But as you will see further down in this post, we are far from escaping the woods.

First of all, let me say that Cutler is still impressing the doctors with his blood counts and still proving to be strong with a negative attitude around the house.  We have had a few bowel movements over the past two days and occasionally his happy side shines through, but for the most part he continues to be very fussy.  We have started to push formula, via the gtube, an ounce or two at a time throughout the day to see if this helps and to also try and push him towards the feeling of filling his stomach the same as he would if he were drinking from a bottle.  As for eating and drinking he is showing more and more interest in drinking from the sippy cup and at times drinks a good amount and occasionally eats solids.

As I mentioned, his blood work continue to looks good and we have yet to have a transfusion in over a month.  On day 100, the doctors do want to do another spinal tap to check the spinal fluid for any blasts as well as apply a dose of chemo while they are in there to be safe.  They will also perform what we hope will be the last bone marrow aspirate to check for leukemia.  And finally, they will perform the test that determines the percentage of the white cells from the old and new marrow.  We are currently on day 85.

While all things are good, we were unfortunately reminded this week of how quickly things can change.  Lucas Gebert, Cutler’s “cancer twin”, had to go back into the picu two days ago with what looks like an infection.  They are still waiting for the results of the culture, but the fever and blood pressure is now under control.  You can follow his progress at their caring bridge site. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lucasgebert  The night before he showed signs of an infection, he was eating and playing and just being a normal healthy baby.  It is amazing how quickly infections can come on and this serves as another reminder that we still have a ways to go.  Please pray for Lucas and his family as they fight this infection.

Also, a good friend of the family and the wife of the doctor that my sister, Angie, works for has passed away from heart failure.  She was younger than I and this came completely out of the blue.  I don’t want to go into all of the details, but Dr. Joe also has cancer and so they were already in a long battle and now these poor kids have lost their loving mother.  Please add the Schallert family to your prayers.

I still sit here in shock at what all has happened in just these past few days and how quickly they rose from nowhere.  It is easy to get caught up in the constant hustle of the day, but both of these occurences serve as a strong reminder to not take anything for granted and to cherish every second of every day that I have with my family.  I now cherish the fussiness and the laughter from Cutler, I cherish the way Mason drives us insane with his procrastination when getting ready for school and eating, and I even now cherish the way my lovely wife forgets to turn down the monitor when she gets up on her mornings to get Cutler out of bed. 

And one more prayer request goes out to our last neighbor from the 12th floor, Trent Floyd.  He is a two year old that had neuroblastoma.  I am sure I mispelled that, but Trent is home and thoroughly enjoying french fries and life.  All is going well with him and his family right now, you can follow his story at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/trentfloyd.

Thank you everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers and for following through my babbling.