December 24, 2010 in Uncategorized with 7 Comments

Monday, Grayson was scheduled to go to clinic for what was supposed to be a routine blood test to check his hemoglobin levels. Unfortunately, his counts came back at 400, which is extremely low, and so we had to keep Gray in the hospital for a blood transfusion right then and there. Nothing like a change in plans! So a quick “run to the hospital” turned into an all day, tiring event. Thankfully the transfusion went well and we could almost immidiately notice a change in Gray’s energy level. I guess the silver lining is that this happened before Christmas so that we’re not stuck in the hospital when Santa is visiting! And hopefully Gray will feel better over the holiday as well. While we were in the hospital Gray received this singing stuffed Barney from Ally’s House Elf Program! He absolutely loves it…as you can tell! The next day, Tuesday, Bob Stoops and a handful of OU Football Players hosted a Christmas Party at OU Children’s Hospital for all the children on the 10th floor. It’s an annual event where you can meet the players, get autographs and the team members put on skits for the kids! Gray wasn’t really all that into interacting with the footbal players. He did enjoy, however, the feather boa that one of the players used in a skit they performed! Ha! Big brother Seth, on the other hand, greatly enjoyed the party and hanging out with the football players! Dad was just excited to collect more autographs!Wednesday Gray was scheduled for another clinic to re-check his blood levels. This time the news was much better, as Gray’s counts had rebounded to over 10,000!!! We were so thankful to hear that Gray was cleared for Christmas vacation and doesn’t have to return to the hospital until January 3rd, when he will be admitted for another round of chemo. Now we are just excited for Christmas! We have family coming to town and have lots of Christmas plans to keep us busy. We do ask for your continued prayers, though, as more often then not it is difficult for us to cope with the ever changing thoughts, feelings and emotions that come along with your child battling cancer. Most days we don’t even know what to say or even how to feel. Sometimes, in a fleeting moment, you have thoughts that this is almost over, that maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel and then reality hits and you remember how long of a road is still ahead. It can be discouraging. Cancer, doctor’s appointments, unexpected hospital stays, daily shots and constant doses of medicine certainly make all of life tasks, even the smallest and most simple ones, more challenging. In fact, cancer makes everything more challenging. We also ask for your prayers regarding our families health. We found out this weekend that two out of the four of us have strep throat. Not only is it bad timing for Christmas but also bad for Gray too. If it hadn’t had been for the fact that Gray’s blood counts had come back so high on his second visit we would have been forced to split our family sending half to stay with Grandpa and Grandma while they recovered to keep Gray safe from getting sick. We truly do not want this to ever happen. Although, we realize that at some point we may have to remove ourselves or a member of our family to protect baby Gray it is certainly not our first choice. Please, as you pray for Gray, also remember the health of our entire family. We will take lots of pictures over Christmas and share them with you all on our next post. Thank you to everyone for all of the gifts that you have blessed Gray and Seth with over the last few weeks. We love you all!

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9