Hallelujah!!!!! Praise the Lord!!!!! He is worthy to be praised!!!!!

Will's blood work continues to improve!!! His wbc (white blood cell) count was at 230 and now, it is at 164!!!!! For those of you who do not know, that is very, very good!!!!!

Will Update ~ Day 9 ~Feb. 26

Another good day today. First my apologies. I think I got the date wrong on yesterday’s report. It was the 25th, not the 24th.

We got the results from the draw taken yesterday (Thursday). Will’s wbc continues downward and uric acid was in the normal range for the first time today.

The doctor is pleased and says Will can go back to work next week if he feels like it and I should be at ease about leaving him and returning home. Note the word “should”

Right now, we are enjoying having Thomas with us. He will fly back Sunday. The plan is for me to stay and make sure Will has a good day at work on Monday then I will return home on Tuesday or Wednesday.

If things keep going this well, I won’t be updating so often, but keep us in your prayers. The goal is to have hematologic remission (normal blood analysis) in three months or less. Thanks to all of you again for all your prayers. God is good and we are blessed.

Will Update ~ Day 8 ~ February 24 (written a day late)

Good news today. The wbc was down for the first time. We had a chance to talk with the doctor. He is delighted that Will has no virtually no side effects and says he is more concerned with liver and kidney function which is looking good.

Again he extolled the virtues of the Gleevec…..high probability of remission, virtually no side effects after initial introduction, a normal life with no signs or symptoms of leukemia once hematologic remission is reached, history of long term successes, etc

We are so thankful to a great and gracious God who, before we ever knew we would have this need, before we ever knew what we needed to pray for, looked ahead and provided not only this drug and the research behind it, but also provided so many other things that enabled us to cope at this time. Not the least of which is all the friends who have lifted us up in prayer. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We love you all.

Will Update

"Seems" was the operative word in the yesterday's report. The WBC in yesterday's test was off the charts for the doctor's in-house equipment. It has been all along. That's why we have to wait on LabCorp. We finally got it back and the WBC had risen on Monday. It has risen in today's sample also. It’s gone from 205k on the 11th to 244k on the 22nd and, now, 263.
Dr. Mirtsching does not seem too alarmed. According to his nurse, it sometimes takes a week to start working. Looks like I will be here another week after this. I will stay until the doctor says it is ok to go.
I hope everyone is getting the emails. My outlook does funny things when I send to long lists. I am attaching a read receipt to this one so I will know. I have thought of setting up a Caring Bridge account. It would be easier for me, but Will says to let him think about it. I will honor that.
We have lost count of all the churches who have put Will on their prayer list. Please know we are so thankful for each and every prayer that is lifted up. We most definitely feel them.
Praise God, Will is still not having bad side effects from the meds. If you’re on Facebook, you know his spirits are still up. God is good! We are still trusting him to work this all out in His way and in His time.

Another Update ..........

We had a roller-coaster weekend; nothing medical, just emotional. But today was much better. We got the results from the bone marrow biopsy confirming the diagnosis, but the blood work showed improvement. With CML, the white blood cells are either overproducing or not dying off as they should and are crowding out the red blood cells which results in low RBC. Today, the wbc was still out of range for the in-house equipment at the doctor’s office so it had to be sent to LabCorp. We will hear from it tomorrow to know for sure, but are expecting that the WBC is dropping, because the RBC was up.

The doctor is pleased that the only side effect Will has had from the medication was a little nausea this morning. We are thankful to a great and gracious God and are trusting in Him.

I have thought about setting up a Caring Bridge (see www.caringbridge.org) account for Will, but it looks as though the critical stage of this will be behind us soon. If for some reason, we find out the medication is not working and it appears this will be a long, drawn out ordeal, I will do that. So for now, just forward this to anyone you think might be interested and, if they respond to me at the email above, I will add them to the list. I only have one or two email addresses for fellow church members as my lists are at home. I didn’t know I would need them.

Some have asked how this was discovered. Will had been to the doctor for a lump that appeared on his chest. They thought it was just some fatty tissue, but come to back in two weeks. When he went back (on the 11th), it had shrunk a little, but the doctor had blood drawn. With an upper limit of 10,000, Will’s WBC was 205 thousand. His RBC was low. An appointment was made with the oncologist for Thursday, the 18th. Dr. Mirtsching, the oncologist thinks the lump is just a collection of white blood cells.

I want to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes. So many of you have put Will on the prayer list at your respective churches. Please know that these prayers have been needed and appreciated. Please keep it up. Although today was good, we are not out of the woods yet. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.