2 & 4. Then it'll taper down to just weekly with Chu and Moffitt once a month and so on.

But the biggest news is he's home, he's home, he's home. Thank you Lord for hearing and answering our prayers in his continued good health and recovery. We are so deeply grateful and thankful.

Wow!

Dogger's biopsy results came in...they take a 95% to mean a 100% success. His results were (drum roll) 98% donor cells! They've never gotten a result that high. It's working! It's working! It's working!

We can't begin to express our sincerest and deepest appreciation for all of your loving thoughts and prayers. I know that my wonderful Dogger is the experiencing such a great response because of them. From the deepest portion of our hearts we sincerely and truly thank you for your prayers. They are most definitely working!

With lots of love!

**Side note, Blogger has been acting up and not letting me get my posts and updates up. We got Dogger's results about 2 weeks ago. Since then he's been in and out of the hospital with fevers. But they finally found last week what's going on. Looks like he's either got beginning signs of pneumonia and/or a fungal infection. But they're on top of it and changed his medication to be aggressive in treating it. Today's the first day that he sounded like himself again and is starting to feel better. On Friday they're taking another CT scan of his chest to see what progress is being made. We're also waiting to see what's growing in the petri dishes from the bronchioloscopy that they did. We'll see what happens. Saturday was Day 60, so we're on the downhill side of this. We're both just very ready for him to be back in his own home, bed, surroundings. So hopefully these next days will fly by and he'll be back home.

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.