DAY +185.....6 months of REMISSION!

Hello everyone! Dylan has now been in remission for 6 months and is LEUKEMIA FREE!! We are not out of the woods yet, as they will not consider him cured until 12 months of being in remission, but we are out of the danger zone.
This past Thursday was an emotional day to say the least. This may be a little long, but I want to give you a glimpse into our crazy day. Here it goes--
As I drove down to Tucson late Wednesday night with my mom, we talked through some of our fears and thoughts about the upcoming events. Is the cancer gone? Has he relapsed? What would the bone marrow test tell us? It was one of the hardest nights of sleep I have had in a long time. I had to pray and give the Lord all of my fears, and all of my hopes....however, I knew that whatever the outcome of the following day...that the Lord would still be there.
Dylan and his little girlfriend, Abby, were both getting the same procedures done that day, and going through the same process; a bone marrow aspiration and a spinal tap to check for Leukemia. Dylan's last meal was at 2am. We thought that we would be going in for D's procedure at 7:30am and we did not end up getting called down until 12:30pm......and that was a long and dreadful morning with Dylan not being able to eat. He got his first taste of apple juice that morning because he could have clear liquids until 9:30--and he really enjoyed it! But soon, he wanted the real stuff. We tried every little thing to make him smile. The child life specialist pulled out every toy she had, every noise maker, and light-up gadget. Bubbles helped for about 5 minutes and a blown up surgical glove even kept him entertained. He was definitely a trooper! Finally, they came to get him for his spinal tap and bone marrow aspiration...that is when the nerves set in. More waiting. Oh, how I love the waiting! The procedure went well and we headed back up to clinic to wait for the results. MORE WAITING! Dylan had a hard time coming out of the anesthesia and was quite hungry and tired...so we just cuddled him as much as possible. Then Dr Graham lets us know that he is going down to check the results of the tests.......AND more waiting!! 30 minutes later he walks into the room, and he is not showing any emotion. The spinal fluid was clear and no cancer cells were present. He then explains to us that the samples from the bone marrow show tiny new cells that looked like new growth, but COULD be leukemia cells. I tried as hard as I could not to freak out. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, but I stayed quiet. He said that the pathologist thought they were Leukemia cells and that a senior pathologist would look at the sample within the next couple of hours and that he would call us to let us know what they thought. MORE WAITING. We were just about to leave to go back to our hotel, when the nurse walked in and said that Dr. Graham was on the phone and wanted to talk to me. I told her that I did not want to talk to him-half joking, but mostly in fear of what he COULD tell me. I was shaking when I picked up the phone, knowing that our life could be turned upside down once again. He proceeded to tell me that the senior pathologist looked at the sample and had no question about the origin of the cells--THEY WERE HEALTHY NEW CELLS..........I felt like I could not breathe! I could not even talk because I was crying so much! Praise GOD!!! I hung up the phone and cried out of pure joy hugging my mom and Dylan. We left the hospital rejoicing with our wonderful news and talked about all of the miracles that God has done in Dylan's life. Later that night, Jennifer, Abby's mom, got a call too. Her news was not good. Abby's leukemia was back. She called me that night crying and I cried with her. It was heartbreaking. It was a day of rejoicing and exciting news with Dylan, but a night of sadness knowing that my dear friend and her precious daughter were entering a world of the unknown. Stupid cancer. I hate cancer. It was hard not to feel guilty about Dylan being healthy. And not really guilty, but sad to be excited when they were hurting. I think I hugged Dylan harder and longer than I ever had that night. I cried as I prayed, thanking God for healing our baby, and begging for Him to heal Abby and to carry the family through this next stage in their journey.
Please pray for Abby and her family. Jennifer and her husband John are stressed, afraid of the unknown, and they are weary. Please pray that the Lord gives them the strength to get through each day and that they feel His presence and His loving arms around them. Thank you so much for your diligent prayers for Dylan. Words cannot express how thankful we are for your support. Please continue to pray that his body heals completely. We had his last line taken out on Friday and he is now a 'normal' little boy. He is still on steroids and another med to help his tummy, but we are hoping to decrease these throughout the month. Pray for us to be confident and trust the Lord with Dylan in every little detail. The fear of the Leukemia coming back is always lingering. A fear that is NOT from God. We are now going to Tucson for check ups only once a month! YAY! Isn't that exciting? I am glad that we can still get to visit with our Tucson friends and for Dylan and Abby to see other. Abby loves Dylan. She always tries to grab his chubby cheeks and always wants to kiss him! But Dr. G always says, "no licking, no touching, no kissing!" HA! I love the way babies react to one another!
In other news--I am going to be sending out an E-VITE for Dylan's party and also will post all of the info on the blog. If you would like an E-VITE, please email me so I have your email address and I will be sure to get one to you! :) Send emails to mishy1225@aol.com. As a reminder, the party will be on Sunday, April 18th from 1:30-4:30, open house style--so you are welcome to stop by or stay as long as you want! We would love to see all of the people who have supported us and Dylan would love to see you too!! I am hoping to keep him awake the whole time! HA!
Thank you again for EVERYTHING! You guys are AMAZING!

Loving life and cherishing every moment,
The Praskins