November 4, 2011 in Uncategorized with 5 Comments

GRAY IS HOME!!!! We didn’t think we would have to give that update ever again after finishing Gray’s scheduled treatments but we’re just as excited to say it this time as we have been any time throughout the last year!!!! Gray did have to spend Halloween in the hospital again this year. He dressed up as a rooster and did some trick-or-treating though! It was kind of sad to think back and realize that Gray has only been well and at home for one Halloween in his life. Poor guy. We’re convinced that he’s going to think Halloween is a hospital tradition only! Ha! Here’s hoping, though, that he’ll have many healthy years ahead to trick-or-treat a real neighborhood and attend a fall festival! After Gray had his new PICC line placed in his arm on Monday, we were so happy when the doctors confirmed that we could actually go home on Tuesday! We weren’t getting our hopes up about that. God gets the glory, though, because the antibiotics Gray was put on after doctors found his fourth infection really attacked all the bacteria in Gray’s body and began working almost immediately! Once we got home, the home health care nurses came over to teach us how to continue giving Gray’s antibiotics to him through his PICC line twice each day. Each treatment takes an hour. It’s no fun but it’s CERTAINLY better then being admitted. It’s never easy to give your baby a cocktail of drugs every single day and hold him down to receive shots but simply being  in our home and together as a family when we wake up every morning and go to bed each night is comforting. Home is safe and family is a blessing. We’ve never felt that more then we do now. Gray will continue his at home treatment for about another month. His antibiotic treatments are scheduled to last a couple of weeks and then we will continue his at home cancer medications for a couple weeks after that. Then, in December, Gray will undergo a battery of tests to confirm that his cancer is fully in remission and that he is, praise the Lord, HEALTHY!!!! We are nervous for that day and excited for it all at the same time. It’s scary, it’s joyous, it’s hopeful and it’s nerve racking. For now, we are continuing our lives one day at a time. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving as a family and we’ve never had more to be thankful for then we do this year. God is faithful. Our family is strong. Our friends are loyal. YOU are appreciated! We truly can’t thank each of you enough for your support this year and your continued support as we do our best to finish this race strong. The finish line is in sight. It’s right around the corner. We feel tired, we’re holding our sides in pain and barely putting one foot in front of the other as we run the last stretch of this long road but we’re going to make it! We’re going to cross that line and we’re going to lift our hands over our heads in victory. Sure, we’ll probably collapse with exhaustion and need extensive rest to fully recuperate but it’s such a blessing to actually come to the end of this race with our entire family together, healthy and happy!

“But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.” Psalm 5:11-12