Starting Early

We got some disappointing news about Tyler's spinal tap last week. Unfortunately, the tests did reveal leukemic cells in Tyler's cerebral spinal fluid. One of the reasons they test for this is because the chemo and radiation therapies that patients go through do not cross that blood/brain barrier to kill leukemia.

With those results, the doctors have scheduled Tyler for another spinal tap on Tuesday. This one will be done under fluoroscopy, which allows the staff to more accurately identify the holes in Tyler's spine and stick the needle in the right place. They also plan to sedate him for the procedure, which should help a great deal with avoiding the pain he went through with the last procedure.

During this procedure, they will inject chemotherapy into Tyler's cerebral spinal fluid to attempt to kill off any cancerous cells there. We didn't expect to have to start so early, but we have been assured that the side effects should be minimal with the drugs they are using.

For those of you praying out there, I ask that you pray that the Tuesday procedure will be easy for Tyler and that the leukemic cells are all wiped out when next they test his spinal fluid. If they are unable to eradicate these cells before the transplant, I fear that they will call off the transplant entirely. No one has said anything to that effect, but the risk of relapse is too great if we can't kill off the leukemia entirely.

We are looking forward to seeing many of you at Friday's dinner and auction. Thank you to the many people making time in their schedule to join us for our Bledsoe Battle celebration. I think of this like a tailgating party before the big game starts. If you can't make it that night, we understand completely. We are just moved that so many friends (and friends of friends) are joining us for the event. We are getting our final counts for food this week, so if you haven't registered for the event you should reserve your spot either at http://bledsoebattle.eventbrite.com or by e-mailing bledsoewedding@hotmail.com.