Good News!

We have had an awful lot of good news this week in both small and large measure.  God has been very faithful, and good.

After several days of up and down fevers, antibiotics that failed to eliminate the fevers, and an inability to identify where an infection might be harbored in Laura's body, a middle-of-the-night lab technician isolated the elusive bacteria. Antibiotics were switched up to target the specific bacteria, and Laura has been fever-free for 4 days!

This has been especially encouraging as the fever free days began just as Laura hit Nadir - Nadir being the "bottoming out" day when her blood levels hit their lowest (an important milestone with chemo). Laura passed Nadir feeling "very tolerable" and we're really grateful for that.  Throughout the week she had 6 blood transfusions and expressed immense thankfulness for the individuals who sacrifice to donate life-saving blood. 

The second round of good news came just yesterday when the head of the oncology department paid Laura a visit and expressed that Laura is doing much better than would normally be expected. 

Laura's white blood cells are climbing. This is some of the best news yet! Yesterday they were at 0.07 - or 70. Once they hit 0.50 (or 500) - she will be most likely be allowed to go home for a quarantined two weeks of rest.

In the coming days Laura will have another bone marrow test to look at her cells and to determine the effectiveness of the first round of chemo. The highest hope is that no leukemic cells exist to be found! Pray that her white cell count continues to rise, and that the leukemic cells are utterly absent from her body.

Other newsy bits:

• Yesterday for the first time in weeks Laura left her floor at the hospital and stepped out onto a lower-level balcony to enjoy fresh air and lovely gardens. This felt like a milestone to me, and I actually cried with joy.
• None of Laura's sisters proved to be a DNA match for a transplant. But the doctor feels there's interesting DNA factors at play, and wants Laura's children to be tested - not to become donors, but to help narrow down fascinating specifics of Laura's DNA so that when (if!) they do need to find a match, they can find the perfect one.  Laura's already praying for the man how woman whose cells might be placed within her body - of course. :)

We are so grateful for all of you, for your prayers, your encouragement, and your care.  Thank you for respecting Ed and Laura's privacy, and we ask that you continue to do so - please understand that if you see my dad around town, he may not feel like discussing leukemia, and please understand that as much as Laura loves you, she cannot expend emotional energy on interactions outside of her family at this time. Rest assured that you are in her prayers, and please continue to filter your communication through her children. Feel free to email me at [email protected] with any questions and/or offers of help!  Thank you!

We are lifting up the following in prayer:

• Complete healing
• Remission
• Leukemic cells to be completely absent from her body 
• White blood cell count to rise
• A perfect donor match if a transplant must occur
• Infection and all illness to be absent from her body
• Ability to go home for two weeks, and no sickness while home
• Blessings on the doctors, nurses, lab techs, hospital workers and everyone involved in Laura's case who are each playing a part in her story of healing 
• Safety for Ed and all other family members as they travel almost daily to be with Laura - including safety for Harmony (me!) as I drive across the country this next week to move home

If you haven't left Laura a note yet on her guest post page, go ahead and do that! Click the word "posts" up there in the top menu and it will take you where you need to go.  Thank you!

Thank you so much for your support, truly. We are very, very grateful.