the time has come.

I thought that I would need this blog as an outlet for all of my worries, concerns, and joys.  It turns out, however, that I am surrounded by sooooo many wonderful people that I rarely think about sitting down to vent to the computer.  There are pros and cons to this situation... several of the people who care about Josh and I are not getting all of the updates!  I have decided to start a CaringBridge Page where Josh, his mother, my mother, and I can all add updates so that everyone will be connected and automatically updated.  Once I set it up, I will let you know.

Josh left today. He will not be back home for 3 months or longer.  The first 4-6 weeks he will be in the Mott's Childrens Hospital at U of M.  The first week he will undergo major chemotherapy and radiation to kill what is left of his blood cells.  This will allow our donor's blood to take charge when it enters Josh's body.  Then we wait for his body to stabilize and his immune system to strengthen.

God has continued to answer prayers over the past months. 

A little over a month ago, we found out that Josh's leukemia advanced to the next level.  It is called the Blast Crisis phase.  Blast cells formed which are more agressive and very "sticky."  This allows them to potentially spread the cancer to other parts of his body.  Joshua went to the hospital where they cleaned out as many of those cells as they could to get him stable.  Then he was put on a clinical / trial drug till we were able to move to transplant.

When Josh was orginally tested 75% of his bone marrow cells were blast cells.  This past Thursday, the pathologist told us that 0% of his bone marrow cells were blasts!!!  The clinical drug put Josh into genetic remission!  Finally!  This will allow for a much less risky bone marrow transplant.  We are hoping that the drug company will allow Josh to go back on the drug after transplant to ensure the leukemia does not come back.  We are praying for a FULL recovery.

Our life over the last few weeks was truly amazing. 

We had family gathering on both Josh's side and mine to pray together and eat together.  My parents' church invited us to take part in an entire church prayer for Josh.  It was beautiful, moving, and very comforting.  To support Josh and the Be The Match Bone Marrow Registry, my parents ran a long, muddy, and grueling 15k.  My mom told Josh that she said his name about a million times to get her to the finish line.  She said if he can go through this, I can at least endure this run.  We were very proud and honored.  There was a speaker after the event and Josh and I got to meet another donor and recipient and hear their success story.  Just awesome!

Because Josh was doing so well, the doctors allowed him to partake in more normal activity the last couple of weeks.  He rode his quad, we went to several cook-outs and bonfires, and we took Boss kayaking with some great friends.  This gave his spirit the uplift that it needed from being trapped inside for so long.

Boss in the water on our kayaking adventure.

He is our pride and JOY!

Last night we sent Josh off in style.  We had over a dozen of our closest friends meet us at the Rogue River Tavern in downtown Rockford.  There were many toasts, hugs, and words of encouragement.  And we got a group picture of the whole gang where ALL of the boys actually behaved!

I'm heading down to the hospital tomorrow morning and I will be staying there at Josh's side, until he can come home healthy and strong. 

Thank you for continued love and prayers.

Have a blessed day!