Good Days Bring Great Hope |7-16-16|

This past week has been really good for Mike, and for all of us. He had chemo a week ago, Friday, and it didn't keep him down long. He slept most of the day on Saturday, but then started to get a little more energy everyday thereafter.

His platelets were a little lower than they would have liked before they did the chemo, so we had to be a little more cautious and aware if he got a fever, but he never did!

On Tuesday our littlest girl turned 5! Lucy had a great birthday which included going to the hospital with Daddy to get his blood drawn, having a friend join her for lunch, playing, swimming, dinner, cake and ice cream. Grandpa Jim, Grandma & Grandpa Henry, and Grandma and Grandpa Horton, and Tim Clary all came over to help celebrate.

On Wednesday, a longtime friend, John Hinkle, whom Mike used to work with, but hadn't seen in many years came by for a surprise visit. They had a wonderful time catching up and chatting. After John left, Mike was beaming with joy. He was really happy to be able to reconnect with such a good friend.

Thursday the kids and I spent some quality time at Home Depot getting the supplies I needed to start my re-design of Reid's bedroom. I finally feel motivated to get back to doing something that feels fun and creative. I told Mike I can't just sit around waiting for our life to feel "normal" again, to do the things I want to do. The things that I LOVE to do. So here I am, in the middle of painting, putting a new bed together, and planning all of the décor for Reid's new "big boy" room. I did shed a couple tears after I took his crib apart. It's a weird feeling when it's your last baby, and the last of the baby things are being put away.

Friday was another doctor's appointment. Mike's white blood counts were lower than they want them, to keep him safe from infection, so they added some meds to his daily routine. Not his favorite thing. We got his PET scan scheduled for next Thursday. The "HOPEFUL GOAL" is that we will see much improvement in the mass in his chest, then they will do one more day of chemo on Friday, then, after his counts start rebounding, he will get prepared to have his stem cell transplant.

We still do not know who will be the donor, but they are working on finding a match. The results aren't in yet, to see if his brother is a match.

Next week will be pretty busy. Sunday we go back in to have blood drawn, Monday the girls start swimming lessons and gymnastics. Tuesday he has to go back in for more labs and the girls have swimming. Wednesday is just swimming lessons, and Thursday is the PET scan, along with the girls are finishing the week of swimming lessons. They have a wonderful instructor, Becky, and Molly & Lucy can't wait to get back into the pool with her!

Depending on the scan results from Thursday, Friday will either be a round of chemo, or they might start one of the other options we discussed if the scan shows us that the chemo regimen he is on isn't working. They will either start an immunotherapy, called Brentuximab, which is an antibody that will specifically go in and isolate the CD-30 antigen that Mike has. His other option is a clinical trial.

For now, we are just going to enjoy the days where Mike has the energy to go for a ride, even just on the golf cart with the girls. The other night he was riding with Molly & Lucy and Lucy said, "Daddy, when I have kids you're going to be their grandpa!!" Mike responded with, "I sure hope I will be a grandpa someday, LuLu."

And so do I.

XOXO

Robin