No News is Good News

8/9/2011: 10:56 PM

We really enjoyed ourselves last night. After Davis's P.F. Chang's experience, we hung out in the hotel and ordered a pizza for supper. He was feeling much better by evening and we were feeling couped, so we jumped in the car for a quick ice cream run. We relied on the TomTom to help us find an ice cream joint.  We were very excited when Edy's popped up on the TomTom. We followed the directions to an industrial park. Yep, the Nestle factory where Edy's ice cream is made. Not what we were expecting -- and no ice cream. We have to hunt and peck through ice cream shops because Annakate has an egg allergy, and many ice cream places use eggs in their recipes. After sorting through the TomTom list and out of fear of car sickness, we settled on an Oberweiss. As we were pulling into the parking lot, Davis blurts, "I am so lucky that I don't have an egg allergy, because that would stink." He cracks me up.

panera breakfast

We took advantage of our mini-vacation, and the kids and I stayed up until midnight to watch The Blind Side. They loved it. I had seen it before, but it did remind me how much I enjoy watching football. 

Pretty good day. We headed home from Chicago mid-morning, and boy, the drive felt unusually long. We tried to break it up some with little bathroom and drink breaks here and there, and we did stop and enjoy lunch and a little shopping in Champaign, but the ride was long. There's no place like home.



short hair



even shorter hair



We received a phone call from Davis's hemo oncologist. She had failed to mention part of the plan during our Friday discussion. She opened the conversation with "I have some news, and it's not bad by any means." I really think that is subjective. She informed us that the unofficial path report on Davis's bone marrow draw concluded her thoughts that his bone marrow is making about 3% of cancer blasts, which means he is in remission. She also shared with us that Davis will be starting cranial radiation in three weeks. This information was quite a surprise, as this had never been mentioned at previous appointments. She explained that Davis is high risk for relapse, and often if the cancer returns, it returns to the brain. The goal of this consolidation phase is to keep pumping chemotherapy into his central nervous system via spinal fluid and irradiate his brain to catch what the chemo doesn't.  This, of course, means more doctor's appointments and more short term and long term side effects.  So on Monday, we will meet with the pediatric radiation oncologist for a consultation.

Davis continues to shed. We decided it was time for yet another shorter haircut. The shorter do makes the thinning a tad more obvious. I think that adjusting slowly to the idea of being bald is the best approach for Davis. He sure has had hair a lot longer than expected.

This day has proved to be a long one, but an enjoyable one too.  Kyle focused devotions tonight on Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." I tell you, these scriptures have taken on such a deepened meaning as we continue to turn over our worry to Him. 

At this point, we know very little about the upcoming chemotherapy and radiation treatments.  We will learn more (and trust me, I ask a ton of questions) this Friday through Monday. My every prayer is that Davis will first and foremost be healed and CURED of this cancer. We continue to pray against ALL of the short term and long term effects, and we pray for his good health and strength to fight. With school starting soon, we pray for Annakate's health as well; it is important that she stays strong and healthy too. We ask that you continue to pour on the prayers and positive thoughts for our babies. We love, appreciate, and need them.  

We will keep you posted.