Happy 6th Birthday Emilee Hope!

"You gonna use that spoon?"

Great News

Mikey's bone marrow biopsy results were "perfectly normal". I can't think of a better Christmas present than that, can you? The procedure was very painful as unfortunately, the doctor did not relinquish her current rein as Pain Control Nazi. (Jeez!) Mike will have to have this procedure repeated in the future and I hope that she comes around on this issue. We will just cross that bridge when we get to it.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers in getting Mike and Melisa through this recent event. As more information regarding his treatment becomes available I will definitely pass it along. For now, we sit...and wait...and pray...and pray some more.

Happy Birthday to the Beaner!

We miss ya good buddy!!

BMB #3

I wanted to get on here today and let you all know that Mike is scheduled to have a bone marrow biopsy today. He has been having some swelling and pain in his legs that has been bothering him lately. He told the doctor about this and she decided to go ahead and do a BMB to check whether or not the cancer has come back. Mike has had two of these performed - one at St. Mary's during his initial diagnosis and a second one at Vanderbilt Hospital immediately following his induction therapy. The first BMB was extremely painful. The second was somewhat more bearable. We concluded that Vandy just has more experience with this procedure and the pain management process that comes along with it. Of course it could have been any other number of reasons why the second BMB went a little smoother. Either way, Mike expressed his anxiousness to his oncologist via his nursing staff. Dr. Zigler seemingly dismissed his fears and thus far has refused to administer any more pain medication that the standard, again via the nursing staff. Needless to say, he is NOT looking forward to this procedure. He or Melisa is hoping to speak to her directly and come to some sort of a resolution. Surely, something can be done, right???

So if you will, please pray for this situation. Please pray that Mike or Melisa is able to convey their fears and that the doctor can help alleviate his pain. Please pray that the procedure goes quickly and smoothly and that the results come back clean. Thanks a lot you all.

Change of Plans

Mike will begin his last round of chemotherapy on Monday instead of today. His blood counts aren't where his oncologist would like for them to be so she decided to postpone the treatment for a few days. Hopefully with the little extra time and a blood transfusion his body will be par for the course to be able to receive this treatment. Normally, his counts would be on track to receive treatment but with each additional round of chemo. the body takes a little longer to recuperate.

This will be his LAST round of his consolidation therapy. As I mentioned before, this process can be repeated up to 4 times. Mike will have undergone 3 treatments total. Dr. Zigler made this decision recently citing that the long-term effects of chemotherapy are rough. I'm not exactly sure what all procedures will follow this last treatment but I am sure Mike will be monitored closely to make sure those leukemic cells are still at bay. Will you please pray that this disease has left his body once and for all?

Again, we thank for you for your continual love and support of our family during this time. I can't imagine what we would do without friends and family.

Have a good weekend. My wish is that everyone totally finishes all of that Christmas shopping. Wouldn't that be nice???

Happy 8th Birthday Hailee Hope!!