Thursday, March 27, 2008

THANK YOU.........

Your prayers and ours have been answered! Yahoo! Yesterday I got a call from the Oncology Doctor. They have found a bone marrow donor for Mr. T. They now rate a match by 12 instead of 6......and the donor is 11/12.
Isn't that wonderful? This is proof that there is Power in Prayers.......and I want to thank everyone who has been praying for Mr. T.

On Monday we leave for the Children's Hospital. There....Mr. T. will receive 2 treatments of chemo. The 1st treatment will take 3 weeks.....I'm not sure about the 2nd treatment...I was too excited to pay attention. From there....after his treatments we will go straight to the Children's Hospital in Toronto. That's where they do the bone marrow transplants. We will be in Toronto for more than a month!

I told Mr. T....that we won't be home on May 25th for his birthday.....but that we can pretend that his birthday is 'whenever' we get home.....whether its' June or July.....and he agrees. He just wants this over......he wants to be a 'normal' kid. It will be the biggest 'home-coming, BBQ & pool party' imaginable!

I have Mr. T's textbooks packed. As soon as we get to the Hospital.....Candlelighter's which is an organization that helps kids with cancer....will lend Mr. T. a laptop. They do this for all kids of school-age...so that they can keep in touch with their teachers, (home-work) classmates, and friends.

I will be bringing my son's laptop as I did in the past....so I can blog daily and keep everyone up-dated on Mr. T.'s health.

Please don't stop praying. Mr. T. has got to get a lot worse before he can get better. The chemo treatments can be quite an ordeal to get through.

I will try to take pictures and post them so you can follow Mr. T.'s journey to health.

Thank you Shelly @ THIS ECLECTIC LIFE & Marcia @ Tumbled Words for going above & beyond the call of duty. You can bet that Mr. T. will be taking his home-made afghan with him to the Hospital. And I want to thank all the other bloggers who have sent warm wishes and prayers. Your prayers have been answered!

Friday, March 21, 2008

UPDATE.....

I apologize for not posting sooner. The past few months have been very difficult for me & my family.....and the long dreary days of winter haven't helped either.
I know there are many of you out there that have been praying for Mr. T....and hoping that he can get a bone marrow donor soon....but that hasn't happened yet.
We are still waiting patiently....so please don't stop praying! I'm convinced that the reason that Mr. T and I are still at home...is because of all the big-hearted bloggers out there who continually keep us in their prayers.

Talking about big-hearted people.....please go visit Shelly @ THIS ECLECTIC LIFE . They do things 'really big' in Texas....and surely, Shelly is proof of that. As some of you know....Shelly has a goal of creating 140 afghans for kids with cancer. As of today...she has almost reached that goal with the help of many wonderful people from all around the world. If you visit her site....please click on 'Share a Square' in the upper-right hand corner of her blog and be ready to be overwhelmed when you see the multi-colored squares that have been sent to her from all over the globe. As of now she has enough squares to finish the afghans & more....but she could use some help putting the afghans together....or making little bags to put the name cards in. Although we don't live in the States.....Shelly sent my grandson, Mr. T. the very first afghan that was made. He loves it....he finds it warm and cuddly....as it was meant to be. To think that 40 prs of hands made this afghan....so you know this afghan was made with a lot of love....and it brings a lot of comfort to my grandson when he is not feeling well.
Shelly doesn't stop there.....she just keeps on giving. This week she really out-did herself. She researched how to be a bone marrow donor.....and she did it. Did I tell you that she is PETRIFIED of needles?? (except for crochet needles)........and she hates the sight of blood, especially her own....but with Mr. T's picture in hand.....and her LAST WILL in the other.....she did it! THANK YOU SHELLY!
She did it for Mr. T., my grandson and for all the kids out there who desperately need a bone marrow donor......and if Shelly can do it.....you can too!
Please visit Shelly @ THIS ECLECTIC LIFE to read about her experience on St. Patrick's Day and to see what she went through in order to be a donor. She even took pictures so everyone can see it's not as bad as you think. Just think....you WILL save a life......and all it takes is a few hours of your time. Now...isn't it worth it?
Mr. T continues to do well....although his immune system has taken a real beating. The oncology team has decided to continue with the phlebotomy treatments as he still has too much iron in his blood.
This week all the numbers are low:
RBC is 3.85* normal is 4.5-5.2
HGB is 102* normal is 120-160
PLATELETS are 23* normal is 150-450
NEUTRO-POLYS are 0.78* normal is 1.8-8.0
The Oncology team tell me to keep a close eye on Mr. T.....and watch for bruising or bleeding. No rough-housing or wrestling....no contact sports.....etc. I do notice that he tires easily and he's not eating as much. If his numbers continue to drop...he will become neutro-penic and then he won't be able to go to school or have friends over.
On April 8th....he will be having another bone marrow test done...and I promise to keep you up-dated.
Mr. T....becomes a teenager on May 25th! Help!! He turns '13' and this year wants to have his 'pool party' & BBQ with all his friends. I hope that we get to stay home till then! I want to give Mr. T a party he won't forget!
Again......I thank you for all the warm wishes and prayers!