September 9, 2004

Words cannot explain the emotions that we are feeling right now so I am not even going to try.....Michael is sedated with morphine and they will continue to keep him this way so he will rest comfortably. They may even put him on a drip so he stays resting. Michael's disease is known as Veno Occlusive Disease (VOD). It is almost always fatal in Bone Marrow transplant patients, but that is not the case with chemo patients. Michael has a much greater chance of recovering from this and so we are believing that God has this all in His control. Grandma Mary Jane flew in this a.m. and so she will be taking care of Justin for a few days. Only two people are allowed in Michael's room at a time and that includes overnight as well. Michael is receiving platelets around the clock and we are unsure as to how many pints of blood that he has received. His platelets are now at least registering on the scale and his blood count is up which is good news, but his liver count is rising which is not so good news. The Dr. explained that this could all get much worse before it starts to get better. Limited internet access is available in the PICU waiting room so we will try to keep everyone updated as well as possible. The phone in our room does not ring, only blinks. It is possible to miss calls coming in. Also, cell phones are not allowed, so if you need to get a hold of us, just call on the cell phone and leave a message or you can try dialing the room number to see if we will answer.