Entry for May 31

Tyler's BCR-Abl test earlier in the month was not completely negative, so the doctor decided to postpone the bone marrow aspiration. Tyler is down to only 30% abnormal choromosomes in his blood, which Dr. McGee said was good progress for where we are in his treatment cycle.

He did, however, finally allow Tyler to get his spleen scanned to determine if he can return to our favorite sport. On Tuesday of this week, Tyler got an ultrasound on his spleen to see if it has returned to normal size. We should get the results from that test either today or tomorrow. We have a Coed game tonight, so we are both hoping that the results come in today and that he can resume all of his regular activities. It's been tough on Tyler to not get the chance to run around and see our friends regularly, so this is a very important milestone for us. If you get a chance (and see this entry today), please say a prayer that the results come in as we hope.

Tyler continues to feel pretty good in every other way. He ran the 7mile Rhody Run in honor of his grandfather last weekend. Although his time didn't live up to what he's done in that race in the past, he completed the race with a minimal amount of training and no soccer in recent past. I was very proud of him for remembering his grandfather in such a special way. They'd both run that race several times in the past. Tyler can probably elaborate more on that...

I survived Mom's software conversion, although I think the jury is still out on whether or not Mom survived it. It was a pleasure to get to have lunch with her for almost two weeks straight, but both of us were disappointed that we didn't get to work together more. I'm hoping she'll have a reason to call me for support at some point in the future though... I do have to admit to being very impressed with Mom's management style. You probably wouldn't be surprised, because so many of you know her well, but she is a beacon of calm for her office even when overworked herself. She uses logic and compassion, intelligence and involvement to bring the best out of her staff. All of my teammates and I were very impressed with how great their staff is. I was extremely impressed with Mom and wanted to share with those who also love her.
I'm hoping that Tyler and I will have more good news to post later this week, but will close for now. Thanks for your continued support and for taking the time to read our blog and find out how things are going with us. Much love to all of you!

Mandy

Entry for May 10

Last Wednesday, we had another appointment with Dr. McGee. He'd been in Hawaii for 2 weeks, so Tyler had blood tests only those weeks. Our nurse, Debbie, tried to trick Tyler into admitting that he had started playing soccer already. Luckily, Tyler has remained strong against the incredible temptation of our soccer games. We were hopeful that his consistent blood tests over the last month might mean that Tyler is ready for his spleen scan.

The doctor said that Tyler's blood work does indeed look great and he was very pleased that Tyler is still doing well at the higher dose of Gleevec. Next Monday, Ty is scheduled to go in for a more comprehensive blood test that will test for the presence of the abnormal BCR-ABL gene in his bloodstream. If that is negative, then Tyler will go back on the 29th for another bone marrow aspiration. We are delighted to hear that he has made such fantastic progress in such a short time! The fact that he is moving towards bone marrow tests means that he is moving further into remission.

On the downside, we found out that we have to wait for the results of the bone marrow test before he can get his spleen scanned, so he probably has another month before he can play with us. We thank all of you for your prayers, your thoughts, your questions about his progress. Please don't worry that we aren't willing to talk about this. We are just happy that so many people care enough to ask.

On the upside, we spent the weekend in Walla Walla for our second annual "Wallapalooza" festival. Although we played even less soccer this year, it was still fun. We enjoyed their spring release of new wines by visiting many of the wineries in the area. I brought back several bottles of tasty wines and I am looking forward to enjoying them over the next year. I think Tyler's highlight of the weekend was probably the "soccer volleyball" game that they invented. Because the risk of him playing soccer is only the unlikely chance of physical contact causing his spleen to rupture, he was able to play volleyball with several of the other guys. They played until long after dark, so it must have been pretty fun. I sat inside and ate everybody else's dinner while he was playing, so I'll probably be twice my size next time you see us. :)

Thanks again for everything! Hopefully Tyler will post his own thoughts soon about last week's appointment and then we hope to have good news for you next week after the BCR-ABL test.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there!

Mandy