Pray For Dylan

Hello! We had a really great trip to Tucson! Dylan did not understand why he was stuck in the car seat for so long, but he got used to it after a while. He got to get a lot of stuff done. First some blood tests, then an X-ray, then an echo cardiogram, and finally an EKG! He did awesome through all of the tests! Just a few moments of crying, but overall, a super trooper!! The lady doing the EKG was amazed that he just sat there while she placed all of the little markers on him! She said that he was the most behaved baby she has dealt with. What she did not know is that he got out all of his frustration earlier with the woman doing the echo. :) But I was very proud of him. Erik had a rough day too. While Dylan and I were going all over the hospital for tests, Erik was watching the DBacks game & sleeping in the outpatient room!! Yes, a rough day indeed :) We were able to meet some of the staff that will be taking care of us and also got a lot of one on one time with his bone marrow doctor--DR. Graham. We are very happy with our decision to go to Tucson for the transplant. God definitely confirmed our decision while we were at the hospital yesterday. Dr. Graham is an amazing doctor! He is probably one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. While talking to him, he was telling us about all of these studies and journals about leukemia and their results like he read them just yesterday. How someone can have that much information in their head and remember every detail is beyond me, but we are thankful that God has blessed him so much. He told us that as long as everything goes as planned, he thinks that Dylan should have a very successful transplant. He was very encouraged by the way Dylan's body has responded to chemo so far and thinks that he is a perfect candidate for transplant. Also, if all goes well, we can expect for things to be relatively back to normal by the time Dylan is a year old!! What an amazing and encouraging thing for Erik and I to hear!! Praise God!!

WHATS NEXT? We have about another 10 days at home and then we are headed to Tucson on the 23rd. He will have surgery on Monday morning to get another Broviac put in to help with all of the medicines that he will be getting. Then, chemo starts the next day and will continue for 5 days. Then he will have a day of rest on Sunday, and then the transplant will happen on Monday the 31st. That day will be the beginning of everything! They count the first day of transplant as day 0. Then every day after that up to 100. After 100 days, if everything is going well, then we will most likely have a successful transplant. There is a chance of the leukemia coming back, but if it does not come back within the first 6 months, then it is unlikely to come back after that. I cannot wait for that 6 month mark!! I know that is a lot of information in one blog, so I will stop here and tell you more later!! Please pray for these next 10 days that Dylan continues to be healthy and not have an fevers and does not get sick. His white blood cell count is still really low, so we are not really taking him anywhere and are very careful with visitors, especially children. Thank you so much for your prayers and support! We are encouraged everyday by the overwhelming love and support from everyone around us!! Thank you!!