Day +62

We slowly began the day as Kristen didn't have to go up to the clinic until noon today for a blood draw. It was a beautiful day here in Houston, it's typically beautiful if your looking out the window of your air conditioned apartment or car. The labs were uneventful and it wasn't too busy either, which was a little surprising. We then went to Pappasitos for lunch, thinking we would have a bigger lunch, and a smaller dinner this evening. Today is Steven's 16th birthday - it sounds like all went well, he was happy with his gifts, and went down and had his drivers license renewed without the restriction. Boy, it sure makes you feel a little older as your kids start making their way through some of those key milestones. I can't wait for that next insurance premium to show up in the mail... Lead-foot Kristen along with a sixteen year-old male, it can't be good.

This was our first visit to the stem cell clinic for a follow-up with the Dr. since Kristen got out of the hospital. Our appointment was at 3:30 and again, it was surprisingly quiet up on the 8th floor. When we go into the hospital Kristen wears a mask since that's typically where all the really bad bugs are, so you can imagine what she looks like with here little bald head (although there we are starting to see some growth) and a mask on that covers most of her face. When Kristen checked in the receptionist said that Kristen had beautiful eyes and that she could see her smile in her eyes. I thought how nice of her to say something to this little girl who looks 5 years younger without her full head of hair.

OK - here's the good part. We were called back to see Dr. Popat along with his PA for the check in. They did the typical things, went over her meds, how she was feeling etc. Her counts have continued to improve, whites 5.2, platelets 67, and hemoglobin 10.4. This was good to see everything continuing to progress. That's when he sprung the news. "We'll do another bone marrow biopsy on day 82, and after that you should be free to go!" I'm certain they could both see the joy all over our faces. The boipsy from last week showed 2% blast cells which is within the normal range, and 100% donor T-cells and myeloid cells in her bone marrow. They are backing Kristen down to just one visit to the stem cell clinic a week, and if all goes well, she will be able to head back home shortly after September 9th.

When I was looking for a verse for this post, I ran across this one: Proverbs 15:30 I would normally leave you hanging and have you look it up, but some of the other translations won't be quite the same, this is from NIV "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones." The cheerful look is that smiling face of Kristen, and the good news today is indeed within her bones.

I know we have to be careful and not get too far ahead of ourselves as we still have a ways to go, but we can definitely see the glorious light at the end of the tunnel. Kristen is an amazing young lady! When I was talking to one of my friends this evening I made the comment that I haven't heard a single discouraging word from Kristen through this whole process. I'm certain she is more than ready to have this part of the process behind her, but her courage and attitude has truly been amazing. I know that she has the Good Lord along side her always and forever!