Blue Skies Part II |8-10-16|

I called the office first thing this morning to ask about his scan results. The nurse called me back very quickly and said that Dr. Shune gave her permission to read the Impression on the report. As she read it to me, I might have given a couple fist pumps in the air. There is IMPROVEMENT in the peri hilar region as well as the mediastinum. This is HUGE NEWS! IMPROVEMENT. We have now heard that word with the last 2 scans he has had! I said to the nurse, "THAT IS SO AWESOME!" She said, "Dr. Shune was very very happy with these results. She told me that when she saw Mike in the hospital a couple months ago she could practically see the cancer growing. He was in bad shape."

He was. But he's getting better, and yes, the transplant process is going to be hard. And we're going to want to quit. But we have so much hope now! I know in my heart that Mike will not only get to see Molly's first day of kindergarten, but also her first day of college, and all of the firsts between now and then for her, Lucy & Reid. Our life will get to start again. We are so thankful.

I called Mike right away to tell him the great news. He was with his friend, Scott, out looking at the fields. If the gorgeous crops weren't already boosting his spirits, then the news I got to deliver definitely did!

Last night I got a message from a man named Steve Sodergren. He is from Topeka, and he created a campaign and FB community called Running4 . You can find them at https://www.facebook.com/Running4-1515231272022181/

Anyways, Steven runs for, as a way to raise awareness for the angels, fighters, and survivors of cancer. He is using his goal of running a marathon in all 50 states as a platform to do this. and asked if he could dedicate an upcoming run to Mike. Steve texted me a picture at 7:30 this morning as he set out on an 8 mile run in honor of Mike.

When I read his message to Mike last night, we both broke down into tears. What an amazing person and foundation he has created. Another thing Steve does is wear a shirt to each of his marathons adorned with the signatures of those who inspire him. He asked if Mike would be willing to autograph his shirt. I am also including a link to a cool article that the Capitol Journal posted about Steve last year.

http://m.cjonline.com/news/2015-02-21/topeka-man-uses-marathons-help-others#gsc.tab=0

xoxo

Robin