November 18, 2010 in Uncategorized with 22 Comments

After Gray’s bone marrow harvest on Tuesday we were happy to hear that the doctors were able to get all the marrow they needed and so there was no need to harvest again on Wednesday! THAT we were excited to hear but when the nurses showed up to remove Gray’s second port, the one placed in Grayson’s neck, we had a gut feeling that this wouldn’t be good. To make a long, agonizing and terrifying procedure somewhat shorter the nurses basically just held Gray down, snipped the stitches surrounding his port and pulled the tubes from his body. Then the nurses had to put pressure on the open wound for about ten minutes to stop the bleeding. They didn’t sedate him or even give Gray anything to calm down. Gray literally screamed bloody murder the entire time and did his best to fight off the nurses surrounding him. It…was…awful. As terrible, though, as the port removal was it was definitely made up for today! When Gray had surgery on Monday, doctors took a second biopsy of his bone marrow for testing. We got the results this morning and they were beyond good! This morning we found out that Gray’s bone marrow is CANCER FREE!!!! I’m not even kidding!!!!!! CANCER FREE!!!!! The cancer is still in his bones so he’s still considered stage 4, at this point, but the cancer is completely gone from Gray’s bone marrow and as far as doctors can tell the new marrow his body is producing is also cancer free! I mean, there are no words to explain the pure joy we are feeling! Here we are, coming off of three of the worst days we’ve had since Grayson’s diagnosis, and then “BAM!” we are reminded that God is still here. He is still watching over our little boy and he still answers prayer! Thank you all for your continued prayers! It may sound a bit cheesy but with Thanksgiving only a week away we truly have more then enough to be thankful for. We have been blessed with each other, with two wonderful sons and now with a report from doctors that we have been dreaming about! As you and your family get together for Thanksgiving, think of all that you have…and I don’t mean financially. Think of the relationships, friendships and loves that you are grateful for. That’s what truly matters! I could literally go on and on about how this good report has changed our outlook for the day but I’ll leave it at that. We are thankful for our family, our friends and for all of you. Your thoughts and prayers mean so much to us. We do ask that you continue to pray for Grayson as he began his third round of chemo today. This chemo treatment is unlike his first two in that the drugs are stronger and so his kidneys will be at risk. Over the next week the doctors will check Gray’s kidneys every single day to be sure they are functioning properly as they continue to inject chemo into his body. We just hope and pray that this week of chemo will continue to do what it is designed to do and kill even more of Grayson’s cancer! We look forward to more good reports in the future! We also ask for your prayers that Gray will not have any new side effects from his chemo. Because this round is stronger then before we have been warned that Gray could experience more sickness and even mouth sores. We really do not want to see our baby go through that. Again, let us say a HUGE THANK YOU to you all. We breathed a bit easier today. We laughed a bit more today. We smiled way more today! We are so thankful!

Gray had several visitors today! His grandparents came by and also some friends from Ponca City! Gray had fun visiting and also got to play a round of hide and seek with Elia, our friends daughter! Our hospital room may be small but it didn’t stop Gray and Elia from finding some of the best hiding spots!

“I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. O Lord, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit. You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me in joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.” Psalm 30:1-3, 11-12