Great News: Praise the Lord

When Dave's platelet count hit 100,000 I was excited but did not want to celebrate anything yet. Now that we have had three weeks of high numbers (above 100,000) I feel like celebrating. This week they are officially back in the normal range(above 150,000) The magic number this week is..... 229,000. We were so happy to call the doctor and hear the news yesterday.
The receptionist who answered said this, "Are you sitting down?"
Dave: Yes.
Receptionist: Well, get ready to jump up...they are at 229,000!!!"
He told her he was decreasing the prednisone to 10mg and to tell the doctor and if he had a problem with it to let him know. We are looking forward to him being steroid free!!!
We are so thankful to everyone who continues to pray for him, we believe our prayers are being answered. We were not out of the woods yet with this, as it is an unpredictable disorder, but are hopeful that this pattern continues and he will be in full remission!

Little Athletes

(photos courtesy of Grandpa Knight Photography)

Perspective and Praise

The road less traveled is not as smooth as you would anticipate. I wish I could say I have taken things in stride and been as optimistic as I had hoped to be. I am really trying! This journey is not about me and nor do I want it to be. I write this blog so you get it from my perspective. I write it, because sometimes to gain perspective you have to step back and look at things from a new angle. Reflection causes me to look at things from a different perspective. When we first moved to LA, we thought the way people did things was so weird sometimes (arriving late to a meal, playing DJ music in a church, ministering in a bar, to name a few) and it wasn't until we actually started to live in their world that we gained perspective and were able to see things a little bit differently. That brought change into our life. Was it easy? NO! Did I feel like the way we did things was better? Sometimes YES! Was it hard to learn a new perspective? Yes! We are changed for the better.
I am trying to feel that way about the road we are on right now. I am going to speak hypothetically for a minute..... I feel like the road we are on right now is very hilly, it is bumpy and it has moments when I feel very car sick and just want out of the car and wish life we could just slow down a bit.  I feel as though I look at the mountains ahead and get too overwhelmed by them. I miss the scenery right in front of me because I am too overcome by the mountain, the hills, the trees, the weather and the bumpy road. Sometimes though we get a view of the mountains and it is spectacular!
I heard a story (click here to read) recently by Loren Eisley about a starfish. It's also about perspective. One man sees all the starfish on the beach and is overwhelmed by them, how could he possible help all these starfish back into the water? The other man in the story says that "it made a difference for that one," that was thrown back. Everything else seems relative to that one little star fish fighting to get back into the water and he matters! For this I am challenged to look at this experience/circumstance/life we are in and trust God that He is making the difference. That the road less traveled is the road we are called to for this point in time. He is above the mountains, the weather and he sees it all and it is good! It may not feel good or look good, but it is. Life is a gift and it is good! We need to just look at things one at a time, one day at a time, one week at a time!
Last week was kind of crazy with Dave's platelet count. He went in on Monday for a blood test as he does every week and got a call from the Hematologist on Tuesday saying his levels were at 19,000, which is very low. Later that day our church wanted to have a prayer time for Dave, so they did! He went in for an appointment on Thursday where the doctor told him he basically had three options for treatment, continue steroid treatment, have a splenectomy or be on a platelet growth factor medication for the rest of his life. At that same appointment the doctor did another blood test to monitor him more closely and sent him on his way. He called him about an hour later and said, I don't know how to explain this, but your counts went up to 68,000. Further treatment is on hold and we will see what next week brings. A glimmer of sunlight! He is continuing to try to rid his body of any toxins, like the Natural doctor (click here to read about him) suggested. We are having a Reverse osmosis water filter put in on our sink. He is eating a dairy free, gluten free, sugar free diet. (Recipes welcomed if you would like to send any our way). He is also doing some other specific things I won't get into, but they are all to help balance his body and optimize his health! We hope for full healing in his body but in the meantime we praise God for a small victory for last week and I just got word that this week is a big victory!! His platelet count is up to 124,000. Praying it stays up this high!!!
The kids are doing well. Tyler is scoring lots of goals in his soccer games. He is doing well at school. He can count over 20 now and write his name. He knows his address too. His second dentist appointment was this week and we prepared all week for that because he was terrified. It went really well though. We watched dentist videos to prepare. He has taken a real interest in drums and plays them every day! Angela loves peacocks. She is doing well sleeping in her big girls bed. We have not transitioned the pacifier out yet. She loves her little blanket and wants to take it everywhere. She doesn't like to where shoes or socks. She is a cuddlebug and loves to be held. She is very sensitive and sweet, but also a firecracker! Haven't had much time for pictures but here are a few.

Ty and Ang getting ready to swim at the Westin Hotel in Pasadena where some friends were staying.

Not a bad place for a soccer practice:) Lacy Park.

Tyler has been playing drums at church for the last few weeks. They put towels on his drums to quite the sound a little bit.